When the sun sets and the moon rises, reality changes states, becoming trans-lucid. Malleable to the open minded, with enough perceptiveness to grasp it. Reshaping their own Dreamworld at will, molding and bending the laws of reality itself. When Ben sleeps at night he doesn’t just go through his dreams living a story . He writes the story, builds the environment, creates the landscape and the people who inhabit that world. Dreaming for Ben is when he becomes truly alive and is his only escape from a mundane life.
The is day over, kids are in bed and wife’s asleep. Ben’s favorite part of his day is about to begin. Awake in bed, preparing his mind for tonight’s adventure. The most crucial part is getting in the right state of mind. Slow, deep breaths, silencing all thoughts. He enters a state of trance necessary to induce a lucid dream. The feeling of sleep washes over him yet he keeps his conscious mind awake through this transition. Leaving reality behind, Ben awakens in the dream world.
Something is wrong, this feels very different from a dream but I can’t tell why. Ben thinks to himself.
Confused by awakening in his apartment’s bedroom exactly the way it would be in real life. To a T, every single detail is perfect just the way it was before going to bed. Yet everything was in black and white. A world void of sound, seemingly frozen in time. Ben notices while looking around at his wife sleeping on their bed.
“Hmm” wholesomely chuckling with a smile.
“There you are my love. Even in my dreams you still sleep perfectly like an angel” Admiration turns to confusion as he notices a male body next to his wife.
”WTF? is that me” realizing he isn’t just next to her in bed but floating above her as well.
He watches himself sleep for a while before noticing a glowing dust raining down upon his sleeping self and watch below. Ben gazes with perplexing brows arched; waving his near transparent hand to a golden stardust gently emitting from his body like falling snow. His whole body, spectral body, as if he was visited by Peter Pan. And Tinkerbell threw some of that flying dust at him. But it isn’t quite it, more radiant and warm like the presence of a soon to be mother nurturing a new life. Mesmerizing, to the perception of an entranced man, now slowly spinning through the air with the grace of a figure skater.
“God this is a weird dream, I’ve never seen my own body in a dream before. Buttttttttt…… It’s almost like I’m a ghost floating around. Ohhhh….. wait wait wait wait
I (chuckles) I can have fun with this.” Arms crossed and stroking his beard, “Yea I gotta get outside and fly around like superman.”
Before venturing beyond the bedroom to explore this gray world. An eeriness of what might be waiting on the other side of the door jolts through his body. Starting at the base of Ben’s spine one hair after another stiffening in a reverse domino effect. Ben floats closer to the doorway unsure of what he will see down the hall once it’s in view. A lump begins to form in his throat with such uneasiness, it has an intensifying grip on the man.
“ I know this is just a dream but I need to check on the kids at least before going any further. Maybe that will calm my nerves.”
Slowly reaching for the doorknob, at first with hesitation for a brief moment. Then with full conviction firmly gripping the handle, opening the doors and pushing past the safety of being in an enclosed room. Everything is fine, just as black and white as the room was.
Except at the end of the apartment doorway leading to the main hall of the building there’s a bright white light enveloping the door. There, the way out, illuminating this creepy dull apartment is a sign for hope. This feeling of a safe way to exit , freeing him of fear entirely. Ben glances into the kids room and sees them sleeping just as peacefully as their mother.
“Yea i’m getting the hell out of here.” Ben puts both hands on the doorway and both feet on the ceiling. Launching himself towards the door like an astronaut down the hall navigating through a ship. He spins left to dodge the hall chandelier, with one hand pushes off the ceiling allowing feet to land on the side walls, kicks off of them propelling closer to the light. The light begins to intensify as he approaches the exit.
“Must be a good sign only a little bit further than I’ll be free outside.”
But light glows to a blinding strength, and dark vine-like shadows creeping under the door begins to overtake the light. A fog of darkness pours in the room and the door flings open. Abyss of darkness is starring Ben in the face with unfathomable horrors about to consume him. He grabs the living room couch panic stricken, ripping apart the cushion desperately stopping himself flying closer to the darkness.
“YOU’VE OPENED A DOOR THAT YOU’LL NEVER BE ABLE TO CLOSE” A demonic voice screams with laughter loud enough to cause the whole apartment to shake.
Ben sees the yellow demon’s eyes emanating from the darkness, peering right through his entire existence. Frozen in fear, unable to escape the gaze but unable to look away. The beast smiles depravedly with deranged T-Rex like teeth eagerly awaiting to rip into human flesh. Those teeth, those horroring teeth, push Ben over the edge mentally. Fight or flight takes control from his petrification, his body tries to flee for a sense of self preservation over before he can think.
The entity’s demonic laughter grows immensely while witnessing its prey squirm in fear. As the darkness beyond changes into a black hole but only pulling in Ben’s spectral form. With great ferocity ripping him into darkness unknown .
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
A faint glow of rectangular light in the vast distance is all he sees. While hurling backwards at the speed of an asteroid piercing the ozone layer plummeting into the earth. Growing smaller until the doorway is gone before he could blink.
Ben goes unconscious…..
** Inaudible high pitched sounds becoming clearer by the second**
“containment breach……… CONTAINMENT BREACH ……..CONTAINMENT BREACH.” Alarms grow louder and clearer by the second.
“Uuggghhhhhh” Ben moans in pain. Trying to sit up from laying on a cold steel floor. But a gut wrenching pain is hindering his movements. “Oh God, what is happening? Why am I in so much pain? ” Placing his hands over his stomach only to realize there’s a lot of blood coming out of him. Before being able to process that thought, the nightmare environment grips him completely.
