??:?? - The Nightmare Realm, Ishikawa Residence (?)
Rei was in a deep slumber but something in his system jolted him awake, like a short electric shock. He sat up quickly, breathing heavily and eyes wide open as if he had awoken from a nightmare. It took Rei a couple of minutes to calm himself down and get his heartbeat under control. He doesn't remember seeing or experiencing anything while he was sleep to cause such a rude awakening. After getting a grip of his constitutions, he slipped out of bed, feeling the need for a cold glass of water, however instead of coming upon the 2nd floor hallway of his house he was greeted by an unfamiliar corridor. The pathway seemed to stretch endlessly and the walls, floor, and ceiling had a checkered appearance like something out of a board game. Rei could also see several doors along the hallway but none of them looked familiar.
"W-What the?" he gasped before stumbling back to his bedroom, or at least this place's version of it. "What's going on here?"
He glanced back and forth between his room and the hallway. Everything in his own room was seemingly normal down to the scenery outside his window but everything past the doorway looked something out of a dream.
"Dream? Wait a minute. Could I be...?" he uttered, realization slowly coming over him.
"That is correct. You are in a dream, Rei." spoke a familiar voice from behind the young man. Rei turned around and saw Ioannes looking down at his fallen figure, courteously extending a hand and helping the shaken youth to his feet. "This is no ordinary dream though. You are no longer confined in your own subconscious." explained Ioannes, leading Rei out into the strange corridor.
"You mean, this is not just my dream anymore, right?"
"Precisely." confirmed Ioannes.
Rei's senses were suddenly stirred by the sound of screams and pleads emanating from one of the doors in the hallway. His heart started to race again and his natural reaction was to rush to the source of sound.
"Who was that? Is there someone else here?" gasped Rei.
"Yes." nodded the persona. "I am not sure but, this place seems to serve as a link to others who are going through the nightmares you survived." continued Ioannes.
"We need to help whoever is in there!" declared Rei, fear and tension filling his heart steadily as he remembered his own nightmares. Looking around for something to defend himself with, he spotted a long piece of piping that may have fallen off from the ceiling.
"I will be with you Rei. Just call upon my name and I will be at your side." spoke Ioannes before fading away.
After making sure that the piece of advice that his persona left was stored in his mind, Rei reached for the door where the screams were coming from, pulling it open and coming face to face with a wall of smoking pitch black darkness. The interior had no signs of dimensions whatsoever. There was no up or down, no near or far... just deep and unfathomable darkness. Taking a deep breath, Rei reared back before running into the dark void, barefoot and all.
[To be continued in Saadiq's Niightmare]