The Dream

Writing Prompt: She was the ghost haunting his dreams, with a sad song and murderous eyes.

This prompt just sounded so fascinating and so perfect for a horror story that I couldn't resist passing it up and giving it a go. I actually didn't intend for it to become quite as dark as it did, but I'm actually rather pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully it's not too creepy or disturbing for anyone.

Every night, for two long weeks, he had dreamed the same dream. He found himself standing on a gravel path in the middle of a sea of grass. The waist height grass was a strange blue-grey color and it stretched in every direction as far as he could see. The sky above him was a forbidding grey, but not a cloud was in sight. And then there was a silence, a silence so profound that he could hear every beat of his heart, could almost imagine he was hearing the blood pump through his veins. Not a breath of wind disturbed the grass, there were no birds, nothing. The air was heavy, every breath a struggle. He sensed rather than knew that he was the only living creature in that strange, grey world.

He would walk for what seemed like hours along the path, searching for he knew not what. He never strayed into the grass, there was a malevolent energy that seemed to come from it and he had no desire to encounter it, even in his dreams. No matter how far he walked though, the scenery around him never changed. So when he at last grew weary of wandering, he would sit down in the middle of the path and search for something, anything that was different. There never was. Every blade of grass was identical to all the others, every pebble beneath his feet identical to the one next to it. He found it all equal parts fascinating and disconcerting.

And then she came. An ethereal creature the likes of which he had never seen; her skin lily white, her cheeks and lips a soft coral pink, her hair the pale gold of a new sunrise, her eyes the clear blue of a summer sky. She wore a gossamer dress of purest white that seemed to float about her as she walked lightly through the grass. She was the most beautiful, fey thing he had ever seen, yet he sensed that she was or could be dangerous. If she ever chose to harm him, she could do so, dream or no dream. And that realization frightened him.

When she began to sing though, he immediately forgot all his fears. Her voice was the loveliest sound he had ever heard, sweet and clear but terribly sad. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he listened, wishing there was something he could do for her. For though she sang in a language he did not know, he heard the sadness, loneliness and longing that permeated every note and it broke his heart. Those beautiful eyes never left his as she sang, weaving a spell that threatened to ensnare him. Her song called to him, begging him to join her. Each night he found himself standing at the exact edge of the path, fighting an internal battle as part of him struggled to control himself and remain on the path and the other part struggled to reach the beautiful woman who so entranced him. And every night he felt himself losing the battle a little more and though he soon perceived there was something altogether unnatural and possibly sinister about his dream, he never wished for it to end.

Slowly, day by day, the dream began to consume him. He heard her song every moment of every day and he mourned that he could see no way of helping her. He imagined he saw her out of the corner of his eye, but every time he turned, she wasn't there. The fear that had once balanced his fascination with the dream slowly faded until, at last, exactly three weeks after the dream had first begun, he discovered that his fear was gone.

That night he laid himself down and eagerly awaited sleep so he could visit the strange world and the beautiful woman who dwelt there. Tonight, he thought, tonight he would join her, he would make her happy. He smiled as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep, confident that all would be well come morning light.

He woke up as always on the path in the field of grass. He immediately knew something was different this time. First, he noticed that he felt more substantial, like he was truly there. Always in the past he had felt more like a spirit or a ghost, not fully present. Now he was. The second and most important thing he noticed, she was waiting for him. Standing like the most exquisitely carved statue she watched him silently as he moved towards her to the edge of the path.

"You came," she said softly, her voice nearly as beautiful as when she sang. "I hoped you would come."

"Of course, I came," he said. "Why wouldn't I? I've come every night for these last weeks. Why should tonight be any different?"

"Because tonight is the last night," she said sadly. "Tonight, I will fade and this world will disappear with me."

"What?! No!" he cried, shocked. "You can't disappear, you can't!"

"And yet I must," she answered with calm resignation. "My time is up, already I am fading."

For the first time he noticed that her image did seem fainter, blurred around the edges. A terrible fear gripped him. He couldn't lose her, not now.

"How do I stop it, there must be a way to stop it?" he asked desperately.

"The only way to stop it is for a mortal to become one with me and that is too much to ask of anyone," she told him slowly.

To become one with her? His mind raced as he tried to understand what she could mean by that. He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, and then it dawned on him: marriage! Didn't people always talk about how when two people got married they became one? He looked at her as he considered for a moment. He knew nothing about her. They had never even spoken before that night. They had simply looked into each others eyes as she sang her song. And yet, he felt he did know her and he cared for her deeply. Still, he hesitated. By now though he could almost see through her. She was fading so fast, slipping away from him like water through his fingers. In that moment, he made his decision.

"I will become one with you!" he told her, standing straight and tall and proud. "I will save you so you no longer have to be alone. I will make you happy."

"Then come," she said simply, holding out one delicate hand. She smiled as she looked into his eyes and he hesitated again. There was something feral about her smile, a hunger in her eyes. He recalled how there had been times in the past weeks when those clear blue eyes had suddenly appeared black, just for a moment. Other times when they seemed to gleam with a cruel amusement as she watched him.

"Please," she whispered, her smile fading. The hunger was gone from her eyes, replaced by a combination of desperation and hope. Had he imagined it? he wondered. "Please," she whispered again.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped, for the first time, from the safety of the path into the grass. It parted easily before him as he walked towards her. Six steps, that was all it took for him to reach her and seal his doom.

He knew he'd made a mistake the second his hand touched hers. A cruel, triumphant smile spread across her lips as she pulled him close with a strength that belied her delicate frame. His eyes widened as he looked into hers and saw the black of her pupils began to spread, obliterating the clear blue and white they had once been till there was only darkness. He trembled with fear as her grip tightened on his hand. He realized he could see her now, she was no longer fading, rather her outline was becoming sharper and clearer with every second.

"Yes," she hissed, examining one flawless hand. "You have made me whole again, mortal."

"What's going to happen to me?" he asked in a terrified whisper.

"Exactly what I said would happen," she said softly, laying her hand lightly against his cheek. "We are going to become one and I shall finally be free."

He screamed in horror as her hand suddenly began to sink into his face. She let out a cold laugh as she pulled him closer and their bodies began to merge. It didn't hurt, not really, just a faint burning sensation, but the situation was so horrible that he couldn't help but scream again.

"Shhh," she soothed. "It will all be over soon."

As her body disappeared into his, the battle of the minds began. He could feel her slowly killing him, taking over his body, tearing apart his memories, destroying everything he was, everything he had been, everything he could be. And while she could see into his mind, he found he could see into hers. She was chaos personified, exalting in destruction and mayhem. He saw her plans for his world, the havoc that she fully intended to wreak and he raged against his own weakness. His last thought as he sank into empty darkness was for his family and the terrible doom he had brought upon them.

~*~

"Wake up, Jeremiah! Now! Or you'll be late!"

A woman stood outside her son's bedroom, hammering on his door. From the kitchen down below came the sounds of her other two children and her husband preparing breakfast. Outside a car honked as people made their daily commute to work and school. Howls erupted from around the neighborhood as an ambulance sped down the nearby highway exciting every dog within hearing. The woman sighed with annoyance as she was greeted with silence from the room. With a final smack on the door, she turned and went back downstairs.

Inside the dark bedroom, the young man lay still, listening to her receding footsteps. He took in a deep breath, exalting in the lightness of the air as he slowly opened and closed his hands, feeling the smoothness of the sheets covering him. An exultant smile crept across his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes, but they were not his. Eyes of pure darkness glittered sinisterly in the faint light that came through the closed blinds. She was here, she was free.