SleepWalker

Chapter 4

The little girl pulled the covers over her head. Every creak in the house shook her to the core. Fear, the birthright of every human child filled her heart and soul completely.
A single moonbeam penetrated her curtains, illuminating the six year old's face. A noise startled her. She darted her eyes from side to side, trying to find the source of the sound. And then she saw the Sandman.
The moonbeam seemed to bend and materialize into the form of a tall thin man. He had deep-set black eyes and pale skin.
"Ah child," He said chuckling. "Sleep is precious, little one. Time for bed."
The girl cowered behind her blankets, not daring to peek at the ghostly apparition.
"Go away," she squeaked.
"Oh I will," The Sandman said, a little miffed. "No need to be pushy. But first..."
He made a grasping movement, as if he was grabbing hold of the moonbeam, and blew into his hand. A silvery powder billowed out of it, settling all over the girl and her bed. She felt sleep overtake her, her eyelids getting heavy. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Sleep tight, little one." The Sandman brushed her forehead lightly. He leaned in close, close enough to whisper.
"Ah you have no idea how powerful your dreams can really be. You don't know the future you have waiting for you. But I do. When the time is right, I will find you."
Morpheus, The Sandman, stepped to the window-sill. There were more restless souls waiting for his touch. It was time to go. At least, for now.
He turned to face the little girl, now fast asleep.
"Until we meet again, Darcy Jones." He whispered, slowly fading into the moonlight. "Sweet dreams."
Darcy sat up groggily. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, a plain room with almost no furniture save the small cot she was lying on. She had no recollection of how she got there. She remembered dreaming, only this dream was different. She had been a little girl and she had met someone, someone frightening.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called. The door opened and a lit candle hovered into the room.
"Um hello," she said. "Am I a prisoner?"
"You know you're talking to a candle right?" Came a voice from beyond the door. Morpheus strode in, a small smile playing on his lips. His skin seemed less pale, more healthy. Not that it mattered to Darcy.
"I thought maybe it could talk back," she replied meekly.
"Just because demons and ancient gods are real, doesn't mean Beauty and the Beast is. Besides, that movie is nothing like the book."
"You know that can be said about every movie ever right?"
"Sadly, yes."
Morpheus moved closer, his eyes fixed on hers. Darcy gulped. His eyes were even more mesmerising here.
"Darcy," he asked very slowly. "Do you remember your dream?"
"I do," she nodded. "Though... It's the strangest thing, I can't shake the feeling I haven't really woken up yet."
Morpheus smiled a knowing smile.
"That's because you haven't," he said. "Your still in a dream. Welcome to my world."
"What?"
"That's right. You're still dreaming. I am the Lord of Dreams. I'm one of the most ancient beings in existence. "
"Well you don't look so bad," Darcy had to admit it. The Lord of Dreams was kinda ... well, dreamy.
"I don't really look like this," he said, breaking into a smile. "In fact I almost don't remember what I look like."
"Are there a lot of people like you?"
"A few," he said. "But none of them are quite like me."
Darcy sat up. Now that she thought about it, this was obviously a dream. She didn't remember how she had reached the room or why she was there. Also, the closer she looked, the more certain she was that not everything was a normal. The window showed a beautiful spring day but the sky had bands of multiple colours stretched across it like auroras.
"Okay," she said. "Can you give me an explanation? About you and me and the Devil and why the hell he's so obsessed with my rice bits and why he asked me to marry him?!"
Morpheus sat down beside her and sighed. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as if to jog his memory.
"Alright," he said. "I suppose my story is the easier one to tell, though that's not saying much.
"The most powerful weapon in the world isn't the nuclear bomb. It's human belief. If enough people believe in something, that thing can come true. This is the most important thing you need to remember.
Now, gods and monsters and almost all other immortals draw their power from this belief. But there are a few whose power comes from other sources. I'm one of them.
We've all been called many names throughout history. I have a bit of a liking to the name Morpheus, so that's the one I usually go by. I am the personification of dreams. Every person in the world has their own personalised dream worlds, with their own dream creatures. All those dream worlds are connected here, to the Dreamscape. I draw my power directly from your ability to dream. And I don't mean just humans, mind you. Everyone dreams, even gods."
"So you're like a really powerful guy," Darcy said. "Got it. And I suppose vampires and werewolves and Bigfoot and all those other things are real too?"
"Yes," he nodded. "Well not Bigfoot. That's just a guy in a suit."
"So the Devil is real," she said. "I'm not going mad."
"Oh I don't know about that," Morpheus said playfully. "I see a lot of humans in my line of work. If you ask me, you're all mad."
"Okay..." Darcy said. "But why does the Devil want me?"
"I haven't the foggiest," He replied. "But whatever his intentions are, they can't possibly be good."
"So will you help me?" She asked hopefully. "I mean, you did help already and I'm really grateful and all but..."
"Actually," he interrupted her. "I was going to ask you the same question."
"What? Why?"
"Well your new stalker and I are old enemies. And you are the enemy of my enemy. According to you mortals, that makes you my friend. I could use a friend against an enemy like him."
"So, you'll help?"
"Not exactly," he raised a finger to stop her. "I will help you, yes. But don't think I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart. I have my reasons and when the time is right, I will reveal them to you."
"Great," Darcy said, feeling a newfound excitement. "Where do we start?"
"The mortal realm," Morpheus offered her his hand. She placed her hand in his. His touch was warmer now, more... alive. Maybe it was the effect of being on his own turf.
Darcy closed her eyes and felt a tingling sensation, like being pulled up from the bottom of a well and realised she was waking up.

Author's note: This one is probably the biggest chapter I've written so far in this book. The story at the beginning is another short story of mine which was the original idea behind Morpheus. Please do listen to the song attached, it's a totally creepy (translation: awesome) Russian lullaby. I hope you all liked that introduction into my lil crazy world 😉 I'm still looking for a good artist to make my book cover so if you're interested please let me know in the comments. Keep reading for more, Cheers.