(Thought you guys might like this. Also found on my dA page. Very short, but certainly more presentable than a few of the others.)
Title: Nightmares
Character relationships: non-romantic
Rating: PG-13, I suppose?
WARNING: Some disturbing imagery ahead. Nothing you can't handle unless you're a complete pansy.
"Daniel."
He'd failed, utterly failed. Alexander's mock praise and cruel laughter still echoed in his broken mind, accompanied by the wails of their long dead victims and the Shadow's nightmare howls.
The acid burning and cold terror was suffocating him, eating him alive as memories poured into the once empty darkness: a woman having her eyes burned out, a man having his legs twisted like corkscrews, a little girl having her bones broken one by one…
The Inner Sanctum was coated in the bloody slime, pulsating like something come alive, and he was trapped in the middle of it all, like when the nightmare had first started seemingly eons ago.
"Daniel!"
It was the Shadow eating him, not just sounds and phantasms. He stumbled about as though drunk, bleeding from anywhere that the caustic substance reached over. Faces blurred and faded in and out of his vision and he found himself scrabbling at the door, trying to tear away the thick flesh that had grown over the wood.
The Shadow had none of it and the howling grew louder, the pain grew sharper, making him scream, and he found himself staring up at the dieing light that flickered like his forgotten lantern.
Panic had overtaken him, and though he could no longer tell the difference, he was laughing like a demon as the tears streamed down his face. "Kill me, already! What holds you back now, Shadow!? Kill me!" The light finally sputtered out and the rushing roars filled his ears as the burning tendrils devoured him. It was a slow death, but he hardly cared, continuing to laugh in the dark chamber with the sound of prisoners only he could hear.
"DANIEL!"
He woke gasping for air, a hand over his heart and his head turning every which way, fearing that he might see red walls or mutilated faces again. The candle on his bedside was burning low, the wax so melted that it was dripping from the tea saucer onto the wood.
Outside, a storm was pouring, and a quick look in the pocketwatch in his bedside drawer told him it was just about midnight. Daniel sighed, rubbing his hands against his eyes—it was such a miracle to have survived Brennenburg, sometimes he couldn't believe it.
"There's no more Shadow. Alexander is dead, Brennenburg is behind you. Go to sleep, Daniel." He mumbled to himself, blowing out the light. Rain still thrummed against the roof, the sound feeling like it was drumming against his skull. "Go to sleep, Daniel…"
"Daniel?" He'd definitely heard it. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, he didn't dare turn around; he already knew what he'd find, and couldn't help but whimper as he felt the cool, phantom arms wrap around him, the ghostly breath wafting against his cheek, and the Baron's familiar voice in his ear, still as mocking as when he'd lived.
"Still having nightmares, I see?" He sobbed in response.
Title: Nightmares
Character relationships: non-romantic
Rating: PG-13, I suppose?
WARNING: Some disturbing imagery ahead. Nothing you can't handle unless you're a complete pansy.
"Daniel."
He'd failed, utterly failed. Alexander's mock praise and cruel laughter still echoed in his broken mind, accompanied by the wails of their long dead victims and the Shadow's nightmare howls.
The acid burning and cold terror was suffocating him, eating him alive as memories poured into the once empty darkness: a woman having her eyes burned out, a man having his legs twisted like corkscrews, a little girl having her bones broken one by one…
The Inner Sanctum was coated in the bloody slime, pulsating like something come alive, and he was trapped in the middle of it all, like when the nightmare had first started seemingly eons ago.
"Daniel!"
It was the Shadow eating him, not just sounds and phantasms. He stumbled about as though drunk, bleeding from anywhere that the caustic substance reached over. Faces blurred and faded in and out of his vision and he found himself scrabbling at the door, trying to tear away the thick flesh that had grown over the wood.
The Shadow had none of it and the howling grew louder, the pain grew sharper, making him scream, and he found himself staring up at the dieing light that flickered like his forgotten lantern.
Panic had overtaken him, and though he could no longer tell the difference, he was laughing like a demon as the tears streamed down his face. "Kill me, already! What holds you back now, Shadow!? Kill me!" The light finally sputtered out and the rushing roars filled his ears as the burning tendrils devoured him. It was a slow death, but he hardly cared, continuing to laugh in the dark chamber with the sound of prisoners only he could hear.
"DANIEL!"
He woke gasping for air, a hand over his heart and his head turning every which way, fearing that he might see red walls or mutilated faces again. The candle on his bedside was burning low, the wax so melted that it was dripping from the tea saucer onto the wood.
Outside, a storm was pouring, and a quick look in the pocketwatch in his bedside drawer told him it was just about midnight. Daniel sighed, rubbing his hands against his eyes—it was such a miracle to have survived Brennenburg, sometimes he couldn't believe it.
"There's no more Shadow. Alexander is dead, Brennenburg is behind you. Go to sleep, Daniel." He mumbled to himself, blowing out the light. Rain still thrummed against the roof, the sound feeling like it was drumming against his skull. "Go to sleep, Daniel…"
"Daniel?" He'd definitely heard it. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, he didn't dare turn around; he already knew what he'd find, and couldn't help but whimper as he felt the cool, phantom arms wrap around him, the ghostly breath wafting against his cheek, and the Baron's familiar voice in his ear, still as mocking as when he'd lived.
"Still having nightmares, I see?" He sobbed in response.
