Requiem
It had been awhile, possibly even a few months since Aria had been sealed within the world of the dream, the dream and dreamer now helping each other fairly regularly. Aria would slip in to offer Aiden bits of advice or try to help him through things that he hadn’t yet experienced in the real world while Aiden went through life, alive in his newfound freedom and enjoying everyone he had ever met in Aria’s all too fleeting dreams before. For her part Aria had been learning with Libretto, the two becoming close as she learned many of the spells within Libretto’s pages even as Aiden had helped her with reconstructing the dream slightly, giving her a bedroom similar to how her’s had been before (though much grander and much more feminine than his had been previously much to her enjoyment) even finding after the mirror had been repaired Aiden’s wifi happened to work even through the mirror even though the gateway between the two had been permanently sealed.Her body had grown accustomed to waking up as her dreamer began to sleep and feeling sleepy as he was about to wake though not always as was the case with daydreams, occasionally giving Aria flashes or glimpses of people he was thinking of outside the castle. She would often go on walks taking note of who she knew and didn’t know, never able to communicate with them herself.It was on a beautiful night within the castle upon the lake suddenly she felt the entire world shake as if in the middle of an earthquake as parts of the castle fell around them. A barrier spell ensured Aria and Libretto would be safe as she held him tightly until the quake subsided…something was wrong. Pulling themselves free from the wreckage of the castle Aria began to scan her surroundings as she felt a chill upon the wind, the ground and trees quickly taking on a snow white hue as if winter had passed through the area in seconds.“Aiden!” A voice rang out across the sky, “Aiden hang in there! We need an ambulance!”Even as she could hear the words ring out across the sky she could hear something far more terrifying…the beating of his heart echoing through the trees. Every heartbeat quick and erratic as if injured.“Aria…” A voice called out from the winter silence as Aria looked around, suddenly finding Aiden standing in the middle of the now frozen lake, bloody and covered in bruises.“Help me…” He pleaded with horror in his eyes as the ice slowly began to crack beneath his feet. Without a moment’s hesitation Aria began to run across the water, every step causing cracks of their own across the ice. Her hand reached out for his as the ice gave way, plunging both of them into the dark abyss as she swam and fought to reach the injured Aiden unable to emerge. Her eyes began to grow heavy as she struggled to breathe yet unable to stop as she followed Aiden.
Deep into the abyss they fell…
A dark, cold, and lonely hell…
What awaited neither knew…
Yet now were lost both dream and dreamer too…Beep…beep…beep…the sounds of a heartrate monitor echoing in the distance.“…coma…no idea…when…if…he will wake up.”Aria began to survey her surroundings as her eyes slowly opened, wet and freezing from the still winter environment. She began a small incantation to light a fire to warm herself…as nothing happened, no fire, no warmth, no light. Only the cold dark place she now herself in. Looking up toward the distant stars instead all that greeted her was a black sky against the blood red crescent moon that hung menacingly in the sky. Surveying the world around with her limited night vision she could see she was on the middle of a road bordering a forest, the old highway she had taken for years getting to and from university where she had lived so many years before. Cars, busses, and semi-trucks lay strewn across the highway as if from the scene of a post-apocalyptic zombie movie. Her long ears perked up, listening for any sign of danger, or Aiden for that matter she began to walk down the highway still unsure of this place before stopping in her tracks, every hair on the back of her neck standing on edge…She was not alone…Standing in front of her on the highway stood a massive black wolf, at least 7-8 feet in height by her approximation staring back at her as its eyes glowed a crimson hue. She could hear the howl of the massive wolf as it began to gain on her even as Aria ran, ducking in and out, putting as many cars between her and the creature as possible. Seeing an old semi-trailer half open along the side of the road she quickly dove in, shutting the door and locking it from the inside as she heard the thud of the creature trying to break in. Leaning against the steel wall she panted heavily, catching her breath even as the wolf continued to slam against the door to break in. It would hold, for now she concluded even as her eyes failed to pierce the overwhelming darkness she found herself in.“Such a frightened little dream you are, or…” a voice said amidst the darkness as a hand reached out to brush against her cheek before disappearing once more into the pitch black of the trailer’s interior. “Should I call you my dreamer? I know all about you, just as you know all about me.”“Natao…” Aria whispered into the darkness, knowing all too well the villain she had created so long ago. A frightening man, cold and methodical even as he would tease and torture his victims, deriving pleasure from the very moment they lost all hope.
