The Dreamers

23: The Flashback

Deep in to pit, a thousand feet under, called a dreamer of white hair punished for his blunder. Now, coming back, this September is a familiar face you may remember.

~~~

I remember the day the Dreamers found me. I was all alone, left in the shadows of Dreamix. My parents were gone, I had no food, no water, nowhere to go. A small boy, 6 years old, to be face to face with a nightmare.

I backed up slowly as the nightmare got closer. I had no idea what it was at the time. I heard its wailing sounds echoing the alleyway.

I closed my eyes as my back hit the wall. Suddenly, a blast of back dreamer energy came flying from around the corner and disintegrated the nightmare. I saw that black smoke settled on the ground. I was so confused until I saw a man and two women running around the corner.

"Kid, are you okay?" One lady bent down checking on me. She saw my body shake as she comforted me.

"Where are you parents, kid?" The man asked.

"I-I don't know." I sniffled, looking at the man. The three people were wearing dreamer uniforms. The lady comforting me had long black hair and purple eyes. She looked at the two of them.

"We're taking him back with us."

"Marina, we can't -"

"Don't fight me on this, Gabriel."

She looked at me with a sweet smile on her face.

"What's your name, little boy?"

"A-Antonio Pyro."

"Well, Mr. Pyro, we're going to take you back to Dream HQ." She took my hand as they walked me to a black car. That was the day my life truly began.

~~~

The boss, Demetrius, who was a much younger man at the time, became my guardian while I was a kid. I stayed at Dream HQ with a bunch of other kids on the floor -10. Floor -10 was a sanctuary for all the kids born of dreamers. They put kids into training at a young age so they can discover their dream energy faster and know how to use it.

My bunkmate was my guardian's son, Giddion. I was 6 years old and only 35 inches tall. I was frail and skinny, and I looked like a baby compared to everyone else. Naturally, Giddion would constantly pick on me and hurt me when our supervisors weren't looking.

"42. Take your position with number 67."

Number 42 was me, and number 67 was Giddion. It was time for an annual spar to test our training progress.

He was so much taller than me, and he looked a lot stronger. He was two years older than me, like his brother Damion. Damion never picked on me, but when Giddion did, he never did anything to stop it.

The coach blew the whistle, and Giddion immediately sent kicks my way. His foot hit my stomach, sending me flying backward.

I gasped for air as I held my stomach. He threw punches at my face. I blocked some, but a few punches were all it took to get my face to bleed.

"Come on, wimp! Stop being such a wuss, and fight!" Giddion yelled as i looked at the ground.

"Finish him, Giddion!"

"What are you doing!?"

"Antonio! Get back on your feet!"

My fellow peers screamed as I looked at Giddion's prideful smile. I couldn't stand this. This weak feeling. The rule was, "Every day, you will fight the same person until you win." I fought Giddion for 4 years.

Every night, I wiped the blood from my face. The bruises and cuts made my baby-face not so babyish anymore. Damion stared at me as I silently cried into my pillow. I wanted to leave everything. It had been a year since I came to the floor -10. I had the same meal every day. Training from 7 to 6 every day with a ten minute break.

I looked to see Damion stare at me, but he never said a word to me. How often I'd pray, he would come over and reassure me. He would see what his brother did to me.

But no, he watched. ALL HE EVER DID WAS WATCH!

"You'll never be a dreamer. You're a filthy street rat!" I felt Giddion's kick in my chest like it was routine. Every day with no end. The taste of the cafeteria food felt sickening. No one to talk to. Just pain, everywhere.

Everyone would laugh and carry on as I would be rushed to the infirmary on -1.

This went on until I was about 10 years old.

Then, everything changed.

~~~

They took us to the pit. It was required that we learn about the operations of the dream realm and nightmare realm.

I remember looking at the black void. I tuned out everything going on. Then, I felt someone's hand on my back. It was familiar. The hands that have hurt me for 4 years straight, Giddion's.

All I felt was numbness as I lost control of my body as he pushed me into the pit. I could feel myself falling. But all noise sounded barley audible. I couldn't even hear myself scream. The 1st grade supervisors rushed around as they saw me fall. All the kids stared.

I honestly only remember certain things about being down there. I was stuck there for three days, but down there, it feels like three weeks.

All I heard was the wailing sounds of nightmares. I was numb, too afraid to speak. I felt them drawing blades along my skin, pulling my hair, stabbing needles in my eyes. Any torture method in the book and more. It's all in your head, so it's not really happening. But you can feel it, all the pain. It's a nightmare, and you can't wake up.

You can't escape this. That is, if you're alone. Eventually, the 1st grade Dreamers found a way to get me out. However, all the 1st grades died once I grew up.

The pain I felt then was the same pain I feel now. I spent the first few days crying, screaming, and begging for someone to save me. But I remember, it's pointless. No one can hear me, and nobody cares. So I stopped trying.

Once, I got out of the nightmare realm as a kid. Everyone noticed my change in strength. My durability made my next fight with Giddion last a whole day with no end.

I started to train. I felt the power inside me channeling, like how electricity circuits through a wire. It felt strange but powerful. I finally had something to work for.

My next fight with Giddion was incredible. My power had shown itself to all my peers. The dark, black energy emitted at Giddion. I won with barely any effort.

Day after day, I fought everyone in there on the floor -10. Every fight felt too easy. I grew to be arrogant but clever. I became Dreamer HQ's best 1st grade. As the 1st grade numbers declined, I became more of a necessity to the boss, making Giddion's blood boil.

However, I feel that I would have never been this way if Giddion didn't push me down there. At times, I remember. Damion and Giddion were like brothers of mine. However, we grew up, and those days left us. I became stronger, and no linger needed them. I made the decision. If I got out once, I could get out again.

~~~

3 months had felt like three years. I had finally had enough. I was going to make it out. I felt pain beyond anyone could ever imagine. Blood dripped from my mouth as my white hair felt shaggy and covered the vision in my eyes.

I had finally figured out what I was going to do and was willing to risk my life to make it happen. I stuck out my finger wearing my ring and used what little energy I had and started absorbing all the nightmares around me.

It felt like I was being electrocuted. Like a deadly disease was infecting my body. I persisted and kept going. As I absorbed the nightmares, all the ones who hadn't been absorbed ran to the dream realm away from me.

Finally, I felt the strength I needed. I use the nightmares in my ring to climb out of the pit. It took me fighting against millions of nightmares. The struggle left damage of the pit and the entire room. Now, I'm finally free.

This is the boss's mistake because the only person who benefited was me. I'm stronger, better, and I'm back.