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I hope this provides a clearer, more descriptive picture of the world. ","description_bbcode_parsed":"After getting some feedback, I have rewritten the first chapter. I hope this provides a clearer, more descriptive picture of the world. ","writing":"This story revolves around the psychological and sociological impacts of a world in which everyone has night terrors, extremely vivid ones that wear on the mental states of everyone. However, there are a few people who don't have such terrifying dreams. In this series, I want to explore what impacts this would have, both on a personal and societal level.\n\n- - - - - -\n\n[i]The small Panther Chameleon ran through the dark empty halls. Her breathing, erratic from the sobbing cries of fear she kept emitting made every step difficult. Ahead of her, she could see the doors out of the hallway coming closer, though so much slower than it should be given how hard she was running. Behind her, she could hear the slow, rasping sound of the creature pursuing her. It sounded like knives running across concrete and was steadily getting closer. \n\nShe was almost to the door when her legs gave out and she fell. She tried to curl up into a ball, but her body wasn't responding. Tears and choked sobs escaped her as she heard the thing getting closer. When the sound stopped, she slowly looked up against her will. She could see the tall form of the thing that had once been her mother staring down at her, its bleeding eyes no longer possessing that spark of life that she remembered.\n\n``Naughty children must be... punisssssshed.'' The thing rasped, its voice sounding like the hiss of a thousand snakes. The big bulging eyes of her mother were watching her, no affection in those orbs, just malice, and spite. The thing slowly, with arms that seemed to rebel against the notion, raised its claws until they were at the height of its chest. \n\nShe tried to crawl away, fighting through the sudden lethargy of her body. But it did no good. Those claws bit into her leg, white-hot pain flashing through her as the sharp claws pushed through her skin, digging into the muscle of her small frame. She screamed, and the creature seemed confused. \n\n``Doessss it hurt?'' It rasped. She screamed again as the claws pulled, dragging her along the ground by the wound in her thigh. She didn't even notice as the scenery changed around her, from the dark abandoned hallway to the bedroom she shared with her twin siblings. What she did notice was when the claws left her leg and wrapped around her face, effortlessly picking her up. \n\nThe large glass window of her bedroom cracked as her face was smashed against it, splinters of glass lodging in her gray skin as she screamed. She was pulled back and then again smashed into the window, cracking it further. One more time she was pulled back, and this time the glass shattered when she hit it, shards of glass gashing her body all over. She couldn't even scream anymore, the pain and horror having reached a point of numbness. She was held out of the window, twenty-seven floors above the hard pavement from a time long gone. \n\n``Why did you let me die?'' The thing whispered, though this time with the clear voice of her mother ringing through. ``You deserve this.'' \n\nAnd then she was falling, the ground rising to meet her as she found it within herself to scream one, last time...[/i]\n\n- - - - -\n\nA soft gasp left Iridium's lips as she awoke, swallowing the scream that had been building in her sleep. She groaned and got up, seeing her clock flashing that it was seven in the morning. With a thirty-six-hour day, this meant she had slept a little over 10 hours. The sun wasn't even up yet, the windows dark and uninviting. However, she pulled herself out of bed and headed for the shower to help wake up properly. \n\nThe bathroom was chilly, as it always was in the early mornings. She turned on the water to let it heat up and then disrobed. While she waited for the water to warm herself up, she looked in the mirror. Scaled in pebbly textured gray scales, she got most of her looks from her mother. All except for her bulging yellow eyes, which were the trademark of her Gecko father. She wasn?t very tall for her age of fifteen, being only an inch past five feet. When she ran out of the mirror she looked down at her body. Small, A-cup breasts lay over an unhealthily skinny torso. While she couldn't see her ribs all the way, she could see some of the bottom ones poking out. \n\nOverall, she felt she looked sickly, and couldn't imagine how anyone would ever find her attractive. Not that she was a ball of hormones as it was. Puberty had come and left her wanting, and she was usually too tired to even think about romance. She saw steam beginning to rise from the shower and quickly got in, the searing hot water washing away the chill almost immediately. She stood under the water and just relaxed for a moment. \n\nHer mind drifted to her list of chores she needed to do before the household woke up in three hours. She knew she had dishes to wash, breakfast to prepare, and laundry to start. It wasn't much all things considered, and she believed she could handle them all and still get to school today. \n\nShe squeezed her strawberry-scented body wash over her loofah, lathering it up and then washing her body. Her pebbly scales (now slightly pink due to the high water temperature) felt so nice when she rubbed the loofah against herself. She finished washing, rinsed herself, and then shut the shower off. The bathroom was full of steam and no longer cold when she stepped out. She dried herself with her towel, thankful she didn't have fur like her friends. Apparently, it took a couple of hours for them to cease being damp without a fur dryer. \n\nShe stepped out into the hallway in the nude, making her way back to her room. Her tail dragged on the floor behind her, making a slight dragging sound. In her bedroom, she looked over her siblings, who were clutching each other tightly looking for some comfort amid the terrible dreams they were suffering. \n\nShe got dressed, giving each of them a light kiss on the head in a vain attempt to comfort them in their sleep, and then cleaned up the dirty clothes that littered the room from being shared with three adolescents. It took her little time to do so, and she walked through the apartment, stopping at her father's room to grab his laundry as well. Her father, who always seemed to work himself to exhaustion to keep them afloat, was passed out on the bed, snoring loudly. A bottle of some cheap beer was held in his left hand, and she could smell the fact that it wasn't the only one he'd had. \n\nShe was on her way out the door, closing it behind her when a color caught her attention. A shimmering green in her father's other hand. She wondered what it was but kept going, shutting his door behind her. She'd ask later, but for now, she had all the laundry and was heading to the pantry, which was slightly misnamed as it was a large closet they'd taken the doors off of, shoved the machines in, and then stockpiled food as much as they could. Which, to be fair, wasn't much. \n\nLoading the washer, she set it up to run its cycle and then moved over to the kitchen. She was making good time, and she had prewashed most of the dishes the previous evening, so she managed to do them up quickly and found herself with an hour of free time before she had to make breakfast. She