Recurring Nightmare (M/MM) (complete)

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bigsmile21
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Recurring Nightmare (M/MM) (complete)

Post by bigsmile21 »

Part 1

Dreams can be fickle. Some people say they rarely, if ever, dream. Of those who do dream, most just follow where their thoughts take them. A very small percentage say they actively control how they dream, finding they can use that extra time to practice for a big presentation or upcoming sport event. A smaller percentage is comprised of those who can tap into active dreaming but for nightmares: once they realize they're in a nightmare they can will themselves out like by imagining a door while trying to escape from a monster.

This tale focuses on a man in his early 20s named Glen. Outwardly, Glen appears as a simple mechanic going about his daily routine. Inwardly, Glen is facing a recurring nightmare where he's captured and tries to escape from a hideous monster. Each night he tries a different approach and gets closer, but not close enough, to escape.

The first night, he woke as soon as he saw his captor's face jump right in front of his view: a tall and burly beast covered in tattered rags, huge paws with long sharp claws, a furry face that looked melted like a wax model, and red eyes that seemed to draw Glen to it. Glen jumped up from bed in a cold sweat and rubbed his eyes. He looked around the room. The alarm clock read 03:00. He'd have to be up in 3 hours for work. Still sleepy, he laid back down and closed his eyes. Most people have difficulty returning to the same dream, for them it's like you'd changed the TV channel upon waking. For Glen, it was instead like he'd hit Pause because as soon as he fell back asleep he was again staring at those red eyes.

The monster reached out and with one of its large paws grabbed Glen's throat. Glen tried to yell out but it was drowned out by the monster's bellowing laugh. Two more paws grabbed Glen's wrists and secured heavy steel manacles to them, and a fourth paw ran a short chain through them until his wrists were essentially touching. All the while those eyes continued to stare at Glen, unblinking. The monster dropped Glen, who collapsed to the ground. Before he could catch his breath, the monster started walking, dragging its new captive behind. Glen tried to look around but everything seemed hazy and unformed. His vision was blurry, likely due to staring into those red eyes. He looked down and couldn't tell if he was wearing any clothes. The only certain detail he knew was that his hands were now bound above his head.

After several right and left turns the monster stopped. It turned around and hauled Glen up. And up. And up even more. It secured the chain linking Glen's wrists to something above his head, leaving him swaying a few feet above where the ground should be. The monster growled, almost mumbling something but Glen didn't seem to understand. Then it turned and left, walking into the dark. Glen heard a door slam shut, but everything around him was dark. The only thing that seemed to give off any light in this nightmare was those eyes. He tried to reach downward but the tips of his toes only scraped air. He grabbed the chain and swung outward in all directions, but didn't bump into any walls. For a while, Glen just hung there in that dark and empty space. Then he heard a familiar sound, that of his alarm clock. His eyes flew open and he rose from his bed. He looked around, expecting to see more of that dark space but he saw his usual bedroom, slightly illuminated by the rising sun.

On instinct, Glen reached over and tapped the alarm clock. He was a little surprised to see he could move his hands. The nightmare felt so real. A few dazed moments passed and he got on with his morning routine: shave, dress, breakfast, and then off to work. Throughout the day he would spend a few moments reflecting on last night's peculiar dream, but like most dreams by the end of the day he could hardly remember it. He got home, showered, ate dinner, watched some TV, and crawled into bed.

The first thing he saw after falling asleep were those red eyes. The monster was right in front of him and reached out to grab him. Glen tried to back away but the monster's four arms grabbed and chained his wrists exactly like the night before. Instead of staring into its eyes, this time Glen looked away. After the monster dropped him and began dragging him, Glen tried once more to look around. He could see the floor and the walls this time: he appeared to be in an underground dungeon. The monster's eyes acted headlamps, casting red light in the direction it looked. Glen saw small torches on the dungeon walls but they remained unlit. Feeling the detail of the floor this time, he looked down to see he was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt along with a pair of short boots. He could also feel that his jeans were being pulled down his legs by being dragged along the floor. He tried to widen his legs but it was no use. By the time the monster had stopped, after making several turns down the corridors, his jeans were bunched up at the top of his boots. His briefs underneath had started to sag down as well but were still covering his privates.

The monster hoisted Glen up and this time he could see the large claws secure his chain to a hook higher above him. The monster stared at Glen in the face again, following the same actions as it had the night before. This time, it looked down and noticed his jeans. It tilted its head and looked back up at Glen. It continued staring at him, grumbled again, and turned to leave. Because Glen had locked eyes with it just now, he couldn't see anything else in the dungeon cell. He heard the door slam shut as the monster left, and Glen was stuck in the same predicament as last night, only this time he knew he was clothed. The boots, he noticed, seemed to add some extra weight than last night. He found lifting his legs to be a bit more difficult, and quickly became exhausted after trying to swing his legs around. He could barely see anything around him: the hook high above his head keeping him chained in place and the faint outline of a wall to his right. He hung there for a while, trying to will himself to move.

