Awake

This’ll be the last Halloween story for this year.  Apologies to @MagicalFirefly, this one is much more twisted than the previous one.

Carlie woke up, looking around, not sure where she was.  The dream was so vivid that she was certain it was real.  But, no, she was safe, in her room.

Ever since the date two nights ago where she confided in her secret desires, this had been happening. It seemed like she just kept waking up.

She thought she might be in The Matrix and that Keanu Reeves might come and save her, but that wasn’t the case.  No, Carlie was in a real world.  She still ate and drank and went to the restroom, but that’s when things started to get weird.

Just in the nick of time, as the clock struck noon, her door opened, and the masked men came in. Carlie sighed, knowing what was next. She decided to wear a robe this time so that they wouldn’t have to rip her clothes off like last time, but she found herself hogtied on her bed, a gag in her mouth.

Carlie always struggled. She always had to find a way out of here, out of this predicament, but there was no way.  But, this time, something different happened.

One of the guys brought in an electric fan, front end off, and decorated with many different colors of feathers.  Carlie shook her head, not wanting to know what they had in mind as they turned it on and pressed the feathers into her bound up feet, tickling her endlessly before….

Carlie woke up.  Breathing deeply as the dream ended.  Again, no sign at all that anything had been disturbed. But why did her feet feel like that pleasing sensation when they’d been tickled by feathers?  That hadn’t happened, except in that dream.

She looked around, trying to find some way to stop it.  Was she still asleep?  She didn’t know, but she watched as the time ticked away.  This time she didn’t even bother with her robe, just waiting as the time ticked.

At noon, the masked men again came into her place.  Carlie knew screaming wouldn’t help, but she screamed anyway.  If this was all just in her head, then nobody would hear.  If it wasn’t, then nobody cared.

The guys tied her up, as usual, and gagged her, but, this time, they brought out a sharpened katana blade.  Carlie eyed it, not sure what they were going to do to her this time, before one of the guys placed the blade on her ankles and started to slice her feet off. Carlie screamed in pain before…

Carlie woke up.  Gasping for air, she reached down to find that her feet were still attached.  As she looked around her room, she had an idea.  She turned one of the pictures around, back facing outwards, before going and getting set up for this round.  Was it all just a nested nightmare?  Carlie wasn’t sure.

She decided to look up dreams online, although she had to admit that, if it was a dream, she couldn’t really trust it.  Dreams were, apparently, the mind’s way of categorizing and sorting stuff out.

I mean, sure, Carlie had fantasized about some of this stuff for years, ever since that one video. She’d loved the ideas, but she never thought it would happen like this.  Not in such a strange fashion.

She wasn’t watching the time when, just at noon, her door flung open and the guys in masks appeared again.

Carlie screamed, as usual, but it didn’t affect them at all.  What were they doing to her?  Who were they supposed to represent?

This time, as the hogtied and gagged her, they presented a razorblade.  Carlie’s eyes went wide when they brought it to her throat and started to cut into her neck, but she didn’t black out or anything as they completely cut her head off.  As she felt her head fall to the mattress….

She woke up again.  Carlie felt her neck, still feeling where they were cutting her head off.  How could dreams feel so real?  But she had an ace, something that would tell her it was all just a dream as she looked at the wall…and saw the picture was still backwards, like she placed it last time through.

Maybe it was a time loop? Maybe she was stuck, reliving the same few hours over and over again?  But her picture shouldn’t still be reversed, should it?

No, she decided, time loops are pure science-fiction.  But then, how would she be able to explain the strangeness of this nested dream. She could still feel the tickling on her feet and still feel when they cut her feet off.  She could also feel the blade still passing through her neck, but she confirmed, she was in one piece.

And she could remember the first part of the dream, begging the guys to know who they are and what they wanted.  No response, just the usual hogtieing and something strange going on.  Carlie couldn’t remember how many times it had happened, just the last four.  How long had she been in it?

As noon came, Carlie braced herself.  She had no idea what the guys had in store for her as they burst in this time, but she was ready for them.  Carlie swung at one of them with a bat, surprised to hear him grunt as it connected. He went down, like he was real, before the next guy advanced and grabbed the bat out of her hand.  He connected with her gut, making her double over.

For a dream, the pain felt real.  He snarled at her. “That was a mistake, Carlie.”

She sat there, shocked, as she realized that dreams don’t hurt.  And, unless it was a hero story, the other occupants don’t get hurt either. What was going on here?

She didn’t have much time to think about it as she was again hogtied and gagged.  The guy who’d overpowered her asked the other one “You okay Matt?”

Matt stumbled into the room, clutching his head before acknowledging that he’d be fine.  He asked if Matt wanted the honors as he drew out a large scimitar, looking razor sharp and dangerous.  Carlie shuddered to think about what might happen to her this time. “Too bad, Carlie.  We’ve had a lot of fun the past little while, and you’ve felt your fantasies, and everything they bring.”

Carlie’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice finally.  She tried to accuse, tried to scream, as Matt brought the scimitar onto her back at her waist.

With one swift slice, Carlie felt the blade go through her backbone and into her body.  The pain of it radiated out through her whole self as she tried screaming but could only manage a few tears and muffled begging to stop.

One more slice and Carlie felt the blade halfway through her.  The pain grew as it completely severed every nerve the blade came in contact with.

Carlie didn’t know why he wanted to do this to her, kill her in as many ways as possible.  Sure, she told him about her fantasies, about being tickled endlessly, about being tied up, about having her feet cut off and about being beheaded.  Finally, she told him about her desire to be cut in half.

But why the reset? Why go back to normal after every time?

Matt finished slicing her in half and Carlie expected to wake up, but found, instead, that she was still there.  In two pieces, but, somehow, alive.

Carlie turned to her tormentors, not sure what was going to happen next before…

Carlie woke up again, this time certain that she was really awake.  As she lay there, she had to laugh.  Had it all really just been a very bad dream?  Was it because of something she ate the night before?

She reached over but found something off.

Carlie uncovered herself and practically gasped in utter shock.  From where her head was resting, it was clear that it had been removed. Her body had been divided at the waist. She could still feel everything, but she could also feel that it wasn’t in one piece.

She tried flexing her toes and tried not to scream as she felt them flex under the covers…flat.

Somehow, even though she swore it was a dream, it had all come to pass.

Carlie was certain she never would sleep again.