Darkened shadows

Sleep human child, hurry, close your eyes and sleep.

Elvira watched and waited patiently from behind her curtain within the alternate reality of Maron's world.

This place from which she watched had been named "The realm of the dead".

El was quite dead, you see, having been killed by the murderous rage of Maron's older brother Reginald.

Reggie had offed Mickey and El had been unfortunate enough to have witnessed it. He had first beat him to a pulp, then shot him, then sat on his chest and throttled the life out of him.

You see, Reggie had though that Elvira and Mickey had had an affair, but the truth was that they had been sneaking around planning a surprise birthday party for that stupid murderous idiot Reginald.

All he had to have done was ask, not that he would have believed me anyway, Elvira thought sadly. Why she had stayed with him all these years was beyond madness. Everyone had told her to run, they could all see that his burning rage and jealousy would not end well for Elvira.

Well, everyone else saw it coming, except for poor Elvira herself. She should have taken her cue from the bitter arguments and unholy rage at each other, but truth to tell she had really loved him, despite it all. Now she was quite dead.

If only she had not tripped over that cursed bucket as she had tried to run out of the alley behind the restaurant that Reginald owned. Now she knew for sure the horror that Mickey always tried to protect her from. It was no wonder that Reggie thought there had been an affair. Mickey helped him do a lot of bad things back there in that alley, but he always made sure that Elvira was far away from it all. She always suspected Mickey loved her just a bit.

Deep in the woods there is an unmarked grave where Reginald had secretly buried both El and poor Mickey. If you should visit these woods, you will find a beautiful patch of lilacs growing, quite out of place with the darker aspect of the wooded forest. They were Elvira's favorite flowers. Every now and then Reggie went there to cry, so no one could see him being vulnerable. He missed Elvira something fierce, and no one could replace Mickey for his loyalty and friendship.

What an idiot he had been, thought Reginald. Too late, too late, he lamented. Although he would probably murder Mickey all over again.

Oh, but the irony of it all.

Mickey had been sent to the dark realm of the dead by Reggie, but in Reginald's feral jealousy and awful fit of cruelty and vengeful rage, he had inadvertently sent Elvira into Mickey's arms. Dead arms, yes, but who is being picky.

Finally, Maron sleeps.

"Come Mickey, it is time". Elvira calls into the dark fog shrouded night.

Slowly, silently, the ghostly form of Mickey emerges into the fog of the ethereal dreamworld, it floated above the younger sleeping man before diving headfirst into the world of his dreams.

Within this state of inhabiting a body through its dream world, the ghosts planned to enact their revenge through a state of lucid dream within the nightmare realms of sleep and wakefulness.

Maron jerked awake, choking and coughing. He grabbed his throat, his eyes were still closed, he dreamed as he sleep-walked to his older brother's room where he too was having dreadful nightmares of horrible things.

Reginal had not had a restful night's sleep since he had foolishly destroyed his own happiness and sanity, he feared that he was losing his mind. He kept killing Elvira over and over in his nightmares, kept choking the life out of her, over and over again. He wanted to die too.

Elvira entered his dreams every night, she had no intention of ever letting him sleep peacefully ever again.

Mickey wanted him dead.

But as Mickey stood over Reginald's writhing restless form, poised in his brother's sleep-walking body, Mickey suddenly reconsidered the plan of using Maron's earthly form to commit ghostly murder. Mickey envisioned the pleasing sensation of having Elvira all to himself in the dream world. Why invite Reginald to join them, when he could watch him yearn and squirm for that which he would never have again, that which Mickey now had.

Vacating the sleeping man's body, Mickey reached for Elvira's hand. She took hold of his comforting hand eagerly.

"Come, Elvira. I see it all so clearly now. In death we are far happier, it is as if we are finally living, happier than we had ever been in life".

"Yes, I see it too. For it is now Reginald who is living a life as if in death. We have life which has been born from death, and Reginald now lives a life as if he were dead. Life's little karmic paradoxes come full circle"!!!

Together, they drifted back into their alternate shadowy reality.

Maron, now awake, wondered how he had arrived in his brother's room.

Reginald, half awake, thought he saw Mickey standing over his bed.

He lunged from his bed, grabbing poor Maron by the throat. Whether it was happening in real life or in the dreamworld, Reginald intended to murder Mickey all over again.

Will he awaken in time to see that it was his brother's life that he threatened? Or is it all happening as a dream or nightmare.

I leave it solely to your imagination!!!!!!

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Kenny's eerie prompt