The sound of the alarm clock started to fill the cell, and he woke up. Right before waking, though, he thought he heard the cell door opening. Glen moved his arms and legs and they felt a little stiff. He'd been sleeping flat on his back, but his joints felt a little sore. He lay there in bed pondering the dream. The same dream in two nights. He couldn't recall seeing the monster or a dungeon in any of the recent TV shows or movies. He hadn't had anything unsettling to eat recently, either. He looked over to the alarm clock and realized he had to get moving. Same routine: shave, dress, breakfast, and then off to work. Work at the body shop was a little slower today, which lent more time to thinking about his vivid dreams. He'd been able to see and interact more when he didn't get his vision flooded out by those red eyes. It also seemed as if the monster had realized he was wearing distinct clothes this time. And more troubling was that it seemed like the monster was returning as soon as his alarm clock went off. Talk about saved by the bell, he thought. The rest of Glen's Tuesday went normal and he was later home, showered, fed, and getting ready to sleep. The thought of seeing that monster again jumped into his brain right before he fell asleep. Half of him hoped that last night was the last time he'd have to see those eyes. And the other half of him was a little curious about what would happen if he did.
Last edited by bigsmile21 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Charmides »

Can't wait to see where this goes, [mention]bigsmile21[/mention]! Very compelling premise. I have to admit, for the past ten years or so I've been recording my dreams, and I've even been lucky enough to have a few lucid ones (probably no more than a dozen). Suffice to say, I've got a soft spot for dream-related fiction; in this case, the peril/bondage is gravy. Greatly looking forward to watching this nightmare unfold.
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Post by DeeperThanRed »

A recurring dream is a very intriguing theme for a bondage fic. It feels like Glen is a captive even outside of his dreams, waiting for the inevitable.

Always nice to see psychological stories in here, especially when they lean to occult/mild horror like in here.
25-year-old bondage enthusiast who likes cute guys, underwear, and bondage, preferably together.

You can reach my list of written work here: https://www.tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?p=38808#p38808
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Post by sharpliketoday »

This is a very interesting start. Can't wait to see where you go with the story!
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Post by bigsmile21 »

Part 2

Glen didn't have to wait long. It seemed like as soon as he'd closed his eyes he opened them in the dream and was looking straight at that monster. He quickly averted his gaze and tried to run. He managed to turn, seeing a dark corridor behind him with faint daylight at the far end. Before he could take a step, the monster grabbed him and began applying the manacles to his wrists, this time chaining them together behind his back. The monster shoved Glen to the ground and began dragging him backwards. There was extra strain on Glen's shoulders from being dragged this way, and he essentially curled into a ball to relive the tension. He looked down and was wearing the same clothes as before: a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and boots. With his body curled, it was easier to keep his jeans completely on this time. With each turn, he felt the tug in the chains a bit more than he had the other two nights. He let out a few moans from the pain, and could hear his voice echo down the corridors. Some of the echoes sounded different, like they came from other people.

He tried calling out, shouting to ask who else was there but by the time he started he was hauled inside the familiar cell. He dreaded being hung from the ceiling by his arms in this position. The monster this time dragged Glen towards the wall he'd barely seen last night. It sat him up, hoisted his wrists high up so that his head was forced down, and chained his wrists to something affixed to the wall. The monster bent down and lifted Glen's chin. Glen saw its red eyes for a brief moment before he looked away, remembering how looking in its eyes would leave him partially blinded. The monster huffed, grumbled, and stood to leave. Glen looked up and this time saw it exit through a large wood and steel door on the other side of the room. Glen tried to look around more but with his head positioned downward the strain was unpleasant.

He slowly moved his boots around until his soles were touching the cell floor. He rose up and instantly felt relief in his shoulders. At this height, he could see that the hook in the wall behind him was only two feet above his hands. He tried whipping his arms up and down to unhook the chain but that didn't help. He then tried grabbing the chain with his hands, putting his boots against the wall, and pulling himself up to where he could reach the hook. If he fell and missed his landing, he could seriously hurt his shoulders. After half a minute, he reached the hook, gabbed up on the chain more to give it some slack, and slipped the chain off the hook on the wall. He stumbled as he came down, but landed on his feet. He felt around and it seemed like the chain was looped and locked in place around the manacles, so no way to loosen it. He walked toward the door and fumbled with the handle. It opened easy enough, but made a loud creaking sound as it did. Glen looked down the left corridor and saw only darkness. He looked down the right and saw the same darkness, only with two small red lights close together and getting bigger. He turned left and began running, his arms still bound behind him but his boots helping him keep traction. Behind him he heard a distant roar.

