The Nightmare Decision (working title)

CHAPTER 1 page 1
As he enters the abyss of darkness he sees a faint light. When he approaches the area where the light is coming from he realizes that there are an array of rooms, each having a number from one to six. Three rooms to the right and two on the left, leaving six at the far end and the small light is a hanging light like what is typically in a basement. He notices that there is something sinister and mysterious about all of these rooms, especially the one marked with the number six. He feels compelled to enter the first door. As he opens and enters the first room he senses something familiar. He sees a car, much like the one that his best friend loved to drive. He approaches the car and cries, seeing that it was indeed his best friend. There is only one thing, your dead, this cant be real, he thinks. As emotions start to flood through his mind, Jason starts the car.
"Noooo!!" he yells as his best friend accelerates and heads straight into a tree. There is nothing now but sadness and confusion as he wakes up. "What the fuck", he says angrily, panting and crying. He looks to his right, looking for support, and sees his wife.
"Honey can we talk".
"Whats wrong?" She asks, shaken up from being abruptly awakened.
"Just a horrible dream, it was Jason", he starts, "He killed himself in my dream and there was nothing i could do. He blamed it on me. It was horrible honey, I -- what do i do --" Brian sobs.
"Its ok baby, it was just a Nightmare. Sarah and Brian have been together for four years since their freshman year in college, they work good together in their relationship. They believe it is a give and take and that is how they act. "Come here baby", she pulls his head to her chest and combs her hands through his short brown hair. They sat there for about an hour before he could face the day. It was 5:00am and they got up to do their morning routine.
"I'll see you later honey, do you want anything while I am out?" he says.
"Can you pick me up something sweet?"
"Of course", he replies with a handsome smirk. He knows that that smirk is what won her over in college. He uses it to let her know that he is still that guy. He gives her a look that simply says thank you, and heads out the door.
He gets in his car and heads to work, smiling, thinking about that first day that he met his wife. The office was as usual and he dreaded it. He was aggravated, he noticed. He wondered why but deep down knew that it was the events that had occurred earlier. He raced and paced in his head. He got angry at the photo-copier. It didn’t do what he had expected. He decided to go home early. He walked outside, knowing that nobody would notice. He nsaw no one on his way to the VW Jetta that he owned. The car was dark green and reminded him of the Jetta his sister had once owned. It was the only thing that he owned that would keep her soul alive.
He and his sister used to go on joyrides. She raced on her free time. She was only two years younger than him. She died around the time their grandpa had. She ended up with a bad case of the flu during the hurricane. It was bad. At one point she had to have a lumbar puncture. She was in the hospital for over two weeks when the influenza finally took her. Brian was devastated. If the were not siblings, they would have been best friends.
He went directly home.
He noticed the door was unlocked. He slowly opened the door wondered why it was so. His wife should not be home yet. Although he was confused he walked in expecting his wife. She never takes a half day. She is typically a workaholic.
He saw a shadow cross his path in the dining room. He knew what was about to happen and accepted it, knowing that he was trapped, the nightmare becoming reality. He moved briskly through the hous3e deeming the place haunted. He was upset and tired. His endurance dwindling.
“I can’t even sleep in my own house.” He exclaimed, leaving everything and walked out. Then he walked back in. He straightened some things. He went to sleep peacefully. He woke up around 3:45 a.m..
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He must of angered what ever spirit was there because it showed itself in its pures form. He felt apart from it but also felt a closeness, unexplainable.
“What are you,” he asked , simply.
“I am,” it said “I am what you want me to be, I am also what you fear most.
Brian leapt off his feet, he was taken aback. He simply responded, “There is nothing I fear! Go Away!” He demanded.
The apparition turned into mist and faded altogether. Brian sighed in relief. He waited patiently for a few minutes before he grabbed his belongings and went to the nearest hotel. He slept, too stressed to worry about his wife.
He woke up dreamless the next morning. Waking was like a nightmare in and of itself. He was scared to be alive. He was vulnerable and he knew it. He heard a tapping and a scraping. It sounded like it was getting closer. Whatever it was.
He hurriedly put his clothes on and looked around the room. Unsurprisingly, he found nothing. He was scared for he knew the entity was just toying with him. What ever it was it was neither real or make believe. But yet he had a gift of knowing. He had a gift of feeling the presence of bad or good. He could tell how feeling other peoples feelings. He wasn’t aware of it for most of his life, he thought that it was normal, but realized in his early twenties that it was a gift He learned to control his own feelings as to not spiral out of control.
As his hair rose on his neck he told himself to shut up and listen to the environment. It disappeared and the noises dissipated, and he was relieved. He knew it would but that was contradicting the wraith reappeared but he was not scared this time.
“Leave me beast!” He proclaimed as the wraith disappeared as quickly as it came into existence. What am I to do?, He thought. He decided to check on his wife and dialed the number to his house.
“Honey,” she said at once, almost on the first ring. “Where are you.” He checked the time nervously and she continued. “I worried about you, come home.”
“Are you at the house?” He asked.
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“Something is going on, go outside and wait, Ill be there in a few minutes.” He told her. “Grab a couple of things but do not be inside too long.”
“ What’s going on? What are you talking about.” She was getting worried now.
She concurred but did not take heed to his warning. After she hung up, she casually walked around, grabbing her things. “Why is he freaking out like this, was it the dreams that are making him so paranoid?” She asked no-one in particular. “Must be a midlife crisis or something.” she proclaimed and chuckled. That was the furthest from the truth. She continued to wander and gather until her husband returned. The wait was uneventful. Brian returned to the house in a hurry. He parked the Jetta and hurried inside.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she answered, “what is going on?”
