Midnight chains thick as skyscrapers filled an endless void. The sound of metal straining and snapping echoed through the expanse like distant thunder. A small humanoid figure floated aimlessly in the darkness.
"So... I'm here again."
Zion sighed as his voice was swallowed by the void.
"I thought lucid dreams were meant to be cool, but I've been having this dream for a month, and nothing ever happens."
As the complaint left his lips, the chains groaned and snapped once more
Louder this time.
Closer.
Zion flinched as the sound tore through the endless expanse and turned toward the sound.
He froze. He was looking at his shadow. But something was off.
The shadow had his height, but it had pin straight hair that grew down to its hands and two glowing white eyes where its face should be.
"Weird."
But as Zion spoke, the shadow spoke with him.
His breath was caught. Whatever it was, it wasn't his shadow.
He tried to run, but his body was frozen. When he tried to scream, the words were caught in his throat.
He could feel his heartbeat quicken. Everything in him screamed at him to run, but he couldn't move.
The shadow outstretched its hand and placed it against his chest. As the hand touched him, overwhelming calm washed over him.
It was an uncomfortable calmness. However, it didn't feel like his own.
Black chains crawled from the shadow's fingers.
Snaking around Zion like vines. Slowly overtaking his entire body.
The chains covered him completely.
Before long, he could feel nothing.
Then, everything was gone.
The shadow.
The chains.
Even the towering, skyscraper-sized chains that filled the void.
Gone.
Like they never existed.
His fear came rushing back, his heart slamming in his chest—
—and he awoke.
His bedsheets were drenched with his sweat, his clothes clung to his skin, and his vision was swimming, blurry from the fear.
His head ached like he had been hit with a steel pipe. The sound of snapping chains still pounding in his head.
That nightmare was far too real for his tastes.