They Rule in our Dreams (Part 1)

Life is unimaginably delicate; it would not be a stretch to call it miracle. We are all, everyone of us, perched precariously on a tight rope, where even the slightest breeze will send us falling into the vast, cavernous maws of death. Balance and order are the cornerstones of life. From the beginning we are presented with rules that we must not break. Some are simple, easy to understand, and easy to follow. Drink water or thirst will claim you, eat food or starvation will devour you, stay clean or disease will corrupt you, sleep our madness will become you. Each of these rules make sense, they are easy to understand, easily explainable, and simple to follow. We take for granted all that it takes to keep our hearts beating, to keep our minds sharp, and to keep them away.\
Of all these rules we must follow, I have found myself most fond of sleeping. Most people would agree with me that sleep is one of the greatest comforts our bodies provide. I?ve personally discovered that for the most part, sleep is a great solution to your problems. You?re sad? Sleep. You?re stressed? Take a nap. You don?t want to do your homework? Well, that pillow looks mighty inviting.
I?ll admit, my fondness for sleep has gotten me into a fair bit of trouble. I have definitely slept through several important class, been late for a few jobs, and I may or may not have been asleep when I was supposed to pick up my little brother from basketball practice (sorry bro), but that sweet, sweet land of dreams is always more inviting than this nightmare that we live in, at least it used to be.
I guess I ought to offer you an appetizer before letting you take a bite out of this monstrous tale that will soon curse your ears. I?m not going to share my name with you, at least not my real one, but for now you can call me Jacob, or Jake, whatever you like. I know it seems clich?, and you?re probably thinking ?oh wow, how original, the guy telling the scary story can?t share his name out of fear for his life.? And you would be right, it?s very unoriginal, but it works, and I?m not doing it for myself. Its to late for me, they already know me, they already come to me in my dreams, but I?m doing it so you don?t end up like me. I guess you could say that my name is ?outlawed? in the dreamworld, and whoever thinks it attracts them.
Things used to be normal for me, at least more normal than this. I lived in a good household, and I can?t say I ever found myself wanting. My parents were, kind, and compassionate to me, but they also raised me to be a good man, disciplining me when I crossed the line. I can?t say I was the perfect child. I would think that by now, you would have picked up on the fact that I was lazy. More than once I found myself on the receiving end of a reprimand for my slothfulness, and I deserved it. At the same time though, life was hard for me. Sleep was nice, and for the most part, it helped me escape, but when I was awake my mind was tortured by constant dread. Dread about the things I would have to do that day, about the people I would meet, and the challenges I would face.
I had severe anxiety, and it nearly crippled me. I never told anyone, out of fear that they would load me up with pills, call me crazy and send me on my way so I found ways to cope with it. I did a very good job of hiding it and created a tough guy fa?ade that fooled everyone. I was, for the most part, alone though, and that gnawed at my heart. My desire for companionship is what ended up leading me down this road that I find myself on presently.
The memory of the day I met Ashlynn remains clear and present at the forefront of my mind to this day. It wasn?t raining or snowing, there was no magical breeze, and the air was most certainly not crisp. There was nothing special about the weather that day, and nothing would have forewarned me of what was coming. I believe I was standing outside of the local Mexican restaurant, trying my best to scrub what I?d seen in the bathroom from my memory. To this day I still believe that Roberto, the owner, sold a customer a possessed burrito, and an exorcism had taken place in the restroom.
As I stood there, bent over and trying to inhale as much fresh air as I possibly could, I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder. ?Are you ok man?? the voice belonged to a woman. I slowly stood up to see one of the restaurant employees standing there. She was tall, probably 5?11 with curly black hair and emerald, green eyes. I looked down at her name tag and read it. ?Ashlynn?. I uncomfortably ran my fingers through my hair and gave a shy chuckle. ?Yeah, ha ha, I?ve just never smelled anything so bad before.? She laughed, and said, ?Just be glad you?re not the one who has to clean it up. I told Roberto he was putting too many peppers in the salsa.? We both laughed at that.
?I?m Jake,? I said as I extended my hand, and she shook it. ?I?d tell you my name,? she smiled, ?but I?m pretty sure that you can read it on my nametag.? I laughed ?Well its nice to meet you Ashlynn.? As we were talking, I noticed a strange tattoo on her neck. Side by side were four vertical lines with groups of horizontal lines intersecting them. Each one had a diagonal line descending down from them that made the lines look like barbed harpoons. For some reason my eyes remained fixated on those lines, they called to me, and I felt drawn to them. I snapped my eyes away. ?What?s that tattoo on your neck mean?? Her eyes lit up and I could tell it was something that excited her. ?It?s called Svefnthorn, its an old Norse rune that symbolizes sleep. I?ve always believed that our dreams our gateways to new worlds, so I got this tattoo to always remind me that behind closed eyes, vast unexplored frontiers await.?
I?m not going to lie, I was a little weirded out, but I was also interested. I?m not sure if it was the fact that I loved sleep so much, or the fact that this beautiful person was speaking to me. Whatever the reason, I stood transfixed as she went on and on about dreams and the hidden worlds that we travel to in our sleep. Obviously, I was skeptical, thinking that it was just as crazy as astrology or divination, but something about the passion she had for this subject made it seem more genuine.
