Always-ZaDr Chapter 6

Dib awoke with a start, his body sitting bolt upright in bed and his blurred wide-eyed gaze sweeping quickly over the dimly lit room. His startled mind created monsters out of the shadows that he saw even though in the back of his mind he knew they weren't real..or at least he told himself that. His skin was shining slightly with the thin layer of sweat that had his clothing clinging to his form and his breath was ragged and panicked.

A small involuntary whimper escaped him and he knew it would make him feel weak but he reached over to his bedside lamp and turned it on. The darkness of the room evaporated immediately into a much lighter and more pleasant scene, but the feelings from the obvious nightmare still remained.

After a moment or two the teen calmed himself enough so that he wasn't panting and he swung his legs over the side of the mattress, rubbing lightly at his temples. A small groan of displeasure escaped him before he allowed himself another quick sweep of his bedroom. Concluding that nothing had come from the nightmare this time he ran a shaky hand through his hair.

He'd thought the nightmares had stopped for good. In fact it'd been almost a year since anything close to a bad dream had come to his mind. He wasn't sure what had brought back the early childhood problem back, but he hoped it didn't progress to the level it had before Zim had arrived to earth. Nightmares every night each one worse than the last..and always the threat of waking up screaming.

The worst part was..when he awoke he could never remember what the nightmares were about. There was always a feeling of horror and helplessness before he awoke but he never knew why it was there..or even what had come before it. He never let it bother him though..he'd probably rather not know what horrors his mind could conjure up in his sleeping state.

Another small groan passed through the teen's lips and he moved to pick up his round glasses from the nightstand. He put them on so he could read the time.

3 a.m.

Why did the nightmares always have to wake him at such an ungodly hour?

He ran a hand through his sleep tousled hair again before standing up, and heading over to the closet. He dug around for his trench coat before quickly pulling it on. He knew it was strange but after coming home he'd just tossed the warm leather coat into the closet without so much as a thought of changing out of his clothing.

He pulled his combat boots on and glanced at the calendar...it was Saturday so he wouldn't have to worry about coming home for too long. He slipped out of his window, sliding noiselessly down the pipe that was beside it and into the lawn. Taking a walk always cleared his head after a nightmare.