• When you break down the word nightmare you instantly think about the horrible dreams that you had experienced. It’s strange, how many people have similar nightmares with one or two minor changes. You don’t really think about others having a nightmare as you worry about yours. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have a nightmare where horrible things happen to other people. A nightmare can be so strong that it can even prevent you from falling back asleep. Most nightmares are fear or horror based but occasionally you have ones that are unexplainable that leave you uncomfortable and confused rather than scared. Doctors and scientist claim that these horrifying dreams are related to physical causes such as stress or illness. What if nightmares were created by someone? There is a world where these beings exist in a world full of torment and chaos. This world is hidden from our own and if entered wouldn’t make much sense to the human mind. If you were able to keep your sanity after being sent to this world the horrifying things you will witness will destroy you. The reason why not many people know about this world called the Abyss of Fear is because no human has returned from it in the past. These beings from the Abyss are called Knights and have the ability to access your mind while you sleep creating these nightmares. What if the Knights were able to find a way to enter our world? Our world would be burned to the ground and lost to chaos. If that time happens remember one thing, Knights need to feed on Human souls to survive. Are you ready to face your nightmares face to face?
     

    CHAPTER 1
    “Ouch, why would you even do that?”
    The pain on the back of my head was rather irritating. Gabriel was up to his old tricks again. He had come up from behind hitting me with a piece of old dry bread. The bread was from his lunch for a few weeks back that he had stuffed in the bottom of his bag. You would think from this first impression that he was a jerk but the truth was he was a great guy. Gabriel is my best friend and always has been ever since we were little. He had taken care of me making sure I stayed out of trouble all the way up through high school. I figured he would lie off of babysitting me when I became a senior but that wasn’t going to happen at all. I was a little shorter than normal guys at high school but only by an inch or two. My height issue was balanced out with my baby face which attracted a lot of the girls. Gabriel had always looked much older for his age which for some reason also pulled in a lot of attention from the girls. I think that he could probably get away with sitting at a bar and ordering a few things. You could imagine the image of the two of us we truly were eye candies for the girls at our school. Tell you the truth I don’t really know what I would do if I lost my Best friend.
    “Come on now don’t act like a wimp, Austin. It’s only a piece of bread.”
    “I thought you were sticking behind to go to practice.”
    “No actually I have a few things I wanted to check out down town today.” Gabriel said catching up. “Are you interested in going with me?”
    “Tell you the truth Gabriel I have a few things I have to take care of myself. My mom wants me to go to the corner store to grab a gallon of milk on the way home.”
    “Alright that’s not a problem. I’m not doing anything important. Maybe I’ll swing back by your house to say hello to you and your sister.”
    “Gabriel, how many times do I have to say that my sister doesn’t have any interest in you? She really thinks the two of us are way too immature. She tries to act like he is much older than both of us.”
    “That doesn’t mean anything. I think she’s secretly in love with me.”
    “I don’t believe that.” I said shaking my head. “What are you going to look at down town anyways? There’s nothing but mom and pop stores down there or tourist themed stores.”
    “Actually there is this strange store I wanted to look at. It’s full of random items found from around the world. There really is some interesting talk about the place. The city actually doesn’t really enjoy the store being opening here. The rich people want to drive the store out of business. They say the store makes the city look bad, that’s also why there are no comic shops, or tattoo parlors in the area. Any one of them that tried bringing their business here was run right on out in a few months.”
    “Well then you better check it out soon.”
    “I better get going, don’t forget the mild Austin.”
    “Thanks. Talk to you later.”
    After Gabriel took off I was on my way in the opposite direction of the parking lot. Like every morning I nearly show up tardy for school. Coming in late you end up parking in the back end of the parking lot. That end of the parking lot always seems as if it was about a mile away from the front door of the high school. One of these days I’m going to make it to school at a normal time that way I can get a god parking spot. It always seems that walking through the hallway that you never notice how heavy the books are. That is up until the moment you are home free and walking to your car or waiting for the buses to pull into the bus lanes. Coming up to my car the only bust wish I could replace this rusted out car with anything. I wanted some sort of sports car that way I would have some creditability when driving around. To be honest it would be nice to go down by the beach and run by the strip in a nice car. The time will come some day when that day will happen.
