1. Reve

Something inside me tugged as I ran. My palms began to sweat. I worried that I would never leave this darkness. I stopped, taking deep breaths, my hands grabbing my thighs in a desperate attempt to gain energy. That's when I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes approaching me. My breath caught in my throat. Under the cat-like stare, my limbs began relaxing without my permission. I melted, landing on my knees, convulsing. All I could feel was numbness. The glowing eyes got closer and fear bit in my stomach. My vision began to cloud. Lightening crackled. As the world fuzzed over I felt something cool against my cheek. I must be in a room with tiled floors.

The penetrating eyes never left my vision. Without any warning, they were right in my face. For some reason, my body wouldn't just pass out already. I could finally make out a face. She was a sickly white, and had jet-black hair. A red industrial piercing gleamed on her ear. I stared in puzzlement when I took a better look at the girls ears. The top of her ears weren't circular; they were more of a triangular shape. Kind of similar to how I'd imagine elf ears to look. Her nose had a septum piercing. A cruel smile played on her lips.

I returned the smile. Despite the glowing eyes and freaky elf ears, she was kind of cute. I flicked her nose. The elf stared at me as if I had made the mountains walk. I laughed. Her nose scrunched up in what I presumed was confusion. It confused me, too. Hadn't I been shaking in fear of her a couple seconds ago? She let out a fearsome roar. Her lean body hovered predatorily over me. Her face contorted, turning an unhealthy grey. It cracked and sizzled and hissed. I gasped in fear, trying to disappear into the floor.

"Who are you?" she hissed, closing in on me. "Who are you?"

Her voice was death.

~~~~

I woke up panting, shakily getting up from bed. I threw on jeans and a grey shirt. The dream was haunting my subconscious. It looked so realistic. I had actually felt her hot breath flowing in my face. It had smelled like... decomposition. I shook the thoughts off. It was a dream.

"Hey, mom," I said while entering her room. "How are you?"

She nodded. I took that as a good sign. My mom looked sickly pale, her pretty brown hair graying. Mom had purple bags under her eyes. She must've not gotten enough sleep last night. I wondered if my eyes had the same effects from the nightmare I had just woken from.

Glowing eyes. Contorting. Decomposition.

I shivered.

"Don't you think you should get out of bed today?" I asked. "The weather is lovely."

She shook her head.

I looked at the ground. Why did he have to die?

~~~~

"Hey, Pumpkin," Mabel said.

I rolled my eyes as she took her rightful place in my lap.

"I told you never to call me that, Sweetums."

If she wished to call me degrading names who was I not to reciprocate?

She crinkled her nose in distaste. "At least I'm not afraid of pumpkins, Precious."

I groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not afraid of pumpkins. I tripped, and stepped on one, that happened to be lit up. And you know, on fire. I was surprised."

"You screamed like a girl. It made quite a first impression on me."

The day was an embarrassment. Still, it brought me to Mabel. Halloween is my favorite holiday for that reason and that reason alone.

"Well, look at you speaking all properly with words like 'quite' and 'impression'."

She glared, crossing her arms. "Your speechiness is rubbing off on meself."

"And the moment is ruined." I sighed, wrapping my arms around her stomach.

"Only a little," she joked, turning her head to kiss me.

~~~~

It was so annoying; the way the teacher droned on about conspiracy theories and newly discovered animals.

I began to drift off.

Decomposition. Contorting.

The room was vacant except for the fiery-red-haired elf who had taken center of my nightmares recently. She was clothed in black Converse, ripped jeans, and a black tank top. Her eyes weren't a glowing yellow anymore. Instead, they had been replaced with a light blue. I sank into their depth.

Yelling, screaming, and burning bodies.

"Help us," they all pleaded in lifeless voices. "Help us. Help us."

I blinked lazily.

She smirked at me, causing me to shiver.

"The nightmare has just begun," she said excitedly.

She bent her head to her side, revealing long scars on her neck. They were the same shape as the ones on my left forearm. The first one was shorter than the other four, going straight down before slightly curving at the end.

"You have no idea what we have in store for you."

She raised her hands, and I could hear a faint click as her nails grew and curved, sharpening like claws. They were black as night. She brought her hand down to my desk. A high-pitched screech echoed throughout the room.

I started to scream.

~~~~

"Mr. Hanson, if you would please refrain from yelling in the middle of my class, I'm sure everyone would be entirely grateful," Mr. Smith said, raising a brow.

"Oh, I, um, saw a spider."

A couple of kids laughed.

Nice save. If I were a girl, I grumbled.

The nightmare has just begun, the elf said. You have no idea what we have in store for you.

It was then I noticed 5 lines carved into my desk... in the shape of claw marks.

~~~~

Everything was shifting. I couldn't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, ever since she appeared. It was quite confusing. I walked down the street, wobbling a little. I frequently submerged into daydreams. It was beginning to make me lose sight of... everything. I was confused.

How is it even possible?

Dreams don't come true and neither do nightmares. They are figments of our imagination. Only, I was going crazy. Maybe I was starting to hallucinate. I groaned. Since when had I become such a loon?

