Father Like Son

Chapter Twenty

~From the other chapter~

"I-I had a dream about you.." Delilah said clearly scared on the other line.

~Now~

Chris's eyes widen in shock when she said that. He secretly hoped that it wasn't like his dream, sadly he was horribly mistaken.

"What do you mean? I thought dreams were normal."

"They are but this one was about y-you."

"Dee, Do me a favor and breathe for me and explain," Chris spoke.

She caught her breath, but her voice was still shaky.

"R-remember that question I gave you in the forest?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I remember that i-in the dream Nightmare called you at-trader and he k-killed you right in front of me. I-I was angry and t-tried to attack him. He just s-slammed me into the p-portal and it closed on it all. I-I was s-scared...I didn't want to lose you! And I still don't. I'm sorry-"

"Dee, It's ok. I'm still here. Trust me on this one."

"I-I know. I just wanted to say that I care about you..."

"Feeling's mutual. I do find it strange that we had the same dream or something alike to it."

"Wait you had that dream too?"

"Yeah, strange right. The only thing about mine was that the time frame or whatever extended further along like a month after it all."

"Really? Mine ended when the portal closed."

"That's weird. how about we talk about this Thursday? Is that good for you?"

"Y-yeah, maybe I won't be as phased as I am now."

"Try listening to calming music while writing what happened down so you won't forget it ok?"

She hummed in response as she gave off a sad laugh finally giving in to the fear that she once had for the night terror.

"Alright, thanks, Chris."

"Your welcome. See you then."

"See you then..."

She hung up on him and he leaned against the wall, letting out a sigh. He looked down at the floor in abnormal curiosity. How come they had a similar dream? He wasn't sure. Maybe it was Nightmare's doing to try to scare him. Or it was just his imagination trying to play deceitful tricks on him. Either way, he was spooked but not enough to keep him from hanging out with Delilah. He was glad that she didn't ghost him though, and at least told him about it. He began to walk around the place assuming that the game session was over for now. He wandered into the meeting room where Nightmare held most of the meetings for the others to discuss plans and stuff. He shut the door so no one would know that he's in there. He knew that there was a secret room below the surface so he wanted to check it out himself without anyone this time. He's been there before so he was not a stranger to the dangers that lurked below. He decided to put his earbuds in and listen to music on his phone. He touched the third wall gently (Because the fourth wall breaks happen a lot) and the wall went in then turned left showing an array of stairs leading down. He descended the stairs one by one individually. When he finally made it down he saw a red button that made the stairs disappear and reappear whenever he pleased so he pressed it causing the wall to return to where it belonged. He looked around saw the room was harshly dimmed to the point where he could barely see any light at all except the button that glowed red. He sighed as he created a spark to see if there were any switches around. Chris failed to find any light switches but did see that there were two sets of lanterns hung up on both sides of the entrance. He grabbed one of the lanterns and lit it from the inside. Once it was lit he took another glance at where he was. It looked like an underground cave maze. He saw this cursed opportunity to explore it all. there was nothing much in there. Underground there were two tunnel-like pathways that lead to different directions. He went through the right one and saw the illuminating crystals that were on the sides of it. All of them were different colors and shapes. They were glittery when the light was around them. He felt the ground above shake a bit causing a crystal to fall out in front of him. It was a clear one, out of curiosity he picked it up and eyed it from a close angle. All of a sudden he felt weaker and saw that the crystal was turning into a purplish-gray color. He knew he should've come more prepared. He collapsed onto his knees as his eyes began to fade to gray. He groaned as more of the power was drained from him. He felt like he was dying slowly and painfully. Then he felt a memory flash right before him.

"Kid, remember to not touch these with your bare skin, you see those are made to drain souls into these crystals. If you hold it long enough it can kill you or make you faint depending on how strong you are-"

When the memory came to an abrupt ending when he heard a low growl coming from the darkness. It came out of hiding and Chris's eyes widened as he saw the shadow creature reveal itself. It was a panther-like creature that was made out of pure darkness. Its eyes wear a dark purple color with a star-like shine in them. Why is it here? Then Chris remembered that shadow creatures feed off of fear and soul power.  Both things that he has.

"W-what..."

It didn't respond, it only glared at him lowly as if it were hungry for blood, human blood to be exact. Chris tried to stand up as quickly as he could quickly stumbling into the wall, now using it to support his body. He hurt the hand in the process as it hit roughly against the wall when he stumbled into it. With his free hand, he raised the crystal with his sleeve covering it in an attempt to dampen its power. The shadow however looked at him like he was about to make the wrong move. Chris smirked coldly, knowing that it wants the crystal even if it kills it. 

"D-do you want this or something? Sorry but this is mine."

Chris weakly raised his arm and threw it harshly to the ground causing it to break into pieces. The power returned to him shortly after but was still weakened by its effects. At least he didn't need the wall anymore. The panther however shook its head and bowed down in front of Chris for some reason. Chris shocked carefully went up to the creature leaving his lantern behind. When he was close enough to it he started to pet it, Chris was surprised when he felt actual fur. It must think that he was royalty. He doubts that Nightmare had anything to do with this. He didn't even see it until now. The shadow purred softly almost like a kitten. Chris gave off a small laugh before stopping.

"See? That wasn't so bad. You don't look like you have a name...how about lantern?"

It looked up at Chris in excitement. 

"Lantern it is then."

They both heard a yell from above ground. Looks like it was time for him to go. Lantern whimpered knowing that it was time for him to go.

"Sorry Lantern. I have to go."

Lantern went in front of him attempting to stop him from leaving.

"Girl, I promise that I'll visit you tomorrow ok?" Chris said petting her head once more.

Knowing that he had to leave went back to her den blending in with the shadows that consumed her. Chris smiled and left the shadow's cave.