The Daydreamer

Chapter 1: Paralyzed

My conscience has disappeared and my Memory of how I got here has vanished. The last thing i remember was finishing and turning in my physcis homework just in time before midnight, kissing my mother good night, and sleeping in nothing less than boxers and a tank. Now I'm awake in this white room sitting on a plain springy uneasy mattress wearing a white gown. What is going on? What happened to me when i was sleeping? I want to scream and yell out for help, but I feel nauseous and my sense of concern has abandoned me. What am I doing here? Where am I? Where are my parents?
I want to freak out but something in me is preventing me as if it is trying to keep me quiet; trying to get me to go back to sleep. Have I been drugged? Suddenly, I hear muffled voices through the walls as if it were a conversation of twenty. I couldn't make out exactly what they were talking about, but I heard some mentions of my name, powers, destruction, something about hope and saving, and they kept repeating "The Day Dreamer." Is this real? It doesn't make sense at all. I must be dreaming all of this. I want to wake up from this! I want to wake up! I try to scream out, "Let me out of here!" Instead, i opened my mouth and said, "When do i start?"
Why did i just say that? After my inexplicable query, the voices stopped instantly. There was dead silence for several minutes. It felt as if I was imprisoned for decades awaiting for my death. That was the only thing I feared that would come for me.
I decided to give up and try to sleep, but as i closed my eyes, the lights of the room flickered and turned dark red like if there was a dangerous emcouter near my location. Simultaneously, some sort of earthquake started. I've never been caught up in one, but I have to say it felt like a 6.0. My natural instincts would have me panick and cower under the bed, but without control of my mind I just sat there on the mattress staring at the wall in front of me. Afterwards, I see the wall in front of me twisting as what appears to be a black hole forming.
I had to be drugged because there is no way this is scientifically possible. Instantaneously, I hear the faint sound of a motorcycle, and unexpectedly, this strange tall man in a black trench coat and a bowler hat tilted enough to hide his face jumped out of the black hole on a motorcycle which I couldn't tell the model or manufacturer.
It was as if something possessed me and then its presence left when this man entered because after he jumped through the black hole, it immediately shut and I gained full conscience again.
"Who are you? Where am i? What is this place?"
I was eager to interrogate this stranger.
"No time to explain. Get on. Now!"
I couldn't quite understand the rush so I stared at him with a confused look.
"They're coming for you. We don't have much time. They already took control of you."
I had no idea what he was talking about but I was scared, so i hopped on his bike. I was addled by the fact of how we plan to escape on this motorcycle when we're isolated in this room.
"So how are we-"
"Hang on tight!"
The black hole opened again and we rode through it. It felt so fast like we traveled the whole universe in a second. We reached the end of the whatever-it-was hole and jumped out. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We were riding down Brooklyn Bridge, one of the most amazing landmarks I least imagined I'd be. It's such a beautiful sight, but I have no place here. However, I was surprised that the bridge was empty of any traffic, especially just after sundown.
"the portal hasn't closed yet, has it?"
The strange man asked. I snapped out of sight my sight seeing to check the portal we jumped out of. It was still open, as an immense figure appeared to be emerging from the portal.
"No it still open... but there's something coming out of it."
Then the figure appeared before my eyes. It was a humongous dragon with its scale as black as the night sky can get. Its eyes were blood red and looking straight at me, straight into my eyes, straight into my soul.
The beast charged at us as it started to flap its wings.
"It's coming after us!" I alarmingly shouted.
"No it's coming after you. That's your night terror, kid." The man explained. Although, i am still unclear of the situation.
"What do we do?"
"Stay calm and hold on."
Stay calm? Stay calm! how can I stay calm in a situation like this? I don't know what the hell is going on! What is with this night terror thing? The Beast was gradually approaching us reducing its distance as I gradually became more paranoid.
This man, how can he be so, calm under these circumstances? Who is he really and why does he want to rescue me from this, this thing, this dragon, this night terror? Even if I were to be captured, possessed, or even killed I'm a nobody. I'm nothing special, but this man this mysterious mystical man, why is he risking his life for me? what is his  true meaning behind his unremetting effort to keep me alive? The dragon gets closer and closer by the second. I don't know how to explain it, but the closer it gets to us, to me, the more I feel it inside of me, like how I felt in that room, restricted with my mind in chains.
"It's still getting closer! It's too fast! What do we do?"
For a moment the man didn't respond. Then, in his tranquilized voice, he began to speak.
"It's getting its powers from you, kid. Its feeding off your fear. That's why they're called night terrors, and that's why you feel like that. There's only so much I can do to stabilize you, but you're gonna have to take on this beast on your own. That's how they die, when you overcome them mentally, emotionally, and physically. There's only so much a day dreamer can do. The only way to become a hero is by saving yourself, then you can save others. Yet, helping others escape their fears isn't really saving them. That's why when you're ready, you're going to have to go up against this night terror of yours on your own."
