Forgotten nightmares

When she opened her eyes she almost screamed. There was snow whipping around her, a blizzard and yet she could still see. She was standing on an iceberg, ocean surrounding her. The waves bashed against it, melting it slowly as the water lapped at its frozen state.

She could see into the ocean water, various terrifying prehistoric creatures of impossible size swam all around her melting island as she looked around, already knowing this was another nightmare. She always had aware nightmares when she fell asleep after a mental breakdown. Only she wasn't the one in control. She never was.

She screamed as the jaws of some long snouted creature came shooting out of the water with a wave. Its body shape didn't allow it to be propelled like this without the violent thrashing of the waves. The sound of its jaws snapping blew her eardrum closest to the sound out, the wind from the action of the creature nearly knocking her over into the ocean.

It fell back down into the water, the resulting splash only helping melt the ice further. She wanted to leave, to wake up! To be safe! But within her own mind? There was no such thing as safe. Not for her. Not ever.

"YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION! LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH! PLEASE!" She screamed, the ice breaking off in chunks.

It was only then that she realized there was no moon, no sun, no stars, no sky, nothing! The thing providing light and allowing her to perhaps logically see was a large single eye. That soon morphed into a being she was familiar with in her waking hours as a character. And she hoped its all he really was here. A character, because lately she found herself doubting it.

"OLLEH KCASTAEM! GNIPEELS LLEW?! (HELLO MEATSACK! SLEEPING WELL?)"

"No! Change this! Please I'm going to fall! Pluh-hease B-Bill!" She sobbed.

"HO ER'UOY HCUS A YBAB! ENIF (OH YOU'RE SUCH A BABY! FINE)" He snapped his fingers and she was in a greyscale version of a forest somewhere.

Her brain automatically translated his words. She couldn't understand it, but something told her what he was saying as he said it. She always called things like that 'dream knowledge', it happened a lot. And it was rather helpful.

"OS UOY EKORB YLLATNEM TEY NIAGA I EES! SKNAHT! (SO YOU BROKE MENTALLY AGAIN I SEE! THANKS!)"

"Just....please I don't want you here I can't tell if you're real or not! Its driving me insane! Its destroying my mind! I thought before that I'd give anything to have dreams like this! With characters in them for more than two seconds! But then you actually came and turned everything into nightmares! You've made me afraid to go to sleep! At least when I can these!"

"LISTEN LITTLE BIRD! I'VE TOLD YA WHY YOU INTEREST ME! SO MENTALLY BROKEN, AND YET YOU FORCE YOURSELF TOGETHER ON THE DAILY! LYING TO YOURSELF! TO EVERYONE! CONVINCING EVERYONE YOU'RE NOT INSANE YET! BUT YOU ARE AND WE BOTH KNOW IT!"

"I'm not! I'm fine! I'm not insane! I can still function! I can still live! I can still go on! I still have will!"

"Are you sure about that Little birdy~?" He whispered the question, voice warping demonically, right behind her now, hands on her shoulders, and though he had no mouth they both knew he was smirking as she shuddered.

"Yes." She hissed, closing her eyes. "Yes, yes my life has been hard, its still hard, and yes I depend on the stories of universes like yours to escape from my own mind! My own toxic thoughts! But I can still live!"

"YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT US, OUR WORLDS AND UNIVERSES! WE GO AND YOU FALL APART! YOU ARE INSANE, TEETERING ON THE EDGE OF INSANITY AND ONLY WE KEEP YOU FROM FALLING! OUR GRIP IS LOOSE AND ALL IT TAKES...."

He paused and suddenly she was standing at the edge of a large cliff. He had a grip on the back of her shirt and she cried out, eyes widening at the sight of the shifting possible destination. One second it was the ocean, another it was lava, then space, then just a blank void, but then the scariest one of them all. Her own mind, she could hear her thoughts ringing out from below.

"Is one" His voice warped demonically again, he always made it warp when he whispered.

When her eyes shifted to try and look at him she whimpered in slight fear as his eye was opened, turning into a mouth, tongue snaking out and licking a tear from her cheek. When had she started crying again? Panic overtook the question as one of his four fingers left her shirt. She was too terrified to speak.

"Tiny little" He continued and another finger left her shirt.

"Push on the back" He shoved her hard but his loose grip kept her held there. "And slip of the wrist." And with that he let go, and she fell screaming into the destination he had chosen for her.

She woke up with a yell, looking around, trying to adjust to the darkness. She was a bit sweaty, chest heaving as relief washed over her. The relief would make her mind calm down, make her forget the dream, pushing it behind a wall that would break again when her mind did.

And as she collapsed back down on her bed, falling back asleep, exhausted, she hardly noticed the words in his voice running through her head.

"We'll meet again, but only in your forgotten nightmares."