?So uh? have you really seen any of these strange worlds? Like how do you know that its not just your imagination?? She sighed like she was trying to get her point through to a toddler. ?I can?t prove anything by explaining it. You would have to experience it for yourself. You have the power to create your own worlds, to change things around you.? I nodded and thought for a moment before saying, ?So like lucid dreaming, right?? Again, she sighed impatiently ?Something like that, look, I have to get back to work, but I want to give you something first.? She took my hand and scribbled her number down on it before reaching in her pocket and giving me a wooden token engraved with the same symbol that was on her neck.
?Sleep with that under your pillow tonight, and when you wake up, I want you to call me and tell me what you saw while you were dreaming.? I ran my thumb over the token before putting it back into my pocket. Before I could say a word, she winked at me and said, ?See you in your dreams,? and just like that she turned and went back inside Roberto?s. I was left standing there, absolutely confused about what had just happened. Within the span of five minutes, I had gotten a speech about dreamworlds, got a girl?s phone number, and it felt like I?d just been recruited into some weird dream cult.
I chuckled and began walking towards my car, and for a little while I didn?t feel anxious, I was just thinking about how gorgeous Ashlynn was. All the constant fear in my heart was replaced with giddy excitement at the fact that I had gotten the number of a beautiful, albeit strange girl. More than that she winked at me. I blushed at the memory. The whole ride home I was smiling, and I was so distracted that I nearly forgot to pick my brother up from school. In a panic I did a screeching U-turn and thought to myself ?He?s going to murder me.? When I got to the school, nearly an hour after I was supposed to be there, I could feel the heat radiating from my brother?s gaze.
?What took you so long dirt muffin?? he asked, using his affectionate nickname for me. ?I uh? I got distracted. You doing good bro?? He glared at me, and I shrank inside myself. My brother was 14 years old and 115 pounds soaking wet, but in that moment, he carried the fury of a fat man that was just told that someone had just stolen his last drumstick. ?Do I look like I?m doing good ?bro??? He did not in fact look like he was doing good. ?I just spent the last hour of my life being tortured by my band teacher because I can?t play the trumpet. Who cares about the trumpet anyways? Why is band even required? It?s stupid.?
Needless to say, the ride home was more than a little uncomfortable as my brother ranted without end, telling me that I should pay more attention to the time. By the time I got home I was thoroughly exhausted by my brother?s wrath and decided to go sit on the couch and take a quick nap. It didn?t take long for me to slip away. Sleep wasn?t normal this time though.
Everything was black, and it felt like a great weight was crushing my chest. The darkness all around me felt tangible, and thick. The voices began to speak from every angle. Some sounded ancient, others sounded like they were young, but each voice was angry, fierce, and they reminded me of the snarls of a starving dog I had heard moments before it tore apart a squirrel.
?How did it get here? It doesn?t belong!?
?It is trickster, a trickster I think.?
?Hmm, the seals are broken then. Yesss, time for hunting, time to eat.?
Loud howls broke out all around me and I felt claws grabbing me from all sides. One stabbed me in the leg, and I tried to cry out, but I couldn?t. I felt like I was going to be torn apart when I heard it, a scream, not a human one, it was a sound that felt like something had grabbed your spine and ripped it out. The howling stopped immediately, and I felt all the claws let go of me.
?It?s here?
?It found us?
?Leave the trickster?
?Run.?
The voices cried out on all sides of me and I heard the sound of ripping and tearing as whatever the screaming thing was ripped apart the creatures that wanted to make me their meal. Suddenly there was silence, occasionally disturbed by the sound of bones snapping. The darkness seemed to grow thicker and I became aware of hot, putrid breath blowing into my face. I tried to scrunch my nose, tried to get away from the smell, but I couldn?t move. I think that?s what saved me. It felt like an eternity before the thing left, but immediately after I heard it stomping away, a hand grabbed my shoulder, and suddenly I was standing in the midst of a glowing, green forest.
?How did you do that? You?re not supposed to be able to do that.? The voice was Ashlynn?s. I turned expecting to see her, but instead I saw a seven-foot tall being clad in golden armor, with a great sword held in its hands. It looked into my eyes through its helmet visor, and I saw emerald, green pools of light. ?How did you break the seals?? Again, it was Ashlynn?s voice, but it was clearly emanating from the being. ?I uh?I don?t know what you?re talking about. What seals??
Giant warrior Ashlynn ignored me and began pacing around the meadow muttering to herself. ?What did I do?? and ?I shouldn?t have given him the token.? My favorite was ?The council is going to kill me.? I just stood there confused and looked at the giant pacing before me. This was so weird. Abruptly Ashlynn stopped and looked at me. ?They made you bleed.? I looked down at the hole in my leg that was oozing blood. This had to be a dream, but the pain in my leg definitely felt real. ?No, no, no, no, no? Ashlynn seemed to hyperventilate. ?You have to wake up or they will find us. The hounds have your blood. Wake up now. Call me when you get back.? She put a armored hand on my forehead and just like that I was awake.
?Wow, that was a weird dream.? I said as I sat up on the couch. A sharp pain caused my whole leg to spasm, and I gasped in pain. I looked down to see if there was anything there, but there wasn?t. I sighed in relief; it was just a cramp. I chuckled and pulled out my phone, thinking that Ashlynn would find my dream crazy. I dialed her number and when she picked up I said, ?You are never gonna believe the dream I just had.? I just heard her sigh on the other side. That exasperated sigh that I was starting to grow used to. ?Try me I was there. Meet me at Roberto?s, we need to talk.? In that moment my world fell down around me. This was just the beginning.


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