    Checking my backpack for the keys to the car I started to panic when I realized they weren’t in the normal place. I had always placed the keys on the outside pocket there was a clip on the inside but who uses that thing? I would normally have to dig around for them at the bottom of the pocket. This time they weren’t in there at all. Sitting in the driver’s seat I looked around to see if I could see my keys. Truth be told if you lose anything in my car don’t plan on ever finding them. There was so much trash and hiding places it was like a labyrinth. Doing the last pat on my legs to check my pockets I was relieved to know that I had left them in my pocket. It probably would have been smart to check there first being that every time this happens that’s where they are. Placing the keys into the ignition I started the car. The drive wasn’t that far from the school I lived off one of the main roads of the city. When I say main road it just means the road is busier than others and ran through the city much longer than the typical streets. Pulling into the driveway I shut the car off and reached over to the passenger seat grabbing up my bag.
    Walking into the door of the house I saw my sister, Lexis talking with one of her friends from school. The two of them were sitting on the bar stools in the kitchen snacking on food. She looked up at me with a smirk on her face. She pointed at the fridge as she stuffed something into her mouth.
    “Let me guess, you forgot to get the milk?”
    “Oh, no I forgot to stop at the corner store on the way home.”
    “Don’t worry about it dummy I got it because I knew you would forget.”
    “Well then why did you even ask me about it?”
    “I just wanted to bust your balls. Why isn’t Gabriel here with you?”
    “Why are you interrogating me?” I asked her glaring at her. “How can you and your friend be here relaxing already? Did you skip out on school again? You actually think that I’m stupid don’t you. You are luck I’m not an a** or else I would tell mom and dad. Also why does it matter where Gabriel is?”
    “I don’t really care. I just got to seeing him with you all the time. It must be hard to be without your boy friend.”
    “For that one I’m going to tell mom.”
    I turned away from the kitchen heading in the direction of the stairs. To head up to my bedroom. The sounds of the bar stool sliding across the wooden floor quickly echoed as Lexus chased after me. I was halfway up the stairs when she got to the edge of the stairs.
    “You know that was just a joke, Austin right?”
    “I don’t care. I’m still telling mom.”
    “God, you’re such a d**k!” Lexus screamed up. “Come on Kristy, we are leaving this place suddenly sucks.”
    The moment I entered my room I threw my bag in the corner. I don’t know why I bring the stupid thing in the house. It’s not like I ever do any homework anyways. I keep telling myself that it was my way of weight lifting. That was my way of covering up by not using my brain. Throwing myself onto the bed I closed my eyes for a moment. Now would be a perfect time to take a nap but there was no way that would happen with the sunlight piercing through my window. Who am I kidding as a guy I have the luxuries of falling asleep during broad daylight and sleeping for hours. There was no point counting sheep whatever that means. I threw my pillow over my face and that was it I was gone.

    Gabriel had parked his car back in the large parking lot right across the street from the water. He was right on the main street of the city where most of the mom and pop shops were located. Checking for cars he ran across the street heading away from the water in the direction of the store he wanted to see. There were a few parking spots right on the main street that was a pain to get in and out of. Only tourist would park at or people with the lack of common sense. Most of the other people would park in the same large parking area that Gabriel did. Coming up to the store he paused looking into the window. He looked back over his shoulder to see if there was anyone else around to see him enter. Pushing open the front door he entered the shop and slowly walked around. He picked up a few random items that caught his eye. Like he said the items were from all over the world. Most of the items were very strange. He wondered to himself who would actually by most of these things. There were a lot of cool things as well but most were very strange.
