"Dan? Are you okay?" That was my sister, Evelynne. Back then, I would have hated to hear her ask me that. Nowadays, hearing her voice makes me feel at rest, even if I only hear it in my dreams.

"Daniel? Uh, Dan?" She waved a hand in front of my blank eyes. I stared. Then I blinked.

"You were screaming- I'm sorry to have bothered you..." She began.

"I'm sorry, Evie. It was a nightmare again." I tried to hold in my tears. The nightmares, always the same thing, taunted me every night. In my dreams I could fight back, until right before they got to me. When they killed me, I woke up.

It made me fearful to sleep. I stayed awake, anxious, until I would pass out. Not that my Dad noticed. Mom was always away, deployed. What she wasn't aware of was my father, drinking and cheating every night. He would gamble, and come back late in the afternoon with the scent of a different woman every time. he would sleep a few hours, and then be off. He never spoke to me, except to yell at me, and there was the occasional slur. And since Mom was gone for God knows how long, and dad was never around, seventeen year old Evie had taken the responsibility of caring for me, and my younger brother William.

"Another one? God, Dan, I'm sorry. I wish I had more time to help but between fighting the court and working, I can't exactly do much." She bit her lip, and her eyes were more wet than usual. She had dropped out of school to stay and care for me and Will, and I knew she was trying her best. I couldn't ask for much more, it was out of the question anyway.

"I'm okay, Evie." I lied. She had too much to worry about, it was worthless trying to sort out my minor problems. Besides, it was a stupid thing to deal with, and there was no use complaining about it. Maybe I could get my hands on something for it, but in the meantime, I have things to get done.

I tried to go back to sleep, but with the nerves of waking from another nightmare combined with the nerves of not wanted to wake up Will or bother Evie, I stayed awake in the dark night, alone, with nothing to turn to. I couldn't sleep again. I couldn't.  The monsters stayed with me. I couldn't deal with it.

I got out of bed as quietly as I could, and crept around until I hit the back door. It was a cold night, so I grabbed a sweatshirt for the way. I walked along a straight road. It was lonely and dark at night, not unlike other aspects of my life. The moon shone down on my waist, my thighs, my calves, and finally crept down to my feet. I continued my walk.

I saw something shiny on the ground. An old silver skeleton key.  I picked it up for examination. I wondered who would leave such a thing lying around. It was much too beautiful to be abandoned. I had a thing for strange items like that. I pocketed the key and continued down the road on my journey. My grey shoes hit on the pavement slowly, like an even beating of drums, but not nearly that loud.

The night was dark, except for the moon shining on me, almost as if the night had selected me for some special purpose. I saw something flicker in the moonlight, like the flame from a candle when you're about to blow it out. I wandered over to this new item. It was a plastic coin, the kind used in those birthday party treasure chests. It shone many different colours in the light, but it was nearly worthless. Nevertheless, I picked it up anyway.

As I continued walking down the street, the river began to merge in nearby. It was serene in the middle of the night, so still you could see your reflection perfectly if you tried. So still that if you dropped a single blade of grass, everything moved, like the entire world shifted slightly out of place. I thought about the plastic I had picked up earlier. I took the coin out of my pocket, and glanced at it for less than two seconds. I threw it into the river, wishing for some sort of adventure to happen. It was as if, for a moment, everything shattered. Slowly but surely, all became calm again. I continued my walk.

I began to wish I had brought something with me, perhaps a pair of headphones to keep me company in the night. The silence hurt, it was a reminder of the everlasting silence in my life. I kept walking, being partially unaware of my surroundings. It was then that I stumbled on a broken piece of metal wire fence. I fell, and my arms caught me, but not before scraping them against the wire fence. I glanced at my arms, covered in scratches. There was a long streak of blood running down my left arm.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself.

I wiped off what I could of the blood, and kept walking along the fence, where it wasn't torn. I came across an old door in the fence, the back of which was greenery, covered in ivy and darkness. I reached out for the door. It had a space for a lock. I instantly knew that it was for this reason I picked up the key. I slid it into place, turned it, and the door clicked. It slowly opened without so much as a creak, and I walked into the enveloping darkness.