THE PHANTOM

Chapter 1

Dan's Parts: Bold (By Jules)
Phil's Parts: Italic (By Ash)

I woke up, startled. I was heavily breathing, sweating. I glanced at the clock. 4:27 AM. The nightmares were back. I wanted to go back to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw that thing. 

I groggily wake up to go to the bathroom, not wanting to, but I do so anyways. I get out of bed and open my door, to hear Dan breathing heavily. I walk over to his door and knock. "Dan, you okay?" 

"Y-yeah..." Phil startles me even more. I didn't think he'd be awake. I try again to fall asleep, but I still see that thing. I decide to just get up, going to the kitchen for some water. 

I get done in the bathroom when I hear Dan in the kitchen. I walk in there and see him getting a glass of water. "You sure you're ok?" I ask, leaning on the doorframe leading into the kitchen. 

I lean on the counter, sipping the ice cold water. I shake my head slowly. "I'm not okay... The nightmares are back." I don't make eye contact with him, I just stare into my glass of water. 

I frown and go into the kitchen. "Oh Dan." I go to him and embrace him in a hug, knowing he lives my hugs and hoping it'll help him feel better. "it's ok." I say.

I accept Phi's hug, feeling a bit better. I cry a little bit. "It's so scary," I say through my tears. "It just seems so... real." 

"it's only a dream Dan, I promise nothing will happen to you, me, us. We'll be ok." I say, releasing him just to show him my smile. I cup his face in my hand, wiping away the tear, then kissing him. "I promise." 

I smile and blush a bit at Phil, gazing in his eyes. His words replay in my head. I calm a bit, taking his hand and leading him to the sofa. We sit together, and soon enough, I end up falling asleep again, resting my head on his shoulder. 

I smile at Dan and look at his sleeping face. The way his hair falls over his eyes, his mouth parted slightly, his freckles sprinkled across his face, he was perfect. I pull him closer, cuddling him more, as much as you can with one arm around someone, and kiss his forehead, laying my head on top of his, soon falling asleep too. 

I'm in a dream, but it's different this time. There's no monster. There's still chaos, my family and friends around me as everything burns. Everything is burning, and I'm the only one who can save everyone. I'm weak. I don't know what to do. I wake up crying, in Phil's arms. I look at the clock across the room. 9:57 AM. 

I wake up to Dan crying. "Oh my god" the first thing I can think of is to hug him, and I do. "it's gonna be okay Dan, don't worry." and I repeat that over and over, rubbing his back in a soothing way. 

From that moment, even though Phil is telling me that things will be okay, I start to have an existential crisis. "But what if they're not? What if everything gets worse? What if we all die tomorrow?" I just spit out random things on my mind. 

I think, "well, I'm here, and that's all that matters. I think... that sounds kinda selfish, don't you think? I'm babbling, that's besides the point, but, there was a point to this..." I start to think again. "Oh yeah! I know it seems scary, but if you want, we can do whatever to seize the moment and make you feel better. I can set up a movie, get something to drink, anything. It will be okay. I promise." I look into Dan's eyes. "Okay?" 

I nod slowly. "B-but... I just wanna sleep. Really, I do. But everytime I close my eyes, I see that thing!" My eyes fill with tears again, but I blink them back. "It's been like this for weeks. It just gets worse and worse."