Guardians of Nightmares

"Ferrin! Come down and have dinner!" A gentle yet firm-looking lady near her early 30s shouted in front of the stairs, her hands on her hips, a deep frown adorning her face.

From up above, the sound of disgruntled moaning could be heard, a boy seemed to be muttering about some hell of a life he was living.

Just as the lady was about to hit a nerve and blow off, the annoyed words of a teen boy traveled down the stairs, "I told you, mom, I want to go to sleep! I am tired, do you know how much effort school requires from me? I'm going to sleep again. I'll eat later and please don't shout further!" The boy seemed to be begging her from his tone.

Aria's gentle face morphed into a devil's, "FERRIN! QUIT LAZING AROUND AND COME DOWN! YOU HAVE BEEN SLEEPING SINCE YOU CAME BACK FROM SCHOOL AND ITS ALREADY DINNER TIME NOW! COME DOWN THIS INSTANT OTHERWISE, I'M COMING TO YOU!"

Ferrin clicked his tongue while replying in defeat, "Fine, I'm coming!"

"Good boy!" Aria smiled in satisfaction and went back to the kitchen to set up the dining table.

From above the stairs, a slightly chubby boy walked down slowly, almost at a turtle's pace.

His unkempt brown hair stood straight all around the place, his hazy light brown eyes twitched terribly, and a war had ensued to stop them from shutting down again.

Yet despite Ferrin's unsightly appearance, Aria remained unmoved, as if this was the norm for them.

"Go wash your face!" Aria shouted from inside the kitchen while caressing a thick liquid with a motherly smile.

Ferrin glanced in her direction for a while before saying tiredly, "Alright mom, though I wish you listen to me sometimes as well."

Ferrin scratched his head in annoyance and slowly walked towards the bathroom.

Splash!

Even the cold water failed to drive off his laziness. His lack of energy and the monotonous mood was with him from his childhood. He had always been like this for some reason.

At the beginning of his life, his mother and father were extremely worried about him. They went to various doctors and physiologists asking for help but the doctors failed to find any fault. When he became 6, his father got tired of him and decided to leave him.

His mother was unwilling to leave him be. Despite knowing she would be all alone and that she would have to raise an abnormal child, her motherly love refused to budge and she rejected her husband fiercely.

The argument escalated and ended with them getting divorced. Currently, she was working in an office, her pay wasn't much but it was enough to support the two of them.

Her husband had at least been kind enough to let them keep the apartment he owned. This did serve as some help in the arduous life she had chosen for herself.

No matter what people said or did in the many memorable years of her life, Aria remained strong in her stance and supported her son to the best she could.

It was due to her efforts that Ferrin had been brought up safely from his childhood and reached the age of 15 this year.

"Sit down! I will go get the juice, I heard from someone that it can work wonders to light up sparks in lazy bums like you!" Aria smiled lovingly as she went to fetch the dark green juice she had made at home.

"Sigh! Call it to poison mom! I hope it doesn't involve raw weed like last time." Ferrin pouted unhappily as he reminisced about his torturous past.

"Hehe! No, no! Nothing like that this time, I swear!" Aria couldn't help but smile remembering how last time her son almost choked on the drink when she told him it involved raw weed fetched from a pile of crap.

After thinking about it, even she realized that it was disgusting even considering it.

"I hope so!" Ferrin sighed helplessly. Before beginning to lazily stretch out his hand and start pouring the food onto his plate. Even this simple act felt like he had to go through a tall mountain.

'I wish somebody could do this for me instead... I think if someone can feed me, that would be nice as well.' Ferrin shook his head at his wild fantasies.

"Here, try this! I bet you won't need sleep for three whole days after this." Aria chuckled mischievously before pouring the thick juice inside Ferrin's glass.

"Exactly like how every last time I didn't need sleep as well I guess..." Ferrin spoke contemptuously before pouring the juice down his throat.

Actually... it shouldn't even be called juice, it was bitter to the point any sane person wouldn't want it near him and disgusting like he was eating a burnt tyre.

But this was our boy Ferrin, who didn't even bother spitting it out as he felt that even doing that would be bothersome. So? He chugged it all down his throat of course!

"How is it? How is it? Do you feel energetic?" Aria asked like a happy child, inching her face closer to Ferrin's. Having no clue about Ferrin's misery.

"Brilliant! I think I would love another glass." Ferrin went to the trouble of helping his own self suffer more.

