Through the Haze - Part Two

Dreams are the windows to the soul, as are our eyes. Dreams tell us our fears, or try to warn us of something yet to happen. Dreams are mysterious and unpredictable. --Graymer Hazakin, Tales of The Tormented
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Isaac Renald sluggishly walked to the stables around four in the morning. The sun was barely peeking above the ground, teasing him with its warm and soothing rays. He wasn't sure why he was going to the stables, but he felt that's where he needed to be. Half asleep, half awake, he stumbled forward, prying the barn door open and slipping through, into the silence and the darkness of the stables.

Hanz, a grumpy stable boy, was asleep in the hay just around the corner; Isaac could hear him snoring. Though, it wouldn't be right to call Hanz a boy, for Hanz was an old man of fifty years or so, and with age comes grumpiness, or so Isaac thinks. Hanz seemed to always be in a grumpy mood, and it sometimes left Isaac and him in a shouting match, Isaac escaping out the back before either of them went too far.

Sneaking through the hall between the stables, he squeezed between a hole in one of the walls, shoving a piece of wood aside so he could beter fit. The opening led him to another small room, hay covering the ground. Here, Isaac usually snuck to when he needed to think, or if he just wanted to be alone. This was a place where silence ruled. Where it was quiet, he found, it was usually peaceful, too. Those two seemed to follow each other.

He sat down in the hay, giving a pitiful yawn as he did so. Eye lids partially opened, he gazed around. The room was familiar, yet at the same time, it felt so different. He gave a sudden shiver at the coldness of the room. It no longer seemed warm and safe, but cool and dark. Scary, even. Isaac shuffled back to the corner, fearing an opponent of some sort would try to sneak up on him to shove a knife into his back. He shivered at the thought of the cold steel pressing in, just to the side of his spine, of the warm blood pooling up in the wound and pouring out.

Isaac shook his head. It was never good to think such thoughts, and he knew it. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. It whistled on his teeth as it came out, and his eyes widened. He could see his breath; the room was becoming colder. It wasn't just a coldness in his mind anymore, the cold was physical.

He listened to Hanz's snoring. He seemed undisturbed by the sudden chill sweeping about, coming to consume him. For a brief moment, Isaac wondered if he should somehow warn Hanz and wake him up, but then thought better of it. Whatever this chill was, he seemed to be the only one affected by it.

'What's going on?' he thought to himself, the voice in his mind the same voice he had used when he was six-years-old, when the house had caught fire and he had suddenly smelled the smoke. The fear was the same, here, he realized. 'What's happening?'

A sound whistled next to his ear, and he turned his head quickly, sucking in a sharp breath. Nothing was there, just the shadows of the room, the silence of his fear.

His heart hammered away in his chest. "W-Who's there?" he whispered, pressing his back against the corner, trying to become one with the wall. "Show yourself." he tried to sound confident, but his fear was too great, and his voice came out as a whimper. "Hello? I--I know you're there, show youself..."

There was no answer. But he felt eyes on him, watching him, anticipating his every move. He could guess how the fish in the barrel felt, being so cornered, so out of choices. All that was needed now was for a hand to reach down and grab him.

"Isaac...." a moaning voice whispered into the dreadful silence of the room. Isaac gasped and glanced around, his eyes terrified.

"W-Who's there? How do you know me?" he whispered, not really wanting an answer. He didn't want to hear the voice again; hearing it again would make it real, and he desperately didn't want it to be real.

"Isaac....come to me...."

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice rising. "Where are you?"

"...Isaac...." the voice was fading. "Isaac...."

He gulped and pressed his back even harder into the wall, his heart ready to burst. He just wanted to get out of there.

"...Isaac...."

"Leave me alone," he snarled, trying to hide his fear. "Just leave me alone."

"Isaac...."

"Stop saying my name!" he cried, clenching his eyes tightly closed.

"Isaac...I need you...."

"Stop it!" he shouted, throwing his hands over his ears, bending his head low. "Just stop it! Leave me alone!"

The room became colder. "Isaac...." the voice was still far too clear, even though his hands were over his ears.

"No, go away..."

"Isaac....come to me, boy....come..."

"Leave me alone!"
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With a sharp yelp, Isaac sat up in bed, panting, sweat beading his forehead, his heart pumping so fast that he could hardly breathe. He glanced around his room quickly. There was a pile of clothes on the ground, his lamp was knocked over on his desk, and papers cluttered the area. Sure, it was a mess, but it was HIS. HIS room. "Just...just a dream...." he breathed, trying to calm his racing heart. "Just a dream..."

He shivered as he remembered it, remembered the icy chill, the omnimous, moaning voice, the silence...

"But it felt so real..." he wrapped his arms around himself. "What's going on?"

The door to his room suddenly opened, and Ember, the twenty-year-old who lived in the house with him and fed him and cared for him, entered the room. His blonde hair was tossled, suggesting he'd just come from bed, and his blue eyes were wide. "What?" he asked, looking at Isaac. "What is it? Are you okay? I heard screaming."

Screaming? He'd been screaming? He couldn't remember screaming, but then, maybe he had screamed a few times in his fear. "I'm fine," he said, trying to look convincing. "Just a dream."

Ember eyed him for a moment, then sighed and gave a small nod. "Okay then. Want to talk about it?"

Isaac paused. Did he? No, not really. talking about it would make it seem even more real than it already did, and he didn't want that. "No," he said. "That's okay. I'm fine. Thanks, though."

Ember nodded and looked at the clock on Isaac's wall. "Well, get some more sleep. It's not even three yet." he turned and exited the room, softly closing the door behind him.

Isaac lay down, but he doubted he could get anymore sleep tonight after that dream. Frowning, he thought back upon it. "What a dream...so strange..." he sighed and closed his eyes, praying he could catch a few more hours of sleep before the sun rose.