Recurring Nightmare Part 3

Author: bigsmile21
Title: Recurring Nightmare: Part 3
Date: 09 January 2020

Frustrated, Glen slammed his hand against the top of the alarm clock. He was so close, he thought. Maybe tonight he would finally be able to get out. He just had to think through what was the best way to set himself up for a quick escape. He remembered his phone and checked his emails. There was one waiting for him, sent about an hour after he went to sleep last night.

From: ZekeOliver24:
Thank you for reaching out. You don't know what it means to my sanity to know there's someone else going through this nightmare, too. My name is Zeke Oliver and I work as a graduate assistant at Bedivere University. You and I are only the first victims, I fear, of the horrible monster plaguing our dreams. Two weeks ago I discovered an interesting phrase while translating some ancient text for my professor. The transcription spoke of a forgotten monstrosity that feeds off the fear it can collect from captive warriors. I am by no means a warrior, but until we can slay the beast we will be stuck in an endless loop. And each week it will double its captives by randomly seeking out new dreamers to snare. If we don't stop it, by next week it will have four captives, then eight, then sixteen, and so on.

I've done as much research as I can. It's been difficult to stay focused during the day. Yesterday I fell asleep at my desk and daydreamed myself back into that dungeon. Judging by your username, you're on the other side of the world which means we may have difficulty communicating within the same day. I'm likely already asleep by the time you ready this. I've collected my finding below and hope they will help with our efforts:

1: Do not look the beast in its eyes. It can blind your vision during the rest of the dream.

2: You can interact with the dungeon to a limited degree if you focus on what you can see. You can pry things off walls and use your clothes to tie off doors.

3: The monster patrols the cells and will do what it can to keep you bound. It needs you alive in your dream to feed off you, and will rush to your cell when it hears noise. Side notes: I think the beast can hear my alarm clock, and I've found it harder to wake up each night.

4: Escaping into the daylight hurts the monster. I've managed to escape from the dungeon only once, earlier this week. When I did, my vision when white, I heard the monster scream, and I woke in real life. I thought I was free, but each proceeding night I've started my nightmare in the cell already bound hanging from the ceiling. I haven't been able to escape since, because now the monster has more time to bind me when I start my nightmare before leaving to patrol the dungeon. It's horrible. My hands are chained above my head, my ankles are chained together and weighted down by a large rock. My elbows are bound tightly with thick leather straps, as are my knees. And if I try to protest, then the monster rips my shirt off and uses it to gag and blindfold me.

Given what I know, our best bet to defeating this beast is for both of us to escape in the same night. Maybe if I'd managed to escape sooner, before it ensnared you, then that would have been enough. I think the magnified strain of all his captives escaping at once will be enough to defeat it. I only hope that you haven't succeeded in escaping on your own, because that means you're likely starting your nights pre-bound like I am. And this time next week we'd have to find, communicate, and coordinate with two other captives.

You will need to escape from your own predicament, find me, free me, and help both of us escape. This, I'm sorry, puts additional strain on you, because you will need to do all of this before either of us wake. Since your discovery of me, I've asked to shift my working hours to earlier in the day so I can go to sleep earlier and be closer to your timeframe. Be strong, and best of luck.

Glen read the email three more times before he got a call from his boss at work. Glen apologized for being late, rushed to get dressed, and headed out the door. Thursday moved at the same busy pace as Wednesday, and Glen found himself constantly drifting off in thought about the upcoming night. He managed to perk up in attentiveness anytime his boss was on the work floor. By the end of the day, Glen was wracked with anticipation.

Finally home, he sent a response email to Zeke confirming his own discoveries. He also said that he had not yet escaped, and would try getting to him as soon as he could. Glen wrote back which directions the monster took him every night to his cell, and asked that Zeke share the same. Hopefully by the proceeding night Glen would be able to trace his path through the dungeon to Zeke and also have a clear way out.