headed for the 'rec-room as her family called it. Inside was a larger room (it used to be the master bedroom), that was fairly cluttered. However, it was contained clutter, the four corners of the room used by her family to have a personal hobby, something to distract them from the inevitability of another night of terror. \n\nHer corner contained a personal computer, which was hooked by a large number of wires to her large ant colonies. She had always been fascinated by ants and their ability to coordinate and fight off larger predators. In the roughly five-foot cube, there were six separate breeds of ants, from a common fire ant to the dangerous bullet ant. The colonies had no access to each other, kept in tight glass containers filled mostly with the ground types each ant required. As she booted up her computer she looked at her contained pets and smiled. \n\nAs it loaded up, she looked over her colonies. Her father had taught her to code early, and this cubic terrarium was the fruit of her efforts. The program she developed sensed the conditions of each separate colony, analyzed them, and gave her the results. Then, she could control its environment with input on her computer. She had a lot of data and even collaborated with a local scientist about the information. It was one of her proudest accomplishments. \n\nToo tired to do anything intensive, she entertained herself by looking through her social media sites. Memes posted by classmates, people sharing the horror of their dreams in order to feel connected, people selling sex. She had a wide variety of people who she followed. And there was always another post. \n\nShe kept an eye on the clock, and as she walked out she lamented how much her bones hurt. Growing up was hard enough, but without proper sleep, everyone hurt these days. It had led to an even more rampant addiction problem in recent times. \n\nShe went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed their eggs. She also grabbed spring onions and cheese and began to make her family omelets for breakfast. She had learned a lot about cooking in the four months since her mother's death. The thought of it was a stab in her heart, but she continued on. The family came first, her feelings second. It was the mantra she'd lived by since the moment she was told about her mother's suicide.\n\nOmelets done and under a bowl to keep warm, she walked back to her room to wake her siblings. She paused at the door, looking at their pinched faces, squirming in phantom pain. She sighed and walked over, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, shaking her lightly. ``Cmon Heather, time to come back to the land of the sane.'' Her sister sat straight up, breathing heavy and bulging eyes wide. Iridium backed up to give her space and gave her sister time to wake up. \n\nWhen Heather calmed, she looked up at Iridium and blearily rubbed her eyes. ``Mrning'' She grumbled before turning to her brother and shaking him awake. He too bolted up but regained control quickly. Her siblings were twins, but they weren't very alike in looks. Heather had the soft gecko skin from her father, with her tail being like her mother's and oversized. Meanwhile, her brother Eric looked almost full chameleon, including being the only of the three with Chameleon eyes. He had no tail. They were moving frantically, scanning all corners of the room with fearful expressions until he figured out he was awake. His skin turned greener as he thought back on his dream.\n\n``I have your breakfast under the warming plate, don't take too long now.'' She said after she was sure they'd wake up. She moved on to wake her father up. His door opened as she came close and her father stepped out. He was putting on a wrinkle-free shirt, buttoning it up as he stepped by her. \n\n``Morning Iri, did you make breakfast?'' He asked as she fell in step with him easily, moving at his pace and entering the kitchen together. \n\n``Yeah, Dad. I made you and the twin's omelets. They're under the warming plate. The ketchup is in the fridge.'' She leaned in and was pleased to not smell beer. Her father was a very professional man and prided himself on his ability to look focused and alert despite being just as tired as everyone else. In the last month though he had had a few slip-ups. So she made a habit to sniff him every now and then. \n\n``Make sure you get to school today Iri, you've been missing too much time lately. You need an education if you want to succeed in this world.'' Iridium made a noncommittal noise and he looked up, frustration on his face. ``I'm serious. If you don't take these things seriously, you may end up with no future at all.''\n\nIridium huffed, and didn't notice her siblings entering quietly behind her as she said ``I have enough to worry about taking care of everyone, I don't care about school.''\n\nHeather bristled and Eric moved a little off, his skin changing color to match the wall, instinctively avoiding the confrontation. ``That's not fair Iri! You can't just give up to take care of us!'' \n\nIridium turned, and her skin was slowly changing, the green of her neck slowly changing to an orange-red tone that spread up slowly. ``Well somebody has to Heather! Someone has to care, and you two are too young, and Dad works hard enough. Who else is going to clean this place up? Who else will make all the meals?''\n\n``You're not Mom Iri!'' Eric cried out, shrinking when all the heads turned to him. ``You're not Mom, and you'll never be Mom. Quit trying to replace her!'' \n\n``I-I?m not trying to replace her Eric!'' Iridium said weakly, her skin now a pale green.\n\nEric's skin slowly returned to normal, before the pebbled flesh turned a stunning black. He stood as tall as he could, and scowled, trying to look angry but managing more of a pout than anything. ``Mom's gone Iri, and you trying to take her place, even if you don't mean to, isn't what Mom would have wanted.''\n\nIridium sat, stunned by her brother's words. He shrank at normal conversation, but he'd have small moments of adult-like clarity. He was honestly the most insightful of the siblings. Heather was the smartest, and she worked hard to be so. \n\n``You're being silly sis.'' Heather chided her, taking the reconciliation role in easy adaptation to her brother's showing. They were a perfect team those two. ``We can help out around here too. You're not an adult, so enjoy being a teenager every now and then.'' Iridium blinked and then blinked again when she noticed her bulging eyes were watering. \n\n``O-Okay.'' She stood up and gathered everyone's plates, as they had been eating while they talked. As she walked away from the table she hid the fact that a tear slid down her face. She placed the plates in the sink and stood uncertain for a moment if she wanted to wash them immediately. She chose to put it off and go to her bedroom. When she got a private moment, she placed her face on a pillow and screamed into it. She gave herself some time to just cry out her frustration at her sibling's words. \n\nWhen she had cried herself out, she pulled on some school clothes. A graphic tee-shirt several sizes too big for her, it had a picture of a tragedy mask under which the words 'Neverending Tragedy' floated against a black background. It was a reference to her favorite band, and her comfort shirt. She threw on her favorite underwear, they said 'No Peeking' on the seat. Over which she pulled a red and black checker pattern skirt that went below the