The cry cut through the night like a knife.
"Nooo!" The brothers both jumped, startled at the sudden scream.
"Peach?" asked Mario.
"Again?"
They hurried out of Luigi's room, racing to Peach's at the end of the hall. They found her just like the night before, only worse. She wasn't screaming or thrashing as often. Now she was crying, pleading softly. Some might consider this worse…the eerie sound of her tearful, quiet whispers and labored breathing.
"Stop…get off…" she begged. Mario snapped on the lights, but Luigi beat him to her bed.
"Peach, wake up. Come on, you're all right." As worried as Mario was for Luigi, he admired his brother for putting aside his own hear to help the Princess.
The young Mario could have screamed from fright when Peach awoke, sitting straight up in bed, shouting 'NO' at the top of her voice and hitting him.
"Get off me!!"
"Peach, Peach, it's me! Luigi!" He tried to block her punches and catch her hands, but she was raving.
+Now I'm a raving lunatic? Perfect…+
Quiet you!
Mario walked to her bed and helped. He grabbed one of her hands tightly and laced his fingers with hers.
"Peach, it's Mario. You're okay! Come on, now." Slowly, she stopped and stared at him. Her face was drenched with sweat and tears. The sleeve of her nightgown was torn, and a patch of her bare arm showed a reddish tint the size of a palm. Sobbing quietly, she held out her arms and let herself be embraced. "Come on," he soothed, holding her close. "Nothing's going to get you."
Luigi watched, confused as anyone else. What were the odds of everyone having simultaneous dreams of the worst possible scenarios….frightening enough to make someone cry? He cast a glance away from them, noticing the gray, plush cloud on the floor. It had been cast away during Peach's nightmare, and even though it held its sweet smile, Luigi felt that it was boring into him with its eyes.
No one slept for the rest of the night, and consequently, they were all dead tired in the morning. Although they were tired, Mario wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"Bowser was in all of our dreams somehow, right?"
They all nodded. Peach rose a limp hand. "He…he mentioned something about his 'Fun House' to me."
They all shuddered, not wanting to think about THAT.
"Well," began Luigi, rubbing his eyes. "It may have something to do with it. Instead of our phobias, our worst nightmares." No crap, Sherlock!
(Hey! You're writing this dang dialogue! If you don't like it, change it!! *angry silence* Yeah, that's what I thought you said!!)
[*sweatdrop*] +*sweatdrop*+
Luigi muttered to himself. "Too bad mine are all the same…"
"Your phobia is your nightmare? Tough break," whispered Peach.
"Yeah, but it shouldn't--" He stopped.
"Shouldn't what?" asked Mario.
Luigi shook his head, yawning. "Nothing. Let's just eat some breakfast." He got up from the table, but Mario stopped the Princess. "Peach, how did you…how did your nightgown get ripped like that?"
"Oh." She hugged herself. "I…I don't know." She turned and silently walked away, slowly following Luigi. She certainly was scared from these dreams; Mario noticed she was more reserved and quiet. He also noticed a bruise on her bicep as she left.
They spent the rest of the day like zombies. But that night, they all stayed in Peach's room, huddled on her beg, vowing to never fall asleep. They talked, sang, and laughed, but as the night wore on, their eyelids drooped. Luigi had left the bed and sat in a big red armchair, trying to make himself uncomfortable. Peach had to lay her head down; she was so overcome with exhaustion.
Mario shook his head sleepily. "No, Peach. Don't."
"Jus for a little…" she slurred.
"Sing that song I taught you. The one with the states and capitals."
Peach nodded, remembering the song.
"We can't go to sleep, Peach."
"Mm-hmm. Indianapolis Indiana, Montgomery Alabama, Denver Colorado…"
This went on for some minutes, until Luigi's gentle snoring could be heard, Mario lay precariously on the edge of the bed, and Peach was sleeping soundly on the other side of the mattress, mouth silently moving to the words of the song.
Mario awoke in the same bedroom as the night before. His feet extended past the edge of the child's bed, and he jumped out of it, more confused now than afraid.
He looked around the room, scratching his head. "Bowser," he thought aloud. "if you're trying to scare me putting in a baby room, you're way--"
"Not just any room," came a soft, almost sympathetic response.
