1:09 am

Music blaring. Lights flashing. What a party it was. All around bodies pressed together. People didn’t care who they were touching, where they were touching, why they were touching. The crowd roared with excitement, and a little bit of beer. The drinking, the ual desire, the feeling of freedom. Laughter and singing, mixed in with some dancing. What they called dancing was quickly put to shame. The club invited the next act on. Four girls walked onto the stage. The cheer echoed all around. Following the beat, they danced like they were pros. The chant rang out, everyone crying their favorite’s name. “Erika! Erika! Erika!” She nodded her head and back flipped, ending their routine. They kept pushing back into her head. ‘Work, sleep, school, attempting homework, work sleep…’ Evil reminders that she couldn’t handle everything at one time.

2:17 am

He rubbed his eyes. The movies made everything seem real. The miracles, the dreams, the love. But none of it was. Laughter. His voice was muffled as he tried to dim the screen. He couldn’t let them hear him. Parents. Why wouldn’t they let him just stay awake? He was nearly an adult. He was doing well in school. He was doing well all around. He liked to stay awake and just let loose. Games on the computer. Movies, TV, he just let loose. The stereotypical good girl waited for the guy she liked to visit her. He wouldn’t come; he could already predict the plot. He didn’t come. She cried and walked home hopelessly sad. To make things worse, a car drove by and sprayed her with water. He laughed, the movie was for idiots! It never happened in real life. “Changmin! What are you still doing awake?” He swore under his breath, turned off the television, and slunk away, wishing that he had one in his room.

3:05 am

Like they were one person, he held him close to him. He wasn’t supposed to be there. In the same bed, like they were children again. What had he done to need his presence? Nothing. Just being there made him feel better. No matter how many times he felt lonely, felt that everything was wrong, he could always feel reassured that everything fine by being next to him. He snuggled closer, taking in their essence. Everything was fine. The other man rolled over, unaware of the other person. His arm flew out, hitting him in the face. He didn’t wake. His hyung was abusing him in his sleep again. He stretched and kicked him out of the bed. The thud woke him. He looked down, blurry eyed. “God Junsu, can’t you stay out of my bed for one night?” He turned his back on his younger twin. Knowing it was going to happen, he silently laughed at himself. He was too old to share a bed with his twin brother.

3:56 am

She didn’t feel a care in the world. Peacefully, she drifted through her dreams. What was she supposed to worry about? Global warming? War? The Economy? None of that mattered to her. She knew they were big things. Something that needed to addressed. She didn’t care. She was only a student. That future awaited her later. She still had a few years to live her life without having to think of her fate. She was content; she wasn’t going to let anything spoil her happiness. Selfish, she knew, but she lived that way. Her phone vibrated. She didn’t stir. The person on the other end waited. “Konnichiwa, Haruka desu! Sono jikan atashi ketai mo nai yo! Meseji onegai. Ja, Bye-bii!” The person hung up, not leaving a message to her. It wasn’t that important anyway.

5:30 am

His hand silenced the alarm clock. He wanted to sleep more. He took another look at the clock, knowing it was still time to wake. He swung his legs off his bed and groggily walked out of his room. Mornings were not his favorite time of day. He went to the bathroom and washed his hands. He closed his eyes and flipped the light switch. His eyes burned from the light, red with his eyes closed. Slowly, he opened them and looked back at himself. His hair was a mess and face had dried drool in places. He shook his head trying to wake up and washed his face with cold water. He hated the days he had morning practice. It wasn’t the practice, it was the waking. He didn’t like wasting his energy so early. He brushed his hair, knowing it would mess up at practice anyway. “Yunho, are you awake yet? Hurry up and get your breakfast!” He wondered how his parents were able to wake before him. Weren’t they old?

7:24 am

She had almost no time to get to her first class. Dazed. She went through the routine quickly. Power walking, she cut through the thinning hallway. They would be blocking her. She walked closer to the wall to slide past. She sensed it and closed her eyes. She continued to drift down the hall with blinding sunshine on her face. It cooled. She opened her eyes and sidestepped to avoid crashing in with someone. Fluidly she moved. An unmoving heart. She walked into the classroom, the bell started ringing. Someone walked into the classroom, tired from running. “Whoo, I thought I wouldn’t make it. Hey, didn’t see you there Amara.” She nodded slightly and took her seat. She looked at the board uncaringly. Apathetic. She noticed there was a test that day. Why hadn’t she remembered?

