-[99 Nightmares]-
-[Part II: Sweet Dreams are Made of These]-
-[Part II: Sweet Dreams are Made of These]-
____Eric gave a low groan as he rolled over in his bed, his head pounding as if he were suffering a really bad hang over. But he didn't remember getting drunk last night. Then again, Eric also didn't remember how he got home. Everything was a twisted blur of movement that played in fast-forward in his mind, skipping chapters every few scenes. With a sigh, Eric sat up in the bed, the blankets draped at his waist as he leaned over with his head resting in the palm of one of his hands, eyes closed tightly as he tried to force the throb at least to the back of his head and away from the front, as well as his face. When he realized that was a total failure, Eric gave up and sighed, tearing the blankets from his waist as he turned and threw his legs over the side of the bed. Reaching over to the night stand, he groggily picked up the alarm clock and gazed at the time: 12:45.
____"s**t," he muttered, placing the object back down on the table as he rose to his feet. He ran a hand through his bed spread hair as his feet shuffled him over towards the bathroom. Perhaps he was just tired and worn out from whatever happened from last night, but when Eric flicked the light on to the bathroom, the shadow he could have sworn he saw darting into the shower made his heart race and his breath get caught in his throat. Slowly he inched towards the shower door and pulled it back, failing to breathe the entire time he was doing so. Then all at once, he yanked back the door and threw his fist out into open air, praying to hit whatever was lurking inside.
____There was nothing, of course.
____Shaking his head, Eric sighed and stepped away from the shower, shaking his head slowly as he rubbed his sore eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, Eric." Then he started to laugh at himself. What else was he suppose to do? For Gods sake he just attacked the Invisible Man in his own damn shower. Eric looked at himself in the mirror and puckered his lips disappointingly. Man he looked like s**t right now. He looked like a grade A stoner who had gone five days without a minutes sleep. Rubbing his eyes again, the male sighed and dropped his head in defeat. He was tired. He needed better hours then the ones he had currently. At least today was a day off though and maybe, just maybe he could get a few naps in throughout the day.
____Grunting, Eric turned from the mirror and blindly faced the shower once more. In the silence of the atmosphere, Eric could hear his own heart beating, echoing in his mind. Eric reached into the shower and grabbed onto the main knob, lifting it up so the water began to run before he turned it to the left. Within a matter of minutes, steam filled the bathroom and Eric stripped himself of his sleeping pants before he stepped under the hot water. Too hot for this time of day. Hissing, he stepped to the side, then back, then darted his hand forward again to make the water a little cooler. Pretty soon, Eric was able to relax under the pressure of the water beating down against his back, almost like a massage as the ringing noise put him into submission. Still he couldn't shake off that feeling lurking in his cheat - a tight heaviness that seemed to make him short of breath. He blamed it all on being tired though. What other reason was there for it?
____"Wow man. You look like s**t," James said with a grin on his face, watching one of his favorite business men come walking through the front door of his dingy little cafe.
____Eric gave a sarcastic little laugh as he sat up at the bar counter, watching the cooks shuffle hashbrowns and eggs on the dirty stove tops. Never too late to enjoy breakfast. There were some hamburgers up there cooking, but who wanted that when pancakes were on the menu? "Gee, thanks James. Way to boost the esteem." He looked up as one of the plump waitresses came to him with a cup of dark coffee, and he gave her a nod and a muttered thanks before he picked up the cup and began to drink from it.
____"Well you know me. Always there to lend a shoulder. So what's up Eric? You just ain't been sleeping at night or something?" James flipped through his newspaper before tossing Eric the old, already read stuff. Eric was grateful for it though - it was new to him.
____Taking another drink from his coffee, Eric began to scan the papers for anything that might catch his interest, listening to the woman call back his order. He got the same thing every time he came here - large bowl of hashbrowns with chilli and onions. Hell, they made that better here than they did at Waffle House. "Eh. I guess I haven't been getting too much sleep lately. Dead end job giving me late hours, but I need all the money I can get. Woke up this morning feeling like a 18 wheeler came barreling into me last night."
____James laughed. "That's a sad road, buddy."
____"Whaddo talking about?"
____"You're depressed! You're drinking your life away and you don't even know it!"
____"Ah, what? I don't drink James, you know that." Eric laughed and flipped to another page in the newspaper, reading up on how some old 72 year old man got arrested for going house-to-house stark a** naked and asking to use peoples showers. This world was full of freaks. "I dunno man. Maybe it's the coffee I drink before bed."
____"Ah hell with your coffee, Eric! Coffee ain't the problem! You know it's as innocent as little Mary Jay back there. You just ain't taking care of yourself. Your body is warning you that something needs to be fixed Eric. Otherwise you're gonna be up shits creek before you even hit forty."
////Being continued. Head is splitting open, gonna continue to write this chapter later.////