    He heard a sound coming from the back section of the shop and he looked up to see if he could spot the cashier. There was no one in sight, there was also no other customers in the store. He turned his attention to a strange book he found sitting on the shelf. The book was very dusty and appeared to be more of an antique. When he flipped open the cover of the book he found it strange that everything was hand written. There were pictures and notes throughout the book. He flipped the book over and saw the price of the book. He didn’t know why but the book was rather interesting. He looked around for the cashier and yet there still wasn’t anyone around. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out money and placed it on the counter. He flipped the book back open and started reading the first page. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something in the back of the store quickly move. He turned startled to see what it was. There was nothing there no signs of anyone either. Opening up his bag he placed the book inside of it and started walking back towards the other room in the store.
    “Hello is anyone there?” Gabriel asked.
    There was no response as he called out. He placed his back pack down on the ground as he smiled. There was this old war hammer sitting on a wooden stand. Gabriel picked the axe up and looked it over. He wouldn’t have any use for it at all but he wanted it. What guy doesn’t need a big battle axe? Well that’s what he thought anyways. He ran his finger along the blade to see how sharp it was and he twitched as the blade slightly cut his finger. He pulled his finger away quickly and looked at the cut and turned placing the battle axe back on the stand. A door small door that looked as if it went into a crawl space slammed shut right behind him and he turned to see what it was. Gabriel walked slowly towards the door placing his hand on the doorknob. It was warm to his surprise as if someone held their hand on it for a few minutes. Opening the door he bent down crawling inside.
    “Hello? Is anyone there?” Gabriel asked.
    When he was all the way inside the doorway the door slammed shut. The cashier walked into the room whipping his hands. Looking around his smile changed to a confused look. He thought he heard the sound of someone calling out to him but there wasn’t anyone there. He shrugged his shoulders figuring the customer had left the store. Sitting on the stole behind the cash register he placed the head phones in his ear and turned on the MP3 player.

    Sitting up from my bed drenched in sweat, I looked around the dark room in a panic. Even with all the lights off in the room I was able to see everything. I had a horrifying dream that something horrible had happened to Gabriel. I was lost searching in this large house checking every door I came up to. There was no way I could find him no matter how hard I tried. I could hear him crying out for me screaming for help. It seemed that the closer I got to his voice the harder it was to open the doors I checked. That was up until I got to this one door. The door was striped pink and white vertically and had blue painted doorknob. When I had stood in front of that door it seemed that it was now harder to move my body. I managed to reach out placing my hand on the doorknob and with all my strength I turned it pulling the door open. When the door was open I was surprised to see that there was no way to see inside the room it was black. I felt a chilling feeling as if ice cold fingers tapped up my spine. I felt uncomfortable as the feeling that someone or something was watching me from inside that dark room. With this uneasy feeling I couldn’t do anything at all. Squinting my eyes, I tried to look into the darkness for I thought I saw something moving. That normally would help you see into dark places but not this time. Arms launched out grabbing me up and pulling me closer towards the darkness. At the moment before I was pulled into the room I woke up.
    Climbing out of my bed I decided to head downstairs to the kitchen to grab something to drink. There was no way I would go right back to sleep after that nightmare. The wooden steps would squeak and squeal under the weight of your feet and it seemed this only happened at night time. It seems that no matter how slowly you walked it made no difference. I know everyone does this but it seems like it’s pointless. My opinion is this actually causes the sounds to increase. You would get less noise out of it if you road a quad down the stairs at full throttle. I didn’t bother to flick on any of the light switches after living in a house for years you sort of get to know where everything is. Not to mention I still had my cat like eyes, not really cat eyes but my eyes were adjusted to the darkness. I could see everything in the house. Of course that is if you minus the fine details.
    Walking into the kitchen I stubbed my toe on that one piece of trim that is only 1/8 of an inch taller than the two floors it separates. It happens every single time as if the trim actually grows to find my feet. Don’t wanting to ruin my ability to see in the dark I didn’t turn on the kitchen light at all. Placing one hand on the handle of the refrigerator and holding the other one ready, I pulled open the door. Reaching in with my eyes shut I placed my hand on the light switch so the light inside the refrigerator wouldn’t blind me. The little bulb inside that thing can remind you of a spot light in the face when you are opening the refrigerator up at night. Holding the button down I used my other hand to reach in for the gallon of milk. Thank goodness my sister bought it or else I would be stuck drinking water. That is the one thing she is going to be praised at from me. Other than that she is pretty much useless. As I lifted my head out of the refrigerator I thought I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. Looking up quickly I didn’t see any signs of movement. I figured it had to be some sort of shadow or maybe it was the cat. Shrugging my shoulders I shut the door to the refrigerator that way the light wouldn’t turn on.
