Figments4
Date Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 11:41 PM PST
Topic Entertainment


"The beginning?" I frowned. "I don't understand. How could it be the beginning if I die, and everything here goes away?"


"That's just it. It won't go away, It will finally become real." Javen said. "Inside everyone's mind is a mini-universe waiting to be born. Yours will be born prematurely, if Daemon has his way, and he will be the one to control it, not you. He will be the consort to your Goddess, but you will be just a figurehead, with him gaining all of the power. If you had died naturally, things would have taken their natural course, and a new world would be born in innocence. This way, control is there in the beginning, and everything can be arranged and ordained. Quite a bit like what happened in the world you were born into. You are a dream within a dream within a dream. This is how your own world began... as the figment of someone else's imagination." He leaned closer, almost leering. I was starting to feel uncomfortable. His words were bordering on the fanatical. "How does it feel to know that your own ancestors were just someone's elaborate fantasy?" he whispered, his face very close to mine. I shifted nervously away, trying to stay calm as an uneasy feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. Javen's eyes, which moments before had held the extreme brightness only seen in the eyes of the truly mad, suddenly took on a comforting warm glow. "It will be okay now. I'll protect you. I won't let him hurt you, ever again."

I wasn't sure if I was in the hands of a savior or a madman, but I had to trust him. There seemed to be no one else in the insane world of my dreams I could put my faith in. He had saved me from what I was certain had to have been a terrible situation. As things were, I was feeling better than I had in months. Stronger, more self-reliant, even though I had relied heavily on Javen to escape the clutches of Daemon.

"So what happens now? Are you going to help me find a way out of here?" I asked. "There's a door in a weird little antique shop somewhere. I think I need to get to that."

Javen shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly where that is, Lauren. We'll have to go find it, and that means wandering about where Daemon will be more likely to find us. He has many supporters all over who will spy for him, and if they figure out who you are, he'll be sure to show up. Let's stay here for a while. It's safe here."

"I can't just stay here, Javen. I'm not sure how much time I have left. I could die out there, while I'm playing around in here." I stood and walked toward the stairs. "We have to go now. Take me to where you think the door may be."

"Fine, Lauren." Javen walked behind the couch and pointed at a chest that was hidden behind it. "You'll want to change into something more suitable for exploring, though. What you're wearing is only good for one of Daemon's little games." He opened the chest and brought out a pair of black jeans and a black button-up silk blouse. A pair of boots was added to the clothing. "There, that should do it. You'll be comfortable in that, and not easily seen in the darkness. I'll wait upstairs for you." He turned and walked swiftly up the stairs.

I changed quickly, putting the jacket back on to guard against the chill. As I left the cave I saw Javen waiting near the entrance. He peered into the inky darkness as if expecting something. "It should be fine for a while. I don't think he has a clue as to your whereabouts yet. There are other things out there that we'll need to watch for, however. You have a lot of monsters in your mind."

"Is that why it's always dark?" I moved closer to his side as I recalled a few of the more frightening dreams I'd had. I chuckled nervously. "My mind- a horror story waiting to happen. It figures."

"It's no laughing matter. Certain areas are off limits to everyone because of the terrifying and dangerous things that inhabit them. Everything that has influenced you from childhood on is here in some form or another. Someone let you watch a lot of really bad movies when you were little. Those things are running about too." Javen grimly announced.

"Okay then, we won't run off to have promiscuous teenage sex or go into any abandoned houses." I said, recalling some of the more gruesome movies I'd seen. "It can't be all bad stuff, right? I did have some happy memories. Those ought to be somewhere too." I walked toward the bike. "Come on, let's get going." I froze in my tracks as the distant sound of a buzzing chainsaw came to my ears. My heart jumped into my throat as Javen rushed over and swung himself onto the bike.

"That's what you get for thinking about it. Hurry, we have to go." He said, reaching out a hand to help me on. We sped away into the night, and I wondered if it really was all in my imagination, could I bring things about just by thinking about them? It was like trying not to imagine a white elephant. I looked fearfully over my shoulder as the most terrifying of my childhood dreams came slithering out of the darkness.

