The moon above the Citadel of the Stars was no longer the silver it used to be, the same silver it was believed to be effective againts the creatures of the night, no, it was crimson.
It bled.
Crimson light spilled across spires of pale stone and shattered glass, staining the streets below in shades of rust. Under that bleeding moon, something moved, swift, silent, inhuman.
A creature of the night leapt from rooftop to rooftop, its claws scraping stone, its breath coming in ragged pulls. Wherever it passed, screams followed. Bodies fell. Blood flowed.
Flow, crimson life, flow.
The command echoed inside its skull, cold and absolute, like it was the only meaning its life had.
It descended upon a fleeing man, striking him down with a blur of motion. Claws tore flesh. Fangs sank deep. Warmth flooded its mouth, rich and intoxicating. The world sharpened, colors deepened, sounds grew vivid, and the hunger receded just enough to crave more, a femenine voice echoes in the mind of the creature.
[You have slained a dormant human, name unknow]
The body hit the ground, empty, and the creature of the night did not cared about the voice in its head.
And so it moved on.
Street after street, door after door, the same pattern repeated. Resistance was meaningless. Mercy did not exist. The crimson moon watched in silence as the Citadel drowned in terror.
Then the creature entered a modest house near the inner districts.
Inside, a boy, no more than sixteen, stood frozen in the center of the room, a trembling knife clenched in his hand. His eyes widened as the creature emerged from the shadows.
The boy lunged.
The blade barely scratched skin.
Claws pierced his chest effortlessly, lifting him off the ground. Blood spilled down pale fingers as the creature leaned closer, fangs parting.
Flow, crimson life, flow.
Then a small voice cried out.
"Brother!"
The sound cut through the command like glass through flesh.
From behind the boy, a little girl stumbled forward, tears streaking her face. She was small, fragile, clutching a worn doll to her chest as she stared at the monster holding her brother.
"Please… don't hurt him…"
The boy, choking on blood, forced himself to move. Even impaled, even dying, he twisted his body and spread his arms, placing himself between the creature and his sister.
"Run," he whispered. "Don't look."
Something cracked.
The command faltered.
Memorie, unwanted, violent, flooded the creature's mind. A different night. A different girl. Smaller hands gripping his sleeve. A voice calling his name in fear.
Brother.
The claws loosened.
The boy collapsed to the floor, gasping. The creature staggered back, clutching its head as pain unlike hunger tore through it.
"No…" it rasped.
Its reflection caught in a cracked mirror on the wall.
A pale young man stared back—barely human. His face was twisted, veins dark beneath translucent skin. Long fangs protruded from his mouth, claws replacing fingers. His eyes were empty white voids, devoid of pupils, devoid of warmth.
A monster, a nightmare creature.
The creature recoiled as if struck.
"This isn't me," The monster whispered with a broken voice, distorted, yet recognizable as his own voice.
The girl screamed, seeing her brother's chest dripping blood, life fleeing his eyes.
The creature fled the house.
It burst through the door and vanished into the night, bounding across rooftops until the screams faded into distant echoes. The crimson moon followed him, unblinking, as he finally collapsed within a ruined tower far from the Citadel's heart.
There, in the silence, memories returned slowly.
He had a name.
He had a life.
He had a sister.
His breath steadied as understanding settled like a weight upon his chest.
"This…" he murmured hoarsely, claws digging into stone. "This is my first nightmare, i'm inside the dream realm, i have become a nightmare creature, but i'm not a nightmare creature, i am a human and my name is Caspian..." he whispered, not because anyone was there to listen to him, but because he wanted to remember it.
Above him, the moon darkened further, its red glow deepening, as if pleased.
Somewhere unseen, something powerful and ancient watched upon the citadel.
And his nightmare continued.