Goretober - 2024

22. Trypophobia || The Edge Of Sleep - Dave Torres

yo if you haven't, listen to the podcast, read the book, watch the show. it's so good i promise

Dave knew he was safe, that he was finally out of the Elephant Monster's grasp, but he didn't feel safe.

Probably because he felt too guilty about Katie to want to feel safe, because he had escaped and she hadn't, so why did he deserve to be alive?

He knew why he was alive, he knew that he was really the only person who could stop the beast, but still.

Three days. It had been three painful days and two equally as painful nights since Katie had fallen asleep. If Dave hadn't been so sleep deprived, he would have never slept, but his body was forcing him to.

The first night and day of sleeping had been dreamless, their minds protected by the Dream Walkers, but the Dream Walkers now deemed them rested enough to face their own dreams, and had allowed a flood of nightmares to drown Dave as he slept.

His own dreams were arguably not as bad as the ones given to him by the Elephant Monster, since he didn't have to almost die of dehydration while being several feet from a water source, but they weren't fun, almost making him want to stay awake just to avoid them.

But the thought of staying awake made him nauseous, so he resigned.

It was the middle of the afternoon. Dave was alone in the little hut he shared with Linda and Mateo, they were off doing something else. But all Dave wanted to do was sleep. Well, he needed to sleep. "Want" was a distant thought that he didn't even consider. Of course he didn't want to sleep. Because every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Katie. Her big, beautiful eyes white as the monster took her.

Dave felt his nails digging into his palms painfully as he let sleep take him, the ceiling growing blurry until his eyes closed, his breath deepening. He sank into the mattress, the blankets weighing him down, and then he was gone.

"Davey."

Dave's head turned so fast his neck tweaked. "Katie?"

He wasn't expecting her to be here, in this desert with him. It was warm here, but it was nice. Ever since that one dream, he became terrified of ever being that thirsty again, thus the water bottle in his hands.

"Davey, where are you?"

The water bottle fell to the sand, landing without spilling, thank god.

"Katie? I'm right here, baby, follow my voice!" Dave called, his desperate voice nearly cracking and shattering into a thousand pieces.

There was a small tap on his shoulder. "Dave-"

"Katie," Dave gasped, turning around quickly, his heart immediately squeezing painfully and sinking into his stomach.

She no longer had a face, milky white eyes covering her skin, all staring at him.

"There you are," she said without a mouth. "I missed you, Davey. Where did you go?" Her voice was wet, garbling through sea water. Dave could taste the salt on his tongue, the same flavor as the tears that streaked down his cheeks.

"I didn't go anywhere, baby, I'm right here," Dave hiccupped, his breath shallowing.

Her eyes blinked and when they opened again, every socket was empty. Blood started to leak out of every hole, and now they were both crying.

"I hate you, you left me," she whispered.

"No, no, I didn't!" Dave cried, taking a step back. "Baby, Katie, I wouldn't- It wasn't my fault, I tried!"

"You let me sleep, Dave, why did you let me sleep?" The voice came from her eyes, each word a flood of blood.

"You weren't supposed to sleep! I tried everything to keep you awake!" Dave said firmly, his voice quivering. The sand sucked at his legs, almost threatening to pull him down, down, down.

He looked down. Not sand, water. Water pulled at his legs, soaking into his pants, waves gently brushing against him.

The ocean. Thick with salt, salty like his tears, salty like the blood that ran from Katie's eyes.

"But you know what?" Katie's voice echoed from all around him as she drew closer, her blood dripping onto Dave's cheeks, mixing with his tears. "It's ok. We'll be together now."

The water swelled, drowning out Dave's desperate cries before drowning him.