Dreams

         "Forever"  That was the word that woke Darren up that night. Looking back, he couldn't remember whether the voice was in his dream or if some unseen being had whispered it in his ear as he slept. It was a voice unlike any he had heard before, it was raspy, like a woman who has been smoking for far too long. At the same time, it was comforting and gave off a aura of love and security. Darren had never remembered a dream before this one, which had engraved itself so deeply in his mind that he couldn't forget any minute detail as much as he wanted to.

         The seemingly endless street lay before Darren, the lines painted once on the asphalt had long faded, like the rest of this neighborhood. The moonlight reflecting off the wet pavement was the only light on the city illuminating the dark city street. He was on the street of his old apartment, he continued down the path he had taken countless times before. Androini's Deli was on the left, an old brick building that was constantly filled with the aroma of old meat brewing with stale bread to create their "famous" sandwiches that tasted like they should be served to animals rather than humans. 24th Street subway station was a bit further up, constantly on the news, the 24th Street station was the frequent hang out of the worst the city had to offer. Rapists, drug dealers and prostitutes could all be found there. Countless crimes were committed under the protection of the tunnels, it was a place where the city police had given up their attempts to purge the tunnels of its criminal inhabitants. Darren always walked the ten blocks to the next station to avoid being raped and/or murdered. The street was still as Darren's shoes crunched against some garbage, then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a person slowly moving down the alley to his left. Every time the figure move a loud screech would reverberate off the alley walls.

         Darren approached the figure slowly, the screech grew louder and louder with every step he took. He could now see that the figure was hunched over and was using a walker to move.  He was within arms reach of the figure now and it took everything in his power not to stop and throw his hands over his ears. As he touched the figure it whipped around and grabbed him by the hand softly, it was an old woman, older than any he had ever seen. She looked as though she would fall apart at any moment,her skin was stretched tightly over her skull. Her eyes were so far sunken into her head that it was difficult to tell where they ended and the shadow cast over her face began. A shiny red hat stood atop her head with a mess of grey hair falling out all around it. The hat was about the only thing new about this woman. Her dress was black and covered in dust, her small figure was hidden inside it like a scared child under a blanket.

         "Hello child" she said in that voice.

Although her lips didn't move when she spoke, Darren wasn't afraid. 

         "Hi" Darren said "Who are you" he questioned
         "Never you mind that" she responded "We must hurry. Follow me"
         "Where.." Before he could finish the old woman tightened her grip and continued down the alley at her impossible pace, walker still in hand.

         The alley seemed endless, they moved faster and faster until the dull colors of the buildings flew past them in a blur. Darren looked at the old woman with sheer amazement
        Her face had changed, it was stern now, focused on whatever it was she was running towards.
       
        "How can she move this fast" he thought

        Just then he looked forward and saw a small shiny dot in the distance becoming steadily larger and larger until he realized it was a huge steel door.

         "The door!" Darren yelled at the woman but his screamed had not effect.

         Darren thought about trying to stop running but they were moving so fast that he was afraid the he may lose a limb or two in the attempt.  The old woman giggled like a girl a quarter of her age, the door grew dangerously close now and Darren braced himself for the impact.  They crashed through the door and the momentum threw them in opposite ends of the room. At first, Darren thought he was hurt but he got up and felt not only no pain but nothing at all. He felt empty, not even curious about who the old woman was or where they were. The room was pitch black except a small window light from the twisted hole in the steel door.

         "I'm...I'm so sorry child" the old woman said weakly

         Darren slowly looked in the direction of the voice. Suddenly, a pair of eyes illuminated the darkness, they were a bright blue and were not like any human or animal he had seen before.
         
         "Hsu Teoa Emoy Deoceb" The unearthly words were said in a voice that seemed to becoming from all around him.

         Darren stared at the eyes and still felt nothing, he knew he should be terrified. His body began to sweat and his heart beat faster with every passing second. His mind screamed at him to run or even to take any action at all, but he could not bring himself to even break his gaze with the eyes.

         "Hsu Teoa Emoy Deoceb" the voice repeated louder this time.

         The eyes began moving closer to Darren. Each eye seemed to move of its own accord bouncing in the opposite direction of its partner.

         "You cannot have him!" The voice of the mysterious old woman rang out

         The eyes shot in the old woman's direction and a look of pure hatred and violence slithered towards the woman. the eyes flew towards the woman and sounds of splintering wood and shattering glass filled the room. Darren watched the eyes clash against the unseen woman with moderate interest. the eyes separated to opposite ends of the room and then flew together and collided violently. The old woman screamed in pain. Darren yawned.

         "You can't beat me that easily" The old woman said strongly

         The eyes then fell to the ground and slid until they came to a violent stop followed by a crash. They rose from the ground and glared into the darkness, the voice rang out

        "Iou Yild Hiel Weer"
 
        The Eyes then began to glow a bright red and suddenly flashed at light so bright that Darren fell to the ground blinded. He heard the old woman scream in the distance. By the time he rose to his feet the eyes were far above him and from the moans of pain they had the woman with them.

      "I..I..won't..let...not...again" the woman murmured "The others..the others...THE OTHERS"

      The woman screamed and the eyes flew ever higher and crashed through the roof. The moonlight filled the room as the eyes were shot to the ground, they began to glow green this time but the old woman was far to fast. She was in front of the eyes in an instant her dimly lit figure delivered a powerful kick to the eyes and they crashed into the opposite wall.
They attempted to rise from the dust slowly but fell back to the ground with a wet slap.  Darren couldn't quite see if there was anything attached to these mysterious eyes and he didn't really care. He kept his gaze on the half opened eyes glaring at him across the room. He knew they were evil and something that he obviously need protection from but they called to him.  They seemed to fill the emptiness he had be feeling ever since he entered this place. He took a step towards them slowly.

      "Stop!" The old woman snapped at him " Look away!"

        Darren was planning to ignore this advice and proceed towards the siren-like call of the eyes but just then the eyes flew quickly into the stillness and shifted from azure to a sick yellow and faded slowly into the darkness.

         "Don't worry kiddo" The old woman said as she lightly touched his shoulder "I''ll be here to protect you….forever"