The Dream Eater
 
By Minako Tomoka
 
A Short Story
 
 
 
  Sleep is supposed to be peaceful. It`s meant to be our safe time, a state where we can forget about all the world`s worries and struggles, and pass over into the world of dreams and fantasy. In something as deep and peace-filled as sleep, we can allow our minds to wander. Unfortunately for me, my mind wandered to the wrong place.
 
  I remember going to bed feeling restless. I wasn`t sure why. Whatever had happened before I curled up under the covers left me open and vulnerable. I couldn`t help but feel as though I were being watched. In the pitch-black darkness of my room, anything could be out there. Was the coat rack in the corner really a coat rack, or was it the tall, dark silhouette of a shadowy man? Was that creak I heard caused by just the wind, or was it a ghostly entity, warning me of its presence?
 
  Anything was possible, and I was exposed and powerless, left shivering in the dark. Now I knew why children feared the dark, or monsters lurking beneath their beds. Because something was out there. Something was out to get me. But it wasn`t where I thought it was. In reality, the most frightening of monsters don`t haunt houses. They haunt minds.
 
  I awoke from a short, dreamless sleep, and I was not in my bed. I wasn`t in my room, or even in my house. I pulled myself upright, sitting on a cold steel-grate floor. A domed-shaped ceiling towered above me, lined in brass along with the walls. Brightly lit, busily blinking control panels littered the wide-open area, but I couldn`t reach any of them, because they towered above me like redwood trees.
 
  I stood up, comparing myself to the sheer massiveness of the bizarre place. However I ended up here, it seemed as though this place was really big, or I was just really small. But what was it? That was the question. Was I dreaming? I bit my cheeks and pinched my skin in an attempt to wake myself up, but I was left with nothing but a chewed-up mouth and several bruises on my arms.
This was not a dream. Had I been kidnapped? No, that didn`t seem right either. It wasn`t like I had woken up in the trunk of some stranger`s car. This place looked like a spaceship, something straight out of a science fiction movie. Maybe I had been abducted by aliens. But if that was the case, and this really was a spaceship, then someone had to be piloting it...
 
  As I wandered the large space, a loud bang echoed from behind me. I jumped in fright and rushed to the nearest control panel, pressing my back against the icy metal. That sound was massive, whatever made it must have been huge. But that wasn`t the end of it. Another smaller, but equally frightening bang echoed in the distance, followed by another, then another, and another, over and over again. The sound grew louder and tremors rippled through the floor as it gradually grew closer. It almost sounded like footsteps. I kept myself locked in that spot, relentlessly shaking, not even wanting to breathe for fear that whatever was in here with me would hear it.
 
  The footsteps suddenly stopped, and they were replaced by what sounded like a low, deep rumbling. At first, I couldn`t figure out what it was, until an impossibly loud voice spoke. "Why, I do think I`ve caught something." The voice had a light, lilty sound to it, rich with a deep English accent. It came from right next to me, and it made my innards churn. Someone was standing beside me. Someone huge.
 
  My back firmly glued to the metal wall, I forced my head upward, although I feared what would greet me. My jaw dropped, and a knife of terror sliced into my gut. A very, very tall man- or at least what looked like a man- stood at the control panel, fiddling with buttons. When I said tall, I didn`t mean the sexy kind of tall. I meant the monstrous kind. It was hard to tell from this angle, but he had to be at least fifty feet tall. He seemed to be a rather elegant fellow, clad in a brown trenchcoat and suit. His chestnut-brown hair was unkempt and messy, and his apple-green eyes gleamed like a cat`s.
 
  He inhaled deeply, as if he could smell something. He craned his large head in my direction, and those feline eyes fell upon me. He was looking right at me. A smile split the giant`s elegant features, showing off a frame of jagged, fang-like teeth. "Well, would you look at that? I knew I smelled something sweet and scrumptious..." My entire body turned numb and rigid like glass.
Blades of fear slashed my nerves, and I took off in a mindless panic. But I didn`t get very far. I ran for less than ten seconds until I rammed into something soft...and warm.
 
