IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD // open, nightmare

[ATBASH CIPHER.]

ATBASH CIPHER

how could you just walk away and leave me here?

//Small gore warning in the sixth (6th) paragraph!

Dream demons typically didn't need to sleep, but Atbash knew that possessing a mortal body did. The body itself needed sleep to be able to function, so she didn't entirely mind letting herself go to sleep at night. It was honestly relaxing, if she was honest. She liked being able to go into a world of her own and be happy. She often dreamed of Snowbound and of her groupmates, but tonight was different.

Atbash could feel the heat of flames on her body as she stood in a dark area, and the smell of smoke was heavy in the air. The sound of flames cackling made her fur stand up on end, but when she tried to move, she ended up hitting a wall - almost as if she was in a box. Atbash couldn't see the flames, but she could tell they were near. Her breath was coming in quick gasps, almost as if she was losing air; which was true. She was practically suffocating from the smoke, and no matter how much she tried making herself smaller, her chest still hurt and burned...

Now if Atbash knew what was going on, she would've been able to stop it. But she was too much in panic to realize that this was only a dream - or rather, a nightmare - and wasn't able to shake herself out of it. Atbash trembled in her sleep, letting out small cries as she moved around in her dream, trying to find a way to escape or make herself smaller.

Atbash closed her eyes as she thought she heard the sound of the flames get closer, but they suddenly stopped. It took her a couple of moments to finally relax, but once she did, she found that she was able to escape the box and started walking towards a white landscape. There was still panic coursing through her, and her fur was still on end, but there was no sign of flames, or even anything that was charred from them.
"Hello?" The demon called out with a frown. She didn't like how empty this landscape felt, but she continued on walking in a straight line. That was the only thing she could think of going: forward. Her pawsteps were careful, as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue walking.

In reality, Atbash had stopped crying out loud now, but her body was still tense and shaking. She still couldn't shake herself awake, but that was mostly because she was still unaware of what was going on. Her subconscious knew that this wasn't like her normal dreams, but it clearly wasn't alarmed to this being a nightmare just yet.

Atbash decided to pause in her walking, frowning in thought. No matter how far she walked, she just ended up nowhere. The landscape stayed the same, and didn't seem to change for miles. It was just white, pure white, everywhere. "Hello?" She tried calling out again, ears pricked as she tried listening for a sound. There was nothing for a few heartbeats, before she heard the sound of running pawsteps coming towards her. Atbash turned her head around at the last moment to see bright yellow fur fling itself at her, knocking her to the ground. Atbash let out a cry of alarm, closing her eyes as her head hit the ground. She could feel claws digging into her shoulders and clenched her teeth in pain. She eventually forced herself to open her eyes and was greeted with the sight of her brother, Caesar, baring his teeth at her.
"Caesar?" She said in alarm, eyes widening at the sight of him. She shook beneath him, unable to control her body at this moment. She didn't know what he was going to do to her, but the pure rage in his eyes weren't reassuring. "Caesar, what are you -"
"You betrayed me." Caesar interrupted her with a snarl, digging his claws deeper into her skin. Atbash gasped in pain, her heart beating frantically. She had no time to respond to his comment when he lowered his head, opening his jaws and biting her neck. Atbash froze where she was, unable to react to what Caesar was doing. Fear prevented her to. Caesar started pulling back on her neck, and pain coursed through her as she felt his teeth tear into her skin. Atbash tried pushing Caesar off of her now, but the other demon jerked and -

Atbash let out a yowl of terror as she was forced awake, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She was still trembling in her nest, and she could feel tears flowing down her face. She slowly moved to curl herself into a ball, allowing herself to cry. She knew by now that what she had was a nightmare, but usually she was in control of them. Usually she could stop them, control them. But this time was different, she had no control over the situation whatsoever. But that's not what terrified her, she didn't entirely care about not being able to control what was happening. What scared her was the nightmare itself. Of Caesar, specifically him trying to kill her. She honestly, without a doubt, believed he truly would attempt that. And it was horrifying to know your own littermate - one you thought you had been close to - would kill you in order to be happy. Of course having a near-death experience, even if it wasn't real, was terrifying, and that's why Atbash was curled up in a ball, trying to calm herself down by crying.

//tl;dr: Atbash had a nightmare about the fire that destroyed her home and Caesar killing her. She's currently curled up in her room and crying

bio | female | flurryhost [shp] of snowbound

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