Chapter 267 Sandman Nightmares
Roland didn't know why he took a deep breath before opening the door to Dr. Apopis' residence.
Perhaps it was the anticipation, the bloodlust that was riling up deep within his veins. Perhaps it was the remnants of his flimsy humanity. Or perhaps, it was everything at once.
Still, there was no point just standing there with his hand around the handle. He tested if he could twist it, and it did. There were no sounds of movements inside, and Roland was quite aware that the Gift of Vendetta that he received had improved his senses. It had also improved his stealth even though he and Chief Fieldings tend to not utilize it more.
Part of the joy of the chase was to make your victim aware that they were being chased. Otherwise, they would be no different from those things that hide like the Imposters or Mr. Shadow.
He was not afraid to wake up the old geezer in his siesta or anything like that. He just wanted to relish a little bit of his shock once he saw an intruder in his home, and....
Roland's eyes widened when he found blood trails starting from the living room leading all the way to the kitchen.
What…..
He narrowed his eyes again, and gritted his teeth at the thought that someone went after his prey first. Could it be a human? Some other vigilante that Chief Fieldings haven't told him about?
The blood was fresh, and he followed its trail like a dog sniffing about the scent. He soon found where the source came from….
And there he was. Dr. Apopis in the flesh.
His arm was bleeding from the wrist, and he was holding a knife. He was sitting on his dinner table, smiling at Roland as if he had been expecting him.
"Oh hello, Mr. Faust. I have been expecting you." He said.
Roland immediately knew this wasn't the same doctor that he once knew. He was possibly some Imposter taunting him, or some other monster…..
Some monster that wanted to play with his mind.
He went to run away, but Dr. Apopis just laughed from behind him.
"What? Afraid of a little bit of blood? Wasn't this something you also used to do? I remember that your father sent it to me because he found the marks, and by estimation, you had been slitting your wrist for more than 6 months before you became my patient."
Roland covered his ears, and growled. "You're not going to get to me, you bastard! Even if you wear his face!"
Dr. Apopis ignored this and continued to speak, his voice echoing even within this flat.
"You don't think I am Dr. Apopis. But I have always been, Roland. That is why you despise me so much. You see, predators tend to dislike other predators. Monsters to other monsters. Or they can be like you, pretending to be amicable yet bearing deep hatred. Wasn't that something you felt around him?"
Roland didn't listen to him and kept running, feeling like the path to that door just kept on getting farther and farther. But out of pure will, he finally reached it….
And fell down onto murky black waters.
Roland had sunk deeper than he should have, and he easily drowned. He struggled to reach the surface, but he couldn't. The darkness enveloped him in its oily, greasy state, making him feel dirty down to his very bones. The humiliation was so strong that it rocked his nerves.
In the water, he heard Mr. Shadow's voice again.
"Joining the Hunter, especially that Vigilante, was the worst decision you have made so far, Roland. You are no Hunter, you couldn't even hunt the one you truly want to kill." He said, his tone enough to give the illusion of someone talking with a sneer.
"You blame your father, you blame the psychologist that tells you to man up and get over it… All because you do not want to blame the one who had caused your suffering."
'GO AWAY!!!!' Roland wanted to yell, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the water just flowed into him and his insides.
Mr. Shadow went to grab him from behind, gripping him close as if to crush his body. He had one of his hands around Roland's neck, and his lips to his ear as he continuously whispered his taunts that once haunted Roland in his teenage years.
And his form became more realistic, now turning into Hanker the clone's face.
"It's as clear as day. Roland Faust, you are—"
Roland took this opportunity to kick him, and propel himself forward. It shouldn't have worked, but natural logic doesn't work here. It instead functions using dream logic, and if he believed that he could fight him off, then he can.
He swam into the surface, and found a deserted island. He swam to that direction, and spotted someone else. A figure.
He called out, until he realized….
That it was the corpse of Henry Clerval.
The corpse barely had patches of skin left, and those that remained were bluish-gray and reeked of death. His ribcage was showing, where a pale white heart continues to move at a sluggish pace. He was almost like a zombie, except he didn't move.
Like the others, he only spoke and used words as his knife to twist on Roland's past wounds.
"When shall you end your facade, mate? You have deceived the world and yourself enough, is it not the time when you draw the curtains and reveal yourself? When shall you pretend that this corpse of mine is not yours, and the corpses of every other shell that you have left behind just to follow him?"
Roland was now on the island, and realized that it was full of stranded corpses like this one. All from different eras. There was someone dressed as an Ancient Greek soldier, someone dressed as a Japanese royalty, someone dressed for World War 1, and even someone who wears some tribal tattoos and symbols he couldn't recognize or locate the origin of.
All of them have that same blond hair as him.
Roland's anger just increased, and he used his gun to shoot every single one of them. Shooting and shooting blindly, his bullets not running out.
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT OF THIS NIGHTMARE RIGHT NOW!"
Soon, there was a body that wasn't a corpse like the rest.
Instead, it seemed to be a sand sculpture. A sculpture of a man, sitting with his legs crossed in what was known as the 'Lotus position'. He had four arms. One palm up, the other down, one holding a scepter, and one supporting a serpent.
"A nightmare, you say? Your whole life has been nothing less of a nightmare wasn't it, dear Roland?"
Roland stopped his blind shooting and turned to this sculpture with his sweat dripping from his forehead on this scorchingly hot island.
"There you are. Illusion. Dream Demon." He growled, his teeth appearing sharper than they should. "Let me out of your realm of lies and madness, and I might just let you live."
The sandman just tilted his head to the side, until it slid cleanly off his shoulders.
"How ironic of you to say that. My realm of lies is nothing compared to a certain someone's." His decapitated head sneered. "Ah, your kind can be so shameless—"
Roland aimed the gun at him. "I know I can kill you. I am now capable of doing so. And I won't let you escape this time, I'll tear you apart in my own mind. I can imagine so many horrible things to happen to you besides being peppered in bullets."
The sandman raised all his four hands. "Alright then, I was just playing a small joke on you, that's all! Haha, I am not here as an enemy, I am here as your friend! Have you forgotten all the times we spent together?"
He turned to Dr. Apopis this time, balding man with hawkish nose and crooked glasses.
"I am saying the truth when I say that I am the Dr. Apopis you knew. Perhaps not the one your father knew, but all those sessions… That was me."
Roland cocked his gun. "All the more reason for me to torture the hell out of you. You really like digging your own grave, eh?"
"But I say this out of goodwill! To reconcile with you! You know that you needed my 'services' to become the bold and dependable Roland you are today, the Roland who is good at suppressing his feelings and the Dark….. Hmm, but you have experienced a major relapse." He chuckled with the doctor's voice. "I suppose I should have given you better medication."
Roland shot a hole in his face, and this illusion demon just chuckled.
"Fine, fine, I'll stop playing games. Get into serious business." He arranged his necktie. "I came here with a warning. The path you are going for will turn you to a moth flying straight into a flame. You can turn back now and avoid the fate woven for you."
Roland raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And assuming that's not a lie, what's in it for you?"
The sandman smiled. "I'm trying to get back at an annoying pest by derailing his plans. I want to stop a spider from getting more food into its web."
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