~~~~

Again I was running. It seemed to be a new hobby of mine. Unfortunately for me, I tripped. The yellowed-eyed demon made her way towards me.

"Tell me what your name is!" she hissed.

"Uh," I said panting, stumbling my way backwards. "Uh, Felix?"

You thought I would tell her my real name? Ha, yeah, right. What did I say my name was again? Oh, yeah, Felix. I could pull off a Felix, right?

"You're lying," she hissed. "I'm going to ask one more time. What. Is. Your. Name."

"Why do you need to know?"

She hissed, her body contorting.

I yelled. "Okay, my name is Reve. It's Reve."

She smiled coyly, her features turning back to normal. "I know."

That kind of bothered me, but I ignored it.[Great line!]

"What's your name?"

~~~~

I came back to reality in a daze. Stupid, obsessive daydreaming. In confusion, I realized I had a book in my hand: "Dream Guide: The Path to Your Destiny."

I shrugged, checking it out. On the way home I noticed that I had been walking with a limp. I rolled my pants up and on my knee cap there was a huge bruise. I didn't know where it came from. I wasn't very clumsy. The only time I had hit my knee today was when I fell on the ground in my dream.

That couldn't be where I got it. Obviously.

~~~~

"Mother! I'm home!" I shut the door.

Instead of seeing my mother in bed like I expected, she was in the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Sweety, I'm so glad you're home. Where's Kile?"

I forced a smile. "He's at Nanny's."

Great, it was one of those days where she fell of her rocker.

"Oh," she said, smiling. "I hope he's back in time for supper."

I put on a plastic smile. "I have some homework to do. I'll be upstairs."

I flopped onto the bed, letting out a frustrated groan.

~~~~

"Back so soon?"

I held back a shiver at her voice. My elf seemed to enjoy making constant reappearances.

"Y-yeah."

She smirked. Her eyes, they were blue this time, seemed to see into my heart. I took a deep breath in order to prepare myself to speak.

"You didn't answer my question earlier." I smiled, proud that my voice didn't waver.

"Oh, didn't I?" she asked, her eyes widening in feigned innocence.

I smiled. It surprised me. When she wasn't being freaky elf, she was actually cute. Her hair waved with the wind. I finally took in our setting. We were in the middle of the woods.

"As a matter of fact, you didn't," I said, leaning against a tree.

"I was so certain..."

"Things are not always as they seem."

To my surprise, this made her laugh. "I suppose you're right."

"Always am," I replied.

"The name's Leila."

As she spoke, she started advancing towards me. As she closed the distance I had purposely put between us, a lump caught in my throat.

"I think I'm going to keep you, Reve," she whispered, her breath whooshing against my face.

Her fingers graced my cheekbone, traveling down until my chin was caught between her thumb and the knuckle of her index finger.

"Wh--"

Before I could finish, her lips whispered over mine.

A fire ignited. For some unexplained reason, I wanted more. No, I needed it. I needed her. I wanted her to keep me. My hands desperately gripped her waist. Leila could never leave me. I brought her forward, trying to convey how I was feeling. My mind raced as I kissed her. What did this mean? Why did it feel so good?

My heartbeat quickened as I felt her taking my bottom lip into her mouth, biting it. I let a groan escape, suddenly not caring to get the answers. I switched our positioning, pushing her against the tree. Her legs wrapped around my waist. I heard her moan as I attacked, our lips opening in sync. I fought for dominance. I wanted to own her.

As if she could read my thoughts, she parted from the kiss, her legs finding the ground once again. I groaned in dissatisfaction. I wasn't finished yet.

My lips moved from hers to her neck, placing kisses wherever exposed skin was available.

Leila pushed me back. I must've made an unusual expression, because she laughed. It sounded like bells.

"A time will come for that later, my slave."

"Slave?" I questioned.

"I will always be the center of your dreams. I control how you react to me."

"Y-you can't control me," I stumbled.

She tut, her face growing darker. "I wouldn't say that if I were you."

I started to shiver. Words were lost to me at this point. Even when she was angered, I could see her beauty. I just wanted another kiss.

"I am your life. You can't function without me."

I started to protest.

Her eyes flashed yellow. "You are mine!"

"Okay," I squeaked.

Very manly, my mind snickered at me.

"Good boy." Leila pecked me on the lips. "I even control when you wake."

~~~~

My eyes shot open. That was the weirdest dream I've had yet. I felt unbelievably hot. I was surprised I wasn't sweating a storm.

I took the book I had checked out off my nightstand. I looked up the word kissing, until I came to what I was looking for.

To kiss someone on the neck in a dream means that you haven't been able to give into your hidden passion for someone.

My eyebrows furrowed.

Next word was slave.

To dream about being a slave to someone suggests you are letting others reign over your life.

I scowled, pushing the book back on the table.

My heart pounded when I heard a scream.

"Mom!" I said. "Mom!"

I stopped breathing when my eyes laid on her. My mother's arms were wrapped around her knees like a frail, scared child. What shocked me the most was the knife laying on the ground beside her. My mom's right arm was covered in blood.

"I forgot," she mumbled. "He's dead. I forgot."

It took me about two seconds to call the police.