To himself, Glen was actually glad he'd set his alarm clock early. If he'd escaped, he'd be stuck in what seemed like an inescapable predicament each night, and from there it may be impossible to coordinate escapes across four or more different people, each potentially in a different part of the world. If they did not stop the monster soon, there may be no stopping it. Assuming Glen lasted that long. He could feel the drain of not having proper sleep start to wear him down. He had pulled all-nighters before, and each of these past nights he'd been getting some sleep, but it was if this beast was literally draining him of his energy. His boss had noticed, and it may be only a matter of time before Glen got into an accident with the machinery. Glen waited for a response, but by the time he was ready to sleep there hadn't been anything. He didn't really blame Zeke. The guy must be more exhausted than Glen was if he'd been going at this for a week longer.

In bed, laid his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. And he quickly found himself looking at the monster. He looked away and this time held up his hands. The monster paused, grabbed his hands, manacled them, and chained them. It still pushed Glen to the ground and dragged him, but this time it hadn't grabbed his throat. Glen took in as much detail as he could, and sure enough the monster followed the same route to his usual cell. Along the way, Glen made out at least a hundred empty cells, each one meant for some "warrior" the beast planned to drain.

In the cell, Glen loosed his shoestrings and then stood up quickly. He raised his hands and the monster again paused when it looked at him. It let out a low grumble, almost as if it was pleased, and then hoisted Glen to his usual hanging position. It turned, closed the cell door behind it, and moved down the corridor to the right. Glen quickly went to work on slipping off his boots. Once they were off, he hoisted himself up the chain and removed it from the hook. He looked down and around for some kind of bench to land on but decided his best bet was still to drop down. He landed softer than the night before, but the height still scared him. If he landed poorly, would he wake up with a broken ankle? He wasn't sure, but given how he woke with strained arms he considered being very careful with his "dream" body. No pun intended. Actually, taking a look at his body he wasn't that much different from his real body. What made him a "warrior", he didn't know. Maybe he had a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather who fought against this monster.

Glen approached the cell door and spit against the hinges to slicken them. He then removed his shirt and used it to wipe the spit into the hinges more. Satisfied, he slowly opened the cell down and it made a much less audible creaking sound. He wrapped his shirt around his right wrist and proceeded down the left corridor. He thought back to Zeke's notes and decided to take one of the unlit torches from the wall. At least now he had a weapon. He took several left and right turns, each new corridor looking the same as the last. More empty cells lined the corridors, potentially filling hundreds more captives and Glen had to will himself to stay focused on his mission.

He found two dead ends and each time quietly moved backward. On the second turnaround, he heard a gruff panting noise down the corridor to his left. He paused, slinking back against the wall. The monster moved along the corridor, not noticing Glen. He considered attacking the monster with the torch, gripping it tighter in his hands. Zeke's theory was only that: a theory. If Glen killed the monster now, it could be the end of their nightmares. As the monster continued to move away, Glen let the tension in his shoulders drop. He decided to trust Zeke, since the guy had done actual research into their plight and had been at this longer. Zeke was waiting on him, so Glen carefully moved up the corridor that the beast had just came from.

Not long after, Glen found a cell with a door left ajar. He ducked his head into it and saw Zeke, bound up as before. The monster must have gotten cocky, assuming Zeke wouldn't be able to escape. Had the door been left closed, Glen might have walked right past this cell. Zeke looked up and saw Glen. He hadn't been gagged or blindfolded tonight. Glen quietly shut the door behind him and moved towards Zeke.

"How do I get you down?" Glen asked in a whisper.

"Start with my feet," Zeke replied.

Glen unwrapped the leather belts from Zeke's knees and unwound the chains and stone from his ankles. He tried to move about as quickly and as quietly as possible. He occasionally stopped to listen for any noise from outside the cell. He looked up at Zeke given his distance from the walls there wouldn't be a way for Glen to get up the The hook. Then he had an idea.

"Climb up this," Glen said. He positioned the unlit torch beneath Zeke. Zeke was still wearing a pair of boots, identical to the ones Glen was wearing. Zeke positioned his boots to where he could stand on top of the torch, and Glen held the torch as still as possible. After a few moments of strain from both guys, Zeke lifted his chain from the hook above him. He wobbled a bit and then fell backwards. Glen dropped the torch and moved to catch Zeke. He managed to catch Zeke but the The torch clanged to the ground. Immediately, a loud roar echoed from deep within the dungeon.

