It had been days. It had been days since NightDream's phone refused to send messages and showed the words "No Service" at the top of the screen. He sat there staring at it for hours upon hours day after day, waiting for some kind of response. But there was nothing. He knew in the back of his mind that he wouldn't get a response, if his phone wasn't working that meant that CrystalFeather and HiddenWhisper's phones weren't working either.
...oops. Meg. He meant Meg. That was her name after all, wasn't it?
Though, after what he'd just done, he doubted that it mattered what he called her. He'd never see her again. They were over. He'd lost a friend. He'd lost a lover. He lost everything.
So there he sat, scrolling down the old chat logs with Meg and CrystalFeather, re-reading their old conversations and living in the past just a little bit longer.
ND: You are not going to believe what Randy just fucking did!
HW: What! What did he do?
ND: He randomly just attacked me! He jumped on me as soon as I was walking home from work!
HW: Oh shit! What happened? Are you okay?
ND: Yeah, I'm okay! You should be asking Randy that, I kicked his ass!
Just then "Randy" walked by NightDream. The large man glared at him before sneering and waddling off, his oversized belly juggling with every step. What a pig. A horrible person to have to see at all even if it is only occasionally. NightDream didn't know why he came here. His other "coworkers" had to pass by to get to work, which meant he would have to be around them. Most of them paid him no mind, but he certainly had no friends here.
He guessed he just didn't want to be alone anymore. Even if it meant he was surrounded by people he hated.
HW: Holy crap! Nice! That's what my mom always told me! You don't stop beating the shit out of them until someone drags you off of them!
ND: Well! Well! HiddenWhisper I think you might secretly be a bad ass!
HW: Secret? Do you KNOW me? I'm 100% bad ass!
NightDream hadn't been to work the entire week. His boss was surely furious at him, but he'd said nothing. It was very suspicious, especially from a boss who was so talkative and verbally critical of his performance at work. He had no doubt in his mind that his boss would come to him eventually and give him shit about it.
It was just a matter of time.
CF: NightDream! You have to tell her how you feel! You can't let her go when you have a chance to be with her.
ND: You don't understand, CF. It's not up to me. I've been getting threatening messages from someone. They're telling me that if I don't stop talking to her that she'll be in danger.
CF: Who is sending you these messages? What's their contact?
ND: Their contact is Explore. That's all I know.
CF: I can't find them? Who do you think they are? Do you think they might be a good guy?
ND: I've no idea.
He continued swiping, all of the messages from this "Explore" contact nowhere to be found. It was frustrating. There was no way to reassure himself that they were real. That he did this for a reason. That it was for Meg's safety. He had to do this.
There was no going back.
But then his phone went off.
Ding!
"One New Message From ?"
Huh? Who the hell was this? Another person? This was getting a little ridicul-
?: Hello, NightDream.
He checked the reception on his phone. It still said No Service. He tried to click off of this person's contact to send Meg a message but the screen refused to budge. It refused to move away from this contacts chat log. NightDream sighed and responded.
ND: What do you want?
?: You couldn't possibly even begin to understand what I WANT, NightDream. But, I know exactly what you want.
ND: Yeah? And what's that?
?: Meg Thomas.
He felt his heart skip a beat. Who was this? How the hell did they know about Meg? Were they responsible for her disappearing? If they laid a finger on her-
?: You haven't been going to work, have you NightDream? Do you think you deserve to be rewarded for sitting there for 153 hours doing absolutely nothing?
ND: Who are you?
?: Answer me.
ND: I don't care about rewards. If you hurt Meg I swear I will kill you.
?: KILL ME? You think that you are capable of killing the likes of me? Please. You can't even kill survivors.
NightDream frowned, rubbing his eyes with his hands. Normally he might have been wary of messages like these, hell, he might have even been scared. But now? There was no point. He knew exactly who this was. He wasn't afraid anymore.
ND: If you're going to kill me, just get it over with.
?: That's no way to treat your boss. You should have more faith in me, NightDream. You should have hope.
ND: Why? What good does hope do?
