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Sleepwalker


It all began when I was 9, but it could have been before that. Around that time I began sleepwalking.
Not just normal sleepwalking, no. Whenever I slept I walked in the parallel world of demons.

At first, I thought it was normal to make friends among the creatures. Until I told my mother. She said it was strange to walk at night talking to imaginary
things. Her eyes were full of worry. I stopped mentioning it after that.

It was never the same group of demons. It's either they had somewhere to go or lost interest in me.

Except for one.

A shadowy demon with the shape of horns atop its head. Red, soulless eyes. A long body, long nails, and a hole going through its chest.

It always stayed in the back of the room. Whenever I got close it disappeared.

Until one day, in January of my 12th year. The day I was curious enough and cautious enough to approach it. It didn't like me being near it, but it didn't
disappear either.

So I just sat there, and it sat there. We both just sat there. It continued that way until the morning was almost there.

I went to leave, so I wouldn't be caught out in the halls by my parents. That's when it grabbed my arm.

1) Struggle
2) Do Nothing

1. I struggled as hard as I could, but the demon would not let go. It didn't like my struggles at all.
2. I did nothing, knowing full well I could do nothing.

It opened its mouth and roared. I saw its hand come down, a searing pain, and everything went dark.

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I woke up an hour or so later, back in the normal plain. The pain near my eye was excruciating. I went to a hallway mirror and checked it out.

A slash mark, right through my eye. Although somehow, my eye had suffered no ill effects. Except for the discoloration.

I woke my parents up and told them about it. Of course, they freaked out. What normal person wouldn't? I told them I cut my eye on some glass. I made sure to
keep my eye closed, in case they wondered why it wasn't damaged.

They took me to a hospital.

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About a week later I was released to go about my business. There was no retina damage, of course, so they had no need to keep me longer. The redness and
discoloration was blamed on an infection. I suppose it might as well be.

I arrived home and went to my bed. I needed to have an answer. An answer as to why it struck me.

But when I awoke, I found nothing. No demons. Not even the watcher.
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More years went by. The demons eventually returned, but not the watcher. Whether he felt guilty or just bored, he disappeared. It's better that way.

Funny, how things change over time. The scars on my face attracted a lot of attention, but eventually they got used to it. The scars faded over time, but
would of course never disappear.

I enrolled into high school and began preparing for the rest of my life. My interests in writing grew, so I decided to be a writer. Goodness knows I had
stories to tell. The world of fiction could be my way of expressing these feelings.

Life was great for a while.

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I met Rena at a library. She was reading something called "The Earthquake in Our Sky". Quite an emotional book.
Anyway, I introduced myself and sat down a few seats away. She noticed, but didn't say anything.

I began research on my sleeping ability. There was very little information to be had.

Frustrated, I left within an hour.
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I kept at it, but there was simply nothing to be found. The closest I could get was alternate reality theories, but they were full of jargon I didn't understand.

One day, I was leaving the library when I heard a voice behind me.

"Do you want to get some doughnuts?"
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It turns out Rena had a couple coupons she won from a radio contest to Dippin' Donuts, but she had nobody to go with. So a random stranger was the way to go.


We talked for hours about nothing.
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The day the fire arrived was the day I wanted to die.
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A light, at the end of a tunnel. I can see why people called it that. The perfect metaphor.

1) Go towards it
2) Stay put

I went towards it. I was almost there when I saw something.
I stayed put, convinced it was some sort of trap. Until I noticed something off.

The wanderer was standing right next to the light, as if beckoning me to proceed. I stumbled back and ran.

The black space eventually gave way to strange shapes, shapes I can barely describe. It was like going insane.

I ran, and ran. Until the darkness overtook me and I knew no more.
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Therapy lasted over the course of two years. They told me not to think about it, but it was difficult. Every time I closed my eyes all I saw was that fire.

The only thing keeping me together was Rena. She was patient. Very patient.
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I graduated from high school, with all honors. Even during my depression, I still managed to pull it off.