  I fell over on my rear end and scrabbled back, gazing skyward in horror. I laid sprawled out at the giant`s feet, shuddering in awe at his inhuman size. This couldn`t be real. I had to be dreaming. How could something- or someone- that big even exist? "Going somewhere?" he asked in that singsongy accent. "Running won`t get you very far, I`m afraid. Oh, but I forgot, I haven`t even introduced myself! The name`s Seishirou, nice to meet ya! What`s yours, young lady? Well...I suppose where you`re going, knowing your name isn`t really necessary, but it`d be impolite not to ask. What kind of proper Englishman would do that?"
 
  My only reply was a broken scream. I crawled to my feet and raced away as fast as my feet could carry me. I dove deep beneath one of the control panels and huddled still, quiet as a mouse in church. Hopefully he wouldn`t be able to reach me in here... The giant`s voice rumbled the air once again as his footsteps sent horrific vibrations through the floor. "Aww, come on, is screaming in my face and running away any proper way to return a friendly greeting? No need to be so scared, little lady. I`m sort of a gentle giant, I`ll have you know. Even still, there`s no point in hiding, I`ll sniff you out eventually..."
 
  I refused to believe his pretty words. He was a monster, alien or not, and he probably didn`t take me up here to invite me to tea and cookies. Unless I was going to be the cookies. Whatever words he tried to taunt me with, I knew he did not have my best interests in mind. My heart skipped a beat as I heard an odd snuffling sound from behind me. I didn`t dare to look, but I knew what it was. He was following my scent, like a predator following the scent of prey. "You smell pretty frightened to me, little miss...do I really look that scary?" he asked.
 
  I didn`t know what to do. He knew exactly where I was. I couldn`t crawl out from under here, he`d catch me. In front of me, I saw the giant`s large shoes shuffle into view. "Found you..."
The next thing I knew, he had bent down, and a pair of sharp green eyes greeted me. A fleeting, hollow gasp escaped my heaving lungs. I couldn`t run, I couldn`t hide...he was going to get me! Seishirou`s next words made his intentions for me bluntly clear. "Come now...I don`t wanna hurt ya, I just wanna eat ya!"
 
  I squealed and whipped back as a huge, pale hand reached after me, but by then, I was far too late. His long, slender fingers twined around my legs and held fast, dragging me out into the open. I clawed at the floor, but it was too slick for me to maintain any sort of grip. I shrieked as I was ripped back into the outside world and clasped in the giant`s hand. He didn`t squeeze me or anything, he just let me freely sit in his palm, probably because he knew that I`d have no chance of jumping from that height. I`d be dead on impact. But with the way things sat now, I was going to be dead soon anyway.
 
  A waterfall of tears poured down my face as I broke down and begged for my life. "I...I don`t wanna die! Please...don`t eat me!" Seishirou`s eyes softened, showing a hint of mock sympathy. "Aww, but you look so yummy and scrumptious. I picked you for a reason, ya know. Once I saw you, I just wanted to sink my teeth into you. I was practically drooling. Even now, your sweet scent is making my stomach rumble. It`d be a shame not to eat you."
 
  I wiped a streak of snot and tears across my sleeve, sniveling. This couldn`t be happening. It just couldn`t. "Y-you mean...you took me here just to eat me?! What kind of monster are you!?"
  "Well, it wasn`t just that," Seishirou cut in, trying to downplay the fact that he wanted to devour me alive. "I had other things I wanted to do with you too. And why do you humans automatically label anything that`s bigger than you a monster? That hurts my feelings, you know. I`m not a monster, I`m a Dream Eater. We feed upon humans in their sleep...and well, you just happened to be my latest meal! But I don`t intend to dine on you right here and now, that would be rude and undignified. Plus, I need to get your juices flowing..."
 
