Stranger Nightmares- the Dark Nautraum

by Dixon Lee

  He walked around, feeling the walls for any kind of trapdoor or exit he could find but there were none. The space around him wasn’t necessarily cramped, but it was large either, maybe the size of a small fast food joint. What he wouldn’t do for a burger right now. His stomach grumbled at the thought, mouth even losing a few drops of saliva. However, that didn’t change his situation in the slightest. He was still stuck. How am I going to get myself out of this one?

  His mind was a swirling tornado laying waste to everything he remembered. The universe around him kept transforming, but his memories of each place faded away with time. He was fairly certain that he had just emerged from the literal pits of Hell and before that, some psychotic old man with a rake had tried to impale him, but anything further back then that was a blur. He escaped the fires of Hell by following the instructions provided to him by the Devil himself, telling him to remove a finger or burn for an eternity. What choice did he have but to do it? He wasn’t provided with any way to remove the limb by cutting it off so he had to resort to using his teeth. As soon as he had bit his pinky finger off, he blacked out before waking up in an old fashioned house. It soon became apparent that he was playing the role of a thief, robbing a kind old war veteran. This time his instructions were provided by the man himself.

  “Get out of my house now or you’re going to have to kill me,” he had bellowed from the top of his staircase.

  As much as Tony had desperately wanted to flee from the scene, he was pretty sure he had tried that before and he had been whisked back inside to continue the show from the beginning. No, his only option had been to either allow the man to take his life, or he would have to kill him. Maybe it made him an awful person, he wasn’t really sure, but he was terrified to die. He wasn’t even sure if he was still alive but if he was, he wanted to keep it that way. So, since he once again was left without a weapon, he was forced to take matters into his own hands.

  He had run up the stairs, careful to stay on the man’s blindside, and had stolen the gun which he had been carrying from his grasp. Once the gun was no longer in the old guy’s hands, it disappeared as though it had never been there in the first place. Tony had swung his arms around the man, trapping him in a chokehold, blocking the air from entering his lungs. While he was doing this, he told himself that none of this was real and the man wasn’t really dead, but he had a feeling he was wrong. After the deed was done he once again lost consciousness.

  Now, he was standing in a white box and so far nothing around him was attempting to murder him, but there had to be a catch. There was always a catch. He partially believed that the walls would come alive with knives for teeth and try to devour him or maybe the roof would cave in allowing daggers and swords to rain down upon him. Yet, nothing happened. After what felt like hours he began to believe that maybe this time he would be simply left to starve. But the game didn’t work like this, there had to be something that he was missing.

  Once again, he made his way around the room, looking for anything out of place. Nothing.

  “Come on!”

  His scream echoed off the walls, bouncing back and forth like a game of tennis. That’s when it hit something - a loud crash, much like the sound of glass breaking, sounded from behind him. He turned to face whatever had made the noise, finding nothing but a still blank wall. Upon walking closer, however, it began to morph before his eyes. Words carved their way into the glossy white surface by an invisible hand. He watched as they appeared, breath was stolen and heart beating fast in his chest. Can you escape before it’s too late? Or will you drown fighting your fate?

  The words sent shivers up his spine but did nothing to ease his confused mind. What water?

  As soon as the thought had crossed his mind he silently cursed himself out. Above him, the roof was gone and was replaced by a flood of water. It poured down, knocking him off his feet, and carrying him in its wet embrace. So this is what it meant. From what he could tell, his task was simply to stay afloat long enough to reach the top of the box and climb out. But that’s too easy. Where’s the risk? The catch was what was missing, just trying to stay above the water line was nothing. What am I not getting?

  In the water stream, he caught his eye on something shiny, almost metallic. He watched it crash into the growing pool with him, and it floated to the top. Oh my god. It was a chainsaw, somehow still running even though it had become soaked.

  He quickly turned his gaze back upward, just in time to watch a whole armory of weapons fall around him. Pretty soon, I’m going to have no room left. The thought of that terrified him, but so did the idea of his skull being split apart by a falling weapon. As much as he wished he could, he wasn't able to watch both the sky and the water for possible danger. He was completely surrounded with no hope of reaching the top alive. To add on to the growing sense of fear he was experiencing, the water was practically melted ice, freezing him to the bone.

  That was when he heard the writing sound once more. Of course, there’s always a way out. I just have to know what I have to do to achieve it. The scratching of the words being etched onto the wall was coming from the water beneath him, in the same place as it was before. The idea of diving into the crystal black waves was a dreaded one, but what choice did he have? He took a deep breath of air, and went under, hoping his lungs would have enough energy left to support him.

  Finding his way around would have been a lot more difficult had the noise not been there to guide his direction. In fact, he swam down to the floor in almost record timing, but now he had to wait for the carver to finish writing his message. It seemed to be taking forever, and he knew he didn’t have much more time before having to return to the surface. After a few seconds, he considered just going back up and then returning once he had renewed his air intake, but deep inside he knew that wasn’t an option. It was now or never. If he retreated before reading the instructions he would die at the top. So he waited until his eyes began to roll into the back of his head. That was when his invisible guardian decided that they were done, leaving Tony alone to decipher it on his own. Lucky for him, it was fairly straight forward. Take a blade to each wrist and then your forehead. Split each deeply so the blood can seep into the sea. Watch as it turns the oceans red, and then you will be set free.