"Run! Follow me." Zeke yelled, grabbing Glen's hand and moving toward the cell door. Glen left the torch and moved alongside Zeke who turned left as soon as they were out the cell door. "In case tonight doesn't work, it's right, left, left, right, right from my cell to the escape corridor."

"Dude", Glen said, "I won't remember that right now. Just send it to me in an email. But this almost has to work. We only have a few more nights before this spirals out of control."

The two followed Zeke's directions. After the second to last "right" needed, they turned to see two large red eyes staring at them from across the corridor.

"It's no use," Glen said, exhaustion and fear hitting him in larger waves with each breath. "We'll have to try again tomorrow night."

"No," Zeke said. "Trust me." And with that, Zeke began running straight at the monster, pulling Glen's wrist. Glen hesitated for a moment but ran behind his fellow captive. When they were almost right up to the monster, Zeke took a hard right turn and pulled Glen with him. The monster tumbled forward onto its face and many arms. Glen looked back over his shoulder and could see the monster shake its head and start to get up. He turned his head forward and saw the daylight. They were going to make it, he thought. The dungeon opening was getting larger and brighter. From behind them, Glen heard a metallic sound and the monster grunt but he didn't turn around to see. He felt something tangle his feet and before he knew it he had tripped and stumbled to the ground, chains wrapped around his boots. He'd fumbled Zeke's grip and watched as the other man continued running forward towards the light, turning back in confusion right at the last second as he passed through the exit.

A bright light filled the corridor and Glen had to cover his face. From behind him he heard the monster roar in pain, loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Glen turned and peaked through his eyelids to see that the chain around his boots were wrapped around several times, but not manacled shut by anything. He started fussing with the chain, trying to get either his boots off his feet or the chains off his boots.

After a few seconds, he gave up and just started pulling himself forward with his hands towards the daylight, which had started to dim. He felt a tug on the chains, then to his horror he felt his body being pulled back by the beast. Glen tried harder to pull himself forward but within a few seconds the beast had reeled him in. It lifted him up by his feet and snarled in his face. Glen saw two of the monster's arms lying on the ground, steaming at the shoulder joints.

"No...escape...Glen," The monster panted. It dropped him to the ground and began dragging him. As they turned the corner, Glen lost sight of the daylight. Back in his cell, the monster hoisted Glen but this time by his feet. It secured his chained feet to the ceiling hook. It then took the chain wrapping his manacled hands and tethered that to a hook in the wall behind him. Now Glen had his feet above his head, his arms stretched tightly above him, and was stuck facing the ground of the cell. He felt claws wrap around his jeans and soon his jeans were torn off. The monster torn his jeans into small strips and used one for a gag, one for a blindfold, and several layers to just wrap around his head. The monster mumbled something, but Glen could barely hear with all the extra padding around his head. The only distinct sound Glen heard was the familiar sound of the cell door slamming behind him. Then silence.

They were so close tonight. Glen had a lot to think about, and with nowhere to go, think was all he did. He had seen two of the monster's arms lying on the ground, and Zeke had mentioned he'd escaped before. Did that mean the monster had two more "lives"? If they escape two more times, either together or one of them twice, then the monster would be disarmed (pun intended this time), and even if the nightmares persistent then the monster would have no way of catching them. They'd always be able to escape as soon as their dreams, started, each time weakening the monster further. Glen had to share what he had seen with Zeke. If Zeke could confirm the monster had six arms when all this started, then maybe they were in luck.

Glen waited for the alarm. After a while he started to hear a faint ringing. Nothing loud enough to wake him, though. That's when he realized the wrappings around his head. They were muffling the alarm noise. He may not be able to wake up. He moved his head against his outstretched arms and tried to move them off his ears. No good, they were tied on tight. Glen bucked his body up and down and finally got enough wiggle room to move the wrappings from off one of his ears. The ringing came through more clearly, followed by the sound of the cell door slamming open. The monster must be back, making its way to secure his head wrappings. Glen frantically moved his head against his arms until finally he heard the alarm ringing in full. He opened his eyes in bed, again covered in a layer of sweat.