Family Chains

Chapter 1

Ray walked through the elongated halls of his house.

"Hello?" He called out into the darkness that faced him. Everything in his house was warped out of shape or just completely unrecognizable. Ray felt his heart beginning to speed up as he turned a corner.

Rayne...Rayne...wherever are you going my little droplet? The soft voice of a woman whispered in Ray's ear.

Ray spun around to see if the owner of the familiar voice were there. When he saw no one, Ray spun back around and began running.

Impossible, Ray thought, she can't be here.

He turned another corner and found himself face to face with a huge pair of clawed hands. They reached for him, Ray stepped back, trying desperately to get away but he was met with a faceless silhouette of a woman.

Rayne. Stop running my droplet. We're here for you. Come back to us.

"No. NO! Get away! I got away from you! Please. Stop! Get out!"

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"No!" Ray screamed as he jumped up from his sleep. He held his shaking hands together.

"Just a dream...a nightmare again." He muttered as he swung his feet over the edge of his bed. Ray walked to his bathroom and began washing himself, getting ready for the day. He splashed the cold water over his olive-skin face and ran his wet fingers through his dark, matted bed head.

After he was done, Ray went to go and get himself dressed for work. He dressed himself in a nice black suit. Ray looked at himself in the mirror as he combed back his hair. He scowled slightly as his hair slowly became more and more presentable. It reminded him so much of the many times his mother would dress him and his twin in a very similar way. Unfortunately, that's what he was required to wear working at a real estate firm. Ironically he also chose this profession to get as far away from his past as he could.

Shaking his head, Ray forced a smile.

Forget about the stupid suit, he thought to himself, I love this job.

And he truly did. Ray truly did love his job. Helping people find new homes was practically a dream come true. Of course the work wasn't always so black and white, but nonetheless he found it to be incredibly accomplishing.

Ray took the bus to work that day. He was reading the newspaper on his way.

Another Gone Missing. What Could This Mean? One headline read. Ray narrowed his eyes. The fourth missing person in five weeks.

Indeed, he thought. What could this mean? It couldn't be...could it?

Ray shook his head again. Impossible. They were long gone, out of his life. His family was waiting for him at work anyways.

Ray entered through the front door of the firm, passing by the blonde receptionist at the front desk.

"Morning Tabitha." Ray greeted.

"Morning Ray." She replied.

Ray walked into his office and set down his suitcase and sat at his desk. That's when his brother walked in. Well, brother by relationship, not blood.

"Hey Ray." the light skinned blond greeted with a smile.

    "Hey Connor." Ray replied.

    "Are you alright, man?" Connor asked. "You look tired as all hell...Did you have a nightmare again?"

    Ray rubbed his eyes. Connor was Ray's oldest and closest friend. Ray was known to be tight lipped and secretive about himself, but decades worth of trust building made him relaxed around Connor. This is why he provided the other man with a straight answer.

"Yeah," he answered curtly.

    "You need to talk about it?" Connor replied.

    "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, don't you have a client coming in today?" Ray said.

    Connor looked down at his watch. "Oh yeah. Right. Okay, but if you get stressed make sure to punch a wall or something. We'll go for lunch at one!"

Then Connor ran back to his office. Ray smiled and turned on his monitor to begin work. Everything was fine. He could deal with the nightmares as he always had. No one was there to ail him in the real world. At least, that's what Ray has grown to believe. He was completely unaware of the man who had been stalking him for the past week.