The Sleepwalker

Part Three: 1̛̳̝̘̞̽ͭ̀ͥ6̻̺̻̮͎͚̅͢

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The boy screamed as he awoke from his nightmare. It was a terrible dream, it had something to do with monsters and he was the king of them and he ate other monsters to get stronger... but he couldn't control what he did. It was like he was strapped in the backseat, watching the driver run schoolchildren over.

Ben had a Night Terror.

He opened his eyes. Had it been so long since he had slept in a bed that he didn't know what to expect when he woke? Whatever he had expected it was not this.

In short he was suspended in the middle of what seemed to be a security room, because every desk was covered in a screen and keyboard. Purple slime covered him, and long tendrils hooked him up with the ceiling and walls. He struggled against them, but it was no use. What ever attached him there didn't want him moving at all.

"Jack?" Ben called out. Nothing responded but his own echo.

He wriggled around a bit more. But the tentacles barely quivered.

"Let... me... go!" He murmured, pulling at the slime on his torso. It covered him like a thin but tough film, not unlike a cocoon. Rage filled him, mostly out of the fact that he was powerless to escape.

The flesh of his arms began to lose its color as he scratched at the purple. It shrunk and turned black, and his fingernails grew and looked more like kitchen knives than nails. He did not notice.

One slash of his new hand cut the tendrils, and dropped him five feet to the floor. He landed catlike on all fours and looked down at his hands. Now he noticed the change as the black began to recede. Ben didn't have words for what happened.


"... Jack...?" He asked again, more confused than ever. Looking up at the tendrils, he saw them shrivel up and turn gray. But maybe that was just the dark shadows of the room. Surely they didn't 'die' because they got separated from him as a branch would once cut from the stalk... right?

He turned and ran from the room, out the bashed open door, and into the hallway that someone had painted red. At least he hoped it was paint. The alternative was too much to bear. He may be over twenty years of age, but still had the mind of a preteen. However, he had seen those films that everyone was talking about. They showcased lots of fake blood. Why?

Death is attractive.

It was not a voice that said this; it was a memory. A memory he did not fully remember.

After almost slipping in the 'paint', he kept on running. It felt good to do what he knew to be familiar, having done a ton of it in his past life, little of which he currently remembered.

Of course, he soon slowed down once he realized he was making far too much noise. Who built these halls? Who painted the aforementioned halls? Said halls looked almost exactly like he saw in his nightmare, which is a crazy coincidence and honestly...

Oh no. Realization dawned on him as if it was a nuclear fallout.

It wasn't a dream. Oh, it was no fantasy. It was reality.

Jack had died. Something woke up... something he had inadvertently created. It was strong, stronger than Jack.

Aware had become aware.

He had killed. So many.

Crashing down on him like a tidal wave were these memories, and it sent him reeling. He vaguely saw himself now leaning against a door in the hallway, he tried the knob, but it was locked; the outline of the door was glowing a faint red. Eventually he sunk down, back against the door and pulled his knees tight against him.

Giving up seemed like a great option. Ben reasoned that it might just be better if he was gone. No more deaths. He tried to shove the depression and grief way down in himself, as he had done before, until he realized that's what created Aware.

Sometimes memories are the worst kind of torture.

Tears didn't fall. The only liquid left in his body was blood, since he hadn't drunk water in a long while. And none of that blood inside him was his, he could tell by the fact his lips tasted coppery.

His heart was beating, but it was cold.

His brain sent messages out, but he didn't think.

Was this living.

Was he even alive.

He didn't even realize he stood until he had started walking. He knew what he had to do. And he knew he could do it.

Eventually he got to a set of wrecked double doors. Black vines covered it and spread outward, sprouting a variety of brightly colored flowers, such as red, green, blue and orange. They twirled like sawblades as he approached, but ultimately shrunk back as he passed. They recognized him, but he didn't recognize them. He went through the door.