Once I graduated, I needed to earn the money I needed for college. I know my aunt wouldn't pay for it. I didn't expect her to. So I got a job at a
local newspaper business.

They assigned me to the writing column. I was supposed to talk about the latest books, and how amazing and wonderful they were. Which was all lies. None of them had the stuff to be amazing. Some looked like they were written by 5th graders.

It was slow, meticulous work. It's much harder to lie then you would think, for you have to be convincing. But at least it paid.

This continued for 6 months. By then I almost had enough to get into a college. My dreams of being a writer were beginning to come true.

During this time, I was dating Rena. She was understanding about my situation, so she didn't fret about things like moving in. I'm glad. My life was
complicated enough without having to work on our relationship.

Life was good.
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One night, I was working late in the editor room. I had forgotten to review this silly book, 50 Blades of Grass, so I needed to stay after to finish that up.
Trust me when I say it was hard not to insult it. The writing was juvenille and the protaginist was weak. The worst traits to have.

That's when I heard a noise behind me. I turned around, but there was nothing. The entire building should be empty, except for me.

I finished the review and packed up to leave. Heard a noise again. Once again, I turned around. Again, nothing.

I put my jacket on and stepped into the hallway. That's when the noises behind me began in earnest. I turned a final time and saw the thing of my nightmares.

The wanderer, standing in the room I was just in. Smiling his creepy smile.

How could I see him when I wasn't asleep? I didn't know, and I didn't care at the moment.

1)Run
2)Approach it

1) I just ran. The noises continued as I ran down the stairs. I was almost on the second floor when I tripped on something.
2) I approached it. I must have scared it, for it howled and threw me back. I managed to hang onto the rail, but not for long.

I fell down the rest of the way.
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The fall left me in a coma. I could see quite clearly, for of course when I slept I was in the demon plane. But the coma was like being locked away in a
dungeon. Nobody could hear me scream when I was like this, and I of course couldn't sleepwalk with broken legs.

So I was forced to sit within a dream, waiting as the hours ticked by. I kept my eyes closed during this, for I knew the wanderer would be there. I couldn't
get rid of it, but I at least could pretend it didn't exist.

Sometimes I swear I could hear it saying words, in a faint whisper. Words of a foreign tongue I couldn't understand. I still can't.
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I woke up a couple days later. I bet it must have been funny, me flailing my arms about like a devil was out to get me. Which it was.

My aunt and Rena visited me in the hospital. I apoligized to them, told them I would be more careful next time. I couldn't discuss what actually happened to my aunt. The last thing I needed was to be locked in some mental asylum.

But I told Rena. At first, she didn't really believe me. But she saw my face and knew I wasn't kidding.

She took my hand, and simply said, "That really sucks."

To most people, that would sound stupid. But it was exactly what I needed to hear.

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It took about a month for my legs to heal up enough to be released in a wheelchair. During that time I still kept up with my book reviews, and even came up
with an idea for a story. A story about how a cat needs to rescue her owner. I decided to name it Cattie Clues. It sounds cheesy, but I needed to start
somewhere, right?

Once again, the wanderer disappeared. Why did it only show up to bother me?
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Months later, my legs were back to normal and I'd finally saved up enough money to go to college. It went by in a blur. Even if I tried, I can hardly recall
the years. So many good memories came from it.

The relationship with my demons grew worse, however. Ever since the first incident, I couldn't trust them anymore. So whenever I went to sleep, I just gave
them the cold shoulder. So they in turn ignored me. None of them ever grew hostile like the wanderer.

The time in college gave me time to think about this situation I was in. I could communicate with a parallel world, but so far it has caused me nothing but
problems. How could I use this to my advantage? The more I thought, the more fruitless it felt.

After I graduated I started working getting my books published. Cattie Clues still needed quite the few revisions. I wrestled with ideas for a while. What
could I create that people would buy?

From what I've seen, people really enjoy vampire novels. But I didn't want to do that. It just seemed like I was selling out for an easy buck.
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I finally moved in with Rena, which she seemed really happy about. She lived in a large house with plenty of rooms. Her parents played a lot wiyj the stock
market when they were young, and managed to invest in a company that became major and gave them millions. Microsoft.

