A Midnight Mind

Chapter 25: Funny Business

"Good work," said Neil between his teeth. He swiped his hands over his body, knocking off shards of glass. Ethan saw some of them come away red.

"What the hell was that thing?" Violet asked, still watching the last wisps of blackness fade away.

"A nightmare, I think," said Neil. He groaned as he pushed away from the dresser. "You have younger siblings, don't you?"

Violet looked at him and frowned. "So?"

"Do they ever have nightmares?"

"They're kids. Of course they do."

"Well, you just met one. There's probably more. We need to move."

Neil held out his hand for his fadeblade. Violet shook her head.

"You can't even hold onto this thing. It's mine now."

"We don't have time for this, Violet."

"Agreed. We'd better get going, then."

With that, she led the way out of the room, with Neil still standing with his hand open. Ethan gave him a five on his way past.

Neil grumbled, closed his hand, and followed.

They only just left the bedroom when they saw one of the doors in the hallway shake. Something pounded against it from the inside.

"Where does that door lead?" asked Neil.

"It's just a closet," said Violet in an unsure voice.

"Dammit. Move!"

Neil shoved Ethan and Violet forward, and they fell into a run as the closet door burst open.

"Down the stairs, go!" said Neil as the bedroom that belonged to Violet's young siblings exploded outward a split second after they passed it by.

I'm literally being chased by nightmares, Ethan thought in the mad panic. I'm being chased by nightmares, but this isn't a dream. Oh, God, oh, God, oh--

"Now where?" said Violet as they rushed to the bottom of the staircase.

"Out the house!" said Neil. "We have to go--"

A piercing shriek cut over Neil's voice and sent a shiver rippling up Ethan's spine. It was a human cry, he realized. Could a nightmare make that noise?

"Kara," Neil gasped. "Oh, no."

He turned and sprinted back up the stairs, two steps at a time.

"Neil!" Ethan called. "You can't go back there."

But Neil was already at the top and wasn't slowing down.

"Idiot!" said Violet. "We have both the weapons."

"We have to go after him," said Ethan.

"Or we could leave him."

Ethan looked at Violet, but she was already moving past him, back up the stairs. "It was a joke, Mur-dock," she said as she brushed by. "Let's go be dreamcatchers."

How the hell does Neil not like her? thought Ethan as he turned and followed Violet. His shoulder throbbed in hot flashes of pain with each step, but he kept up. He tried to believe that the wound wasn't real, that the pain was all in his head. It helped a little, but the second he stopped concentrating the pain would return, more intense than ever.

Don't have time to worry about it. Gotta keep moving.

He nearly crashed into Violet when he reached the peak of the stairs. She was grasping the back of Neil's shirt, barely holding him from making a run for Violet's bedroom.