The stench lingers in my dreams. The open drain with clowns floating down, and the tunnels laced with slimy, spineless monsters running behind me trying to rip my head off. I have been in these dreams forever. The headmaster running behind me trying to catch the rule breakers, although why I kept running remains a mystery to me: I didn't break rules while I was in school. Once, there was a foreign spy pursuing me, which at least, made sense, and was thrilling. But I always wake up from these with a jerk, my heart beating hard and fast against my ribs.
I open my eyes with a jerk, but my heart rate is normal. What is weird is that I see all darkness. Somehow, I have opened my eyes and at the same time, not.
It scares me as I tug against the binds of sleep that keeps holding on to me, but I can't open my eyes. I begin to hyperventilate. It is as if the bed is sucking me in its depths.
