He was having the dream again.  It was the same one that he had had for at least once a month for the past few years.  In fact it wasn't a dream so much as a memory that just replayed in his head over and over again.  It always started the same.  He was shown a collage of his miserable childhood from the beatings that he had gotten over the years when he pissed off his mom to the drunken rages she threw and the many men that had wandered in an out of their lives as she searched for Mr. Right and instead found loser after loser.  It repeated until he turned eight years old and she told him that he was going to be a big brother.  He was thrilled but scared at the same time.  He knew how to handle his mother and her tantrums and such but a baby would change things.  He did not want his sibling to go through what he had and he vowed to protect him no matter what.  When his mom finally had his brother he fell in love instantly with the kid.  Casey was so small and helpless and good.  He was everything that Nathan was not.  Time flew past in the dream for several more years until Nathan was sixteen and Casey was eight.  That was a turning point for Nathan.  His mother had just found another true love and had moved him into the house.  Casey was away at a friend's house and his mom was at work and his new "Daddy" was home as usual after losing another job.  Nathan had been in his room that he shared with Casey when all of a sudden the door had been opened and "Daddy" came in with several friends.  What followed was too horrible for him to even dream about and the dream skipped to the next day when he was still lying in his bed, bruised and bloody and aching in all kinds of ways.  He had tried to tell his mother about what happened but she dismissed it.  Later that night he had been walking by their bedroom and overheard her talking to "Daddy" about the cash they had gotten from Nathan's ordeal.

The dream skipped again a few hours to where he was packing his stuff and Casey was begging him not to leave him.  "I swear I will be back for you as soon as you turn twelve.  Then you can legally come with me and we will both be free.  For now, just hang in there and let me get set up somewhere.  I promise I will be back for you."

He hugged his brother tight and then crept out the window and away into the night.  Once again the dream fast forwarded two more years into the future.  He was scraping out a living in another town a few hundred miles away.  He was living in a small apartment that he had gotten with a fake id and some stolen cash and a few favors.  He worked as a clerk at a store and had managed to save a bit of cash and such and owned a beater of a car that ran most of the time.  He had written many emails to his brother using the computer at the library over the past two years.  At the time he was too scared to call him until he turned 18 and was legal just in case his mom answered.  Casey seemed to be doing alright but he knew that most of it was probably bullshit.  He could tell from what was not said that things were far from the way Casey made it sound.  In fact, he had gotten another email today from Casey that worried him.  It was like the others but something about it was just not right.  This time though it had a phone number at the bottom of it and a plea to please call him.  Nathan had gotten a burner phone from the store and dialed the number.  It was worth the risk.  However, it was not Casey who answered but his mother.

She yelled at him and cursed him when he demanded to speak to Casey, shattered his world when she told him, "He is dead.  He committed suicide last night.  He always was a weakling and this just proves how worthless he was.  The burial is in two days.  I am going to sort through his shit and get rid of it then." She had then hung up.  He had set there stunned and in shock for an hour before he called his boss and told him that he quit and then packed up his car and headed out.  

He had arrived back at his old home the net morning and had been let inside by his mother who looked even worse off than when he had left.  She was living alone now without any "Daddy" to cater to and was bitter and spiteful.  He brushed past her as she hurled insults and curses at him and went to Casey's room.  He saw that she had already gone through most of it and of course had sod all the electronics and anything of value.  He took a few mementos and pictures and prepared for the burial.  It had been the worst experience he ever had, even more so than the night he left home.  Seeing his little brother so pale and lifeless had devastated him.  He felt a part of himself break inside and knew that he would never be the same.

That night his world changed once again but this time for the better.  He had seen the news reports on dreams and nightmares and them coming to life but had not really thought anything of it.  He had also seen a few reports where it was said that some people could control their nightmares but that had to be just hype by the media to sell papers and up the ratings.  Nothing like that could possibly be true.  He had had many nightmares and dreams and none of them had come to life.  He lay down to sleep and was proven wrong.  He had an intense nightmare about a demonic type creature that tortured people and then sucked their souls out of the broken bodies before consuming the flesh.  The creature had just finished killing yet another person in the dream when it froze and turned to where Nathan was standing and disappeared with an evil grin on its face.  Nathan was jolted awake by a loud bang coming from the hallway.  He climbed out of Casey's bed and walked down the hall towards his mother's room where the sound seemed to be coming from.  He opened the door and saw the same creature from his nightmares slicing his mother with its claws.  "Stop!" he yelled reflexively and was shocked when it did.  It turned to him and waited expectantly.  His mother was screaming and yelling at him to do something and to help her.  he looked from the monster to her and back again.  He felt nothing at seeing her lying there in pain except pleasure.  The coldness he had felt ever since finding out about Casey suddenly became glacial.  "You never loved me or Casey.  You let us be abused and he died to get away from it.  You are not family.  You are just a waste of air."  He smiled at her before looking the monster in the eyes and in a clear, calm voice saying, "Do what you want to the bitch then disappear."  He walked out of the room to the sounds of torture and screams and left the house shortly never to see it again.

As if the sight of the car driving off was a signal, Nathan's eyes popped and he woke up.  He felt his heart pounding and cursed under his breath.  It had been two months sine he had that dream and he thought that maybe the cycle had been broken after he got together with Damia.  Now it seemed like it was back  He sat up , running his hand through his hair and yawning.  He looked around and saw that she was not beside him in bed.  He smirked to himself thinking about last night.  He had really hit the jackpot when he found her.  She was his perfect match.  He smelled a heavenly aroma coming from the kitchen and knew that she had made coffee.  "I wonder if she made enough for me this tie, the bitch." he muttered affectionately as he got up and walked into the kitchen without bothering to get dressed.  He saw her standing at the counter holding a cup and walked u behind her hugging her.  He spun her around and gave her a kiss and then took her coffee cup and took a swig.  He walked out of the room saying, "I am going to take a shower.  Care to join me?"  He did not wait for a reply and instead took another drink of the stolen coffee.  He knew he ha probably pissed her off by taking it but that was just another good thing about her.  She was even hotter when she was mad.  He laughed out loud and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day.