“My my we do catch on quick don’t we? I would ask why you’re down here but…we both know the answer to that…tick tock, tick tock.” Natao teased, his face appearing inches from Aria as his short black hair came into view framing a hauntingly beautiful smile. Most notable were his red eyes as they glowed menacingly, no doubt power granted him by the dragon with which he shared a pact.“We both know what will happen if he dies Natao, where is he?” Aria said defiantly staring back at the cold, red eyes in front of her as he smiled back.“Follow the road, if, that is, you can even manage to escape your current situation my frightened little dream. Trapped in this nightmare, without your dreamer, without your magic, whatever will you do?”“Ever the schemer, what’s your angle this time I wonder? You’re far too clever not to know what happens should the dreamer die.” Aria asked mockingly to which Natao smiled back.“Possibilities my dear little dream, oh the possibilities. Goodbye for now, my sweet little maiden.” Natao said teasingly as he vanished into the darkness once more.Certain that she was alone once more Aria began to move slowly, inch by inch feeling her way through the darkness as her fingers traced a lever above her, a side door to the overturned semi-trailer as an idea came to her. Quickly grabbing boxes she had found amidst the contents of the trailer she quickly made a way up. Opening the latch and peering through the top she began to scan the area around her, seeing the wolf laying down in front of the door, waiting for her. Closing the lid slowly she made her way back down into the darkness, a plan now solid in her mind as she made her way to the latch of door she had locked, rolling the lever to release the lock and slowly open the door as she backed up toward her remaining escape.The door began to open slowly, and with it a paw slipped over the opening, forcing down the door as the wolf looked hungrily at its frightened prey. Without a second thought Aria ran up the makeshift stairs and threw open the door above, racing out as the boxes crashed and a paw reached up to grab her. Without a moment’s hesitation she ran to the other side of the trailer, dropping to ground and resealing the door from the outside as the wolf bellowed and howled angrily now trapped within.Ignoring the howls and angry thrashing Aria began to slowly make her way down the highway by the light of the blood red moon above even as snow began to fall, the distant sounds of the heartrate monitor reverberating through the sky like thunder across the desolate landscape around her. Cars strewn everywhere yet not a single person remained, almost as if they had never existed yet she knew she was not alone.
Her pace quickened down the road as the temperature continued to plummet, her thoughts wandering to where Aiden could be as she looked left and right seeing only the passing movement of shapes amidst the trees and the wind. Her heart caught in her chest however as she came upon the sight of an old blue sedan wrapped around a tree, her old car before she had become the dream. Smoke still trailed around the hood and the airbags had deployed denying any chance of seeing what had happened from afar. The sight of the crash alone was enough to bring her to her knees, she knew how bad it looked. Her breath grew heavy step by step through the building snow, the sound of her footfalls across the snow and earth the only sound above her heartbeat. She knew she did not want to see what had happened, the dread building as she saw an arm hanging from the open window, crimson stains dripping upon the fallen snow…she didn’t want this, pleaded that they were ok as she pulled back the airbag that had partially deflated.“Help…Aiden…” the voice of her friend Trey whispered staring at her from the seat, shrapnel pinning his leg in place.“Trey?!” Aria screamed into the darkness as the wind echoed the cry amidst the trees.“Is…is Aiden ok?”“It’s…” Aria began to say as the words caught in her throat, pain welling up even as she nodded knowing how her friend had cared for her over the years, “Aiden will be ok…help is coming just…just hold on.”Clutching her chest Aria fell to the ground sobbing as a hand rested itself upon her shoulder, “Your dreamer’s last moments before falling unconscious, a touching reunion wouldn’t you say?” Natao said sneering as he appeared from behind Aria.“You bastard,” Aria said, her voice quaking as she looked up to see her friend had disappeared from the car, the two alone in the forest.“Tick tock, tick tock. Not even I know the fate of your friend. Do you hear that? The slowing of his heart? The beats growing further apart with every moment? Not long now my frightened little dream, tick tock, tick tock.” Natao said laughing as he disappeared into thin air right before Aria’s fist flew through the air, failing to connect as she dropped back to her knees staring into the night.“Aiden…where are you?” She said to herself, tears falling to the ground as she wept looking, staring into the trees for any sign.…Footprints…there were footprints in the snow.Slowly picking herself up off the ground she stared down from the wreck looking behind the car on the other side. Walking around the car she saw the side of the door open and footprints leading from it deeper into the forest.
