Melissa stared at the outfit redesign Lucy had presented to her on her desk. The French girl stood behind her, overall confident but slightly nervous of what her crush would think. She had spent several notebook pages tweaking and simplifying it over the course of the day. The simplification of the outfit was the key part for her, as she felt Melissa’s original design had tried to fit too much into it. The question then was if the things she removed were okay.
The day had overall been sane for them after the morning activities. Both had already finished the homework assignments they had been given, and the sun had started to set. They knew once the long winter night set in that school wouldn’t be their primary concern. No, the concern would turn to the living nightmare currently loose in Burlington. Deam was their primary worry, with the creature clearly more than willing to feed on someone’s nightmares to the point of suicide. They couldn’t risk a situation like what had nearly happened to Dragon the previous night, and that meant starting the search first thing.
“Perhaps I should try it on. That might give me a better idea as to how it looks,” Melissa said, turning back to Lucy. Her words caused her friend to tense up, and in an attempt to alleviate it she smiled. “It looks beautiful on paper, just so you know. Just want to make sure it transitions well to real life.”
“Ah, got it,” Lucy replied, the built tension releasing from her body. That was a sign she had at least done something right. “Gone on then. I’m excited to get a look.”
Melissa nodded and held her hands out, closing her eyes to focus. She pictured the outfit before her, fit it to her body, and did everything in her power to not lose focus of what she had. With a sigh she also spread her legs apart slightly, noticing an indescribable feeling that she had started to associate as dream energy bent to her whim. She spread it across herself, and then spoke softly.
“Dreams of the desired reality, manifest before me.”
One outfit shattered away, and another came into being in an instant. As soon as she felt the invisible energy of dreams transform her clothes, Melissa opened her eyes. Her first sight was not her outfit, but the blush on Lucy’s face. She had to hold in the desire to tease them, if not to be the one who finally spilled the beans on her own crush. Instead she turned her head down to what had created the blush, and instantly understood why.
The first thing of note was that all the bits of armor she had placed on the original design were now more than just pieces. Blue leather could be seen under a tinted-pink armored dress. The gloves had been shortened to white leather gauntlets, and her hair had been put in a ponytail. White leather boots and mismatching blue and pink thigh high socks completed it. In fact, Melissa felt complete was the only way to describe what she was wearing.
Her hodgepodge of a design had been turned into something more befitting of the knight she now was.
“You did good, Lu. Really damn good,” Melissa assured her friend as she summoned her revolvers. She struck a few poses and walked a bit in her new Magral Knight outfit. She found the armor felt right on her body, like it had meant to be there. “I give this a ten out of ten.”
“Y-you mean it?” Lucy asked, a nod coming as her answer. The blush fell away as pure unbridled enthusiasm filled her face, pumping her arms in joy. “Fuck yeah! One design down, and at least one more to go!”
Melissa blinked twice, then tilted her head in confusion. “One more?”
“Well I sure as hell ain’t letting you save the world by yourself,” Lucy replied, crossing her arms and leaning against the closet door. “I won’t let you risk your life all on your lonesome, especially after last night. Safety in numbers, and if you need I can be the one to strike the final blow.”
Melissa frowned at her words, not because she didn’t like the idea of Lucy becoming a Magral Knight but because of what they were implying. She couldn’t deny that the one she had a crush on and her oldest friend of the group having killed worried her. The fact they talked about it like it was no big deal, and offering to do it for her wasn’t something any sane person would say. Melissa looked away, considering this information and asking if she was really safe having a friend like that.
She then immediately chuck those doubts out the window as she remembered why they had been killed in the first place. Lucy had only told her that they had been an actor of some kind, and something about that made it more reasonable. The idea of a friend of hers having blood on her hands was scary, yes, but something told her this wasn’t the standard type of acting. That combined with Lucy fully admitting to having needed therapy in the past pushed her concerns to the wayside. Her friend wasn’t a murderer, but she had been harmed by something to the point she needed to kill it to escape.
It was terrifying, but understandable.
“It would be nice to have you along for the ride,” Melissa said, smiling. Lucy smiled back at her as the trans girl changed from her knight outfit back to her regular wear. “Just… don’t worry about the killing thing. As long as it isn’t an innocent dream or nightmare, I think I can do it now.”
Lucy lowered her head slightly, raising her eyebrows as she. She didn’t believe the statement for a moment. She kicked her foot off the closet door and took a few steps forward and held one hand up. Save for her pinky, all her fingers had been curled. Melissa looked to the hand, and then to Lucy’s face. The trans girl knew what it was her friend wanted, but needed to know what she was promising before going further.
