Chapter 16: Chapter 2 – Dreams and Nightmares

Chapter 2 – Dreams and Nightmares

 

Snuggled up in sheets of the captains quarters, the otherwise cool interior of the ship made for perfect cuddling, nestled within layers for comfy bedding and quality quilts. Two were asleep, one was awake and concerned. Plasia lay on her side, her huge sapphire eyes watching over Diego with great worry as he twitched in his slumber, obviously agitated.

 

Despite being held close in Seeth's encompassing arms, clutched tightly against her back-warmed bust, something that would usually bring him no end of pleasure, he jittered ceaselessly. His lips would curl into a brief snarl, bearing his fangs for a split second, his brow furrowing deeply each time. His fists would curl into balls, accompanying his facial expressions in perfect time. She'd never seen him like this, he was usually so relaxed and calm...

 

What troubles you, lovely man? I wish I could see what's bothering you...

 

She sighed quietly to herself, her eyes scanning over his body and face slowly.

 

Seeing his trouble continue, she reached out softly and rubbed his neck with care and attention.

 

As her hand connected with him, she felt a sudden surge through her, pulling her skin tight and focus towards him sharply, it felt like her brain shunted forward in her skull, beyond her body and merged into his own, darkness surrounded her, clouding her vision until there was nothing in every direction.

 

Slowly, a golden light filled the void, her vision sharply adjusted to the new light and as it did, the sound of waves lapping at the shores of a perfect beach filled her senses. The void peeled away to reveal a beautiful tropical island, patches of emerald grass waved gently in the warm breeze that caressed her skin, the shimmering ocean lit up by a golden hue in the sky was gently washing up on the soft, pale sand that stretched on and curved around the perimeter of the island.

Serene and perfect, it was nothing short of paradise, with fluffy white clouds that drifted by lazily in the otherwise clear sky. Yet something felt off.

She turned around to survey more of the scene, her feet feeling slow and heavy, able to move but weighed down. In the near distance, a dark figure stood, staring out over the water that splashed calmly over the warm sands. He looked a little different, but she knew him. It was the same lizard in that bed with her and Seeth, Diego.

His hair waving gently in the breeze, his eyes looked fixed on something in the distance, it was difficult to tell his expression at this angle... He did not move or acknowledge her existence however, she tried to call out, but her voice was firmly mute, unable to vocalize so much as a whisper.

This isn’t real, is it? At least not now… What could be troubling you in a place like this, Diego?

She continued to soak in the moment, blissful warmth on her skin, pristine sands and water, the immaculate sky, for someone who had spent the last year locked up in a dungeon and much of her life shut in, this was just wonderful.

Yet, the weirdly persistent feeling of unease began to ache across her body, the warmth on her skin began to feel uncomfortable, like it was slowly cooking her rather than merely warming. Everything was silent yet loud at the same time, focused and yet impossible to make out.

Something caught her eye down on the beach, an object was washing up on the surface, large and black, bobbing up and down slightly in the foamy waters.

She inched forward to get a closer look, legs impossibly heavy. The once soft sand began to feel like razors on her feet, every grain pressing deeper than it should have into her skin.

Her curiosity would not allow her to remain still however and she pressed on despite the discomfort. The object rolled back and forth in the tide but eventually came to a still, water still lapping up against it but unable to move it any further. There was a black knotty mess of fur or perhaps hair facing towards her and quickly, fear began to fill her chest.

Slowly, she paced around it and it revealed its details, a pair of amethystine, bloody eyes. A short snout with powerful looking sabre fangs, sable skin- It was Diego. Mutilated and dead. A giant gash through his torso was fresh looking and staining the sands and water a deep crimson as blood oozed out. No ounce of life contained within this still body at all.

Mortified, Plasia turned to look at what she thought was Diego further up the beach. He had not changed nor moved.

T-that’s him! But… this is him too…? What the hell happened?!

She looked closer at the standing one, trying to gauge his expression. It was a blank, unfocused stare. Detached and haunted, like he was processing something awful. The sequence began to fall apart, Plasia felt her body being lifted and pulled back into the void. Desperate for more information, she spun around, taking in as much detail as possible before it completely collapsed.

Mo-more of them?! More corpses in the waves?! A-and that’s not a star either… that- that’s an- Diego?!

Suddenly she was pulled back into the endless black of the void, her body ran cold and then slowly, feeling returned to her limbs, normality filled her senses again, her brain pulled back into her head where it belonged, back in the bedroom, curled up in the sheets, holding Diego’s hand and watching him closely. He was waking up, eyes fluttering tiredly as he joined the land of the living once more.

Opposite, Plasia was staring directly at him, her bolted wide open with shock and fear and she held his hand tightly, processing what she’d seen. Although he was obviously agitated at something waking up, his concern over Plasia was much greater and his faced softened immediately, squeezing her hand back and shuffling over to her.

“Plas…? Everything OK? You look scared...” He whispered softly, as not to disturb Seeth behind him.

“M-me?! I should be asking you that!”