The room was much different than it was pre-Incident. The body pile on the floor, both those who were alive and those who were not, had all been eaten, and now the ground and desks were covered in dark slimy vines, same ones that covered the walls and outside halls.

In the give-or-take center of the room, a cluster of thick black stalks grew right up and connected to a circular room way up by the ceiling. Blood red bees buzzed around; they had huge hives all up and down the vine trunk, with what seemed to be meat shoved inside them.

But the black creeper plant abrubtly changed as it took over the ceiling. Contrasted to the dark vines and colorful flowers, it suddenly began to sprout yellow leaves like the color of gold everywhere, each seemed to pulse a yellow glow. Looking up was like looking right at the sun. It was dazzling, especially since Ben hadn't seen the sun in a long, long time.

However, the false sunlight casted no light to the darkness below.

Monsters were almost everywhere, somehow thriving in a sort of ecosystem they themselves had created. Giant wolves resided in the one corner, sitting on a pile of bones. A lady with a woman's torso and spider's lower body (like a nightmare centaur) made a sort of tunnel web above them. The wolves seemed to care little, but watched her with great interest with their black beady eyes.

Among other monsters were a three-headed dog, a... goat-dinosaur-thing -with-wings, and a few stone creatures that looked like they belonged in Gotham city.

They all turned their heads in unison when Ben entered. Which was entirely what he wanted, by the way. The difference between this seemingly normal young man and these monstrous creatures was intense. He thought he looked like an easy meal.

Boy was he wrong.

A man with no head stopped nearby and turned its body toward Ben. Then got down on one knee and bowed its shoulders. Other creatures did the same, in different ways. The werewolf did not bow as the troll did.

Every King needs his kingdom. Ben heard a voice deep within him growl. It sounded dangerous. It sounded primal. It was Aware.

A centaur (Ben knew a few fantasy creatures) came forward, holding a basket woven of black roots. In it were multiple severed human heads, along with some non-human heads. Ben wondered why there was a fish skull in there.

"Welcome my lord," (excuse me but WHAT, Ben silently thought to himself) "back to the Sanctuary. We offer to you, our king, heads of the traitors as well as many mortal sacrifices." The centaur said in a low voice. It was as if they feared Ben. Or worshiped him. Maybe both.

The boy cleared his throat. "You... are not surprised to see me this way? As a weak mortal?"

The centaur dipped its head. "You warned us of your second form. We also... also created a throne for you, as you asked, and we completed it earlier than expected."

He waved a human arm to the base of the vine trunk, where a rough chair had been made from odd materials.

"The Dreadroot offered some of itself to the base," Horse-Man explained, pointing at the black roots that formed the seat, "And the Werewolves used some fur for the seat. Skulls harvested from enemies around the Sanctuary were used throughout. And it is covered in blood of the Amnesiac, your second kill... My brothers went out to get it. Only one returned with the life-liquid."

Ben was beyond confused at all this, and he didn't bother hiding it. Aware knew Ben's actions. Aware had predicted that Ben would try to kill himself by using a monster. Aware had thought ahead, and had attempted to keep Ben locked up in the tendrils.

Except Ben had done something Aware never expected. Granted, Ben didn't expect it either, but suddenly gaining claws were not something many could predict.

"Who am I to you?" Ben asked, holding up his hands as if trying to steady the world around him, because his vision was spinning.

The centaur bowed its head. "King and savior. Most powerful One. You are the Sleepwalker."

That word sent Ben to his knees. Everything came rushing back again like a bad case of deja vu. He screamed, but he didn't hear it. None of this was happening the way it should, the monsters were supposed to kill him when vulnerable, not bow to him.

"Kill me..." He whimpered aloud. The creatures around him looked down at him, but seemed completely and utterly unfazed. Ben changed tactics.

"What exactly... Did the purple monster tell you?"

A wolf jumped from the rest of the pack and slunk closer. Ben just barely noticed.

The centaur didn't see the wolf though. "The Sleepwalker told us about the fleshling inside. He said he had multiple faces, and the flesh face was what he considered to be the Liar. Everything the fleshling says is untrustworthy or a test."

