Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 176: Nightmare Part I

When Zane went to sleep, he found himself once more in the dark and colorless world. But this time it was more clear. Not only was he not sleeping in the mysterious stranger's lap, but he was in a dark and eerie forest, surrounded by tall, spiring, and dead trees.

Yet despite the complete and utter lack of foliage, they blocked out the sky, the only visible light being the red crescent moon, creating a haunting crimson glow among the otherwise crimson backdrop.

Strangely enough, the mysterious stranger was nowhere to be found. Instead, Zane was alone in the middle of the forest. Yet he did not feel as if he was alone. Rather, he felt that he was surrounded by predators hiding in the forest.

Zane took one step forward, and immediately heard a bone chilling laughter, one that was both monstrous and somehow familiar. Almost as if it came from a hyena, but with a far more demonic pitch.

The laughter echoed across the forest and came along with the sound of the wind blowing as it slapped against his face. He knew for sure something was out there. Something terrifying.

Oddly enough, in this haunted space, Zane was fully dressed in his equipment, and could call upon his weapons if need be. Because of this, he immediately equipped his two sickle swords and dashed through the forest.

With the sound of the tall black grass moving behind him, and the branches of the dead trees snapping with each passing second. Zane knew that he was being pursued by something. But he did not know what.

Regardless, Zane fled deeper and deeper into the forest. His newfound speed that resulted from his 21 (+9) Dexterity easily allowing him to stay ahead of his pursuers. But they were persistent as they chased after Zane.

Until finally, Zane arrived at a peculiar location. Deep within the dead forest, there was a large pool of liquid. Perhaps it was the reflection of the sky, which was glowing red because of the sanguine moon above, or perhaps the liquid truly was blood. After all, it looked far more viscous than mere water.

But before Zane could inspect this mysterious pool further, a creature leaped out of the woods, seeking to take his life in its swift attack. Zane was just about to parry the blow, or attempt to do so. However, the creature had enhanced its speed, and he knew his life was forfeited.

Yet the claw of the monstrosity, that looked almost like a hyena-human chimera, never touched his flesh. Oddly enough, this chimera did not appear to be corporeal in form, but consisted entirely of shadows.

Despite having no physical manifested, the attack was clearly repulsed by a bright and blinding crimson light. By the time Zane fully recovered, he noticed that standing before him appeared the mysterious stranger, who was still shrouded in a tattered black robe, along with a matching hood and veil.

Her voice was sharp and filled with rage as she issued a decree to the shadow creature who dared to attack Zane.

"Be gone! His time has not yet come!"

The Hyena like creature broke into a laugh, one that Zane instantly recognized having heard it during the chase within the forest just moments prior. The haunting laughter was echoed across the treelined, implying that many more of such monsters were surrounding Zane and the Mysterious Stranger.

Though Zane could not fully make out the woman's face, judging by the shift in her veil, she was not pleased. However, the laughter suddenly ceased, no doubt caused by the increase in intensity of light flooding from the bright red sanguine moon above.

The shadows immediately dispersed, as if they were nothing more than ashes blown away by the wind. It was not just the shadow creatures who were affected by this, in fact even to Zane the light from the moon above became unbearable for just a moment. That is, until the wrath of the mysterious stranger died down.

She then turned to Zane and looked at him with a sympathetic gaze. For the first time since meeting her, Zane could see the color of the woman's eyes, which were as red as blood, just like the moon above.

She approached Zane and placed the palm of her hand on his cheek in a deeply intimate fashion, almost as if a bond existed between them, one that had been there since Zane's birth, and was truly unbreakable. Like the voice of a mother whose child was wounded, she spoke to Zane with a tone filled with sympathy and compassion as she asked him a question which he did not quite understand.

"My dear… Friend… Are the demons in your heart so dark that you must manifest such abominable creatures in your sleep?"

This news shocked Zane as he looked around at the forest, which was no longer filled with the bone chilling laughter of the shadow creatures. He then looked back at the woman before him and asked what exactly she meant by what she had just said.

"Wait… You don't mean to imply that those creatures are a figment of my imagination?"

However, the mysterious beauty merely shook her head in response to this before clarifying what exactly had pursued Zane so deep into the forest.

"'I'm afraid not… The danger they pose is very real to you. For were they to take your life here within the confines of your own mind, then you would never awaken back into the real world, and would instead lie comatose in a permanent vegetative state.

Was eating those hearts truly such a daunting task for you that your own subconscious is trying to kill you? Come now, Zane… Surely you must know what you are by now? Has the system not notified you of your subrace?

You are a Human-Undead hybrid, otherwise known as a Living Dead. Because of this, you have the strengths of both the living and the dead without any of the defects of either. It is only natural that you are capable of gaining strength from consuming the hearts of living beings. Especially the awakened. Must you really reject your true nature to this extent?"

Zane stood there speechless for some time. It seemed like a lifetime had passed as he remained motionless, inflecting deep upon what the mysterious stranger had said. And what he truly was. And though it seemed like an eternity had passed before he finally spoke his thoughts on the matter, it had only been a few seconds.