After leaving the club and returning to the marketplace, that one shop that was selling decorative switchblades caught my eye. Other than my clothes, I didn’t have anything else on me. I could only use items that were manifested within Tyler’s dream, anything manifested from outside the dream would disappear on entrance.
If I was going to take him down I would need to have some sort of weapon, and the strip joint didn’t seem to have anything useful.
I approached the switchblade shop and went inside masquerading as a paying customer. I browsed around the tables for a couple minutes, trying to sell the idea that I was there on business. Once I had an opportunity, I swiftly kicked over a pale bucket containing water bottles, the bottles rolled across the floor scattering in every direction. As the shopkeeper hurried over to clean it up, I apologized and escorted myself to the exit—pocketing myself a blade on the way out.
I shuffled through the busy crowd and made my way a little down the road, where I stumbled across a gas station with a convenience store attached. A sudden thought of inspiration flashed into my mind.
“Perfect,” I whispered.
Entering the store, I no longer had any intention of being subtle. There weren’t too many people around, so I wasn’t worried about anyone making a scene. I grabbed a jerry can full of gasoline off the top shelf of the first aisle and quickly made my way to the refrigerated section. Snatching up two bottles of iced tea, I poured the contents within them out onto the floor.
“Sir!” I heard the gas station attendant yell at me from across the store. “Get out of my store right now!”
I ignored him and poured the gas from the jerry can into the bottles until they were full, and then stuffed them into my back pockets. A rack full of jackets was situated near the center of the store. I pulled off the first one and slid it on so I could cover up the back part of my jeans. Walking up to the front counter, I reached across the upset attendant and grabbed a lighter.
“What the hell are you doing?! Get back here before I—” I slammed the exit door in his face. I didn’t have any time to entertain the random ass manifestations within Tyler’s mind. I had one goal, and one goal only.
I ran back to the entrance of the club, concealing the bottles of gasoline in the back pockets of my jeans.
“Ooh, nice jacket,” The bouncer greeted me. “You’re back already? Just can’t get enough, huh?”
“Yup,” I responded tiredly, pushing open the front door.
I snuck my way back into the section for private dances where Tyler was, then hid myself within one of the neighboring rooms.
I peered around the corner into Tyler's room. The two men were still standing guard as Tyler sat behind them, obliviously enjoying his harem of women. I unscrewed the caps on my bottles and began dousing the floor and walls of my room with gasoline until there were no drops left. I flicked on the lighter and dropped it onto the floor, before quickly scurrying away. Flames erupted immediately. I knew it wouldn’t take long for Tyler to notice. I hurried back to the main lobby and grabbed a seat near the stage to pretend that I didn’t know that the building would be sent into a panic moments after. Not ten seconds later, a shout came from the back room.
“What the hell?!”
Black smoke and flames began to pour out from behind the private dancing section. A fire alarm blared throughout the building. The two men who were watching over Tyler ran through the curtain, blasting it off of its hinges in the process, as they feverishly raced to the exit door. The ladies followed behind—screaming in shrill, deafening screeches that somehow overpowered the sound of the alarm itself. Then there was Tyler, he pushed himself through the crowd trying to evacuate the building, his face red with panic. I calmly rose from my seat and walked behind him and yanked his collar backwards with a quick jolt of force.
“ARGH!” he screamed.
He tumbled to the ground, his head thumping against the carpeted floor.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
I took out the blade from my pocket and flipped it open.
Tyler sputtered as he frantically scrambled backward on his hands, “Wh–Whats going on?!” He stuttered. I stepped closer, my shadow fully covering his body. His eyes became wide. “Y–You? What are you doing here?! Who are you?”
I grabbed him by his robe and pulled his face close to mine, “Your worst fucking nightmare.”
I raised the tip of my blade high into the air. I swung it downwards with incredible force—hurling it closer and closer to Tyler’s chest. But, my hand stopped suddenly.
“What!” I thought. Someone had gripped my wrist and interrupted my swing. “Who could’ve—”
“Kate!” Tyler yelped. It seemed he was just as surprised as I was. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Kate standing beside me, her head lowered and her hair covering her face. The grip she had around my wrist tightened.
I gritted my teeth, “How could she be this strong?”
