It Started As A Nightmare

The First Nightmare

Cody blinked, awakening for some unknown reason. He sat up, glancing around. He was in a circular clearing. Tall pine trees rose far above his head, casting dark shadows onto the ground. The moon was directly above his head, yet it was so covered in clouds that only a few beams of faint moonlight could shine through. The forest itself was pitch black, shadows so dense that it was like staring into the void. There was almost no noise, the only things Cody could hear being his own heartbeat slowly increasing, his breathing, and something moving in the shadows... slithering, sliding over pine needles with the faintest, quietist crunch, but Cody still heard it. He couldn't run, the noise was all around him, circling him, like a snake would do to a mouse. He felt as brave as mouse would right now. Suddenly, the noise stopped. The air was still, dead and cold. Something crunched behind him, but as soon as he turned around, a open maw with two poised fangs greeted him, enveloping the small boy in darkness.

Cody bolted upright, a quiet scream in his throat. That was nothing new. Whenever he had a nightmare, it was like the fear was still choking him even when he was awake. He breathed heavily, breath coming in gasps. What was that thing? He usually only had nightmares about things he had seen, and he was sure he had never seen that place before, nor anything like that monster. He grasped his stuffed lobster and turned towards the window, hoping for a calming summer breeze to blow by. But the air was cold, dead and still. He glanced up at the moon. It was almost completely covered in clouds, save for a few beams of moonlight that were shining down on the woods...

Cody hugged his lobster tighter, too afraid to go back to sleep.

Jack groaned, sitting up. Why was he awake? It wasn't like him to wake up randomly. He felt something shift beside him, and he made a surprised noise when he saw Miko and Raf waking up beside him. Miko yawned and stretched, kicking Jacks leg as she did. She opened her eyes and pulled her leg back when she felt her foot make contact.

"Woah! What are you guys doing in my dream? And where the heck are we?" she asked, standing up. Raf sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't think its just your dream, Miko. I think we're somehow sharing one." he said, looking around.

Miko grinned excitedly. "Cool! This is just like in that weird webcomic i was reading. Home something. Although, i don't think the dream ended to well for the kids..." she trailed off, excited face becoming somewhat frightened when she really took in their surroundings. They were in a shadow cloaked canyon, pointed rocks jutting out from the sides. A full moon was above them, although it was shrouded in grey storm clouds, only small beams of light breaking through. The air was warm, but silent. No animals, people or vehicles. Just dead silence. A chill crawled up Jack's spine. Something was off here...

The trio whipped around when a rock tumbled down and into the light. Miko chuckled nervously.

"O-oh. It was just a rock. Heh heh.."

Scrrraaapppeeee

The sound of metal scraping against rock made their hearts drop into their stomachs. Slowly, all three kids looked up. Narrowed red eyes stared at them from the darkness like burning coals in a sea of inky black. A small moonbeam flickered out of the clouds for a brief moment, illuminating a sharp fang. Jack felt his body freeze, yet his brain was screaming at him to run. Before he could shake free from the paralysis, the creature lunged, jaw unhinged to an unnatural point. He didn't even have time to scream before it swallowed them, darkness covering him.

Jack bolted upright, a silent scream the only noise coming out. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest while his throat felt like it was being squeezed. Miko and Raf were experiencing much the same thing. Raf was clutching his heart, face scrunched up. He could see tears pricking at the corners of Miko's eyes as she struggled to get air into her lungs. Something beeped on the large monitor, and Ratchet's bright blue eyes opened, casting a faint glow onto the room. His gaze flickered over towards the children,which he could not see easily in the darkness.

"Children, are you alright? Your vital signs just spiked rapidly." he asked, voice quiet as to not wake the others.

No response.

The old medic frowned and got up, walking over to the children. He made a noise of shock when he saw he state they were in. He quickly ran a scan over them as he knelt to pick them up. Their adrenaline levels were spiked and their hearts were beating at highly accelerated rates. The muscles in their throats were very tight, as if their body were initiating a fight or flight response. He gently carried the small humans over to the medical bed, placing them down as their vitals slowly returned to normal. Soon, their breathing had regulated enough so that they could breathe. Jack looked up at the Autobot medic.

"Sorry we woke you up Ratchet." he said in a strained voice, throat not fully relaxed yet. Ratchet shook his head.

"You did not wake me. The monitor sensed a rapid spike in your vitals and alerted me. Although i must ask, what made you so frightened?" he asked, looking through their medical history to see if a medical problem had caused it.

Jack face flushed, embarrassed by the idea of confessing what had happened.

"It... it was a nightmare. I don't know why it scared us so bad though." he admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Miko raised her hand, waving it.

"I know why! That super freaky metal snake thing toyed with us, and then it ate us!" she said, shuddering.

Ratchet sighed. "You humans and your odd night hallucinations. There is no metal snake trying to eat you, i promise. Although it is odd that you three shared this experience. I'll look into it in the morning, for now, go back to sleep." he said, placing them onto the ground.

The three humans returned to the main room, but instead of returning to their sleeping bags,(they had been staying over at the base.) the kids dragged them over closer to their partners, not quite comfortable enough to go back to sleep alone.