Beginning

William gasped as his body, his soul, his existence ripped back into being, falling to the floor with a hollow thud. Not but a second ago he was not anywhere. No thoughts, no feelings, no being. Just a memory in the minds of those that knew him. 

With a groan he rolled over, peeling his face off the hard wood floor. Where was he? Was he a he? His hand reached down to clasp at his crotch where nothing was. Nothing. Or, right, he had to choose. What did he feel like? He lay for a few moments, mulling over the choice before he could feel his choice grow beneath his fingers. Ah, yes, that was right. 

Now for location. Where was he? His eyes roamed the book shelves, the sparks of recognition slow on the uptake. It was obviously a library, but why was he there? Slowly and painfully he sat, using his hands to push himself into a squatting position. In the hearth a warm fire burned, illuminating the room with a soft orange light. It was very welcoming, but he was uneasy. He wanted to be sure he was safe while he gradually formed back together from nothing. 

He was alone. He could tell.

That left no one to ask.

No one to answer.

“Who am I?” 

johnathancrane:

“I have a treat for you,” William said with a smirk, wiggling his fingers for Johnathan to stand up.

“Oh?” Johnathan asked, looking to his mentor. He hadn’t left the library in a long time, not since Mistress Mia had taken him to his first dream of someone he knew - a woman he’d drugged and raped in life. He had been pretty down since then, and hadn’t felt the need to do anything. It was only thanks to William that he did anything at all. “I don’t really feel like -“

“Get up,” William said forcefully, jerking his head. Johnathan sighed and stood, shuffling over to the other Dream Lord. With a touch of the hand they were… On a beach.

“You brought me to a beach as a treat?” he asked, appalled.

“Shut up and pay attention,” William snapped, his eyes cast up at the sky expectantly. It was dark, only a few lights from far off buildings glistening on the water. Johnathan waited, his fingers tugging and picking at the buttons of his sleeves.

And then suddenly the sky exploded with light, a loud boom soon echoing after the water. Johnathan screamed, tripping as he tried to run back, landing on his butt. William cracked up as a second explosion in the sky followed. “What is this?” Johnathan yelled, backing up across the sand.

“It’s fireworks, silly,” William said, walking over and offering Johnathan a hand.

“What are they for? Why are they doing this?” he asked, his voice panicked as more fireworks were set off.

“They are for fun. They’re for entertainment. This is a dream from Earth. They are a bit more advanced than you’ve seen.” William looped an arm under Johnathan and pulled him up, keeping his arm around his waist. “They’re used to celebrate.”

Johnathan watched the sky, jumping every time one was set off. They were quite pretty, once he stopped being terrified.

The shackles on his wrists burned his soul, causing him to fidget in his seat. His captors had grown weary of his antics, his demanding, his arrogance. 

“Tell us, Dream Lord,” The vampire, Alexander hissed.It had taken him hours to finally conceide to the fact that the creature he had captured did indeed have no name. The man that would later be named William had hoped they would press the name issue a little longer than they had, not wanting to get to the real reason they had chained him up. 

“Tell you what?” he sighed, tilting his head against his shoulder. 

Alexander rolled his eyes in frustration. “The entrance to the Dream Scapes. We know you know the safe passages, the way to get to our goals without having to dream.

The Dream Lord laughed, tossing his hair out of his face. The cain grazed against his face for a second, causing his skin to burn. So that was what they wanted. “No.” 

The vampire growled, going to hit The Dream Lord. His fist went thraight through him, causing the vampire to stumble a bit before catching his balance. 

“You may have trapped me here Sweet Cheeks, but I still ain’t human and you still can’t hit me if I don’t want you to.” He said with a smirk. He didn’t say, however, how tired being forced to stay in the waking world was making him. How stretched and thin he felt. “I don’t take kindly to intimidation or threats, so feel free to shove your pride inside that tight ass of yours and try again.” 

“How dare you speak to The Commander like that?” A second vampire roared. 

“How dare you capture and detain a Dream Lord?” the man asked, “What, do you think I will forget this once you release me or I find a way out - And I will get out, I can promise you, one way or another.” 

Alexander opened his mouth to speak, but the Dream Lord held up a perfectly mannecured hand, “I’m not finished, so you can keep quiet. Do you think I don’t know how to make a vampire dream? It’s harder than humans, but I can pull you to places and do things to you that you can’t even imagine, and I will. I will peel the skin off your pretty little demonic souls and make you eat it yourself. I will keep you, capture you, and wait until your body thirsts for blood so badly that when I do force you awake, and I will, you can not move and have to beg. How many times can I do this before I get bored? I’ve lived way longer than all of you combined, and my patience is still going strong. So do what you want with me, I will not hand over my kingdom to you, and when I get out, I will make you pay.”  

Willaim leaned back, feeling oddly exposed in his current attire. He was never very good at blending in, and even when he needed to be unseen it was kind of hard to stay unnoticed. Especially by the little girl he was watching.

Her name was Anna, and she was about 8 years old. He had become aware of her presence about four years prior. It was rare to find mortals that could dream as vividly as she, and this made her a target to dream creatures that would find her soul a tasty treat.

She was playing in a park today. She dreamed of this park often, with a large tree and a swing. The sun shone down on her golden hair, sparkling in the air. It was enough to make the dream lord smile.

“What are you doing?” her voice cut throgh his thoughts like a knife. She was faster than he has anticipated this time.

“Sitting on this bench. What are you doing?” He asked, choosing to drop his lisp for a more even tone. Best not to be truly himself, lest she be in danger knowing him.

“Magic,” she said, power in her voice. She was indeed destined for greatness, and he knew he would be visiting her many more times.

(Source: amfran)