Gifted Curse.

[Etrius]

Every night I can visit one person's dream. One person, one dream. If I involve myself in any way the person won't remember the dream.

My name is Gabriel and this is my gift.

Her name is Clare and she's standing in a vast snowy landscape. Everything is covered in snow and only a silken purple nightgown covers her skin. It's cold, very cold, and her feet are freezing. Wrapping her arms around herself she tries to keep warm and looks around. Behind her are mountains and in front of her a forest. The mountains seem far away, reaching for the heavens, and their base remains hidden in a thick mist. I'm standing in the snow, hidden in that same mist, yet I can see her very clearly. The cold doesn't affect me; it's her dream after all.

The sky is completely white from the clouds and snow gently falls down. The forest in front of her is almost completely blanketed, with the exception of the tree stems which seem to hover in the sky due to their covered trunks. There is absolutely no wind and it's dead silent.
She starts shivering and her own breath forms a fleeting mist before her face. If she doesn't move she will die. She starts walking in the direction of the forest, but the snow cracking beneath her feet makes moving more difficult.

She reaches the forest edge and stops. The trees don't seem to end and it seems like they go on forever. It's not a dark or scary forest, just endless and dead, creating a very ghastly mood.
She takes the step forward and a fog appears behind her to hide the mountains and soon she is surrounded by the forest. There are no leaves or branches on the ground and her feet never meet any roots, there is only snow. I follow her trail at a safe distance, synchronising my steps with hers. She doesn't look back so she doesn't see me.

She pushes the branches out of her way carefully so they don't swipe her face, but every time she touches them they turn into ice and shatter into a fine and cold dust with a soft ringing noise, as if the forest is filled with moving, crystallised chandeliers. The dust floats away like there is some unnoticeable wind blowing through the trees.

However, it is too cold to enjoy this marvel and she can't feel her feet anymore, tears running down her cheeks only to freeze and fly away like sand in a desert. Sobbing and sniffing, she starts moving faster as she reaches her breaking point. Her entire body is shaking and the cold is unbearable. She can't think or focus, waving her arms hysterically and turning her face towards the ground in order to avoid the braches. I feel an immense compassion but I can't help her yet. She can't take any more and after what seems like an eternity of slow, cold torture in a lifeless fairytale world, the endless flow of branches disappears suddenly.

Looking up with tears on her face, she sees that she has reached an open space, a circle of empty snow at least ten meters wide. Wait, not completely empty: in the centre stands a lonely flower made entirely out of ice. It's an Edelweiss.

Wobbling towards the flower, she kneels in front of it. The lack of trees gives the snow room to fall on her once more and I remain hidden inside the sea of trees. Little lights move around in the flower and she reaches out and plucks it. It snaps off with a loud ping that echoes through the forest, and on the spot where the flower stood, the snow melts and a hole becomes visible. She jumps up and backwards so she won't fall in and observes the marvel. The hole is about two meters in diameter and seems to be a cave entrance.  At the edge, where she stood, a staircase made of ice appears, leading down into the cave. She looks down and sees a light downstairs, not a cold icy light but a warm, orange light like a fire, shining up through the hole to touch her face and fill her with warmth. The flower melts in her hands and she stands back up and walks down the staircase towards the light. I follow her swiftly and enter the cave. The hole closes and the way back seals itself. Darkness now surrounds me, hiding me from her.

Walking down the long illuminated tunnel, she suddenly notices that the staircase is no longer made of ice but of wood. Looking back up, she sees that the entire tunnel is lined with torches once every five meters, yet the fire makes no sound. She lets her hands go over the stone walls of the tunnel when suddenly the tunnel ends. At the end there is a short horizontal stretch of tunnel and a grand door ten meters further. It's a thick double door made out of wood and several meters high. It seems dusty and forlorn, no sign of a bell or a way to knock.
Clare walks over to the door while being careful not to step on any sharp rocks, and, stretching out her arm, she touches the door. A shock goes through it, causing the dust to fly off. Without a sound the door swings open and reveals a magnificent view.

