The Dead Man’s
Dream

"How could
you?!" A young man in his late teen’s cries with a pained gasp and fear in
his eyes. “No, you can't! No... NOOooo......" He screams as his voice
fades away.

            I wake up in a cold
sweat. “Again..." I say with a sigh. “It was just a dream. A stupid
dream." I say a bit relieved. But why was I having these dreams? They were
so realistic that it seemed as if they would come to life. I hated these
dreams. They scared me. That much I could freely admit seeing as I have missed
two weeks of school because of them. I have been having them every night so I
never get any sleep. Well obviously I'm asleep or I would not be dreaming. But
I never feel rested so I have trouble focusing to do even simple things. “When
will these dreams end?" I ask myself as I get dressed and head downstairs
in the now familiar fatigued daze that I'm in every morning.

             “What’s
wrong? Are you ok, Reiji?" A lady in an apron asks.

             “Yeah......
Sorry mom. I'm just tired that's all. I had another of those nightmares."

             " Oh......
Maybe you should stay home today." She says in a concerned voice.

             “I’m ok. I can't
miss any more days. I have been out too much. I'm so far behind it will be very
hard for me to catch up. Plus if I'm out too much more then I will be held back
because I have missed too much school. I'm not going to repeat. I won't deal
with that. I will just have to go and try to focus." I reply with much
more feeling then I felt.

             “Well
ok. Don't push yourself too hard. If you feel bad you can come home." Mom
says.

            
“Fine." I say. I finish eating a stack of pancakes with syrup. I grab my
light blue bag that was leaning against the wall and walk out the door. I
decide to jog to my bus stop, as I used to run track it was not hard, hoping it
would wake me up. When I arrive my two friends; Ren and his little sister Luna
are already there waiting for the bus. They turn in unison as I jog up to them.

             "Reiji! So
you decided to join us today?" Ren asks.

            
"Yeah." I say with a sigh. "Sorry I have been out so much
lately. I've been having this weird nightmare every night for the past two
weeks. Because of that I can't seem to sleep well. As tired as I have been I
would probably trip over nothing but air..."

            
"Yikes!! What kind of nightmare?" Luna asks.

             “Um.... I
don't think it's appropriate to tell you. You would have nightmares too. Plus,
you're ten. This dream would be rated R." I say.

            
“Oh.... Well whatever. Hey, there's the bus!" Luna cries.

             I look
in the direction Luna is pointing and sure enough the bus we ride is gliding
down the street toward us. I cast a glance at Ren that says 'I will tell you
later.' He nods in acknowledgement. We get on the bus. As I look around I
realize that
there is no one else on the bus yet.

             "Hey where
is everyone? This is usually the last stop. But there is no one else here. So
where did everyone go?" I inquire.

            
"Oh. Well no one was at the other five stops. I waited the normal amount
of time, but no one showed up at any of them. So I moved on. You were the only
ones waiting." The bus driver responds with a vexed look on his face.

I look at Ren,
then at Luna. The bus driver stops at the school to let us off. I rush to get
out. You know those feelings like there is danger around? That’s what I was
feeling the whole ride. As I get off I grab
Ren’s arm who in turn grabs Luna’s hand.

“Hey! This is not my stop. Why are we getting off?” Luna
asks.

“Because I said
so.” Ren replies.

“I … I have a bad
feeling. There is something weird going on.” I say.

“Yeah. The last
time you grabbed me like that was when that giant boulder nearly fell on me when
we went to explore that cave. I figured that something was wrong for you to
grab me like that. That’s why I pulled Luna off the bus too. Sadly it has
already left.” Ren says.

I look back to see
that what he said was true. The bus had left. Wow, that was quick. Something is
definitely wrong. The bus driver normally waits till everyone from his bus is
inside the school. Why would he leave so quickly?

Suddenly a frigid
chill runs up my spine. I realize what’s happening. Too late though. We can’t
leave. The bus is the only thing that could have gotten in or out of the area
safely. But it had already left. This meant we were stuck with no choice but to
move forward and go into the school to face what I know is to come.

“Come on. I don’t
like the looks of this but… We have no choice…” I say my voice small with
fright.

“What’s wrong? Why
are you so scared? I’ve never seen you like this.” Ren questions.

I look at Ren and
Luna. They both had worried looks on their faces crossed by fear. I could not
tell whether they were scared and worried about me or if they were scared
because of this morning’s events so far. Or perhaps it was a little of both.
Either way I had to tell them something.

“Remember I said I
had that dream several days in a row? Well, I think I understand it a bit
better now. And that’s not a good thing.” I say.

“I… I don’t like
the sound of that…” Luna says shakily.

“Neither do I. But
there’s nothing we can do is there Reiji?” Ren asks.