knee. \n\nShe grabbed her heavy book bag and slung it on her back as she headed out the door. She looked at the clock on her way out and saw she had five minutes to be at school... which was five floors up. She took off at a run, the heavy backpack slowing her and draining her stamina. She was a runner though, she competed in track at school. \n\nAs she ran through the busy walls of Ciaplo Palace's 46th floor, things seemed to blur, her tiredness at odds with her activity. She bumped into a few people that her reactions didn't catch quickly enough. By the time she arrived at the central staircase, she was out of breath and sore. The staircase was as busy as always, but she knew ways to move quickly in the stairwell since she had to use it every day to get to school. She arrived at the 51st floor and arrived at the entrance to the school right as the first bell rang. She took a moment to catch her breath before following her fellow students into the winding halls of Ciaplo High School. \n\nAs she passed through the main entryway, she saw the statue of Lady Bea, who owned Ciaplo Palace, the Great Shelterer. She was the authority of their building, and everyone owed her their lives. Or at least that's what they had been told since birth. She whispered a small affirmation as she went by, and walked to her homeroom. Under her watchful eye, she felt safe. \n\nHomeroom was a noisy affair, with friends all talking and speaking over each other. Iridium found her seat, square in the middle of the classroom. Her friend Pat was waiting for her, something clutched in their hands. She was barely in her seat when the Retriever was almost in her face, shoving her hand in Iridium's face. \n\nA small box was in her hand, with a relatively large spider scuttling around the tight quarters. It was hairy and strong-looking. Iridium admired it for a moment before pushing her friend's hand out of her face. ``That's a cool spider Pat, but didn't Ms. Rose ask you to stop bringing arachnids to class?'' Pat froze up, and quickly looked around, hiding the spider box in her bag quickly. \n\n``Thanks, Iri, I forgot for a second.'' \n\n``So, have I missed anything important this week?'' Iridium asked.\n\n``Well Devon got caught smoking pot in the girl's bathroom yesterday.'' She responded, which made Iridium laugh. ``Yeah, she panicked and tried to blame her friends for her use, leaving them all in trouble, her included.'' She looked over the corner where none of the people were looking at each other, anger clear on their faces. \n\nThey were going to talk more about the issue, but all sound in the room ceased as the door to the back of the class clicked shut. Their homeroom teacher walked in, Ms. Rose walked slowly to the front of the class. Iridium made sure not to stare till she was passed her, looking the teacher up and down. Her body seemed perfect, tall, and curvy. Her fur, showing her tiger heritage, always seemed to shine and look so soft. \n\nIridium wasn't as sexual as some of her classmates, she rarely felt aroused, but Ms. Rose was a weakness for her. She loved staring at the beautiful tiger and often had to remind herself to listen to the teacher. She wasn't the only one though. Practically every male in the class stared at her, and her long strong-looking legs were covered by a short skirt that went to about mid-thigh. Her white blouse strained to cover her large breasts, and she never seemed to wear a bra, her nipples poking through the white fabric.\n\n``Good morning class, it's good to see so many of you here today. Today we will be having a lesson on Dreamers after lunch. Please be ready to take notes, as there will be an open note test on the topic at the end of the day.'' The class whispered to each other. Dreamers were almost an urban legend, and though everyone knew they existed not one of them had ever met one. The thought of not living with nightmares was something everyone wanted. ``Yes children, it is an exciting lesson, and one I hope all of you enjoy talking about. For now, however, let's get our day started.'' \n\nThe morning passed slowly, and Iridium was thankful for lunch finally coming around. As she ate the lunch prepared by the school, a spaghetti dish, she was lost in a small fantasy regarding her teacher, where they talked about all their private wishes. She didn't even notice when her friend Abby sat beside her until she felt her dig her elbows into Iridium's side. \n\n``Hey Iri, been a few days since we saw you. How are things at home?'' The transgender fox asked her. \n\n``Oh, the same as always... though my siblings are getting mad at me.'' She said. ``They think I'm trying to replace mom and it's really got them up in arms.''\n\n``I mean, are they really all that wrong?'' Abby asked and Iridium looked at her with narrowed eyes. ``You cook, you clean, you take care of your entire household. It's not as if you ask them to call you mom, but you do all the things she used to.'' \n\n``I have to, or it won't get done.'' She whined a little. \n\n``I know that Iri but-'' They were interrupted by a scream from a few seats over. An upperclassman was standing up and screaming.\n\nShe recognized the girl as the homecoming queen Janice, the beautifully feathered chicken standing up and scratching at her face. She was already starting to bleed but didn't seem to notice as she clawed at her eyes. ``No, please no! Don't come any closer!'' She tried to back away from whatever it was that she was seeing, but caught her legs on her seat and fell flat. It seemed to knock her senseless and she soon stopped moving at all. Blood fell from the wounds on her face and a pool was starting where her head had hit the concrete. \n\nThe screaming began soon after, and the cafeteria erupted into chaos. Some trying desperately to get away from the body, some attempting to get closer to try to help. Nobody was able to get to her due to the confusion, and people were starting to get violent with each other.\n\nA whistle blew, and everyone froze. The gym teacher, Mr. Salk, a huge rhino, walked through the parting crowd to the girl and checked for a pulse. When he didn't find one he sighed sadly and picked up the cooling corpse, staining his gym shirt with blood as he slowly took Janice's body out of the cafeteria. \n\nAfter they were gone everybody began whispering, though it seemed no one wanted to eat anymore. She joined the line to dump her tray, and then headed back to class, the image of the dying chicken haunting her the whole way. When she slipped into class, being the first to arrive, she saw Ms. Rose standing at the front of the class, wiping her eyes to hide her distress. Iridium didn't know what to do so she sat in her seat as the rest of the class slowly came in. \n\nWhen they were all gathered, some still with shell-shocked expressions, Ms. Rose clapped her hands to get their attention.\n\n``I know we were supposed to go over the Dreamer phenomena today, but given the events during lunch, we will instead be talking about a danger that just this semester has claimed five other students.'' There was no response, after all, how do you respond to a classmate dying in such a graphic way. She turned to the whiteboard and wrote ten letters. They spelled Neversleep.\n\n``Neversleep was developed ten years ago by a scientist here in Ciaplo Palace. It speeds up cognitive processes and keeps the user awake for long periods of time and when it finally wears off, the user is often too tired to dream. I know this sounds extremely useful, however, NeverSleep needs extremely precise dosage and preparation in order to be at least somewhat safe, which makes clinical NeverSleep expensive and beyond the mien of most people.''