He turned right and then left and then right again. He was making decisions blindly, just wanting to get away from the approaching roars of the monster. The last right turn had him facing a dead end. He quickly turned around and ran the other direction. From the corner of his eye he could see the red eyes of the monster, only this time they were within twenty feet. He kept running, turning left and the right, ending up facing the doors of a new cell. He turned to open the handle and saw the monster was closing. He opened the cell door and ducked inside, his back against the wall. Inside, the cell looked identical to the one he was always brought too, only this one had someone else in it.

"I knew there was someone else!" the other person called out. They were barely visible on the other side of the cell, but Glen could tell it was a man's voice.

"What's going on?" Glen asked. "Why do I keep ending up here?" The monster was pounding at the door now. Ringing in the distance, Glen heard his alarm clock.

"There's no time." the voice said. "Find me online when you wake. ZekeOliver24. Remember that!"

The sound of his alarm clock grew louder, and then Glen woke up. He was drenched in sweat, and his arms were stiff as boards. He lay there, almost paralyzed by what had happened. Then he remembered the last bit: the other guy in the cell, his username was...It Was already slipping from his memory. He stood out of bed, yep his arms were definitely sore, and he found his smart phone. Glen opened a note and began typing frantically. He remembered "Zeke" but was it Olive? No, "Oliver". He had the most trouble remembering the numbers. He ended up saving the note with "ZekeOliver224", "ZekeOliver24", and "ZekeOliver42".

He looked at the time on his phone and realized if he didn't start now he'd be late for work. He skipped his daily shave, dressed for work, skipped breakfast, and headed out. If yesterday was slow, today was busy. He couldn't recall if most Wednesdays were busy, but he had trouble thinking of hardly anything except his dream (nightmare?) from last night. By trying to run, he'd changed the way the monster had chained him. But before he was even changed, he saw daylight. Could that have been a way out? He'd also been able to escape his cell for the first time, though his arms felt very sore today.

Lost in thought, Glen didn't notice when his boss came up from behind him. Glen jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and his boss asked what was up. He'd noticed Glen spacing out for a few minutes. Glen said he just hadn't been getting much sleep. His boss said to take it easy, he didn't want Glen getting hurt working the machinery or while under the hood of a car today. Glen smiled and went back to work. Throughout the day he'd tried searching online for usernames matching what he'd written down. But given the busy day he didn't have much luck. Back at home, Glen microwave his dinner and thought about how to reach this Zeke person, if they were real. He decided to draft a basic email and send it to the all the usernames with @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, and two others added at the end. The email asked if this person was real and what to do about tonight. Glen felt less certain about this approach as he continued writing. It would seem like a spam message to whoever received it. He sent the email and all but one shot back an auto-generated response that those emails didn't exist. Glen stopped. That meant one of the emails actually went through. He waited. And waited. By the end of the night, around his usual bedtime, he hadn't gotten a response.

Glen felt physically and mentally exhausted. The tension in his arms still wearing him down, and the apprehension of going to bed and facing that monster again was looming over him. Glen thought about staying up late, but didn't feel like he had the strength to. He did set his alarm clock for a half hour earlier, maybe that would help cut the nightmare short. He laid down in bed, closed his eyes, and soon found himself facing the monster again. He didn't turn around, fearing he'd be manacled behind once more, but he did avert his gaze.

"What do you want?" Glen yelled before the monster grabbed his throat as usual. He tried asking more but the monster's grip was too tight to get anything else out. The monster leaned in closer. Glen felt the intensity of those red eyes staring at him.

"No...escape." The monster grumbled. Glen's body shook with horror. It understood him. It spoke to him. The monster lifted one of its paws and Glen saw a large claw curl outward. The monster used it to rips Glen's white T-shirt from his torso. Meanwhile, two other paws were following their usual routine, and Glen's wrists were manacled close together. The paw that had ripped his shirt bundled the shirt and then worked with the other two hands to tied it tightly around his mouth, leaving Glen cleavegagged. The first paw released Glen's throat, dropping him to the ground, and proceeded to drag him to his cell.

This time, Glen kept track of the turns. Right, left, left, right, left, right. Before the last right into his cell, Glen tried to look down the corridor, where last night he'd seen the monster before trying to run away. He couldn't see anything however. He wasn't sure if that's where the monster stayed, or if that's where it just happened to be during its patrol when Glen tried to escape. Like the first two nights, the monster lifted Glen high off the ground and secured his chained wrists to a hook above him. It turned to leave. Glen tried to mumble something from behind his gag. The monster paused, and then turned.

