~ Chapter 5: Illusions and Nightmares ~

The students were sent home early after the adults found the corpse of Alex in the janitor's closet. In fact, the school would be closed for a couple days while the police investigated the place and tried to figure out who or what happened to the honor student. Sean just prayed that they didn't discover his fingerprints on the body and come bursting in his home and drag him back to prison, and for the rest of his life he'd stay in there, in fact. He'd seen the horrors of that place. Never, never would he ever want to end up in there.

After his mom drove him back home, she told him to go to his room for some reason. He sat on his bed, staring down at his shaking his hands. He was scared. Was he going to get in trouble again? He tried to push the thought aside and fell asleep.

~Dream State~

He was in a crowd of about fifty people or so, all screaming. It was loud. Where was he? He looked down, only to see that he was way too high up for comfort. They stood on top of what must have been the tallest building ever because he could barely see the ground he was so high up. The air was thin and cold, making it hard to breathe. He was lightheaded, with a nauseated feeling building up inside his stomach. His heart was beating at an alarming rate, which he made note that probably wasn't good. He suddenly gagged, gripping his stomach and falling over on the rough roof. That's when he realized that those weren't people on the roof, but possessed bodies of passed humans, men, women, and even young children. They're necks snapped around to look at him, their white soulless eyes glowing. Sean gasped, trying to back away from them, but every move he made only made his pain worse. The wind started blowing, making his face cold and numb, only making him feel worse. When he coughed, he coughed up blood. What was happening to him? Was he just seeing things?

One of those demons grabbed him by the arm and yanked him closer to the group. Sean felt like he was bout to throw up everything inside him. The demons were touching him in weird ways, with their claws poking his face and stomach. They were getting too close for him. They looked like zombies, with their lower jaws hanging losely and dangling like they were about to fall off. They just looked plain dead.

Another one kicked him in the chest, making him roll closer to the edge of the building. Sean gasped, catching a metal pipe that poked out of the roof. Did he dare look down? He just glanced down out of the corner of his eye, which he immediately regretted. His fear of heights tested this moment. Those zombie looking demons were moving closer to him, hunger in their eyes. They were hungry for human flesh.

Sean was to the point that he was about to pass out. Between his sick stomach, his fever, lightheadedness, and sparks of pain all over his body, it was unbearable. And those creatures standing there did not help, they only made the situation worse. Were they laughing at him?

Oh hell no! He appeared as the sun was suddenly blocked out by dark clouds, his eyes black with green pupils glarring back at the creatures. His body twitched rapidly, and his eyes continuous flashed different colors. Unsheathing his claws, shadowy black limbs sprouted from his back, at least four of them. Don't worry, Jackieboy. I'll keep these freaks at bay. Nobody is going to hurt you while I'm in control. Nobody will live when they make eye contact with us.

His name was Anti, and he was in complete control now, the first time ever. As he raised his arms, he started levitating off the ground, his hair blowing in the wind. His pitch black orb like eyes reflected the figures of the zombie demons. But in his eyes, he could see the corpses and the fire that burned them to ashes.

Flicking a finger, his shadow limbs reached out at them, the force so strong that it forced at least ten of them off the building, leaving them to fall towards the ground that seemed like a million miles away. As he looked to his right, five knives ascended from thin air, floating above one of his hands. He snapped his finger, and the knives flew at the zombies with quick accuracy, all finding their spots, stabbing through their hearts.

Anti lunged at them in his rage, bitting them, slashing them with his claws, and his shadow limbs knocking them off the building. Snapping bones, ripping their flesh, he was unstoppable now. They were nothing but a bunch of weak defenseless bodies.

The twitching demon stood amongst the now dead zombies, smiling at his work. Blood cover his claws and arms. To finish the job, he lit a match he had and threw it, watching the fire start and flames flicker, burning the corpses to nothing but ashes.

That's when Sean finally woke up.

~Reality~

Sean shot up from his sleeping position, breathing heavily. He was suffering a terrible headache. Was he really dreaming that? He'd never thought he would ever do such a thing in his sleep. His body was strangely cold. He went into his bathroom and threw some water on his face, then rubbed his eyes.

" What a crazy dream. Jesus Christ." He mumbled, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes, however, where black like Anti's. Sean sighed, standing there awkwardly with his eyes closed. Would this nightmare ever stop? No, it wouldn't, because all this that was happening was real. Well, except that dream, but still. Anti was getting stronger.