\n\nShe drew a green vial with an attached syringe. ``However, like any drug, illicit providers will make the drug in homemade labs, which is extremely hazardous as if the dosage is wrong, even slightly, can be lethal. Despite this, many desperate people buy it off the illicit market. I know that you all know someone who has used it, at least once. I have to warn you, children, that it, as you saw today, is never safe, and I urge you please think twice before trying it.''\n\nIridium raised her hand, surprising the rest of the class. ``When Janice... died, she was screaming about seeing something. Does the drug cause you to see things?'' Ms. Rose nodded at the question.\n\n``NeverSleep in the wrong doses is a known hallucinogenic chemical, and can cause powerful hallucinations.'' Iridium nodded, as did the rest of the class.\n\n``Now, for the remainder of our time here today, we're going to try something new. I would like volunteers to come to talk about your latest dreams, and together we'll work through them, with a focus on realizing these are just dreams.''\n\nThe rest of the class passed quickly, and though some volunteered to share, most of them sat and listened, offering helpful words and support.\n\n- - - - - - \n\nIridium walked into her apartment, noticing she was the first home. This was not a rarity and was actually her favorite time of day. She laid down on their couch, turned on the TV, and watched a soap opera she loved for the next few hours. \n\nWhen she heard the door click shut, she turned off the TV and stood up. Her siblings stood in the doorway, drenched in sweat from cheerleading practice. She greeted them each with a hug, though they did smell strongly of sweat. Another scent came from them, but she couldn't identify it, a musky sort of odor. \n\n``Whew, you two stink. Who's getting the first shower?'' She asked. Eric put on an exhausted smile and walked off toward their room to get clothes to wear. ``Alright, Eric is going first, Heather could you help me with dinner?''\n\n``As long as Eric doesn't take all the hot water again.'' Heather teased her brother, who hurried into their room. \n\nShe and her sister started on stir-fry for dinner, cooking up the rest of the vegetables they had into the meal. They were running out of food, so Iridium messaged her father on her phone to get groceries on his way home. The meal was just about done when they heard the bathroom door open, and Heather took off to take her own shower. She always showered quickly and so was back in about ten minutes, both her siblings sitting down for their dinner, eating slowly and talking about their day. It was a tradition the kids had tried to keep from the past, of family dinners. Dad was usually there too, but his work hours were sporadic, so it wasn't unusual that he wasn't able to join. But the three of them always ate together. \n\nAfter dinner, her siblings went off to the rec-room to enjoy their habits, while she fixed her father a plate and put it in the microwave. Then she washed the dishes so that the next morning would be easier. After she was done, she waited for her Dad to come home, sitting on the couch watching a show that only vaguely interested her. However, as the hours ticked by she began to get impatient. She was just about to turn the TV off and head to bed when the front door clicked close. \n\nShe got up off the couch and found her dad standing in the foyer, staring blankly at a wall for a few moments before looking her way. Her heart fell as she was able to tell instantly he was incredibly drunk. He staggered toward her, and she found herself having to keep him from collapsing. \n\n``Come on Dad, let's get you to bed.'' She ground out, frustrated with her father. This had become a habit of his since her mother died, but she always felt upset with him for going so far. She slowly helped him to his bed, and out of his clothes. It wasn't the first time she'd seen it but she was fairly shocked by the erection her father sported. She tried not to look too much, but the image of the hard green penis seemed to stick in her mind. Shaking her head she took her father's clothes to the hamper and was dropping them in when she felt something in the pocket. \n\nCurious, she drew it out and gasped as she saw the slightly glowing green of a vial of NeverSleep. Its syringe was capped off to avoid jabbing him in his pocket, but it was still there, and she knew deep down that her father had been using it. She choked back a sob and turned to her father, who had passed out, erection still sticking in the air like a small flagpole. \n\nShe left the room in a hurry, taking the vial and throwing it out one of the windows. As it soared out of sight she sighed and went to her room. There was no way that wouldn't show up tonight in her nightmares, and she was too worn out to fight it. She laid down on her bed, still fully clothed, and passed out. \n\n- - - - - - \n\n[i]The golden light of sunset poured through the windows of the large room. It was filled with people she knew or had seen in the past. She was walking through the crowd, which opened before her as everyone noticed her and whispered to each other. When she reached the center of the room, under a skylight letting in the dying sunlight, she found a bed, large and comfortable in a way no real mattress could be. \n\nShe sunk into the bed, laying back and relaxing as the crowd moved in to stand around the bed. They were all quiet, looking at her with smiles. It was only then she noticed they were all nude, and so in fact was she. This didn't cause her any stress, why should it? It's why she was here. She wagged her finger to the crowd letting them get closer and closer. The ring around her closed tight, and Ms. Rose slowly climbed onto the bed, crawling towards her on all fours. Her big, fur-covered breasts soon hung before her face, and then lowered down so that she could engage Iridium in a long, sweet kiss. \n\nIridium went pink as her teachers soft hands slowly drew up her scaled leg, her claws lightly dancing on her pebbled skin. It caused her to shiver and become warm, as her teacher slowly began to pleasure her with her fingers, going in and out of her in a measured rhythm that made her palm glide along her sensitive clit. \n\nThe pleasure was so new to her, so tender and loving that she could do nothing but lay her head back and kiss her secret crush. She had tried masturbation a few times but this felt so much better than she could manage, and as she felt her orgasm coming, she cried out in pleasure, smashing her lips against the tiger with abandon while her lower body bucked. She felt herself cross the edge of no return and cried out.[/i]\n\n- - - - - -\n\nShe awoke in her bed, her lower body damp from her sleep orgasm. She shivered as she came to terms with what had just happened.\n\nThat... was not a nightmare. \n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"This story revolves around the psychological and sociological impacts of a world in which everyone has night terrors, extremely vivid ones that wear on the mental states of everyone. However, there are a few people who don't have such terrifying dreams. In this series, I want to explore what impacts this would have, both on a personal and societal level.
