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Jenna had been his best friend since grade school, but they could not be more different. Where he was tall and dark haired,
she was barely five foot tall with hair as red as a sunset. She kept it in a pony tail most of the time, but the naturally
curly hair always escaped to form a frizzy halo around her head. While Jason was normally calm and quiet, Jenna was full
of boundless energy and kept a steady stream of conversation going at all times. While he had deep blue eyes and long lashes,
she wore large glasses in a black frame that magnified her green eyes several sizes and made her look a bit like a bug. While
Jason could be described as reasonably handsome, the best she could be called was cute and pixyish.
Not that either of them dated much, but at least Jason did get offers now and then. He was dark and haunted, not bad
to look at and fencing kept him in shape. These qualities attracted a certain type of girl. But it was always the wrong
type. It was girls that liked the idea of him rather then the reality. They wanted to be seen with him so they could brag
later but not spend time with him otherwise. Either that or they wanted to change him, make him fit in, try and be popular.
But that was not what he wanted and there was no way he was going to change for the chance of a quick make out and grope session
under the bleachers after school.
"Hey Jason, I thought you weren't gonna make it. It's almost 7:10 and..."; Jenna's excited voice trailed off
as he drew near enough that she could make out his face. "The dream again?" She asked in a much quieter tone.
Jenna was the only one he had ever really explained his dream to. She was a self-proclaimed geek and loved the idea of
a strange and dangerous dream stalking her best friend. He had tried to tell his parents when he was young, just before his
dad disappeared, but they had written it off as a simple nightmare. Once his dad was gone Jason did not want to burden his
mom with his problems.
Jenna was staring at him expectantly, and he realized he was supposed to say something. "Umm yeah. But it was different
this time."
"Worse?" Jenna said with a trace of excitement tingeing the worried tone.
"Yeah a lot worse. It didn't end like it should. The thing actually got me. Well sort of, it's kind of hard to
explain." Jason managed to ignore his friend's excitement. She always read way too much into things.
Jenna did not reply immediately, which was a clue that he looked or sounded even worse then he thought. But he pressed
on. "It...spoke...to me. And it grabbed me. I tried to fight but it was no use. It hurled me into a wall and then
I woke up."
"Man that is bad. I mean it's never spoken before right? Or actually touched you?" Jenna put a hair curl
in her mouth and chewed on the end. She only did this when she was really nervous, or excited. Jason would not have bet
on which it was this time.
"No never. Up until last night it was always the exact same dream. It was always the tunnel, the staff, the creatures,
the cave, and the thing. And I always woke up just as soon as it started towards me. I have been having this dream for sixteen
years, why did it suddenly change now?" Jason heard the note of panic in his voice and felt vaguely ashamed at letting
a dream affect him so much.
"I dunno Jase. Maybe you finally went around the bend? I always expected it would happen. The angsty ones are
always the first ones to go Looney Tunes." Jenna was obviously trying to break the tension but Jason did not feel much
like joking.
"Oh ha-ha, Carrot Top. I'm being serious here." He stated indigently.
"Well you know I have always thought the dreams meant something important. Maybe this change means something has
happened. Maybe this evil creature has seeped into our world and you have to fight it with only your courage and daring before
the whole world is lost." Jenna's voice was growing more excited as she went out until she was practically shrieking
by the end.
"I think I would rather be crazy Jen. I mean c'mon this is the real world not one of your fantasy books. There
is no such thing as magic, dragons don't exist, and strange and powerful heroes don't get summoned to do battle by dire warnings
in the night. It's just a dream." Jason replied annoyed. He might love Jenna to death but he was starting to think
confiding in her had been a really bad idea.
"Then why do they affect you so much? I've had nightmares too, but they never carry on into the next day Jason."
Jenna replied with surprising seriousness.
Jason was saved from replying by the timely arrival of the bus. They were near the end of the route so there were never
two free seats together. Jenna went to go sit with her fellow net nerd, Chris, while Jason sat next to Karen, a girl that
could be trusted to keep quiet and not mention how bad he looked.
