The Nightmare Realm

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]

Rivera wasn't exactly sure where she was. It looked like the Nightmare Realm, where she had been just a few days ago. Quickly she shut her eyes, whispering, "Oh please, God...no...don't let me be here..." She opened her eyes. She was still here, all right. But it didn't feel the same. She felt...safer, for some reason. Looking around, she absent-mindedly stuck her hands in her pockets.

And froze. Something was in one of her pockets. Something that shouldn't have been there. She slowly pulled it out. "What the...?"

It was a card of some sort. It was bigger than a normal playing card, and there were no numbers, no words, just some weird picture. She looked at it closely. It felt...familliar, somehow.

"That is our symbol. And the means in which you call me to you." A male voice resonated behind her, and Rivera quickluy spun around.

"Te-" She stumbled over his name, "Temuji!"

The purple-haired samurai nodded with a small smile. "Indeed."

She looked at him, confusion plain on her face. "I don't understand...why would I call you to me? Where are...we..?" She trailed off as suddenly it dawned on her. "We're connected to other people's nightmares, aren't we?"

Temuji nodded again, and slowly began to fade. "Yes. When the time comes, you will know what to do with the Tarrot card of Judgement. Now go. Someone needs you."

"Wait! What...do I do?" She called as he vanished, but to no avail. She sighed. "Now what the hell am I supposed to do?"

A very loud scream tore through the hallway, making Rivera nearly jump out of her skin. Instinctively, she wanted to run away from it, but her promise made her stay rooted to the spot. "I promised Temuji that I would help others who were stuck in here wrongfully like me. I promised him. I can't run away now!" She whispered to herself, her eyes tightly shut.

Glancing uncertainly behind her, wishing Temuji had told her more, she looked toward where the scream had come from. She began to run, knowing if she did anything less, her resolve would fail. "Don't worry, whoever you are. Help is coming. I don't know how, but I will help you." She whispered as she ran.

[To be continued in Saadiq's nightmare]