- - - - - -
The small Panther Chameleon ran through the dark empty halls. Her breathing, erratic from the sobbing cries of fear she kept emitting made every step difficult. Ahead of her, she could see the doors out of the hallway coming closer, though so much slower than it should be given how hard she was running. Behind her, she could hear the slow, rasping sound of the creature pursuing her. It sounded like knives running across concrete and was steadily getting closer.
She was almost to the door when her legs gave out and she fell. She tried to curl up into a ball, but her body wasn't responding. Tears and choked sobs escaped her as she heard the thing getting closer. When the sound stopped, she slowly looked up against her will. She could see the tall form of the thing that had once been her mother staring down at her, its bleeding eyes no longer possessing that spark of life that she remembered.
``Naughty children must be... punisssssshed.'' The thing rasped, its voice sounding like the hiss of a thousand snakes. The big bulging eyes of her mother were watching her, no affection in those orbs, just malice, and spite. The thing slowly, with arms that seemed to rebel against the notion, raised its claws until they were at the height of its chest.
She tried to crawl away, fighting through the sudden lethargy of her body. But it did no good. Those claws bit into her leg, white-hot pain flashing through her as the sharp claws pushed through her skin, digging into the muscle of her small frame. She screamed, and the creature seemed confused.
``Doessss it hurt?'' It rasped. She screamed again as the claws pulled, dragging her along the ground by the wound in her thigh. She didn't even notice as the scenery changed around her, from the dark abandoned hallway to the bedroom she shared with her twin siblings. What she did notice was when the claws left her leg and wrapped around her face, effortlessly picking her up.
The large glass window of her bedroom cracked as her face was smashed against it, splinters of glass lodging in her gray skin as she screamed. She was pulled back and then again smashed into the window, cracking it further. One more time she was pulled back, and this time the glass shattered when she hit it, shards of glass gashing her body all over. She couldn't even scream anymore, the pain and horror having reached a point of numbness. She was held out of the window, twenty-seven floors above the hard pavement from a time long gone.
``Why did you let me die?'' The thing whispered, though this time with the clear voice of her mother ringing through. ``You deserve this.''
And then she was falling, the ground rising to meet her as she found it within herself to scream one, last time...
- - - - -
A soft gasp left Iridium's lips as she awoke, swallowing the scream that had been building in her sleep. She groaned and got up, seeing her clock flashing that it was seven in the morning. With a thirty-six-hour day, this meant she had slept a little over 10 hours. The sun wasn't even up yet, the windows dark and uninviting. However, she pulled herself out of bed and headed for the shower to help wake up properly.
The bathroom was chilly, as it always was in the early mornings. She turned on the water to let it heat up and then disrobed. While she waited for the water to warm herself up, she looked in the mirror. Scaled in pebbly textured gray scales, she got most of her looks from her mother. All except for her bulging yellow eyes, which were the trademark of her Gecko father. She wasn?t very tall for her age of fifteen, being only an inch past five feet. When she ran out of the mirror she looked down at her body. Small, A-cup breasts lay over an unhealthily skinny torso. While she couldn't see her ribs all the way, she could see some of the bottom ones poking out.
Overall, she felt she looked sickly, and couldn't imagine how anyone would ever find her attractive. Not that she was a ball of hormones as it was. Puberty had come and left her wanting, and she was usually too tired to even think about romance. She saw steam beginning to rise from the shower and quickly got in, the searing hot water washing away the chill almost immediately. She stood under the water and just relaxed for a moment.
Her mind drifted to her list of chores she needed to do before the household woke up in three hours. She knew she had dishes to wash, breakfast to prepare, and laundry to start. It wasn't much all things considered, and she believed she could handle them all and still get to school today.
She squeezed her strawberry-scented body wash over her loofah, lathering it up and then washing her body. Her pebbly scales (now slightly pink due to the high water temperature) felt so nice when she rubbed the loofah against herself. She finished washing, rinsed herself, and then shut the shower off. The bathroom was full of steam and no longer cold when she stepped out. She dried herself with her towel, thankful she didn't have fur like her friends. Apparently, it took a couple of hours for them to cease being damp without a fur dryer.
She stepped out into the hallway in the nude, making her way back to her room. Her tail dragged on the floor behind her, making a slight dragging sound. In her bedroom, she looked over her siblings, who were clutching each other tightly looking for some comfort amid the terrible dreams they were suffering.
She got dressed, giving each of them a light kiss on the head in a vain attempt to comfort them in their sleep, and then cleaned up the dirty clothes that littered the room from being shared with three adolescents. It took her little time to do so, and she walked through the apartment, stopping at her father's room to grab his laundry as well. Her father, who always seemed to work himself to exhaustion to keep them afloat, was passed out on the bed, snoring loudly. A bottle of some cheap beer was held in his left hand, and she could smell the fact that it wasn't the only one he'd had.
She was on her way out the door, closing it behind her when a color caught her attention. A shimmering green in her father's other hand. She wondered what it was but kept going, shutting his door behind her. She'd ask later, but for now, she had all the laundry and was heading to the pantry, which was slightly misnamed as it was a large closet they'd taken the doors off of, shoved the machines in, and then stockpiled food as much as they could. Which, to be fair, wasn't much.
