Past Midnight

By

M. Willow

Blood. Blood on the walls, the floor. Hutch lying there, unmoving. Still. Starsky stares at him, straining his eyes in the darkness of his bedroom.

There's someone with them, someone who watches yet is not seen. Someone who stands in the doorway of the bedroom, a gun in his hand.

It's dark, yet he can see this man clearly, a man of shadow and death, his body cloaked in interminable darkness. Starsky hears the steady tick of a clock, the drumbeat of thunder. He feels the lightening in his soul.

The man floats, movement without moving, his skin glistening for a moment then going dark. Now the gun is seen, but Starsky cannot move. There is something on his chest, something heavy, preventing him from breathing, from moving. He is useless.

And the man is coming.

Starsky sees his rictus smile and knows that he is dead. He sees Hutch lying on the floor in a pool of blood, blond hair glistening in the moonlight and yet that is impossible.

There is a storm brewing.

The man is standing there, his body moving, undulating in the darkness, then the gun is pressed against Hutch's head.

And Starsky finally finds his strength. He's up and fighting, praying that his partner is still alive. He is so tired. He feels his strength leaving him as his eyes grow heavy, his body numb. Then he is in bed and Hutch is lying on the floor in a pool of blood. And there is a man standing in the doorway. A man of shadow and death.

The man is coming.

Starsky is paralyzed. He is useless.

Move hand, move feet, he commands desperately. But his body does not obey. The shadow man glides across the floor and presses the gun to his partner's head. Hutch lies unmoving, his body covered in blood.

Starsky is a wild thing, trapped, fighting to move. He feels a warm hand on his face. Hears a voice. Soothing. Hutch.

"Breathe. It's okay, Starsk."

Starsky stares into the sky-blue eyes of the most important person in his life. He still can't move, not quite, but he can see the sunlight cascading across the room. He can feel the warm hand of his partner holding him to this reality. Maybe that is enough.

"Give it a minute," Hutch says. "It's normal. Lots of people have it."

But Starsky is so afraid. What if he slips back into the nightmare again. What if he is still asleep and Hutch isn't really there. And the shadow man comes back.

"I know you're afraid," Hutch says, his voice soothing, calming. "But you're safe. And what you're experiencing is just sleep paralysis. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

And just like that, the spell is broken, and Starsky is able to move, to breathe again.

Hutch smiles. "You okay?"

One year ago, he'd nearly died in a hospital, courtesy of Gunther. But he'd recovery entirely. He was back at work, again by his partner's side. But emotionally he still struggled.

"Give me a minute."

He was almost certain he was awake, but he had been tricked before. One year of nightmares coupled with sleep paralysis had taught him to make sure it was real before you relaxed. Otherwise, you could sink back into the very same nightmare and again find yourself paralyzed.

"I'm real," Hutch said. "You're awake and about to have breakfast." His partner was holding his hand.

Starsky took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of bacon, coffee. All real. He was awake. He was with Hutch. Safe.

He sighed. "'M okay."

Hutch smiled. "Well then, let's get you up."

Starsky swung his legs over the bed and looked up at his partner. "How did you know it was happening again?" Hutch had been sleeping on the sofa in the other room.

"Just a feeling, Starsky. Just a feeling."

Their eyes locked, Hutch silently communicating that even in sleep he had his back. And he always would.

"What are we waiting for," Starsky said. "I'm hungry."

The End

A/N: Sleep Paralysis is a state during waking or falling asleep, in which a person is aware but unable to move or speak. These incidents are terrifying when coupled with a nightmare, but is really the bodies way of protecting us from injury during sleep.

Millions of people suffer with this. I am one of them.

Please review.