“Consider this a pledge of our own,” Lucy told her. “If you ever find it impossible to pull the trigger, hand it to me. I don’t want to kill again myself, but…,” She turned her head toward the window. “We don’t have a choice right now; it’s either Bael or us. Promise me this, and I’ll leave this subject alone.”
Melissa looked at her hand, and then back to Lucy. She took a deep breath, and raised her pinky up. They intertwined, shook, and then fell away from each other. On the inside, Melissa still wasn’t sure if she felt good about Lucy doing it for her, but this wasn’t a discussion to have while lives were at stake. She could discuss her feelings about it all when Deam was dealt with.
“Well, shall we grab Dragon then. She said in the chat she would come with us tonight,” Melissa said, starting to walk towards her door.
“Yep, though I’m surprised she would want to after last night,” Lucy said as Melissa opened the door. Both stepped out into the hallway and started their way to Dragon’s dorm. “Girl got it rough. Really fucking rough.”
“She was strong enough to get that text to us with two nightmares gunning for her,” Melissa reminded her friend. She stopped as soon as they reached Dragon’s door and spun around to face her crush. “As long as the two of us are with her, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
As they turned their attention to the door Lucy responded. “I hope so.”
Melissa knocked and waited, a muffled voice coming from the room she couldn’t make out. Dragon opened it from her side, an initially hostile face turning stoic at the sight of her friends. She looked behind her and out the window, noticing the pink hue of sunset in the sky. Then it was to Vee, happily bouncing on her bed as if it hadn’t been threatened with death in the past few hours. She then turned back to Melissa and Lucy, able to guess why they had arrived.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“It’s time?” She asked. A nod was received by Lucy. Dragon then turned back to the doll once again. “Melissa and Lucy are here Vee.”
Vee froze up as soon as Dragon mentioned her name, landing from its last jump on its rump. It shuffled to face its dreamer as they walked in with Melissa and Lucy behind them. Dragon momentarily gave Vee a displeased look, the doll shrinking at the sight. As her back was currently turned to them, none of her friends saw her face before it switched back to stoicism.
“Let's get straight to it then,” the doll replied, not letting any of the fear it held make its way into their voice. “Deam has already been here for a full night. In that time it is possible for him to have drained someone to the point they committed suicide. We only know he hasn’t because no such death has been mentioned on local news networks.”
“And those will find anything to talk about in a state this rural,” Lucy said, continuing on where Vee left off. “That is the good news. The bad news is we got a full city to sweep and no clue where he could be.”
“Actually not true,” Vee said. “If it was just you three here, you would be correct. Luckily for you, you have a resident of the realm of dreams on your side.”
“Well, aren’t you a useful little thing,” Melissa replies, crossing her arms. Vee let out a prideful chuckle at the comment. “Mind telling us your secret then?”
“The first and most obvious way to track them is by smell. Living nightmares also smell like nightmares after all,” Vee explains, standing up and walking to the beds edge. “It tends to be stronger than it is with dreamers too. It will make finding him a bit easier, but it isn’t going to shorten the search area.”
“You got some way to deal with that, though,” Melissa guessed.
“When a living nightmare or living dream are created, a domain is created with them. Think of it as their home,” Vee continued on. “They have more power and gain more power from feeding in their domain or domains similar to it. Places in reality similar to their domain also work by this rule.”
“So if we find a location similar to Deam’s domain, we will find where he brings his next meal,” Dragon summarized. Vee nodded at its dreamer. “You know what it is?”
“Yes. A school,” Vee answered. It watched as the three humans before it all went wide eyed. “What did you expect? He’s a nightmare formed from a child's trauma of a predator. Where else would his domain be?”
----------------------------------------
“So they are either coming back here to Champlain, going to UVM or setting up camp in Edmunds Elementary,” Akane says, Drew and Holly to her side. Melissa, Lucy, Dragon, and Vee stood on the other side of her room, the number of people making it feel rather cramped. “At least the locations are all close by, but knowing what formed him has me worried, especially if he goes for a child.”
“It really is sickening, but I guess that this is just how the world is,” Holly replied, a somber sigh leaving her lips. “Whatever child created him, I hope they get the therapy needed to recover from the incident.”
“Which is why we have to make sure we take him down before another person gets hurt,” Lucy said, taking a step forward.
Everyone could see how tense she was and the fire that had been lit in her eyes. The moment she had been told what Deam was, a needle had been placed through her heart. Old pains of her two years of captivity came back, one which she wished no soul to ever suffer from. If someone as young as she had been was hurt in the same way she could never forgive herself. She had to get at least one punch in, and wouldn’t rest until the monster was dead.