Loading the washer, she set it up to run its cycle and then moved over to the kitchen. She was making good time, and she had prewashed most of the dishes the previous evening, so she managed to do them up quickly and found herself with an hour of free time before she had to make breakfast. She headed for the 'rec-room as her family called it. Inside was a larger room (it used to be the master bedroom), that was fairly cluttered. However, it was contained clutter, the four corners of the room used by her family to have a personal hobby, something to distract them from the inevitability of another night of terror.
Her corner contained a personal computer, which was hooked by a large number of wires to her large ant colonies. She had always been fascinated by ants and their ability to coordinate and fight off larger predators. In the roughly five-foot cube, there were six separate breeds of ants, from a common fire ant to the dangerous bullet ant. The colonies had no access to each other, kept in tight glass containers filled mostly with the ground types each ant required. As she booted up her computer she looked at her contained pets and smiled.
As it loaded up, she looked over her colonies. Her father had taught her to code early, and this cubic terrarium was the fruit of her efforts. The program she developed sensed the conditions of each separate colony, analyzed them, and gave her the results. Then, she could control its environment with input on her computer. She had a lot of data and even collaborated with a local scientist about the information. It was one of her proudest accomplishments.
Too tired to do anything intensive, she entertained herself by looking through her social media sites. Memes posted by classmates, people sharing the horror of their dreams in order to feel connected, people selling sex. She had a wide variety of people who she followed. And there was always another post.
She kept an eye on the clock, and as she walked out she lamented how much her bones hurt. Growing up was hard enough, but without proper sleep, everyone hurt these days. It had led to an even more rampant addiction problem in recent times.
She went into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed their eggs. She also grabbed spring onions and cheese and began to make her family omelets for breakfast. She had learned a lot about cooking in the four months since her mother's death. The thought of it was a stab in her heart, but she continued on. The family came first, her feelings second. It was the mantra she'd lived by since the moment she was told about her mother's suicide.
Omelets done and under a bowl to keep warm, she walked back to her room to wake her siblings. She paused at the door, looking at their pinched faces, squirming in phantom pain. She sighed and walked over, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, shaking her lightly. ``Cmon Heather, time to come back to the land of the sane.'' Her sister sat straight up, breathing heavy and bulging eyes wide. Iridium backed up to give her space and gave her sister time to wake up.
When Heather calmed, she looked up at Iridium and blearily rubbed her eyes. ``Mrning'' She grumbled before turning to her brother and shaking him awake. He too bolted up but regained control quickly. Her siblings were twins, but they weren't very alike in looks. Heather had the soft gecko skin from her father, with her tail being like her mother's and oversized. Meanwhile, her brother Eric looked almost full chameleon, including being the only of the three with Chameleon eyes. He had no tail. They were moving frantically, scanning all corners of the room with fearful expressions until he figured out he was awake. His skin turned greener as he thought back on his dream.
``I have your breakfast under the warming plate, don't take too long now.'' She said after she was sure they'd wake up. She moved on to wake her father up. His door opened as she came close and her father stepped out. He was putting on a wrinkle-free shirt, buttoning it up as he stepped by her.
``Morning Iri, did you make breakfast?'' He asked as she fell in step with him easily, moving at his pace and entering the kitchen together.
``Yeah, Dad. I made you and the twin's omelets. They're under the warming plate. The ketchup is in the fridge.'' She leaned in and was pleased to not smell beer. Her father was a very professional man and prided himself on his ability to look focused and alert despite being just as tired as everyone else. In the last month though he had had a few slip-ups. So she made a habit to sniff him every now and then.
``Make sure you get to school today Iri, you've been missing too much time lately. You need an education if you want to succeed in this world.'' Iridium made a noncommittal noise and he looked up, frustration on his face. ``I'm serious. If you don't take these things seriously, you may end up with no future at all.''
Iridium huffed, and didn't notice her siblings entering quietly behind her as she said ``I have enough to worry about taking care of everyone, I don't care about school.''
Heather bristled and Eric moved a little off, his skin changing color to match the wall, instinctively avoiding the confrontation. ``That's not fair Iri! You can't just give up to take care of us!''
Iridium turned, and her skin was slowly changing, the green of her neck slowly changing to an orange-red tone that spread up slowly. ``Well somebody has to Heather! Someone has to care, and you two are too young, and Dad works hard enough. Who else is going to clean this place up? Who else will make all the meals?''
``You're not Mom Iri!'' Eric cried out, shrinking when all the heads turned to him. ``You're not Mom, and you'll never be Mom. Quit trying to replace her!''
``I-I?m not trying to replace her Eric!'' Iridium said weakly, her skin now a pale green.
Eric's skin slowly returned to normal, before the pebbled flesh turned a stunning black. He stood as tall as he could, and scowled, trying to look angry but managing more of a pout than anything. ``Mom's gone Iri, and you trying to take her place, even if you don't mean to, isn't what Mom would have wanted.''
Iridium sat, stunned by her brother's words. He shrank at normal conversation, but he'd have small moments of adult-like clarity. He was honestly the most insightful of the siblings. Heather was the smartest, and she worked hard to be so.
``You're being silly sis.'' Heather chided her, taking the reconciliation role in easy adaptation to her brother's showing. They were a perfect team those two. ``We can help out around here too. You're not an adult, so enjoy being a teenager every now and then.'' Iridium blinked and then blinked again when she noticed her bulging eyes were watering.
``O-Okay.'' She stood up and gathered everyone's plates, as they had been eating while they talked. As she walked away from the table she hid the fact that a tear slid down her face. She placed the plates in the sink and stood uncertain for a moment if she wanted to wash them immediately. She chose to put it off and go to her bedroom. When she got a private moment, she placed her face on a pillow and screamed into it. She gave herself some time to just cry out her frustration at her sibling's words.
When she had cried herself out, she pulled on some school clothes. A graphic tee-shirt several sizes too big for her, it had a picture of a tragedy mask under which the words 'Neverending Tragedy' floated against a black background. It was a reference to her favorite band, and her comfort shirt. She threw on her favorite underwear, they said 'No Peeking' on the seat. Over which she pulled a red and black checker pattern skirt that went below the knee.
