Endless Dreams: Storm of Nightmares Ch I

Chapter I

The night was dark and the clouds covered the light of the moon from shining upon the vast city called Lemis. A city that consumed a large island almost worthy to be called a continent of its own if other continents ever existed on the planet. The streets were still wet from the afternoon shower. The homeless crouched around trying to keep themselves warm and dry while a drunken couple began to show their affection against a street lamp. A taxi cab drove by honking a car to continue moving and a stray dog leaped from a trash dumpster with little success for food. In the distance, tall city buildings were the main source of light, where the wealthy worked and the scene felt rich. Around the corner was a small food store with only one customer paying at the counter. He emerged from the sliding doors with both hands carrying plastic bags.

The young man was 19 years old and stood at 5’10’’. His skin was dark brown and wore a dark brown coat that had short sleeves. His left hand was as normal as ever, but his right had long black bandages covering what the coat couldn’t as the right sleeve had been torn off and never repaired. His hair was jet black with brown highlights and his eyes were brown as well. He wore a blue t-shirt and black jeans, and was in a decor of two chains at the belt that hung from the buckle to a belt loop. Across his chest was a brown leather belt strap that held a sheath on his back. He also had a chain on his coat pocket where he kept an old fashioned gold pocket watch with roman numerals. He stepped up to the edge of the sidewalk in wait for a vehicle putting his bags down. He took out his pocket watch and noted the time, 11:12 A.M. Just another 45 minutes till it was time for everyone to go to sleep. Putting his watch back he saw a yellow taxi cab pull up beside him. He placed his groceries in the trunk and stepped into the back seat, and the car drove off.

The young man leaned his head against the window as he watched the scene of the city slide past him through the watery glass. It was a poor neighborhood as one could tell. Graffiti sprayed on every other building, posters from a few years back still hung loose and metal bars protected closed stores from thieves. Though the scene may have looked depressing it was nothing new to watch. He had been living this life for many years. The cab came to a stop at a stop light while pedestrians walked across. “You’re coming, right Syrus?” the drive asked. “Yeah… maybe.” Once the light turned green the cab continued on its way. Syrus shifted his eyes from the ever seeing window to the rear view mirror to take a look at his driver.

“Lace got us some new info. Very juicy stuff,” the drive began.
“So. What is it this time then? Are we going to go on another intelligence gathering mission?”
“Na. We gotta retrieve some supplies off a ship coming from the north side of the city. Somethin’ big in this one.”
“Oh, and what’s that?” Syrus questioned in surprise.
“Dunno. Lace doesn’t know either. All we know is that Kulux placed a top high priority on this shipment.”
“Hmmm… This will be new. But… I still want to know when we’re actually going to be doing damage to the company rather than just watching them.”
“Heh don’t worry there. Lace has some news about that as well,” the driver laughed.
“Well I’ll ask Bahamut if he has anything new. He never does.”          

         The cab came to a stop at an old apartment building. Syrus got his bags and headed for his room. The elevator still worked to anyone’s amazement as Syrus pulled the rusty bars to close. Going up the elevator he could see the miserable lives that lived in this low rent area. Children were sprawled about either crying or doing who knows what, and mothers who had either given up crying or trying to hold on to their last thread were in dirty rags trying to keep their life together. An argument could be heard at another room were it sounded like drugs were being dealt. He had lived in this apartment since his younger years, and no matter how long he’s been around it always broke his heart to see these scenes.

         He arrived on the fourth floor and pushed the rusty gate open and walked down the hall. The wallpaper was either peeling off or stained with graffiti, one spot had a long blood stain on it. A few rooms ahead he could see a man being kicked out of the room and a woman covering herself with her blanket throwing whatever her weak hands could throw. The man looked satisfied, which made Syrus grab him by the shirt on impulse with his bandaged right arm, dropping his grocery bags. The couple was shocked to see how high the man was being held at with one arm. He pinned the man to the ground which made his heart skip a beat. Syrus glared at him and then released him along with his tension. He continued to walk to his apartment and unlocked the door leaving the two stunned. He told himself it would be a waste of time and effort. Some things never change.

