• She laid bloodied and broken on the ground, that nameless girl who I did not know well. She came to me through a dream on a warm September night, as I was curled into my fresh linen praying that I would sleep without a single thought trickling in my mind- I was wrong. This had come to be a reoccurring theme over the span of my short life, theses dreams, no, visions, of limb, immobile forms of the dearly departed- their lives on display- became a secretive pleasure for my mind’s eye. So vivid and so profound, that at times, I found myself, to be that cold void creature, crimson rain drops generously covering my body, staining it in its angered hue. Or, I’d find myself twirling, yes twirling, around a medieval ball room, catching the chance glances of the crowded on lookers; my trail sweeping marble and granite floors as bejeweled rainbows hung flaccidly from towering heavens. These dreams frightened and excited me, sending my body into an electrified state as the waning golds and blues of the day were covered in a black velvet blanket, sparkling with the rarest diamonds of all.
    Never once did I think to tell anyone of these dreams, no, these were mine and mine alone- mine to cherish, mine to hate, mine to feel, mine to hold. Even considering the thought made my heart clench and ache with something that I can only akin to the heartache of losing a lover. I kept every dream, every vision, and every story locked away in a secret place, a place no one would be able to discover them. Even if I had to taste the metallic warmth of red, or feel the string of salt mixing in, I would never let anyone take this from me. Thoughts such as these filled my core as I slowly trekked up the stairs, claiming with each step my dreams and at the same time barricading them from the world.
    Horrid, disturbing, aching, sad, joyful, beautiful- what emotions would my dreams invoke tonight? I had become so accustomed to them now that not even the glimpse of the dead could bring tears to my eyes. Only the inevitable tingling of my senses, as the images, emotions and feelings lapped at the recesses of my mind, could reach me now. I watched, through amber eyes, as mother night illuminated the sky signaling the start of another secret.
    It started with a fog, as thick as and as wide as a sword cutting through to the heavens. It was so vast that my eyes burned from its on slot; I waded through, my arms blades that carved me a path. Before me, in all its glory, stood the most beautiful, and frightening castle that had ever had filled my mind; molded and crafted out of black marble it held a creepy beauty. I edged closer and closer to the house, the fog growing denser the closer to the proximity I came. Steady and calm, I pressed open the door that protected its inner-workings. As I stepped inside my vision turned black, my eyes blinded by a light that did not shine. As one sense was disconnected the others were heighten to that of Superman. I was assaulted by deafening screams and cries of pain- cries of anguish so profound that my insides twisted and pulled with every whimper and every tear that I could hear falling on cherry-wood floors. Moments of silence elapsed as the black lights that once obstructed my sight began to glow faintly, gaining more and more light, until finally I could stare at my surroundings. All around me, all over me, was blood, so much that I felt my stomach clenching and unclenching with the tell-tell signs of throwing up. Lying in the pools were the shocked and frightened faces of 3 unsuspecting victims, all frozen in time by horror and disbelief. Calmly, I approached the bodies. Kneeling down to examine the crippled and deformed corpse of a young woman, my ears rung with a wild cry of war as I turned just in time to see the small, trembling form lung at me.
    Without hesitation, and with a certainty I didn’t think possible, I flipped out of the way, avoiding the steel blade that was meant to pierce me. I felt my face spread in a cold, emotionless smirk as I stood and walked gracefully toward the figure, like a predator to his prey.
    “You killed them, you killed them,” this little thing repeated and repeated as it backed away from me; face covered in shear terror. I only smirked as I pointed my hands to the boy, for the first time realizing the coldness that pulled me with its gravity. I aimed the gun, listening to his mantra; as soon, the only sound that could be heard was the ‘whoosh’ of the bullet and the ‘gosh’ of splitting flesh. Gasping, I felt the coolness of steel as it pierced me in the side- a last ditch effort by an avenging child.
    I awoke with a start as I felt something warm cascading down my figure; slowly, cautiously I reached my hand down and as I pulled my hand away, as I feared, it was covered in blood. The metallic smell filled my nostrils to the point of sickness as it all became clear to me- my dreams, my fantasies, these stories that I loved and cherished so much weren’t just manifestations of books, movies or my imagination but were actual events- events that I was causing. And even though these events frightened and scared me, what scared me the most that I…I… I enjoyed it.