Chapter 1: The Dream

I ran into the bathroom at the new art gallery I work at. First day on the job and I was holding it in all day, anyway I walked into the restroom and I walked up to one of the urinals. The artwork they had up on the walls were all the same, they were all giant pictures of red roses. I close my eyes for just a second as I took my piss and that’s when it happened.
   

I must be tired, that’s it, that can only explain what happened. I opened my eyes and the picture in front of me changed. What was once a giant picture of a giant Rose is now picture of a boy in a field holding a popped balloon. His face was down, covered by baseball cap. I turned around to wash my hands and I nearly jumped from shock. I saw him move, the boy in the picture. He moved, I saw him in the mirror. He looked up at me and just stared at me. His eyes were hollow and black. He had this twisted smile, a smile so cold it sent shivers down my spine. But his smile wasn’t what made me uneasy, given the whole situation is f***ing uneasy.
   

What made me uneasy was the note he was holding, the words were easy to read through the reflection. The words read "Don’t Leave." It was dead silent, I didn’t move a f***ing muscle. Then the boy reached out his hand, the picture ripped and the boy looked through the hole. "Stay with me" he said. I immediately ran out of the bathroom. Then I woke up.
   

I was soaked in a cold sweat. I had goosebumps all over my body. "Jesus Christ," I said. "What the hell was that?" I got up off my bed and opened the curtains, I smiled and welcomed the warmth embrace of the suns rays. "Thank god it was just a dream."
   

A loud bang from the closing of my bedroom door startled me and I turned to see my younger sister Stella.
   

"Where were you!" She said.
   

"Uh... sleeping."
   

"No dip Sherlock, I meant where were you this afternoon? You said you were gonna pick me up after school."
   

Now that I got a good look at her I could see that she was drenched in sweat.
   

"I had to walk all the way here," Stella continued. "So, Jason, why didn’t you show up?"
   

I didn’t know what to say, I just stood there with a pathetic look on my face. " I totally forgot, I don’t know what got over me. I’m sorry Stell I don’t know what to say."
   

"Don’t make empty promises Jason."
   

"I don’t plan on it." I plopped down on my couch and turned on the TV. Then I froze.
   

"Hey! Turn that off I’m talking to yo-"
   

"Quiet!" I hissed at her. I turned the volume up on the TV.
    

"In breaking news," the news woman began to speak. "Our thoughts and prayers do go out to the parents of the young boy found strangled to death in the middle of Ravenhill Woods."
   

My eyes grew wide when I saw the crime scene photos on the screen, the woods, they were exactly the same as the ones from my dream. Then I immediately jumped when I saw the boy.
   

"That’s him!" I shouted, "the boy from my dream, that’s him!"
   

"What are you going on about now?" Stella asked looking confused.
    "Where is that? Ravenhill Woods, where is that?" I pointed to the TV screen.
   

I pass it on my way to school, why what’s up?"
  

"Take me there," I got up off my couch and grabbed my keys and leather jacket and rushed out the door. Once outside and in my car it didn’t take Stella long to follow. She changed out of her sweat drenched school clothes and into more lighter clothing. Once she was in the car I took off.

    "What’s your rush?" Stella asked.
    "I had this dream, the reason I didn’t pick you up from school."
    "Okay, I still don’t see what a dream has to do with you dragging me to Ravenhill Woods."

    "In the dream I saw a boy. The same boy on the TV." I turned to look at Stella and she was already staring at me with her judgmental eyes. "Hey call it a coincidence all you want, but that’s a pretty big coincidence if you ask me. I just have to make sense of it, that’s all." We stayed silent the rest of the ride.
   

Once we arrived at the entrance of the woods we were greeted with the welcoming presence of police tape and warning signs stating "trespassers will be arrested on site."

    "Whelp, here we go." I said lifting one foot over the police tape.
    "Are you insane!" Stella grabbed my arm, "can you not read!? Do you want to get arrested?"
   

"What am I supposed to do Stell? I have this freaky ass dream of this freaky ass place and my only explanation is a crime scene. Tell me, what am I supposed to-"
   

Then it hit me, this rush of pain to my brain. I fell to my knees screaming. "Jason! Jason! Are you okay!?" Stella immediately fell to my side holding my back and my head, keeping me upright. The world around me disappeared like my own consciousness was being sucked into a black hole. Then everything was silent, I opened my eyes and there was the sky. Somehow it was different, faded. In fact everything was faded, dull. It was almost as if the color was removed from existence.
   

"Hello!" I shouted. "Stella! Anyone, hello!" Still no answer. I scanned the area for any signs of life but there was none. No sound, no wind, nothing.
   

"Help!" A cry came from a distance. I ran into the woods chasing the plea for help as fast as I could. Pushing past thorn bushes, tall grass, branches. The closer I got to the terrified shriek the louder this ringing sound in my head became. I was eventually close enough to the point the ringing echoed through my brain with loud and constant pain.
   

"Hello!" I shouted again, through the agonizing pain. "Hello, please answer me, are you alright?"
   

But I was too late. After pushing past one final branch I saw the body. The boys body. "Jesus Christ!" I nearly puked at the site. The boy had been strangled, but what reporters didn’t mention were the eyes. The eyes were gone, carved out. "What kind of monster does this?" I turned around to leave but then the boy grabbed my leg. He shot up and stared at me with his empty sockets. He began to speak in a song like tone.

    "Don’t let him get near
     For he can smell fear
     He takes the eyes so you can’t see
     What stares back in your sleep
     There’s hunger in his eyes
     And we’re just his meal."

    Then I woke up. Cold, shaking and sweating. I was laying on the back seat of my car and Stella was driving.
    "Pull over," I said.
    "Holy Hell you’re awake!"
    "I said pull over!" I shouted. She immediately pulled over, i opened the door and fell out of the car onto the ground and threw up.
    "Are you okay?" Stella asked.
    "He takes the eyes..." I mumbled to myself.
    "Excuse me?"
    "There’s hunger in his eyes and we’re just his meal." I continued to talk to myself.
    "Jason, talk to me, tell me what’s going on." Stella reached her arm out and grabbed my hand and pulled me up. "Tell me, what’s happening?"
    "I had another dream," I told her. "I think a cannibal killed that boy... I also think this is just the beginning."