Did he just say 'daydreamer'?
"When I was in that room, i heard a group of people talking. They mentioned something called The Day Dreamer along with other stuff. Are you the Day Dreamer?"
He totally ignored everything I said.
"We'll talk next time, Jared, but I need you to wake up now."
Okay this has gone way out of hand.
"You know ny name? And what do you mean wake up? Am i dreaming all of this?"
"Next time Jared. Just close your eyes and try to sleep. Do it now!"
The dragon swifted into the air as it took a deep breath. Oh God it's about to breathe fire! I close my eyes and chant to myself, 'Please wake up. Please wake up. Please wake up.'
"Sleep...and awaken to life." The man composedly commanded. Then I heard a faint voice.
"Jared wake up. You're gonna miss it. Wake up Jared. Come on."
I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but I recognize that voice. Once I start focusing on whose voice it belongs to, I begin to feel strange. I feel as if my soul was departuring from my body and transfering to a different person, or a different dimension. Suddenly, it all stopped. The nightmare, the dragon, the man, the room, all gone. I open my eyes, it's morning and I'm in my physics class. I slowly look to my left still trying to cope what just happened. Sure enough there she was sitting next to me as usual.
"Don't act all innocent on me. Keep sleeping in class and you're bound to fail. I know it's early and you didn't get enough sleep. Look, I'm here to help, but you gotta pull your own weight. You can't just run away from reality and run away to that head of yours."
Yep, acting like her usual self. Catherine Bell, my other half.
"Cath, You saved me."
I accidentally raised my voice and Mr. Vincent overheard me.
"Well, Jared, here's a question not even Cathy can save you from."
Oh crap. Take me back to the nightmare please. Anything but this.
"Jared, given my vairables, how do I solve for this equation? No asking for help, yes I'm looking at you miss Bell."
Oh well, you escaped a dragon you can escape this, right Jared? Right?
"You can't, Mr.V, you don't have time."
I looked at the clock and thankfully I almost slept through all of class.
"You're right Jared. So, which equation do i use?"
Oh God that's not what I meant you dimwit! I look at the equation poster he has on his wall next to the marker board.
"You use the top right equation, sir."
The bell rang and everyone rushed out of the classroom before Mr.V could open his mouth again.
"Check your classroom online! You may have homework! Oh like you all care... everyone cheats anyways."
I get ahold of Cathy before she leaves.
"Hey Cath."
"Oh hey Jared. I'm sorry how i was back there. You said i saved you? Are you... Okay?"
"Cath I wish i could i could answer that question, but I really don't know how. Weird things have been happening to me. Weird, strange things that I experience when I sleep. Hell, I don't even remember how I got to school today!"
She gave me a bewildered look.
"How weird? What do you mean?"
I tried to expalin to her.
"Have you ever felt like you're living twice the life? Not like two personalities, but when you sleep, another you wakes up in another world, another dimension, another life?"
She stared at me as if I've gone mad.
"You're such a dork." She nodded.
"I'll see you at tutoring. Bye Jared." "Right. See you Cath."
God I'm such an idiot! Why would I think she'd understand everything? 'Oh yes Jared I know exactly what you mean I was there too with the room, the dragon, and the man.' Oh well, back to reality. School; I doubt a day dreamer has to deal with this, whatever it is they do. Although, I don't know if I want to give up school, living my life riding through portals, being chased by a vicious dragon. Seriously, was it all a dream? It felt so real. I know the brain transmits everything that happens in the dream and that's why it felt so eerie, but I swear it felt real. I actually felt myself being drained by that dragon. Could it possibly be my night terror? I took psychology, but everything just basically went out the window for me. Maybe I should ask Cathy.
She's taking psychology after school. Maybe she knows more about these night terrors. Maybe she knows something about the day dreamer. Maybe, just maybe, she can cure me! yeah right, Jared. Just forget it and move on. Cathy could develop the perfect method for me on how to get girls and I'd still screw up miserably. However, that's what she does, and that's who she is. I love Catherine. Shes always been there for me. She's my go-to girl for either the good or the bad. She's done so much for me, I'm convinced that there's no way I could repay her, not even if I were to give my hopeless life to her. So, the best thing I can do is be a good friend to her, because she's my best friend no matter what. I vent to her, she vents to me. She helps me with my problems and insecurities, and I help with hers. I guess you can say that we truly are to halves because we really can't function without the other.
That dream, that night terror, even if it was real, how could I stop it? How can I overcome something so terrifying as that dragon? I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I have to train to beat that dragon. When the day comes, and it will, I must be ready to overcome it. I can start by controlling my fears. That's how it becomes stronger. I will overcome my fears, my night terror! I will not let down the day dreamer! I am Jared! Prince of punk rock! I can do this!