"No...escape...Glen" It grumbled. The monster continued out the door, closing it behind, and Glen heard it move slowly down the corridor to the right. Glen hung there limp. It knew his name. It had hunted his dreaming self each night this week just to lock him in this cell. Glen looked up and saw the hook, but with his boots weighing him down he could hardly lift his feet. He pressed one foot against the other and after some effort managed to slip them off. The boots dropped a few feet to the floor. He looked up again and pulled himself up the chain, gymclass style. He reached the chain, unhooked it, and dropped to the ground. Without his boots, landing on the cell floor hurt but he didn't feel like anything broke or sprained. He pulled the T-shirt gag from his mouth and tossed it aside.

He sat down, put the boots on again, and thought through the turns he'd made coming here. If he reversed those, he'd be back in that first corridor with daylight at the end. Glen thought about trying to find the man from last night, but couldn't remember what right or wrong turns he'd made that led him there. Ultimately, Glen decided to focus on escaping, if he could. He looked at the hinges of the door and they were rusty. He tried spitting on them as much as he could, hoping that would help reduce the creaking. When he opened the cell door, there was still a little bit of creaking, but not as noticeable. He stuck his head out of the cell and looked to the right. The monster's eyes this time weren't staring back at him. He looked to the left, saw the familiar darkness, and started walking down that corridor.

Pacing-wise, he felt we has on track with similar nights, but keeping track of time in a dream isn't accurate. The dream last night seemed to draw out towards the end because he could hear the alarm clock ring a few times before it actually woke him. Either the alarm clock was having less effect on him or the tension of the monster banging of the cell door kept him tethered to the nightmare longer. After the last turn he planned to make, he saw the daylight at the far end of the first corridor. He checked behind and around him before moving, and with no sight of the monster he started moving towards the light. He started to hear his alarm clock, however. It began ringing louder and louder but didn't seem to wake him completely. Between rings, Glen heard the monster roar from deeper within the dungeon. Glen wanted to wake right away, but he had this odd sense that if he managed to reach the daylight he'd be free of this recurring nightmare. He ran towards the light but before he could reach it the alarm clock's rings became too loud and he woke up.
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Post by DeeperThanRed »

The plot thickens... Different people sharing the same weird dream? Talk about unusual first encounters.

Looking forward to read the rest, you're doing a great job with this story.
25-year-old bondage enthusiast who likes cute guys, underwear, and bondage, preferably together.

You can reach my list of written work here: https://www.tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?p=38808#p38808
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Post by bigsmile21 »

Part 3

Frustrated, Glen slammed his hand against the top of the alarm clock. He was so close, he thought. Maybe tonight he would finally be able to get out. He just had to think through what was the best way to set himself up for a quick escape. He remembered his phone and checked his emails. There was one waiting for him, sent about an hour after he went to sleep last night.

From: ZekeOliver24:
Thank you for reaching out. You don't know what it means to my sanity to know there's someone else going through this nightmare, too. My name is Zeke Oliver and I work as a graduate assistant at Bedivere University. You and I are only the first victims, I fear, of the horrible monster plaguing our dreams. Two weeks ago I discovered an interesting phrase while translating some ancient text for my professor. The transcription spoke of a forgotten monstrosity that feeds off the fear it can collect from captive warriors. I am by no means a warrior, but until we can slay the beast we will be stuck in an endless loop. And each week it will double its captives by randomly seeking out new dreamers to snare. If we don't stop it, by next week it will have four captives, then eight, then sixteen, and so on.

I've done as much research as I can. It's been difficult to stay focused during the day. Yesterday I fell asleep at my desk and daydreamed myself back into that dungeon. Judging by your username, you're on the other side of the world which means we may have difficulty communicating within the same day. I'm likely already asleep by the time you ready this. I've collected my finding below and hope they will help with our efforts:

1: Do not look the beast in its eyes. It can blind your vision during the rest of the dream.

2: You can interact with the dungeon to a limited degree if you focus on what you can see. You can pry things off walls and use your clothes to tie off doors.

3: The monster patrols the cells and will do what it can to keep you bound. It needs you alive in your dream to feed off you, and will rush to your cell when it hears noise. Side notes: I think the beast can hear my alarm clock, and I've found it harder to wake up each night.

4: Escaping into the daylight hurts the monster. I've managed to escape from the dungeon only once, earlier this week. When I did, my vision when white, I heard the monster scream, and I woke in real life. I thought I was free, but each proceeding night I've started my nightmare in the cell already bound hanging from the ceiling. I haven't been able to escape since, because now the monster has more time to bind me when I start my nightmare before leaving to patrol the dungeon. It's horrible. My hands are chained above my head, my ankles are chained together and weighted down by a large rock. My elbows are bound tightly with thick leather straps, as are my knees. And if I try to protest, then the monster rips my shirt off and uses it to gag and blindfold me.