Ben gritted his teeth. Aware had outsmarted him. But Ben will outsmart Aware's outsmart.

"He was lying. If you kill me you will gain err... lots and lots of power. He didn't want you to know..."

It didn't work. At one point he gave up, because the centaur eventually began talking to other creatures. Aware had really covered all the bases, hadn't he?

Ben had just gotten to his feet when the aforementioned wolf arrived. It sat near him.

"Can I... help you?" Ben said warily. He still wanted to die, and he still thought that was the best course of action, but now he just felt scared. Better than feeling nothing as he did in the hallway, in any case.

Have you ever seen a wolf talk? You shouldn't. It isn't natural. It doesn't look right. There is something strongly off-putting about it. It sent shivers down Ben's back.

"My pack and I have been faithful." The wolf said. "We joined your growing empire, much to the ridicule of my fellow brothers. But you made a promise to kill every human in this prison, and give us safe passage to Earth. Yet it seems you've made no progress." The wolf cocked its head to the right. "When exactly will you make good on said promise, Walker?"

Ben tried to keep his breathing normal, but it was harder than one might expect. "When will I... You'll never get to Earth... I can't - won't - let you...! The boy pounded on his skull as if he wanted to rattle his brain... or something deep inside it. "Do you hear me, Aware?! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE HERE ALIVE!"

Ben looked around wildly. He needed to die. Right now. He could not let Aware send these creatures to Earth. He was prepared to sacrifice himself. Was it going to be heroic? Surprisingly, he didn't want it to be. He just wanted to end the monster inside. Ben's life was just collateral.

But something happened. A pulse began to pound on the back of his head, and his vision darkened. A feeling of sudden peace fell over him like a wet blanket, and he knew who was putting it over himself.

Sleep has never come faster for anyone. Heck, he was asleep before he even collapsed on the ground, which was a feat for any human.

But Ben wasn't human. And just as quick and easy as he fell, he rose again, different.

It was a blink and you miss it transformation. Like a snake shedding its skin, something tore free of Ben's form. Something purple.

Aware looked around with his invisible eye. Or more accurately, he looked down at everyone since he was at least three feet taller than the tallest of creatures.

Then he smiled. It was like a lion pulling back its lips, and it would not be considered friendly.

"My sincerest apologies, I had... urgent matters to deal with up in here." He tapped a long finger to the side of his head. "You won't be seeing the Liar for a very, very long time."

No one spoke. But they stared.

Aware spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcoming. "What? Surprised to see me?"

A certain look of understanding passed over his face as Aware looked right at the werewolf, who glared back.

"What," Aware breathed, suddenly realizing what must be wrong, "did the Liar tell you?"

The wolf bared his teeth. "That we wouldn't go to Earth. And I feel like believing him, since you haven't made any progress at all in the way of getting out of this prison."

"Oh." Aware chuckled. Then he grabbed the wolf by his neck.

"You feel like believing him?" Aware asked through his spine-like teeth. His invisible eye was real close to the canine's snout. The wolf didn't answer because he couldn't, but he did wince a bit. "I have something right here for you to feel."


Aware held up his other hand. It was bulbous, like a big orb sat just under Aware's flesh. The said flesh shifted and bulged, and tiny, barely an inch-long black spikes began puncturing the skin of his palm. The wolf struggled.

"At least a hundred Red Bees sacrificed themselves for me. For this. Let me ask you, dog." Aware looked at his palm and back to the wolf. "What did you sacrifice for me?"

He turned to the crowd, spinning in a circle, making sure to look at every creature.

"Do not believe the Liar." He said simply as he withdrew his stinger arm. "Or else I will kill."

Then he whipped the wolf in his hand at the wall, hard enough that a cracking was heard.

"You will get out of this prison. You will get to Earth." Aware said, settling into his new throne. "Give me time."

He smiled. He flexed his claws. He lied.