It's an enormous castle hall. Staircases, flags, doorways, pillars everywhere, completely symmetrical, and everything is made of marble. It is old and abandoned though, no sign of life, dark and dusty. The only light source is the light that shines through the grand windows. They look like those in a church, showing colourful scenes of unknown events. Light rays shine through the glass, casting surfaces of coloured light in the shapes of the windows on the floor, a true pool of colours, and the dust shines visibly in the light. If this is only the hall then the castle itself must be behemothical. Very peculiar is the dead silence that rules here as it ruled her entire dream; a giant castle without sound.

Clare recovered from her amazement and takes her first step through the doorway, her every step echoeing through the halls.  The door starts to close and I slip through; right now she would see me if she didn't have her back turned at me. I'm standing right in front of the door with nowhere to hide behind, 10 meters separate us and my heart is beating in my throat. But then the door closes with a loud thud and she turns around to finds only a shadows and dust. As I walked over the beams just below the ceiling, I wipe some sweat from my brow and resume my vigil.

Reaching the main staircase, she takes a few steps but then she stops and tilts her head as if she hears something. I sit down and listen as well.
A sound? Yes, it's music, but unlike any I have ever heard before. Is this a figment of her imagination or has she hear it before?
The music is so soft and quiet, like a sweet whisper moving through the hall, but it doesn't echo... Strange, since her footsteps do echo through the shadows.

Clare starts moving and follows the music. It comes from upstairs. I observe her closely and am able to see her face for the first time. I smile. Shoulder length dark brown hair, hazel eyes, beautiful face. Gracefully she moves up the stairway. Up until now I could only see her back but now that I'm sitting up here I can watch her freely. I shake my head. "Wake up boy, you're here for a reason."

As she climbs higher the music gets louder, and she seems to knows where she is going. I start walking across the ceiling, my hair falling down. Suddenly she stops in front of an open doorway, hesitates a moment and then steps through. I drop down right in front of the door a few seconds later. The music is very clear now; I can hear harpsichords, violins, cellos and many more instruments. The music is resplendent but nothing like it exists in the real world.

Through the door is a giant ballroom. It's magnificent, large windows open up in the walls, grand chandeliers hang from the ceiling, carpets cover the floor and at the end of the room there is a balcony. At both sides of it run two curved stairs which lead up, to where two thrones are placed in the middle, made of gold, wood and silk; yet here also everything is covered with dust and the only light shines through the windows. Clare stands in the middle of the room and looks around while I stand in the doorway, leaning against the frame with my shoulder.

Then she starts dancing to the music. Like a solo ballroom dance she holds an imaginary person and starts to sway and move. One can not comprehend the grace this woman possesses.

Then the chandeliers light up, the dust swirls up and vanishes and the room becomes filled with light. The music starts to swell. People come floating through the windows and they start to dance, wearing long dresses and suits that originate from a time long forgotten. Light seems to surround Clare and starts to swirl around her. She starts to glow, and then the light runs down her body as if it were water and the nightgown is replaced by a marvellous golden dress. Men start taking turns dancing with her with swift movements and she laughs and smiles while I stand dumbstruck by all this beauty.

I don't know how long they keep dancing, but I enjoy it, as does she since I remain unnoticed by her. Then the music seems to reach a certain pause; it doesn't stop but it has passed its peak. The person who was dancing with her bows to her and steps back in the crowd without showing her his back. That would have been the perfect time for me to step in and offer my hand, but I restrain myself.

Suddenly the crowd bows and moves out of the way to make two paths leading to the balcony stairs. She stands still for a moment but then moves to the stairs on the right. An invisible music box begins to play as she walks up the stairs while holding up the front part of her dress. She stops in front of the thrones. Looking over the balcony to the people that all smile at her she gets closer to the one on the right, and after a small hesitation she sits down. The people start to applaud. "Brava 'Reine' Clare," I think to myself with a smile on my face.

Then 3 claps sound and echo through the room and everything turns dusty and dark again and the crowd is gone, the music has turned into a creepy lullaby, the golden dress has disappeared and been replaced by her nightgown again. Surprised she stares at the throne next to her. It's no longer empty and a shadow in the shape of a man sits in it.

