Chapter Twenty

When she was certain that her friends were safely awake, Laura grinned at the Dreamkiller. “Which are you this time? Alexius, Orion’s childhood friend, or Alexius the Dreamkiller?” she asked and Alexius smiled.

“What do you think this is? Twenty Questions?” he sneered. “But, you should know. I am both – an angel from heaven. Messenger of death,” he said with a smile.

“Kiss my ass,” she said and Alexius lunged forward.

Just as he was two inches from her, she sprang to her left side and stuck out her right leg and planted it directly between Alexius’s legs.

His only response was but a smile. “My dear, Bitch. You must have forgotten. I am no longer male or female – but the worst of both kinds.” Alexius replied. “Let’s cut the cat and mouse shit and give me what rightfully belongs in the hands of evil.”

“If you want it bad enough, follow me,” she said and then burst out of the room.

“Come now, I don’t have time for this.” Alexius grunted and followed her down the hallway.

Laura was running several yards ahead of him. She glanced over her shoulder. “I thought you had tons of time to spare. Doesn’t Orion make you jump through time?”

Alexius was beginning to become irritated from Laura’s ramblings; partially because there was truth in what she said. But he had a job to do in this time (maybe when he got the book back he’d be allowed to return to his own time). “What, no old fucker at your side this time to help you?” He laughed at the memories. He noticed that she had slipped inside a room to her left. When he got to the now-closed door, he smiled and sighed and opened the door.

To his surprise, however, he discovered that he was not in a room at the hospital. Instead, he now stood in a room that he vividly remembered. After several minutes, it finally sunk into his memory. He now stands inside Laura’s old bedroom at a time when she lived with her mother.

He spotted Laura beside her bed with her arm stuck between the mattress and box-spring.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

She found what she was looking for and pulled out the book. It was the size of a typical modern-size paperback, but with a hard leather covering. The title simply read Pison.

Alexius smiled and extended his arm. “Yes. Now give it to Poppa,” he grunted and she looked up at him.

“Fuck you. Write a sequel,” she yelled then jumped over the bed. She ran past Alexius and headed out the bedroom door.

As she stormed down her old staircase, reality hit her in the face. She had left the book at the house she shared with Tracy when they were young. Alexius was after the book – not Tracy. It just knew that the book was there and thought that Tracy had it.

Oh, God. Tracy, it’s all my fault. I’m sorry.

When she came to the bottom of the stairs, she found the front door and exited the house. When she closed the door, she realized that she was now looking down the corridor back at the hospital.

She could hear the loud footfalls of Alexius lurking closer to the door which her back still faced.

There was no other choice: She had to run.

While running down the seemingly endless corridor, she heard her heart pounding in her chest. It sounded as if it were going to pound its way through her chest.

“Laura!” Alexius screamed and she abruptly stopped, almost tripping as she stopped.

She turned around only to see Alexius walking and appeared to be only several feet from her.

Dreams are funny, sometimes, she thought. It seems that no matter how fast you run, evil walks that much faster.

She sighed and turned back around and was prepared to run, but when she turned, she was suddenly blocked by a wall. A newly materialized wall in front of her and a Dreamkiller to her back. She was cornered.

I’ve got what I want. Tracy’s right, it is hard to just wake up, she thought as the beast slowly crept up on her.

“I love you,” it grunted with an obscene smile.

“Shit!” she screamed when she found that the wall wouldn’t budge.

She quit struggling and looked up at Alexius. She began trembling and looked around for a weapon of any kind, or at least an exit. She was, however, unsuccessful.

Just when she thought that she was going to die and Alexius would have the book, an arm came out of the wall and Laura screamed and then looked up into the eyes of Rick as he grabbed her by her waist and pulled her through the wall.

That was when Laura awoke in a deep, cold sweat. Clenched in her hands, was the book that she had almost died getting.