Lucien

Chapter 13

I awoke in the middle of a dense forest. It was still night, and the moon was at its highest. The sky was littered with dark grey clouds, and the storm was still raging on. Despite being able to feel the rain on my skin, I was still acutely aware that I was dreaming. That was new. This was also the first dream I'd had in a long time that didn't take place in a dark room with endless corridors. Was he trying to change things up? Why now? Had he gotten bored?

Suddenly, I heard a ghostly laugh echoing through the woods. There was something almost haunting about it. Upon hearing the laugh, a wave of shivers travelled down my spine, and I felt my level of fear begin to rise. Not knowing what else to do, I decided to explore. I walked for what felt like hours, but made seemingly no progress. Everything looked the same. Every tree was identical. It was unnaturally perfect, so much so that it was very uncanny. The forest was very unsettling, and had a weird vibe to it. Then, I heard a deep voice, sounding like it was right beside me.

"I know where you are..."

It was him. I ran deeper and deeper into the forest, as his dark laughter filled my head. In my peripheral vision, I saw his shadow move from tree to tree. Something was off, it didn't look like the shadow was being cast by him. It was as if the shadow was its own being. Then, his shadow stopped on the tree in front of me. I suddenly froze. His shadow had red glowing eyes, and a luminescent white smile. He was smiling unnaturally wide, causing me to panic even more. Nobody can smile that wide, it's physically impossible! He must have sensed my fear, because his smile grew even wider. The corners of his mouth were almost level with his eyes now.

"Do you fear me?"

I was paralysed with fear, unable to move or speak. Without warning, his shadow moved somewhere else. I wanted to turn around to see where he went, but I still couldn't move. Then, I felt his deathly cold hands rest upon my shoulders, and his sharp claws tearing into my flesh. Even though I was used to this, having been dealing with it for over a year, it still scared me just as much. I was expecting everything to fade to black, as it usually did in these dreams, but for some reason that didn't happen this time. The feeling of his claws ripping through my back suddenly stopped, as did the pain that came with it. I was confused. Why didn't I pass out? Why didn't the dream end? I looked around, now able to move again. There was no sign of Lucien. I continued walking, soon reaching the edge of the forest.

It was very cold, and the wind blew right through me. There were still a few trees, but nowhere near as many, and they looked a lot more natural in their placement. I then approached a large iron gate. It opened on its own with a deafening creak, and I stepped inside. It was very foggy, and I couldn't see much. I walked around for a while, seeing various rounded shaped in the fog. After a few minutes, the grim reality of the situation dawned on me: I was in a graveyard, and the shaped I'd been seeing were tombstones. I kept walking, as a deep pit of dread opened in my stomach, growing ever deeper with each step. I then saw an open grave. I tried to back away, but an invisible force stopped me.

"I could trap you in an eternal nightmare if I wanted to..."

As soon as he said this, something pushed me into the grave. I fell for what felt like hours, before hitting something wooden. It was a coffin. Then, dirt rained down on me. I closed my eyes tight, the weight of the dirt beginning to crush me. I was being buried alive. My chest became tight and started to hurt, as I felt the air being pulled from my lungs. Then, I felt myself losing consciousness. My body felt limp, as everything faded to black...