"Javen, it's the snake!" I screamed into his ear. "The giant snake, it's right behind us!" The motorcycle surged forward with a burst of speed, flying over the ground. I held on for dear life as it bounced along. I looked behind us again, hoping to see that the snake was farther away, but it was keeping up amazingly well. We were almost to the cluster of buildings that passed for a town, and the snake was gaining on us, I was sure. I could almost feel its breath at my back, and I dared not look again. Javen screeched to a stop in front of the nearest building and, yanking on my hand, dragged me inside, slamming the door just as the snake's fangs came crashing down onto the bike.

"Don't ever do that again!" He shouted into my face. "Don't think about any of those things. We have enough trouble as it is." He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Do you understand me?"

I threw his hands off me. "Yes, I do understand. If you hadn't gone on about it in the first place, I wouldn't have thought about it to begin with. What were you trying to do, Javen?" I glared angrily at him, my heart still hammering. I glanced around. The inside of the building looked like one of the many apartment buildings I'd grown up in as a child. It looked safe enough for the moment.

Javen ran his fingers through his hair. "I was trying to warn you. I had no idea your imagination was that vivid. I had no idea it would still work if you were in here, too. That's the first time that snake wandered out of its designated territory."

"I don't want to talk about it." I said, curtly. I spun around and walked briskly down the hallway. Without realizing what I was doing, my thoughts idly turned to Daemon and I wondered if he'd recovered and was after us. I sat down on the old, green couch in the living room and curled up in a ball, burying my head in my arms. I glanced over and saw two feet on the floor beside me. "I said I don't want to talk about it." I remarked in a low voice.

"And what has Javen done that you don't wish to discuss with him?" A soft, familiar voice whispered. My head jerked up and he was standing there, his pale hair glowing in the moonlight that streamed into the room from the window. My insides twisted as he reached out his hand and gestured toward the hallway. Javen stood there, fists balled helplessly as the spell Daemon had thrown his way left him frozen, still as a statue. "He never would have hit me with that little ray-gun of his if it hadn't been for you." Daemon smiled at me. "You distracted me. And I never expected such fire out of you, with your broken psyche. You surprised me with that vase. You won't surprise me again." He pulled me up and walked me over to where Javen stood and held me in front of him. "Look well, Javen. This is the last time you'll ever have the chance to possess her. She's mine." He slid his hands over my body and a languid warmth made my limbs feel heavy and weak. His hand undid the top button of my blouse as he bent his head to touch his lips to my neck. I shivered. Glancing up at him, I saw with revulsion the gloating look he gave Javen. With the strength I had left, I slowly raised my hand and brought it with a sharp crack across Daemon's face.

"I am not your damn toy." I hissed. "Don't play your games with me, Daemon." His face held the expression of one who was trying to keep tight control of an unquenchable thirst for revenge. His grip on the back of my neck tightened convulsively as he ran his hand down my face in a rough caress, the pad of his thumb rubbing softly at my lower lip. I snarled and bit at it as he jerked it away.

He once again smiled that smug, irritating smile. "Lauren, whatever you do, don't think of the spiders." he drawled maliciously.

"Damn you." I whispered, glancing at the ceiling. The sound of thousands of tiny legs rustling filled the room, and the walls began moving as they were filled by a wave of horrid, black, hairy eight-legged creatures. One fat, bloated spider plopped onto my shoulder and I screamed horrifically. Daemon held my arms tightly as it scampered across my back. I jumped and wriggled in an effort to shake it off, as Daemon struggled to keep hold of me. Letting go of my arm, he brushed it onto the floor as he wrapped me in his coat. I watched in horror as he gestured toward Javen again, reanimating him.

"I win this round." he said to Javen, as we were surrounded by darkness. The last thing I saw was Javen battling the thousands of spiders that converged onto him as we disappeared.

-to be continued....

This article comes from Shmeng
http://www.shmeng.com/

The URL for this story is:
http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=524