Chapter 2. Waking Nightmare

  Duke Ellington was having a rough night. First is feline brother knocked over his food bowl and him being a dignified German Shepherd wouldn’t eat off the floor…unless it’s meat. Now some weird smell was in the air, it had his hackles raised and as much as he sniffed, he just couldn’t find the source. Eventually all his trotting around woke Sabastian and the Savannah Cat hopped off his tower to follow Duke around. For a cat he thought Sabastian was odd, almost as tall as him and was the only cat he ever saw out on walks. That distraction aside something in the air changed again and this time both took notice. Low growls and guttural meow came from the both of them as they started searching more intensely. After a few more minutes of not finding anything Duke had enough, it was time to wake up dad.

  Vincent Kane was sleeping peacefully in his upstairs bed when a paw slapped him in the face. Ignoring it he rolled on his side and tried to go back to sleep when another paw smacked the back of his head. Groaning he rolled back on his back and opened his eyes to the dark of his room. “I’m up Duke.” Looking over at his wily dog he gave him some neck scratches, then he noticed Sabastian on the bed as well. He didn’t mind but Sabastian only ever slept in his tower and never in bed. This fact woke him up a bit more and he flipped on the table lamp. Looking at the two he became weary; Dukes hackles were raised, and Sabastian’s tail was trashing around violently. Thinking someone might be outside he opened his nightstand drawer a retrieved a Sig Sauer and a box of rounds. After changing into a pair of jeans, pulling over a thermal, and grabbing his phone he sat back on the bed and quickly loaded the handgun.

  Vincent lived in a cabin in the Olympic National Forest as a Park Ranger, being in Washington most of the nights were an overcast grey black. The nearest house to his was almost twelve miles away and only twice had hikers stopped at the cabin in years, certainly not this late. Hoping it was nothing he went downstairs turning on lights all the way, both animals trailed slowly behind. When he got downstairs Duke barked, growled, then stuck his nose up in the air and starting intense sniffing. Never had Duke done anything like this and that made him even more worried. Even Sabastian let out his guttural meow running up and down his tower. “What in the world is going on with you two?” At this point a sheen of sweat broke over the skin and the hairs on the back of his neck raised. Wasting no more time he finished turning on all the interior and exterior lights then walked to the office where the security system was. Looking over the cameras there was no trace of anyone or even something being moved out of place. Not wanting to miss anything he took a seat and watched for a few more minutes then rolled the time back by five more, but nothing was there. Duke again barked and grabbing onto his pant leg and trying to drag him back to the living room. “Jeez okay Duke I’ll follow buddy I’m getting up.” Another head pat then he followed the dog, Sabastian was in the center of the room his head up and tail straight back motionless. Never seeing this before either Vincent couldn’t shake the feeling someone was terribly wrong. Duke kept up his pulling until they made it to the bay window. Looking at Vincent the dog barked once, looked at the window barked once more, then put his nose up and sniffed. At a loss Vincent took in a big sniff, not that it did any good he couldn’t smell a thing. Moving up right to the window he looked all around not seeing what had the animals so worked up. About to turn around the clouds started to faintly glow. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up again seeing the clouds glowing brighter it almost looked blue.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Both animals were next to him now and both let out angry noises, giving them each a pat he pulled out his phone…no service. Looking down at the traitorous phone he made his way back to the office for the regulation satellite phone all park rangers have. Powering it up he tried to call his little sister in Seattle even though the phone said no service all he got was a failed to connect message on the screen. Frowning he walked back to the living room, now he didn’t even have to look out the window the blue glow lit up the trees in an eerie light. “I really hope I’m still sleeping.” Vincent said pinching his arm hard. “Ouch. Okay not a dream…” Looking too his pets their previously aggressive attitude was gone both had the tails low and they looked scared. The lights blinked then went dark bathing the room in a sickly blue glow. Opening the closet in the walkway he grabbed his emergency pack bringing it back to the living room while pulling out a flashlight. Wishing the cabin had a basement he sat next to his two animals comforting them “It will be okay you two, whatever this is we’ll ride it out together.” Duke placed his head on Vincent’s lap while Sabastian curled up behind him. Having no idea what this was and not wanting to expose himself to something toxic outside all he could think to do was wait it out, whatever it was…Another minute passed with the three huddled close when Vincent saw the first object. Examining it closer it appeared to be a bright blue lotus, which morphed into a rose, than back to a lotus.

  Not understanding what he was witnessing he continued to watch as a flood of them blanketed the trees. Both animals were growing tense at the display but stayed as close to Vincent as they could. He was tense himself and he hate to admit but fearful as well something unexplainable was happening. Sitting there looking out the window he didn’t notice the flowers falling through his ceiling until one drifted past his face and landed on Duke. The dog went rigid eyes wide and let out a quiet whimper before falling unconscious. “Duke! Duke! Oh no…” Sabastian came around and started meowing while licking Dukes face. Looking down he could tell Duke was still breathing though it looked shallow and quick. Leaning over he put an ear to the dog’s chest his breathing might be shallow but his heart was beating strong. Eyes closed he missed when something landed on Sabastian, leaning back up after a quiet meow he saw his cat in the same state. “If this is the end…I’m glad you two are here.” He said as moved Sabastian, making sure his head was comfortable next to Dukes. Looking up he saw dozens of flower like things coming straight at him. Vincent closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable, he felt one after the other land. First it felt like ice was running up his veins soon his entire body was chilled making movement hard. Looking down at his lap he was happy to see the chest of both his pats still moving. Worried about what would happen if he fell unconscious Vincent struggled to stay awake. Soon after the chill a sharp burning took over starting from what felt like his heart and spreading to his head. Not understanding what was happening and barely able to move he fought on dealing with the pain. To Vincent it seemed like a lifetime but after only ten minutes of pain he lost the struggle and fell head first leaning his head on top of Duke’s before the black took him.