Mario looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. "Bowser, what is the deal here?"
No answer. He looked back to the night stand and shuffled through random homework papers, drawings, a lucky rabbits foot, baseball cards-Wait. A photograph. Mario picked up the picture carefully, scrutinizing it. A boy, happily smiling by his bicycle, his mother and father at his side. Mario's expression was something of confusion mixed with happiness.
"That's me," he breathed, "Me, and mama, and Dad…" He brushed each person on the photo with his fingertips, smiling sadly. "Me…this is my room!" He looked around again, but had to wonder. What the hay am I doing here?
He heard a familiar sound. The zipping sound. A frown creased his forehead, and he crept to the door and peeked out. Nope, no one around. He snuck out of his childhood room, across the upstairs hall to his parents room which he remembered so well. Maybe I've time traveled, he though excitedly. Maybe I can see them.
He turned to knob of the door and pushed it open in a hurry, but his jaw dropped in horror, and his eyes grew wide, staring at the unexpected.
His mother and father were covered in blood, shot dead in their sleep. Then he remembered. He knew why Bowser brought him here.
Mario backed out of the room, shaking his head as if to shake away the dejavu. He ran back to his room, shutting and locking his door. He leaned against it for a moment, then paced the room. The night my parents were killed, he thought in a frenzy. I was afraid he'd get me too. Bowser knows it.
Mario looked down at his hand, noticing it was covered in something sticky. Turning it closer to the light, the plumber found it was blood. An insane laugh wafted through the walls and to his door. His voice caught in his throat, and he suddenly felt sick.
The man who killed them…he's still in the house.
Peach was surprised to find herself not in the same nightmarish room she'd known for the past two nights, but a tiny, wet dungeon cell. Relieved and frightened at the same time, she pulled on the chains around her hands attached to an iron nail in the floor. Footsteps. She gasped, backing away as much as she could.
Bowser Koopa appeared through the rusty iron bars, smiling wickedly.
"What…were…you doing….to me," she demanded through clenched teeth. He didn't answer, but instead had a Troopa attendant unlock the door. He walked in and knelt before her, flashing sharp, hideous teeth with his smile. She turned her head away, heart pounding.
"What are you doing with….the Mario Brothers?"
"Exactly what you thought I'd do." He leaned closer, an inch away from her face. She could feel his smoldering hot breath on her face. "Make your worst nightmare a reality."
This news was old to the Princess, but she was stunned nonetheless. "But…why?"
"Why do you think?" he shouted, standing up to pace. "To take your bloody kingdom!"
Peach was surprised to find she was out of the picture, but at the same time, grateful. "What's to become of me?" she asked in a small voice. "And the Marios?"
He chuckled deep in his throat. "My dear Princess; no one has to tell me twice that you hate me. So I've decided……to heck with a queen! All they do is nag anyway, right?" He stepped closer, looming over her. "I'm afraid you won't wake up this time, Peach. You're going to stay here forever, enduring your nightmare until your insanity grows worse."
He must be joking, Peach thought in terror. No one is that cruel.
"And as for your…precious plumbers," he sneered, embellishing the moment, "they will get what's coming to them."
"Their….nightmares?" she asked in a small voice. He didn't answer, but turned to leave. "Why am I in here?" the Princess demanded, "instead of…the other room?"
Here he grinned maliciously and slowly turned to face her.
"Peach, Peach, Peach. Killing you off would be too easy…….and merciful." He walked out, slamming the door behind him as a Koopa Troopa locked it again.
Peach's mouth fell open in horror. He wanted them to suffer for the rest of their lives, trapped in this nightmare, never to wake up again. She had to warn the plumbers, but at this point it seemed hopeless. It's all hopless.
Author's Notes: Aw geez....bad dialogue abounds in here...unless your expecting the tackiness, then its not so bad. Next chapter might get worse...more people get hurt.....more people get sucked into the horrible-ness of Bowsers plan...the question is...WHO? @_@
And hey....have any of you had horrible dreams since you started reading this?? I did one night. *shudders* I want to get a head count, see how many of you are cursed. It won't be that many...no one is reviewing...sigh.