  He took it all in as much as he could before using all of his remaining strength to push himself back up to the top. His head broke the water line just has a falling sword stabbed the water an inch away from his nose. That was close. He heaved the air into his lungs, savoring the way it tasted and felt. But, he wasn’t safe yet. Different objects continued to rain from the sky, and it was already almost impossible to navigate his way through them all without accidentally splitting himself open, allowing his guts to spill out.

  After much trying, he managed to find a small enough knife that would work to draw blood, but not so much that it went too deep. He trod the water, suspended in time, holding the blade to his left wrist. Carefully, he pressed down, making sure it was far enough in and slid it across the bare skin. It burned as it was split open, revealing the veins and bones beneath. He tried not to focus too much on it, instead of turning to his right wrist. He repeated the same steps he had done before, but this time pressing harder. Blood squirted out of the cut, spraying his face and the surrounding water. He desperately wanted his punishment to be over, but he still had one more thing left to do.

  With a shaky hand, he held the knife up to his forehead, gently laying on one side, ready to slice it open. Why… please don’t make me do this… Like with every time before, he found himself begging for mercy, knowing that known would come. This was his sentence for a crime he wasn’t even aware of.

  Another chainsaw dropped down from the roof above, almost splitting him open in the process. Now or never… Hesitantly, he pushed down on the blade and dragged it along his head. As soon as he did, the water around his rapidly rose, swallowing him whole. No… I did it! No!

  Unconsciousness had already begun its proc
ess of overtaking his body, and he knew that when he awoke it would be someplace completely different. This new place would come with immense pain, either for himself or for somebody else, but he didn’t care. He begged for the darkness so that he could escape the hurt that would fade away. This time, he was granted his wish and the world went black.

  Chapter 6

  Stephanie Clifford

  She punched the gas down hard as soon as she entered her yellow convertible which had been abandoned in the hospital parking lot. What the hell had just cut his face? Was the only thing on her mind, which was currently racing as she fought to figure it all out. That doesn’t just happen, but I was the only one in the room. So who did it? Her thoughts were flying as she tried to connect the dots. What if this is related to what happened to him last night? Yes, that made sense, at least to her. It was far more probable than her punching a hole into his chest, after all. So, then someone else - something else did that to him? But who? That was the million-dollar question, who? Who would stab a sleeping man while he’s laying in bed with his girlfriend? In fact, who could commit such a crime with invisible hands? Nevermind the reasoning, she was interested in the how. How is any of this possible?

  She turned her car onto Main Street and that was when she saw it. The sight brought back a flood of memories so powerful, she lost focus and served into the other lane. The driver next to her honked his horn wildly, waking her up just in time for her to avoid the collision. She spun out of the lane, braking across the street from what startled her. The antique shop! Of course! Everything came back to her at once, drowning her. The lady from yesterday, wasn’t Lillian her name? Yes, it was Lillian. Hadn’t she said something about that thing Tony had touched, the vase? She said that if he touched it, his dreams would become nightmares and any harm they do to him in his imagination would also happen in the real world. Oh my god, he’s in a coma!

  The breakthrough was unexpected, but the truth of the matter was far worse. Tony was stuck in a coma with a curse that was trying to murder him. It explained how the cuts just appeared and why he had acted so strangely when he had first seen his chest. He knew what was going on.

  It stung that he didn’t trust her enough to tell her the truth but it was understandable, she wouldn’t have believed him. Just like every cliche movie ever, she would have shrugged him off as being delusional while he was fighting for his life, and just like every cliche movie ever one of the two would die a tragic death. He had somehow seen how everything would end up and had just skipped the basics all together, deciding to face it himself. That wasn’t working out so well for him now, was it? I’m his only hope to survive this.

  The thought filled her with more pride then she would have liked to admit. She loved him, but this was also an opportunity for her to prove herself to him and be the hero at the end of the movie that everyone loved. But where to begin? That creep, Lillian, seemed to know an awful lot about this, maybe starting with her would be the best course of action. After all, she and Tony were supposed to meet here at around noon and it’s almost eleven now, so that would give me some time to create a plan.

  So then it was settled, she would wait indoors and take a look around until Lillian appeared. She tried not to think too much about the rage she felt towards the older woman, specifically when it had to do with her flirting with Tony. She knew that if he wasn’t in a coma, most likely the two would have met up and banged in some dirty bathroom somewhere, but she knew she had to let it go. She walked over and entered the tiny shop, at first wondering if she was making the right decision. The shop keeper was nowhere to be found, in fact, she couldn’t remember whether or not she had ever seen the owner after Lillian had made her entrance. Weird, but probably nothing. The sign on the door had still said open and it was unlocked, so the keeper was probably stocking in the back.