    Pulling out a glass from the cabinet I began pouring the milk in it. I was debating whether or not I should grab something to snack on as well but figured that would be a bad idea. Wouldn’t want to have anymore nightmare plus I would want more food to eat and be up for another two hours. Drinking the large glass of milk down like it was a shot. I had the drink finished in about three seconds at the most. Wiping the milk left on my face from the brim of the glass I turned placing the glass in the sink. With the gallon of milk in my other hand, I was ready to do my jugging trick at the refrigerator. Opening the door, pushing the switch for the light and not drop the gallon of milk without going blind was a little challenge.
    Walking out of the kitchen in the opposite direction I had entered, I wanted to circle around passing through the living room. Standing in the living room I was debating whether or not I should turn on the television. Looking over at the television I noticed that it still had the glow to the screen. I thought this was strange, for it was off for a few hours now. Everyone was asleep and it was in the middle of the night. Squatting down to be level with the television screen, I looked it over placing my fingers on the screen to see if the static would buzz on my finger tips. It didn’t make the sound to my disappointment but I noticed it still had a glow to it. Was it a reflection from the light from outside or something? I placed my face inches from the screen to see if the glow would fade. I was so close that even in the dark I could see my reflection. Just above my head a large black shadow ran across the screen. It was caused from whatever was behind me. I quickly turned to look. There was nothing there. This time I knew there was no way that this was from the cat. It had to be Lexis messing with me. I smiled as I stood up turning completely away from the screen.
    “Lexis is that you?” I whispered out.
    I didn’t want to wake anyone else up if it was her. That way I could torture her a little for trying to scare me. Walking slowly towards the hallway where the stairs were a figure stepped out from the doorway leading into the kitchen. I smiled almost startled from it. I couldn’t make out who it was at all but judging by the shape it had to be Lexis. Walking towards her I slipped on something in the floor nearly slipping to my back. Bending to one knee to see what it was I whipped my finger in it lifting it up to look at. It was thicker than water. With the lights out I couldn’t tell what color it was only that it was a dark color. I pulled my hand up towards my mouth as I stuck out my tongue to taste it when I heard something dripping. The liquid was echoing on the wooden floor causing me to look up.
    “What are you doing Lexis?” I asked.
    There was no one standing in front of me. I figured that she had gone back into the kitchen or up stairs to leave me to clean this mess up. I stood back up and felt that cold chill from my dream creeping up my spine. I felt as if someone was standing behind me looking right at me. I turned to face Lexis, only it wasn’t her it was some girl. Her head was down and her hair was in her face.
    “Are you okay?”
    With no respond I went to reach out to touch her on her shoulder but I felt nervous. My fingers tips felt frozen as if I was holding them right over ice. I pulled my hand back slowly and noticed something strange. The liquid that was on the floor I almost slipped on was all over her hands. It ran up her arms to about where her elbows were. A car turning on the street behind our house caused the light from the headlights to light up the place. The liquid that was on this girl’s arms was crimson Red. Her skin was pale and her dark hair made it impossible to see her face. She started laughing, at what I had no idea. She looked up at me and I could see the crimson liquid running down her cheeks. The liquid was blood and it was coming out of where her eyes once sat. Her eyes were missing allowing the blood to flow. She smiled revealing razor sharp teeth that weren’t white but a silver color. She threw up her hands from her side and opened her mouth as she plunged at me. I stepped back as I panicked and slipped on the liquid on the floor behind me. I was falling down on my back and she was coming at me still jaws open ready to dig her teeth into my flesh. I couldn’t do anything about it, this was it. I was going to die.