Stop The Bad Dream

Fires were starting, car alarms were filling their ears drums, bodies fell to the ground as puddles of blood began to form. Janet, the blue eyed, red haired woman running down a blood covered street, wanted to close her eyes and pretend this wasn’t happening. She knew this wasn’t a nightmare.

Janet couldn’t stop even if she wanted to. Her expensive green dress was ripped, but that didn’t matter. Her high heels were long forgotten and her bare feet were scraped on the concrete. That didn’t matter. Her leg dripped blood from when one of those monsters scratched her. It hurt so badly that she didn’t want to run, but the pain didn’t matter either. The only thing that mattered was getting her son, Tommy to safety.

The short, thin boy with blonde hair and green eyes sat in his mother’s arms. Tommy wanted to cry, but he also wanted to be brave. He held on tight to his mom, wishing it would stop. He kept his eyes closed, thinking that the next time he opened them, he would be in the bed at the hotel. Tommy opened his eyes for a moment to see a tall man with bumps on his face grab a lady with his long tongue. He shut his eyes again, and let his ears tell him what was happening.

The only sounds he heard were screams of terror and hunger. The pounding of feet hit the concrete ground. Car alarms were stopped when the large monster picked them up and threw them. Fires crackled by his ears. His mother’s heavy breathing made him all the more scared.

Janet stopped for a moment to open and door. Tommy opened his eyes to see food covering the wooden floor, empty shelves, and a trail of blood that led to a pair of feet lying sticking out the floor

“Basement. Where’s the basement?” His mom murmured repeatedly. Tommy blinked quickly to force his tears away as she ran around the store, searching for a safe spot. Having not found a basement or attic, she gave up and she sat her son down gently in a corner. She locked all the doors and closed every window. Janet sat in the corner, holding him closely.

“Mommy, what’s –” Tommy started to say until his mother put a finger to his lips.

“Don’t talk, Tommy. Try to rest. I’ll wake you when someone comes to save us.” Tommy didn’t want to rest. He wanted to know why monsters from his nightmares were here. He would’ve asked her again, but he decided against it. She was close to crying, breathing heavily with her eyes closed. She was muttering soft words to no one.

Tommy had only seen her do this once before. When his dad left. His mom held him tight and prayed to a man she called ‘Lord’ that they everything would be ok. Tommy wondered if she was praying it would be ok as the screams from outside filled the air. Tommy closed his eyes, and prayed with her.

“Please,” He whispered to someone he knows nothing about. His parents never told him about praying. He knew nothing about God and had no clue what those buildings with crosses on them were. Tommy felt as if he was talking to a complete stranger. “Make the bad things stop. Let Dad be ok. Let Mom be ok. Stop the bad dream. Please.”

He didn’t open his eyes, but his ears told him the horror was still going on. Tommy rested his head against Janet’s side and fell into the world where dreams didn’t bother to show up.

Tommy didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but there was no screams coming from outside. The only noise he heard was his mother’s heavy breathing. He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing Tommy saw was the setting sun shine brightly through the window.

How long had he been asleep? His mother had been trying to get reservations at a restaurant for her, Tommy, and his dad. When they didn’t get the reservation, they left the hotel at noon and took thirty minutes to get to the dock where Tommy’s dad should’ve been waiting. Instead of his father waiting for them, there was crashed boat and people were eating one another. Janet screamed and ran to get Tommy to safety. Tommy felt like crying, thinking that his dad was on that boat. Tommy may be smart enough to tell time, but there was no possible way he could’ve figure out how long they ran.

Janet was wide away. She had sat there for hours, watching her son sleep, and waiting for the terrible things outside to stop. When Tommy woke up, they were safe, nothing had tried to break in, it was silent and only once did someone try to save them and Janet couldn’t take the chance of getting killed.

Janet sighed sadly as Tommy rubbed his eyes. What could she do right now? She already missed the chance to get help when an army truck drove by saying that helicopters were picking people up a few blocks away. Janet stood up, Tommy in her arms, and walked to the window. She smiled for only a second, before one of those huge monsters picked up the truck, and through it against another truck. Helicopters or not, Janet wasn’t getting out with that thing blocking her path.

So she said in the corner, Tommy still sleeping. Janet waited, hoping that maybe another truck will come by and get them out of here without the monster killing them. Or maybe a helicopter would land outside and have enough room for them. Sadly, no one tried to save them.

Janet had only one thing she could do. She had to leave and find some nearby help. She couldn’t take Tommy with her. If she did, they she might as well be shooting him in the head. But if she left him in here alone, it would be the same thing as drowning him in a bathtub. Maybe if she didn’t walk too far. Just a little bit down the street to see if anyone was there to help.

“Ok, Tommy,” Janet said making up her mind. She stood up carefully, adding little weight to the leg that one creature scratched. “I’m going to look for help. You just stay here and don’t move. If one of those monsters comes in, run. Don’t worry about me. Just run and try to get help, ok?” Tommy nodded and held his knees to his chest. His mother smiled and kissed his head carefully. “Good boy. I’ll be right back.”

Tommy sat in the dark corner, tears ready to fall. His mom had left. His dad never showed up. He somehow knew his mother wasn’t coming back.

He was proven right just moments after his mother left. His head was already resting on his knees, resting and trying to calm down. When he heard a woman screamed, his head shot up just in time to see blood splash against the window.

Tommy didn’t move. He couldn’t. Not after the only person who could watch over him was just killed. Half of him wanted to go outside and look for the thing that did that to her. The other half wanted to run away from the monster and look for someone to help him. He didn’t listen to either and just sat there, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

The door opened. The tears he had been holding in finally fell when he saw his mother’s green dress stained red and ripped to shreds. He looked away from her body and to the creature he assumed did that to her.

A man wearing a blue, blood covered hoodie crawled in, long black hair covering his eyes. He didn’t see Tommy at first. Tommy stayed still and tried not to breathe or sob. The man stiffed the air, his hair fell and didn’t cover his eyes for a moment before throwing his head back down, his hair falling back into place. Tommy knew he would never forget the two dark holes where his eyes should’ve been.

The man growled and crawled over to where Tommy sat. Tommy started to sob. His hands went up to his face and he cried more than he had ever had. He always refused to cry—his father said real men don’t cry—but now seemed like a good time as any to cry.

“Please mister! Please don’t hurt me!” He sobbed as the man walked closer. He didn’t want to look at the man. He didn’t want to see the terrifying look on the man’s face. But he couldn’t look away as the dark man’s sharp claws scratching the wooden floor, his blood stained teeth dripped liquid as he crawled closer to Tommy.