Miku woke the next morning to rays of golden sunlight filling her room. She blinked groggily, shielding her eyes from the brightness of early morning as dust particles caught the light. She took a moment to observe the flecks as they twirled lazily through the air. A sudden shock of panic burst through her body as she started up to check the time, only to realize with a flood of relief that it was Saturday morning. Knowing that she wouldn't be late for school, the girl relaxed and fell back onto her mattress with a contented sigh, ready to allow herself another hour or so of rest. Though she only desired to fall back to sleep, a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something persistently hung in her thoughts. Trying to push the feeling away, she rolled onto her side, reasoning that she'd get a text if she was forgetting to meet a friend or attend some extracurricular as she pulled the covers over her shoulder. Her eyes were closed for only a brief moment before they once more shot open in surprise. Memories from the evening before flowed over the girl in an instant. Only then did she realize what had been different— she had slept peacefully through the night.

A strange boy in her room... A solution to her nightmares... A deal to take them away.

It all seemed like another outlandish dream to Miku, but she knew all too well that it couldn't be the case. The "dream" was too real, and the results spoke for themselves— Miku had slept peacefully for the first time in weeks. A smile grew on the young girl's lips and she laughed as relief flooded through her. Suddenly much more awake, Miku slid her sheets away with a burst of enthusiasm as she prepared to start her day, feeling happier and more alive than she had in weeks. As she bounced out of bed, her eye caught something as it fluttered gently to the floor. With a growing curiosity she bent down to retrieve the object. Her heart skipped a beat as she daintily picked up a pure white handkerchief. She almost expected the soft square of fabric to disappear before her as she examined it with wide eyes. She twisted the fabric between her fingers, admiring the rose and constellation-like patterns that were carefully sewn around the hem of the cloth. The girl beamed, clutching the last bit of proof she needed to her chest. No longer doubting the reality of the strange events that had transpired only a few hours earlier, Miku sent a silent prayer of thanks to the strange creature she'd encountered before going about the rest of her morning with a lightheartedness she hadn't been able to muster for weeks.

~x~

For the next few days, Miku woke every morning from a peaceful yet dreamless slumber. Feeling more content than ever, she slowly became accustomed to getting a good night's rest again, and gradually her body began showing signs of improvement. The dark shadows of fatigue faded from beneath her eyes, her cheeks lost their hollow edge and again took on their typical rosy glow, and Miku had her signature bounce back once more. Friends and family were relieved to see that Miku was finally acting like herself again, and slowly life began to regain its normalcy again. Almost a weekpassed from her first encounter with Len, and still she rested peacefully.

~x~

The girl leaned back in her desk chair, stretching her arms as she paused for a much needed break. Textbooks lay open next to notes written in a neat and orderly script. She looked back at her laptop, tears forming in her eyes as she tried to focus on the small text through the glare of the brightened screen. She worked a while longer, before she caught herself nodding off at her desk. With a sleepy yawn, Miku glanced at the clock on her laptop.

"Almost one," she sighed tiredly, pushing her chair away from the desk. "Time to go to bed…" she managed past another yawn. Miku closed her textbooks and gathered her notes into a neat pile before powering down her laptop. Making her way to the other side of her room, she opened up a drawer and reached for a simple light teal nightgown spattered with white polka dots. As she changed into her pajamas, her mind began to wander as she prepared for another night's rest.

Though she was pleased to be waking up from gentle, restful slumbers, she still felt something was missing. After being accustomed to having normal dreams when she would sleep, and then being plunged into a world of nightmares, Miku was quite familiar with travelling through the realm of her dreams. After her contract with the baku, however, things had dramatically changed. Instead of entering another land in her sleep, Miku would dream of utter nothingness, as if she were waking up from a comatose state every morning. Though she felt eternally indebted to Len for rescuing her from her wicked dreams, she missed entering a world of her own after she laid her head onto her pillow at night. While nothingness was better than being greeted with gore and shadows when she slept, she missed dreaming of the adventures she couldn't partake in during her waking hours. Though she was a deeply disciplined and successful student by day, Miku was still a normal teenager, and her imagination could be quite active when she allowed it. Though her serious approach to her studies was admired by her family and friends, she would often feel that she was missing out on things her peers were taking time to enjoy in their teenage years. While she was by all means a social, even popular girl, school took up most of her time and prevented her from experiencing some of the things she wished to do. Because of this, Miku would turn to the world of dreams, living small bits of life that she didn't have time to enjoy during the day. In her dreams, she was entirely free to do as she pleased, so the sudden absence of nightly romance and adventure was a change Miku was unhappy to accept, despite her escape from her nightmarish dreams.

