Endless Dream

Unwelcome Visitor

Unity was content to remain in the nursery scape that she created, stroking the white rabbit blissfully. Unity adored animals and had begged her mother and father for an animal of her own since she could speak. She longed for a playmate to join her and a protector to comfort her on stormy evenings as Mr Archibald was getting too large to share her bed. Unfortunately, her father had an affliction where the fur of animals made him sneeze terribly, sometimes giving him blinding headaches that left him weak for days. Chickens were the only animal that did not trigger an episode, but the beady, empty eyes of the beasts frightened Unity deeply.

Iris moved to the floor, a distance from the girl and supervised the interaction, keeping a watchful eye on her. The girl was curious, her dreams feeling more vivid and alive than any other. Iris sometimes wondered if she was human, pondering the peculiarity of her thoughts and ideas.

Iris conjured a novel to their hands, flicking through the pages of Alice In Wonderland. Unity had told them it was her favourite, so they decided to read it, knowing how the girl would burst with joy at them sharing her interests. The girl would call them 'Red Eyes' or compare them to the playing card knights that protected the Queen of Hearts. Iris hadn't understood the connection but played along with her theories and indulged her imagination by allowing thornless red roses to bloom in the dreamscape.

Iris read lazily, skimming over the descriptions of Wonderland, thinking how they could create such a vivid landscape. They kept an ear out for the girl's laughter and the chirruping sounds the small animal made, occasionally checking on them with a quick glance.

"Hello, what's your name?" Unity asked. Iris grinned, waiting for the rabbit to reply.

"You can call me John," Iris' blood ran cold. They recognised the voice immediately and turned slowly to where Unity sat on the floor. A tall man in a pale coat, dressed in a fine suit, stood over her, holding the rabbit in his hands.

Iris put the book down and tried to creep unnoticed towards Unity. The girl laughed at the man, "What's your last name?" she asked politely. Iris was on all fours, slowly slinking closer to Unity, hoping the nightmare didn't see them.

"I don't have one," he said, tightly closing his grip around the rabbit squirming in his hands. Unity was blissfully unaware of the danger she was in. Iris hadn't summoned a nightmare here; they despised them and would never allow them within an inch of the girl.

"Everyone has one," she argued, stroking the rabbit that stared at her with wide-eyed fear. Its chest heaved up and down. Iris was past the table and within arm's reach of Unity, her dress just out of Iris' grasp.

"Do you have one, Iris?" he said with a cold voice, turning his head to Iris. The rabbit shrieked, chattering its teeth as he tightened his grip harder. It kicked at him with its back legs, shredding his trousers. Unity started backing away from him, crawling towards Iris, who held their arms open to her.

"You're hurting the rabbit, sir," she said shakily, putting her hands over her ears as the rabbit screamed louder.

The nightmare moved his hand to its neck, and the rabbit flailed side to side, trying to escape his deathly grip. Iris tried to dissolve the rabbit, but the nightmare's magick was tightly coiled around it; they no longer had control of its form. Unity started to cry, throwing herself into Iris' arms, "I'm not hurting him. I'm setting him free," Iris pressed the girl into their chest and covered her ears as the rabbit's neck made a deafening crack. The animal went limp and dangled from the nightmare's hands.

Iris muttered something under their breath, comforting Unity. The incantation was meant to wipe the dream from her memory, sheltering her from the nightmare's influence. The monster grinned sinisterly and started to move toward the girl. Iris spoke faster, the threads of the spell surrounding Unity and easing her cries.

"Don't be like that, Iris. I just wanted to play," he tried to snatch at Unity, catching the edge of her dress as Iris finished the spell. Unity was sent back to the waking world, a pile of sand erupting from where she used to be. Iris knew the girl would awaken and scream for her father, but at least she was safe. Iris was in danger. Iris was left alone in the dreamscape with the nightmare.

"Why are you here, demon?" they spat, moving back towards the boundary of the dream.

"You wound me, Iris," he said, mocking a wound by clutching his chest, "I am far prettier than any demon, don't you think?" he removed the shaded glasses that covered his eyes. Iris looked away, knowing what horrors they hid, "Don't be rude," he said with a snarl, brandishing his bone-coloured blade. Iris hadn't heard the edge be removed from its scabbard.

"Look at me," he said, moving closer to them. Iris wasn't strong enough to fight him off. They knew that much. Besides Dream and Lucienne, the cleaners were the only beings with the numbers and strength to take down a nightmare when it went rogue. Iris knew they wouldn't be able to summon a cleaner in time or be able to get a message to Lucienne in time. They were cornered, and the nightmare was creeping ever closer.

"I said, look at me, Iris," he said again, so close that Iris could smell his vile stench. They closed their eyes tightly and tugged at the thread, yanking on it like a lifeline, hoping Dream would feel them. They kept pulling on it, feeling nothing on the other end.

The nightmare grabbed hold of their face, his nails scratching their skin. They shook with fear, refusing to open their eyes. They felt frozen, unable to flee or fend him off. Morpheus! They begged. The nightmare dragged the blunt edge of the blade along their cheek as a warning. The contact made Iris's chest pound against their ribcage. "Look at me," he ordered. They shuddered, knowing all too well that the beast had a taste for eating the eyes of his victims.

He shook their head violently, dislodging the pins from their bun. They still refused to look at him, terrified of the gnashing teeth that sat where his eyes should be. "Iris," he warned again, slicing them along the cheek. Iris winced, feeling the burn of the blade. Iris tugged one last time, screaming for Dream through the bond. Their nose began to fill with snot as they struggled to stop the shaking breath that broke free; tears pooled in their eyes, "Look at me,".

Iris sniffled, slowly opening their eyes to look at the horror. They let out a pained gasp as they locked sight with the rows of jagged, sharp teeth lining his eyelids, "Better," he said, running the blade along their eye socket.

Blood tricked into Iris' left eye, "You only kill men," they said, shuddering each syllable.

"I prefer men; you're just a treat. I want to know how you taste, changeling," he grinned before crackling Iris' left socket with the blade's pommel. They howled in pain, thrashing as he craved the socket open wider and wider. Iris' body rocked with the intense burning sensation that spread through their nerves. Blood drenched Iris' face, the strange iridescent hue of it staining their dress.

"Shhh," the nightmare cooed as they spasmed widely under the knife.

Iris choked on the iron blood that filled their mouth, unable to move as he severed their eye from its nerves and sinew. They hoped the pain would render them unconscious, but they stayed painfully alert and aware of each sever and scrape of the knife.

"Please stop!" they cried, pleading with him to remove the knife. He let go of it, wedging it between the gap in their bones. Iris limply rolled back, twitching and gargling on their own blood. The nightmare watched the sight of them seizing, his bloody hand holding their wine-red eyeball between his fingers.

He squeezed it twice, bloody ooze spurting from the optical nerve dangling from the back of it. He rolled his tongue over the iris and laughed, "Iris, get it?" he joked. He looked at Iris, who hadn't moved, just squirmed and writhed, occasionally letting out gargled weak screams.

He took hold of the optic nerve, dangled it above his mouth, and plopped it in. The eye squelched and popped inside his mouth. He wiped the edges of his mouth with his sleeve, "Decadent," he remarked, leaning over them and yanking the knife back out of their head. The force of the pull made their head crack back into the floor.

Iris sobbed; their cries were silent. Dream wasn't coming. He had abandoned them, they thought. They had pushed too far, angered him too much, and now he was going to leave them to die.

He raised the knife to take the other eye, positioning it in the crook of their nose, when a loud, thundering roar tore through the sky.