It was dark.

So very, very dark, like nothing he ever experienced before.

It wasn’t the darkness of the night, nor was it the dark when you closed your eyes.

No, it was darker, and more terrifying.

This darkness convulsed inside of him; he felt his very soul shutter.

The eyes, these soulless, empty and hungry eyes keep flashing in front of him.

Hew shuttered.

Only the thought of them made him pale. He was scared, terrified even. He couldn’t breathe, his limbs numb, and his eyes fixated on the creature. He couldn’t look away; the creature wouldn’t let him. He was trapped.

A prisoner in his own body, waiting to be executed.

And then there was the storm.

The ever-growing snow storm.

With every second that passed the storm would grow stronger, more vicious and colder.

At the end he couldn’t even see his own hands, not that he could move his body to move his hands.

Every breath he took huts his lungs. His face must have been frozen solid, because he couldn’t feel it any longer. The only sound he could perceive was the sound of the howling wind.

And growling.

He could tell, it was still there, waiting to feet upon him.

Waiting to devour him, tearing him apart and bath in his blood.

Badum, Badum.

His heartbeat got louder and louder, until it was deafening, even drowning out the sound of the wind or the growling of the beast. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much. He wanted to scream, wanted to cry for help and just run away, but he couldn’t.

He wasn’t the master of his own body anymore. The only thing he could do was stay still and to await his death.

A silent tear rolled down his face.

This was it, this was his end.

This w….

.

..

…

Someone grabbed his arm and he was suddenly yanked out of his dream.

“Hey, are you listening? Earth to Steve! Is there anybody in there?”

Steve looked confused up. “……. Huh... What?”

“I asked,” John said, a little annoyed at having been ignored, “what we are going to do next?”

“Oh, yeah sorry. I spaced out there for a second.” He said, looking around the place. John, Lucy and he sat currently in a small café, a few minutes away from the library, eating and pastries drinking coffee.

This was one of their favourite’s spots to meet up. They all only had a teen minute way to the café by bus, and even by foot it wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to get there. So, they decided to make the café they regular meeting and eating place.

It was a small café, it has a window front, six small and two large tables, and a small fireplace, which was currently getting some additional firewood to keep the flame going.

The café was relatively empty at the moment. Only one other table was occupied, and that by a lone guy with headphones and a small coffee. Probably there to warm up a little bit.

John and Lucy both had a little cappuccino and a biscuit, while he had a small coffee, which was already cold.

He couldn’t even remember ordering it, or coming into the café, for that matter.

Everything after his encounter with the creature was just a blur. Like a dream.

How long has it been since his encounter? Did he really survive, or…?

He was again snapped out of his thoughts.

“There you go again.” John said, this time a bit concerned, “Is everything ok? You don’t look too well maybe you should go home and get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” Lucy interjected, with the same concerned expression as John, “John’s right, you’re pale, almost like a corpse, and you haven’t said one word since we got out of the library. Maybe you really should get home and get some rest. We can always meet up on another day and study. We still have some time before the exam.”

“…You are right, maybe I am really tired. Seems like I haven’t slept as good as I thought I did,” Steve smiled weakly at them, “it would probably be the best if I just go home and catch some sleep.”

“Would be the best,” John reassured him, “it would make no sense to continue if you aren’t feeling well. Besides, maybe I can also go home and catch a quick nap before the next lecture, I am still sleepy.”

“…I wouldn’t do that if I was you. The last time you wanted to, and I quote “Quick nap” you slept for three hours and missed two lectures. And Steve and I had to help you out.” Lucy said, staring at John.

“That only happened once because my phone ran out of battery. Besides, you two did explain it a lot better than the professors. I would count that as a win, getting my much-required beauty sleep, AND managing to catch up. I can’t complain.”

“But I can, and I do.” Lucy remarked.

Steve, still not really listening, stood up and took his back, “Sorry guys, but I think I really am going. See you later.”

“Yeah, get well soon. I need someone who I can pester during the lectures.” John said, trying to cheer his friend up.

“Bye, and write us if you need something, ok?”

“Will do, thanks.”

And so, Steve made his way home, where he hoped that he could get some sleep and forget about what happened today.

.

..

…

He didn’t, like usually, take the bus back to the flat, instead he decided to walk. There was too much on his mind, and he needed some time to sort it out. It would take maybe 30 minutes to arrive, and he hoped that he calmed down during his walk. Looking at his watch he realized that the day hadn’t even truly begun yet, it was just 9:50 am. And he already was completely exhausted. He wouldn’t have much time to rest once he was home, he still had to prepare for the next lecture, which would start at 2pm, and afterwards head to his next lecture, which would start at 4pm and he had to prepare for that too. So that meant he had maybe one, or two hours he could rest, eat and catch his bearing, before he got busy again.