  He whisked me away from all the control panels and took me over to a a futon and a coffee table littered with giant-sized cups of tea and biscuits. I supposed he really was an English gentleman. What kind of predator invited their prey to tea? Seishirou sank into the cushions and dropped me at the crest of his belly, which loudly gurgled before me. I clung to his waistcoat so I wouldn`t fall.
 
  "Sorry about that, can`t leave you hanging there all night," the giant apologized as he pulled me from his body and set me down atop a plate of sugar cookies. The sweet scent overwhelmed me, but I was so scared of becoming food to even think about being hungry. "Would you like some tea, love?" Seishirou quipped, lifting up a massive teacup from beside me. He took a sip and tilted his head back, just to show me his throat muscles at work. The subtle movements of someone taking a drink seemed arbitrary enough, but in my situation, it was horrifying to watch that huge creature gulping down his tea. Soon, that was what he`d do to me.
 
  He reached his fingers out toward the cookie tray I sat on, and I lifted a cookie in front of my face as some pathetic defense, but he took it the wrong way. "Why, thank you. Aren`t you a kind little girl?" He pinched the cookie between his fingers- and took me along with it. He thought I was offering it to him. I gripped the sides of the cookie, my legs dangling above the beast`s massive body as he held me before his face. "Oh, is someone trying to get snacked on early? Sorry, but you`re the main course, not the appetizer. You`re not ready yet."
 
  He plucked me from the cookie, but gave me a close-up view of my inevitable fate. He opened his mouth and bit down on the biscuit, crushing it between his fangs with a loud crunching noise, which I could only imagine as the crunch of my bones. He swallowed, showing off the small bulge in his throat that descended to the pit below.
 
  By then, I had lost all hope. He had no intentions of letting me go. This monster was going to eat me alive, and I had no escape. Even if I somehow managed to squirm free and run away, where would I run to? For all I knew, I could be trapped on a spaceship light-years from Earth. All I could do now was pray that it would end quickly, but this monster seemed intent on tormenting me as long as possible.
 
  After forcing me to watch him crunch down on a few more cookies, he took a swig of tea and asked, "I never got your name. You may be food to me, but you`re still a person." I knew it was pointless, but I answered anyway. Maybe if I cooperated, he`d cut me some slack. "I`m Yuki...Takanashi." Seishirou grinned. "Ah, Yuki Takanashi. What a lovely name for a lovely lady. You seem like a very well-to-do woman, I`d say. You`re just the kind of little human I love to feast on...but first, why don`t we both unwind a bit? Let`s see how you take a liking to my feet, eh, Yuki?"
 
  I didn`t know what he was talking about at first. My brain was too preoccupied with the panic of my upcoming devouring. As he held me in his fist, I looked down, shuddering as he kicked off his shoes and peeled off his socks, revealing his pale bare feet. "You`re going to crush me?!" I squealed. Seishirou grinned. "Nah, I`m just gonna squish ya a little. I like this sort of thing."
 
  He lowered me to the floor and pinned me beneath his foot, squeezing me between his toes. The scent struck me like a wall. I gagged and bit my tongue to keep myself from vomiting. I squirmed about, grabbing at the giant`s toes and trying to push them away. My ribs caved in and my lungs collapsed as I gasped for air, struggling beneath the sheer weight of Seishirou`s body. He hummed happily, enjoying my utter agony. "This is a rather nice foot massage," he mused. "You feel great squirming down there, Miss Yuki. Please, would you struggle a little more?"
 
  A pang of disgust hit me as I realized that my feeble, frantic struggles were only making this experience even more enjoyable to the monster looming above me. I just couldn`t win. No matter what I did, whether I laid limp or tried to defend myself, nothing would help me. I was trapped in this nightmare, and I could not escape. The Dream Eater was determined to make me suffer.
 
