Dreams that kill (standard:horror, 529 words)
Author: Rusty Cobwebs	Added: Dec 23 2006	Views/Reads: 3002/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A man has a dream that could be the death of him.

My eyelids are heavy, like steel. Weighted down and drooping. My eyes
want to close, my body and brain thirst for sleep. But I deny them. I 
must deny them. If I fall asleep, if I grant my brain its medicine, it 
will be the last thing I ever do. 

I wasn't always an insomniac. Hell, I'm not one now. I just can't go to
sleep. I used to sleep almost regularly, with little trouble. Until the 
dream, or nightmare from a certain perspective, started. 

It all centered on that one, alien, horrible creature, the winged beast.
I first saw it a week ago. It was one of those bad nights for sleep, 
with tossing and turning, heat and chill, simply uncomfortable. After 
hours of staring at the ceiling, I was finally able to drift away. It 
was a light, troubled sleep mostly the product of exhaustion. I 
remember my phone, vibrating on the table and I remember lacking the 
energy to answer. 

Sometime later I was shook from my slumber by a strange buzzing. It
seemed to me a symphony of insect noises, and my eyes fell again on the 
ceiling while locating the disturbance. Expecting textured surface, I 
glanced up to discover the most intriguing and unique bug I had ever 
seen. From the neighbor's floodlights, I could make out this horribly 
interesting and equally revolting specimen. It was a long black 
arthropod with six legs like dark twigs and leathery veined wings. It 
was waxy, almost lustrous, with two giant faceted eyes, much like that 
of a spider's. From the maw protruded a long, thin, proboscis. 

I was instantly concerned. I blinked, and it remained, crawling
carefully amongst the small ridges of plaster on the ceiling. I stared 
at it for a long time, watching. The waxy appendages moving slowly but 
calculatingly, it buzzed the whole way with its unique insect 
compellation. It was truly a hodgepodge of insects. I dismissed the 
creature as a sleepy hallucination, and laid my head down again. 
Seconds later the buzzing grew louder, more pronounced. To my great 
disbelief, I felt the pointed appendages, six of them, grip into my 
hair. The creature had time to pause, perhaps sniffing, before 
tentatively moving its proboscis along my ear. I became frightened and 
swatted it away. 

I woke hitting myself, with the memory of the bug still clear. But the
creature itself was nowhere to be found. 

From that time on I knew I could never go to sleep again. Last time the
bug knew what to do, it was just hesitant. Next time it wouldn't be the 
same. Next time I would feel the prick of its needle puncturing my 
eardrum and beyond, draining my brain. 

I stocked up on caffeine pills, mountain dew, hell I even scored a few
grams of coke. But, it's nearly been a week, and I don't know how long 
I can hold out. I suppose another few days would be enough, but I feel 
relieved after writing this down. It's tired me a great deal reliving 
the scare. I can feel myself swaying. 

No. I won't go to sleep. I can't go to sleep. Must.....stay....awa......



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