ImagiNation Chapter 1 part 1 *The Dream*

ImagiNation Chapter 1 part 1 *The Dream*

A large, creepy castle loomed ahead. Rayne took one tentative step toward it, then another. She stopped, craning her neck upward so she could see the gothic archways and tall spires, reaching up to the sky. Higher up, she spotted an ornate stained glass window, shattered. Her ears strained to hear something in the eerie, silent stillness, but the only sound that same to her ears was the faint rustling of wind in the bare tree branches and a crow’s call far away. She jumped at a loud and sudden shattering noise. One of the windows had broken, shards of glass raining down from above. One landed at her feet, directly in front of her, and something possessed her to reach down and pick it up. The smooth orange glass cut into Rayne’s palm, drawing a warm, dark scarlet liquid that ran down her fingers in small rivulets and dripped to the ground. She let out a small gasp at the sudden pain and dropped the blood-spattered shard; it shattered into smaller fragments upon impact. The door to the castle was just up ahead. Something told her to go there, a something she couldn’t resist, so she climbed the three steps up to the wide porch and raised a fist to knock, but the door swung open. A cool breeze flowed from the crack in the door. Shivering of apprehension, she opened the door all the way and stepped inside, the door locking behind her. Inside, trees held up the roof instead of pillars and snow dusted the blue-and-white tile floor. The large, open foyer continued into the depths of the shadows. As she advanced toward a tree, the snow underfoot became thicker. A brown leaf spiraled down, landing on her shoulder and sliding to the floor.
“Help me…” a voice whispered. It was coming from the shadowed hall. All her senses told her not to go down there, that it was a trap, but she couldn’t resist. Curiosity got the best of her. Rayne ventured into the shadows. The light slowly dimmed until she was surrounded by pitch darkness, the brightness of the entrance just a point of light behind her.
“Help…” The voice startled her, for it was so close, closer than she expected. “Over here…” Rayne whipped around, searching the darkness. Her eyes finally found the source of the voice-- a girl huddled in a corner. She was very thin, skeletal almost. Her tattered and torn white dress hung loosely on her bony frame. It looked as if it had once been grand, perhaps a fancy silk gown. Her hair was knotted and dirty and she was shivering uncontrollably. She was in bad shape. “Please, we don’t have much time…” Rayne nodded and reached down to help her, but as soon as her fingers touched her cold, dry skin, she turned to dust, her scream of terror echoing faintly in Rayne’s mind.
“Come to us…Come!” a demonic voice sounded around her, coming from nowhere and everywhere the same, resounding in the stone, air particles, her very soul.
“No!” Rayne’s pathetic retort was swallowed up by the pure hatred and evil around her. The being just laughed. “Who are you?”
“You will come back and we will take you! There is no escape…” A horrible screaming filled her ears as the malice faded away. She didn’t know that the screaming was her own. Panic rose within her, the dread kind that comes from the deepest depths of your soul. Rayne knew one thing only-- she needed to get out of that place. Pure instinct was driving her now. Her legs ran faster and harder than they ever had before. Her heart was pumping faster, adrenaline racing through her veins. Her mind was clear, calm, and focused despite her predicament.
When she reached the foyer again, the door seemed farther away than ever. As she ran past, the windows were shattered by an outside force, blowing the glass inward and leaving a trail of shards behind her. The trees’ branches reached at Rayne, trying to capture her, but still she ran. The demon’s laughter echoed around her.
“No!” Rayne cursed to herself as she went down, having tripped over her own clumsy feet. The branches wrapped themselves around her wrists and legs, successfully immobilizing her. Glass rained down around her as she was shoved down on her knees, then into the ground. The glass on the ground dug into her skin, drawing more blood. A misty figure materialized in front of her. He was laughing at her, mocking her. Anger welled up inside her and flashed in her eyes as she raised her head to meet his gaze, daring him to do something. The demon chuckled as he leaned down to her level.
“Your blood shall be mine!” he hissed, glee evident in his soulless eyes as he ran his finger through the thin pool of her blood and licked it off his finger.
“I’ll see you soon, Rayne!” he said gently before dissolving into the air. The trees released their grip and she stood up, shocked. She was so much shocked by his human-like ability to be, even falsely, kind, than she was that he knew her name. What was he, some kind of stalker? Her name echoed over and over in her mind. Rayne, Rayne, Rayne. The echo grew louder, as if someone very far away yet right next to her was calling her name.
“Hey, Rayne, wake up!” The voice was familiar. Rayne’s eyes fluttered open and suddenly she was in a completely different world.