Given what I know, our best bet to defeating this beast is for both of us to escape in the same night. Maybe if I'd managed to escape sooner, before it ensnared you, then that would have been enough. I think the magnified strain of all his captives escaping at once will be enough to defeat it. I only hope that you haven't succeeded in escaping on your own, because that means you're likely starting your nights pre-bound like I am. And this time next week we'd have to find, communicate, and coordinate with two other captives.

You will need to escape from your own predicament, find me, free me, and help both of us escape. This, I'm sorry, puts additional strain on you, because you will need to do all of this before either of us wake. Since your discovery of me, I've asked to shift my working hours to earlier in the day so I can go to sleep earlier and be closer to your timeframe. Be strong, and best of luck.

Glen read the email three more times before he got a call from his boss at work. Glen apologized for being late, rushed to get dressed, and headed out the door. Thursday moved at the same busy pace as Wednesday, and Glen found himself constantly drifting off in thought about the upcoming night. He managed to perk up in attentiveness anytime his boss was on the work floor. By the end of the day, Glen was wracked with anticipation.

Finally home, he sent a response email to Zeke confirming his own discoveries. He also said that he had not yet escaped, and would try getting to him as soon as he could. Glen wrote back which directions the monster took him every night to his cell, and asked that Zeke share the same. Hopefully by the proceeding night Glen would be able to trace his path through the dungeon to Zeke and also have a clear way out.

To himself, Glen was actually glad he'd set his alarm clock early. If he'd escaped, he'd be stuck in what seemed like an inescapable predicament each night, and from there it may be impossible to coordinate escapes across four or more different people, each potentially in a different part of the world. If they did not stop the monster soon, there may be no stopping it. Assuming Glen lasted that long. He could feel the drain of not having proper sleep start to wear him down. He had pulled all-nighters before, and each of these past nights he'd been getting some sleep, but it was if this beast was literally draining him of his energy. His boss had noticed, and it may be only a matter of time before Glen got into an accident with the machinery. Glen waited for a response, but by the time he was ready to sleep there hadn't been anything. He didn't really blame Zeke. The guy must be more exhausted than Glen was if he'd been going at this for a week longer.

In bed, laid his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. And he quickly found himself looking at the monster. He looked away and this time held up his hands. The monster paused, grabbed his hands, manacled them, and chained them. It still pushed Glen to the ground and dragged him, but this time it hadn't grabbed his throat. Glen took in as much detail as he could, and sure enough the monster followed the same route to his usual cell. Along the way, Glen made out at least a hundred empty cells, each one meant for some "warrior" the beast planned to drain.

In the cell, Glen loosed his shoestrings and then stood up quickly. He raised his hands and the monster again paused when it looked at him. It let out a low grumble, almost as if it was pleased, and then hoisted Glen to his usual hanging position. It turned, closed the cell door behind it, and moved down the corridor to the right. Glen quickly went to work on slipping off his boots. Once they were off, he hoisted himself up the chain and removed it from the hook. He looked down and around for some kind of bench to land on but decided his best bet was still to drop down. He landed softer than the night before, but the height still scared him. If he landed poorly, would he wake up with a broken ankle? He wasn't sure, but given how he woke with strained arms he considered being very careful with his "dream" body. No pun intended. Actually, taking a look at his body he wasn't that much different from his real body. What made him a "warrior", he didn't know. Maybe he had a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather who fought against this monster.

Glen approached the cell door and spit against the hinges to slicken them. He then removed his shirt and used it to wipe the spit into the hinges more. Satisfied, he slowly opened the cell down and it made a much less audible creaking sound. He wrapped his shirt around his right wrist and proceeded down the left corridor. He thought back to Zeke's notes and decided to take one of the unlit torches from the wall. At least now he had a weapon. He took several left and right turns, each new corridor looking the same as the last. More empty cells lined the corridors, potentially filling hundreds more captives and Glen had to will himself to stay focused on his mission.

He found two dead ends and each time quietly moved backward. On the second turnaround, he heard a gruff panting noise down the corridor to his left. He paused, slinking back against the wall. The monster moved along the corridor, not noticing Glen. He considered attacking the monster with the torch, gripping it tighter in his hands. Zeke's theory was only that: a theory. If Glen killed the monster now, it could be the end of their nightmares. As the monster continued to move away, Glen let the tension in his shoulders drop. He decided to trust Zeke, since the guy had done actual research into their plight and had been at this longer. Zeke was waiting on him, so Glen carefully moved up the corridor that the beast had just came from.

