Hellamorgue

Chapter 13: Nightmare

A warm and cozy ambience embraced the insides of a house. A nice and sweet aroma danced in the air, it was produced by the scented candles lined across the shelves. They weren't bright nor colorful, but the alternate patterns of the colors velvet and beige made the set pleasing to look at. The firm and sturdy candles were inside of a glass that supports the wax. Under the relaxing quarters, a man comfortably laying on a sofa. His body was almost sinking beneath the cushion. The man was roughly in his physically twenties. His hair was messy and hued with greyish black, and a thick clumps of hair strands slightly covers his colorful eyes. Green unique patterns can be seen marked on the lad's face. The facial markings deeply resembled a Solacetian being's features, the same race as the town's leader, Sanders. A Solacetian soldier named Nero Surge. His fair skin was glowing in his olive green pajamas. A unique and peculiar pendant wrapped around his slender neck. It appears to be enchanted and luminous. He breathed calmly and relaxed. The man graciously stirred his cup of coffee. He gently lifted the cup and took a sip of the bitter brown drink. He smacked his mouth to taste the mixture of the beverage. He smiled a little. It seemed like it was a nostalgic moment for the dark haired man. His slender hand carefully placed the cup on the table in front of him. He rose from his peaceful lounge away from the sofa. He stretched his body a bit and made small noises. His feet walked gradually towards the kitchen and grabbed a pack of cheese breads from the basket. Nero goes back to the sofa and yanked himself. He loosen up the ribbon tied on the plastic. He twisted it to open the bag of bread, it made loud crackling sounds as he uncloses it. The cheesy smell of the tiny breads embraced the man's nose. His long and delicate fingers grabbed one bit of breads and ate it in one bite. Nero enjoyed munching on his cheesy food partnered up with bitter ground coffee. For a moment, his attention was caught by the noises outside his house. The man turned his head over his shoulder and faced the window behind him. Nero put down the sack of cheese bread on the table. He slowly crawled near the window and glided the soft curtains. His eyes wandered around and later locked on the people chatting across the street. They were fully dressed as if heading to an important event. Nero remembered the special occasion during that day. Of course, a loyal Solacetian soldier like him will never forget the foundation of their town after leaving his beloved planet by force. Nero is one of the Sandertown's great soldiers, as well as a guard and a servant of Sanders. At the moment, he was on his vacation. The man just recently came back to his beloved town. Nero arrived two days before the festival.

Back in the days before he made his way back to Sandertown, Nero spent his time alone in different places outside the magical barrier. He was all by himself travelling the wonders outside the town. And since, most of different creatures and races only exist inside the force field, Nero most likely met only humans all the way in his vacation. It's pretty rare for the Sandertown's residents to travel outside, and only a few or certain people can go out on their own with explicit consent from the leader. Since Nero is a soldier, he has his 'gate pass' to go through the barrier just like the other social workers that do their job outside and inside the town, such as trading goods, hoarding supplies and many more. Despite him being a non-human creature, the humans outside seemed to be fine with it. They communicated and socialized like every people normally do. Although, it was not guaranteed that all humans have accepted creatures outside the Earth. That's why the town's leader, Sanders, only allowed certain individuals to go outside the magical field who can protect themselves in the verge of danger.

Rather than a normal vacation, Nero's break has more personal issues tied with it. After requesting a break from his leader, he immediately left the town and isolated himself somewhere outside. He spent his four years of life in solitude with an underlying circumstances such as an internal conflict and lack of self-control. Nero kept it a secret to everyone he knows; his friends, comrades, acquaintances and peers, with an exception of the leader, Sanders, who exactly knows his bad situation. He tried to seek therapy from human professionals but his problem was rather more spiritually bound than mentally. Although, his therapies actually helped his deteriorating mental health to rebuild and stay on the positive side. Now that Nero has a big progress in recovery, he was ready to go back to his beloved town. Two days before the foundation day, Nero arrived with a confident and relaxed mind. Free from his worries and conflicts. Nero happily entered his home after years of being away. Everything was covered in webs and dusts, lucky enough he seen this happening before. It was the reason why his furnitures were covered with white sheets before leaving the house. It was pretty much a sign for him to clean up.

"Well... I guess welcome home for me." He mumbled and chuckled.

Nero entered his home and locked the door. He put aside his suitcase and other stuffs on the corner side of the living room. The man sighed and shrugged. Despite a dirty quarters greeted him from his vacation, Nero was happy to be at home again.

"Time to clean up this mess, maybe a good way to exercise myself." he quoted to himself.

The soldier grabbed cleaning materials and equipments. He began to dust off the furnitures and the ceiling. He spent almost all of his time cleaning the house. After a sweaty job, he rewarded himself with a nice bath and a good sleep.

On the present time, the Solacetian soldier fell asleep on his couch, peacefully. He was in his deep slumber, far from reality. His vision obscured. Nero found himself standing in an open yet blank field. Everything was pitch-black. The dark haired man roamed the place. It was endless, without any corners nor land itself. Nero felt he was floating around but was able to walk despite nothing to touch in the ground. The man heard hisses of an unknown creature or subject. It was getting loud as the time goes by. Nero's pair of green eyes searched for the noise, but it was no use. He cannot locate where the obnoxious sound came from. But each time, he felt that the noises becoming more clearer and nearer, clear enough to understand what the sound brings out. A chilling yet familiar voice entered the soldier's ear.