Fully dressed, Miku crawled into bed. Surrounded by soft pillows and warm sheets, the girl almost instantly drifted off to sleep.

~x~

He made his way to the familiar window, gazing into the inky sky as he approached his destination. Stars vibrantly twinkled above him, making the blackness of the night sky look even emptier when compared to their glow. Even the moon seemed to bare its teeth at the boy, mockery in its pale and waning grin as it glared down on him. Reaching Miku's window, he cast a sleeping spell over the home before entering her room, a preventative measure so no unintended guests would wake when he was around. Couldn't have anyone getting in his way, after all.

Once inside, he wasted no time as he soundlessly advanced upon the silhouette of a sleeping figure.

Even in the darkness her teal hair seemed to shine, spread over her pillows in perfect ringlets. His gaze darted to her eyes, eyelashes brushing cheeks the color of pure white moonlight as she slumbered, quiet breaths escaping her slightly parted lips. Even before the nightmares began he was sure that she always looked so beautiful, undeniably peaceful as she rested, gently tucked into her plush bed… though tonight she lay completely unaware of the creature looming above her.

"Just as I thought…" Len mused as he gazed down at the girl ensnared within her slumber.

He watched as Miku's features twisted into a pained expression, her body tensing with anxiety and fear as she dreamt. Upon closer inspection, small gray cracks were scattered across her face, their dark contrast to her luminous skin reminded Len of a broken porcelain doll. Invisible to the human eye, to a dream eater these marks were physical confirmation that a human was being overcome with nightmares.

He inched a black glove off his hand, tucking the article into a pocket once it was removed. Len placed a light kiss to his bare fingers, soft lips barely touching the skin before leaning over the sleeping girl. Gracing Miku's forehead with the tips of his fingers, the baku lightly dragged his hand over the girl's right eye, relishing the softness and slight warmth radiating from her skin. He pulled away after a final caress of her cheek. The moment Len removed his fingers from her skin, monochrome cracks began to form across Miku's face once more, insidiously crawling over her features and pulsating like poisoned veins before disappearing beneath her flesh. Another grimace fell across her features, her shoulders tensing for a moment before a sigh escaped her lips like a dying breath and she once again relaxed into a state of deep sleep.

"We'll be seeing each other soon," the baku purred quietly before he turned on his heel and left, grinning like the waning moon.

~x~

He drank the night air in, allowing himself to be enveloped in the darkness of the slumbering world. A black silhouette amongst a veil of shadows, he basked in the monochrome paradise that only a new moon could truly create. Even if the world would soon be bathed in the light of dawn, he always cherished the fleeting moments when time seemed to stop around him, as humans allowed themselves to succumb to the nightly illusions of their dreams, comfortably naive to the gloom lurking outside their doors. Sadly, Len knew his time of quietude was as short-lived as the moonless nights.

He didn't need to follow the acrid scent of nightmares to find his way to its victim. He arrived before Miku's bedroom window, the smell of pure terror making his mouth water before he could even take a step inside.

~x~

The gut wrenching feeling of freefall stopped as abruptly as it started as Miku's eyes shot open. In the haze of late night she could still register that she was safely in her room, the horrific sensation she'd experienced just another malicious dream. The vision of being pushed out of a second story window at her school flashed behind her eyelids, making Miku feel nauseous and lightheaded. She knew sitting in her classroom tomorrow would undoubtedly make her feel queasy, and that she'd be avoiding the windows for the next few days. Miku sighed and flopped back down onto her bed, troubled by the unfortunate dream. She stared into space, waiting for sleep to take her, when something dark skittering across her peripheral vision caught her attention.

"Len!" Miku called, sitting up excitedly. She looked around her room, but felt her heart sink as she realized no one was there.

She flopped back onto her bed, disappointed that she hadn't seen the boy since the night of their contract. She was curious about him, and wanted to get to know the elusive creature more. If it weren't for the handkerchief she constantly kept close, she would have begrudgingly brushed off her odd encounter as nothing more than a dream by then.