“Wha-what do you mean?” He went unusually shy, breaking eye contact as if he’d done something wrong.

It suddenly dawned on her that she might have done something rude, gaining access to someones personal memories like that and decided it may not be a good idea to question any further.

 

“N-nothing Diego, its OK. You looked like you were having a bad dream, that's all... I was worried about you.”

 

“Its fine, just a bad memory, thats all. You sure you're OK, Plas? You look like you've seen a ghost!”

 

“I feel like I have... I'll let you sleep, I just need to gather my thoughts...”

 

“Well, alright, come back to bed when you want and we can cuddle up? Your bodies are such a comfortable temperature, I'm usually too warm cuddling in bed.” He yawned with a quiet whine and snuggled back into Seeth's arms who may or may not have been awake and Plasia pulled herself up from the bed, grabbing a dressing gown to cover her form and making her way into the kitchen a few doors down.

 

Her mind wouldn't stop replaying the vision. She fidgeted nervously as she stood alone next to the work surfaces, wondering what best to do. She couldn't shake it, the heat on her skin, the sand like glass under her feet, the corpse, the thousand yard stare. It played over and over, she knew there was more to it than that, the vision felt like a cliff edge and she wondered if things could get a lot worse for him before they got better...

 

Fetching her sketchpad and pen, she decided to draw out the scene to get it out of her head and somewhere she could process it. Drawing the beach, the body and ocean in rough fashion, it came together in a matter of minutes as she scribbled relentlessly thoughts into ink in expert fashion. With the scene drawn, it stopped fluttering around so violently in her head and her heart rate began to fall to something more reasonable.

 

It didn't make sense to her, it likely never would- unless he explained it. She wanted to bring it up with him and help ease whatever was burdening him but... how?! She had never been able to see into peoples dreams before! Then again... she'd never actually cuddled with someone in bed before either... Not like that.

 

She turned the page in her pad and scribbled a big messy ball of lines and ink, labeling it “Mine and possibly Diego's brain” before slapping the pad closed and going to fetch herself a drink. She felt better for the messy scribble, even if she had no answers yet. A goal came to the forefront of her mind, something to push her energy into. She wanted find a way to help him...

**** Back on the freighter – three days prior ****

 

“Romeo, report on you and Judas? How is the breached section looking?”

 

“Not good Captain! Not good at all...”

 

Romeo cautiously approached through the demolished bulkhead door, this was a super heavy construction made from solid metal and built right into the very hull of the ship and someone had ripped it apart in brutal fashion, meta-steel plating torn and bent, hydraulic locks dripping fluid over the floor in their battered state.

 

Armed in similar fashion to the captain, both guards walked forward cautiously, weapons raised and flashlights on. More black goo coated the walls and floor, looking akin to someone dragging a giant oiled paint brush through the damaged interior of the ship.

 

“This is fucked up, man. It looks like someone let a Warshee loose in here.”

 

“You think a Warshee could tear through a meter thick bulkhead door like that? I don't think so. Whatever did this, its dangerous.” Juda's shone is flashlight around the corridor, a short barreled twin barreled shotgun in his other hand.

 

“You don't fucking say, Judas. So good with the pep talk.” Romeo rolled his eyes and strode forward somewhat more confidently, keeping his rifle high. It was oddly silent, only the stomping of their heavy armor and a dripping of the tar like fluid down the walls echoing down the corridor.

 

They reached a couple of doors and took one each, both of them pausing in horror as they witnessed the same thing. Standing within both rooms were many individuals, their stance awkward, heads drifting towards the ceiling, mouths broken open and hanging wide, dripping with thick black goo plastered around their lips and cheeks. Their eyes were a startling bright amber, standing out against their dulled skin and blackened maws, yet they did not react to the presence of the guards, each room had a scattered formation of victims, they estimated around ten each.

 

Instead, they just stared vacant and unblinking at nothing in particular, motionless and crooked.

 

“Y-you seeing this, Romeo...?”

 

“Yeah... This is fucked bro. We need to get out of here.” As he spoke, a black drip landed on his shoulder, staining his armor.

 

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“Lets just... take some readings... then get the hell out and stick a sentry in front of the door. Nothing leaves.”

 

“These things are messed up, bro. They don't care about anything...” To prove his point, Judas took out his combat blade and approached one of the figures, slowly pushing a portion of the metal length into its arm. As expected, the figure remained motionless and unphased by the injury. “That is so fucked. Fucked-fucked-fucked. I hate all of this, so much.”

 

“Cmon Judas! We should leave! There is no one to save here.” Romeo's voice was accompanied by the sound of his boots clumping back into the main corridor, as Judas turned to leave however, the figures around him suddenly twisted to face him in unison, twisting their heads in a sharp, unnatural motion. The one he injured began to gurgle loudly...

 

“Holy shit... I swear to the stars i'll burn all you motherfuc-”

 

“Youuuu knooow the caaaptaiiinnn...?!” The injured creature finished gargling, spitting out several large black wads from its throat, thick ooze dribbling down its face and neck and slurring the words it spoke, but it was understandable none-the-less.