“Which leads to our plan. Three schools, three teams,” Melissa explained, her eyes falling on the Japanese and Native American women. “Akane, Holly, if you two hear anything happen across campus, text us. One of you is an RA, so she’ll be alerted of any oddities on campus.” A smirk crossed her face as she focused on Drew’s girlfriend. “I would bring you with Lucy and I to Edmund Elementary, but if we end up in a fight you’ll be in more danger then the rest of us.”
Holly frowned as she looked at her barely-working leg. A sigh escaped her lips, knowing that they were correct. Then, much to Melissa and Lucy’s surprise, she smiled. While the reason for them heading out of campus wasn’t great, a part of her couldn’t help but see it as the two going on a date. She wouldn’t dare want to be the third wheel.
“We’ll do our job well, even if it isn’t doing much,” Holly told her friend. “Though are you sure watching an elementary school is a good idea? Considering the danger schools have been in over the past decade or two, probably even earlier than that, it seems like a bad idea.”
“We don’t exactly have a choice in the matter, and at least school will be done for them by then,” Lucy bluntly reminded them. “Of all three it is not just the most similar to Deam’s domain but is the closest in relation to his… creation.” She gritted her teeth at the words, unable to believe she had to say it. “As Melissa is the only Magral Knight she needs to be at the most likely location. Edmund Elementary is that location.”
No one in the room seemed comfortable at the thought, but no one argued against her point.
“Which leaves Dragon, Vee and I with UVM,” Drew said, getting things back on track. He looked at the otherkin. “You sure you are up for this?”
“Yeah,” Dragon answered with a confident nod. “My brother goes there, so I know it better than the rest of you. Vee will be most useful there too, with it being the biggest campus.”
“Anyone got any objections?” Melissa asked the room. Her response came from the silence that followed her words. “Then I guess it's time to get to it. Ready Lucy?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Lucy replied.
Melissa hadn’t waited for her to finish answering, opening the door out of Akane’s dorm room. Lucy quickly made after her, holding the door open to give to everyone else before disappearing. Right as the door was about to close, Dragon placed her foot between it. She watched Drew and Holly give each other a quick kiss before meeting her at the door. Dragon held the door open for Drew, the man giving her a nod as he headed out. They nodded back before turning to face Holly.
“You gonna be okay?” She asked in worry.
Holly gave a cheerful smile to her friend and nodded. Dragon left her and Akane alone after that, closing the door behind her. As soon as it was shut, Holly stomped her good foot into the floor as hard as possible, causing the RA to jump. Though the smile never fell away, it no longer seemed cheerful. A laugh escaped Holly’s lips as she took in every little detail on the carpet below her.
“Funny. I knew I would be useless but I didn’t think I would be this useless,” She said, shaking her head. “I should be out with them. Can’t do any good just sitting here, and yet that is exactly what I was told to do.”
“I’m sorry Holly,” Akane said, giving the Native American a pat on the back.
She wasn’t entirely sure what to say beyond that, because as far as she was concerned this was better than putting herself in danger. The only reason she hadn’t stopped the others was due to both acknowledging the threat Deam posed and the fact they did need to make sure all three schools were secured. Only way to possibly stop the nightmare from hurting anyone was taking it down, and she accepted that. Knowing she could at least keep one member of the friend group stationary, whether it was willing or not, kept her heart from beating out of her chest.
“I know it probably doesn’t help that much, but have you ever watched Days of Our Lives?” Akane asked. Holly looked at her, then shook her head. “Wanna watch an episode or two? Might take your mind off things.”
“Yeah, sure,” Holly replied. She looked away from the Japanese girl as they grabbed the remote for the tv they had set up in their room. Her eyes landed on the door, crossing her fingers and biting the inner right side of her lip. “Stay safe you five. That goes for you especially, love.”
----------------------------------------
As the sun lowered, Deam felt his power return and hunger rise. He had held off the previous night, despite his want to sate his appetite. The feeding would be even better now that they had found a proper place to do it. All that was left was to find the perfect victim. Not just anyone would do; he wanted what he had craved ever since he had first peaked in on his dreamer. He wanted to know what her nightmares tasted like.
Unfortunately she was in Saudie Arabia, not the United States of America. A right shame, as that place would likely be crawling with so many perfect individuals to feed from. He would have to settle with where he was, and he was thankful to say he found the perfect someone. He had been watching them play with stuffed animals in their room for some time, growing impatient. The night could not come fast enough, and an all-too-wide smile turned into a look of frustration.
Then, after ten to twenty more minutes, he felt his power return to its fullest. Night had truly arrived. It was time to feast.