Chapter 5: Episode 5: Bookish Dreams

Soft satin sheets… A welcoming pillow. The exhaustion and anxiety of the day slowly faded away, easing my tense muscles. Sleep then maybe dreams. Nightmares and Theme Parks…

The sun was shining brightly on the horror theme park but offered no heat against the chilly wind. The screams from the rides were thrilling and the food smelled heavenly. There was so much to do, but I didn't know what I wanted to go for first. I walked around happily when I spotted an abandoned haunted house in the park. No one was walking over to it, but its vintage looks, and steampunk style lured me in. A nagging feeling warned that something was wrong, but this was too tempting of an attraction to bypass. I had to check it out.

Ignoring that inner voice, I raced through the strangely empty line dividers toward the large double door entrance. Bolting through the heavy doors into the darkness, I was stopped in my tracks as the sudden change in light left me blind.

A soft clicking told me the doors behind had shut themselves, but I could only see darkness and sunspots. Rubbing my eyes to hurry the transition to sight, I mumbled a few choice words for the annoyance. Slowly, I adjusted, and a scene was revealed before me. I discovered the ticket booth was empty, but it had a cracked and faded sign hanging on the glass.

“Gone on break. Return whenever. Leave your ticket here or not. Not like I care.”

'Seems this park still believes in an honor system or doesn’t care enough if the request is ignored.'

Rummaging through my pockets, unwilling to break the rules, I found and pulled out a golden ticket that had a lone star on it. I wasn’t sure where or when I had gotten the ticket, but I didn’t really care. Tossing the ticket into the booth, I heard a small click as the attraction magically came to life. The internal lights gave an eerie glow as mechanical voices whispered recorded warnings, setting my heart a flutter. I eagerly raced into the haunted house, following the dimly lit path.

'With the steampunk theme, I can’t wait to see what animatronics they have.'

The path began to narrow and twist as an uneasy feeling washed over me.

'Something is here, watching me…'

What was watching me? I couldn’t tell, but it didn’t feel welcoming. My pace quickened, but the path grew no shorter. The dim lights started flickering in time with my pounding heart. Shadows grew and moved with every flash. Then a faint growling reached my ears and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as the world felt less dream-like, but still not entirely real.

'It’s not human and I think… Am I dreaming–? I don’t have time to figure it out. I need to just find a safe spot and then I can test my theories.'

Bolting down the path, I looked for a way to escape; a door, a staircase, an emergency exit, anything. All around me were blank walls, nothing I could use to get away.

'No, there has to be something. Maybe a vent or a broom closet. Something!'

Glancing up as I ran, praying to find a vent, I only found disappointment and distraction that caused me to barrel face first into a solid door and slam my back into the ground from the force.

“Fuck!”

Ignoring my heavily bleeding nose, I pulled myself to my frantic feet as the growling grew closer. Tossing open the door, praying for an escape, I found a dead end with three mirrors, but the mirrors were wrong. I saw three versions of myself. One child version, myself, and one of what I might look like as an old woman.

A sharp barking caused me to turn around, bringing me face-to-face with a giant black dog only a few feet from me, its golden collar bearing an ankh as its only inscription.

'This has to be a dream. Oh, please be a dream.'

“Whoa boy. Take it easy,” I sputtered. Its growls intensified as its red-corn eyes glowered at me.

'Please, wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!'

The beast's growls silenced for a moment as it cocked its head in interest.

'Can it hear my thoughts? How screwed am I, right now? How scared should I reasonably be?'

The growls returned and intensified as an answer to my internal turmoil.

“You don’t want me here and I don’t want to be here,” I pleaded, trying to avoid the worst. “Okay. We can figure something out. A truce or something. Just relax–”

It lunged and, instinctively, I put my hands in front of me. A bright flash of light filled the hallway and a loud bang slammed against my ears.

…

Gasping and sweating, I could hear the heavy rain pounding against my windows as I stood alone in the dark bathroom. Looking around, I found the mirror behind me and the bathroom door ajar with blood on its old panels. A hot wetness and the smell of iron told me of my injured nose.

'Was I sleepwalking? I haven’t done that since I was little…'

A heavy weight pulled my eyes to my hands. The black cover of my stolen book was a stark contrast to my white knuckled grip. A faint growling echoed in my mind as I traced the ankh with my eyes. I could almost swear the gold was sparking in the low-light–

'No. That’s complete nonsense. It’s just the lightning outside and the darkness playing tricks on your eyes. Just take a deep breath. The theft is weighing on you. When the rest of the check comes in, just slip money in the till and make it right. You’ll feel better then.'

Taking a deep breath, I placed the book on the bathroom counter and headed back to bed.

'I have the day off tomorrow, so I can clean everything up in the morning.'

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