distorted dreams

chapter four;

Jay yawned loudly, their eyes drooping as they stared at the dimly lit computer screen before them. They glanced up, looking around the room with a blank expression.

Hope had a large book opened, and several other novels around it, though they had already fallen shut. She had an uncapped highlighter in her limp hand, and her face was pressed against the page she'd been reading.

She tried to stay up for as long as possible to contribute to the problem, but she wasn't really a night-owl. Hope had fallen asleep a couple hours ago, and neither Jay nor Maxwell decided to disturb her.

Jay's gaze shifted across to their left, where Maxwell was lying. He was on his own laptop, but he was barely moving. He'd been assigned the task to look up what exactly was coming from Jay's imagination, and if anyone had ever had a similar problem.

He hadn't gotten very far on this project though, instead spending most of the night sketching out what he thought the creatures might look like. Hope had said that wouldn't really be beneficial to their cause, but Jay appreciated the gesture.

Jay set their laptop down, crawling over to Maxwell's area. They carefully tapped Maxwell's shoulder, checking if he might be awake. Maxwell mumbled sleepily in response, his head lolling to the side.

Jay sighed softly, leaning over to power down his computer. They looked at his sketchbook, inspecting the drawing as best as they could in the faint light. They gave up eventually, scooting back to their computer and frowning.

Jay stared at the tab they currently had open, squinting in attempt to see a bit better. It was a long thread of text, talking about alternate dimensions, and how one could travel to them. They found the point they'd been reading at and read the sentence over again.

They moved to the next sentence, though it seemed awfully similar to the previous one. They moved to the next sentence, though it seemed awfully similar to the previous one. Jay paused, blinking and realizing they'd just been repeating them self.

Jay turned their brightness down, huffing quietly. There was no point in trying to continue to do their research, because there would be no way they would remember to write it down, or even comprehend it enough to try.

**Jay laid down, staring at the ceiling and trying to fall asleep. They felt paranoid, as though something was creeping right over them. Even with the comforting presence of their friends, the atmosphere was still unnerving.

They closed their eyes, willing the bad thoughts away. Jay felt a calm feeling come over their body, as though they were falling asleep. But their mind was still buzzing, and they were completely conscious of their own breathing.

Jay opened their eyes, feeling unknown panic rise up in their chest. They sat bolt upright, looking around with wide eyes.

They were surrounded by blackness, though somehow, they could still see dark shadows flickering out of the corner of their eye.

Jay had the same uneasy feeling rising up through their body. Something was here with them, they could feel it's eyes boring into the back of their skull. Yet, when Jay turned around, there was seemingly nothing there.

Jay took a step forward, their shoes echoing loudly across the pitch-black plane. They shuddered, feeling chills run up their spine as they continued forward.

"Where am I?" They thought, though it seemed as though they were speaking the words aloud.

Jay heard a faint thump in the distance and stumbled backwards. Three more thuds followed and revealed a creature lingering in the near distance. Jay held their breath, trying to look it straight in the eye.

Speaking of its eyes, they were a sight Jay couldn't quite describe. They glowed, pale white, and seemed glossed over. There wasn't a pupil, just pure white staring directly at Jay.

It stood up, since it's been hunched over before, and gazed down at Jay. It had to have been at least 8 feet tall, if not more, to have that much height on Jay. They gulped, feeling a strange familiarity set in.

Its hand reached out, spindly fingers barely brushing against Jay's nose. They didn't have to guess how long its arms were, they already knew. And as they stared into those eyes, the memories came flooding back.

Amelia, shouting, her angry, yet terrified, glare fixated on Jay, her grieving mother sobbing as she asked Jay where her daughter had gone, only to get silence in return, the funeral, where Jay had merely stared into an empty casket with no emotion.

The thing that stood before them, they realized why it'd been so painfully recognizable. It was the same thing that took Amelia- and it was still alive.

Jay gasped audibly, trying to move their feet but feeling as though concrete held them to the floor. They began to shake from panic, their breathing heavy.

As the creature placed its thin, black hand on Jay's shoulder, she flashed her eyes open and inhaled sharply.

Dawn light was creeping in through Hope's bedroom window, casting a glow across the sleeping bodies of Jay's friends. Jay didn't have time to pay attention to the beauty of it though, as the anxiety from their nightmare had yet to fade away. **

They rocked back and forth, hyperventilating as they did so. They saw Maxwell stir out of the corner of their eye, but didn't have enough energy to speak to him. He looked concerned for Jay, and crawled over quickly.

"I...saw it-" Jay managed to get out, still feeling the trepidation that had been building up all night.

"Saw what?" Maxwell said, probably a bit louder than necessary.

Hope stirred, her eyes fluttering open. As soon as she saw Jay, she sat up. "What happened?"

Maxwell shook his head, trying to comfort Jay. He'd never seen them go into such a bad panic attack, and he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to handle it.

Hope scurried over, placing her hands on Jay's shoulders firmly. "Hey, it's okay..." She whispered.

Maxwell hugged Jay hesitantly, repeating Hope's words softly. Jay felt their heart rate slow down, their breathing returning a normal state. The shaking didn't completely stop, but it did calm eventually.

"Now, what did you see, Jay?" Hope murmured, pulling away from the tight hug.

Jay stared at the wall, biting their bottom lip softly. As mentioned before, this was a bad habit of theirs. They scooted away from their friends, taking a deep breath.

"I saw...a creature..." They whispered, their voice shaking. "The same one that took Amelia..."