"Brava 'Reine' Clare!" he says with a cold and mocking tone. "Care to dance with me now?"  A set of teeth appears on the shadowy face, forming a grin as he offers his hand.

"No," she says with a frightful look. She's shivering even more than when she was out in the snow.

"Good, since I'm not much of a dancer." He stands up and moves towards her.

"No!" she yells and starts running for her life. Panting and sobbing she runs to the door, towards me. The shadow laughs and jumps from the balcony, like a bat he soars through the sky for a moment and lands without a sound. In an instant he has caught up with her and pushes her in the back, causing her to fall. He jumps like a tiger, planning to throw himself on her. But in midair my hand closes around his throat and holds him in the air. The shadow starts to hiss and growls: "Who the hell are you?!"

I bend my arm, bringing his face close to mine. "I'm Gabriel." Then I extend my arm and throw him far across the room. "And I'm here for you."

He smashes into the balcony, leaving a crater, but I leave him no time to recover. In an instant I stand before him and grab his throat once again, this time with my left arm. Lifting him up without any effort, I smash him against the broken wall.

"Begone." As I whisper these words a green flame ignites in my hand.

"You're not welcome here." The flame surrounds my whole arm. "You may have harmed her in the real world but you will not touch her in this one!"

I ram my fist through his chest and he begins to burn, his screams fill the room and echo through the entire castle. Then in a flash of light he explodes and with him all the dust is blown away into oblivion, like little embers on the wind. When the last echoes disappear I turn around, the light returns and the castle begins to fill with music again.

Clare is still on the floor and I walk towards her. Still in shock and full of disbelief she stares at me. I offer my hand with a smile.  She takes it and I help her back up.

"He won't be haunting you anymore," I say.

She looks at me with large eyes and hugs me all of a sudden, her head on my chest, catching me totally off guard, not knowing what to do next.

"Thank you, but who are you?" she says, raising her head to look me in the eyes.

"I'm Gabriel," I reply.

"Gabriel... I'll remember that," she says with a broad smile.

I stop smiling. "No you won't, because it's time for you to wake up," and I kiss her.

Everything goes black.



I open my eyes and I wake up. I'm lying in my bed and it's 7 am. Just in time for work.
I get dressed and eat my breakfast, grab my keys and open the front door of my apartment. The door next to me opens at the exact same time and a pretty young girl steps out. She notices me and greets me with a smile.

"Hey there," I say, while closing my door."Good morning. Had a good night's sleep?"

"Hey Gabriel" she replies with a smile. "Yes, thank you. I slept so well!"

"How come?"

"The nightmares have stopped, for the first time since... You know."

"Let's hope it stays that way," I say with a wide smile.

"I think it will."

"How come?" I ask again.

"I don't know, just a hunch." She closes her door. "Too bad I can't remember what I dreamed about."

"Yeah... Too bad."

She smiles with her eyes closed. "Gotta go now, bye!" and she skips away.

"Bye bye!" I reply. She disappears behind the corner and I whisper: "Be safe... Clare."

Every night I can visit one person's dream. One person, one dream. If I involve myself in any way the person won't remember the dream.

My name is Gabriel and this is my curse.

I turn around and walk towards the stairs when suddenly: "Hey Gabriel!?"

I look behind me and see Clare peeking from behind the corner.

"What is it?" I yell back.

"Do you like ballrooms?"

[Ereinion]

Een mooi gegeven voor een verhaal. 

[Etrius]

Een mooi gegeven voor een verhaal. 

Ik ben beginnen schrijven door mijn vriendin, vroeger tekende ik enkel.

[Ereinion]

Als je wilt, mag je de tekeningen ook wel delen. Altijd leuk om te zien.

Dus je vriendin schrijft ook?

[Etrius]

Als je wilt, mag je de tekeningen ook wel delen. Altijd leuk om te zien.

Dus je vriendin schrijft ook?

Ja, zij hoopt later haar verhalen uit te kunnen brengen.
Ik zal zien voor mijn tekeningen, toch bedankt.