The Rules of Nightmare (Phan)

Dream 1

Dan took a look at the clock, 20 to midnight. He sighed, running a small hand through his short, brown hair. Another nightmare. He got up, slipping his fuzzy Totoro slippers on to go downstairs. This was his nightly routine; Wake up in a cold sweat, go downstairs to the kitchen, warm up some milk and go back to bed for a night of dreamless, restless sleep.

So, like every night, he headed downstairs to the kitchen. At this point, he preformed this routine so often that his mom had given him his own jug to put his special milk in-cinnamon, milk and honey. He poured his milk and heated it up in the microwave, trying to ignore the aching in his back and arms as he waited.

He hadn't slept well, not at all. Not since his brother's suicide. There was no reason for Adam to have killed himself, at least none that Dan or her parents knew. He had straight A's, was captain of the football team. He was popular at school, had tons of friends, a lovely and faithful girlfriend... Not to mention a scholarship to one of the Ivy League schools. Harvard. It was his dream to become a lawyer and he was so close to achieving it.

That's why Dan was so shocked when he came home from school to find him laying in a bath tub full of cold water, his wrists slit open... By how cold he felt, he'd been in there for hours before Dan found him. That was a year ago.

The brown eyed 16 year old was shaken out of his thoughts by the beeping of the microwave. The quiet boy took the mug out and started to sip on the hot beverage, trying to contain his thoughts. Think of anything but the suicide.

After finishing his drink, he crawled back into bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep as the clock hit midnight.

-3-5-13-

This isn't my bed.... Dan thought to herself, as he sat up on the brand new bed he was laying on. This isn't my room. he looked down at the fluffy, almost cloud like comforter. Like the sleep shirt he was wearing, the bedspread was white and gray and black, but somehow more... magical. The color of galaxy.

He looked around the room. Everything seemed dream like. The walls were billowing out and moving like loose silk sheets, and the floor itself looked like he would fall through to the earth miles below if he tried to walk on it. It certainly didn't look like it could support a bed.

"I see you're awake," came a man's voice from the other side of the room.

It was at that moment he realized she was dressed only in a black shirt and Totoro pajama pants. He pulled the comforter over himself as he looked at the man. Black hair, white skin, bright blue eyes.... And pink horns...

Horns.

He was clad in a red long sleeved shirt, black vest and black pants. His stomach was clearly visible, showing long claw marks. He was holding a single pistol in each hand.

Well, that wasn't good....

As he walked toward him, he clenched the comforter tighter in her hands. Despite the name, it wasn't very comforting. He pulled it over her head as he raised one of the guns... But the shot never came. Instead he pulled the blanket off with a raised eyebrow and handed it to him. He looked at him, then the gun. "...You're not gonna shoot me?"

He tilted his head to the side. "Should I? 'Cause I was debating about it... Are you gonna take the Light Pistol or not?"

He hesitantly grabbed the gun. "Light pistol..?" he murmured, before a much more important question came to mind. "Wait! Were you watching me sleep?!"

He chuckled. "I'm an Incubus. 'Tis what I do."

His face fell when he heard the word, 'Incubus'. Incubus. He was an Incubus, a demon that... "Did you-"

"Don't even go there," the demon replied, crossing his arms and turning away from his. He closed his eyes, fighting back crocodile tears. "That's a cruel stereotype!" he exclaimed melodramatically. Then, as an after thought, added, "Besides, you're not my type. I'm gay!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh."

"What? Do you not like gay people? Or am I just too attractive for you to handle?" he asked, putting the barrel of the gun to his lips as it powered on, shooting not bullets but sunlight. "Is this turning you on?"

His only reaction was to stare at him.

"Not doin' it for you, eh? Ah well."

"...I'm gay as well. You know I'm a guy right?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm just fucking around with you," he replied, crossing his arms. "Considering we're both stuck here, why shouldn't we play around?"

He looked around and cautiously placed a foot on the floor beside the bed, surprised to see it was soft but solid. "Where are we?" he asked, nervously standing up on the padded floor.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Incubus replied, tapping his foot on the ground. "I mean... Incubus, sleep... For God's sake, we're in your dreams!"

He gaped at him. "Y...You're joking right?"

He gestured to the dream like room surrounding them. "Does it look like I'm kidding?" he asked, before gesturing to the wall behind him. "Oh... a door. I'm Phil by the way. Phil Lester."

He turned around swiftly to see that the soft bed he'd been laying on moments before had disappeared, replaced by an empty wall and a large double door, with three key holes on each door. The only thing remaining of the bed was the comforter.... He slowly picked it up before turning to Phil. "Do you have the keys? For the door, I mean?"

"Would I be here if I did?" he deadpanned. "If I had the keys, I would have already left your ass."

He glared at him, before looking down at her shoes in a pout. He could have sworn he'd seen him before. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask because there was yet another door that popped up behind the Incubus, and the other door was much more important because it meant a way out of the cramped room.