  I clawed at the soles of the giant`s feet, trying to inflict some sort of pain on him, but my pathetic attempts to fight back seemed to delight him more. I was smushed and pressed between his toes, the nails digging into my skin and pushing in my ribs. The intense, crushing pressure was too much for me. I threw back my head and let out a cry of pain. If I didn`t do something soon, this beast would soon squash me underfoot.
 
  Out of options, I reared up and bit down on one of his toes, hard enough to break skin. A gush of blood flooded my mouth, and Seishirou groaned in pain. "Grrr...bad human." He talked to me like I was some sort of dog or pet. "I think you need some discipline." I sucked in a gasp of dry air as his heavy feet finally lifted from my body, but my moment of rest was short-lived. Seishirou scooped me back up into his hands and moved me to the coffee table, dropping me on a plate among a mess of cookie crumbs.
 
  The shock of my fall knocked the breath out of me and left me momentarily numb, dashing any plans for escape I might have had. Before I could even manage as much as rolling over on my back, Seishirou jammed his thumb down on my chest to hold me still. I gazed up at him and flashed teary eyes. "Why...why are you doing this to me?! If you`re going to eat me...then just get it over with already!"
 
  Seishirou chuckled. "Ahh, if only it were that simple. Sure, I could have just popped you in my mouth the second I scooped you up, but that would have left me hungry and unsatisfied. I`m not here to dine upon your body. I`m here to devour your emotions. We Dream Eaters feed upon the life energy and the powerful emotions of human beings. Strong emotions, like anger, fear, sadness, despair...and pleasure."
 
  With a flourish, he pinched my nightgown between his fingers and tore it clean from my body in a single stroke, leaving me clad in only my lace panties. I shrieked and crossed my arms against my bare chest. "Wha-what are you doing!?" The brown-haired giant rested his chin on the table before me. "Isn`t it obvious? I`m going to give you pleasure, of course. After this, you`ll never be able to escape me. Now, just be a good girl and surrender yourself. You don`t want to make this any harder than it has to be, right?"
 
  He worked his thumb beneath my panties and ripped them off. I scrunched up, pathetically trying to conceal myself, but Seishirou pulled me apart, fully exposing my naked body. "I think you look even tastier like this," he smirked, licking his lips. His tongue slithered from the darkness of his mouth and ran across my front, coating me in a layer of thick, sticky, sour-smelling saliva. He stopped at my lower regions, the tip of his tongue hovering above my lady parts. "I`ve already gotten a good taste of you on the outside...now let`s see what you taste like on the inside, hmmm?"
 
  I knew where this was going, and I did NOT want it. I squirmed beneath the pressure of his thumb, but I could not pry free. His lips latched onto my lower half, locking me in place, and his tongue traced the surface of my flower, the tip teasing at the folds to taunt me, as if he would enter me at any moment. I couldn`t believe this was happening. I was going to be raped by a giant alien monster, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
 
  At a moment`s notice, Seishirou`s tongue wiggled between the petals of my flower, and in a sudden burst of force...it jammed itself inside me. I arched my back and screamed as a horrific pain split into my lower abdomen. The appendage was far too big for me, but that didn`t seem to concern the lust-starved beast furiously tasting my insides. I supposed before he ate me, he was going to eat me out. My innards felt like they were being ripped apart as Seishirou`s tongue worked deeper and deeper, slowly lapping at the wet walls. They coiled and retracted, massaging the same appendage that was relentlessly assaulting them.
 
  All the while, the giant hummed happily, taking in every bit of my flavor. "Mmmm...you really are scrumptious, Miss Yuki. You`re tart and sweet like candy...that lewd expression on your face...you`re enjoying this, aren`t you? Deny it all you want, but you can`t resist the fact that your body loves it..."
 
  As much as I didn`t want to admit it, the pain tearing through me was slowly morphing into an undeniable pleasure. The giant`s tongue rubbed against the walls of my sex, stimulating a sensation of pure ecstacy that brimmed throughout my entire body. Pangs of pleasure danced in my belly, and my mind spun into a euphoric daze. Energetic pulses stood my nerves on end. Seishirou licked at my sexual organs, milking them of fluids as I twitched back and forth, moaning loudly.
 