The smell of blood is so thick that the metal halls have a red hue to them. Screams of horror echoing off metal surfaces within the ship’s corridors. The sounds of bones and flesh being eaten almost drowns out the contaminant breach alarms. Aliens monsters ravaging the crew down every corridor, every room, nowhere is safe. This is where the demon drops Ben in the midst of all the chaos, and this is where the game begins.
Sounds of claws piercing metal walls and ceiling.
“Nooooooooo noooooooooo ahhhhh” a crew member screams before being consumed.
The sounds of bones and fleshing being eaten almost drowns out the contaminant breach alarms. Each scream, from human and alien monsters alike, jolts through his body like an electrical shock. Screams of horror echoing off metal surfaces within the ship’s corridors. His heart races out of fear, completely forgetting about the wound. Yet he is unable to move, Ben’s whole body is trembling. Unable to take his eyes off of the steel door separating the cargo hold he’s in from the rest of the ship.
The smell of blood is so thick that the metal walls have a red hue to them. There’s dozens of crates in the center room catching his attention .
“There!!” He shouts out of desperation.
“I just have to make it there.”
As he’s crawling closer to the opening in between the crates praying for salvation. Ben hears a child crying faintly, only to find a little girl no more than 5 years old. Now hidden in this den of crates he takes a deep pain breath to try and make sense of what is happening.
My god she’s about the same age as my little girl. Her clothes are covered in blood with deep scratches on her legs and arms. By the looks of it she barely made it here herself, poor thing.
“Shhhh.. (Urgh)…Shhhh… It’s ok .. it’s ok … it’s ok….. They won’t find us here as long as we stay quiet.” Panting in efforts to soothe the child.
Her crying continues while all the noise around them starts to slow.
“ P…(Urgh)…please stop crying before they hear you”
( distant screaming)
The aliens are running out of crewmates to eat. Wild killings in every direction quickly turns into hunting down the remaining prey. The hidden prey, being picked off one by one. There’s no longer the sounds of gunshots fighting back. Just screams of death, increasingly with a window of time in between each kill. Each scream makes Ben and the little girl jump, because the silence between the screams is the most horrifying.
“Shhhhhh please and I know you’re scared, i’m scared too….. Just please stop crying.”
The little girl starts to cry louder. The sounds of the monsters running around the ship is most of the noise at this point.
“AHHHHHHHHH” distant screams
Her crying gets even louder, this scream was only a couple rooms away. The monsters were getting closer to them. Out of pure fear and reaction he lunges to cover the child’s mouth.
“Stop, they are so close to us, you have to stop. Please just stop or we both will be killed.”
While struggling to keep the child quiet he doesn’t realize the whole ship went silent except for the alarms. The monsters are no longer rampaging but hunting……stalking. She fights back with all her strength to remove his hold on her. They bump into boxes causing them to shake. Ben begins to understand he has to make a choice to sacrifice the child to save himself. Or the child trying to fight with her to keep her quiet. Most likely killing them both.
“God please don’t make me do this” accidentally praying for help out loud
“Hmmmmmmmm Hmmmmm” She’s Desperately trying to break free
Ben notices there is no longer any sound but the sounds of her struggling. The monster closing in on them being the only living things left on the ship.
“God forgive me” Ben weeps he casting aside his humanity
Ben places his other hand over the girl’s throat, squeezing with all his might. He’s giving in to evil. She desperately flails around fighting for her life digging her nails in his arms. Kicking him and the ground. Leaving him no choice but to lift her off the ground so she cant kick anything else metal.
Her eyes roll up in her head turning white, and she smiles a deranged evil smile, warping her face into the demons. That same horrible smile, with those same horrible teeth.
(Demonic Laughter) starts coming from what was once a little girl. The demon won his game and time stands still. All the surroundings shatter like glass falling into a void of darkness below.
“No … no. noooooooooooo ” screams ben
“YESSSSSS ahhhaaaaaa ahhhhhhha.”
“Those hhhorrible teeth, I…..i…..i…..remember it all now… J…j..just what…… are you ? Please, please let me go back home.”
Bens backs away from the demon child watching it’s perverse smile change to sinister.
“ We’re gonna play this game for eternity, my new plaything. Don’t fail to entertain me……(disturbingly deep grumbling) hmmmmm….Don’t… fail…… me.”
Before Ben can gasp for air the demon tongue extends around Ben’s throat lifting him up into the air. Slowly licking the side of his ben’s face and squinting his eyes in ecstasy .
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhmmmmmmm the taste of despair”
The demon whips his tongue furiously creating a concussion wave like an artillery cannon, hurling Ben into the void like a ragdoll. Forcing him into one hell after another, hundreds of realities. Each one he’s forced to make a good or evil choice with no memory of what happened before until he chooses evil. And he does every time without failure.
Beep Beep Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
Ben awakens, pushing his alarm clock off the nightstand, as he does on a normal morning. Dragging his body out of bed into the bathroom. Sluggishly washing his face, Ben looks in the mirror horrified by his own reflection.
“You monster … you goddamn monster” Ben punches the mirror collapsing to the floor in tears.
“What a fucked up nightmare. My god, I’ve never felt such…” Sliding both hands over his mouth in realization.
“ It was real, everything was real, there’s no way that was just a dream. Just no way.”
Ben decides to do research into this to try and make sense of it all. In his research he finds an article online. Stating lucid dreaming is dangerous because in doing so, you open a portal to your soul. Leaving it vulnerable for another entity to enter, similar to astral projection. His heart races with fear fueled panic spreading across his whole body.
“ He was real, the doorway in the apartment. That was… oh my god. What did he say to me again? You opened a doorway you’ll never close.”
Ben feels an itch at the base of his throat clawing up, the demon in the ecstasy of Ben’s fear once again.