I'm Not Tired (Please Let Me Sleep)

Chapter nine

There was a man standing in front of him. He was taller than himself, almost towering over him. Green eyes bored into him, seemed to pick him apart with looks alone. It was a menacing sight, the man tilting his head to the sight a little as a grin stretched out on his face, going beyond the natural borders of a grin. It ripped open the skin on his face, exposing the upper and lower row of teeth as blood slowly dripped from the grin. The white of his eyes slowly began to turn dark, leaving his green irises even more vibrant and dangerous. It set something inside of him off, a fear and a need for something, a desperate call trying to worm its way out of his throat.

Tommy swallowed and briefly looked at his hands, checking to see if this was real.

It was not.

The fingers went through his palms.

Okay, he could work with this. He wasn't sure why the bracelet wasn't doing its job like the Syndicate had promised it would but there was no use dwelling on it now. His eyes flickered back to Dream, the man not having moved and simply continued staring at him. Their surroundings were black as if they faced each other in the abyss. It was weird, usually, he'd simply recreate the last place where Tommy had fallen asleep in so it would be harder for him to figure things out.

They were floating in the weird black abyss and yet, when Dream moved towards him, footsteps echoed around them. Tommy took in a deep breath, keeping his eyes trained on his old guardian and constantly reminded himself that this was not real. No matter how real it may seem, how much pain there might be to come. None of it was real.

He himself could not move, probably due to the bastard not wanting him to get away from him but it seemed it wasn't necessary. Dream stopped floating towards him, the grin dropping as he reached out a hand. It looked like he was pressing his hand against glass, the palm clearly being stopped by something but nothing was there.

Tommy shivered, now balling his hands into fists and digging his slightly sharper-than-usual nails into his palms. He blamed that on him chewing on his nails, a nervous habit that he actually hadn't done in a bit, ever since the Syndicate had taken care of him. But it still was the reason why his nails seemed to be a bit sharper. Must've been.

Dream clicked his tongue, green eyes now skimming over seemingly nothing as he brought another hand to the invisible border, trying to push through it. Nothing happened, he only made himself look silly and the man seemed to be aware of that as he soon stopped.

The abyss around them morphed rapidly into something else. Tommy blinked at the sudden brightness, then almost choked when he realised where he was. It was his old room in Dream's house, the closet specifically. His chest tightened up immediately when he noticed that the doors of the closet were closed, probably locked as well. One of the many punishments the man had used on him when he hadn't behaved like he wanted him to behave or failed at his training.

This was still a dream. None of this was real. No matter how real it might feel. It was not real. It was not real. It was not real. It was not-

His surroundings changed again and they were back in the abyss. Tommy didn't know when he'd stopped breathing but he soon noticed it when he drew in a deep, painful breath. A dull pain. Still not reality.

Dream narrowed his eyes and then punched against the invisible wall. There was no sound but Tommy still flinched.

"It seems you got some help."

A shudder ran down his spine at the horribly contorted voice of his former guardian, words coated in venom and disapproval. He forced himself to swallow down the itch in his throat and said nothing, eyes steadily remaining on the man's face while constantly reminding himself that none of this was real.