  After everything that monster put me through, how could I possibly be enjoying this? I supposed it was a testament to the powers of a Dream Eater. I had been so ensnared by this elegant giant that I could no longer break free. Little by little, I felt my fear and urge to escape slip away. Seishirou`s tongue lashings became more aggressive, stimulating my insides even further. The walls pulsed and rippled violently, making me shudder in arousal.
 
  After a few more minutes, I could take no more. The floodgates opened, and a gush of sexual fluids burst out of me. I cried out and fell back, gasping for breath. Seishirou`s tongue raping had left me a hollow, empty shell, incapable of moving. In fact, I had no real desire to move. I was too drained and exhausted to even think about such a thing. The giant removed his lips from my body and drew back, slurping up the remainder of my outburst. "Mmmm...such sweet nectar. I think you know what comes next, don`t you, Yuki?"
 
  Tears boiled up in my swollen gold eyes. "Please...I don`t want to be eaten..." Seishirou wiped my tears away with his index finger. "Aww, come now, it`s not that bad. It`s not going to hurt, you won`t feel a thing. In fact, you may end up enjoying it. So don`t cry, little one." He pinched me by the back of my neck and lifted me up to his face, licking his lips before me. I could hear his belly hungrily rumbling down below. I bit my lip and screamed, "How...how could I enjoy being eaten!? I`m going to end up in your stomach, and I`m going to be digested! Why the hell would I ever enjoy that?!"
 
  The green-eyed giant grinned, showing his pointed teeth. "Now, that`s where you`re wrong. We Dream Eaters have learned to take what we need from our prey without all that digestion doom and gloom. But let`s not delay the inevitable, shall we? In ya go!"
 
  He parted his lips and stuck out his long tongue, teasingly licking at my bare feet. I squeaked and clenched up at the warm, slimy appendage probing me. My legs dangled above his waiting maw, where the back of his throat pulsed and pooled with saliva. "Hmm...you`re a little big for me to gulp down in one piece," he remarked. "Looks like we`ll have to take things a little slower..."
 
  At this point, none of my struggles would set me free, and begging and crying had already proved to be useless. So I could do nothing but sniffle and squeal I was slowly lowered into the giant`s jaws. I flailed around on his tongue a bit, digging my toes into it to try and keep myself out, but the slick surface gave me no traction, and the fact that I had already been soaked in drool and sexual fluids only made things even more slippery. I clambered about and latched onto the beast`s lips. However, a single flick of that massive tongue was enough to knock me off.
 
  Before I could fall, Seishirou grabbed me by my tiny, skinny arms and began the process of slowly swallowing me whole. My feet touched the moist, squishy surface of the back of his throat, which opened up on contact and latched onto my ankles. I cried out as a sudden force jerked me downward. Fleshy walls squeezed on my lower legs, sending a splitting pain into them. The pressure was so intense, but it was about to get even worse. Soft, gentle gulps gradually pulled me down further and further, to my knees, up to my thighs, and finally my waist, until I could feel my legs hanging above empty space, while I was still latched onto Seishirou`s fingers.
 
  Why? Why did it have to be this way? Out of all the people the Dream Eater could have chosen to eat, why did it have to be me?! By the time I had been eaten up to my chest, Seishirou no longer felt the need to hold onto me. I was already halfway down his throat by then anyway. He released me, allowing me to fall, and even as I grabbed at his molars to try to keep a hold, I ended up slipping all the way down into his throat. I let out a scream and latched onto the dangling pink pearl hanging above my head, but I couldn`t keep a grip, and as I felt the giant`s head lurch back, my entire world tilted on a 90 degree angle, and my whole body was dragged into his esophagus in a single gulp.
 
