Nightmares (Short Stories)

One Word

"What could really go wrong?"

"Never in your 27 years of life has that phrase ever stood the test of time. Have you learned nothing from the 2 zillion horror movies you have watched? Why would you say that?"

"Nonsense. Those are movies Ben, this is real life. No one will find out."

"Why do you always manage to say things that are clearly wrong yet with such conviction that it makes it sound plausible?"

"Because it is. Let's just go to the woods and see if we can find the humans."

"And there it is again. There are no humans in those woods. We would have better luck finding Santa Clause. Just stop trying to go into the fucking 'Nightmare Forest' and we can just chill like we do every other Friday night. Maybe, we can spring for extra anchovies on our pizza."

"I don't want pizza, I want a human."

"And I want your sanity back. Neither of those are happening. I miss the days when you were a lazy prince and everyone would complain that you were an embarrassment to the kingdom because you refused to wed the Princess of Naveen. She's hot, I don't see the problem. Why must you always decide to go on these ridiculous excursions when we have plenty of work to finish for your father and responsibil-"

"You are so annoying. So I'm an embarrassment because I didn't want to marry a child? She was fucking 14 at the time?! I'm not into that kind of thing."

"Well she is 18 now. You could marry her now."

"You are missing the point and she was wed to the Duke of Larock two years ago. He doesn't seem to have the same issues with personal choice and informed consent as I do. That poor girl looked pitiful and about to break and her parents sent her off with a hate filled dragon because he had a few extra gold coins. Ugh."

"You could have prevented that."

"Stop talking. I don't know why we are friends. We have zero common interests and you are such a buzzkill. How is it my fault that her parents are money hungry? Fuck them and fuck you too."

Adrian stormed out of the castle in his traveling pants to the edge of the forbidden forest. The one that would hold the secrets of another place and time, of a people long thought dead outside of the few remaining paintings and sculptures of them t lucked away in Adrian's favorite place, the museum.

Once one foot was past the tree line, the other caught up quickly and surpassed it. At a full on sprint through the dense foliage, Adrian was getting more than a few sacks to the face from stray branches. Ben's curses and shouts were lost to the abundant sounds of life within the peaceful scenery. Adrain felt free, more than free, alive. He had been stuck in that castle, mindlessly performing his duties as fifth Prince as any well behaved son would.

What did he get in return for his hard work and care for his people and others? Shamed. He was continuously told he was an embarrassment. He wouldn't wed a child, he couldnt witness the last vampire being executed just for being different, he refused to join his brother in a game of "pillage the virgin" every weekend. Did this make him a horrible man who should be shunned and treated as an outcast? His parents and the rest of the kingdom thought so.

Maybe a human would be different. As someone trying to stay out of sight and away from all of the different races vying for their rarity, maybe he would find a kindred spirit, a true friend. If he died along the way, no one would truly care. Ben was the only being on the planet who cared about Adrian and the latter knew it was only because he was paid to. As a squire, they had grown to be friends, or what Adrian thought was friends, but it turns out after his last eavesdropping session that Ben thought of it more as work and requested a raise to deal with the current tantrums Adrian was going through.