Lance's Dream (Part Three)

Lance had taken care of Chris, all right. He had lured him into the room with Joey, the Frankenstein’s monster, and locked the two in together. He snickered at the thought of what the two monsters would do to each other. He wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore.

He ran downstairs. He looked cautiously around for JC, but the werewolf was nowhere to be seen.

That’s not a good sign, Lance thought to himself. He saw that a door leading to a staircase was open.

What if Kori went down there and JC followed her? he thought frantically. He ran to the door leading down to the basement and barreled down the steps, calling Kori’s name.

* * * * *

Kori was barely listening when she heard Lance calling to her. When Lance got down to the basement, he found Kori staring at something. He glanced at what she was staring at, then did a double take. A sarcophagus! And it was moving!

Lance grabbed Kori’s arm and pulled her closer to him. Both watched the ancient tomb rattle around and begin to crack open. Their eyes widened as a hand wrapped in a yellowish-white cloth pushed the top of the sarcophagus open. The lid opened all the way and there was a mummified Justin inside!

Kori gasped and cowered beside Lance. Both of them were so frightened that they didn’t even notice that they were holding each other and that Kori was wrapped up in Lance’s arms.

Justin lurched forward, holding his arms out, reaching for them. His body was covered with yellow, putrid cloth. His face was showing through the cloth – his dirty face that had been so handsome before was now covered with dirt and rotting cloth.

Kori hid her face in lance’s chest, and for one brief moment, Lance was in heaven. His mind came back to reality when he realized that if they didn’t get out of that basement now, Justin would kill them!

He gave Kori a quick hug, then grabbed her hand and they ran up the stairs, back to the ground floor. Justin followed them up.

When they got to the top of the steps, Lance halted in his tracks. At the top stood JC, Chris, and Joey. Lance grabbed Kori around the waist and pulled her close. His stomach was still aching, and when he pulled her closer to him, his mouth began to water again, and he couldn’t stop staring at her neck.

No! he thought frantically. No! I care about her! I… I… I love her… he realized.

He hugged her tight, then looked at the three menacing monsters.

“What do you want?” he said angrily.

Joey grunted a bit, and JC growled his agreement.

“We want the girl!” Chris said with an evil grin on his gruesome face.

Lance heard Kori whimper when Chris said this, and felt her arms tighten around his waist.

“Well, that’s too bad.” Lance growled. “You can’t have her.”

“Oh, no?” came a voice from behind them. Lance turned to see Justin standing behind them.

Justin lunged forward and shoved Lance aside, breaking him apart from Kori. JC grabbed Kori and dragged her away from Lance. Justin and Joey tackled Lance while Chris and JC held Kori.

Kori screamed, and Chris clamped his hand down on her mouth.

“Shut up!” JC yelled viciously. Kori was too scared to scream again. She could see Lance kicking and fighting to be free from Justin and Joey, but it was no use. Joey was a strong monster, and he held Lance’s legs while Justin held Lance’s arms. Soon, Lance couldn’t move at all.

Kori decided to stop struggling. She needed to save her strength. How else would she and Lance escape?

She watched as Joey lifted up a glass beaker – probably one of Chris’ – and smashed it against Lance’s head, knocking him unconscious. Kori gasped, and Joey looked at her and grinned evilly.

“Put him in the coffin.” JC growled. “He needs a rest.”

Joey and Justin lifted Lance up and carried him down to the basement.

When they came back up, they came over to help Chris and JC with Kori.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Justin said in a cruel voice, and he clamped his cloth covered hand over her nose and mouth. The rotting smell of the cloth was nauseating. Kori struggled; she could hardly breathe. Seconds later, she blacked out from the terrible smell of the decaying material.

* * * * *

When Lance woke up, he found himself in total darkness. Where am I? he wondered. He moved his hand to touch the place on his head where Joey had hit him, but his arm collided with something. He moved both of his arms around, and began to panic. He was enclosed in some sort of box!

“Help!” he screamed. He began to bang on the wall above him. He banged on it until his hand hurt, then, with one powerful punch, he made the heavy “wall” pop open a quarter of an inch. A tiny crack of light streamed into the box. Surprised, Lance began to push against the top of the box. It was very heavy, and though it took a great deal of work, Lance finally managed to push it open. He sat up and looked around. He was in the basement… In a coffin! His heart thudded with fear. He hopped out of the coffin as quickly as possible. He collapsed to the floor in pain. He was so hungry. An image of Kori flashed in his mind and he began to drool from hunger.

No! I can’t! Lance pushed the thought out of his mind. I love her! I have to find her! I have to tell her!