She turned her head slowly in my direction. Through her hair, I could see that her eyes were glowing. “I’ll never let you touch my boyfriend.”
My eyes snapped open. Before I could respond, Kate began to grow exponentially in size. Her hand around my wrist grew longer and her nails stretched into long black claws. Horns sprouted from her head, and her teeth sharpened into fangs. She grew until the top of her head brushed against the ceiling and her arms dragged against the floor. Her clothes tore apart, and her skin darkened from a peachy hue to a menacing gray.
Tyler snagged the opportunity to crawl away on his hands and knees to the exit, screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran out the door to freedom.
I was still stuck in silence. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Kate had been morphed into something I could only describe as a demon. My entire body was frozen in shock. I knew that anything could happen in a dream, but this was insanity. A demon the size of a building was going to kill me and all I had with me was a 4 inch switchblade. Even so, the only thought running through my head was that I couldn’t die here—I didn’t want to die. I grabbed my switchblade and swiped at the demon’s hand. The strike wasn’t even enough to draw blood, but it was enough to get it to loosen its grip so I could tug away.
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If nothing I had could even slightly damage that thing, the only option I had was to run. Run as far away as I could. The demon lunged at me, swinging its arms wildly. The sharp claws of its hand clawed at my torso, ripping through my flesh like a sword through a piece of paper, a hot wave of pain shot through my body.
“AGH!”
The demon roared, clicking its sharp talons together. I sprinted away as fast as I could, weaving through the building. With each swing, the demon was able to destroy all of the tables and chairs in its path. Fighting against the waves of pain, I managed to make it out the door. I sprinted down the street along with everyone else from the marketplace.
“This is bad, This is bad…” the thought pounded in my head. I wearily checked over my shoulder, then whipped my head back to the searing pain radiating across my stomach. The slash from the demon left gashes deep into my torso, which streamed trails of blood down my torn white shirt.
Despite the fact my mind was on red alert with the amount of adrenalin racing through my body, I still had to think. The best thing I could do was either blend in or hide. The demon was too big, there was no way it would be able to fit through the exit door.
But just my luck, right after I finished the thought, I heard an explosion coming from behind me, followed by more screaming. The demon had managed to break through the entire front wall of the club and was now running down the street—crushing pedestrians beneath its heels.
It used its claws to thrash open every building in the vicinity, its glowing eyes overflowing with rage. For a moment, I trembled.
“Shit!”
As the petrified mob ran past the gas station, I broke away from the crowd and hid behind one of the gas pumps. Out of breath, I pressed my back up against the pump and gasped for air—praying that the demon didn’t notice me. I gently caressed my wounds, seeking to bring relief to the throbbing pain, but only more pain followed with each touch. I slammed the back of my head against the gas pump.
The demon was still a couple blocks down the road. There was no possible way I was going to damage it. The only way I knew how to escape was to kill the Dreamer, then the dream would disappear. That was my only option, I had to somehow find Tyler’s Dreamer.
I thought a little longer—that was truly my only option. The reality of the situation made my heart sink to my stomach. This dream was much larger than usual, and I had no idea where Tyler was. I didn’t even know which direction he ran. I inhaled painfully.
“Hey!” The gas station attendant burst through the door, interrupting my self-induced crisis. He brandished a 12-gauge shotgun and a vicious scowl.
“Really? Now? Now of all times?”
I frantically gestured for him to lower his voice. I figured that he ran away just like the others, this manifestation must have been a stubborn one. “You’re that kid from earlier! You better pay up now for all that shit you took, and come in here and clean this mess!”
His loud ass mouth wasn’t doing me any favors, I had to shut him up before the demon took notice.
Grabbing my switchblade, I darted towards him. The man quickly trained the sights at me and fired. I sidestepped, the shell of the shotgun made direct contact with my hand, blasting it to ribbons. My teeth clenched together. He cocked his shotgun again, ready to fire. Before his aim could reach me, I threw my switchblade at him, hitting him in the neck.
The shotgun clattered to the ground. His hands clasped around the blade, blood trickling down from the corners of his mouth. I ran towards him and shoved him away from the shotgun—wanting to ensure he didn’t try to pick it back up. He tumbled through the front door, hitting the ground with a thud—where he wriggled and writhed in anguish as his legs kicked the air.