Not long after, Glen found a cell with a door left ajar. He ducked his head into it and saw Zeke, bound up as before. The monster must have gotten cocky, assuming Zeke wouldn't be able to escape. Had the door been left closed, Glen might have walked right past this cell. Zeke looked up and saw Glen. He hadn't been gagged or blindfolded tonight. Glen quietly shut the door behind him and moved towards Zeke.

"How do I get you down?" Glen asked in a whisper.

"Start with my feet," Zeke replied.

Glen unwrapped the leather belts from Zeke's knees and unwound the chains and stone from his ankles. He tried to move about as quickly and as quietly as possible. He occasionally stopped to listen for any noise from outside the cell. He looked up at Zeke given his distance from the walls there wouldn't be a way for Glen to get up the The hook. Then he had an idea.

"Climb up this," Glen said. He positioned the unlit torch beneath Zeke. Zeke was still wearing a pair of boots, identical to the ones Glen was wearing. Zeke positioned his boots to where he could stand on top of the torch, and Glen held the torch as still as possible. After a few moments of strain from both guys, Zeke lifted his chain from the hook above him. He wobbled a bit and then fell backwards. Glen dropped the torch and moved to catch Zeke. He managed to catch Zeke but the The torch clanged to the ground. Immediately, a loud roar echoed from deep within the dungeon.

"Run! Follow me." Zeke yelled, grabbing Glen's hand and moving toward the cell door. Glen left the torch and moved alongside Zeke who turned left as soon as they were out the cell door. "In case tonight doesn't work, it's right, left, left, right, right from my cell to the escape corridor."

"Dude", Glen said, "I won't remember that right now. Just send it to me in an email. But this almost has to work. We only have a few more nights before this spirals out of control."

The two followed Zeke's directions. After the second to last "right" needed, they turned to see two large red eyes staring at them from across the corridor.

"It's no use," Glen said, exhaustion and fear hitting him in larger waves with each breath. "We'll have to try again tomorrow night."

"No," Zeke said. "Trust me." And with that, Zeke began running straight at the monster, pulling Glen's wrist. Glen hesitated for a moment but ran behind his fellow captive. When they were almost right up to the monster, Zeke took a hard right turn and pulled Glen with him. The monster tumbled forward onto its face and many arms. Glen looked back over his shoulder and could see the monster shake its head and start to get up. He turned his head forward and saw the daylight. They were going to make it, he thought. The dungeon opening was getting larger and brighter. From behind them, Glen heard a metallic sound and the monster grunt but he didn't turn around to see. He felt something tangle his feet and before he knew it he had tripped and stumbled to the ground, chains wrapped around his boots. He'd fumbled Zeke's grip and watched as the other man continued running forward towards the light, turning back in confusion right at the last second as he passed through the exit.

A bright light filled the corridor and Glen had to cover his face. From behind him he heard the monster roar in pain, loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Glen turned and peaked through his eyelids to see that the chain around his boots were wrapped around several times, but not manacled shut by anything. He started fussing with the chain, trying to get either his boots off his feet or the chains off his boots.

After a few seconds, he gave up and just started pulling himself forward with his hands towards the daylight, which had started to dim. He felt a tug on the chains, then to his horror he felt his body being pulled back by the beast. Glen tried harder to pull himself forward but within a few seconds the beast had reeled him in. It lifted him up by his feet and snarled in his face. Glen saw two of the monster's arms lying on the ground, steaming at the shoulder joints.

"No...escape...Glen," The monster panted. It dropped him to the ground and began dragging him. As they turned the corner, Glen lost sight of the daylight. Back in his cell, the monster hoisted Glen but this time by his feet. It secured his chained feet to the ceiling hook. It then took the chain wrapping his manacled hands and tethered that to a hook in the wall behind him. Now Glen had his feet above his head, his arms stretched tightly above him, and was stuck facing the ground of the cell. He felt claws wrap around his jeans and soon his jeans were torn off. The monster torn his jeans into small strips and used one for a gag, one for a blindfold, and several layers to just wrap around his head. The monster mumbled something, but Glen could barely hear with all the extra padding around his head. The only distinct sound Glen heard was the familiar sound of the cell door slamming behind him. Then silence.

They were so close tonight. Glen had a lot to think about, and with nowhere to go, think was all he did. He had seen two of the monster's arms lying on the ground, and Zeke had mentioned he'd escaped before. Did that mean the monster had two more "lives"? If they escape two more times, either together or one of them twice, then the monster would be disarmed (pun intended this time), and even if the nightmares persistent then the monster would have no way of catching them. They'd always be able to escape as soon as their dreams, started, each time weakening the monster further. Glen had to share what he had seen with Zeke. If Zeke could confirm the monster had six arms when all this started, then maybe they were in luck.