She grabbed her heavy book bag and slung it on her back as she headed out the door. She looked at the clock on her way out and saw she had five minutes to be at school... which was five floors up. She took off at a run, the heavy backpack slowing her and draining her stamina. She was a runner though, she competed in track at school.
As she ran through the busy walls of Ciaplo Palace's 46th floor, things seemed to blur, her tiredness at odds with her activity. She bumped into a few people that her reactions didn't catch quickly enough. By the time she arrived at the central staircase, she was out of breath and sore. The staircase was as busy as always, but she knew ways to move quickly in the stairwell since she had to use it every day to get to school. She arrived at the 51st floor and arrived at the entrance to the school right as the first bell rang. She took a moment to catch her breath before following her fellow students into the winding halls of Ciaplo High School.
As she passed through the main entryway, she saw the statue of Lady Bea, who owned Ciaplo Palace, the Great Shelterer. She was the authority of their building, and everyone owed her their lives. Or at least that's what they had been told since birth. She whispered a small affirmation as she went by, and walked to her homeroom. Under her watchful eye, she felt safe.
Homeroom was a noisy affair, with friends all talking and speaking over each other. Iridium found her seat, square in the middle of the classroom. Her friend Pat was waiting for her, something clutched in their hands. She was barely in her seat when the Retriever was almost in her face, shoving her hand in Iridium's face.
A small box was in her hand, with a relatively large spider scuttling around the tight quarters. It was hairy and strong-looking. Iridium admired it for a moment before pushing her friend's hand out of her face. ``That's a cool spider Pat, but didn't Ms. Rose ask you to stop bringing arachnids to class?'' Pat froze up, and quickly looked around, hiding the spider box in her bag quickly.
``Thanks, Iri, I forgot for a second.''
``So, have I missed anything important this week?'' Iridium asked.
``Well Devon got caught smoking pot in the girl's bathroom yesterday.'' She responded, which made Iridium laugh. ``Yeah, she panicked and tried to blame her friends for her use, leaving them all in trouble, her included.'' She looked over the corner where none of the people were looking at each other, anger clear on their faces.
They were going to talk more about the issue, but all sound in the room ceased as the door to the back of the class clicked shut. Their homeroom teacher walked in, Ms. Rose walked slowly to the front of the class. Iridium made sure not to stare till she was passed her, looking the teacher up and down. Her body seemed perfect, tall, and curvy. Her fur, showing her tiger heritage, always seemed to shine and look so soft.
Iridium wasn't as sexual as some of her classmates, she rarely felt aroused, but Ms. Rose was a weakness for her. She loved staring at the beautiful tiger and often had to remind herself to listen to the teacher. She wasn't the only one though. Practically every male in the class stared at her, and her long strong-looking legs were covered by a short skirt that went to about mid-thigh. Her white blouse strained to cover her large breasts, and she never seemed to wear a bra, her nipples poking through the white fabric.
``Good morning class, it's good to see so many of you here today. Today we will be having a lesson on Dreamers after lunch. Please be ready to take notes, as there will be an open note test on the topic at the end of the day.'' The class whispered to each other. Dreamers were almost an urban legend, and though everyone knew they existed not one of them had ever met one. The thought of not living with nightmares was something everyone wanted. ``Yes children, it is an exciting lesson, and one I hope all of you enjoy talking about. For now, however, let's get our day started.''
The morning passed slowly, and Iridium was thankful for lunch finally coming around. As she ate the lunch prepared by the school, a spaghetti dish, she was lost in a small fantasy regarding her teacher, where they talked about all their private wishes. She didn't even notice when her friend Abby sat beside her until she felt her dig her elbows into Iridium's side.
``Hey Iri, been a few days since we saw you. How are things at home?'' The transgender fox asked her.
``Oh, the same as always... though my siblings are getting mad at me.'' She said. ``They think I'm trying to replace mom and it's really got them up in arms.''
``I mean, are they really all that wrong?'' Abby asked and Iridium looked at her with narrowed eyes. ``You cook, you clean, you take care of your entire household. It's not as if you ask them to call you mom, but you do all the things she used to.''
``I have to, or it won't get done.'' She whined a little.
``I know that Iri but-'' They were interrupted by a scream from a few seats over. An upperclassman was standing up and screaming.
She recognized the girl as the homecoming queen Janice, the beautifully feathered chicken standing up and scratching at her face. She was already starting to bleed but didn't seem to notice as she clawed at her eyes. ``No, please no! Don't come any closer!'' She tried to back away from whatever it was that she was seeing, but caught her legs on her seat and fell flat. It seemed to knock her senseless and she soon stopped moving at all. Blood fell from the wounds on her face and a pool was starting where her head had hit the concrete.
The screaming began soon after, and the cafeteria erupted into chaos. Some trying desperately to get away from the body, some attempting to get closer to try to help. Nobody was able to get to her due to the confusion, and people were starting to get violent with each other.
A whistle blew, and everyone froze. The gym teacher, Mr. Salk, a huge rhino, walked through the parting crowd to the girl and checked for a pulse. When he didn't find one he sighed sadly and picked up the cooling corpse, staining his gym shirt with blood as he slowly took Janice's body out of the cafeteria.
After they were gone everybody began whispering, though it seemed no one wanted to eat anymore. She joined the line to dump her tray, and then headed back to class, the image of the dying chicken haunting her the whole way. When she slipped into class, being the first to arrive, she saw Ms. Rose standing at the front of the class, wiping her eyes to hide her distress. Iridium didn't know what to do so she sat in her seat as the rest of the class slowly came in.
When they were all gathered, some still with shell-shocked expressions, Ms. Rose clapped her hands to get their attention.
``I know we were supposed to go over the Dreamer phenomena today, but given the events during lunch, we will instead be talking about a danger that just this semester has claimed five other students.'' There was no response, after all, how do you respond to a classmate dying in such a graphic way. She turned to the whiteboard and wrote ten letters. They spelled Neversleep.
