Who: Alexander and Hana Sato What: Adventures in dream land When: Saturday Where: Alexander's head
Alexander had been crying. He didn't like this game anymore, where all the clocks had been taken out of his room so that he would not know when the pain would come, but he knew when the pain would come. And he didn't like needles, or doctors, or demons, and he knew they were demons becuase only demons had clear blue eyes like theirs - or his. He was thinner, he was tired, his bones hurt and he wanted his mother and he wanted his father to be nicer to him, he wanted Miss Dev and he wanted Miss Sato and he especially wanted his kitten, Gladys. He didn't like his bed anymore, and the paintings on the walls were dark and scary at night, even when he left on his lights and opened the window shades so that the city could shine in. He didn't like being in the dark, he didn't want to close his eyes. The pain came as it was wont to do, at exactly 10:52 in the evening, and a flurry of demons swarmed him as he jerked and twitched on the elaborate bed. His back arched, he jittered and whimpered and sweat, all for one minute, and the swarm poked him and prodded him and he shrieked in every language he knew (all of them) and threw off the covers and kicked and punched at the arms that reached for him.
When it was over, he was alone. He cried for a long time, rubbing at his eyes and flipping over to his stomach. He grasped his pillow tightly to his chest and he wanted those things again, especially the kitten. He was so distraught that, by the time his tears had somewhat abated, he was almost too tired to say the words that Miss Sato had asked him to. He rolled to his back and stared drowsily up at the ceiling - did he trust Miss Sato? Oh yes, yes absolutely. She had promised she would keep him safe, and so - He closed his eyes tightly. "Baku kurai." He whispered, almost inaudibly under his breath, and he must have repeated it a dozen times before sleep claimed him.
He had never spoken a word about them to anyone, except to tell Sato that he'd been having nightmares. But Alexander's dreams were lush and terrifying in their frequency. They were rapid flashes of memory, each one perfectly outlined, the emotions ripe in the moment, and then just as quickly whisked away for the next image to spring forth out of the depths of his subconscious. There was ice, loads of it, trying to pull out of the water and slip onto a floe but too late, too late, the lifeboats had already gone and he was so cold it was best to just let himself go down down into- RUN run run runrun run run CLIFF and then- Madame DuRoi dipped her spoon into a glass of cerulean liquid sipped at it for three hours before succumbing to the poison and then- BANG and then- climbing the hard rock face seventy-two pounds on his back and staring down the barrel and there's not Fritz it looks like a boy with golden hair and a smile, reaching, reaching-
The most vibrant nightmare was in the temple, and in that nightmare, no one died, in fact, Alexander was quite comfortable. He was in a chamber of his mistress' temple, lounging on a bed of soft pillows, with a beautiful priestess running a gold comb through his hair. He let out a small noise and tilted his head back so that the teeth of the comb brushed lightly against his scalp, sending tingles down his spine. There were tapestries on the walls and the whole building was saturated in worship for the Lady of Heaven and Earth, Queen of All. The lady was not there, she never was in his dreams.
and then
A horrible thudding sound and a splat and something sliding down the other side of the door. He jerked up to sit straight as a board on the bed and the very next second the beast came crashing through the door, sending bits of wood and gold flying everywhere. It was an enormous four-legged beast with brilliantly red hair, the mane of a lion, the face of a man, and a scorpion's tail with a wicked barb at the end of it. The girl who had been combing Alexander's hair screamed and melted away into venom and acid and poison that poured down Alexander and hurt and rooted him in place- The beast- the manticore, stalked towards him, and his lips parted in a silent scream.