Afton Random Books

Main AU: Nightmare

They left Oliver's house after exchanging a few greetings and saying goodbye, saying they might visit again.

He stared out the car window, watching the vehicles passing by, it only took them an hour and a half to get home—if there was too much traffic it would take more than an hour to get home. Noah cast his eyes to the other side after that, noticing Michael who was sitting beside him—his husband was arguing with the auburn-haired girl who sat behind with the youngest who was quietly watching a movie on his phone, while his two father-in-laws were talking about other things.

Then his red eyes rolled out the window again. Drowsiness hit him shortly after they left, his body felt heavy so he rested his back against the back of the car seat. He was feeling tired, probably because he had worked late yesterday helping William fix one of the Funtimes.

Noah closed his eyes slowly, his consciousness began to fade as he could no longer hear the conversation in the car clearly. He began to dissolve in his sleep.

His dream was starting to appear. A scene in a vast meadow, cool breeze, peaceful feelings. He saw the figure of a woman who he knew very well as his mother, waiting for him in the distance, smiling. His lips pulled upwards, he stepped closer towards the woman. The closer he was, the farther his mother was. He walked, but the steppe seemed to lengthen, all slowly faded, darkened.

His steps stopped, he was confused, soon gasped when he felt someone pulling him back. It was as if he had fallen from a cliff, himself floating in the void. Instead of everything being black and dark, the surroundings were ... full of change. The atmosphere turned red, then bright yellow, white, black, red, bright blue, white, green. The rapidly alternating colors made his head hurt so much. Black smoke emerged from below, which he didn't know where the surface was, grabbed his ankles and tugged hard.

His body was thrown into a room, he felt shrunk, then cast glances in all directions regardless of his throbbing head. Then he heard his father's voice, screaming at him, but the moment froze. The man's figure froze at the door, yet his scream was loud. He felt the shrink, the fear. His feet walked away from the door quickly, then his back hit the wall.

A hand appeared from the wall and gripped his arm tightly, he gave a shriek of shock and turned his head; it was his father again. His face was seeping through the wall, staring at him in wrath. The walls changed into door, the entire room suddenly became a different space than before. This time there was no sound whatsoever, but the moment no longer froze. He felt his body being pulled and he couldn't fight back no matter how hard he tried. His bloodshot eyes were darting around in panic, especially after seeing a whip in his father's other hand while he was still being dragged away.

The same black smoke appeared from the opposite direction, gripping his ankles again. He felt himself being pulled in two different directions, before the smoke won out and managed to drag him before throwing him. The colors returned, the pain in his head increased. He was stranded on a floor, laughter everywhere, his blonde hair dripping with liquid while food splattered on the floor. His collar was pulled back, and he came face to face with his bully. Jackson smirked at him, calling him a monster as usual before slamming himself back on the floor then pressing his head down with his foot.

He tried to fight, rebel and all kinds of efforts he made, but he was powerless. His teenage body was too small to compare with Jackson's, even more so with the difference in their strength. His red eyes were watery, his chest felt very tight as he tried to escape. Situations changed again quickly, but still with the same person. His condition that was on the floor and then suddenly stood up made his blood rise quickly and his head felt like it was going to explode. His face hit a locker with a loud bang, blood pouring from his nose.

He wanted to scream, but no sound came out. He couldn't wake up from this dream. The dream then pulled him back into a different situation; closed circus. His father came back with a prod, shouting at him to jump from a height immediately. His legs wouldn't move, his breath seemed to stop as his father grew and grew bigger. The circus tent was finally broken, and the people were gigantic, surrounding him including his father. He could see Jackson, as well as the girl he once liked looking down on him, whispering to someone.

The whispering continued to someone else, then so on. Papers and trophies fell from the sky, alternating colors that clouded the dream. He couldn't breathe, he wanted to get up, he was scared.

Then it was all gone.

A hand appeared out of nowhere, cupping his face gently and warmly.

"Noah? Noah! Noah wake up!"

His eyes opened rapidly and his breathing was a mess, he was gasping for air while his body was trembling violently. The throbbing head brought him back to reality, a very painful dizziness. He couldn't breathe, the nausea skyrocketing too fast and he pounded on the car door in panic, his eyes unable to look at his family who were now looking at him in worry because he straight away opened the door the moment the car pulled up and fell to his knees on the pavement. His heart was beating fast, too fast. Then he vomited the contents of his stomach.

However, he only saw ... a red, thick, iron taste red liquid dripping from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes widened and he gasped, tears welling up in his eyes as he dragged himself backwards with his gaze still focused on the blood clot. His back hit something and his dream flashbacks assaulted him, he shrieked and was about to try to escape, but a pair of arms hugged him from behind tightly.

"Calm down, son, calm down. Take a deep breath, do it with me, take a breath with me, do it slowly."

His tears flowed down as he followed the instructions, even though it was hard for him to concentrate but the sound made him feel safe. His lips trembled, his trembling fingers reached for the hands that held him. "I want to go home," he whispered in a broken voice. "I want to go home—I want to go home ... please ...."

William softened his gaze, stroking his dson-in-law's blonde hair gently. "We're going home, don't worry Noah, you're safe with me."

He couldn't say anything else after hearing those words, only muffled sobbing could be heard.