“Sadly, no… All we
can do is go in.” I answer with more confidence than I felt. I had seen this
happen fourteen times now in my dreams. One more time was no better.

“I really don’t
want Luna to have to see this. I have a feeling this won’t go well.” I say in a
tense voice.

Seeing this happen in my waking
world is extremely scary but I have to stop this before it gets out of hand.

We all walk toward
the school. There is an eerie silence about the area. If this was a movie,
there would be suspenseful music playing.

Then something catches my eye. A
light, there is someone else here. The band teacher is here. I look at Luna.

“Go into that
room. Don’t come out till one of us comes to get you.” I say in what I hope is
a commanding tone.

“Ok!!” She says
cheerfully apparently completely oblivious to the rising tension. She was so
afraid earlier but that had not lasted long even with everything else going on
around her.

“Well, now she
won’t see the outcome. That’s one less thing on my mind.” I say with a heavy
sigh.

            “What do
you mean outcome? Do you know what is going on? If so, explain or I’m going
with Luna.” Ren says firmly. He gives me a look that says he is serious. But if
what I think is going to happen happens, then Ren is there. Should I just
refuse and end it here? Or should I go through with this and maybe not get out
unscathed? All this goes through my head in about a minute.

“I… The dream. It
showed me and you at school. And someone does not get out. The person is our
age. I never see the face of either of the fighters. But I could hear voices. I
think I know who loses the fight but… that makes it worse. I don’t want to say
more.” I say on the verge of tears.

“Oh, sorry, I did
not mean to upset you. I guess we should just keep going.” Ren says softly.

“Yeah…” I reply
just as softly.

We start walking
and we get to a big open courtyard like area. In the middle are two lines
parallel to each other. Around the open area are tiers of stone meant to seat
people.

“It looks like an
arena. A fighting arena.” Ren exclaims in wonder. “How could we not have
noticed this before? Hey, how about we spar? It’s been a while since we last
went toe-to-toe.” Ren asks.

“What?! Even after
what I just said you really want to fight?” I ask surprised and scared that he
would ask something like that even though I told him about my dream.

“No, not fight,
spar. Plus, you said it yourself. You never saw the two fighter’s faces. How do
you know it was us in the fight? Are you just using that as an excuse not to
spar with me? Are you chicken?” Ren asks taunting me.

“Fine, you win. I
will spar with you. A friendly spar, not a fight.” I say with a sigh. This is
too close to my dream I have to stop this somehow, and fast.

We get behind the
lines on opposite sides of the arena. I’m ready, even though this is like deja-vu
for me; I’m going to give it my all until the end.

I dash at Ren and
try to jab at him. He sidesteps and chops at my side. The impact stings but I
move forward again to punch at his stomach. He deflects my strike and punches
me in the arm, hard.

“Ow! That hurt
Ren! This is a friendly spar, not a fight remember? Let’s try not to hurt each
other ok?” I ask.

A wicked grin
passes quickly over Ren’s pale white face. His whole demeanor changes. Instead
of the calm, cool, collected, but passionate friend I have known since grade
school, I look up to find a sadistic, evil person that sent waves of fear
though me. This person was not my friend.

“Don’t kid
yourself. You knew this was coming, didn’t you? That’s why you made sure Luna
was not with us. You knew this would end up more than a spar.” Ren says
angrily. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife. “This is the end for
you.” He says with a sneer.

I looked at Ren
with a sad look on my face. The one person who had been my friend when no one
else would. The one person I trusted above all else. My one trusted partner was
about to end my life.

“Why are you doing
this Ren? You’re my friend. Why would you want to hurt me?” I scream. As many
times as I had seen this happen before, it still made no sense.

            “You know
why. You get everything you want. You have always made better grades than me.
You even have a girl following you around like a little puppy. She loves you
yet you never even noticed her. You took the one person I have ever really
loved from me and you have not said a single word to her. I have nothing now.”
Ren says both angry and sad. He howls at me like some feral animal and lunges
at me to stab me. I move aside at the last second and jump back out of reach.

“Ren! That’s not
true. You have your mom and your little sister Luna. They both care for you a
lot. And… and you have me. I’m your friend. I would never intentionally hurt
you. Izuna went for me because that is what she wanted. I never asked for her
to like me.” I say pleadingly.

“Silence! You are
no friend of mine! You are nothing but an enemy to me. One that must die!” Ren
says in a cold, menacing tone. His voice chilled me from the inside out. It
chilled me to the bone and sent a shiver up my spine. He was serious. That was
a bad thing in this situation. When Ren gets serious he doesn’t stop until he
succeeds in whatever he is doing.

