Creeptober Horror Spree: Volume One

Obsession

They say that you can't dream about people you have never seen. The brain cannot conjure brand new faces.

Alex knew this was wrong because he had never seen the man in his dreams before. He'd insisted as much to his friends, but they brushed it off. Not even aware of why anyone would be as concerned as Alex was, they shrugged, offering solutions he didn't ask for. "Maybe you did see him and just forgot about him?"

"I wouldn't have forgotten," Alex pressed, growing strangely agitated. "He's literally the most beautiful person on earth." The statement tumbled out of him unfiltered, and he was met with laughter, teasing, and winks.

Alex stopped talking to his friends about the man. When asked, he shrugged and said, "The dreams stopped." It was an easy enough lie to tell.

He was primarily curious about what the man had to say, if anything. Generally, if the man made an appearance, it was subtle. Alex would see him in crowds, in the background, and so on. He started going to bed earlier and earlier, taking copious naps throughout his free days; Alex even snuck in naps at work. The more he slept, the better his chance of catching a glimpse. The plan was a success, and then some; going by his dream journal, Alex would see the man at least twice a day between deep sleep and cat naps.

Soon, Alex began to notice something. The man was getting closer to him, moving from the crowds and backgrounds to more accessible areas. Once, during a dream about dining out with his family, the man was a waiter. Naturally, his friends grew worried. "Maybe you should see a doctor?" They suggested. "Sleeping so much isn't normal. Something could be wrong."

"I'm fine," Alex assured them. "Just working too hard. I'm not getting enough sun, I think. I'll be okay." The truth was, he was taking sleeping pills quite often.

The man grew closer and closer as Alex dreamed, searching for the answer to the mystery. He researched lucid dreaming, hoping that he could do it at will, an ability claimed by many on internet forums. Whether or not Alex succeeded, he did call out to the man and was delighted to see him turn. Confusion spread across his perfect face. It was as if he had been unaware of Alex entirely until that moment. Perhaps both of them were dreaming.

Alex took a sick day from work, got comfortable in bed, and downed two more sleeping pills. Before long, the realm of his subconscious opened up, and he set out looking for the beautiful man. It didn't take long. Amid a crowd of people at his favorite restaurant, the man sat at the table on the pier, quietly enjoying the ocean. Alex cautiously approached him, suddenly afraid but unsure why. The man turned to him, watching curiously with impossibly vibrant eyes. They were green, shining like emeralds set into dark, silky skin. His hair glimmered in the sun like polished obsidian. "Who are you?" He asked.

His voice was indescribable. Alex took a moment to comprehend the words, distracted by the creature before him. "How don't you know? You're in my dreams."

The man flashed him a perfect smile, followed by the most contagious laughter. "How would you know that you're not in mine?"

"This place is my favorite restaurant," Alex explained.

"And there's no possible way it isn't someone else's?" The man asked wryly. Noting Alex's defeated silence, he waved his hand. "Forgive me. I have an apetite for games. Yes, this is your dream. I normally go unnoticed, though. You're a curious one." He stood, extending his arm for a handshake.

The man said his name, but it didn't sound like words. Hearing it blurred Alex's vision, and he reached out to shake his hand, bewildered. "I'm sorry, I missed that-" He began, and the man interrupted.

"Everyone does. That's okay. It's not important." He shrugged. The man had a broad, chiseled jawline that offered an enhancement to his grin. "Would you like to come with me?" He asked. He tightened his grip.

"Where?" Alex asked.

"Anywhere." The man replied with wonder in his voice.

"Okay," Alex said.

It would forever be a mystery. Alex's friends would tell the story to new friends and lovers for the rest of their lives. After a few more days of missed work, Anthony went to his apartment with the spare key to check on him. He found nothing.

"Now, you'd think that's a good thing, but I have to explain. There was nothing there. The door opened, and there was just a brick wall behind it. Alex's car was still in the parking garage, but his entire apartment was gone. Him along with it. We never found him. Police thought we were crazy, but the building manager confirmed that he had rented from the landlord, and there had been an apartment there." Anthony took a long sip of his wine, watching his fiancée from over the brim.

"So he...he just ran off? And...bricked up his apartment?" She asked. Anthony could tell she didn't believe him.

"I have photos of it; all of us do. The police ordered the wall broken down. From the outside, the apartment was still there. You could see it through the windows. So, we figured, someone did what you said. They bricked up the door. They broke it down and...there was nothing. Pipes, wires, drywall. From the outside, the room was there, but from the inside...it didn't exist."

"You're not kidding, are you?"

"Nope. I don't lie to you, Kate. You know that." Anthony smiled at her. "But there is a reason I'm telling you this."

"Which is...?"

"We all seem to be connected. It was Alex, me, Red, and Luke. We had been friends for so long; we were family. The man Alex said he kept seeing before he disappeared; he never described him to us. But we have all seen him in our own dreams. We know it in our guts. When we see him, we just feel this...fear." Anthony paused, toying with his silverware. "Sometimes, when one of us has been with someone for a long time, they start to see him too. So, since we're getting married and all, I thought it was fair to warn you."

"Do you know..." Kate bit her lip, eyes still uncertain. "Do you know what he did to Alex?"

Anthony shrugged. "No. No way to know. He called in sick, and we never heard from him again. And, the weird thing, of course, his apartment disappeared. But he was obsessed with him. He was excited when he got the man's attention just the week before. I have no doubt in my mind it had something to do with that guy. So, promise me, even if you don't believe me - if you ever see a man you've never seen before in a dream, pretend he's not there."

"I promise," Kate said, looking uncomfortable. She never remembered her dreams. How would she know?