Sable stared at the rusty ceiling pipes as her fingers tapped against the wooden surface below her.
Lying on the table, she huffed a sigh, feeling how the uneasiness never left.
That thing… the Nightgaunt… it wasn't gone, it was probably waiting. Dream or not, it felt real!
"What to do… what to do…" Sable sat back up, brushing her hair to the side. "If I can't use magic…" She said aloud, "Then I've gotta get creative. There's gotta be a weakness! I'm not gonna give up now, I made it too damn far!"
Her eyes darted around the room.
There were pipes, bolts, and a wrench on the floor. She was only surrounded by rust… and dread.
But then again, this was a dream. Dreams had rules! Even if they were twisted and bizarre, they were rules nonetheless.
Standing up from the table, she stretched her arms above her head.
"Nightgaunts… they exist between reality and unreality. Only fools challenge them in their nightmares…" She repeated to herself. "And unfortunately enough, I'm a fool, and a pretty pretty big darn one at that!"
Sable gave herself a prep talk, motivating herself to finish this.
"I already have a general idea of this creature." She crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. "That thing isn't just a Lovecraft knock-off, it's my fear, trauma, and helplessness given form. Watching those scary movies always gave me nightmares like that…"
She clenched her fist, furrowing her brows.
"And if it's a reflection of me… maybe I can kill it somehow."
She glanced toward the ground and grabbed the wrench from the rusted floor. It was heavy and imperfect, but it was the only thing she had going for her.
"Yeah. You'll do just fine… even if the odds are stacked up against me, I'll make it work one way or another!"
Suddenly, the pipes above her groaned, and Sable froze.
A dripping sound echoed above her… followed by the unmistakable sound of scraping chitin on steel.
Her heart rate spiked.
"Shit. No time like the present!"
She didn't wait for it to come down on her this time.
Sable backed up toward the hatch, shoving the lever open with a clang, and dove through the hole before her fear could catch up to her.
She fell at least fifteen feet before landing on the ground, rolling to dissipate the impact force of her landing and reducing the risk of injury.
"Guhhh! Fuck… that was reckless!"
She nearly sprained her ankle but that wasn't enough to stop her from booking it straight ahead. Sable didn't wait to see if the Nightgaunt was following.
She ran for it!
She could smell the same stench of mold and rot, only now, it was worse.
The walls were even breathing and expanding, as if the place itself had lungs. She had no time to react—adrenaline was coursing through her.
Sable's footsteps echoed ahead of her as her own breath rasped from panic.
Behind her, she heard it—
The clicking of claws digging into the walls and ceiling, but this time it was quicker!
"I have to go… faster!" She whispered in rhythm with her pounding heart, trying to think of a way to beat this thing logically. "A corner!" Widening her eyes, Sable skidded on one heel and whipped around a corner to her right.
The corridor ahead was somehow thinner than before, like it was forming into a tunnel too tight for any human to squeeze through.
"What the hell is going on?! This place is changing by the second!"
Behind her, the shriek of the Nightgaunt pierced the air, as if it was manipulating this nightmare—and in fact—it was.
Sable only now realized what was happening.
"Oh… you got to be kidding me!" Widening her eyes, the walls in front of her suddenly slammed into each other. "Aahhh, Fuck you!" Sable hissed in anger and stopped in her tracks, forced to face this monster head-on.
THUMP.
The floor vibrated—
THUMP.
Again.
THUMP!!
She turned around.
The walls behind her suddenly split open like rotten meat as the Nightgaunt dragged itself into the corridor like an oozing spider; it's many limbs dislocated and realigned themselves in order to squeeze through.
"Ah man…" Sable's breath hitched in her throat as the Nightgaunt filled the corridor.
Its eyeless face stretched forward, and its vertical slit of a mouth opened wide, as if tasting her fear in the air.
Sable backed up slowly, but there was no more hallway left; the path ahead was gone, crushed by the dream's own shifting logic. This was a trap, and a psychological kill box!
"Here I was thinking I had total control over my own dreams… but I guess I was wrong. This thing can apply its own logic if it feels like it…"
Nightgaunts had total control over Nightmares; with the ability to warp laws, concepts, and alter reality itself, Sable had no means of escape.
"There's no magic, exit, or dad to tell me what to do." She muttered before tightening her grip around the wrench. "God fucking damnit…" Gritting her teeth, Sable had no choice but to end it here or die.
All of a sudden, the Nightgaunt charged forward.
"Woah!?" Sable threw herself to the side, bumping her shoulder into the opposite wall.