``Neversleep was developed ten years ago by a scientist here in Ciaplo Palace. It speeds up cognitive processes and keeps the user awake for long periods of time and when it finally wears off, the user is often too tired to dream. I know this sounds extremely useful, however, NeverSleep needs extremely precise dosage and preparation in order to be at least somewhat safe, which makes clinical NeverSleep expensive and beyond the mien of most people.''
She drew a green vial with an attached syringe. ``However, like any drug, illicit providers will make the drug in homemade labs, which is extremely hazardous as if the dosage is wrong, even slightly, can be lethal. Despite this, many desperate people buy it off the illicit market. I know that you all know someone who has used it, at least once. I have to warn you, children, that it, as you saw today, is never safe, and I urge you please think twice before trying it.''
Iridium raised her hand, surprising the rest of the class. ``When Janice... died, she was screaming about seeing something. Does the drug cause you to see things?'' Ms. Rose nodded at the question.
``NeverSleep in the wrong doses is a known hallucinogenic chemical, and can cause powerful hallucinations.'' Iridium nodded, as did the rest of the class.
``Now, for the remainder of our time here today, we're going to try something new. I would like volunteers to come to talk about your latest dreams, and together we'll work through them, with a focus on realizing these are just dreams.''
The rest of the class passed quickly, and though some volunteered to share, most of them sat and listened, offering helpful words and support.
- - - - - -
Iridium walked into her apartment, noticing she was the first home. This was not a rarity and was actually her favorite time of day. She laid down on their couch, turned on the TV, and watched a soap opera she loved for the next few hours.
When she heard the door click shut, she turned off the TV and stood up. Her siblings stood in the doorway, drenched in sweat from cheerleading practice. She greeted them each with a hug, though they did smell strongly of sweat. Another scent came from them, but she couldn't identify it, a musky sort of odor.
``Whew, you two stink. Who's getting the first shower?'' She asked. Eric put on an exhausted smile and walked off toward their room to get clothes to wear. ``Alright, Eric is going first, Heather could you help me with dinner?''
``As long as Eric doesn't take all the hot water again.'' Heather teased her brother, who hurried into their room.
She and her sister started on stir-fry for dinner, cooking up the rest of the vegetables they had into the meal. They were running out of food, so Iridium messaged her father on her phone to get groceries on his way home. The meal was just about done when they heard the bathroom door open, and Heather took off to take her own shower. She always showered quickly and so was back in about ten minutes, both her siblings sitting down for their dinner, eating slowly and talking about their day. It was a tradition the kids had tried to keep from the past, of family dinners. Dad was usually there too, but his work hours were sporadic, so it wasn't unusual that he wasn't able to join. But the three of them always ate together.
After dinner, her siblings went off to the rec-room to enjoy their habits, while she fixed her father a plate and put it in the microwave. Then she washed the dishes so that the next morning would be easier. After she was done, she waited for her Dad to come home, sitting on the couch watching a show that only vaguely interested her. However, as the hours ticked by she began to get impatient. She was just about to turn the TV off and head to bed when the front door clicked close.
She got up off the couch and found her dad standing in the foyer, staring blankly at a wall for a few moments before looking her way. Her heart fell as she was able to tell instantly he was incredibly drunk. He staggered toward her, and she found herself having to keep him from collapsing.
``Come on Dad, let's get you to bed.'' She ground out, frustrated with her father. This had become a habit of his since her mother died, but she always felt upset with him for going so far. She slowly helped him to his bed, and out of his clothes. It wasn't the first time she'd seen it but she was fairly shocked by the erection her father sported. She tried not to look too much, but the image of the hard green penis seemed to stick in her mind. Shaking her head she took her father's clothes to the hamper and was dropping them in when she felt something in the pocket.
Curious, she drew it out and gasped as she saw the slightly glowing green of a vial of NeverSleep. Its syringe was capped off to avoid jabbing him in his pocket, but it was still there, and she knew deep down that her father had been using it. She choked back a sob and turned to her father, who had passed out, erection still sticking in the air like a small flagpole.
She left the room in a hurry, taking the vial and throwing it out one of the windows. As it soared out of sight she sighed and went to her room. There was no way that wouldn't show up tonight in her nightmares, and she was too worn out to fight it. She laid down on her bed, still fully clothed, and passed out.
- - - - - -
The golden light of sunset poured through the windows of the large room. It was filled with people she knew or had seen in the past. She was walking through the crowd, which opened before her as everyone noticed her and whispered to each other. When she reached the center of the room, under a skylight letting in the dying sunlight, she found a bed, large and comfortable in a way no real mattress could be.
She sunk into the bed, laying back and relaxing as the crowd moved in to stand around the bed. They were all quiet, looking at her with smiles. It was only then she noticed they were all nude, and so in fact was she. This didn't cause her any stress, why should it? It's why she was here. She wagged her finger to the crowd letting them get closer and closer. The ring around her closed tight, and Ms. Rose slowly climbed onto the bed, crawling towards her on all fours. Her big, fur-covered breasts soon hung before her face, and then lowered down so that she could engage Iridium in a long, sweet kiss.
Iridium went pink as her teachers soft hands slowly drew up her scaled leg, her claws lightly dancing on her pebbled skin. It caused her to shiver and become warm, as her teacher slowly began to pleasure her with her fingers, going in and out of her in a measured rhythm that made her palm glide along her sensitive clit.
The pleasure was so new to her, so tender and loving that she could do nothing but lay her head back and kiss her secret crush. She had tried masturbation a few times but this felt so much better than she could manage, and as she felt her orgasm coming, she cried out in pleasure, smashing her lips against the tiger with abandon while her lower body bucked. She felt herself cross the edge of no return and cried out.
- - - - - -
She awoke in her bed, her lower body damp from her sleep orgasm. She shivered as she came to terms with what had just happened.
That... was not a nightmare.
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