  Trying to hold onto anything was pointless. I had been doomed the second my feet slid into his massive gullet. No matter how much I writhed and tried to pull myself out, his body had already claimed me. All I could do now was whimper and squirm fruitlessly. I felt the pressure of Seishirou`s fingers pushing on his throat from the outside in an effort to shuttle me down further, as if the rapidly rippling muscles surrounding me weren`t already squeezing me to death. My ribs were pressed inward, and my lungs flattened. I thought I`d be crushed before I ever made it to his stomach. I could feel the heat emanating below.
 
  The giant`s booming voice echoed all around me. "Come on now...don`t struggle, you`ll only make this harder for yourself...be a good girl...it`ll be over before you know it..." Compared to before, instead of cruel or taunting, his voice was gentle, almost comforting. He didn`t give a damn about my feelings before, why did he care so much now all of a sudden?
 
  After a few more long, arduous minutes, I felt the lower half of my body emerge into a wider space. The rest of me soon followed suit, and I slid down a slime-coated slope before landing into a squishy valley. I tumbled over and crumpled into a pile of exhaustion. I didn`t feel like moving around anymore. I knew where I was, and I knew what was going to happen next. The Dream Eater fed off my fear. He would never show me mercy, or respond to my terrified cries, so I simply surrendered and decided to let come what may. I sniffled helplessly, hot tear tracks staining my delicate face. My long, dark blue hair was soaked and matted beyond recognition. I rolled over on my side and sank into the flesh I laid on, wracked with sobs.
 
  Seishirou`s rumbling voice reverberated around me once more. I felt him pat his belly, jiggling me around a little in the process. "Aww, don`t cry, Miss Yuki. It`s not like you`re going to die. You`ll just fall asleep, I`ll take what I need from you, and then I`ll bring you back where you came from. Most Dream Eaters usually don`t devour the same prey twice, but you`re a special case. You were such a tasty little treat, I might come back to snack on you again some other time. Maybe then, you might just get a kick out of it."
 
  I didn`t bother to reply. My mind and body had been hollowed out into an empty shell. Even if I survived this ordeal...he`d come back for me again? That thought horrified me to my core.
"Oh, look how good you`re being," Seishirou remarked. "Most other prey is screaming and crying and running around in there at this stage. You must be very tired. Then sleep, little one. Don`t worry about a thing. Just sleep, and I`ll harvest you..."
 
  A sudden wave of fatigue struck me like a punch to the face. My eyelids felt like lead weights, and they constantly sank down on me. I fought to stay awake, but it did me no good. My entire body was shutting down. Don`t even bother fighting it, I told myself. You can`t run away. You can`t escape. Just let him take what he needs from you...
 
  With those reassuring words floating in my hazy brain, I sprawled out in the pit of Seishirou`s belly. My eyelids drifted shut, and sleep soon carried me away, ending the horrific ordeal once and for all...
 
  My eyes flashed open. I jerked up out of bed, squinting at the blinding sun rays shining in through the window. I was alive. I hadn`t been killed. I was back in my bed, in my room, in my house. Still, the events that had transpired last night were still fresh in my memory. Maybe it had all just been a terrible nightmare...
 
  I pulled back the sheets, and my jaw dropped in horror. I was naked. Buck naked. My clothes were nowhere to be found. My skin was soaked, along with the bedsheets, and my hair was damp and matted. I could even still feel the dried residue of tear tracks on my cheeks. My blood turned to ice, and a round of chills pulsed down my spine. I curled my fingers around the damp sheets, shuddering.
 
  Everything that had happened the night before...it was all real. The Dream Eater never meant to hurt me or kill me. He was just hungry. When I awoke, the first thing I noticed was a wave of exhaustion. My body felt as weak as glass. He really had eaten my life energy. The memory of his last words haunted me. He was going to come back for me one day.
 
  After that night, I never slept well again.
 
 
 
The End...
March 11th, 2018.