“I will tell you when we are somewhere safe. We can go back to the hotel I checked in at. How does that sound. We will finally have that honeymoon that we were discussing.” Brian chuckled at that.
“Alright, I suppose.” They got in the Jetta and drove to the hotel. Only when they got settled in, did Brian feel at ease. The rest of the night was uneventful. Brian watched his wife sleep for awhile before he let himself drift into sleep. He dreamed of the dark hallway with the 6 doors again. This time he was at door marked with the number two. He opened it, wanting to peer in, but slammed it shut. He woke up sweating.
He decided not to tell his wife about the dreams, he did not need her to worry about him. He was frustrated with himself for fearing the dreams in the first place. He tried to go back to sleep but could not. He looked at the alarm clock on the night stand. It said 4:02 in the morning. He realized he wanted
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a cup of coffee so he walked to the store across the street and got them both a cup O' Joe. When he got back, she was awake.
He told his wife that he was going to take some paid time off of work so that he could figure things out. He wanted to write his book and he needed to have time to do so. She agreed reluctantly. “You are doing so good at work, you sure that they don't mind?” She asked skeptically.
“Yeah, they are fine with it, I called them on my way to the house to pick you up yesterday, before we came here.” I said nonchalantly. She didn't seem to be argumentative today, which was a good thing. He hated it when she wanted to fight. He wasn't the type to argue, but sometimes he had to defend himself. Not this time.
He went through the hall and into the lobby to talk to the guy at the front desk. He paid enough for a few days so that he could figure out what he was going to do about the dreams. He went back to the hotel room and said: “Sarah, why don't you go to work and I will see you tonight, we will have a romantic evening. That will give me some time with my book.”
She agreed and got ready and left. He got his laptop out and started to write. Nothing seemed to come to his hand. He decided to look up his nightmare. What does it mean? He wondered. He found what he was looking for. He could not believe what he was seeing, or thought he saw. He blinked a couple times and looked again. There was a number for him to call. And that is what he did.
The man on the other side picked up. “Travis speaking, how can I help you?” Travis is a precognitive and student of telekenetic powers. Whatever that means.
“Yes, I was wondering if you could translate my dreams for me. It says that you are precognitive and a master in nightmares and what they mean.”
“Used to be. I don't do that no more.” He seemed to have a rotten attitude.
“That is not what it says on your website. Is this Travis or someone else. I don't like pranks.” Brian said, upset and defeated.
“Um… This is Travis, but I don't do that work anymore. Why don't you try someone else on the list provided by google, I am sure that there are others, are there not?” Brian could feel the heat crawling up his spine.
“It says here that you are the best. I can accommodate you.” Brian started to get aggravated. “Give me your price and I will double it.”
“It sounds like you really need my help, no need to double it. Why don't you come over and I will do a full reading, I will read you and your dreams.” Brian obliged. It was a two hour drive so Brian called Sarah on his way over. The place was an old mansion in Bangor Maine. Brian had no trouble finding it. He followed the directions he jotted down well.
“How are you Brian.”
“I am ok,” Brian's eyes sagged and blue from lack of sleep. His head was fogged.
“You look horrible, been getting any sleep?” Brian could here the sincerity in Travis's voice. Travis was as tall as Brian and had a light complexion. He had black hair and brown eyes. He had a chiseled goatee that accentuated his sincere features.
“Thank you,” Brian said. “You gonna let me in, Sir.”
“Please, call me Travis.”
“No problem.” Now that they got the formalities out of the way Travis led the way into the mansion. Brian noticed the granite griffins that guarded it. They looked at him with piercing eyes. They mad him feel uneasy, but he ignored the feeling.
“Creepy,” Brian said while inspecting the place. There were bookshelves everywhere. Most of them either on the occult or horror. Some on psychology and some on biology. This place gave Brian the creeps for sure. He followed Travis into the parlor. There Travis offered Brian a drink. Reluctantly Brian took the offer. He downed the whiskey in one gulp. “Thank you.”
“So let me read you first, then you can tell me all about your dreams.”
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“Okay.”
“Okay, I see that you are being chased by demons. You have been chosen for some reason. OH, this is not good. You are being followed by angels too. Something serious is going on.”
“What is it.”
“Tell me about your dream. I will know better if you tell me the dreams.”
Brian told him about the dreams and about the incident at his house. He told him about the doors and what was behind door number one and how horrible it felt to open door number two. How he was terrified of opening any other door. How he felt scared to open the door marked with the number six. How he felt about the doors all together. And how real it all seemed in the dreams.
“You are chosen, Brian. This is a good thing. Your chosen to save us from impending doom. It is your destiny. The dreams are not dreams, but a showing of what is to come.”
“Wait, Jason was dead before the dreams started. What do you mean what is to come?”
“ He and everyone you know will end up in hell if you do not save us from this hell. You need to do what is asked of you. And what is asked of you is to defeat the demon hoard that is coming to kill you. And to take over earth.
Brian gulped and stepped back for a second, then he went still. His face lit up momentarily. He was scared, but there was only one answer and that is to fight against whatever was coming. So he simply wandered back and forth and deliberated. “I will do it, on one condition.”
“And that one condition is?”
“You come with me and my wife, Sarah, I need your precognition.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” He responded quickly, “I will do it, lets go!”