Nightmare

Nightmare

by

P. A. Matthews

         My feet pounded the asphalt; my breathing came in short gasps as I plummeted through the inky blackness of night. Something chased with a deliberate attempt to harm; the unknown element surrounding with such completeness, its essence sought me with an abomination born from evil.

         I ran, somehow realizing a part of me enjoyed this unknown element of terror infusing my brain with excitement. Impulses ran along my body, as if electric eels coursed through my arteries, charging my blood in a readying for battle. Nothing bore shapes of recognition; however, I seemingly enjoyed this franticness infusing my brain.

         As my heels struck pavement, the reverberated footfalls of whatever loomed in that piece of blackness, traveled the road and absorbed through my legs. The sensation compelled me forward, altering my gait until our combined steps beat an irregular, syncopated rhythm that echoed through the nowhere of night.

         Noticing a nuance of filtered light permeating true night, I quickened my pace, aiming myself toward the shadowless slice of gray in hopes of finding direction or a place to hide. Reaching the pocket of diffused light made me more vulnerable than the state of black. I stepped away, confused by the inability to establish my location. As I struggled for comprehension, I realized there was little brain to work with and most of my reactions were only the imprinted nature of my ancient brain guiding me.

         I stood dazed for a moment; moisture trickled in my eyes, blinding while I tried to focus, my body soon awash in perspiration now that I’d stopped. Sweat etched my face, and as I licked my salted lips, something new added itself to the terror of blank memory—blood.

         Gingerly running my hands through my hair found the follicles sticky. I pulled my hands away, while easing toward the haze and thrust my fingers into the gray. Bloody clumps of hair clung defiantly to my fingers in a mass of torn scalp. Was this why I couldn’t remember?

         Stopping cost me precious time and whatever pursued drew closer as its pull of energy sought me. I began my frantic pace again, slamming exhausted feet against the pavement in an effort of escape.

         Heated tendrils of breath wrapped around my neck as if it bore a mouth to bite and claim my life. My run became futile as my blood and sweat blinded; pain infused my head and body with another attack before I fell.

         Scraping my hands along the ground informed me I was no longer on hardened road, but lay on a grassy spot. The gray widened, allowing me a glimpse of my attacker.

         The scent of whatever lay hidden within that nightmare assaulted me. A large black beast covered in glistening blood entered the haze of gray, its mouth consumed by yellowed fangs grinned a perverse imitation of a smile, while silver faceted eyes honed in with a gleaming stare. The beast stopped before me, then rose on its haunches, transforming into a man.

         Dragging my body across the grass made its sweet smell nauseating as it mixed with the stench surrounding the beast. He walked steadily toward me, his hands outstretched in a non-threatening posture. Blood surged through my brain, heightening the terror that existed, yet I was drawn to my pursuer.

         He laid at my feet in obeisance. “Master.”

         “You called me master?” I stared into his faceted eyes as he rose to a kneeling position.

         “Yes.”

         I swiped at the hot drops of blood from my face.

         “Allow me, master.”

         He took my hand and began cleaning the blood with his tongue, and then continued to my face. The movement of his tongue calmed the portion of me that remained confused, and soon I found myself stroking his back as if he were a pet. I lay on the grass and stared into nothingness.

         “Who are you and why am I your master?”

         The beast laid aside me. “I am your bogle, anathema of the nightmares. I am bête noire. You are my master because you are That Which Disturbs True Night, purveyor of nightmares among the Host of the Unseelie.”

         “If I am your master, why do you pursue me?”

         “I am your protectorate and have been searching, due to your injuries.”

         “I remember none of these things. How did I become injured, yet am able to run?”

         The beast snarled. “There was a spell cast when you struck your latest nightmare, you became part of the nightmare you desired for another.”

         Cold unease replaced the energy pulsing through me. “You are saying I have a more powerful enemy?”

         “Yes, someone intent on your demise.”

         I sat up and stared at the beast. If I was his master, then I held greater power and now was the time to use it. “Take me home, we have a score to settle.”

         The beast grinned wickedly. “Welcome back, master.”

The End

Word count 819