Runnin' with the Devil

Mind Fog

[1164 words]
~
You opened your eyes and were met with the sight of Eddie asleep next to you. You turned over and saw that everything was completely normal. Your mind raced with questions as you returned to your back, staring at the ceiling. You pressed your hands to your face for a moment before dropping them onto your stomach. You felt Eddie shift a bit and looked over at him. His eyes squinted open and he gave you a sleepy smile.

"What are you doing up?"

He questioned in a soft tone that brought about a bit of calm. You drew in a deep breath and turned to face him.

"Just had a weird dream."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just weird."

Eddie gave a slow nod and laid a hand on your cheek. You gave him a soft smile and laid your hand on top of his.

"I'm okay, really."

"Whatever you say, baby bat."

His eyes then slowly shut again. You felt his hand go limp, in response, you moved his hand to the bed. You stayed in your position for a moment, watching Eddie fall back into his deep sleep. You then turned over again, now facing away from him. You gave a soft sigh, still confused from the dream.

"Why did they show me that?"

You muttered to yourself, thinking aloud. The thought of the jar kept popping into the forefront of your mind, along with the comment the figure had made about how sweet it was. You couldn't decipher what they meant by that comment or what the meaning of the dream was as a whole. The sight of the flames meeting appeared in your vision for a moment as you laid there in thought. You then leaned back for a moment to ensure that Eddie was asleep. Once seeing that he was, you slowly slid out of the bed and away from him. You crept across your room and to your vanity. You pulled open the drawer that held your candles and took one out. You rolled it around in your hands, studying the symbols that you had carved into it. You heard Eddie shuffle around in the bed and your attention shot back to him. He seemed like he was still asleep but you could no longer tell, as he was now facing away from you. You drew in a quiet deep breath and looked back into your drawer. You saw an empty jar, reminiscent of the ones you had seen in the dream. You set the candle down on your vanity and grabbed the jar. You quickly looked around your room, afraid that the dream was still happening but everything was normal. You looked back down at the empty jar in your hand with a confused expression. You then shut the drawer and looked back over to Eddie. After a few moments, you quietly walked out of the room, shutting the door behind you.

"What was in that jar?"

You thought aloud again as you made your way into the kitchen. You flipped on the light and walked over to one of the counters. You leaned on your elbows against the countertop and studied the empty jar. More comments from the figure played in your mind as you studied it.

"You may refer to me as...The Reaper...that is simply one of my many aliases..."

Your confusion only grew and you dropped the jar onto the counter. As you pressed your hands to your face in frustration, the jar rolled to the ground and shattered. You paid no mind to it as you attempted to put the pieces together. You were so lost in thought that you didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming into the kitchen. The only thing that broke you from your thoughts was the sound of Eddie's concerned voice.

"Baby bat?"

You quickly dropped your hands and looked over to him. He was staring down at the broken glass and lone cork on the tiles with a confused expression. You then dropped your head and gave a heavy sigh as you laid your hands on the back of your head.

"What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"Talk to me, baby bat."

You lifted your head and looked back over at him. You then glanced down at the broken glass on the floor. You quickly turned around and slid down to the floor next to the glass, resting your arms on your knees. Eddie walked over to you and crouched down in front of you. Your eyes stayed fixed on the floor between your knees.

"I don't know how to explain it. Even if I did, you'd think I'm crazy."

You felt Eddie rest his hand on your arm in attempts to comfort you. You could feel his eyes on you and that same odd sensation that came from kissing him, returned.

"I promise you...I won't think you're crazy. Just talk to me, even if it doesn't make sense."

"These dreams just came out of nowhere. I don't know what they mean or why they're happening. There was this...figure. They called themself The Reaper...and they showed me these weird jars. There was this circle of candles—and the flames—and the darkness—and the red light—and you—and...none of it makes sense to me."

"It sounds like they're just a couple of bad dreams, baby bat."

Eddie sounded unusually cheerful given your state. He borderline laughed as he spoke. You picked your head up to look at him and saw him wearing a goofy smile on his face. You assumed this was just his attempt at trying to make you feel better.

"You're probably right...but why are they happening, and why are they so...strange?"

"You're just stressing yourself out by trying to find meaning in them. Why don't you go ahead and head back to bed? I'll clean this up and I'll be back in there with you."

Mentally exhausted and defeated, you nodded and stood up. Eddie pulled you into a tight hug and kissed your forehead before shooing you off to your bedroom.

~

Laying back down, questions still danced around in your mind. Most of them consisted of the figure, their words, and the meaning of them. That was until a couple questions stood out to you.

"How did he know that I had left if he went back to sleep? Did he hear the glass breaking—he couldn't have, he was asleep...right?"

You muttered to yourself, hoping that verbalizing your thoughts would help you to comprehend them better and hopefully rationalize an answer. Unfortunately, you were at a loss. You decided to just brush them off. Surely there was a good explanation for the whole thing and you were just too exhausted to find it. You shook your head a bit and attempted to get yourself to relax again. After a moment, you quickly fell back asleep.