Chapter 2

Fuck. I lit another cigarette. Of course, she didn’t have any family. If she did, she would be frying her brain with the bullshit normal kids did nowadays rather than trying to learn how to survive in the Dream.

The Nightmares left those happy kids alone, for most of the time at least. Fucking not fair, but it is what it is. Sending her home would be a death sentence, so… I stretched myself in the chair and looked at the screen.

I would let her stay on my sofa….for now. Purely for selfish reasons. I would feel really shitty if she died, which meant the Nightmares would come after me again. It was the last thing I wanted. I had been lucky so far, but…

Fuck, why did I need to get attached to people so easily… At least… I took a deep drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke. She wouldn’t leave me…. I took another drag. I could hear her walking toward my little room.

“What?”, I asked before she had a chance to knock or, worse, open it without asking.

“I made some food. Do you want?”

“No.”

“Are you sure….?”

I knew what she tried to do. How, since I had told her earlier that she could stay, she did everything to be nice. Fuck, I didn’t need this crap right now.

“Get me some beer.”

“You shouldn’t drink, Ame…”

I frowned.

“You shouldn’t be annoying.. “

“It is already night”, she said with a pang of fear.

Fuck, she was right. I had an aircon, so I never bothered to open the window or even lift the shutters, and I rarely had any idea what was going on outside… Fuck. The last thing I wanted was to be drunk when the Nightmares came, so maybe some food wasn’t a bad idea.. I got up and opened the door. For some random reason, she was still standing there, and I almost collided with her.

“Watch out”, I frowned and went to the living room.

She followed me. Fuck, if I wanted some annoying presence around, I would get myself a robo-dog. At least you could switch them off when they became too annoying. She sat down next to me. I couldn’t even blame her for it, with so much shit lying around, she didn’t have any other choice.

“I tried to find my dream stone. That’s why we went into the dream”, she said quietly.

Fuck, how should I respond to that? Tell her that it was stupid? She already knew that. She pulled the pendant from her pocket and held it in her open palms.

“I.. I wanted to be like her … I wanted to help people.”

I frowned. Was her sister even dumber than her? She should have known better if she was a mahou shoujo. A cold shiver ran down my spine. Fuck. I could feel the fear and despair creeping into the room. Fuck.

“Throw it away!”, I shouted and grabbed a cigarette from the ashtray.

She looked at me, her eyes full of fear.

“Throw it!”

Fuck. I could see the shadows dancing at the edges of my vision. I lit the cigarette and turned on the TV. Shit like that helped keeping them at bay. The stupid girl still sat on the sofa with her stupid stone in her hands, frozen in fear. I turned to her and slapped her in the face. She yelped and tried to cover her head, expecting another blow. I grabbed her arm.

“Don’t listen to them, you idiot!”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and I pulled her into my arms and whispered,

“Don’t listen to them, Hana.”

She shivered and pressed herself against me.

“It will be okay”, I said softly. “You are safe..”

I ruffled her hair and she looked at me.

“They…”

I nodded.

“Yes, they came for the stone.. Give it to them and they will leave…”

“No!”, she screamed and pushed me away.

I saw the shadows fill the room, and the Nightmare breaking through the veil as if it was made of glass. Sharp fragments cut her skin. She screamed and fell to her knees.

Do you regret Ame?, the Nightmare’s voice filled my mind.

“Go fuck yourself”, I screamed.

You are a failure, Ame, and because of this, she will die. It is your fault, it’s always been.

“No!”

I tried to dream, but my dream faded. The Nightmare hissed in my mind,

No? Shall I take you instead…?

“…”

If you wish…

“Leave her alone!”

I blinked. The stupid girl ran to stand in front of me, holding her pendant high in the air.

“Go away, I banish you!”

The Nightmare hissed.

You are weak…little one….always living in the shadow of your sister… She will not save you….she is gone.

“N.. no,” she whispered and stepped back.

“Don't..”, I shouted, but it was too late.

Dark tendrils shot from the shadow and grabbed her. She screamed.

Did you start to care about her, Ame?, the Nightmare whispered in my mind.

I looked down.

How pathetic, Ame. Naive as always. She didn’t care about you. You know it.

I heard her scream as the black tendrils pulled her into the void. Why should I care… Did anyone ever care about me…? They only cared about what I did for them. Never about me…

Tears filled my eyes.

Because you didn’t deserve it…you are a failure, Ame. You know it.

“Fuck off!”

I reached under my collar and tore off the pendant hanging around my neck, and raised it high in the air.

“Work, you piece of crap”, I growled.

Light filled the room, and my TV exploded. I didn’t care. I shot lightning at the Nightmare. It screamed, and I smiled and shot another one, forcing it back into the dream.

                                       —-----------------------------------------------------

She opened her eyes as I was checking on her injuries.

“Ame…”

“We need to go, kiddo.”

I pulled her to her feet. She winced with pain and looked at me.

“Ame, are you…”

I frowned. Her injuries weren't that serious, but it would suck to be her for a while.

“Find some clothes, take whatever you want, we are leaving”, I said sharply.

It made her move. I grabbed my bag and laptop. I didn’t care about the rest. If I needed to, I could buy what I needed again. My shitty job paid well…

She wandered in a daze through the rooms, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. The faster we left, the better. The Nightmares would be back sooner or later. I was lucky that the piece of crap had worked this time but…

“Where are we going…?”

I didn’t have time for a random chat right now. We left my flat and headed towards the bus stop.

“Ame…”

She pulled my sleeve.

“Not now.”

I dragged her into the bus and collapsed on the seat. She sat down next to me. Too close, but I let it be… for now. It was better for both of us if she held her shit together.

She shivered.

“Relax..we are safe here, okay?”

Crap. I could see that she didn’t believe it. I put my hand on hers.

“It’s okay, we are safe now. They don’t like crowds or moving objects.”

I hoped it was enough to calm her. It was true that they didn’t like it, but it didn’t mean that they never appeared on a bus or in the mall.

She squeezed my hand and gave me a small nod.

“Where are we going, Ame?”

Did she really need to use my name all the time?

“The train station.”