He hurried up the steps and into the lobby on the ground floor. The monsters were no where in sight. What had they done to Kori? He hoped she was all right. His eyes were red with anger. If they hurt her, he’d kill them!

Wait! he thought. What am I saying? These are my friends! True, they had become monsters, but they were still JC, Chris, Justin, and Joey! What is happening to me? I’m thinking about killing my friends! I really am turning into a monster!

He flinched at another hunger pang, then pressed on.

* * * * *

Kori awoke in a room filled with chains, whips, and other painful-looking things. The monsters were huddled together in a corner of the room.

She moved her arm a little bit and realized that she was wrapped up in a chain. When she moved, the heavy metal chain hit together, making a tiny noise.

JC turned when he heard the noise. “Well,” he said. “Look who’s awake.”

Joey grinned. “What shall we do with her, guys?”

Justin grinned. “Torture chamber!” he said in a low voice.

JC went behind her. Kori couldn’t turn around because of the chain. Suddenly, Kori felt something sharp brushing against the back of her neck, and JC’s hot, rancid breath going down her neck and back, sending a chill down her spine.

JC raked his claws gently against the back of her neck, not hard enough to hurt her, just enough to give her one of the worst sensations that could ever be felt: pure terror.

Kori watched as Chris opened a little pouch on his tattered coat. Out of it he pulled a tiny bottle. He took the lid off and poured a few drops of the liquid out a few inches away from Kori’s feet. The liquid began to sizzle, and had soon eaten into the solid concrete floor. It hadn’t gone all the way through, but it was obviously lethal.

Chris looked up at Kori and grinned viciously. He began to pour tiny drops very close to her legs. Kori squirmed and tried to get away from him, but it was no use. The chains were too heavy. Chris laughed and rasped, “You can’t get away, darling.”

The acid came closer and closer to her skin. She closed her eyes and shook with fear. She heard Chris laugh in malicious glee.

“That’s enough.” Joey said. “Now for the fun part!”

He and Justin lifted Kori up into the air. JC and Chris unraveled the chain as they held her up. As soon as the chain was off, they carried her to a large stone table. They tied her down to the table, and less than an inch above her was a large hanging blade. Justin grinned evilly at her and gave the blade a gentle push, and it began to swing back and forth over her, seeming to lower each time.

They stood there watching her, then Chris gave the blade a violent shove and the blade swung faster.

Kori screamed in fear. The monsters laughed cruelly and watched as she trembled with fear. Kori screamed again.

Where was Lance when she needed him?

* * * * *

Lance’s head snapped up when he heard Kori’s screams.

Kori! His mind screamed her name. He tore up the stairs and into a long, dark hall. He heard her scream again, and he rushed to a door with a low flicker of candlelight shining out.

Quietly, he peered into the room. What he saw filled his heart with anger and hatred. They were torturing Kori!

He pulled away from the door. What could he do?

He suddenly realized something. All of the monsters his friends had become were old horror movie monsters. He had seen each classic horror movie at least a dozen times. Each monster had a weakness.

He rushed to the room Dr. Jekyl had been in. He grabbed a chair and broke one of the legs off. He ripped a shred of fabric off the long, heavy curtains and wrapped it around the top of the chair leg.

He set the chair leg down and began to dig through the contents of a dresser drawer. He pulled out an old, rusted revolver. He checked to see if it was loaded. One bullet left. One silver bullet. That would take care of JC.

Lance had seen a dozen werewolf movies and knew that only a silver bullet – shot strait through the heart – could kill a werewolf. Lance cringed at the thought of shooting JC, but it was necessary if he wanted to save Kori… Besides… It wasn’t really JC anymore… Just an evil creature that looked like his friend. It was the same with all of the others.

Next he went over to Dr. Jekyl’s chemistry set. He looked at each test tube closely. He soon found one filled with a blue liquid, and it had a label on it with the word “ANTIDOTE” written on it. Was this the antidote to the potion Chris had taken earlier?

Probably, but what if it wasn’t? He would have to take that chance. He shoved the little bottle in his pocket. Then he grabbed the chair leg and held it above a burner in the chemistry set. The heavy cloth caught fire easily.

A torch. Frankenstein’s monster was terrified of fire. Poor Joey.

But what about Justin? What was the mummy’s weakness?

His bandages. To unravel his bandages would make him turn to dust. Lance grimaced. This would not be easy.

He picked up the revolver and went back to the doorway of the torture chamber. He glanced inside. The blade was coming closer and closer to Kori.

He set the revolver down on the floor and put the torch in a torch holder on the wall.