As she lay in bed, her gaze wandered through the darkness. She glanced over to a wall, the typical shadows seeming to suddenly distort and move in the murkiness. Miku flipped on her bedside lamp and screamed as hundreds of spiders frantically skittered across her walls and onto the ceiling and floor. She turned and saw that every wall was similarly swarming with arachnids. The girl bolted from her bed, frantically reaching for the door. She instinctively jumped back as spiders crawled towards her in hordes, effortlessly making ground the moment her feet touched the floor. Miku pulled farther away from the advancing creatures, half conscious that she was moving farther from the closest exit. Her moment of hesitation proved fatal, the spiders engulfing the door and fast approaching her bed. Against her better judgement, Miku decided to make a run for it. She shot for the door again and snagged the knob just as the first few spiders began crawling up her legs. She felt her mouth water with the scratching sensation of spiders as they clung and scaled up her skin. Fighting back her nausea, Miku swatted away at the bugs as they crawled onto her, but for each spider she managed to knock off were endless more to take its place. She tried to turn the knob, only to see hundreds of spiders descending onto her hand and up her arm. Miku let go of the knob with a yelp, stamping her feet as she frantically shoved the spiders off her body. Despite her efforts, the arachnids were much quicker. Feeling a spider fall from the ceiling and into her nightdress, Miku opened her mouth to scream and the spiders instantly engulfed her, swarming up her neck with frightening speed. Her cries were swiftly muted as the spiders crawled over her lips. She desperately clawed at her face, terror crowding over the pain as she ripped at her own skin. In a second, the world had gone black.

Her flood of relief halted as Miku found herself waking from her nightmare to the sharp ache of a blindingly bright light shining above her. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the fluorescent glow, only to feel her wrist stop short, aching against the tautness of her bindings. Shooting up to the best of her ability, Miku realized with a sharper bite of pain that her wrists and ankles were bound to a hard surface. She struggled, her skin feeling pinched by the cold metal of the table. Miku pulled violently against her ties, the bindings biting tighter and tighter into her wrists as she fought. Exhausted by her fruitless attempts, Miku laid back on the table. Heeding her aching wrists, she continued with much gentler attempts to escape as she squinted and struggled to see past the blinding light that hung above her as she tried to figure out how she got there, or at least where she was. Footsteps echoed throughout the space as she heard someone advance towards her to the side. Filled with the looming sense that she was being watched, Miku lifted her head from the table. In a moment, her suspicions were confirmed.

"Who's there?!" Miku called, dread flooding through her as each step grew louder and louder in her ears. She felt her stomach sink as the footsteps continued, the slow and ominous clicks the only noise throughout the silent room.

The echo of footsteps stopped just as abruptly as they had started. She turned her head begrudgingly to see a man reading from a clipboard. Her head began to swim as her heart beat in her ears, her throat closing as panic welled within her. His face was entirely obscured by a surgical mask, and he wore by a crisply pressed and glaringly white lab coat. Rubber gloves of the same color covered his hands. Only the doctor's eyes remained uncovered, cold and steely as they darted across the clipboard. Around him she began to make out the faint outline of more people, all dressed in the same sterile shade of stark white. Her breathing grew more heavy as the others began to approach. Nurses stood motionlessly behind the doctor, who still silently read from his clipboard. Miku's felt her chest rise up and down rapidly as she began to hyperventilate.

"Hey! Let me go!" Miku began to scream, her stomach turning with foreboding as she pulled at her restraints harder than ever, desperately trying to escape their hold. She stopped screaming and thrashing when the doctor handed his clipboard to a nurse standing behind him, and approached Miku. The girl could hear her heart smacking against her rib cage, pounding in her ears, her hands slick with sweat, suddenly more aware than ever of the binds holding her down as she agonizingly tried to escape whatever would happen next.

She felt her stomach drop with the word, as if she were suddenly falling for the second time that night.

"Scalpel."

"No, please stop!" she cried, her voice catching in her throat as she succumbed to hysterics. "Somebody help me! Help me!"

As she fruitlessly struggled to escape from her binds, Miku couldn't rip her gaze away from a nurse as she passed the tool to the man. Even in the dim light it glinted, as if showing her just how lethal it could be.