“Damn.” I almost felt bad for him. What a horrible way to go, I was just glad he wasn’t real.
I picked up the shotgun with my one good hand and examined it. It was certainly better than a knife, the only issue was I didn’t really know how to use it. I aimed it at the wall ahead of me using my hand and forearm for balance—staring down the sights.
I guess it was already loaded and everything, all I had to do was cock it and pull the trigger. I went over to the dead attendant and yanked my switchblade out of his neck. Using the blade, I tore off pieces of his clothing to use as a tourniquet for my hand.
I felt dizzy and tired, my injuries were really starting to get to me. I had to end this quickly if I didn’t wanna end up bleeding out on the side of the road. A rush of regret flooded my mind. I should have never come here. It was fun at first, and I believed in my mission, but risking my life like this was never in the plans. If I could make it out alive, I told myself that I would never come back.
I drew in a deep and weary breath.
The sound of heavy thuds in the distance grew steadily closer. My head shot around to look down the street. The demon must’ve heard the shotgun blast. It was coming right for me, and closing in fast.
I bolted to the gas station door and pulled the handle. It didn’t budge—the old man must have had it set to lock behind him. An impatient grunt crept its way out from my throat. As fast as I could manage, I snatched the dead attendant by his collar and dragged him behind one of the pumps. Once done concealing the man’s body, I grabbed my newly obtained shotgun and hid behind the pump right beside him.
Just in time too. The thunderous footsteps were no more than a couple hundred feet away. Although I had a much better weapon now, I knew that the shotgun wouldn’t be enough to do anything to the creature other than make it more angry. If I was lucky, maybe the demon would have run right past me, skipping over the gas station entirely.
I had no such luck. The towering demon stopped on the road right in front of the station. Its hot breath putrefied the surrounding air. I guess it was trying to recover from the massive rampage it had just went on. Sweat trickled down my forehead. I carefully peeked around the gas pump, making sure not to reveal my face. It was just standing there, looking around as if it were waiting for something.
A deep feeling of fear rose within me. “Why? How would it know to stop here?”
The demon’s eyes shifted from pitch black to a brilliant bright red, glowing as if it were a siren light.
“What?”
Its eyes surveyed the nearby area, before eventually locking in on my gas pump. It stared intently and muttered a low growl.
“No way…”
With one swift motion, the demon lifted its arm and swiped through the first row of gas pumps, triggering a massive explosion. The impact set off a chain reaction, hurling me through the air and crashing me through the gas station window.
My brain pounded in my skull. I coughed and groveled on the ground but couldn’t hear anything other than the sharp ringing blasting in my ears. Looking to my left, I saw the demon glaring down upon me. I felt the warm sensation of its breath upon my skin. My hand shot out towards it as a pitiful excuse for defense.
“Please,” I begged. “Please Kate, wait!”
I painfully propped myself against the shelves behind me. The demon had little room for patience. It roared in my face, spraying wads of spit from its jaws. Each movement sent waves of pain through my body, like a thousand bee stings swarming inside me.
I strained my face into a twisted smile, “I’m not the one you want,” I said meekly. “You chased after me, because you see me as a threat to Tyler, right? I’m not the threat, just look at me. But if you let me live. I’ll tell you a secret.”
A low rumbling bubbled deep within the demon’s throat as streams of saliva dripped from its fangs.
“I’m nothing more than a distraction to you. Did you really think I would come to this place alone? While you’re busy chasing after me, my accomplice is hunting down Tyler as we speak.”
The demon's head swayed back slightly. Bearing its teeth, its fist pounded against the ground.
I chuckled softly. “You better hope… That you’re able to get to him first.”
The demon let out a furious war cry and sprang back from the gas station window. Its eyes glowed red once more as it searched the town, swiveling its head in every direction. It then pivoted towards the intersection and shot off like a sprinter at the starting blocks.
Despite the paralyzing pain that coursed through my body, I knew I had to do everything in my power to follow it. It had a much better chance of finding Tyler than I ever would. I bit my tongue and fought back against my screaming body—picked up my gun, and chased after the demon.