He still wasn’t sure what happened back at the library.

Was that just a trick his mind played him? Was he really that tired?

It wouldn’t be the first time that he had a hallucination because he lacked sleep. But usually, he would know that he was tired. His whole body feel sluggish, he wouldn’t be able to follow conversations that well and it would feel like he was just an observer, a spectator of his own life, not knowing what is going on. But this, this felt different, it felt real, almost too real.

He knew that he was there, he knew what he saw.

Or did he?

Maybe John and Lucy are right, and he needed some rest. The last few weeks were stressful, and maybe he really didn’t manage to sleep as well as he thought he did.

That has to be the answer there is no way that such a thing could exist. There was just no way.

He told himself over and over again.

And he almost believed it, if the memory wasn’t so vivid. Every time he closed his eyes and thought back to it, he could see it.

The Creature.

He could see it as clear as day, with its long bony arms, his teeth and most of all, its eyes.

Those dark, hungry eyes.

He shuddered.

This couldn’t be real. He had to have imagined it.

There was just no way that something like that could actually exist.

John and Lucy are definitively right he thought to himself I am tired even more so than I thought. Let’s get home, lie down in bed and take a quick nap. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Maybe I even skip the lectures today and let John help me for once. Yeah, let’s do that.

The whole way he tried to comfort and persuade himself that what he saw wasn’t real. That all he needed was just a quick nap to snap out of it.

And yet he couldn’t stop shacking, and it wasn’t because of the cold.

But he wouldn’t think about it, he tried to ignore it until, hopefully, he forgot all about it.

Before he knew it he already arrived at the apartment building. He took out his keys, which was kind of problematic because his hands wouldn’t stop shacking, and went inside.

He took the stairs upwards, opened the door to his flat, took of his overcoat and shoes and headed right into the bedroom, where he lay down on the bed, still fully dressed.

But sleep didn’t come for him so easily.

Every time he closed his eyes for a longer period of time, he would see the Creature. That cursed beast.

He rolled around in bed, pulled the blanket above his head and rolled some more.

It went like that for some time, until his tired mind finally managed to find some peace and quiet, and he managed to fall asleep.

.

..

…

He was running and yet not moving at all.

All around him was darkness.

He was running but every step was so small.

The heavens filled with alertness.

He was running away from danger.

Eyes filled with hunger searching for him.

He felt like the strangest stranger.

His body filled with dread to the brim.

He was running, running out of breath.

Tears streaming down his face.

He could feel it, reaching for his death.

He was losing the race.

He was all alone.

Never able to atone.

.

..

…

*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP*

He woke up, startled and out of breath. Steve looked around his room in confusion, not sure what was going on.

It took him a few moments to catch his bearing and remember what had happened today, and why he was sleeping.

Taking his phone, he first of all stopped the annoying alarm, and checked the time.

It was exactly 12:30 pm, which meant that he managed to sleep for at least one hour if not more he couldn’t remember when he actually fell asleep.

I slept more than I thought I would.

When he wanted to lay his phone down again, he realized that his hand was shacking and his shirt was completely trenched in sweat.

Looking at the bed he saw that he must have moved a lot around, because the whole bed was just messy.

Normally he was a calm sleeper, not moving around once he managed to fall asleep.

He tried to remember his dream, but he couldn’t remember it, not even one detail, which was normal for a dream. And yet for some odd reason that made him worry, so he tried to remember his dream.

But he couldn’t remember it. The more he tried to remember, the more he started to shake and fear started to build up.

His breath became ragged and his legs started to tremble.

He looked to his left, nothing just the bed and a table.

He looked to his right, nothing just the shelf with books and DVDs.

He looked up, nothing but the light.

He slowly turned around.

His heart started to beat faster with every inch he turned his head.

.

..

…

Nothing, there was nothing behind him.

“Haahhhhhhhh”

Letting out a sigh of relieve he went to his wardrobe and pick new clothes, because his old one was trenched in sweat.

He picked a white t-shirt, a dark blue hoodie with white stripes and new jeans.

Afterwards he headed to the bathroom and washed his face and dumb his dirty clothes laundry drum.

Finished with making himself look presentable, he headed in the kitchen grabbed an apple and made some coffee.

Some minutes later he finally was able to calm down far enough to start his preparation for the lecture that would start in about one hour.

He took out his folder, pencil and laptop and started to prepare, trying hard not to distract himself from his earlier encounter.

.

..

…

After about one and a half hours, and two more cups of coffee, later he barely managed to finish his preparations.

He had to rush a little bit, and didn’t understand half of what he did but that had to be enough for now. So, he packed his back, put on his shoes and green overcoat and left the flat.