  Stephanie made her way around the shop, quickly growing bored with impatience. Where was she, it’s almost noon! She decided that the best to make the time go by faster while she waited, was by browsing through the wide selection of objects and trinkets for sale.

  There were a few pretty necklaces and dishes that she found to be exquisite, and the longer she searched, the more she found.

  She was digging into the back of one of the shelves, looking for the twin to a matching pair of rose-colored cups, when she accidentally knocked something next to her arm off of the shelf. She quickly reached down to pick up whatever had fallen and realized it was a book. Its cover was a drawing of a weird-looking creature, covered in what appeared to be fatty bare flesh. Around it was a small army of people, carrying pitchforks and torched. The title of the novel appeared to be, The Dark Nautraum And How To Kill It. Stephanie found this title to be almost humorous, that was until she opened it and began reading its contents. She had opened to a random page but quickly flipped back to the front and began to read.

  The Dark Nautraum And How To Kill It

  In The Beginning

  I have tried for many moons to describe in words the horrors that my birthplace has faced, but alas this has proven to be near an impossible task. Yet, I am left to conquer it alone, as the sole survivor of an entire town.

  This tale began thousands of years ago, at the creation of Life and Death. In the legends, it states that Death was jealous of the admiration and love that Life received, so he decided to take his revenge on her in the worst way he knew how. He conceived a child, born from his breasts, which he gifted to Life. She was horrified, yet it attached itself to her like the plague. This mutations’ only job was to devour those who Life held precious while she watched as Death stole them away as his own.

  While this had been long rejected as a myth, it is the only explanation for what we all just went through and what it had done to us. It is not human or of this world, but instead a dark force from Hell itself.

  She stopped reading there, and skimmed over the next few pages, flipping to a new location.

  It eats human flesh, but it doesn’t just simply digest them. It steals there bodies, memories, and looks, wearing them as its own. From our studies, we have learned that this creature can go a total of two weeks without food, before having to eat again. In most cases, it has been seen only in its human form, or rather whoever it had eaten last. However, just because it’s not hungry, doesn’t prevent it from killing.

  While it eats, however, is the only time it’s in its natural form. I have only seen this once, but it will forever be an image my brain remembers. This thing has pink fleshy skin, short hairs and naked. Its eyes are like two pits, empty and endless. Its teeth are rows of razor blades, with endless pairs of them, going all the way back into its throat. Some say it has no legs or arms and is similar to a giant slug. I have seen otherwise, so my best guess is that it has control over its limbs, growing them at ease.

  It’s fast and agile, so much so that if not completely focused on it, you could miss it altogether. When it captures you, it’ll toy with you, sometimes going as far as to torture and rip you into shreds before consumption. I have seen this happen, and if you unlucky enough to fall victim to it, it will make sure you have been milked of all your blood before you’re allowed to die. I was forced to sit by and watch as everyone I had grown to know died around me, screaming until their last breath. But, this isn’t all. Like I previously mentioned, this thing is not from this earth or any earth I could possibly imagine.

  This creature has abilities, not just abilities but powers. The first of which is being able to beguile others to its wishes. It will draw them in with looks or sounds that only its desired victim will find attractive. This is one of the ways in which it takes your life, by making you crave it.

  The second ability which we’ve found it to have is that it’s telepathic, meaning that if it marks you, it will invade your dreams making them come alive to kill you. When you’re asleep it has full reign over your body, making it attack itself until you die from wounds caused by unseen forces. From there it is believed that it devours your mind
and leaves your body to turn to dust, but this is still unproven. However, after having watched my entire family having been cut to death or mutilated while sleeping, I beg of you to take this threat especially seriously.

  Furthermore, it is quite cunning often blaming dreams on objects or people around the victim.

  If you’re still reading this, then you’re probably wondering how did we stop such a beast? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, we never did. Hundreds died trying, but human weapons cannot hurt it. In this way, it is immortal. However, after devoting my life to studying it and its origins I believe that I may have found a way to kill it, but it requires great sacrifice. Since it develops the traits of whoever its host is, I believe that if it consumes someone with a dire illness, it will gain it as well. Since its body is constantly changing, this should force the disease to grow at an accelerated rate, eventually ending the creature's life. This is the only possible way that I have discovered to end such a demon and release any that is currently stuck in its grasp. Unfortunately, this method has yet to be proven true, and the only way to be sure is to attempt it. That is the only way to stop this cursed monster from taking more lives. I saved myself while everyone I knew died so that this book could be written for someone else to step up and do the job that I could not. So, I beg of you to end it, before more lives are lost...

  She slammed the book closed, dropping it on the floor. Her heart was racing in her chest as her mind once again began to turn. She desperately didn’t want to believe that any of what she had just read was real, but she knew all too well that it was. After all, it explained everything. That creature, it’s in Tony’s head, but how? This started last night and I was with him the whole day before and the only odd thing was the vase. Maybe it had been hiding inside of it, and Lillian had tried to warn him what would happen if he touched it but he didn’t listen, and now it’s loose.