roommates | darkiplier

Chapter 6

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   The Monday of January 9th marked a day of some confrontation. It'd been more than a week since my first encounter with sleep paralysis, but my strange dreams didn't stop there. Although I didn't find myself in sleep paralysis again, I was still being taunted with nightmares and terrible visions in my sleep. I wished I could forget about them, but something just pulled them in deeper, keeping them inside my mind.

Where do I even start?

The first few days happened to be the same reoccurring nightmare. I was hanging upside down just like that Sunday, but the screams from that victim sounded more excruciatingly painful, much more haunting. They stuck in my head even after I woke up. The only difference was that every day, the strange voice became steadier, deeper, and recognizable as human. I found it odd that it resembled Mark's, but I knew it wasn't him. It didn't feel like his ordinary soothing, calm voice, what was so distinct about it was it sounded more demanding. It promised almost impossible things, it wanted just one thing, but I could never make out what it said.

By the time Friday night hit and I fell asleep, exhausted from exercising with Mark every day, I was surprised to find myself dreaming peacefully. Except, that serene nature didn't last for very long. When I awoke in my dreamscape, I quickly realized I was vivid dreaming. One of my first times with it too, I was shocked that everything felt so real. It felt too real, so when I would explore what I could, instantly the house would be ablaze. It's like it didn't want me to roam free, it wanted me to play along. Just before I was consumed by flames, feeling my skin and existence burn to nothingness, I'd hear a voice calling my name.

"Edith! Edith! Edi...E..."

The voice would fade off as I fell into darkness. I recognized the voice, it was the same voice from my previous nightmares. Why did it keep chasing me through my dreams? What did it want so desperately that it had to torture me with nightmares just to talk to me?

Saturday was a different nightmare as well, not as torturous as the others though. Actually, I don't know if I could call it a nightmare, it just felt weird after waking up to think about it. It started with me in some part of Los Angeles, at the back of some building, staring at a metal gate. Emotions would suddenly overcome me and I'd start bawling like crazy. I didn't know why I was crying, but I was. I wasn't the only person there, Mark was too. He would begin to comfort me, pulling me into a hug that I wanted to last forever. His body was warm and welcoming, his arms tightly wrapped around me. I'd sob into his chest, with him reassuring me.

"It's okay, I'm here. I'm right here. I'll be here, I'll be with you, forever."

The dream would end right when he said forever, with such a strong tone too. After the same dream occurred leading into Sunday, I began to have doubts. It was strange that he looked exactly like Mark, but his voice wasn't his. It was the version I heard so many times in my nightmares. After finding myself in the same dream that night, I decided I would try to confront the dream Mark about him being a little off. Before I could even speak words, I found myself choking on my sobs. Mark was shushing me, and no matter how hard I tried to speak, I couldn't. I started to freak out, Mark's grasp got tighter as he kept me where he wanted me- it didn't feel right.

I awoke a sweaty mess. After waking up I took a cool shower while drowning in my thoughts, despite knowing I'd join Mark to the gym. I could hardly believe what was happening. This wasn't normal for me, these dreams, sleep paralysis, I'd never suffered through it until then. Nothing had been the same since the New Year began. I never got good sleep after January 1st, and I questioned whether I was going insane or not. Yet, I threw that consideration away because, well- everything that had happened throughout that week felt abnormal. None of this ever happened until the 2017 struck the calendars, and I had no explanation for it. I knew this wasn't of my own doing, but I couldn't put my tongue on it. My knowledge on the subject would come with discovery.