Miku let out another string of shrieks as the doctor approached her, ignoring the sharp, shooting pains in her wrists as she fought. She felt the thin rubber of the doctor's glove as he pushed up her shirt slightly, revealing her stomach. The cold of the room hit Miku's exposed flesh and goosebumps formed over her skin. Tears were clouding her vision, but she didn't need to see anything to sense the doctor looming above her or feel the freezing blade of the scalpel as he rested the tool just over the dip of her hipbone.

She continued to beg and plead, her cries growing louder and higher in pitch, the nurses still stone faced and unmoving. A pained, guttural scream echoed through the room as Miku felt the blade carve into the soft flesh of her stomach.

~x~

Just as Len had anticipated, inside the room Miku was whimpering in her sleep. Tears were streaming down her face, her expression contorted in agony. Len had already entered the room, placing his customary sleeping spell so nobody else in the house could interfere. Within her troubled sleep, Len heard her call out his name in panicked desperation. He made his way to her side, his eyebrows crinkling in pity and concern as he placed a steady hand to her tearstained cheek. Miku woke when she felt his touch, staring into his eyes as terror muddled her brain. She breathed in heavy, erratic gasps, still disoriented from her distressed sleep. Miku clawed at the bedsheets and ripped them away before yanking up her nightdress. She observed the flesh of her stomach, and seeing no blood, pressed a spot of her waist gingerly as if she'd feel pain if she touched it too firmly. Almost hyperventilating and unable to speak, she suddenly grabbed at Len's hand and gripped it tightly.

Between choked and halting sobs, Len could hear Miku repeating the words in a defeated, feral mantra. "Didn't work, didn't work, didn't work…"

Len sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms. She burst into tears, sobs shaking her body between loud whimpers. Miku clung to him as her body trembled, burying her face into his chest. He comforted her as she pressed herself against him, rhythmically rubbing her back through her nightdress as her body heaved and rocked in its panicked state. He waited, unmoving, until her erratic breathing slowly turned to hiccups.

Tired out from her crying, Miku slumped against Len. He waited a moment, before kicking off his shoes and climbing fully into her bed. After he tucked them both beneath the sheets, Len propped himself up amongst the girl's pillows as Miku rested against his chest, her eyes still burning with new tears. Once Miku was slightly less choked up, he alternated from rubbing her back to stroking her hair instead.

Miku knew she should have felt more uncomfortable with a boy, and a stranger no less, pressed so closely against her in her bed. But her need for comfort and the boy's gentle touch calmed her enough to ease her into a state of full composure. Entirely exhausted from her panic, she could hardly care less if anyone knew who was laying beside her, and Len soothed her with a gentleness she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Did you have a scary dream again?" the baku murmured, his tone soothing and low as he spoke to the frightened girl. Of course he knew the answer, but with the sound of his voice alone he could feel Miku relax a bit more, her shoulders slumping slightly as she nodded. Len continued to caress her soft locks as she let out another small sob.

"Shh… It's alright, I'm here for you, Miku…" He looked down at the petite figure clinging to his form.

"It didn't work, Len…" she whispered, her voice hoarse and sharply pitched as she spoke. "Why didn't it work...?"

The baku sighed dejectedly as the girl began crying anew. His eyes scanned the area around her bed, falling onto a small, neatly folded scrap of fabric on her bedside table. Despite the circumstances, he felt a smile tug on his lips as he recognized the handkerchief he'd given her, the fabric such a pure shade of white that it glowed softly even in the shadowy room. With Miku already calming down again, Len reached across the bed towards the handkerchief, plucking it up from the surface of the table. Once resituated amongst the pillows, Len gave the girl the soft square of fabric and waited for her to fully calm down. When she had dried her face and regained her composure, she met eyes with the boy staring down at her, worry painted over his features.

He brightened slightly when she looked at him. "You kept it," he noted, nodding to the handkerchief clutched in the girl's hand.

"Of course I did!" she exclaimed. "How couldn't I? I didn't know if I'd ever see you again! ...I-I'm sorry," Miku faltered, averting her gaze from the boy's.