The tracks seemed to slide a bit, dragging with them a trail as crimson as the moonlight. She quickly began to follow without a second thought, all feeling of the cold being swept away by the hope of finding Aiden before it was too late. She had to find a way to escape this nightmare.Winded and panting she looked up to see an old mansion, long fallen to disrepair from lack of guests. Long ago back when she lived near the mountains she had heard stories from the small town of an old mansion in the woods. It had been a popular bed and breakfast destination before a fire claimed the lives of several guests and the owners had been forced to sell the property. The stories of the Glen Lake manor had not completely faded from her memory, and she was willing to bet that’s precisely why it was here. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end as she approached, wary of entering despite the footprints and falling temperature outside.Opening the door while slowly allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness she was greeted by a large open room with grand staircase behind what looked to be a makeshift reception desk that had been built for guests of the manor. Each step onto the rotting wood caused echoing creaks through the room that contrasted the beating of her heart caught in her chest, ears standing and on high alert for anything hidden within the darkness. She could see chairs and tables covered by cloths basking in the red glow of the moonlight, shadows dancing to the wind and the trees outside the windows.One more step inside……as the door closed firmly behind her.Keys of a piano could be heard within the darkened house, a melody she had loved twisted, and off key. With every step she could hear the skittering of creatures unseen, felt eyes staring at her from the shadows. The trail of blood had led her here, and it frightened her. Every step creaked and bowed with the clacking of her heels as she followed the haunting melody, wary of the glowing eyes that watched her from the holes in the wood. Turning the corner she was greeted by a large auditorium full of rows of seats with a balcony on the 2nd floor. A curtain obscured the stage behind which the melody of the piano was unmistakable. Every cautious step she moved closer to the stage, holes in the walls allowing the light of the moon to shine through as the dancing and skittering of creatures could be seen within its glow before quickly disappearing…a little too quickly. One of her favorite melodies had drawn her here yet while every instinct had told her not to draw back the curtain her fingers began to part the massive cloth, peering into the darkness. What stood there staring upon Aria made her blood run cold. Though obscured by the light of the blood red moon behind it their eyes were unmistakable as they pulsed and blinked, slithering across the skin of their victim by the hundreds. Vipera…one of her darkest nightmares come to life.
…Run……Run……RUN!Her heart raced as she turned and fled, small snake-like creatures rising from the cloth of the seats that had concealed them as their eyes began to glow with hunger for their prey before an ear-splitting screech filled the air and the seats behind her were effortlessly torn from their bolts on the floor in pursuit of her. Running down the hallway she had come from she quickly slid beneath the cloth of a nearby table hearing the creature turn the corner into the massive grand room. A small snake-like creature with an upper body closer to that of a preying mantis vipera possessed six eyes atop their flat head and a pair of sharp scythe-like appendages on their arms. Though not a problem alone vipera hunted in hives each ruled by a Queen. Moving as one similar to a group of locusts vipera would swarm a victim, latching onto them before burrowing into their skin and wrapping themselves around their skeleton, their bodies mimicking the very flesh they had consumed as the hive camouflaged themselves to mimic their prey, hoping to ambush another unsuspecting victim.Staying silent she could hear the footsteps one by one across the floor, the skeleton of the hive exposed as each vipera was on alert, searching for their prey in every direction. Holding her breath she hoped the beating of her heart would not enough to alert the creatures. Each step felt like an eternity as it walked slowly, stalking its prey before stopping in front of the table where she had hidden. Fingers reached around the linen beneath the table and slowly began to pull, the light of the crimson moon slowly streaking through her hiding place as she covered her head with her hands…before the wall behind the creature vanished in a crash of splinters, opening the room to the chill of the outside air as the hive rushed from the room in pursuit of the source.“You’re welcome…” Natao’s voice said teeming with glee and malice from behind her as he disappeared into the darkness once more. He had saved her, for what? Why now? He needed the dreamer just as she did to survive but had he been planning to help would he not have done so in the beginning? Even as she climbed out from beneath the table Aria continued to question his motives. Without the presence of a queen nearby the vipera that had awoken had now fallen back into their passive state, a deafening silence overtaking the house as Aria began to walk slowly down the halls of the mansion listening for the sounds of other vipera. Slowly making her way back to the grand room her ears were on high alert listening for the sounds of the vipera that had nearly found her before. Up one stair at a time, stopping at each creak of the stairs to listen for any vipera on the move before continuing.
