Only A Nightmare by Jewels Summary: Brian, Justin and the gang all fall asleep in front of the televison causing some very unique dreams. Rating: PG-13 Categories: Fanfic Characters: Brian Kinney, Justin Taylor, Emmett Honeycutt, Gus, Jack Kinney, Jennifer Taylor, Joan Kinney, Debbie Novotny Genres: Fluff, Horror Warnings: Violence Challenges: None Series: None Published: 21 July 2005 Updated: 21 July 2005 Only A Nightmare by Jewels Chapter 1: Author's Notes: AN: This is an experiment. It is a dream sequence mostly so keep in mind things aren't exactly logical. There is a lot of symbolism in this so be warned, you may have to think about it to get it. AN Update: This story is the same as Vulnerable . Can one place ever be silent? If there are people, there's the rustle of thoughts and breath. If there's no one, just willows and branches then there's still the noise of creatures. Even if there is nothing living, nor machines that make noise, there's weather. So to say that on one hot summer night Liberty Avenue was silent would not be technically true. But one can say it was quiet for Liberty Avenue. A bad stroke of luck had caused Woody’s, the Bathes, and Babylon to close. Babylon had construction workers making renovations. The Bathes had been shut down by the cops and Woody's had rats. Ted, Emmet, Deb, Brian, Justin, Michael, and Ben were all sleeping in Deb's living room. Gay as Blazes shone on the Television. They weren't watching and making fun of it. All of their eyes were shut. Their chests rose rhythmically. Brian lay on the left hand arm chair. It should have been thrown out years ago but the yellow floral chair survived to be used again. Brian's head rested on top of Justin’s who was sitting on his lap, his chin on Brian's shoulder. Sleep was the only time Brian looked peaceful but what was going on in Brian's subconscious could never be mistaken as such. Brian was standing in Babylon wearing crisp black clothing but the usual crowd wasn’t there. Joan Kinney, his mother, sat in pews that the more Brian thought about it, the more he realized he they shouldn’t be there. She was in her Sunday best, her gray hair perfectly coifed. Suddenly his father ran toward him and grabbed his arm. “We have to hide,” he said softly leading Brian out, not into the alley way outside the Bronx but into Brian’s office. They started putting things against the door. Boxes of papers, pens of all shapes and colors, and … a rubber duck. It was yellow and perfectly shaped, exactly what a duck should look like. Its perky face looked up at him sinisterly. Instinctively Brian knew he had to destroy it. He grabbed a pen and started to stab it but that only seemed to make it angry. It started to hiss and gurgle like it was having a fit. Brian dropped it as if it was steaming hot. His father looked at him. “The more we hide the less we succeed,” he said grabbing a gold watch, “we have only so much time before the sun comes.” Brian knew that he had to get out of there. He rammed his office chair into the wall of his office. It fell as if it was made of card board. He found himself at the loft. His father had vanished. Instead Justin sat there. He was naked but it seemed as if he was unaware of it. He was sketching something scientifically. It seemed to be his favorite leather jacket but it was missing a sleeve. “You only have so much time. Go.” He said and continued sketching it after flashing him a smile. Brian stalked towards Justin and gave him a kiss. Justin didn’t seem to notice. He continued sketching and Brian looked down at his drawling. It was a baseball bat although it was not however one he would have seen at the kiddy leagues. It was dripping drops of blood, Justin’s blood. Suddenly Justin had the bat in his hand and a dagger in the other. He was a monster, hitting himself with the baseball bat and stabbing Brian with the dagger. Blood streamed and mixed. They were soaked, blinded and bound by pain. Justin’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. And then it was over. Justin once again sat in the chair. Gus ran in and grabbed his hand. “Daddy? Will you continue?” He asked sweetly, gripping Brian’s hand tightly. “Yeah, Well, What is there to continue?” He questioned the little boy. “Your father’s work,” Gus said in a voice that wasn’t his but Michael’s. Suddenly Gus was Michael. Brian didn’t question this and walked out. Michael however, didn’t take kindly to abandonment; he grabbed at Brian shirt and clothing. It was as if Michael’s many hands had mutated into five. Michael was screaming and then he saw Ted. He was two feet shorter than usual and said, “Find your mask.” Brian woke up, groped around him, found Justin and looped his arms around the sleeping man’s neck. Justin himself was having a decent dream. Jennifer was doing a speech for PFLAG. Among the audience sat only Molly and himself. Molly was constantly changing seats. One minute she sat in the front. The next she sat in the back. She never stayed in the same seat for more than a few minutes. “And you should never paint green houses with lard,” Jennifer finished. She bowed and ran towards Justin whispering, “wrong, wrong, you’re wrong.” Molly finally sat right next to Justin. She leaned over and whispered in his ear one word, “love.” Justin leaned towards her but she seemed to block him with a shield. He couldn’t take this and he ran out of the auditorium they were sitting in. Brian was calling to him but he couldn’t find him. It was cold and dark and Deb ran towards him and pushed a sweater at him. “But only if you pat your left knee twice,” Justin did this and got the sweater. He put it on and continued running towards Brian’s voice. Snowflakes started to fall unto him. They crunched merrily under his feet but that didn’t distract him from the fact that he didn’t know where he was going. He just followed Brian’s voice until he came across Emmet. Emmet was standing in layers upon layers of clothing. All of the layers were bright and flashy, at least the ones that Justin could see. There were so many layers that Emmet was round. “Tell me.” He almost demanded with flair. “I have to follow him,” Justin said without any inkling about what he was doing. “Why?” Emmet asked. The one word seemed to echo. Just as the word, “love” had. Justin didn’t bother answering. He kept running after waving good-bye. But then suddenly Justin fell into a pit. Snakes squirmed and hissed under him. This shouldn’t have happened, thought Justin, Brian would never lead me wrong… but a snake bit in to Justin’s cheek. Little pin pricks of blood appeared and Justin felt as if the Snake’s teeth had been tainted with Novocain He started to scream as the all started to mimic the first. “Help me, Brian, help me…” Brian arrived at the edge of the pit. “If you change into a snake you’ll be saved.” He said leaning back casually against a lamp post. “I can’t,” And with that Justin woke up. He looked around Brian’s eyes were open. They sat, not speaking a word, listening to one another breathe.