She tried to pull away but he held onto her more firmly. Miku was suddenly much more aware of how close Len was to her and how thin the fabric of her nightdress was. She could feel her skin heat up as she acknowledged the firm grasp of his hand wrapped around her waist. Her breath seemed to leave her as her eyes met with his once more.

"There's nothing you need to apologize for," he whispered, his gaze insistent and dark. "Though it seems the contract we formed wasn't strong enough to scare the nightmares away for good," he concluded with a sigh, his brows creasing in concern.

"Then what can we do?" Miku asked, voice trembling. "Can you take away the nightmares now that they've come back?"

"Of course, young lady," he replied with confidence. "We simply have to form a stronger bond. An extension of our contract seems to be in order."

"Yes, I'd be happy to," Miku hastily replied. She extended her pinky finger towards the boy.

The baku regarded her outstretched hand with a light laugh. "Oh no, no, young lady. This contract will require something a bit.. stronger," he explained, his voice suddenly low and husky.

"What do you mean…?" she asked, pulling her outstretched hand to her chest, her face heating up with the sudden change in his tone.

With Miku already resting in his arms, it wasn't difficult for Len to close the distance between their faces.

The girl stared at Len's lips, already feeling lightheaded as her heart began to flutter. Her pale cheeks turned pink as the baku grinned.

"How about we seal the deal with a kiss?" he replied.

A shiver went down her spine as the baku's breath tickled her lips. With Len this close to her she realized suddenly that his eyes were not entirely black, but rather a deep shade of blue, entirely identical to the color of a midnight sky.

"What do you say, young lady?" he whispered in a low voice.

Miku nodded, her eyes wide, enchantment coursing through her veins like adrenaline as the boy spoke.

The baku's gaze dripped with desire, never looking away from the vibrant color in the girl's widening eyes. "Leave this all to me, Miku. I'll eat up your dreams completely."

He placed a fingertip to her chin and tilted his head with a smirk.

Miku's head spun as his lips met with her slightly parted mouth. The kiss was gentle, a dramatic contrast to the scent of something unknown and alluring that clung to the boy's skin.

Miku's lips were smooth, Len pondered, and she tasted pleasantly sweet. His hand fell from her chin, a finger tracing her back before he languidly dragged his hand downwards. He stopped when he felt the curve of her waist beneath his hand and pulled her closer, the thin fabric of her nightgown not leaving much of her form to the imagination. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck, a soft moan escaping from her throat as the baku deepened the kiss.

She pulled back, eyes wide and face burning as she quickly covered her mouth. Len laughed and took her hand, gently pulling it away from her lips.

"You don't have to hide yourself from me," he assured her. "You can tell me anything, Miku."

The girl nodded, and closing the distance between them, her lips met with his. Another moment passed and Len pulled away, meeting Miku's dazed expression. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as he grinned.

"The deal has been sealed, young lady. Rest peacefully and forget all of these horrible dreams..." he trailed off, smiling down at the girl he was still holding in his arms.

Miku averted her eyes, hesitating a moment before speaking shyly. "...Do you have to go?"

Len laughed. "I think you've had enough excitement tonight. But I can assure you, I'll return soon," he promised. The baku released Miku from his grasp, and after a quick kiss to the back of her hand, he stood up and turned to leave.

"Len, wait…!" Miku called toward the retreating figure. When the baku turned around curiously, a sheepish expression formed on her face. "I have one more favor to ask," she ventured, unsure of how the boy would react.

To her relief, he smiled warmly and approached the girl once more. "I'm happy to do anything I can for you, young lady. Now, what is it?"

She took a deep breath. "Well..." She twirled a soft lock of her hair between her fingers as she began, her voice soft and uncertain. "The first time you helped me, the nightmares went away but… every time I would sleep I would only dream of blackness. It's strange but, even when I feel well rested the next morning, the blackness reminds me of my nightmares… I was wondering… If it's not too much trouble… May I dream this time too?"

"I can understand why you would miss your sweet dreams… Leave it to me, I'll give you any dream your heart desires," he concluded, his voice earnest.

Miku felt her face grow hot. "Thank you… so much," she breathed.

"Shall we seal this promise as well?" he offered, a flirtatious grin blooming on his face.

Not sure of what to say, Miku nodded shyly. Before Len left, the pair sealed the deal with a kiss.

~xxx~

As always, reviews are appreciated. Hope everyone enjoys~