Page 6 of The Nightmare King

My ribs constricted with the gut punch of his declaration. My shadow man wasn’t real. Of course, I knew that, but he felt so real… a random misfiring of my brain, my medication making the images more vivid… random…

Dr. Truman snapped his fingers. “Where are you going in your mind right now? Lucy, are you sure this person you see in your nightmares… isn’t someone you recognize?”

“What?”

My gaze flicked to the clock, and I stood in a hurry. “My boss gets so mad if I’m late, I have to go. See you next time.”

My therapist may have said something that I didn’t hear, but I was out the door and clocking into work before I could even think about our session. It didn’t matter. Though the pain in my chest felt real, not like the misfiring of brain impulses. All I wanted to do was get back in bed, find my nightmare man, and have a real conversation. Why was it so hard to have a real talk with him? All I could think of or desire in his presence was his hands on me, to feel his kiss, to experience his breath in my ear and tongue lapped with mine. That felt real, so incredibly real I could recall his taste even as I stood at my very set-in-reality job, weighing cantaloupe, and doubled bagging wine.

My register stayed busy, which was good because I could avoid Brandon—who suddenly worked the same shift and days as me—and I could push my therapy session out of my mind by turning up the audiobook on my large, earmuff headphones. Sam had talked to the store manager and convinced her to let me wear them during my shift. If I were awake, my headphones were on, blaring music or books. Anything to keep my mind safe from wandering too far.

My breathing was hurried as I unlocked my apartment and kicked off my daytime clothes. Skipping my evening checklist, forgetting dinner, not caring about my shows or my jewelry making. Sam had been by and left a cucumber and feta salad in the fridge. Irritation sank in my throat as I gulped a glass of water and shut the blinds, climbing into bed.

I needed more time with him, needed to see him.

He felt real.

He wasn’t real.

My heart cracked as I forced my eyes shut, hoping I was tired enough to sleep, hoping my rapid thoughts of the day didn’t affect my ability to find him in my slumber. Or was it him who found me? Regardless, I steadied my breathing, clutching my blanket—and behind my eyelids, I waited.

Chapter

Four

GALAXY

I think love is the greatest force in the universe. It's shapeless like water. It only takes the shape of things it becomes.

Guillermo del Toro

Aman in a metallic suit slammed a map in front of me. “You’re driving this ship, tell us! Do we go to Planet Doom or travel to the Starlight Orb?”

I looked around at my crew of various humanoid and alien beings. The windows to the ship opened, flanking the high-tech silver machinery and giving a view of a black expanse peppered with stars. “The um… Starlight Orb sounds cheerier, don’t you think?”

A blue alien with huge, bug eyes shook his head and sighed. “You heard her, folks, back to work.”

The man grabbed the map back and rolled it up. I recognized him… “George?” I asked. “The bartender?”

“He paused as if I’d startled him, before composing himself and clearing his throat. “Geo is my name. I think you inhaled too much cosmic dust on our descent into the black hole. Go fetch some oxygen. Miss E has it flavored to taste like bubblegum today. Go on, I’ll man the spaceship. Tis a long and treacherous journey, even at warp speed, to the Starlight Orb.”

Somehow, I knew the way to the oxygen bar. Passing beeping lights and whirling machinery. A purple alien with long antennas bowed as I passed. I let my hands feel the smooth fabric of my black and silver uniform. A true space captain, on my way to the Starlight Orb.

A woman with frizzy blonde hair tapped on a command board while oxygen tubes whirled in pastel colors around her. She turned to face me, huge goggles making her eyes look like one of the bug aliens. But I recognized her immediately. “Sam?”

With a belabored sigh, she hit a green bottom on the command center and grabbed a nasal oxygen mask. “You know I’m Sam-E here. Put this on. It’s your favorite flavor, orange fizz.” She typed again on the flashing buttons. “Number 94011 if I’m ever not here and you need it.”

I rolled my eyes, even in a sci-fi reality my sister was smothering me with maternal love. The oxygen did smell like orange soda pop, and my mind did clear. Cold from the metal flooring numbed my feet. “Why am I never wearing shoes?”

“Have you taken your medicine?” Sam-E asked, ignoring me and swirling a beaker of bubbling green liquid.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the spaceship shook violently. I grabbed onto a desk for balance as the lights flickered. A loud boom sounded, and sirens trilled with alarm as red lights flashed.

“We’re under attack!” a burgundy-tinted alien with elephant eats shouted as they busted into the room.

Sam frantically clicked her control panel, and the doors to the oxygen room slid shut, and a bar erected, locking us in. Her and the alien ran to the window and peered out, their faces paling. Sam, I mean, Sam-E, looked to me with horror. “It’s him—he’s come for you again.”

“The night king will stop at nothing until he has you.” The alien clutched his webbed hands together. “He will destroy the ship.”

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