Not that he actually felt better or something but to stop his mother from trying it out herself.

She didn't let him suffer alone of course. If it was bearable, they would drink it together. If it was disgusting they would drink it together. They walked step by step into their own pits.

That's just how the mother and son kept pushing the other to move one more step in their miserable lives.

The mother and son had enough understanding of each other to know the other like the back of their hands.

Aria sighed dejectedly and calmly stole the glass from Ferrin's hand before holding her breath and gulping it down in one go.

Cough! Cough!

Ferrin speechlessly stared at Aria, holding her mouth tightly, the force causing her cheeks to go red. Her best attempt was to stop herself from vomiting it out.

"Cough! I-It's disgusting, cough, Ferrin!" Aria stared in disbelief at her son, incredulous at the fact that he intended to drink it again.

Ferrin shook his head and began eating, all the while pouring Aria a glass of real juice and not some weird inhumane thing.

Aria drank it readily, easing her throat's suffering.

Ferrin finished his plate slowly before pouring himself another serving. Despite his lazy attitude, he always had a giant's appetite. As if he needed to stockpile as much energy as he could or else he would collapse.

After finishing his third plate, Ferrin got up and started walking towards his room. His mother purposely gave him the room on the second floor thinking he might become more fit. Though he hardly ever came down from there instead.

'My eyes feel droopy. I wish mom had let me sleep for a while longer.' Ferrin slowly and arduously took small steps forward before finally reaching a door right next to the stairs.

There were only two rooms here. One was the storeroom, the other Ferrin's room. They both were located right in front of each other.

Ferrin pushed open his room and walked inside, his back covered in sweat, giving off a pungent odor.

Breathing rampantly as if he had just run a marathon he lost his grip on the door and collapsed in front of his room with a light thud.

'Mhm! Yea, this is a good life.' A small smile stretched across Ferrin's face as the darkness finally drowned his consciousness.

Aria who was doing the dishes failed to hear the thudding sound from up above.

Almost at the same time, a plate skipped from Aria's hand. Shattering the instance it came into contact with the ground.

"My!" Aria exclaimed worriedly and crouched down to pick up the sharp remnants of the plate, thankful at the fact that she had gotten out unharmed.

She had to go to work tomorrow, after all, it would be a disaster if she got injured.

As Aria was picking up the pieces, her eyes started spinning in circles, turning her field of vision wobbly. All she could make out was a blinding light all around her, 'Wha-'

Thud!

Aria didn't even manage to think much before her body collapsed next to the ground, luckily she didn't fall on the broken pieces.

Or maybe... it was the worst her fate could get, indulging in a sleep she may never wake up from.

***

Suddenly, a blinding light erupted out of nowhere, destroying the darkness and Ferrin's pleasurable sleep.

His eyes squeezed tightly in response. "Uhh!" A disgruntled moan escaped his lips. His eyes blinked continuously a few times before finally peeking outside slightly.

"Hmm?" Ferrin looked around through his squinted eyes, wondering why his mother would disturb his sleep so quickly.

He got off the floor and stretched his tired muscles. He felt as if something was lifted off of him today, he felt exceptionally light. Almost as if the kindness of God had reached him and the virtual mountain had been lifted from him.

Sniff! sniff!

"What is this strange odor?" Ferrin looked around in confusion.

"EEEEEEEEE!"

A booming noise suddenly erupted from outside.

It felt more like a beast's roar than anything. Its horrific magnitude even blasted apart the windows of Ferrin's room.

Ferrin's body involuntarily halted. An instinct of his body... feeling the presence of an extremely horrifying predator nearby.

His throat became parched, and his forehead was covered in sweat, he stiffly turned his head and looked behind.

Timidly sneaking a look outside of the house through the broken window. His hazy light brown eyes widened in horror, reflecting clearly the scene which he could only call... a nightmare!

"What is that... monstrosity?" Ferrin's whole body shivered in fear as he gazed at a gigantic creature resembling a monkey, its head reached even higher than the skyscrapers around it.

"EEEEE!!"

It bellowed furiously before punching the skyscrapers standing just as tall as itself, instantly causing it to crumble into fragments and debris.

The booming sound traveled as crisp as thunder inside Ferrin's ears, causing his feet to go weak.

"What the hell is going on?" Ferrin muttered to himself, his mind going blank at this nonsensical situation playing outside.

His nose twitched again, and he realized one thing, that weird scent earlier... it was the scent of blood... human blood!

---

A.N: Dropped