Eyes on Fire

Travis curled closer to Selene’s sleeping form beside him, wrapping his arms securely around her body. His eyes wandered about the dark room, chasing shadows across the walls. For the first time Travis, was afraid to go to sleep. He looked at Selene, her body rising and falling to the slow rhythm of sleep. She dreamt fearlessly, gave in to her subconscious without a doubt and fell into a tranquil abyss he would never know. He sighed, sending a shiver down Selene’s neck. He tried to dream with his eyes wide open and create a false world of sleep and dreams. His eyelids quivered, besieged with the weight of slumber. He fought against the growing fatigue to stay awake, to remain sound. He shook his head, trying to erase the haze collecting around his eyes trying to lull him to sleep. He pulled away from Selene, and walked into the bathroom. The cold tiles gnawing on his warm bare feet, he splashed cold water on his face and let the water droplets fall down his face. The water nipped at his skin as it fell on to his chest and swerved across his stomach to the floor.

He looked at himself in the mirror and stared into the ghoul before him, its face contorting into an exaggerated grin. Its teeth bloody and sharp, its body severed into various large pieces, hanging together, by fragile fragments of muscle and skin. Travis struggled for air at the sight of him, his muscles taut from fear paralyzing him in place. The ghoul neared him, opening its mouth and screeching a ghastly howl. The sound roared in his ears, ripping through ever fiber in his body as it passed through him like a wave of concrete, he staggered at the searing pain, falling to his knees, unable to keep his weight up. The ghoul crushed him beneath his heel, knocking the air completely out of his lungs once again. It climbed on top of him, leaning closer to his ear, and speaking in its demonic tongue. It turned his neck sharply towards the bed, pointing and digging its nails into his shoulder blade, where its hands clawed at muscle and skin and broke bone and tendons. It shook with laughter, as Travis screamed in agony. His eyes closed shut, trying to escape the dream, trying to somehow wake up from this hell.

Selene awoke to the bed shaking violently. She pulled away the damp sheets, and held on to Travis as he convulsed, his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

“TRAVIS!” she yelled, her hands grabbing hold of his face, “TRAVIS WAKE UP!”

She began to cry at the sight of him, his body bouncing off the bed, his legs kicking and wringing back and forth.

“Travis, please!” she cried, as her hands, now curled into fits, pounded on his chest to rouse him.

“Selene!”

Selene looked up, to find Jim running in. She pulled the sheets around her, and tried to calm down.

“Help him Jim. HELP HIM!”

“What’s happening to him?” Jim asked terrified at the sight of his best friend violently shaking and covered in cold sweat. As Jim neared Travis, Travis let out a blood curdling scream, and he began to thrash against the bed, his fist colliding with Selene’s moist face. Selene cowered inside the sheets, taking them with her as she retreated off the bed.

“Selene, what’s happening to Travis?” Jim asked as he tried to restrain Travis’s flailing arms, Jim’s eyes searched the darkness for her, and found himself alone holding on to Travis, as he continued to convulse.

“Move,” she whispered. Jim turned around to see her, holding a jug full of water. Her arms trembled as held the jug over her head and doused Travis, in cold water. She let it fall out of her hands and crash on to the wooden floor. Jim could hear her rapid breathing, her suppressed cry that threatened to escape with each intake of air and saw she her body shake within the confines of the sheet.

Selene watched on as Travis’s eyes sprung open and he sat up, his breathing heavy.

“Travis” she cried throwing herself into his arms, he held her, his eyes darting around the room.

“I-I am sorry Selene.” he sighed, pulling her up closer,

“Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck that was?” Jim asked his hands up on his
head, his eyes glossy, and his face pale and clammy.

Travis looked up at his friend, and sighed. “I am sorry you had to see that Jim…you see, I get night terrors. And that’s what they look like…”

“You wouldn’t wake up, Travis…you started shaking so violently,” Selene whispered, cuddling closer to his wet chest. He leaned his face against the crown of her head, listening to her sharp breathing. He had scared her, truly scared her. His mouth felt dry, his throat burned, and no words could be said. He didn’t know what to say. What could he say that he would stop? That he would never do it again? He lifted Selene’s face towards him, and noticed the blossoming bruise below her eye.

“Did I do that?” Travis asked his fingertips trembling as he traced around the bruise, Selene flinching at his touch.

“It’s not important,” Selene mumbled, her hand grabbing Travis’s and kissing it.

The three of them stayed there, in mid darkness, their thoughts scrambling to make sense of what they had just witnessed.

“Of course it’s important, Selene. I want to know if that was me who gave you that bruise.”

“It wasn’t you Travis,” she said softly, “I hit myself in the frenzy of trying to get a container
of water”. Selene looked at Jim as she lied, begging him silently not to tell him the truth.

“Are you sure?”

“Travis, I wouldn’t lie to you.” she whispered. “I think it’s best for us to go to bed,”

“Is he going to have another attack?”

Selene, smiled at Jim, a half hearted grin that was more for her than him, to believe.

“No, he won’t.”

“But-”

“It’ll be fine Jim, I promise.”

Selene watched as Jim nodded slowly and turned around to leave. She knew, just like them, he would not sleep. He would lie awake, his eyes glued to the blackness of the ceiling playing over and over Travis’s attack, memorizing each detail until he became their nightmare.

Selene, made her way to her pillow, and began to pull away the sheets wrapping her body.

“Were you still naked when Jim came in?” Travis asked curiously, as he watched her
unwrapped the sheet and lie beneath them.

“Yeah, I didn’t realize it, until I bit afterward…”

“He saw you naked Selene.”

“I know.”

“He knows what you look like.”

Selene, opened her eyes and looked over at Travis She smacked him playfully in the face.

“And?”

“You were suppose to be just mine.”

“But I am!” she protested, throwing her arms around him, her head resting on top of his
chest, “I am all yours Travis,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “But my dear god Travis,
you scared me. You scared me so much.” she continued burying her eyes behind her hands, the tears slowly falling into the curvature of her palms.

He pulled her up, cradling her. Dear god he wanted to reassure her. He wanted to comfort the whirlwind of her mind, settle her fleeting heart and tell her the tempest was over, but it wasn’t. It was just the beginning. And he knew if there was a way to overcome it, he’d have to start by looking within.