Across the Bridge of Consciousness

The dim light provided little help for the young man as he searched for his glasses on the night stand. Finding them, he looked over at the digital clock on his night stand, the red lights that shone from the darkness reading 3:32 a.m. He tilted his head back and groaned irritably. Another sleepless night. Well, at least this was the longest he had slept in the while. Since the night terrors had started, he had really slept much. He blamed it on the coffee Alfred had given him.

Matthew leaned against the head board, staring blankly at the darkness the engulfed most of the room. There was no way he was going to go back to sleep. Nope. He slowly got off the bed, shuffling to the door of his bedroom. He slipped quietly into the hallway, not that he need to be quiet as he lived alone, but it was a bit of a habit to be quiet all the time.

He sat on the couch, a fuzzy red blanket wrapped tightly around him. He flipped through the television channels, but all he found was paid programming and late night TV shows that he really didn’t want to watch. He sighed, finally stopping on one channel and watched it for a while. He started to doze off, but would wake himself up, until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and fell asleep. He had an unpleasant rest, though, twisting and turning in his sleep uncomfortably, his body tense most of the night.

[][][]~[][][]

Matthew whimpered as he tried to pull his hoodie on quickly, only to get his head stuck in the sleeve hole. His cell phone was ringing, and that’s what was causing such a hurry in the young canadian. He managed to get his head in the right hole and his arm also. Wedging the phone between his cheek and shoulder, he fixed his glasses and slipped his other arm in the other sleeve.

“Hello....?” He asked into the phone, grabbing the phone in his fingers and walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, bro!” Alfred yelled into the phone, causing Matthew to pull it away from his ear. “I wanted to know if you wanted to come and play ball with me and the fellas?”
“Umm, well.....” He paused, opening the fridge and looking inside, “I actually have something to do today...” He muttered. A groan slipped through the speaker.
“Come on man, what’s more important than hanging out with your awesome brother?”
“Alfred....I’ll....” He sighed, closing the fridge. Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll play with you later.”
“Promise, dude?” Alfred asked, his voice s a bit softer than before.
“Promise.”

Lie. Lie. That was a lie. Just like the cake.

He said his good bye to his brother, shaking his head and slipping the phone into his hoodie pocket. Every time he talked to his brother he always ended up getting a headache. Stupid, obnoxiously loud American.
[][][]~[][][]

A grumpy sounding man answered the door, Matthew stepping back as the door opened.

“Alfred, I swear you knock one more bloody time I will- Oh, hello, Matthew....”

Arthur Kirkland opened the door the rest of the way, looking out at the canadian. Arthur was dressed nicely, like he usually was, and now the scowl that had been on his face before was replaced with a neutral expression, his green eyes glinting with a bit or curiosity.

“B-bonjour....” Matthew raised his hand, waving a bit before shoving it back in his hoodie pocket.

“What brings you here?” Arthur asked, moving aside to let Matthew in.

“Um, well...I have been having trouble sleeping lately...and I don’t think that any of those medicines would help me with night terrors so I came to you instead..” Matthew murmured, looking at Arthur. “If you want to help...”

“Well...I don’t see why not.....Night terrors are quiet terrible..” He stopped, looking at the ground as he thought. A moment later the brit motioned for the canadian to follow him, and so he did.

Arthur lead Matthew into a small room with various things spread around it. THere were books, viles and beakers filled with odd colored fluids, things that looked like spices, and in the middle of the room, a large pentagram painted on the floor. It had odd markings around it, along with a large book sitting in front of it.

Arthur walked across the circle, bending down and picked the book up,flipping through it. Finally, he let out a small gasp of triumph and looked at Matthew.

“Alright, well, step inside the middle of the star and stay still.”

Matthew hesitated, but quickly shuffled into the pentagram, closing his eyes as Arthur began to mutter something in another language. Well, actually, i didn’t really sound like a language, but a bunch of mumbling instead. A loud boom made Matthew’s ears ring, causing him to jump.

He opened his eyes, them widening. Arthur was staring at the book, one bushy eyebrow cocked at it, the man looking confused.

“Everything okay?” Matthew asked, checking to make sure he still had both arms and legs.

“Yes, Yes, everything is fine..” Arthur shut the book and tucked it under his arm, smiling.

Matthew quickly stepped out of the circle, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Well, thanks, Arthur....’ He managed a slight smile at the other man, then turned to leave quickly, brushing off the feeling something went wrong.

[][][]~[][][]