Nightmares ; Bonkai

chapter 3

If there was a place revolved solely on hallways and doors, I have found its Utopia. I aimlessly wander this prison home of mine; taking in the same artwork and same interior and wonder if it will ever end. I turn my head to the right to see the next set of pictures and notice the hallway has stretched out to an impossible length. Tension starts to prickle in the back of my neck as I turn to check the other end of the hallway which is clear and sprint in that direction. I round the corner and see I'm hit with another hallway and start kicking open the doors - for what, an exit? - As I make my way down. I'm halfway through opening them when I hear a bulb go out behind me, and then another. I glance behind me and see the darkness approaching me fast, my throat closing in anticipation. I look at the destination at the end of the hallway, Damon's room, and knowing there would not be enough time to get there, hurl myself into the closest open door. Before my eyes can adjust I find myself downstairs, the main door within distance and the shadows nowhere in sight. I run for the door, swing it open and come face to face with what nightmares are made of; Malachai Parker. His stance reads tense as his intense glare blazes me from head to toe, keeping me locked in place as my eyes shift to the ascendant in one hand, and a knife in the other. The most chilling part of the scene playing out in front of me is not the man himself, but the thickness of black smoke that's surrounding him. Engulfing him would be a better description, as it's slowly making its way around him and up his legs. He cocks his head to the side, a come hither look playing at the corner of his mouth as he puts his hand with the knife behind his back and gives me a nod over his shoulder signaling "follow me". I watch him step farther back into the darkness slowly disappearing from view and my adrenaline starts to kick in; should I go? Will he kill me? Will I kill him to stop him from going? My moral and selfish obligations were clashing so hard I could feel my vision blurring and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. I looked into the vast emptiness, took a deep breath, and ran as fast I could... straight into the opening of the cave. The dark and dreary night was my first clue that something was terribly off, the magic sizzle that surrounds this Hell vortex not feeling quite so snug. I made my way into the cave looking for Kai, or the ascendant, even the knife would give me some satisfaction but all I found was a lone stack of CD's left on the ground illuminated by the moon's light. Reality hit me so hard it knocked me off my feet; Kai left me, and I was truly alone.

Bonnie woke up to the sound of her own voice screaming Kai's name. She heaved herself out of bed and hit the floor running, frantically opening doors trying to find him. She rounded the corner and hit the next hallway, adrenaline in full swing causing her to kick open the doors. An overwhelming sense of de ja vu and flashes of her dreams hit her in waves as she turned into the next hallway and saw Damon's door at the end. She swung open the door so hard it nearly broke off its hinges, causing Kai to roll over and fall out of bed from a deep sleep.

"Holy shit!" he coughed, still sitting on the floor. "In case you were curious, yes, I do have a heart because it just stopped beating."

"You - you" she exclaimed, so worked up that words were failing her.

"Me? How about you? You wanna rip the door right off next time, Hulk Hogan?"

She stood in the doorway, exasperated, needing to seek him out to make sure he is in fact still here, and tear him a new one for being a conniving, evil sociopath who is the reason she is trapped here in the first place. While these thoughts clashed back and forth she had one clear thought of I do not want to talk about this. With that in mind she turned on her heel and walked swiftly back out the door.

"Woah, what?" she heard behind her as he scuffled to his feet and followed her out the door.

"What was that? Are we doing random scare test in the middle of the night? Did you miss me that much?"