n i g h t m a r e ☾ a drabble
With a blink, he was back. Back in his house, the black and white wallpaper decorating his bedroom. He remembered this, the first time he and Nance ever had sex -- it was seared into his memory. She was standing there, eyes so big and bright, a shy smile on her face. Her nose was pink from being cold and she said, “Privacy, please?”
Of course he obliged, he wouldn’t dare break her rules. He turned away and waited, fingers absently playing with the towel ‘round his neck.
“Steve?” Nancy said behind him. He turned to look, but this was not something he remembered. Instead of Nancy slipping her top off, looking like some kind of innocent beam of moonlight, she was staring off in the corner. Steve glanced in the direction that she was staring and saw the tallest creature he’d ever seen, with a face like a flower, watching them.
The bed was the only thing between them and the door, and Steve reached out to grip Nancy’s hand. They would be fine. Just run. He gave her a nod and the two raced, jumped up onto the bed and rushed out, and of course they were followed by the mysterious beast. Steve raced down the stairs, still holding Nancy’s hand. His heart was racing, a glance back at her showed terrified tears flowing down Nancy’s cheeks. How could this scene be so different? Did he block out the true memories to try and heal from the attack? Steve wasn’t sure what was real and what was fake. The two of them ran outside to the driveway and Steve didn’t have his car keys.
“Run!! Keep running!!” He shouted, but he couldn’t move. Nancy didn’t hear him. The creature stood above her, menacing. Steve stared from the side -- a front row view. The monster grabbed Nancy by the throat and held her up.
“Steve!!” Nancy screamed, “Help!!” She struggled, legs flailing as her breath was cut off before the monster slammed her into the concrete, breaking bones and blood coming from the back of her head.
Steve screamed and struggled against whatever was keeping him in place, but he could not move. “NANCY!!!” he cried, his fears going completely unnoticed by a seemingly indifferent crowd that had formed to watch Steve suffer.
Nancy was dazed, not quite dead yet but almost there. The monster with its sharp claws stabbed through her chest and ripped out her heart like something out of a movie. Steve sobbed and dropped to his knees, unable to turn his head. Nancy’s head dropped to the side, facing Steve, her eyes open in death, the light from them gone. The monster continued to feast until it was satisfied. It released Steve from his invisible chains and it disappeared.
“N-No, no no no,” Steve rambled as he raced to Nancy’s side. He gingerly lifted her head into his lap. He wept.
But as quickly as he was granted his freedom to see her, it was ripped away -- rather, Nancy was ripped away. Steve was alone in a black room, nothing surrounding him for miles. He staggered around, trying to find someone, anyone to help him. He lost Nancy, what would he do? Where would he go? As he stumbled through the darkness, unable to breathe from the crushing inherent claustrophobia, he finally ran into someone.
“D-Dad?” Steve asked, confused as to why his presence brought him some bit of relief. But it would change soon enough.
“Steven, you fucking idiot,” he growled, gripping his son on the shoulder so hard Steve was sure he heard bones breaking. Steve was forced to his knees in front of the man that smelled of liquor and bruises. “Am I always going to have to clean up your fucking mistakes?” Another flashback- this was after the party, after Barb disappeared, when he had to tell his parents about the drinks- he remembered this discussion in full detail.
This moment was not distorted by nightmares. This was just a memory.
Steve felt his father’s foot rocket into his ribs and the kid flew back, knocking his head against a newly-appeared doorframe. He heard his mother stifle a laugh. “Ed, don’t hurt him too bad. It was just a few beers, nothing dangerous.”
Just a few beers, nothing dangerous, no death, no missing posters, no fearful parents and siblings. Of course, mother.
Steve got to his feet, holding his side. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice firm and painted with fear. He gripped the doorframe. His father moved in close to whisper in Steve’s ear.
“Sorry isn’t good enough.”
Steve ran out of the living room and up the stairs to his bedroom. He shut the door, shaking. If he stayed up all night and kept the door shut, maybe his dad would forget and wouldn’t drop in for extra punishment.
He wanted Nancy back. He couldn’t tell anyone she was dead, and the sight of her lifeless eyes every time he blinked drove him closer and closer to the brink of insanity.
Steve woke up and raced to the bathroom where he was violently sick. His ribs ached from the ghost-like memory of his father’s anger, and he prayed Nancy would sleep through this.