?: Hope is a powerful thing. Hope is what makes you see your Meg Thomas. Would you like to meet her, in fact?
He had NightDream's full attention now. He even felt a tiny flutter of hope in his heart.
ND: You can do that?
?: Of course. I can do anything that I want. I can give you anything your heart desires as long as you behave.
NightDream wanted to see Meg more than anything. His heart ached to finally hold her and say that he was sorry for the awful things he's said and done. He wanted it so bad. He'd die just to see her once.
But...
That would mean that The Entity would pull her into his world. He'd also rather die than drag some poor woman from the real world into this hell.
ND: I won't let you trap another soul here. Keep your offer, I want her to live her life in the real world and have a chance at real happiness.
?: Oh! You poor fool! She is so much closer than you think!
ND: Did you already take her from you real world? I swear if you did!
?: I don't suppose that HiddenWhisper ever filled you in on who your friend CrystalFeather was, did she? You were too busy blocking her contact. I had to revoke your phone privileges for that little mishap!
Who CrystalFeather was? Some person from the real world? Did it matter?
ND: What does it matter who CrystalFeather is?
?: Oh! Why it's because she is a survivor! You've killed her hundreds of times!
...what?
?: The little dark one! Exceptionally good with medical kits! A Healer!
She was CrystalFeather?! Oh no...
He stared at his phone in shock. Even more guilt filled him at what the Entity had just told him. CrystalFeather had been very good to him. A true friend. And now he has to live with the fact that he's killed her.
But wait. Doesn that mean that Meg...
?: Your Meg! She is also a survivor.
NightDream felt like he was going to vomit. His already broken heart shattered even more at the thought of hurting the woman he loved.
ND: Who is she?
?: I'll keep that one a surprise! I'd love to see the look on your faces when you meet! It'll be a sight for sure! So many emotions in the air! Such hope!
ND: You would allow me to see her?
?: Of course! I am no monster, NightDream. I am just your god, and a good god rewards their pets.
ND: What do you want in return?
?: Nothing much. Just have true hope, NightDream! Hope until you are free. One day, I will free you and your mate. As long as you behave for as long as you are here.
For once in his miserable life, NightDream felt true hope. A genuine smile formed on his face.
ND: Take me to her.
-
Meg stood against a tree, her head down and her arms crossed. She'd been walking around in these woods for days, doing nothing but thinking and getting to know herself. She was trying her best to get over NightDream, but it wasn't so easy. She had a lot of confidence when she stomped out here, but now that there was only silence and she was left alone with her thoughts, she found it impossible to think of anything but him.
She missed him so much. She wanted nothing more than to see him.
It was very lucky Meg no longer needed to eat, otherwise she'd probably have starved to death out here, because she was very lost. She had gone in circles for the past two days, trying to find a way back to the clearing but she had no idea where she was.
But worst of all... she felt empty. She had completely lost all hope. Hope had always been something she clung to desperately during the days before the phone. Hope that one day she would escape. That she would find her mother and they would be a family again. She could be genuinely happy.
That future was nothing but a fantasy to her now. She knew that it would never come true, and she was still in the process of accepting that. It was so hard. It was so hard to do things alone.
But suddenly she wasn't alone. She was so very not alone.
"Hello, Meg Thomas!"
It was nothing but a voice, but the absolutely suffocating presence of the Entity filled every single one of her senses. She tried to breathe but choked on it. She was completely overwhelmed.
The presence waved a little and she took a huge gulp of air, coughing violently with her hands on her knees.
"My apologies, Meg Thomas, I don't visit my other pets very often, I forget they lack the ability to perceive me without granting said ability."
Meg glared up around her, feeling the clicking and growling of a being around her that seemed to come from everywhere. She didn't know where to look, but it didn't matter, did it?
"What do you want? I am not going back to he trials! You can kill me right here, right now, but I will not go back!" Meg spat, standing in a very defensive position with her eyes darting all around her.
"Oh, is that so? Not even with a little persuasion?"
"There is nothing you could possibly offer me!"
