NIGHTMARE (1)

"Lucy." She could hear her mother call for her.

"Coming! Give me one second!" Lucy Ishikawa responded as she searched through her desk drawer for her magatama ,a small coma shaped bead. Her father had made it for her, attaching a small string to it for her to wear as a necklace. It was her good luck charm, she couldn't leave without it.

"We're getting ready to go, Lucy." Lucy's father told her in a temping voice, making it sound as though they were going to leave without her.

"I'm coming!" Lucy replied again as she began looking under her bed. It wasn't there either. Her closet maybe? No. Lucy couldn't leave without her magatama, not that she needed it, but being an seven year she felt she had to bring it. They were just going out to a movie, but still. She stood there for a moment to think.

Where could it be? She thought. Under the pillow! She told herself excitedly as her memory returned.

She'd hidden it under Azure ,her pillow dragon. She'd named it after the Dragon of Kyoto. She'd hidden it under him, because she saw something the night before. She didn't know what it was. It looked like a man, a big man, but he wasn't there? His body was see-through. He made this weird clicking noise as he watched her from her bedroom window. She couldn't make any part of him out, except for two big red eyes that stared at her, before disappearing. The man scared her, forcing her to hide her good luck charm under her dragon protector, who she hid behind. When she went to look at the window ,where the man was, he wasn't there anymore.

She quickly wrapped her fingers around the familiar shape underneath the big, green, bearded dragon and removed her magatama. She looped it around her neck, and ,with a joyful, innocent voice, she called out to her parents, "I'm coming Mommy! I'm coming Daddy!" She ran down to the end of the hallway. They weren't there. They were probably waiting at the door, trying to scare her into moving faster. It was a threatening idea, but they never did leave her. "Mommy! Da-ddy?" She paused as she shot around the corner, noticing her parents weren't there either. Where could they be?

And then she heard it. The clicking sound. She turned towards the dinning room, where the noise came from, and saw... it... The man who wasn't there. She could see him in the light more clearly now, but his body was still see through. It was like his body was camouflaged like the chameleon lizard she'd learned about in school. He continued making that sinister growling noise as he stared at her. Two large red eyes flashed like hell fire burning through her soul as they looked at her. Below him were her parents. The man's clawed fingers held her mother by the throat. Her skin had been ripped off. Her father's head was missing. The man held it in his other hand. The image of her parent's broken visages sent a cold chill down her spine. Lucy began to cry, but she was too scared to notice

"M-M-Mommy...D-Daddy..." She whispered.

"M-M-Mommy... Daddy..." The man said. He sounded like her, but it was different. There was no life behind it. The man let out a laughed as he dropped Lucy's mother. For a brief moment the man's camouflage lifted allowing her to see him. He was black with red stripes. His hair was long and red with dark purple beads. He wore this dark grey armor. It wasn't like anything she'd seen before. It was hard for her to see, but he had this fishnet mesh covering his body. And his face... no it wasn't a face, it was a mask. The features on it were too difficult for her to describe. The only thing she could make out of it, were the glowing red eyes, and this... smile...

These three red lasers appeared from the side of his mask, and aimed at her forehead. The armor piece she'd seen on his shoulder moved. For a moment she couldn't move. She was too overwhelmed by what she saw. Before the creature fired, she let out a terrified scream and ran. There was a loud zapping noise, followed by an explosion. Lucy didn't stop to see what happened and kept running towards her room. It was the only place she could go to. Another blast came, sending her flying. Lucy landed in her room. As she tried to get up, she heard a metallic slice...

/

Lucy woke up in her bed, half naked in a cold sweat. It was just a nightmare. she thought as she scanned her room. Nothing. She sighed in relief, burying her head in her knees as she thought about the horrible nightmare. It wasn't actually a nightmare, but more of a memory. Only she didn't die. Before it could get her, a blue fireball tore through her bedroom wall and hit the monster. The blast blew Lucy and the monster back. She felt something warm and wet hit her face. It smelled sweet. It was the creature's blood. Lucy watched as the wounded monster in front of her reactivated it's cloak and ran. She could remember hearing it laugh as it fled. Something had saved her. Her father's magatama had brought her luck. Unfortunately it didn't bring her parents the same luck it'd brought her.

Lucy began to cry angrily as she thought about it. She didn't like crying. She didn't like displaying weakness, even when there was no one around to see it. After a couple minutes she stopped. After taking some time to recollect herself she looked at her clock. 4:06 a.m.

"Shit." She cursed as she got up. Lucy wasn't late or in a hurry for anything. In fact she wasn't suppose to wake up for another hour or so. Lucy never liked waking up early, even though it did give her some extra time to do some things she needed to do before work. Still, she could've used that extra hour. Today was important. Lucy and her partner ,Amy, had been after a dangerous drug dealer for over six months. Just the other day she'd managed to get in touch with someone who knew the guy. She'd told him he wanted to do some business with the guy, and after exchanging some information, they set up a time and place to meet. Today was the day she'd finally pin this punk to the wall.

Before she decided to get her day started, Lucy opened her apartment bedroom window and poked her head out. She took a deep breath of the warm summer air as she stared out at the New York City skyline. The humidity was almost choking her nasal passages. It was one of the hottest summers on record. The weather report on her phone said it was 82 degrees outside, and it predicted it would reach 108 this afternoon. Lucy didn't mind the heat though, but it did remind her of that summer 28 years ago... Since it happened, she'd always felt this strange, uneasy feeling that something... that it... was watching her. It was always like this during summer, when the heat came. And since it was one of the hottest summers on record it, the feeling couldn't have been stronger. Lucy curiously scanned her surroundings inside and out. Nothing.

"This is stupid." Lucy said in mild irritation as she shut the window. She had no time to think about something so minor, she had more important things to worry about. Turning to her bedroom closet, Lucy unearthed her uniform, Beretta 92FS, and her police badge. Lucy gave an impatient sigh as she looked at them. It wasn't a bad occupation really. Serving her community was an honorable cause, and she liked testing herself. The police force was a daring occupation, and it satisfied that itch she'd wanted to scratch... at least that was the case. Lucy still enjoyed some of the challenges the job brought with it, but most of the time it was too challenging. The hours were hell, the pay was shit, and the people she worked with were even worse. Had it not been for that thrill, and her partner ,Amy, she'd have quit a long time ago.

Suck it up! She told herself. Lucy was a lot of things but she was no quitter. She thought the idea of giving up was dishonorable... but now was not the time.

"Today's the big day," Lucy began as she holstered her Beretta, "Let's make it happen." Before she left she quickly snatched her magatama off her nightstand. "Wish me luck ,Dad." She said before exiting.

(Fanfiction by Kjon147 ,that's me, and my friend NeverNeverLady)

(Rights to the Predator franchise belong to 20th Century Fox, but the characters belong to us)