The Nightmare

Sleep engulfs me.

I’m standing in an isolated clearing, the blood moon illuminating the red, wet ground. Men in dark suits surround me. Murder is etched into their black eyes, tunnels to oblivion. Maniacal laughter echoes around the trees. I’m breathing terror. I hear a twig snap behind me, and I spin, lashing out. He crumples like a marionette with his strings cut. The battle rages on.

My arm brakes for no reason. I twist my ankle and tears form an opaque curtain over my eyes. I blink like the world depends on it. Theoretically, it does. Pain is everything. Blood is everywhere. Defeated opponents carpet the ground. Some unconscious, some crippled, some severely wounded. Most are ceaselessly attacking me. I've never felt more fear.

Leaves rustle, bushes quiver. Assassins? Snipers? My mind is freeze-dried from panic, and it’s going overdrive. They emerge. All my friends and family, everyone I have ever or will ever care about, gaping at the fight. They are in advantageous positions, but they are paralysed with terror, compelled to watch me receive my unfortunate fate.

I shove my current opponent, and he stumbles, cracking his skull on a log. The moment his heart stops, his body ruptures, blood artfully tie dyeing his elegant tuxedo. His body disintegrates and floats on the breeze, ashes hitchhiking on the wind. I can only stare. I don’t notice the man behind me, manufactured from shadows. I don’t notice the knife glint as it bathes in the moonlight. But I do notice the tip of the blade protruding from my gut. The men disappear, their task completed. I seize the hilt and yank it out. I admire the elaborate carvings adorning the silver blade made from moonbeams. Mist obscures my vision.

I wake up. I've been sobbing into my pillow, and my duvet is tangled around my limbs from thrashing around. Thank goodness it was only a nightmare. My hand is clenched around something cold as death. I bring it out, through the jungle of bedclothes, and fling it away from me in terror.

It’s the knife from my dream.