Darwin woke, breathing heavily in his fishbowl. He turned and looked over at Gumball, who was still sound asleep like a baby in his bed. The nightmare seemed so real and so painful at the same time. But thankfully, nothing bad happened to him in the real world. Or so he thought. Darwin slowly crawled out of his fish bowl and on the floor, standing in place before he walked slowly towards the door; trying not to disturb his brother.

     His mouth felt dry like sand paper as he walked downstairs to grab a cup of water. Everything around him made him feel distressed and uneasy as he walked alone halfway down the steps. Maybe it's due to how dark the living room is, or he just has some really bad eyesight. He leaned over the railing to take a peek to find nothing. Shaking off the uneasiness and just heading into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and began to drink it until there was no drop left.

Placing the cup next to the sink for later on. He began to walk out of the kitchen and over towards the steps. He stopped near the couch, feeling the uneasiness build up again. The TV turned on, showing the news crew in front of his house.

Confused and baffled on how the TV turned on; probably from his father having the remote upstairs in his room. Sleeping with it. But no! The remote was on the couch. He could see the reflection off the TV. The news crew took a step closer to the house. But something else felt off. His mother came walking out, screaming for them to leave.

Get off her lawn before she calls the cops. Gumball was next to her. Tears flowed down his face. Then Anies was next. She held her stuffed animal as close as she could. Her ears dropped down to the sides as she whimpered before running back inside. Then his father, holding a picture of someone.

Darwin couldn't make it out. Maybe because he was standing on the staircase and far away from the TV. But as soon as he lifted the picture up. Darwin shook, feeling the wave of realization that he was the one missing. The news crew was there on their property, trying to get enough information on what had happened.

The TV turned off.

In the corner of his eye, he saw something move in the darkness. His eyes turned towards what he thought was his imagination. He shook it off, stepping up the first flight of stairs only to stop by the sound of something walking; walking slowly towards him. The feeling of being alone was no longer there. Now, he felt unsafe. His body shook, feeling as if something or someone was watching him. Eyes locked on his shaken body as if examining him and his movements. Darwin gripped the railing, getting ready to run. Then, just as he thought he was safe.

He saw it.

His eyes locked on a face. A face that looked at him above the railing, peering into his soul. Red eyes wide open as if it had caught Darwin from a game of hide and seek. His smile grinned from eye to eye, one that Darwin didn't like to look at. And the face, the face that made him feel as if he was staring at for a long time, had reminded him of someone. The smile faded from its face, now looking as if something it didn't like to see. Just as Darwin thought things couldn't get worse.

The figure moved.

Its head still faces Darwin as it slowly moves towards the staircase, grabbing the wooden bars. Darwin couldn't move. His fear took over him, not allowing him to move. He turned his head, looking as if the future stood at the bottom of the stairs right behind him. Panic took over Darwin, making him lift his foot on the second flight of stairs. Taking a closer look at the figures body to see something in his hands, gripping on it tightly.

"Long time no see." It said, speaking in a harsh tone. "Hasn't it been. Darwin." Confused on what was happening, Darwin began to move again, putting his foot on the next flight of stairs only to fall over. A loud thud echoed through the house, not waking a single person.

"Wh-who are you? How d-did you get into my fam-family's house?" His voice, shaken up from the figure , took another step forward. It bent over, looking down at him as one hand lay down next to him on the staircase and the other behind his back. The figure hovered above him, pulling the other hand over towards him to show what it was holding. A knife.

"Do you even remember what you did? What you did to your family, friends, and the people in Elmore," The figure was more furious, showing the grin once again. The knife is lifted up towards Darwin's neck, only for him to feel the cold metal touch his skin. He was shaking even more than ever, not able to control his movement. He just closed his eyes, begging to wake up from this nightmare.

"You made us this way. You made us what we are today!" It screamed, only for Darwin to open his eyes from the knife slowly digging into his neck. Looking around the room to find everything different. The room was huge, filled with strange flags hanging from the walls with large windows between them. And what he was sitting on was a thrown with a long red carpet rolled to the door that led outside to another room.

