Bogleech.com's 2016 Horror Write-off:

Night Terrors

Submitted by Anonymous

I'm not one to usually think too hard about my dreams. Unlike some of the kooks I've known over the years, I couldn't care less if a certain name is repeated multiple times in one session. Dreams are all in the mind. Why concern yourself with something that can't harm you in real life? 


Even so, the bravest ones always have their fears, and my subconscious recently latched onto mine with a vengeance. It's affected me to the point where I fear falling asleep, disturbed by the horrifying notion of seeing that eerie pale face feature in my nightly visions once more. 


The sole comfort to the dream is how consistent it seems to be. If I have it, there are no nasty surprises waiting for me at the very end. Every terrifying and somewhat absurd detail is etched into my mind and it hasn't changed an iota since the nightmares began. 


In my dream, I'm seated in a room. The wallpaper is a nasty shade of dark green and the desk I'm seated at is unnaturally balanced on a strange amount of legs. Every small aspect of this room adds to it's creep factor. 


I feel the compulsive urge to rise each and every time, each time knowing how futile the outcome will be. The chair is warped, allowing me to fit uncomfortably in it, but preventing me from any other sort of locomotion. I am rendered helpless to whatever dangers will befall me.


After a time, a person shambles into the room, if one can even call it that. They resemble a monster more than anything else. Their very movements, jerky and uncoordinated, unnerve me. Eventually, they meander their merry little way to the front of the room, and turn to face me. 


That is when the true horror begins. Their face holds abnormal features, those reserved solely for creatures intended to scare children into behaving. 


The part that stands out to me the most at that moment in the nightmare isn't their protruding snout or oddly shaped head. It's the color of their skin: pale, bloodless, dead. I almost expect to see maggots breaking through at any moment, devouring their frightening visage as an act of mercy. 


Their mouth widens, interrupting my thoughts. It continues past the point of no return and stretches onward, elongating the face. It is then that the horrible entity begins to shriek. The unholy sound is one that haunts me still, even now. It resonates deep within me, causing me to shake. 


Although I plead and beg for them to stop, even as I sob and choke on my own spit, they keep on screaming without end. And then, without warning, I awaken.


You can surely see how this unsettles me more than anything else in the world.


After all, what sort of abomination only has two eyes?!?