Part II: Discovery

Author's note
Sorry for the delay, guys. Hopefully it will be quicker next time.

      Skyril was falling through the black. Tumbling and plummeting down. Or maybe she was floating. She couldn't tell, but it seemed she was going downwards at some particular rate in the blackness. She still couldn't speak. She would open her mouth and close it again, screaming off and on silently. She couldn't breathe, and life was fading from her, melting away like an ice cube over fire.

How much longer would she last? A minute? She didn't know, but then again, she really couldn't possibly tell how much time passed in this black world. It seemed to Skyril that she had been falling for an eternity, but on the other hand, it was only moments since she took her last breath.

Her last breath. Would that be the truth? Would she never breath again? She screamed mutely again, wondering how she felt about death. She wished she could see her friends again... Kallista, so fun and such a wonderful sister, Israel, humorous and kind, Bridget, the vampire on the good side, Thalia, Lego, Mar, Lydia, Phoenix, Rose, Raven... oh, she couldn't list them all... so many... so many... and... Gepard, her lovely Gepard.... Even if he hadn't spoken to her for days... she would miss him. Her green eyes closed, her mouth not having enough strength to scream again. Goodbye, my  love...

But then, the falling stopped, just stopped. She was frozen on the edge of death, but no longer drifting downwards. Her hair was splayed around her face, still, in the air and not limp. She was like that for a some time, but none could say how long. She was fixed in place in the midst of oblivion. Then Skyril gasped, sucking in a great breath of air, coughing, and breathing more, breathing sweet air. Breathing. She coughed a few times more and would kill for something to drink but was slowly feeling better.

Her boot shod feet touched ground, her eyes opening slowly with each ragged breath. The ground was paved with stones. It was a road. She looked up, hoping. There were people all around, everywhere, but something was wrong with them. She was standing in the middle of a giant crowd of people whose movements were suspended. Most of them were in the middle of taking a step, but some others were lifting a hand to wave to someone or else taking a bite of ham and cheese at a deli. Not only that, but the sky was shades of green with a great emerald sun giving off light. Skyril was fairly certain that the sun was yellow in her world.

She gazed at the closest person to her, not a foot away. She was a young girl, about seven years old with auburn hair, green eyes, and freckles. Tentatively, Skyril touched her cheek. The girl blinked, looking up at Skyril. Then everyone turned and looked at her. No one said a word. It was completely silent. Skyril looked at them all. Their eyes were vacant, dead, but at the same time, they were gazing definitively at her.

"Um, hullo.." she said, her voice a bit hoarse. They didn't reply, but only watched her. She stepped one way, then the other. Their eyes continued to follow her. Swallowing stiffly, she knelt down in front of the girl whom she had touched. Quietly and a bit nervously, Skyril said, "Hey, there, what's you're name?" The child blinked at her.

"I have no name."

Skyril tilted her head, replying gently, "Oh, but you must have a name! What do your parents call you?"

"I have no parents. I have no family. I killed them all a long time ago in their sleep." The child turned her head this time, looking at everyone in the crowd. "I only have ourselves." She looked back at Skyril, who was standing up again, hands on her belt where daggers hid beneath her coat. The child spoke again, "I have no name, for they that see me either go insane, die, or stay with me. The question is...," she paused, an eery grin curling her lips, "Will you be lucky and live in insanity? Or perhaps it would be more merciful to have death, for you don't want to stay with me."

"I've heard of you," Skyril butted in grimly before Freckles could continue. "I was afraid you would be whom I thought you were. The legends... there are a lot of gruesome tales- Common or magical, people of all ages walking on some silent road, disappearing and reappearing either within seconds or years. Some have aged, some look the same, but all..." Skyril paused, "All are insane. The others who don't make it are found far away, their bodies torn, barely recognizable as humans, while the rest... don't come back at all."

The child inclined her neck to one side, the rest of the crowd simultaneously repeating the action, listening as Skyril spoke.

"There are myths, that speak of your world," she continued. "It is said that the reason everyone has bad dreams is because of the ripple effect after you have your fun with someone. Your power is so strong it can't be contained within one being's mind. It spreads across the earth to everyone and lasts forever. The worst part is, you've been here from the beginning, and won't ever die so long as you have a body to inhabit, will you? 

The strange thing is, one of these occurrences hasn't happened for so very long. No one has disappeared and reappeared insane or mangled by your hands. You were bound, weren't you? I heard that story too. You were bound in a beautiful piece of jewelry. One of silver and purple amethysts.
I chose to dismiss Mrs. O'Leary's bracelet believing all this was a fable. I trusted nightmares were just ghosts from the past and the imagination lurking around to frighten, but now Ominous has this bracelet. He's let you loose, the fool. Loose on me. You're his backup plan. He's very clever, but he won't get away with it, he mustn't. Oh, by the way," Skyril blinked as if an idea had just occurred to her, "You do have a name. It's been there forever, for you are so very old." The child spoke commandingly, but her voice wasn't just the voice of a little girl, but the voice of all, "Tell me, what is my name?"

"Your name," said she, "is Nightmare."