Glen waited for the alarm. After a while he started to hear a faint ringing. Nothing loud enough to wake him, though. That's when he realized the wrappings around his head. They were muffling the alarm noise. He may not be able to wake up. He moved his head against his outstretched arms and tried to move them off his ears. No good, they were tied on tight. Glen bucked his body up and down and finally got enough wiggle room to move the wrappings from off one of his ears. The ringing came through more clearly, followed by the sound of the cell door slamming open. The monster must be back, making its way to secure his head wrappings. Glen frantically moved his head against his arms until finally he heard the alarm ringing in full. He opened his eyes in bed, again covered in a layer of sweat.
:)21
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DeeperThanRed
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Post by DeeperThanRed »

So, Glen finally discovered the secrets behind the dream, but this doesn't make escaping from it easier.

Also, the monster keeps getting scarier. Like a creepy Groundhog Day.

Great update as always. Characters working together to find a solution of the problems and solving a mystery is my jam.
25-year-old bondage enthusiast who likes cute guys, underwear, and bondage, preferably together.

You can reach my list of written work here: https://www.tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?p=38808#p38808
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Post by LK3869 »

Original and very well written, and it's quite intense, well-paced and all. Congrats for this one!
The bondage scenes blend well with the story, they're really integrated into the plot. And the plot is interesting in itself, as is the dream 'universe'. And the improvised bondage/gags with clothes is a nice bonus, goes well with the strangeness of dreams, IMO; simple and pulsional :).
Very well done.
don't run ! I'm friendly ...
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Post by bigsmile21 »

Part 4

He looked over to the clock and it was an hour past when he had set it. He dreaded going into work. Fridays are incredibly busy, and this Friday in particular was ahead of a 3-day weekend, so a ton of customers would be coming in to check their cars before vacation. Glen didn't have time to shave, didn't have time for breakfast, and barely had enough lucidity to grab the right clothes for work. At work, it was a madhouse. Clients and cars as far as the eye could see down the service line. He grabbed some coffee from the complimentary customer care station, and set to work. He really wanted to check his emails and get in touch with Zeke, but he also knew that if his boss caught him slacking anymore it could be bad. Throughout the day, Glen had two more cups of coffee. Once, he'd sworn that he'd seen the monster's eyes staring back at him after he'd checked the hazard lights and blinkers for an older car. He shook it off and tried his best to focus on one car's needs at a time. At the end of the day his boss approached him.

"I really appreciate you stepping up your game today, Glen." his boss said. "Don't know what you've been going through, and it's not my business, but I was a little concerned about your commitment to the job earlier this week. Glad to see you've still got that fire in you." Glen nodded his head a few more times than he should have, his eyes a little droopy.

"Boss, would you mind if I took tomorrow off?" Glen asked. "I know I'm already off for this Sunday, but having tomorrow off as well would help me wrap up a few things."

"You know we'll have Monday off as well, right?" his boss asked. "Trying to get in a long weekend, huh? Well, after today you've earned it. Take care, and I'll see you early next week."

At home, Glen finally had a chance to check his emails. He'd seen one more from Zeke, and pulled it up while heating up dinner.

From: ZekeOliver24:
We did it! We finally escaped. I woke up last night and felt refreshed for the first time. Thank you for trusting in my plan, and helping me to find a way out last night. I wish you a happy Friday and hope that the weekend will find you well.

Glen was sure at this point that Zeke would already be asleep. But he sent a response anyway. He said that he wasn't sure they'd beat the nightmare creature, that it still had two arms left and a lot of hate in it. He asked Zeke about how many arms it originally had, if he'd noticed any few arms after he'd escaped the first week.

He hoped Zeke wouldn't be bound even further after two escapes. He hoped there was still a Zeke to help escape. Maybe the monster would have him bound so tight that he might not be able to. Glen pondered how to approach this night's sleep. He considered taking some sleeping pills and turning off his alarm in order to give him as much time as possible over the weekend to escape. But if the monster did end up catching him in his escape, and binding him so tight that he couldn't escape, he may regret having a delayed alarm.

He also thought about how long they had: only two nights to get this right, before the monster started capturing more people. If any of those others managed to escape, would that kill the monster for good, or leave Glen and Zeke trapped in that nightmare? He thought more and more about it, going a little past his usual bedtime, and decided Zeke's original plan was right: they both had to escape in order for this to work. The monster had to be cut off from all its victims. And if he was in Zeke's place, he wouldn't want to be left alone. Glen set his alarm for a little later Saturday morning, giving him more time to sleep in and get out. He didn't want to be cut short right in front of the exit again.

