Thanks For The Treat

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lucien shot out of bed like a rocket, drenched in sweat and gasping for air. His ears picked up on loud footsteps before his door slammed open. A tall man with the figure of a bodybuilder charged into his room and hurriedly looked around.

"What's wrong boy?"

"H-he…I…m-my body…"

"Slow down boy…"

The buff man carefully walked towards Lucien's bed and sat on the edge. He began rubbing Lucien's back slow and steadily, filled with tenderness.

"Did you have a bad dream son?"

Lucien, now taking long deep breaths, looked at the man and was filled with a warm sense of comfort. Everything was all right now…nothing bad could happen with his father here. He slowly nodded his head and felt his heart rate slow down to a more normal level.

'That's right…it was just a dream Lucien, don't be stupid. None of that could possibly be real.'

"You should get some rest Lucien, Yennifer told me what happened earlier…and now this…"

"I'm fine dad, it was just a bad dream."

His father looked at him in concern before patting his back a few times and getting up with a sigh, looking more like a tired old man than a skilled hunter.

"You make sure to tell me if anything's on your mind okay son?"

"It was really no big deal…but father,"

'I shouldn't bring it up…I know he's been busy with work lately.'

"What is it Lucien?"

"Ah-it was nothing, sorry."

"Well alright then, good night son."

His father walked out of his room and shut the door. Lucien heard the faint sound of footsteps much clearer now, with his mental state vastly improved. He would let out a short groan and lay his head back on the pillow.

'It felt so real…I can't believe I could dream up something like that. Maybe I really do need to start sleeping more.'

Lucien was about to go to sleep, but noticed something flashy in the corner of his eye.

'Huh? Just what could that possibly be?'

He looked over but it would move along with his vision. He would start to sporadically look around his room so he could get a good look at it but it would always remain in the corner, at the very edge of his sight.

'Just what is that…LET…ME…SEE!'

The flashing light in the corner of his vision would start rapidly expanding and turn into an opaque rectangle. The rectangle would start rapidly filling with white…letters? They seemed to be some type of writing but he had no idea how to read them. His gut instinctively felt the urge to vomit as he stared at the revolting symbols. One even seemed to be a head without any eyes…

'What the hell is this…?'

Suddenly all the writing would start condensing into one large word, this time in Kisarian. The word would fill up his entire view and blood would start dripping onto his bed. The text would be: DEMONMANCER. Lucien would flinch backwards, hitting his head on the wall.

'W-what? How is blood forming from thin air!?'

He would continue staring at the box in front of him, praying it would go away. The text would merge together once more before starting to write a few smaller words.

'Please..god j-AGH!'

Lucien would get hit by a wave of pain immediately after saying the word "god". He would clutch onto his head in desperation and slam it against his bed. The pain would soon subside, leaving him with a minor headache. He would roll over onto his side gasping for air and notice what the words now read. As he went to read them in his mind, he would suddenly hear a voice inside his own head…causing him to quake in fear.

'This is not for you little boy.'

How could Lucien forget this bone chilling voice riddled with malice…when it was just laughing at him in his…nightmare…

'Wait…could it be that it wasn't a nightmare? But if that wasn't a nightmare how am I still here? The thing clearly could've destroyed me at any moment.'

The words in front of him would again coagulate before dispersing into another large word that rapidly began shrinking: SLEEP. Lucien felt his eyes forcibly closing and a feeling of drowsiness and weightlessness came over him. He had the best sleep of his life that night. He had a beautiful dream of him and his family spending time together for all eternity. Sadly…this was the last good memory Lucien would ever have.

"Ahhh."

Lucien woke up with a yawn, outstretching his arms and listening to the satisfying sound of his bones cracking, increasing his comfort. He would get out of bed with a bright smile on his face and walk over to his dresser, taking out a cloth outfit consisting of a tunic and overalls. He slowly took off his old clothing, plugging his nose from the stinking stench they emitted.

'Wow! That smell is absolutely horrible! How come no one told me I stunk this much?"

Lucien would put on his prepared garments and observe himself in the mirror, still having the same broad smile covering his face. Nodding in content at his appearance he would pick up his old clothes and head to the washroom to put them in the bin. As he was walking downstairs he noticed his little sister sleeping in the living room and felt a sudden urge to cry.

'Why does someone so pure have such a cruel fate…? It's just plain wrong.'

Lucien suddenly forgot about his little sister and continued on his walk to the bathroom. Unnoticeable to him, his eyes were now glossy white and his expression was blank as if he was a lifeless puppet being controlled by strings. Upon arriving at the restroom he would once again break out into a broad smile and place his unwashed clothing in the tub, turning the water on afterwards.

'Today is a good day! The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the family is thriving!'

He didn't even realize that he hadn't heard any birds chirping, or even seen any of his family members besides his suffering little sister since waking up. It felt as if something was flooding his body with unnatural amounts of serotonin, and all negative thoughts had ceased to exist. Little did Lucien know that this temporary euphoria was quickly corroding his mind and his humanity. He would pour some soap into the tub and turn off the water as it was nearly overfull.

'Woops, silly me! I almost flooded the bathroom again'

He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, knowing it wasn't normal to keep forgetting such a simple yet important thing. Giving the clothes time to soak, he walked back out into the living room and headed towards the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a carton of milk and a glass from a nearby cupboard. He quickly filled the glass up with milk and went to put the carton back, before tripping on something and face planting into the fridge, spilling the milk all over the floor and his fresh clothes.

"Argh"

He let out a small grunt and pushed off the floor with his hands, standing back up. He dusted himself off and turned towards the door frame, hearing footsteps. His little sister would appear in his view but…something was off about her. Lucien raised his eyebrows in confusion and squinted, observing his little sister very carefully and trying to see just what felt so off about her.

"Ah, morning Luci."

Lucien's little sister would yawn and stretch her arms out to the side. And that's when he figured out what was wrong with her. He could see all of her veins through her clothing, and everything was slowly turning red.

'That's weird…what's wrong with my vision?'

"Um Luci, are you feeling well? Something's off with your eyes"

All of a sudden Lucien let out a loud cry and ran forward as if he was not in control of himself, his vision completely dyed red. Hearing the familiar malicious voice say the words:

"Thanks for the treat!"