The creature's limbs shot forward, stabbing the ground where she had stood a second ago.
The air started to stink of sulfur and something that didn't belong in any real world; it was an incomprehensible smell, enough to drive any normal human insane, but Sable kept her mind focused.
The wrench was her only weapon—and rage was her only fuel!
"I'm not dying here!!" She screamed and lunged at the beast, swinging the wrench with every ounce of adrenaline and hatred she had.
The metal connected with a sickening crunch, right into the creature's side, taking it by surprise as it released a distorted shriek.
It was a reversed howl that vibrated through the brick and Sable's very bones; nearly rupturing her ears as her knees buckled, feeling the world bend around her.
"Gaaahhh! W-What's happening?!" The hallway folded and twisted in upon itself.
Her surroundings peeled away as the lights above her head turned red.
"Shit—!" Sable stumbled back, pressing her hands to her ears. Her vision doubled, feeling like she was slipping sideways, but then…
She saw herself—
Floating across the corridor. It was her, standing there, completely still, but her skin was pale, and her eyes were empty.
The reflection of Sable opened their mouth, and in her own voice, whispered: "You're afraid of being powerless. Just like when Dad died. Just like when you couldn't do anything but cry into a book."
Sable's eyes widened; those words hit her like a truck, causing her lips to quiver.
"You'll always be powerless. Your weakness will ruin Father's legacy."
"Pwa ha ha!" All of a sudden, Sable burst out into laughter as the howling nightgaunt hushed. "My weakness? What about it? You think just because I'm weak, I can't fulfill my father's wish? Oh please, shut the fuck up! I've already dealt with you before!"
Sable took a single step forward with a voice of clarity.
"You think I'm scared of hearing that again?" She frowned at her own reflection, narrowing her eyes. "I've lived with that voice since the day they buried him. You're not some grand revelation, you're a rerun of my worst nights. Besides, I've already defeated my other half who hated my weakness a moment ago!"
The false Sable didn't flinch, but only stood there, emotionless like a doll with a broken voice box.
"You'll never be a real sorcerer. You're not chosen. You're an accident."
"Yeah, well guess what?" Sable grinned, lifting the wrench with a trembling hand. "So was half the best shit in the world!"
She hurled the wrench directly through her own doppelganger. It hit dead center—and just like that—the illusion shattered into dust
"If this is your only way of fighting me, then you're all out of luck, Nightgaunt! My mental fortitude is something you don't wanna fuck with!"
The Nightgaunt screamed again, but louder this time.
Its body convulsed as its limbs flailed wildly, crashing into the sides of the corridor as if it had just been stabbed from the inside out.
Its skin was apparent with fractures, as if it had been damaged—
Sable stared at the cracks in its body with wide eyes, awestruck.
"…That worked?" She muttered. "Of course that worked!"
The creature wasn't just fear—it was sustained by it.
It was shaped by every moment of self-doubt, every crack in her resolve, and also the fears of horror movies across the years.
Sable ran across the corridor, grabbing the fallen wrench again with a determined glare.
"If I want this nightmare to end, then I have to be the one who ends it!"
The Nightgaunt lunged at her in a fit of rage as its jaws split wider than physically possible, though this time, Sable didn't dodge—
She charged forward with a scream of pure will, meeting the creature head-on
Slamming the wrench into its center mass, the deadly blow sank into its flesh.
Sable's vision suddenly flashed white as the force of her defiance overloaded the dream's physics.
The Nightgaunt writhed as its body unraveled like film caught in a projector.
Sable witnessed its form distort while its dozen limbs spasmed as parts of it shattered into jagged shards of thought, memory, and nightmarish logic, but the surprising part of it all was; it howled her name.
"SAAAAABLLLLEEEEEE—!!"
Then fell apart entirely. The nightgaunt exploded into flesh and gore as the corridor broke apart.
The walls dissolved, and the shadows peeled away all at once, thus, Sable was put alone in a vast of infinite dark space.
"Huh? Is it… really over?" She looked all around her with a relieved expression before huffing a sigh. "Oh, it is! I did it… thank god!"
In front of her, a tall and silver door appeared. Sable stared at it with clueless eyes, now walking through the void as if it had mass.
"…That better be the exit, how can I be tired in my own dream? Sheesh… I'm on the verge of passing out."
Her movements were groggy—finally relieved of her nightmares—and excited to enter the waking world once again.
Gripping the handle, Sable took a breath and held it… before pushing the door open.