Twisted Nightmares

1 - Dark Breath

Lilith and Beatrice stared up at the looming darkness, drifting into the cold night air. Nightmares were always hard to kill or catch, but this was a whole other level. It was a Dark Breath. Probably the most terrifying Nightmare of all. Beatrice definitely agreed with that. She remembered being haunted by a Dark Breath when she was a child. How could she forget the most awful thing ever to happen to her? Well, aside from her parents' death.

Nightmares are not just bad dreams. They are demons. But you need a Gift to see them. There are three kinds of humans. Ordinarys, Middles and Gifteds. An Ordinary can not see nor hear a Nightmare. Middles can hear them and sense their presence. Gifted people can see them and interact with them. Most Gifteds become Nightmare Hunters because they can see the demons.

There are also multiple kinds of Nightmares. Some of the most famous ones are Depression, Fury and Envy. You can guess what they do. They cling to your back and whisper things in your ear. Making you feel things that they feel. It is pretty obvious what Depression makes you feel. And Fury. Envy too, but it does not just make you a little envious. They can make you jealous to the point of murder. There are lots more Nightmares, but they all come from one source. The Dark Breath.

Dark Breaths have another name. Night Master. It is because they spin every Nightmare from the thread of a dying star. Every bad emotion or dream anyone has is the fault of the Dark Breath. Beatrice remembered what her father, Sandman, had told her when she had a Dark Breath and was training to be a Nightmare Hunter. There is no way to kill them, but they can be captured. It took a long time, but her father was able to catch the Dark Breath that was haunting her, but she only vaguely remembered how to trap it.

Beatrice took out her wand and Lilith did too. Beatrice was about to cast the spell to catch the dark mist floating in front of them, but Lilith cast a spell first. A different spell. The spell used to kill a demon. Beatrice tried to stop her, but the spell had already struck the demon. It did not kill it, it made it angry. One of the main rules of catching a Dark Breath is not make it more angry then it already is. But now... now, Lilith had made it furious.

It looked like a dark and ominous hurricane with glowing purple eyes filled with great rage, watching them. It seemed to grow before their eyes. Beatrice recognized what was happening. She had seen her Dark Breath do the same thing. It was about to attack. Two swirling vortexes opened up on each side of the Dark Breath. It looked at Lilith menacingly. She froze. As the Dark Breath took it's shot at Lilith, time seemed to slow down for both Lilith and Beatrice.

Beatrice could not let Lilith get hurt. She ran in front of Lilith before the dark magic could hit her. A thud on Beatrice's chest made her gasp for air. She wasn't dying, but she could feel the darkness. Rushing through her veins to her heart. She hated it. This is how it feels to be a Nightmare. Pain and evil.

Lilith ran over to the collapsed next to a gasping Beatrice. She opened her eyes, but they were not the usual dark green they should be. They looked like those of the Dark Breath. Glowing, purple and evil.  Beatrice got to her feet. But Lilith didn't think it was her best friend Beatrice at all. It was one of the Nightmare demons. The Dark Breath took off into the night, leaving Lilith with the Nightmare that used to be Beatrice. She reached for her wand and lifted a shaking hand to point at the beast, but then she stopped and threw her wand to the ground. She couldn't  hurt Beatrice. But, at that moment, Beatrice looked like she would hurt her. Beatrice lifted a hand. It was still, not shaking like Lilith's was. Black and purple sand gathered around her hand. It flew at Lilith and, once again, time slowed down.

･ ｡ﾟ☆

Lilith didn't notice her eyes were shut until she opened them. Right in front of her was a ball of dark mist, frozen in mid air. Little wisps of mist floated into the air until nothing was left. There, standing before her, was Beatrice. The real her with kind green eyes. Tears dripped down her face. "Lily..." She began before burying her head in Lilith's shoulder and crying. One of the powers that the Dark Breath has is to make even the most pure of things into a Nightmare. That was what was happening to Beatrice.

They went back to the town to tell Sandman that they had failed the mission and the Dark Breath was still at large. They knew he would understand. But they also needed to tell him what happened to Beatrice. Lilith had one foot in the door of the Nightmare Hunters HQ when Beatrice stopped her. " Maybe we shouldn't tell him." She said. Lilith looked at her, confused. "Why not?" She questioned. Beatrice teared up again. "Because if we do, Sandman won't let me hunt another Nightmare until he knows that I'm okay, which might be never." She said. Lilith looked at her with a sad look in her eyes. "I would prefer if you chose to be safe, but it's up to you." Lilith said and Beatrice smiled, still looking sad. "I want to keep hunting Nightmares with my best friend." She said. Lilith nodded as they entered HQ and told Sandman that the Dark Breath was still out there. He understood and told them to keep hunting it down. They nodded and left.

"Thank you." said Beatrice. Lilith took a deep breath. "I want you to keep hunting Nightmares with me. But I also want you to be safe. Just know that I'll  keep you safe always and I won't let anything bad happen to you." She smiled and so did Beatrice. "Thank you." She repeated and they went home.

Nightmare hunters had to stay in the shadows because nobody could know that they exist. Not even the King and Queen. They stay hidden and protect the Earth. No one even knew that Nightmares were demons. And that is the way it stays.     

Until darkness strikes again. And it will.