A sudden scream from the room ahead split the cool night air as Aria rushed in, hoping to make it in time. Bursting through the door she could see a vipera poised to strike at someone curled upon the floor. Without a moment’s hesitation she ran into the room as the vipera turned to stare upon the attacker.Staring back was someone she knew all too well…It was her…“I see…it was you…was me…all this time. My guilt, my envy, my heartache, and despair. You’ve been down here alone in this nightmare all this time as I kept you locked away. I won’t run any longer.”The creature hesitated, almost seeming to recognize the same as its malice began to give way to curiosity. There was a look in her eyes Aria long recognized, that look of anguish and pain she had possessed on so many sleepless nights before the mirror. Surviving another day but never really living, a prisoner to her own circumstance. Tears began to fall in Aria’s eyes as her hand reached up slowly to caress her shadow, the vipera around recoiling for a moment at the warmth of Aria’s hand before slowly leaning into it.“You don’t have to hide the pain, I know what’s behind those eyes all too well. Your head is so full of doubt, and pain you can barely hold yourself together. Wandering this nightmare all your own with no hope in sight, nothing to keep you going but pain and hunger lost and alone down here. You don’t have to be alone anymore, I’m here, right here with you.”Pulling the nightmarish creature close Aria could feel her arms wrap around as the two shared an embrace. Aria could feel the vipera begin to slither around her as she looked behind toward Aiden.“Whatever happens, don’t run.” Aria said as she felt the first of the vipera painfully slice its way into her back, burying itself inside and paralyzing her movement as the rest of the hive began to descend upon her. Shouting in pain her head began to fill with the shouts and screams of a thousand whispers all at once.“Why did you leave?” “That’s not what you are.” “Do you hate us?” “Will I ever be me?” “I can’t leave.” “Why won’t they accept me?”
Louder and louder the whispers continued, their doubts and screams filling her mind as memory after memory replayed in her head of the doubt, the fear, and the loneliness she had felt growing up.“This is wrong.” “You’re going to fail.” “You won’t be happy.” “You weren’t raised like that.” “Am I wrong?” “What am I?”Falling to her knees the pain continued, she could feel the creatures burrowing their way under her skin, turning her into a monster. The pain and the whispers continued unabated for what felt an eternity before her eyes grew heavy as she fought to remain conscious, the smallest spark of hope remaining within her as the world faded to black.
“Aria…”“Aria…”As Aria began to open her eyes the view of a snow-covered forest began to come into focus its silence eerie, and deafening,Drip…Drip…Drip…“No no no no, it’s not him, it can’t be him,” she said staring down at her hands covered in blood over the body of her dreamer…what had she done? Looking around in a panic she found nothing but the silence and the trees, not even the wind. Her hands went to press down on the body in an attempt to stop one of several wounds across the lifeless body even as it grew cold beneath her touch. As she went to press upon the wound however her hand began to move on its own, the vipera within spreading out ready to consume the corpse even as the snow grew heavier around them.“…ke up”Looking up Aria suddenly came face to face with herself staring down silently at the monster she had become even as the vipera within her began to emerge little by little, spreading out around her as she became aware of the shrinking world around her, the approaching blizzard covering everything in purest white…they were being forgotten, everything was falling apart and the dream was fading away…none of it felt real……felt?“WAKE UP!”Opening her eyes her clenched fist wrapped around Aiden’s neck instantly let go as he coughed and sputtered catching his breath on the floor. The whispers had returned tenfold, angry that their queen had failed and that their prey remained in control. When writing and creating the vipera Aria had written about a young woman captured and tossed into the darkness, forced to survive for years before her rescue. One night she had grown careless and had been ambushed by a living hive. She fought back and by a miracle tamed the vipera within her, using them as a weapon to survive the darkness she had been thrown into. Aria had captured that miracle for herself by force of will even as the hive continued to shout and wail within her mind for her to bow even as the knowledge the hive possessed flowed through her. Where to hunt, how to hide, what to feast upon. Yet the knowledge she clung to the most was that of a black mirror floating upon the water of a lake beyond the forest.She’d found it, the key to getting home. Rising to her feet she stood, the monsters within a horrifying cacophony of screams, hatred, and guilt barely held together, every step a painful memory, every breath a test of will. Her eyes began to glow a bright violet shade as the darkness could no longer hide its secrets from her. Every creature nearby recoiled from her, even the other living hives that had come to feast upon the source of the screams now recoiled in her presence.
