Holly & The Mystery Of Dragon's Blood

The Dream

The darkness was unnatural. It didn't feel like it was just nighttime, it felt to Holly as though the night was an entity, following her, stalking her. She turned back to the well. She was sure that she'd heard an echoey voice coming from deep within it. She tried to dismiss it as the bucket on the tattered rope swinging in the wind, but although it felt cold, there was no breeze.

The night was still.

As she approached, she paused and was filled with a feeling of dread.

What if there was someone, or something, some monster, in that well, just waiting for her to peer in. Waiting to grab her and eat her. She took a breath, rested her hands on the cold stone, leaned forward, and peered in.

There was nothing there. No person, no monster. Just water and her reflection, illuminated by the full moon. Holly looked at herself in the water. She didn't recognize herself. It sort of looked like her, but older perhaps.

Her hair was darker, and her face was a bit longer. She certainly didn't look like an eight-year-old girl. She raised her hand, running her fingers through her brown hair, it had never been this long before.

She froze suddenly, panic gripping her. In the reflection of the water, she could see another hand behind her. A large black hand with long clawed fingers reaching out for her. She spun around, expecting to see the monster she'd feared seeing in the well, but there was nothing, just thick darkness. As she tried to make out anything in the blackness, she was surprised by an icy hand grasping her shoulder from behind, gripping tightly.

"Give us the amulet of Tulek!" a sinister voice demanded, at the same time both a scream and a whisper, sending chills down Holly's spine.

Holly pulled away, wrestled free and ran. Glancing back, she could see darkness, endless darkness. Not even the moonlight was visible anymore. The dark seemed to be getting closer, chasing her. Holly kept running, aware now that she could hear footsteps other than her own.

Thundering, galloping steps, like horses, drawing nearer and nearer.

A roar, "GIVE US THE AMULET!"

Holly kept running, occasionally glancing back to see who or what was chasing her. She saw nothing. No horses, no people, no monsters. Nothing but terrifying blackness. It surrounded her now, she couldn't see anything at all. Nothing but two tiny pricks of brilliant white light emerging from the dark.

Then she woke up. She was breathing fast, gasping as if she had actually been running, and she was sweating, the bed sheets were soaked. But it had just been a dream. The same dream she'd had every night for as long as she could remember. Holly got out of bed and walked to her window on the other side of the room. It was still night, and although it was dark, she could see the stars and the moon, the river, and nearby forest. Certainly nothing like the empty darkness of her dream. She was relieved to be back in the real world, safe in her room, with nothing chasing her.

Holly walked to her nightstand and looked in the mirror, she was relieved to see it was indeed herself looking back. That eight-year-old girl with her hair down to just below her ears. She was also relieved to see there were no scary hands in the reflection behind her.

It was still night, she should get back into bed, but she was wide awake now. Holly always woke at the same time during that dream. She opened her drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. She would write down what she could remember of the dream. Perhaps it would help her make sense of it.

She began to write, putting down all the detail she could remember. The dream always started with her in the wheat field. She could never remember how she got there. She'd be wearing the same nightdress she was wearing now, but it was smaller in the dream. No, it was the same size, it was her that was bigger. She remembered, she'd looked older when seeing her reflection in the well.

It was the well that had caught her attention in the field.

As she'd walk through the field, the sun setting behind her, she could swear there was a noise coming from that well, a voice she thought. She couldn't make out any words but was sure there was something. She'd get nearer to the well, and that is when she'd hear a voice, but from behind her this time. A quiet, rasping voice.

"Giiiiiiive iiiiiiit," it would say, the words quiet and drawn out.

She'd turn, startled by the voice that sounded so near, but would see nobody. Nothing but the sun finally disappearing behind the trees, its warm glow fading, allowing the darkness to take its place. The darkness that Holly felt wasn't right.

Holly looked out of the window again. Definitely a different darkness. Nothing like what she was looking at now. The darkness in the dream almost seemed like it was something. She couldn't quite describe it. But it was as if it was the dark was a thick black cloud closing around her, rather than just the night sky.

Holly finished writing down what she could remember of the dream, put the paper back in her drawer, and got back into bed. Perhaps she would talk to Nana about it in the morning.

Nana was clever. Perhaps if the dream had a hidden meaning, she might be able to explain it. But for now, Holly would go back to sleep, and once again, back to that dream.