12:33 pm

His stomach growled. He looked at the painting he was making and wished the red was an apple and the purple were grapes. He frowned, thinking it was weird to want to eat paint. He yawned. Looking at his painting, he hoped to jump in and sleep in the shade of the tree he had painted. Focus. He would surely fall asleep after his lunch. His picture was starting to look dark. He mixed some white paint into the green, lightening the color. He patiently painted every leaf, making sure they were in just the right shape. It calmed him down, to concentrate on one thing and try his best. With ease, he brushed the roses in, making the blooms pop out. He could almost smell them. “Yoochun, it looks done, hurry up and turn it in.” It didn’t look complete to him. He never thought it was done. He always thought he could do better, always putting himself down.

2:36 pm

She laughed. That guy had tripped over his books again. He was strange to put his materials on the floor when there were shelves in the desks. He had just passed the papers to the front when he realized his name wasn’t on his. She took her time to watch the other amusing things the class did. Prankster. She enjoyed it, discovering everyone’s embarrassing secrets. She wanted to keep them herself and use them when necessary. Two girls started argue over something unimportant. She watched with interest. How could close friends fight over such things? One girl was hurt. She hadn’t expected what she had heard. The girl noticed her stare and called out. “Yah, Dae, what are you looking at?” She shook her head, biting back on her snappy remark. She knew how to cause hell, but these people weren’t worth it.

4:15 pm

His face was pleasant, but his dreams were strange. Chased. He was being chased by someone. He didn’t know who they were or what their purpose was, but they were chasing him. Out of hate? Out of Love? He didn’t know. It wasn’t scary, but he wanted to understand. Why was he running? Fun. He was tired of dreaming of chases. He wanted a fun dream. One of him being a King or a superstar. He was ready to go out and have fun. The teacher walked into the classroom and noticed he was still there. “Jaejoong, what are you still doing here? Hurry up and go home.” Jaejoong lifted his head. He looked around, there was nobody around him. His friends had left him alone.

8:26 pm

The bag toppled over, were you using too much strength? Just a little. You picked it back up and continued to kick it. You noticed the bag leaking and mumbled words of cleaning it up. Your Tae Kwon Do master knew you liked to kick the bag down, but he didn’t like the mess to be all over the dojang. It was getting late. You wanted to go home to read. Reading and doing martial arts, a great combination. You looked at the clock, wanting time to speed up. You had enough of fighting and defending. One more hook kick and you would lose it. You wanted to hurt someone or not waste your energy. Violent. You took another glance at the clock, trying not to make it obvious. “Alright everyone, turn around and fix your uniforms. Face the flags. Straighten, bow.” You raised your voice. “Face Master Kim, straighten, bow.” He called back. “Face master Kong, straighten bow.” You bowed to the rest of the class. Being a master at a young age wasn’t strange, just very hard to do. You had taken the years of your childhood to train. It made you disciplined and other stuff you didn’t care to listen to.

11:59 pm

You stared at the page in your book. Sherlock Holmes was amazing. You blinked quickly but realized you weren't on your bed anymore. You were lying in a black room. There were others around you. People you had never seen before. One guy fell, as if he had been sitting in a chair and it suddenly disappeared. A girl was trying to pour herself water, but there was nothing in her hand. One was asleep. A guy had a blank face on his look, like he hadn't realized the change in scenery. A girl was doing the same. Another was quickly analyzing everything around him, like another girl and you. One guy was only wearing pants, his hair was wet. The last guy was staring at you with a look of desperation. The indifferent girl kicked the sleeping one in the gut. She woke with a start, not sure what was happening.

Shivers erupted from your body, you heard a voice. A cold sadistic voice. "This is Nightmare, the place good dreams go bad. This group, five girls and five boys, is to help you escape Nightmare. At random moments when during the day, when you blink, you will be taken here to Nightmare, and you can't leave until Midnight. The smart ones will be thinking that it is Midnight, but I mean the next one. I decided to give you a complete twenty-four hours to complete your first challenge. Girls, please touch your left ear and notice the new earring you have on the top of your lobe. Boys, the same on the right. These new earrings will act as translators whenever you meet someone that doesn't speak your own language. You might find that among members in your own group. So, What is your first challenge? Live."

A siren roared through the dimension. A message rose onto the ceiling in white words. 'If you are reading this you have just entered NIGHTMARE and chances of escaping are currently at 0%. You have until MIDNIGHT to live or it is GAME OVER. Please enjoy your stay. ~♥'

"Always be prepared. When your eyes open, you will only have what you are wearing to help you. Remember, things in Nightmare are very real. Anything that happens to you here will effect you when you 'wake up'. If you die..."

It wasn't funny. What kind of dream were you having? But you hadn't been asleep, and Conan didn't give you nightmares like this. It was all too real.