The monsters weren’t watching. Lance sank slowly to his hands and knees and crawled over to Kori. She smiled when she saw him, but said nothing. Lance quickly untied the ropes around her wrists and ankles. He lifted her up into his arms and set her down on the floor.

“Hide behind the table.” he whispered. She nodded and did as he told her.

JC’s sensitive wolf ears heard something happening behind him. The others noticed it too. They turned to look at their torture victim.

She was gone!

“Where is she?!” Justin yelled.

“Right here.” came a low, raspy whisper from behind them.

All four creatures whipped back around to find themselves face-to-face with a furious Lance. His eyes were glowing red with anger, and his teeth had become huge fangs. He was terrifying.

He was holding the revolver, which he had picked up from the floor after untying Kori. JC saw the revolver and began to back away from Lance, his eyes wide with fear.

A brief feeling of guilt and sadness washed over Lance, but he pushed it away and pulled the trigger. The furry creature that JC had become let out a howl of pain, then fell to the floor. Moments later, the werewolf was dead.

Lance grabbed the torch from the holder on the wall and began to jab it at Joey. Joey screamed and backed away from Lance. Lance backed Joey up against a window. He jabbed the torch at him again, and Joey tried to jump back. He banged against the window, and the window shattered. Joey fell from the second-story window to the hard ground below. The fall didn’t kill him, but it injured him enough so that Lance knew he wouldn’t be a threat to he and Kori anymore. Lance began to battle with Chris.

“Kori!” he shouted as he searched the room for something to fight Chris back with. “Grab Justin’s bandages!”

Kori came out from behind the table and dove for Justin, grabbing a loose bandage on his leg. She began to unravel it; Justin tried to shake her off, but she wouldn’t let go, and shaking his leg just made his bandages unravel faster. Justin screamed as the fresh air touched his exposed leg. Pain seared through his entire body. His leg began to turn to dust.

Lance picked up the burnt out torch from the ground and bashed Chris over the head with it. Chris crashed to the floor, out cold. Lance dragged him over to a chair and tied him to it. He pulled the vile out of his pocket, tilted Chris’ head back, opened his mouth, and poured the blue liquid down his throat. Hopefully it would begin to kick in momentarily.

He helped Kori hold Justin down as they unraveled his bandages. Justin could fight them off; he was in too much pain. Five minutes later, the mummy was nothing but a pile of dust.

Lance and Kori sat there for a few seconds, astonished at all that had happened. Lance looked at Kori and his heart began to pound. He stood up and took her hands, helping her to stand. He held her hands and stared straight into her eyes. She gazed back at him sweetly.

“Kori,” he said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” she asked, looking a bit worried.

“I… I…“ he stuttered. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her neck. “I…” The pain in his stomach was unbearable. He was so hungry. But he had to tell Kori that he loved her. “I…”

Suddenly, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He lunged forward and sank his teeth into her neck. She tried to pull away from him, but soon fell limp in his arms.

Lance licked the blood from his lips, then stared in horror at Kori’s body.

No! No! How could I? his mind screamed. I love her. I killed her.

“NO!!!”

* * * * *

Lance sat bolt upright in his bunk. He was in a cold sweat. His hands flew to his mouth. No fangs!

It was just a dream! he thought, feeling relieved. What a terrible dream!

He scrambled out of his bunk and checked the other guys’ bunks. JC was there, and Chris, and Joey. They were all fine. He rushed out to the TV room. Joey was sound asleep on the couch. He was okay too.

Lance went back to the bunkroom and felt his way over to Joey’s bunk, where he found Kori sleeping peacefully.

“Kori!” he whispered. “Wake up!”

Kori stirred and awoke. “Lance? What is it?”

“Kori, I wanted to tell you something earlier, but I didn’t have the nerve to. But I just… had a really bad dream, and I need to tell you.”

Kori looked at him intently. “Yeah?”

Lance nodded. He could see her in the pale moonlight shining through the window. She looked so pretty. He sighed.

“I wanted to tell you that… I love you.”

Kori was silent for a second, then a huge smile came over her face. “Oh, Lance! Do you really mean that?”

Lance nodded. Kori sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

“I love you too.” she whispered.

Lance grinned happily and kissed her, as he’d wanted to do since he first met her.

After another kiss, Lance said goodnight to Kori and got back into his own bunk, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time. He knew he’d have good dreams from now on.

* * * * *

“Hey, JC,” Chris whispered once Lance and Kori had fallen asleep. “Didn’t I tell you that dream would do the trick?”

JC just howled in agreement.

* * * * *

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