He dashes at me
again but this time he hits me. He drives the knife into my stomach. I gasp in
pain, tears forming in my grey eyes. I sink to the ground and oddly enough Ren
follows cushioning the fall. I can barely see through my foggy gaze, but what I
see makes me sick to my stomach. I see a grin of satisfaction on Ren’s face. My
heart sinks. He’s happy that he hurt me. He likes this.

Ren, you… I can’t…
believe… this is… what you really want. I can see why you are mad at me but
this going too far…” I say in pain and sadness.

“Shut Up!! You
will die here. You will never get in my way again! You…”

“Ren, listen! You
really want Izuna right? What will she think of you if you kill me?” I
interrupt him, hoping in vain to stop him.

           
“Enough of your begging! It has no effect on me. I will
kill you. And there is nothing you can do about it.” He snarls.

           
This is bad but anything I say never seems to reach him. It looks like I
couldn’t change things after all…

           
Ren cuts off my thoughts by turning the knife and slowly pushing upward. He
obviously wants me to suffer first.

           
“Ren, how could you…” I gasp. “No, you can’t! No…” I say the words I had heard
so many times in my dreams. But at the last minute I decide to add to it. “I’m
sorry Ren… I should have noticed this… before now. I should… have tried to stop
it… before it got this far. I… Now you only have one person to kill off if you
want to be alone. Your sister. Now that I’m gone she is all that’s left. Your
goody-two-shoes mother will hate you for this. Izuna will never love you after
you finish me here. I was your only connection to her that could have brought
you together. But…” I’m cut off as Ren drives the knife home. A wave of pain
wracks my body. I take one last shallow breath and then nothing. Everything
goes black.

           
A few minutes later I find myself floating over Ren and my now still body. I
can see the red stain on my old yellow shirt, like someone tried to mix ketchup
and mustard. I gasp in surprise both at my situation and what I see below me.
The smile has faded from Ren’s face and there are tears in his nearly blood red
eyes.

           
“Reiji…! How… how could I have done this to you…? I was so mad that I didn’t
think straight… I’m… so sorry… Please, forgive me…” Ren whispers as he takes
his knife from my body. He flips it around as if to stab himself.

           
I propel my spirit forward somehow and grab his wrist. He must have felt my presence
because he looks up toward me as if he could see me.

           
“Ren! If you can hear me, don’t kill yourself. Go on with life. When it’s your
time, you will see me again. Go and get Luna and tell the police. If they
choose to let you go, for one reason or another, then move on. If they choose
to hold you there in jail, then it’s your fault. But then you might get a
second chance. So might I. But you won’t if you kill yourself now. Do the right
thing.” I say and let go of his wrist.

           
“Reiji? Is that you? Ok… I will… And, I’m sorry. I was angry and hateful. That
was not the real me. I… I will turn myself in. I will get Luna home then go.”
He says with a sad resolution.

           
And that is what he does. After scrubbing his hands clean so as not to frighten
Luna. It turns out nobody had been in the band room after all and that the
teacher had forgot to turn off the light. He takes Luna home.

           
“Stay here where it is safe. If I come back then we will play a game. If not
then wait for mom to get home. Tell her I went out to do something nearby and
that I said I would come back soon.” He says. Luna nods, her stark white
ponytail bobbing, realizing the enormous tension in the air.

Ren goes to the
police and confesses that he had killed me. The police lady takes him back and
he retells the story to the chief of police too. The chief says that it is a
violation of the law and that he would have to face the punishment.

“Oh, no! Don’t put
me in jail! I have heard many terrible rumors. People like me don’t last long
there! I don’t want to die!” Ren exclaimed.

“Don’t worry. We
won’t let anything happen to you. You’ll be safe here. But I’m afraid that you
will have a cell mate. Just don’t mention anything. They won’t be told what you
did.” The chief replies reassuringly.

“Are you sure?
I…I…” Ren stutters.

“It’s ok. You will
be fine. We will take care of the clean-up. But your family must be notified.
You are a minor after all.”

“I turn 18
tomorrow sir… Please don’t say anything until after the trial is public.” Ren
pleads.

“Fine. But you are
staying here. Officer please cuff him and take him to cell 3.”

The lady police
officer who saw Ren first cuffs his hands and takes him back. Sadly it is not
more than a week later that he is found dead, strangled in the shower area. Ren
was surprised by how fast it had happened from the point that he had stood next
to me at the bus stop until now, his own death, that it didn’t even feel real
anymore. But he knew it was so when his spirit parted he looked around to find
me. I had already moved on because I could not wait for him. I had never
expected him to die so soon or I would have tried to wait. But even though my
spirit was not visible now I was still watching. I tried to call out to him.
But he could no longer hear my voice. He was so distraught that he started to
sink. I tried to reach for him, but to no avail. He sank until he was beyond my
view. He was gone. And I would never see my most trusted partner and friend
again.