Soul Stone

The Stuff of Nightmares

Sara woke up to a searing pain stretching across her chest. It felt as though someone had poured gasoline onto her collarbone, and lit a match. Though she didn't scream, she let out a grunt, and grabbed at her chest, as silently as she could. When she looked around, she finally came to the realization that her stone was glowing on her chest. She took it off her neck for a moment, holding it by the rope she'd attached to it in order to wear it as a necklace. Though it was really no brighter then a traffic light, it had still felt as though she was on fire while she wore it. She touched a finger to it, hesitantly. The heat had stopped radiating off of it, but it still glowed. She quietly slid it back onto her neck, and slid out of bed, taking stock of what had been going on.

She'd been having a dream. Not a usual dream at all, either. She'd been walking into a cave, then there'd been a flash of white light, and the cave had illuminated itself in red light, similar to the way her stone was glowing now. Next thing she knew, she was speeding through the catacombs of the cave, as though she were some kind of guided missile. What happened next, she wasn't sure of. All she knew was that it involved water, and the room flipping and spinning rapidly, as her soul stone constantly came near escaping her grasp. Every time she grabbed it, though the room was still oddly mute, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as though she were truly drowning and the stone were her only lifeline. Almost the next time she blinked, the water was carrying her and she couldn't escape. She was plunged over the edge of a dead-end trail, before landing hard in a giant cavern. At that point, her mind got a little more... jumbled, she supposed. First, she was slowly moving toward an old man sitting in the fetal position, shaking violently. Next, she was staring into the soulless eyes of the most terrifying, nightmarish monster she'd ever laid eyes on. In a sequence that hurt her head to recall, she flipped between staring in abject horror as the old man turned into what could only be perceived as the grim reaper, and then a demon, once again. Then, suddenly, it had stopped, and she was staring into the terrified, uncertain eyes of Zeke Alistair. That was what had shocked her into awakening.

************************************************

Zeke glanced around, warily. The red light hadn't followed him into the crack in the wall, though when he turned around, he could still see it glowing faintly behind him. His eyes traced the pathway he was taking before he continued to move further into the hell he only seemed to be inviting more with every step. If he was beginning to have second thoughts about the cave, it was a little late to act on them at that point.

Finally as he continued on his way, forced to walk because of the lack of room he had, he began to see a glimmer of telltale red light at the end of his little road. He sped up a bit, tripping over something on the way but too intrigued to care. What new demon was waiting for him at that red light?

He darted through the crack, but the blinding red light that awaited him momentarily stunned him. He stumbled backwards, almost falling into the crack again due to the brilliance of it. When his head ceased to spin, and his balance was recovered, he cast a glance around the room. It was empty, and almost devoid of noise. He took an uncertain step forward, and suddenly, he felt as though razorblades were cutting into him. He ducked down, crossing his arms in front of his face, and suddenly, a fist encased in a blackish-gray glow slammed into his stomach with enough force to destroy the average ribcage. His feet left the ground, and he skidded across the ground for a couple seconds when he finally hit the ground. When he looked up, he was staring into two oddly familiar faces.

Two monsters glared down at him. Both resembled incredibly familiar people. More specifically, they resembled Kayne and the guy he'd fought at the clothing store, previously. The only difference was that both seemed to almost be made of white marble, and though faceless, were easily identifiable. For one thing, the body shapes were identical to his old adversaries, and for another, the one that looked like Kayne was carrying what appeared to be a guitar on his back.