I even had a room devoted to writing. It even had a few paintings in it, but none of them ever inspired me.

But when I moved in, it felt like I had major writing block. I couldn't come up with any good ideas. For some reason I could only work on Cattie Clues, a
book I've been working on for far too long.

Why could I only work on this one book? Why did I only understand this one universe, this one idea? It frustrated me to no end.
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I had become fed up with writing this one book for so long. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't just finish the darn thing. I continued to revise the
sections I've already revised a hundred times.

I couldn't take it anymore. That's the day when I saw the fire next to my desk, the one Rena had lit before she went to bed to keep me company.

1) Burn the book
2) Don't burn it

1) Enough was enough. I was going to burn this manuscript and finally be free from this madness. I picked up the copy I printed and chucked it into the fire.
It lit up a bright blue before crumbling away.
2) But no, I knew better then to just burn the manuscript. I had to eliminate all evidence of it from existence.

I turned to my computer and found the file. Delete. I went to my trash bin. Empty.
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Without that story hanging onto my thoughts like a leech, I felt as if I could think clearly again. It's as if the clouds had lifted, and I could make up the
stories I needed to make.
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The day before it happened, me and Rena decided to go to the local park. It was a beautiful day, with plenty of clouds in the sky to look at.

We spent the whole day there. Looking at the ducks, cloud watching, and just enjoying everything.

Seeing her smile.

It made me smile, for the first time in forever.

I'll never forget that day.
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The fire started at midnight. I awoke to smoke filling the air. Thinking quickly, I woke Rena up and opened the window. The house was only two stories, and
there were bushes below us.

A bit bruised, we watched as our house burned down.

And I saw the wanderer smiling in the midst.
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The next thing I knew, I was on the bridge. I don't even remember running there, but I guess I did.

I peered into the river below. The water was rushing by at an incredible pace. If I were to jump, I would probably freeze to death before I could get out.

Why did it do these things to me?

I didn't have any answers, but I knew it hated me. It wouldn't rest until I was dead.

So I decided to jump. I was just preparing to when I heard Rena's voice behind me.

"Kinre, what do you thing you're doing?" She said, fearfully.

"Ending this madness. I'm sick of dealing with this" I replied calmly. "The only way to deal with the demons haunting me is to do this."

I stepped onto the railing.

"You're not blaming yourself for the fire, are you?" She questioned

"Of course I am! You know all about those demons. I'm the reason they destroyed the house! It's just been escalating more and more." I said angrily "What's
next, killing someone? I can't allow that."

I took my coat off. I didn't want the chance of living through the cold.

"I didn't know you were such a coward" She replied quietly.

I turned sharply. I wasn't expecting such words from her.

"Instead of dealing with a problem, you run away! What good will that do?" She said.

She takes a few steps closer. She was in reach almost.

"Even if you did this, the demons would still exist. Killing yourself wouldn't solve a thing" She said.

One final step. She reached out her hand.

"Please, don't throw your life away just because the going is tough. We can get past this."

1)Take her hand
2)Jump

1) I hesitated for a moment. She was right. I knew in my heart this wouldn't be solved like this. So I took her hand.

But I slipped.

2) I knew, in my heart it would be solved if I did this. So I turned, and jumped.

I fell into the water. I had a brief moment of freezing cold before I felt a horrendous pain in the back of my head, and knew no more.

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"How is he?"

"He's stable, but he suffered brain damage from the fall. I'm afraid he might never wake up."

"According to his file, he had a history of sleepwalking. Odd thing was, when he was in a coma after breaking his legs 3 years ago, the doctor in charge
there scanned his brainwaves. He had the same as if he was awake."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"It certainly is. I checked his brainwaves just now to make sure. He's definetely asleep now."

"Strange."

"Yes, very."

"How's the other patient?"

"She...well, she's dead. She froze to death. We believe she dove in after him, and saved his life."

"...He must have been a lucky guy."

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I woke up in a very dark room.