Nightmare Pt.4 (Adult)
Date: 7/1/98
From: marcos1

Nightmare

~~~~~

Nicholas rolled over in bed. The words of Thanatos echoed thru his mind. "Nicholas only you will be spared. Because you are a favorite of the perdition...you will be spared...only you." Drifting off to sleep, images formed in his mind of what is to be---

Maggie adrift in a sea of fire, burning---terrible burning. Her skin---her beautiful skin peeling off in total agony---and then recurring--just to be burnt again. Jeb Hawkes moving among the nether world, forever searching and never finding. His whole being, Leviathan, but not an angry whisper--a melancholy cry forever. Never to be reunited with Carolyn again. Carolyn tied to a stake, surrounded by choleric birds, tearing out her eyes, ripping her skin----

"Oh, no," Nicholas said, waking. "This can never be...not to Maggie..."

"What can never be?" Maggie asked, lying next to him. It was late at night, at the motel at Sand Dollar beach. "Nicky, you must have been dreaming. Did you have a nightmare?"

Nicholas looked at his wife. She looked so lovely, with her auburn hair, skin the color of new snow, and small delicate breasts. "Yes, Maggie," he said softly. "It was just a nightmare. It must have been that fast food that we ate earlier." His eyes began to tear, just looking at her.

"Are you going to be all right?" Maggie asked, yawning. She put her arm around him. "Should I get up? Do you need to talk?" She smiled. "I remember how Pop used to get up and talk to me, when I was a child. He used to say 'Maggie don't be afraid. There aren't any monsters living under your bed, or in the closet. The only monsters live in our minds...in our imaginations.'

"No," Nicholas said, thoughtfully. "But I think that I'll get up and walk around for awhile. Maybe get some fresh air." He stood up and slipped on his pants. "Just go back to sleep."

"Okay, tiger," Maggie said stretching. "But come back soon, I'll miss you." She looked at him seductively. "I want to entice you to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse...or maybe just make love."

"I'll consider that a promise," Nicholas said, walking out the bedroom door. He opened the door to the adjoining suite. Jeb Hawkes was sleeping with Carolyn. The sound of his snoring filled the room. Nicholas nudged him on his shoulder. "Jeb, we need to talk."

"Man, I'm sleeping...what is the problem?" Jeb asked. Carolyn rolled over in bed. She made a satisfied cooing sound. She was sleeping like a baby.

"Come outside," Nicholas said quietly. "It's a matter of life or death, or rather simply death."

Jeb walked outside. It was a clear night and the Florida sky was full of stars. They looked like a multitude of jewels suspended in the sky. Nicholas's expression was very severe. "Jeb, we have an impossible job ahead of us. But we must succeed. We must kill death itself."

To be continued--