People stood around him like a group meeting, looking at him with long faces on as they cheered from the knife dripped from his own blood. The figure that stood in front of him slowly vanished along with the room and people cheering. Then darkness. Nothing but a cold feeling as his body went numb and limp.

Darwin woke, gasping as small bubbles formed from his mouth and slowly rose to the top. His breathing increased, crying as he remembered the nightmare he just had. It seemed so real. He could feel everything, the knife digging into his flesh and the feeling of something wet rolling down his cold body. His crying and gasping for air had stopped, giving him time to rethink from between a dream and reality.

And somehow, Gumball was awoken from his cries. The small cat stood up, grabbing his blanket as Darwin got out of his fishbowl, only to feel someone place a blanket over his shoulders: or fins. Gumball pushed Darwin close to him, making him feel safe as they crawled on the bed.

The young fiah slowly drifted off to sleep, feeling safe in his brother's arms as small whimpers and deep breaths escaped his mouth. Eye's closed, breathing slowly went back to normal, and the dream this time was more pleasant than the last.

Nicole (their mother) ran in with a baseball bat in her hands. She turned side to side, looking for the bug or another spider to kill. "Okay, boys. Where's the bug?" She said, gripping the bat as she slowly moved it like she was ready to hit a robber or home run. But instead of hitting the bug, she hit her husband.

The father came in startling Nicole. She swung the bat to the side of his face, making him step back in shock. Nicole held her husband, who felt the pain crawl up the side of his face. Gumball just stared, looking at his family as he pointed to a sleeping fish in his arms.

"There was no bug, just Darwin screaming from a nightmare." Gumball said, looking at his brother sound asleep in his arms. He seemed so peaceful this time.

"He just had a nightmare, that's all." Gumball said, pulling him close to his chest. It's been so long since neither of them had nightmares. Not sense they were kids.

"Well, just go back to bed." Nicole said, walking out as she closed the door by a crack. Gumball slowly laid his brother back down on his bed and lifted the blanket over him. The sweet little sounds he made kept Gumball at ease.

"I'll keep you safe from anything," He mumbled as he shifted to find a comfortable spot to sleep. And just as he did, laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling as his eyes slowly closed from the heaviness that sinked in.

Darwin woke to find himself on Gumballs bed. He sat up all alone in their room. Not even their little sister was making any noises as she usually does. Nicole called his name from the kitchen. She hoped he was wide awake by now and ready for the day. "Darwin, breakfast is ready." She yelled. Darwin looked around the room, trying to figure out how he got in his brothers bed. The only way was that his brother had brought him over. Darwin couldn't remember a single thing from last night except for the nightmare he had and how realistic it felt.

"Coming, Mrs. Mom," He yelled back to his mother as he made his way downstairs to find the TV on. This time, it showed a commercial instead of the news crew. Darwin quickly shuffled into the kitchen, where Gumball sat down at the table. His face looked so tired and so sad. But to Darwin, he seemed fine as he walked by. sliding in the chair next to his brother with a slight smile on his face. Darwin looked down, then back up to find Nicole handing him a plate with bacon and eggs.

"Mom, what are we doing today?" Gumball asked. Yawning.

"I was wondering what's with Darwin and that dream he had last night. Also, we're going shopping today." Nicole pushed Darwin's plate closer to him so he could eat it, but he just stared at it. Trying not to think about the nightmare he had, the blood, the screams, and the sound of someone talking to him about how he ruined everything. Everything was wrong in that dream. Everything except himself felt off place and uncomfortable.

"Well, Darwin?" She looked at him, her light blue eyes seemed to help Darwin lighten up a little bit and try to eat what was on the plate. He didn't know how to start it off, so he just went with what came out of his mouth and spoke about the small details.

"I...I... fishbowl and nightmare... stabbed by someone.....I..I...*sniff* it felt so real." The poor kid lifted his hands towards his face, covering up his eyes as he let out a quiet sob.

"Please...i-I don't want to talk about that again." He focused on her eyes as she looked at Gumball, then back at Darwin with shock.

"Just forget about everything that just happened." She wiped the tears from his eyes. "Nightmares are just...well... nightmares. None of it is real. Now finish your breakfast, and we'll head off to the store."