“Aria?” Aiden asked keeping his distance unsure of her control.“We are Requiem,” Aria said still struggling to speak as she clenched her fists, the voices within callous, unceasing, and fighting for control of her mind every moment.The two began to walk down the stairs, Requiem staring into the darkness as she growled, protecting Aiden through the house and back into the frigid night air. Requiem began to run, and Aiden followed closely behind staring at the glowing eyes which kept their gaze on him from her back. Running for several minutes through the forest the pair came upon a lake, dark and deep with eyes staring at the two from below even as a layer of ice had developed on the water leading to the mirror. Making it to the edge of the lake Aria collapsed, holding out her hand to keep Aiden from getting too close.“Aiden…you need to go on without me, please…” Aria began to say holding back tears as she continued to fight every moment for control, “I don’t know how long I can hold them back. I can’t bring vipera with us, they’re too dangerous…I’ll lose control just as Requiem did.”“Aria I’m not leaving you,” Aiden replied watching Aria’s tears fall to the ground.“Aiden you have to g-…” Aria began to shout as pain overtook her. Looking down she found a claw sticking out through her chest from behind her as she saw a vipera holding onto a small violet light held tightly in its grasp as it pulled back, Aria’s body falling to the ground.“There. You. Are.” Natao said with glee holding the creature in his fist as it held fast on the violet light burning as if a flickering candle as he rolled Aria over onto her back with his foot, towering over her.“Not as much as I hoped it would find, but a fitting prize nonetheless. The soul is such a fickle thing afterall, I never would have been able to find it would she not to have given herself to that…thing.” Natao said sneering as he gloated, prize in hand as Aria lie motionless upon the ground. Watching in silence from the ground below Aria witnessed the moment Natao crushed the Vipera that held a piece of her soul, its light flowing into him.
“Beep…”“…beep……”“…beep…”“……”“Code blue, room 118, code blue, room 118.”Aria lie on the ground motionless, unable to move, unable to breathe. The vipera within her had grown dormant as their queen had been ripped from her hive. Even as she lie there she struggled to remember pieces of her previous life…where had she come from again? Years of memories scattered or missing within her, her thoughts a jumbled mess. Who was she? Where was she? Who were the two men above her?“...clear”The sky crackled with thunder and lightning as the ground shook beneath them, a small tremor as the air grew colder still.“120…clear…”Aiden fell to his knees clutching his chest as he found it hard to breathe as Natao walked over to him, picking him up and beginning to drag him across the ground.“Dreamer first, if you don’t wake up then this will have all been for naught anyway. I can’t create a dream for myself if you die afterall. That pitiful little nightmare can rot down here until she’s forgotten.”“……”“…beep…”The sound of thunder precluded a flash that forced both Aiden and Natao to shield their eyes as lightning struck the ground where Aria lay. Aria could feel electricity course through her, tying together the shattered fragments of her soul that remained within the vipera inside of her as they worked to repair the hole that Natao had torn through her. Memories flooded and bombarded her all at once, most of them remembered though details of her childhood remained missing.The whispers were gone…She was in control…She had become Requiem.
“You gambled everything on 1%. I applaud your tenacity. When was it you found what I was after, and why give it to me at all?” Natao asked, refusing to show his back to such a foe as he slowly backed up toward the black mirror. Thunder split the sky once again as Natao suddenly felt a familiar claw at his throat looking down to see Aria’s arm had changed to match his own dragon claws. Fear now plain in his eyes as he recognized the distance she had covered in that moment.“You needed both of us, it was a question of why. Everything down here hungers for the light of a soul, I suspect the mirror is no exception. Unable to take what you needed from the dreamer and survive I was the prey. I needed power to survive, and to protect the dreamer even in the darkest of nights. It was a gamble, yet one I needed to take for his future. Even in a sky as black as this one a small light can still burn as brightly as a star. Maybe one day you’ll see that.”“You gambled your soul for a chance to save me? My dear that is beyond even my comprehension. I look forward to watching that defiance in your eyes turn to despair once more.”Rising to his feet Aiden looked on at Aria, now in full control of the monsters within her as the two began to walk toward the mirror, the vipera on her back keeping an eye on Natao as they walked through the mirror. Natao would be free to leave the realm of the nightmare with the fragment he possessed, what that would mean only time would tell.Aiden’s eyes opened to the scene of a hospital bed, a familiar face laying against the bed in a wheelchair as Trey looked up, overjoyed to see his friend waking up.“We nearly lost you, you’ve been out for 3 days. When you were thrown from the car the doctors weren’t sure you’d make it.” Trey said, tears welling up in his eyes.“How’s your leg?” Aiden asked looking down at the cast.“Missed my femur by a few inches, doctors said I was lucky to have made it out. Say…that girl you mentioned before, the one you said you see in your dreams. I think I saw her while I was in the car. She saved you didn’t she?”Nodding his head to Trey’s question Aiden smiled to himself, as his thoughts slipped to Aria safe within the dream once more.