The school was just a short bus ride down the street, but even so he almost fell asleep on the way. It was like he was
really sleeping and just pretending to be awake. The morning passed as a blur. He vaguely recalled Home Room and standing
for the Pledge. He took notes in Trigonometry and Physics and even read a passage in English Lit. But by lunch he could
not really remember any of it. It was like he was sleepwalking and simply could not make himself wake up.
Jason tried to talk to Jenna about it at lunch. But she just kept getting excited and going on about the special dream
and its importance. Jason did not feel important, he felt disconnected and scared. He wondered vaguely if this is what losing
your mind felt like. If he would just keep drifting until he finally drifted so far he could not come back. That idea scared
him more then anything else.
He forced himself to stay awake and even focus in Chemistry, one of his personal favorite subjects. He even managed to
take notes in Computer Lit although he spent most of his time just playing around and making pictures. But he finally succumbed
to sleep in History, his final class of the day. Jason never found much use for History on the best day and today was definitely
not Jason's best day. He could feel his eyes slipping closed and he forced them open. But it was no use, they slipped closed
again and he was adrift in blackness.
The dream should have been the same. It had never been this close together but it should have at least started the same.
But it did not. Instead Jason found himself slumped against the wall as if the dream had never ended. The staff was still
glowing faintly near his right hand and he snatched it up quickly. It was the only weapon he had against the thing he could
feel curled up in the dark. That voice started again, crawling around in his head like maggots.
"You can not run from me little wizard. I have found you this time and I am not going to just let you go. Every
time you close your eyes I will be there. Every time you walk unprotected through the dark you will feel my presence. Not
even death will save you from ME!" It drew back to strike but Jason concentrated and the staff's glow strengthened.
"What are you?" Jason tried to not let his fear show but he knew his voice was quavering.
"I am the darkness beyond the void. I am the shadow that is cast by the light. I am power beyond anything your
paltry mind can understand. I am everything and nothing little mage. But most of all I am eternal. Everything comes to
me eventually." Jason suppressed a shiver. The voice made him feel unclean, but as long as the thing was talking it
was not attacking.
"And what do you want with me?" He said to try and buy a bit more time.
"You know the answer to that little wizard. I want you to die slowly and in incredible pain. And your paltry light
can no longer hold me back." The thing lunged, Jason thrust out the staff and there was an explosion of light and sound.
"Mr. Matthews! There is no sleeping in my class. You might not think History is exciting but I will not tolerate
this lack of respect!" Jason opened his eyes to see his History teacher Mrs. Sanderson smack her desk with a yard stick.
"You get an F for the day Mr. Matthews."
"Sorry Mrs. Sanderson." Jason replied to a chorus of snickers throughout the room. "I don't know what
happened. I promise it won't happen again."
The teacher snorted, "It had better not!" and returned to the front of the class to resume the lesson on the
French Civil War. Jason gave a sheepish grin to his staring class mates then went back to taking notes. Luckily, the class
was almost over and the bell rang just as he was beginning to nod off again.
Jason made excuses to his fencing coach saying he was feeling too sick to practice. Apparently he still looked really
bad as his coach sent him straight home to bed without any kind of fuss. Usually you have to show a missing limb to get the
coach to let you out of practice for the day, especially this close to a meet. Even so by the time he dragged himself out
to the lot, he had already missed the bus. He rarely bothered to ride it home so it would never wait on him. On a normal
day the quarter mile walk was a nice cool down after practice. But today it felt like an insurmountable distance. However,
it was not like he had a choice, his mom worked until late and none of his friends had cars yet.
He began the long trudge home, tripping over his feet periodically as his eyes closed of their own accord. It felt like
he had tiny weights attached to his eyelids and keeping them open was taxing every muscle in his body. He took every short
cut he knew of but he was still nearly stumbling from exhaustion by the time he made it to his back yard. As he started toward
the back door his sleep deprived mind noticed something subtly different. At first he could not identify it, but it seemed
to be something had changed about the sand box. Curiosity overcame the exhaustion for the moment and he made his way through
the backyard and forced his eyes to focus. And when he did he stumbled backwards tripping on his own feet and fell to the
ground.
It was the staff from the dream. It was standing straight up in his sister's old sandbox and it was real. And that is
when he realized he was no longer tired at all.
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