-Children of the Night-

Chapter 12~ Mister Sandman

Mister Sandman, bring me a dream... He hummed the tune as he worked on his current experiment. He smiled. Make him the cutest, that I've ever seen.. He dropped the vampire's blood sample into the chemicals. It spread out, turning the yellowish liquid into a bright greenish- red color. Sandman, I'm so alone, don't have nobody to call my own...
He started chuckling to himself as he mixed the liquid more, and he then tipped the beaker, the liquid pouring into his mouth. He swallowed it, and felt a tingling sense of energy flow through him. The night before, he tested the blood sample, and it had been a success. He had been trying for so long, with so many failed attempts. Victory was so close he could taste it. The blood sample he collected from the young bloodsucker had something all of the others did not have. This fight would be interesting... He felt the sensation rippling through his entire body.
Please turn on your magic beam, Mister Sandman, bring me a dream. He stepped into the chamber, closed the door with shaking hands, and leaned back onto the inclined table. He then felt the freezing cold air as the lights dimmed, and he attempted to relax as he was put to sleep by his resting chamber. A veritable cocoon invented by him; for the sole purpose of accelerating his transformation process by slowing his heart rate and putting him in a limbo-like trance. The last thing he heard was the metallic clanking sound of the the table turning back to put him in a sleeping position. Mister sandman, bring me a dream.

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I leaned against the wall, panting. "Again." I came forward, leaping at Red with a flying punch. He blocked it with one hand, holding me in mid-air by my fist, and threw me to the ground again. "You have to stop being so impulsive when you fight. Yes, you have remarkable speed and strength, but you do not need to let it all go to your head. The Boogeyman might only be human, but that certainly does not mean we can underestimate him." I felt exhausted. After I awoke the next day, we met up and went to an old part of the local walking trail to do combat training, so I would be better prepared for my next confrontation with my new enemy. We were there for many hours already. Red smiled when he noticed me panting. "This time, try to actually hit me." He laughed and beckoned me. I launched myself forward, faking a punch and swinging my foot at his stomach. He easily blocked it. At that moment, i stopped thinking logically, giving in to pure instinct. I spun out of his grip on my foot, and roundhouse kicked him in his face, cracking his cheekbone and knocking him back a few feet. He placed his hand above his face and ran his fingers down his cheek, a look of amusement on his face. "It seems you have landed a blow. To be able to fight so well against an old master like myself, you are improving incredibly. I am proud of you." He grinned and swung his fist at me. I easily dodged, and realized he was never even in front of me. I felt a gust of wind as I felt my legs being swept out from under me. I caught myself with my hands before i hit the ground, and used them to spring myself backwards and into the air, my legs kicking like a donkey. I felt a powerful hand grip my ankle and throw me into a nearby tree. Red swung down in front of me, hanging upside-down from a low- hanging branch. "Regular training will take too long. We have very little time... so let me give you some helpful information. When you feed, you draw not only on the donor's life force and recent memories, but you also draw on their power. Try it out." He jumped down to the ground, pulled up his sleeve, and held out his fore- arm. I shook my head. "I don't want to take from you." He laughed and replied, "I have reserves of power that run deeper than the ocean. You will not weaken me at all. I only want you to be able to defend yourself.....because I care about you." I felt surprised. It seemed like Red was growing a father-like bond with me , and I hadn't completely realized it until now. Red's face went from one of concern to a serious expression, his regular dark eyes turning a bloody crimson color. "Now, drink. You will need it.... to unlock your true potential." I didn't want to, but my primal instinct took over. I felt my canine teeth grow into fangs, and as I bit deep into his arm, everything went dark,and I spiraled into an abyss full of white roses being stained red with blood.

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Red felt the special reserve of power that he had been saving for this occasion, being transmitted into Vincent as he was fed upon. He couldn't physically see it happening, because he felt himself go into a kind of daze. He stood in an endless field of white roses, under a pale blue sky. He then saw Vincent run past him, almost too fast for him to see. As Vincent ran,he took on the look of a demon. With an aura of blood surrounding him, he stained the white roses a blood- red color as he passed them. It was then that Vincent stopped, and began running on all fours like a crazed animal. Red felt a sense of wonder and fear as he saw this. The ground started to rumble, and slowly collapsed into a black hole. Red began running as fast as he could to the now still Vincent, and Red tried to reach his hand out to save Vincent from falling in, but it was too late. As Red fell into the darkness, he saw Vincent looking at him with full red eyes, a smile on his face. Red knew exactly what that meant.

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Burning. Flames. On fire. He was on fire. The Boogeyman felt his skin cells being fried, one after the other. The pain was so unbearable that, for a moment, he gave in. He felt peaceful. Was he dead? Suddenly, he felt his eyes open. He tried to run away from the pain, but a door was holding him in. He could not see..but he most definitely could hear them. All of the little feet. Walking back and forth. He held on to the familiar sound of those feet.

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Josh colored in the last part of his picture, and proudly turned it in to his teacher. Mrs. Sandra smiled and patted him on the head. "Such a creative young man! I will hang this on the wall right behind my desk." She clipped the boy's work on the wall, and Josh began to speak. "Tomorrow's my birthday! I'll be 10 years old." Mrs. Sandra smiled again. "I will make sure to bring you something. Have a good day, Josh, see you tomorrow!" He picked up his backpack and happily walked out of the room. Mrs. Sandra sighed and turned off the light as she made her way out. As she made her way to the exit, a loud noise from the boiler room caught her attention. Groaning in protest, she decided to check if anything happened. She knew how hard the janitors worked, so she didn't want them to return the next day to a mess. After she got down the metallic stairs, she noticed that the supplies in the boiler room were strode all over the floor, as if an animal had ravaged the room's contents. She examined the room further, and realized that the heavy, rusted metal door at the back of the boiler room was left wide open. She thought to herself how strange this was;when asked, the janitor said that the door had been sealed even when he was a student at the school. Against her better judgement, she decided to see what the door had been hiding all these years. The room was almost pitch black, but light from the boiler room revealed that the door led to another staircase. She slowly made her way down the narrow metal stairs, until she came upon another room. She was hit by the scent of death, as fast and strong as a brick being thrown full-force. Inside, the walls were grey, and there were many white tables with assortments of medical tools. She continued deeper into the room, and saw a dirty mattress on the floor, opened and unopened cans of cat food, and water bottles. She felt disturbed at the thought of someone living down here...but her uneasiness intensified when she noticed, in the back of the room, a chamber that looked like a large glass capsule. To the right of the capsule, there rested a metal rack that had meat hooks hanging from it. She then saw a pair of two glowing yellow eyes watching her menacingly from the darkness behind the glass. A deformed, scaly hand suddenly broke through the glass. The young teacher felt so overwhelmed with fear that she could not move, or scream, or even think. The creature began to bash the glass door with it's head, until the glass shattered. A chilling breeze flooded from the chamber, and from the shadows emerged a living nightmare. The sight made her fall to her knees. It stood six feet tall, with a ripped and bloody white suit. It's skin was a pale greenish-yellow color, with layers of dead skin falling off; similar to a shedding snake. It's hair was a tangled white mess, almost standing up on end. The ghastly creature tilted its menacing head up and locked its beastly eyes on her. She then nearly lost her sanity at the sight of it beginning to smile at her. The thing bared its yellow teeth, and began laughing with a croaking, wheezing voice. Letting out one final scream of terror, she instinctively tried to kick its stomach with all her might, but to no avail. The thing lunged forward and ripped her apart.

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