Again, it was the sudden fall.
And again, the same maze.
I was growing sick of this place. I hated it. The twisted distorted walls, the endless turns, the way the shadows seemed alive. Everything about it felt wrong. But at least this time, like the others, I wasn't alone. Having people beside me made it barely bearable.
"As per the new usual," I muttered, looking around. Sure enough, the rest of the group were with me.
"Hey, guys," Simon said, his voice uneasy. "Does anyone feel stranger than normal?"
"At this point, I have no idea," Leo replied, sounding just as unsettled.
"Same with me," Lia added.
Emily was still in a daze from dropping into the dreamscape. She didn't answer right away.
"I'm okay, Simon," "Maybe you're just imagining it."
"Um… yeah. Maybe."
"Anyway," Leo cut in, turning to me, "Nathan any idea on how we're gonna find the nightmares? Or are we just waiting for them to come after us again?"
"Nah, but we should try exploring the maze. Normally we're too busy running for our lives to notice anything about this place. Let's see what we've been missing."
So, we started walking.
And to our surprise, we noticed something.
The maze wasn't finished. The walls shifted as if they were still building themselves, twisting and growing as we moved. It felt like walking inside a living thing.
But to make matters worse, the nightmares hadn't shown up yet. And that silence, that absence, made everyone's anxiety spike.
Naturally, we all looked at Leo.
"Whaaat?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "I didn't tell anyone else! I don't know what's going on!"
And then we heard it.
That sound. That feeling.
The kind of regret that makes you scream: You just got yourself into this situation.
The five nightmares had found us.
But this time… they didn't rush forward.
"Here's your chance, Nathan," Leo said sarcastically. "Looks like they're just standing there waiting for you. Totally not suspicious."
I wanted to punch him. But what happened next wiped away every thought.
The nightmares began to multiply.
Each one split, smaller versions tearing out of their bodies like shadows peeling away.
An extra five appeared in front of us.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Emily whispered. Then louder, panic in her voice: "Are you serious right now?! They can spawn more of themselves?!"
Without another word, she grabbed Leo's arm. "We are not taking chances."
It became a unanimous decision.
Run.
We made our way through the maze, while the smaller nightmares chased us. Their movements were quicker, sharper like wild dogs that smelled blood.
"Great!" I shouted sarcastically as they closed in. "The mini-nightmares are chasing us now!"
"Not the time, Nathan!" Lia snapped back.
The bad news? We were being hunted by these smaller versions.
The good news? The larger ones weren't moving.
But then something changed.
I noticed Leo wasn't keeping pace. He'd stopped.
"Leo, what are you doing?!" Simon yelled.
Leo's chest risen. His voice cracked with fury. "I'm tired of running, Simon! How is it fair?! They appear in our dreams, in our minds, and we still lose? Screw that! What makes them so invincible?!"
"Leo, don't" I tried to warn him.
But he cut me off. "I'm either gonna do something or die trying. Because I refuse to let Ryan's death mean nothing!"
One of the nightmares lunged at him.
And Leo, dodged
How?
But it wasn't just a dodge. It was too fast, too, inhuman. His body moved quicker than any person had the right to. And before we could process what happened, he swung his arm. His fist connected with the nightmare, and the creature turned into ash-like dust, vanishing in the air.
We all froze.
He'd killed it.
For the longest time, we'd been too terrified to fight back, too convinced they couldn't be touched. But this proved it. The nightmares could be hurt. They could die.
We had a chance.
But before we could celebrate, the remaining four surged forward.
"Okay, Leo!" Emily shouted, half-panicked. "You killed one before so do it again! Please!"
Leo threw himself at another, trying to land a kick. But this time, he moved at normal speed. The nightmare struck him instead, knocking him to the ground.
"Oh my god Leo! Are you okay?!" Emily cried, grabbing him.
And then we saw it.
He wasn't bleeding. Not red, at least. From his wound, a strange blue-white light poured out, glowing faintly. And as it leaked, the nightmares seemed to feed on it. Their forms grew sharper, stronger.
Leo groaned, unable to move. The nightmare raised its arm to finish him.
"LEAVE US ALONE!!!" Emily screamed.
Her voice cracked through the maze. And then-
Fire.
Flames burst from her hands, a rush of heat blasting outward. The nightmares shrieked as the fire consumed them, burning them to cinders until nothing remained but smoke.
We all stared at her.
"Emily you can do that?" Simon said, his mouth hanging open, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, you can do that?!" Leo added, looking shocked despite his pain.
Emily looked at her own trembling hands, eyes wide with terror. "I-I guess so, but ow, ow, ow!" Her palms were scorched red, blistering from the fire she'd conjured.
"Emily," I said, panicked, "don't use that again until we figure out what's going on."
She laughed nervously, clutching her hands. "Hehe, not sure if I could do it again. Honestly."
We shared a laugh, small but real.
But of course, we weren't safe. Not yet.
At a distance, shadows shifted. The originals, the real nightmares were approaching.
"Can this all just STOP?!" Lia screamed, her voice echoing across the maze.
And then, it did.
A wall exploded into existence, massive and solid, cutting the nightmares off.
I didn't know whether to be happy or terrified. So, I did both.
"Lia you're amazing!" I said, my voice cracking. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
"Thanks, Nathan," she murmured, before her face went pale. "But is anyone else spinning, or is it just me?"
And then she fainted.
Our "dream team" now looked like a tragic mess.
One unconscious (Lia).
One bleeding blue light (Leo).
One with burned hands (Emily)
.And Simon and me, both running on fumes.
We were falling apart.
Still, I hoisted Lia onto my back, Simon helped Leo stumble forward, and Emily tried to ignore her pain. For what felt like hours, we dragged ourselves through the maze.
Finally, Lia stirred awake. "Urghhh…"
"Lia!" Simon shouted, relieved. "You're okay!"
"Yeah, I guess so." She looked weak, but alive. I set her down carefully.
"Thanks for saving us," I said. "Glad you're okay too. How'd you even do that? Leo chimed in "
"I should be asking you," she shot back, pointing at Leo. "You were moving faster than any human I've ever seen."
"Um, guys?" Emily whispered, holding her hands up. "I literally shot fire out of mine. Do we not see how messed up this is? My family died in a fire, and now I'm making it. This isn't okay. None of this is okay. Are we even still human? Are we even alive?"
No one could argue. She was right. Everything about this was too bizarre. Too unnatural.
But I still forced a grin. "Look, Emily. At least we're alive. Freak powers or not, I'd rather have them than die to some monsters. And you're not alone. We're all in this together."
Her breathing steadied. And slowly, a little hope returned.
"We just need to survive until the white room," Simon said, trying to sound optimistic. "Feels like it should be appearing soon."
"Yeah," Leo muttered weakly. "It… definitely does."
But Lia frowned. "Leo, you're still leaking whatever that is and Even if it's just a little, it hasn't stopped."
"Yeah," he admitted. "I feel kinda empty."
"That's not good," I said under my breath, panic creeping in. If the nightmares caught us again, we were finished.
And then finally the dreamscape answered.
The white room appeared.
"Yes! Finally!" Emily yelled, being the first to rush inside.
Simon and Lia guided Leo in. I was the last to enter.
And that's when I saw it.
Everyone had their guards up. Their eyes fixed on one corner of the white room.
"What's going on?" I asked until I saw him.
A figure. Someone I didn't recognize.
I didn't know what to make of it yet.
But one thing was certain.
We had a new stranger.