"How about your NightDream?"
Meg froze, her eyes getting even wider in shock, "What? You... You can do that?"
"Of course! It's hilarious! Your NightDream spoke the same words. You two are very alike in many ways. Such an interesting pair."
Meg shook her head, lowering her eyes to the ground, "Does that mean you'd have to pull him from the real world?"
"Of course not! He is a killer in my realm after all!"
WHAT?!
Meg's jaw dropped. NightDream was a killer? A KILLER? No wonder they wouldn't talk about who they were! Everything made so much sense now! Why they were so cryptic, why they shrugged off Claudette's talk about the Entity. He was trying to hide the fact he was a killer. He was ashamed.
Meg couldn't help but wonder how many times he had killed her. Whoever he was. There were several male killers.
But if he was a killer... that mean that he was a bad person, didn't it? He was a murderer! He had killed Meg herself who knows how many times! Why the hell would she want to be with someone like that?
When she tried to ponder on it, all that was coming to mind is all the time they spent together. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she still loved him. How desperately she wanted to see him.
She just had to ask.
"Which one is he? Does he... Does he enjoy killing people?"
Somehow the voice managed to roll it's eyes and Meg had no idea how she even could pick up on that, "Your NightDream? No. He despises it, actually. I had to torture him for years before he would even pick up his weapon! But all it takes is a little persuasion. Everyone changes their mind eventually. It's just a matter of how much pain they can bear."
Meg sighed with relief. He was still a murderer. She had no doubt in her mind that he was not a good person, but there was a possibility to change. To get better. She could help him. At least she wasn't in love with some sicko who gets his kicks torturing other people. She was ready to face any challenge as long as he was by her side. She wanted to see him desperately. To finally meet the man she had spent the past several months slowly falling in love with.
She was ready.
There was a forest.
It was not unlike the forest the survivors found themselves dwelling in between trials. If Meg looked hard enough, she had no doubt in her mind that she might even stumble upon the same clearing she had made a home out of for months.
But she was looking for something else today.
She stepped through the woods carefully with her eyes peeled. The man she loved was someone in this forest, and she intended to find him.
A list of all of the killers was filing through her head. There were so many possibilities. She didn't exactly have any opportunities to get to know the killers before, so frankly she had no idea what any of them were like. It really could be anyone.
"NightDream!"
The killer who had lived a life full of regret made his way through this unfamiliar forest. His Meg could be anywhere. She could be anyone. He only knew that it couldn't be the small black girl, because she was CrytalFeather.
So much had happened these past few months. He was so confused. But this felt so right. He felt that deep down, he was brought into this world for this. Every second he spent suffering in life and death had all lead to this very moment.
"NightDream!"
He heard a female voice echo through the trees. He snapped his head towards the sound, and couldn't help but think that it sounded quite familiar. He turned and quickly made his way towards the source of the sound. His Meg.
"Meg!"
A deep voice called through the trees. She jumped, turning her head to the approaching calls and footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around, somehow finding herself in the clearing. The very same clearing that she felt so safe in. It turns out she didn't have to look at all. it came to her.
And so did he.
She could see the silhouette of a person in the shadows. They were masked by the darkness of the overhead leaves but slivers of moonlight managed to break through and shined on NightDream. She couldn't see his face, but she could see flashes of white.
He saw her standing there in the clearing it. She was facing him with wide eyes filled with wonder.
It was her?
The red-head that was always a huge pain in his ass? No wonder he recognized her voice. He just wasn't used to hearing that voice without it's taunting tone.
He would have never admitted it before, but he had always found her interesting, and as she stood there in the middle of the clearing with her red hair a wild mess around her head and her bright blue eyes that were filled with wonder resting on him, he couldn't think anything else other than the fact that standing before him right now was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his entire existence.
He went to her.
As NightDream slowly stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself after months of getting to know him, slowly falling in love with him, and feeling closer to him than any other person she'd ever met, Meg's eyes shot open and she gasped with pure, unadulterated shock at just exactly who the man standing before her was.
It was The Trapper.