         The apartment was as cold as the rest of the building. The walls were a dark dull brown with a few water stains. The living room had a small coffee table with a T.V. against a wall and a couch. The light of the apartment was faded but just enough to see where you were going. To the left of the living room was the bedroom which belonged to Syrus. All there was in the room was a bed, dresser, night stand with an alarm clock and a window with torn curtains. To the right was a small kitchen. The sink had a few dishes and empty cans and bottles laid around. The coffee table also had empty cans and bottles as well. The place wasn’t kept so neat, but none of the tenants in the building were clean or tidy as the building itself was always in bad shape.

         Syrus stepped into the small kitchen and placed the bags on the counter setting aside a can or two. As he did he heard a loud snoring from the living room. He stole a peek over the counter to no amazement see his friend and guardian lying on the couch in an obscure way. Bahamut was a 7’5’’ tall anthro dragon whose hue was short of a light black with a grey underside. His horns complimented his features and were strong though not too thick. The only clothing he wore was a trench coat that matched Syrus’ only bigger for his size and a leather belt strap that held a sheath on his back, which he had taken off for comfort reasons. He laid his whole body on the couch with his tail dragging on the floor and his tongue hung from the side of his muzzle, which had prominate scale-bone frills jetting from his cheekbones off his muzzle. The television was on with a late night soap. Looking at Bahamut in such a pose only made Syrus smile as Bahamut was a dragon that was always serious, never seemed to smile, except when it was just the two of them.

         Syrus took out a small slice of meat and threw it at Bahamut’s face to wake him. The dragon jumped a bit which made Syrus laugh. Bahamut removed the meat from his face and looked at Syrus with the same seriously look he carried. Syrus settled down and began putting the food away. After a moment the meat slice slapped Syrus on the cheek making him flinch. “Make yourself useful and cook it,” the dragon said in a sarcastic tone that the roommates both shared. Syrus grinned and threw it back, “Why don’t you, lazy dragon breath.”

         The two sat down eating their small T.V. dinner watching a late night sitcom. After a few minutes Bahamut decided to break the silence, “So, any news?”
“Yeah. Lace found some new stuff for tonight. We’re going after a shipment of some kind, real important.”
“No lazing around this time then.”
“Guess not.”
“Hmm… You still have that thing on?” Bahamut asked nodding to the bandages.
Syrus looked at his right hand for a moment, “Oh just let it be.”
“Ghaa~ when are you going to stop caring what others say about it?”
“Oh shut up,” Syrus said with a sigh, “It’s easy for you to blend in, but…”
“But what? You don’t think people find it weird to have a dragon walking the streets with some kid?” He had a point. All the years living in the city of Lemis Syrus found that his guardian was the only dragon alive, not to mention the animal like creature on two feet to walk the streets.

         There were a few moments of silence and they finished their dinners. Getting up Bahamut reached for a bottle at a small cabinet in the kitchen. It was a small bottle with a green liquid inside that had no label. He passed it to Syrus and took a bottle for himself. Bahamut began to make myself comfortable on the couch and said, “Give yourself three and a half hours of sleep. We still want to use what night we have left.” Syrus nodded and closed the door to his room. There was barely any illumination in the room, but dim enough for him to take off his clothing save his boxers and slip into bed. As he sat down he looked at the bottle carefully. It was a sleeping potion that Bahamut had made. There were no instructions to it, but if there were it would read like so;

Sleeping Potion

This potion is designed to put the user to immediate sleep after consumption. During the state of sleep the brain will block out means of returning awake unless physical contact is made. During the last 15 minutes of sleep the brain will be prone again to wake from sounds such as an alarm clock. After consumption the user will fall asleep in 2 minutes and 40 seconds. For immediate sleep inject potion and the user will fall sleep in 10 seconds. Please use measuring cup or measuring syringe to take the proper amount of sleep. Please use with care.

         Syrus poured some of the potion into a small glass till it was at the right amount. He drank the glass and made himself comfortable. He looked at his alarm clock which read 12:03 and set the time for 3:30. He laid in wait for the potion to take into effect for a bit, and then closed his eyes to make his own effort to fall asleep. After a few more moments his mind dove into deep sleep.