“The world is a vampire, sent to drain. Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames. And what do I get, for my pain? Betrayed desires, and a piece of game.”

It was Friday and today was a half-day. All around, everyone seemed relaxed. Takeru was out in space when someone behind yelled: “Hi Teddy!!!” The boy looked up. Aneko stood over him grinning. “Hey there.” Takeru answered. “You seem better today.” his girl said. “Oro?” the boy said. “Oh. Arigato.” Aneko grinned wider.

    So far, Takeru’s day was fine. Up until P.E. that is. He was playing basketball with his team when it happened. Takeru was resting when he looked into one of the corners. The same corpse from the nightmare was hanging from the ceiling. Parasites and all. Takeru blinked wildly. The image became hazy. Although it was just an illusion, the site still brought the boy fear.

Then, the whistle blew. “Hey Takashi!” the coach yelled. One of the boys threw a basketball at him. Takeru snapped out of it and caught the ball just in time. “Very impressive Takashi,” said the coach. “Now get back to the game!” Takeru nodded and ran to the court.

Like I said before, Takeru’s day was fine. But the night would be bitter.

*Nightmare starts*

    The cell door opened. Takeru looked up. Another slender man stood in the doorway. The boy looked rough. Along with the beatings, he had a hard night sleeping. (Or rather, nai sleep at all.) The floor was hard and cold and little critters kept biting his warm skin. Takeru looked awful.

    “All right you piece of shit!” the man said. “Let’s go.” The boy’s head jerked up. Did he hear what he just heard? “Nani?” he asked. The man lost his patience. “Get up baka!” he yelled. Takeru tried to do so. But since, he was in such pain, he couldn’t do it quickly. So the slender man bit his lip and struck Takeru with a leather cord. The boy fell back down. “Now get up, stupid!!!!” the man yelled. The boy complied in painful fear. “Now come on, asshole!!!” the man yelled. Takeru complied fearfully. The man followed closely behind.

    The boy walked down the hall with a limp. The hall seemed longer than last night. It didn’t matter; this was hell, total hell. “Where are we going?” Takeru asked. The only answer given was a whiplash across the back with the leather cord. Oh how it stung! Takeru clinched his teeth in pain as he sucked in a mouthful of air. “Iie talking, dumass!” the thin man hissed. The boy nodded in pain slowly. “Now keeping walking!” the man snapped. Takeru complied.

    The two came to this breath-taking site. Gold, silver, silk, and other riches were all over the place. Takeru was in shock. How can such beautiful house such ugly hell?

    “Move it along you piece of shit!” the guard yelled. Takeru snapped out of his thoughts and started moving. The man whipped the boy to make him go faster. Takeru did so painfully. The guard followed behind.

    The scent of perfume teased the prisoner. The smell of corpses plagued him all night. The hall smelt of cinnamon and nutmeg. Takeru wanted to stop and smell it all but he knew he would be flogged so he kept on. The guard grinned. “He’s learning his place!” he thought. Then he followed behind.

    They came to their final destination. 217 marked the room number. Takeru looked at the guard. “Go in!” the man snapped. Takeru slid the door open slowly. The smell of sandalwood greeted him. The boy fell into shock at the site. Silk and riches were everywhere. Beauty was all around.

    Then, someone cleared their throat. The boy and the guard looked up. A lovely young woman was reclined back on a royal aka sofa. She made a “go away” hand gesture and the guard obeyed. Takeru was lost in a daze. The girl cleared her throat again. The boy snapped out of it.

    “You must be the new slave.” the girl said. Takeru face vaulted. “Anyway,” said she. “I have some work for you.” The boy’s eyes grew big. Hell had returned.

    For hours, Takeru worked in this young girl’s room. He cleaned it, watched after her nekos, and kept charming her. All the girl did was bark orders at him and admire herself in the mirror. She would constantly drop things and poor have to pick them up. The girl laughed as he did so. The nekos kept scratching his hands and arms. Oh! It was a total nightmare!

    By the end of the night, Takeru was dead tired in his cell. And to top it off, he had nothing to eat. “I’m in hell.” the boy thought as he fell to the cold stone floor.

    *End of Nightmare*