Because he was in a hurry, he didn’t tidy up the bed, or do any housework at all really.

Keep yourself distracted; it wasn’t real.

Normally today would be his day to clean the flat because Jen had to work extra-long hours on Wednesdays, but today was one of these days where he was too busy to do any housework.

But he wasn’t too worried about it. It wasn’t the first time that he was too busy and he didn’t manage to clean up. Besides, she also more often than not forgets to clean the flat, they both got used to it at this point.

Sure, they would bicker about it a little bit, but after a few minutes they would just let it go and either clean up together or do it another day.

He sprinted down the stairs to the entrance, swung open the door and run towards the bus stop. The moment he arrived so did also the bus, he was just in the nick of time. Inside the bus he searched for a place to sit down and found one relatively quick. So, he sat down, put earphones in and looked outside the window. The bus ride wouldn’t take long, about 10 minutes, so he didn’t bother with taking out his notes and going over them again.

He never did that anyway, only when he has a test, and even than just maybe.

So, he sat down, relaxed and let his mind wander, trying hard not to think about what happened to him earlier, or his nightmare, or anything that would upset him, because he had enough of that for one day. Instead, he focused on his plans for after the lectures and the weekend. It cost him a lot to get a reservation in that restaurant, and it wasn’t just money. To get the reservation he had to go through hell and back. The people at that worked at the restaurant really hated to make it easy to make a reservation.

Don’t think about it.

He had to call at least five times, one time even using a fake name and another number just to see if they hated him. After that didn’t lead him anywhere, he went there in person, only to be told that he had to make a reservation either per call or via their website. So he went to their website, registered, and booked a table, only to be told that no table was available even though he just did in fact booked a free table. But somehow the system wouldn’t let him.

So, he called again, only to be told that, if in the unlikely case that he couldn’t book via their website, he had to come in person to make a reservation. At this point he was about to throw in the towel and just curser at the person on the other side of the line, he even had already the perfect insult for him, but he told himself that he isn’t doing it for himself, mostly not for himself, and managed to calm down.

You were just tired Steve.

He told the guy his situation, namely that his girlfriend had a terrible disease and wouldn’t live long and that he wanted to have a few last happy memories with her. He even started to cry, and that’s how he got the table.

It was one of his better performances and he was very proud of it.

From time-to-time Steve wasn’t sure if he didn’t miss his calling. Maybe he really should start to think about going into the show business, and who knows, maybe he could even become a famous movie star. But then again, he knew that he wasn’t really suited for that. He did manage to fool people with one of his little performances from time to time, but more often than not, he didn’t. He was just too bad an actor for that he mostly does it to either annoy people anyway. It was just one of many thought he had during the years. When he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life.

But now, now he was at a point in life where he still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life the only difference to back then was, now his uncertainness was paired with anxiousness about his future. And boy did they make a team.

That was also the reason why he had trouble sleeping.

That’s right, I wasn’t having a nightmare because of it, it was just the usually.

Every growing unknown called future, which came nearer every time he blinked.

The growing pile of responsibilities he got and all the planning he had to do for the future.

And if this wasn’t enough, he now had a partner to think about as well, which was a wonderful thing in and for itself, but that he had to account for her to in his plans.

It felt like with every second that he didn’t use to its fullest he was wasting time.

Nobody told him that growing up would be that stressful, and he hasn’t even started working yet.

Or paying taxes. He heard a lot about that, and he already knows that that I will not go well.

Maybe I really should just give me the bullet, or jump from a bridge. At least than I won’t have to worry about all this shit anymore. IT WAS NOT REAL. But before I jump, I have to learn how to make a back flip. So that I can yell “Do a flip” and jump. That would be funny.

Or I can just face reality and start for real to think about my future.

“Ahh” he let out a small sigh at that thought and that was it. He lost count of how many times the mere thought about the future left him depressed, but he was getting used to it.

Well, he had to get used to it, because with every day that passed, he had to think about his future more and more.

Ahh man. I miss the good ol days where I got home started the Xbox and played Halo with the boys. These were the times. Now that I think about it, more than ten years have passed since that time. Man, I am growing old. Next thing I know, my hair is already gone.

It was all just a dream, a gooddam daydream. Gotta keep distracting.

What a shit show it is to become an adult.

And I am only in my early twenties.

Fuck.

Before he could continue his train of thoughts, he had got his bus stop, and got out.

Now, with headphones in and a ruined mood, he walked straight to his destination, namely the university.

Or that was the plan, until he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything warm today. So he made a small pit stop at a kebab place and got himself a kebab box.

Now he could make his way to the lecture.

Maybe this will distract me and I stop thinking about it.