CHAPTER 2

I was standing on a platform, waiting for something. My hair blew in the gentile wind as I stood there. The platform wasn't very big, only big enough to fit one person on it's top. A strange gray fog drifted upon the ground around my feet, and the only light was coming from the lamp post at my right. The lamp post was an old fashioned one that used gas, and had that triangular shape to it. It was so dark that beyond the platform. I could see only darkness. It was very quiet to. So quiet in fact, that not even a frog nor a cricket was chirping. The only sound was coming from the howling wind, and my heart. I didn't know where I was, or what I was doing. The only clue I had as to those answers, was the small street sign right across from the pole that said: "Norwhere" and "Brookland Dr." This wasn't much help. For I had no clue as to where any of those places were.

I had been standing there for at least an hour, in the cold, silent, dark, when all of a sudden, a train pulled into the station. It, (like the lamp) was an old fashioned train, a black locomotive. I approached the train willingly, as I thought to myself "Even if the most evil and dangerous thing known to man is on that train, something is better then nothing."

I was surprised though. The train's doors opened automatically when I approached them (much like doors do in a grocery store). I went in, more hesitantly then I had approached. First, my head. I popped it in like, a curious mole rat. I looked left, and right. No one.

"Hello?!?" I shouted, "Is anyone here?"

No answer.

The train had old, floral, wallpaper on it's walls. The wallpaper, was reddish-purple, with small groups of roses here, and there. The seats were of (unlike the rest of the train), brand new looking, leather, and beige in color. The carpet was worn and dark green. Small, triangular, handle bars were on the ceiling, and there were four windows. Two on each side of the cart.

I stood there for a second, hesitant....then, out of nowhere, something kicked me from behind! I landed in the train, flat on my face. The doors closed quickly, trapping me inside of the cart, and the train jumped from 0 to 60, in less then a half a second, toppling me to the back of the cart, and whamming my head on the side in the proses. I held my head, and moaned in pain as I got up slowly and sat, "Fwoomp!" in one of the seats.

The train howled though the darkness as the train whistle, sounded. It took me a few minutes of rubbing my head before, the pain subsided a little.

"Most impressive."

The deep male voice made me jump! There, sitting next to me, was a man. This man was in his mid- thirty's (or so it looked). He was wearing a black jacket and a strange, black, detective look-alike hat. I stared at him, blankly.

"How did you?!.... Why did you?!....Who are you?" I spuddered in between surprised gasps.

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Chuck "

"Chuck, eh? Well Chuck, DON'T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!!!!"

I shouted so suddenly, that Chuck jumped, and immediately disappeared. I looked around in surprise! Where had he gone? He appeared a few minutes later, next to me, and breathing heavily. "Don't do that!" he said as he began to calm down again. He straightened his hat.

"What just happened here?"

"Eh?"

"Did you just disappear right in front of me, or am I seeing things?"

He sighed,"It's a curse. I was cursed when I asked this witch doctor to give me the ability to turn invisible. I can't really control it though."

"Are you the guy who kicked me through the train door?"

He hesitated, "Yes, but I had good intentions of doing it. Did you see how fast those doors closed? Think of what it would have been like if your head had been there!"

"Ouch!..."

"...besides, it would have ruined the purpose of why I brought you here in the first place!"

"So YOU brought me here! But,...why?"

"Because, you have something that most people don't."

I looked at him, puzzled. "You know,... that thing you do all the time..."

I continued to stare, more confused then ever, He sighed again

"Fine! Since you have no clue,... unlike the many other people and such here, you have the courage to stand up to nightmares, the foulest creatures to walk this earth!"

"Nightmares?" I asked

"Yes,... nightmares." He replied.

"Is there such a thing? I mean, everyone gets a bad dream once and a while...."

"There is no such thing as a bad dream. Dreams are the good ones. Nightmares are the bad ones. The way your saying it, it would sound like, a bad, good person"

"What?!" I asked. "Your making no since!"

" I'm making perfect since! You see,.... you are right now, in the normal part of the unconscious world. Do you remember seeing almost nothing at that train stop?"

"Well,... yeah... "

"That's because you were in the world neither on the dreams territory, or the nightmare's. Neutral territory if you will. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever gone to sleep and not had a dream, nor a nightmere? Just,... slept?"

"Well,... yeah..."

"Well that's where you go! In to the neutral territory right in between the land of dreams, and the land of nightmares."

"Sooo.......If nightmares are creatures then,... what exactly do they look like?"

"The few that have seen them, say that they look like shadows with claws, and red glowing eyes, but there are evil creatures that live in the land of nightmares that aren't nightmares themselves, like.... demons, dictators, witches, evil cartoon creatures, and what-not."

"And,... what do dreams look like then, eh?"

"They,..." Chuck paused with a brief moment of silence. "There really is no way to describe a dream, except,... they are the most beautiful creatures you will ever see."

He looked at me in a daze.

" So... your saying that a dream can be a state of the mind, or a creature?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm saying!"

"But,... why do you need me?"

"It's because, the nightmares keep coming into our territory, destroying our people, items, and such. For you see, nightmares are attracted toward fear, and they eat innocent souls to gain power. But if one has no fear over the nightmare their facing they can over power it. But that's very hard to do, since nightmares can look into your mind and soal and see what your afraid of."

" Soo... your saying, I have this power that can defeat nightmares?"

"Yes!"

"...and you want me to get rid of them?"

" Yes! Yes!"

"Alone?!?"

"No.... you'll have partners to help you."

"...and, where are we getting these partners?"

"That's just it! Were going there right now!"

The train hurried along the track and passed a sign saying, "Now Entering DFN Headquarters".

I know. This was a kinda dull chapter...but I'm just writing this as it happened O.K.? Everything in this chapter belongs to me!!! ME I TELLS YA!!! By the way, in case you were wondering, Chuck is not based on a real person. You could say... he appeared out of nowhere! HE! HE! HA! I made a funny!