Have you found yourself stuck in the middle of a particularly bad writer's block? Need a dose of inspiration? Or are you simply looking for some creativity to kick-start your newest novel? Then look no further!
Paranormal Prompts aims to bring you...
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Hello everyone and thank you for joining us on our newest Paranormal Prompt! This week we will be featuring a word prompt. Remember that you do not need to include the actual wording of the prompt in your entry, if you do not want to. You are allowed to interpret the prompt as literally or as figuratively as you would like, provided that there is a clear connection to your entry and the prompt.
WORD PROMPT:
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(Word prompt reads: Every night you're visited. Sometimes in deams. Sometimes in nightmares.)
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WINNERS:
Please note that winners are not listed in any specific order. To read the rest of the entries, please check them out in the comments section below!
My brother was dead. He'd promised to watch over me after our folks had died in a car crash, but I guess cancer didn't care about his promise or the six year old brother he left behind. It was then the dreams started. They were odd, strange dreams. Alien landscapes of distant worlds or stone castles standing tall under the shadow of dragons. I'd never seen some of the places before, but there was always something to do there, some adventure to be had. The dreams could be fun and happy, but they could also be twisted and filled with monsters. I never knew which would come to me in the nighttime hours, so each night I prepared to face the unknown.
My brother appeared in my dreams, fighting monsters alongside me or helping explore some distant or magical realm. Never did I have to face the dreams alone, for my brother was always there. For the past three years, I've been visited. Either in dreams or nightmares, I can count on my brother to be there, keeping his promise to me.
Silently, like a lioness stalking her prey, they're there. The darkness isn't my fear, not anymore. The time of sleep and promises of sweet dreams are what scare me the most.
Lies, all lies. For me anyways. They will always come. I can't escape them.
"Skylar, do you really think you can hide from us?" They call out my name. They tease me—demand my attention. "You can't escape yourself...we are you. The real you. Do you think you can deny us, Skylar? Do you think you can deny yourself?"
It starts out the same every night. I live off of caffeine. It's what keeps me from facing them.
"No," I whimper. Can't they just leave me alone?
"We can't do that Skylar," They speak in unison, the low poisonous hiss of a snake. "We can't leave you. You can't leave yourself. Join us Skylar. Give up..."
I wipe sweat off my head. My hands were shaking, my body trembling with the lack of sleep.
But the worst part is, they don't just come in my nightmares. They're in my dreams too.
I'm haunted by those who lurk in the spirit and mind. When I'm awake they follow me like flies, never truly there but always on the edge of annoyance. In my dreams they torture me with their cries, their cries screams of revenge. I try to block out their pain but at times it envelopes me as if it is my own. I stalk the night silently, targeting my prey as those who have given, not received pain. Tonight they will know the depth of the darkness in my heart. Tonight I will begin anew.
I will revel in their screams as the terrors in my mind slowly cease until they are my comfort. I will sleep covered in the blood of my victims as the steady drip of their blood coaxes me to sleep.
"I'm crazy." I mutter to myself as I sit in a tub of red water, the walls crawling with insects befire my very eyes. I have no peace from them. Demons, necromancer, witches, ghosts, they all call on my soul to do their bidding, their dirty work. Who am I to try and say no?
"This is the last time." A hiss fills my mind. "There is no last time with any of you!" I yell causing passing people to turn and gawk. "Insane." They mutter as they run off. Yep that's me I'm insane. Keep it up and I'll kill your kids.
I dont know whats wrong with me. I cant stop. The demons in my mind promise they will stop stalking me if they do their bidding but the more I do the more I'm pulled into the underworld of today's society. At times, their screams fade into a silent noise, like a bubbly stream. Then other times their screams are so loud I beat my head against any surface, trying to get them out. My night and day, they come and go. Leaving me an empty shell for their bidding. There is no peace for me. As long as there are demons in me, all I will ever know is death. As if I am already among them.