 

Judas span to face it, watching it closely and raising his shotgun.

 

“Fuck off I do. What of it?!”

 

“WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO THE CREEPY THINGS JUDAS?!” Romeo felt his finger twitch on his rifle trigger.

 

The creature remained still, it and all the others continued to stare down Judas.

 

“Tell the captain... things have changed... be ready-”

 

“Be ready for what?! We're already under attack!” Judas barked back, his firearm shaking slightly.

 

“JUDAS, YOU WANKER! Fall back!” Romeo shifted nervously in his armor and spun around upon hearing movement from the room he just left, but nothing appeared through the doorway...

 

“No matter how bright the lights are, I'll bring the darkness to you... You're going to pay for every word you made me suffer through.” The creature began to shake violently, its head twitching. “Every night you tormented me, every second you made my life hell- You will die on this ship. Every last one of you.”

 

More figures will identical features began to appear from the back of the room, pulling themselves free from rubble in the darkness ahead of them. It appeared the the duos initial number estimates were well off, there weer a hell of a lot more than just ten. More amber eyes flicked open, the room suddenly lighting up as more and more of them appeared from seemingly nowhere, blending into the background and unseen before now.

 

The figures broke into a frantic sprint, charging straight at Judas, he managed to fire a couple of rounds off but they slammed into him, taking him off feet.

 

Romeo went to open fire but felt more coming for him too and opted to retreat, charging down the corridor and back towards the broken bulkhead they entered from, he skidded to a stop and spun round, raising his rifle and firing a volley of heavy shots, thudding through the approaching frantic bodies with punishing efficacy.

 

From the darkened corridor, he heard Judas screaming, the sound of pistol shots going off and a loud screeching noise, flesh pounding against metal with furious anger.

 

“FUCK! Judas! Come in! Whats your status?!”

 

He quickly loaded another magazine into his rifle, but it appeared that no one else followed him down the corridor after the initial attack, leaving just the broken bodies and the curious oil-like substance dripping from the walls and ceiling.

 

The sound of ripping and tearing continued from the concealed room where Judas was last seen, his radio did not respond and there was no further weapon fire. Thinking quickly, Romeo pulled a tri-pod mounted sentry gun from his back and slammed it on the ground, the machine buzzed alive and scanned the corridor ahead, its weapon was smaller than Romeo's but it was more than effective versus unarmoured targets such as these ex-passengers.

 

“Fine. I'll hold the line by myself. You'll pay for that though, freaks.” Romeo scowled from under his helm.

 

A single set of amber eyes peered around the doorway, too shrouded in darkness to reveal much more but the sentry fired a couple of shots towards it, causing the creature to duck back.

 

“The fuck are you doing?! Don't be coy! I got 500 rounds in this baby and 10 mags on me!”

 

He pulled a grenade from his belt, arming it and hurling it down the corridor, the device exploding after a couple of seconds, shaking the corridor violently and sending black goo showering over everything as the explosive detonated.

 

The corridor remained still aside from the dripping from the ceiling with both Romeo and the sentry at his knee watching the corridor closely.

 

Another pair of amber eyes appeared around the doorway again, just barely this time. The sentry did not open fire due to the small target presented.

 

“The fuck are you looking at?!” He barked angrily, steadying his aim. A muffled thump sent shivers down his spine however as he stared back at the eyes watching him.

 

The thumping continued, it sounded like it was distant at first but it was approaching, definitely from down the corridor but there was nothing he could see.

 

His heart slammed against his ribs as the thumping approached faster, frantically he searched the corridor, scanning every possible thing it could be, but the only thing he could see was the small amber eyes staring directly at him.

 

He fired a few rounds down the corridor, hearing them slam into a wall that was concealed in darkness a few hundred meters further on.

 

“What the fuck-what the fuck.... what are you looking at?! Why aren't you attacking?!”

 

The thumping sped up, it sounded like something massive was charging right at him, the noise was shuddering through the entire area and rattling his armour, yet the corridor was motionless.

 

“You... you're...” The thumping had stopped and it sounded like it was right on top of him. “Oh... oh no...”

 

A massive black hand erupted from the floor, punching through the metal and grabbing Romeo by the leg, yanking him through the metal plating and piping in a single motion. Just barely visible, he could see a huge pair of amber eyes and a massive set of menacing teeth, but his vision abruptly ended when he was slammed into the floor with overwhelming force.

He felt hot liquid pour through over his face and neck as he shuddered around violently in his armor, the visor cracking and his vision fading. Before he completely blacked out though, the massive figure spoke to him.

 

“You stole my cane once, Romeo. I remember you laughing at me with the others. You made me search the entire length of the ship in agony. I had to cling to the walls to move because my legs kept buckling under me. Its a shame you can't die twice.”

 

And with that, the last thing he heard was the sound of his spine being snapped in two in a singular, decisive motion.

 

“If you can hear me, captain. I am coming for you next.” It growled into the ruined armour, knowing the radio was still functioning. “Don't make it easy for me, please. I will savour the moment.”

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