"What are you so afraid of?"

Nero flinched and recoiled back in fear. He covered his right ear where he heard the voice from. He darted his eyes on his surroundings but still no body around. He heard the chilling masculine voice once again on the other side of his ears.

"Why are you holding back?" the voice whispered.

The soldier flinched once again and covered both of his ears. He closed his eyes hard enough and clenched his teeth. His knees were bent but tries to stay sturdy and not fall down. Nero spoke beneath his breath, "Why? Why am I hearing him again?" he opened his eyes slightly to look around. Nero, then, looked at the peculiar pendant around his neck. It was still there but no glistening magic inside, making the pendant no different from a usual necklace. The soldier's eyes widened with fear. "Why...just why?! I thought everything was done and okay." he followed. He heard the mysterious man chuckled. A bone chilling laughter flows through the soldier's veins.

"Ahaha... How rude of you. I am asking you questions but you ended up denying my existence." the mysterious man spat.

"Just go away! I don't need you anymore! Stop bothering me!" the soldier yelled.

The unknown voice gasped and then growled. Nero heard the voice become furious but still managed to laugh out loud. His disturbing laugh ironically echoed inside the endless open field. The soldier's hands tightened to his ears as he tried to ignore the man's presence. For a moment, everything went silent. Not long, the ambience become more ominous. A foreboding cold covered the whole field. Nero felt his body freezing and sooner, the cold imprisoned his whole presence. The voice become solid and firm. It was no longer scattered around. The soldier felt the voice was approaching him.

"How dare you toss my existence like for nothing. How dare you ignore my voice with your deafening approach. How dare you shun away our deal just because you already got what you want!" the voice snarled.

Nero saw shadows approaching him. It was slowly forming a figure. A figure of a person. The soldier alerted his senses and kept an eye to the mist looking shadow.

"You are a selfish and a coward." the shadow hissed.

"Shut up!" Nero growled.

"You are pathetic." the shadow man followed.

"I said shut up! Shut up!" the soldier screamed, and shook his head.

"It's unfair, you are unfair." he grumbled.

The shadow unleashed an angry face in front of the soldier. It was a few inches away to the dark haired man's face. Nero's green eyes widened. A pair of blazing red scleras with white eyes suddenly jump scared the man. Convulsing black lips and a pair of sharp fangs, plastered on his gray skin, greeted the soldier. His spiky ash gray hair danced violently in the air.

"How dare you?!" the man with furious eyes screamed.

Nero was stupefied by the eardrum breaking shriek. He loses his balance and fell back. The soldier fell from the air and launched downwards to the void. He saw the man standing and floating on the top, he was glaring to him with hatred on his eyes. A small smirk formed with his black lips. Nero watched his vision become dark as he falls deeper in the endless field. He squirmed and tried to stop his falling, but it was useless. As he go deeper, he felt like he was slowly vanishing. He saw his arms disintegrate. Nero felt great fear. He was dying. The soldier tried his best to stop his falling but nothing happened. With little hope left, he screamed from the top of his lungs, hoping to break everything, but no voice came out. He screamed with nothing. The soldier closed his eyes hoping everything was just an awful dream, a nightmare rather. Not long, his body completely vanished. His vision went blurred and finally, the young man completely obliterated. His existence was erased from the universe.

Nero suddenly woke up from his slumber. He jerked and lurched forward. He gasped and catches his breath. He immediately looked for his pendant, which was still hanging on his neck. The pendant was still brighter than ever. It was just all a nightmare. Nero closed his eyes and panted so loud. He was covered with cold sweat and hyperventilating. The soldier tried to assure and compose himself. He controlled his breathing and blew in and out. After calming himself, he grabbed his cup of coffee from the table. It was already cold. Nero realized he fell asleep, maybe a little longer. He was stunned for a moment, breathing slowed and raising thoughts. He recalled his bad dream. The man he saw, was the man he feared all his life. Nero's eyebrows curled with worry. His lips were quivering. He twiddled his fingers. Multiple thoughts spread out inside his mind.

"What if he got out?"

"What if he finds his way back?"

"What if he took everything in control again?"

Nero closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, he's not coming out. As long as I have this pendant. I will be in control and everything will be okay." he mumbled, convincing himself.

"There's nothing to worry about, Nero. You overcome it after four years till now. It was just a bad dream." he spoke softly.

Nero arched his back. Eyes on the ceiling. He breathed in and out. The man raised his hands and tapped his cheeks multiple times, reassuring himself. He stood up in a jumping manner.

"Whew! Alright, Nero! Maybe you're just really tired after all the house cleaning few days ago. Let's do something else!"

Nero put his hand on his waist while the other on his chin. He stroked it while thinking of what he should do. He glanced at the cold coffee.

"I am not going to drink that coffee anymore.." he whispered.

Nero grabbed the cup and goes to the sink. He washed it thoroughly and placed inside the dish rack. Afterwards, he headed to the bathroom and gave himself a nice and warm bath.