Snippet #2631707

There was a blue balloon floating straight in front of him.

The string wavered slightly in the breeze. He was in a field somewhere hot. The yellow grass moved softly to the beat of a distant drum.
It didn't make any sense, but he felt at ease here.
He reached forwards to grab the string, to feel something underneath his fingers.
However, just as he nearly touched it, the wind pulled it sharply out of his reach. He leaned in again to give it another go, but the same thing happened.
Frustrated he moved faster. He would grab it this time and never let it go.
But then he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
He immediately forgot the balloon.
As his back turned to find the source of the sound, the wind picked up the balloon and stole it forever from his reach.
The scenery shifted around him. This didn't feel normal...

Something was wrong. This wasn't real. He was dreaming this.

The dark haired guy lurched into a sitting position on his bed. His usually immaculate hair like a nest, his eyes dark. Surrounding the bed, roughly ten figures loomed over him. Their faces unreadable.
What were they up to? He looked from left to right in a comical matter.
He was too tired to ask.
Xabier swayed from side to side and collapsed back asleep. The doppelgängers fading from vision.

And he was falling down now, the sheets transformed into water engulfing him completely.
He was drowning in an ocean and he couldn't swim upwards again. But the sensation was soothing and distracting. What doppelgängers? What problem? He gave in to the pull of the waters and continued to sink down until there was no more water to hold him.
He fell out of the water back down onto his bed. Above his resting place was the ocean as if he had been turned upside down.
The closet in the corner of his room shook and rumbled. It begged him to open it, to reveal its contents. But then a hooded figure walked out of the shadows. It was dragging a body towards the bed as an offering. A fluffy, golden dog howled in the background. It was running in circles, yipping in fear. He looked down at the body and recognised its face. He covered his mouth trying to contain the vomit spewing out. The condition of the corpse was in such bad condition that he couldn't stop gagging.
The cloaked figure bowed at the foot of the bed.
We will bring you more. It promised. A warning.

"What do you want from me?" Xabier begged.

The figure just smirked and in a flash the room was filled with the bodies of all he held dear.

"I think you know what we want."
And then everything disappeared except him and the bed. He was finally alone.

Well almost.
There was someone climbing into bed with him. A stranger in the form of a lady. She smiled at him reassuringly.
He thought she was pretty so when she leaned in, he didn't pull away.
When he finally did, he noticed that his partner was now a more familiar face. Blue eyes (or were they green? He wasn't sure), stared into his soul. A surge of affection. He much preferred this situation to the one earlier on.
His lover whispered something in his ear. It was the same voice that he heard in the field.
"Do you love me?"
"Of course" He didn't even pause before replying.
His vision refocused and the face in front of him was now his own.

The Xabier in front of him leaned in and kissed him on the mouth.
"Liar." It whispered.
All at once his surroundings caught fire. He struggled to breathe as the flames lapped around him. Books were falling from the air, a library shelf hitting the floor with a loud thud. He was back in that library.
This bed was a funeral pyre, and all around stood cloaked figures watching him burn.
The faces in the cloaks, every tribute and guardian.
And as one by one they walked away, he felt a drop of water hit his cheek. It trailed down into his mouth and he could taste salt. Like the ocean or a tear drop. He didn't deserve it, the slight release.

He woke up with wet cheeks. The Spaniard had been crying in his sleep. The pent up tension of the past few weeks had taken its toll on his subconscious. And though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he was utterly exhausted. It was as if someone was drinking all of his energy and leaving him for dead.
He rubbed his jaw and blinked a few times.
He had been having stupid nightmares for a while now. But this one took the cake.
What was up with the closet, he thought, was it implying that something was hiding in his closet.
How very original.
On that train of thought, he was reminded about Harper. He was also having nightmares at the moment. Ones that were probably much worse than his.
He would go and see if he wanted to have a date today if he was up for it. They needed to do something positive with all this angst going on. He was very worried and it had gotten to the point where the majority of his thoughts were of him.

His room stank of not being aired for days. His curtains were almost permanently draped closed. The October Warrior had created a reputation of spending all of his spare time in a dark room.
If anyone asked what he was doing he would lie and say he was reading. The truth was too embarrassing. How could he explain that he spent only a few hours a day awake.

But today was different. Today he would pry himself awake and go into the local market. There were things he needed to buy and he was going to the temple afterwards. It had been Inke's anniversary a week ago and Mikuel and Jakome's birthday in two days time.
He wanted to do something to mark the occasions in his mind. To have a quiet moment for a reason not because he had no one to go to.
He tried to picture his siblings in his mind but only saw the twins as 14. By now they'd be his age when he arrived in Aires. The thought scared him.

With the thought of actually leaving his quarters, he opened up the drapes and the window to let some air in. From now on he would have to try harder to get rid of his self pity. There was no way he could do anything if he stayed like this. But he was so tired....

He listened to the sound of a songbird singing on the windowsill. For a plain looking creature, it could sing pretty well.

He heard a light knock at his door.

He opened the door and raised his eyebrows at the sight. The person was not who he was expecting.
"Ah Autumn. Good Morning." Don't say his mama never taught him any manners.
He took in her shivering appearance and furious expression.
"What can I do for you?" He was frowning now. She should wear a cloak or something if she was cold.

His thoughts were led back to his closet for some reason.