Before he went to bed, Glen prepared one more thing. He placed a closed Swiss army knife under his pillow, hoping it would appear with him in the nightmare dungeon and help his escape. Glen closed his eyes and opened them in the face of the monster. He shot his eyes downward and thrust his hands forward. The more compliant he was with the monster, the less aggressive it seemed to bind him. Even with his repeat attempts to escape, the monster didn't seem to remember any of those or hold a grudge. The monster began applying the manacles and chains to Glen's wrists, slower this time. Glen slowly raised his head to see that the monster still only had two arms. He ducked his head again and knelt down to the ground before the monster could shove him. It paused, then moved down the corridors, tugging Glen along.

While moving, Glen tried to look in the empty cells. Some doors were open, some closed, but he got the sense that all of them were empty. Tonight, he thought, we're going to beat you. Inside his cell, the monster began to hoist Glen up. This was before he'd been able to untie his shoes to loosen his boots. Glen made a quick attempt to loosen his shoestrings, got one loose, but the monster caught him in the act of untying the second. It paused, hoisted Glen to the ceiling hook, and then reached down to apply an additional set of manacles and chains to his feet. Not good, Glen thought. The monster then pulled the chain around his boots towards the back of the room, securing it to the hook in the wall that last night held his bound wrists.

The monster backed away and left the cell. Glen was bound in a similar position as last night, only this time he was right side up at least. He tugged upwards with his wrists and then with his feet, but he was pulled taught. Really not good, he thought. He'd lost focus for a few seconds and screwed up tonight's escape attempt. If he didn't think of something, he'd spend the entire night stuck here, leaving them only one night to escape. He ran through the details of what he'd seen tonight. The monster looked the same, minus two arms, and had followed the same script it had the previous nights: capture him, bind him, and secure him in this cell. Glen guessed if he made too much noise that the monster would quickly be back in his cell, and would likely gag, blindfold, and deafen him with his clothes. He couldn't avoid behind bound but at least he could avoid making too much noise and drawing the monster back to him.

He tried his wrists again, but still not enough give in the chain for him to get free. Even if he got his wrists unhooked, that meant a quick drop face-first to the cell floor. He tried working his boots free again and found more success in his already-loosened boot. With a lot of effort he managed to slip one boot off. He tried to brush his foot against the shoelaces of his other boot, but no good. He tried slipping his sock off to give him more movement with his toes and did manage to get that off, but still no luck with the shoelaces. Glen yelled in frustration.

Almost instantly, he heard the monster roar from somewhere in the dungeon. Glen had had it. He kept yelling until the beast burst through the door. Glen shouted that he was going to get out tomorrow, and that this would be the monster's last night with him as its captive. He said he was going to get Zeke, escape through the light, and enjoy looking back to see the monster crumble into pieces. He was going to say more but was cut off by the monster gripping his face with one of its paws. It looked him over, picked up the sock from the ground, and shoved it into Glen's mouth. It then ripped off his shirt, jeans, and underwear, leaving him completely exposed except for his other boot. Glen stopped yelling and paused to see what the monster would do. It tore his clothes into long strips, wrapping several around his mouth to keep the sock gag in place, wrapping several around his eyes to blindfold him, and wrapping several straps around his elbows and knees to restrict him further. Glen was glad his dream clothes didn't have any musk, because he was pretty sure that half of his underwear was covering his face right now.

The monster clawed at the walls until Glen heard sparks fly and felt heat of some of the torches catching fire. He heard the monster standing there, the sound of its deep breaths going in and out, and then he felt something else. The long claws were reaching around his exposed privates and Glen bucked upwards. The beast's other paw held his back in place as it continued, tying the shoestrings of his removed boot to Glen's balls. The monster gave a gentle tug on the last knot before letting the boot drop, giving sensitive tug to Glen's privates. The beast seemed to chuckle, then it moved back and out the cell, closing the door behind it. The extra weight on Glen's balls went from uncomfortable to painful. He found that after a while any movement along his torso amplified the pain. The added heat from the torches caused him to sweat profusely. He could only imagine what his bed would look like when he woke. If he woke. With his head bound as it was, he may not be able to head the alarm clock at all.

He focused on moving his head as best he could against his arms. He knew that by now escaping tonight was out of the question. He'd have to coordinate with Zeke tomorrow (was it 'today' yet?) and make sure to work out a fool-proof escape plan for Saturday night. Again, Glen moved slowly and deliberately to brush off his head wrappings. Upwards or downwards, it didn't matter so long as he could get at least one ear exposed. Occasionally he'd jerk his head too quickly and that would cause the boot beneath him to jostle. Finally, he had brushed off the head wrappings and blindfold. The gag around his mouth was persistent. He heard the growing ringing of the alarm clock and welcomed its sweet embrace.
:)21
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Post by bigsmile21 »

Part 5

Glen woke in a pool of sweat. He reached down and felt around his balls, which were sore. He slowly got up, got to the freezer, and pulled out a pack of frozen peas that he'd never cooked. He had a tall glass of water to help quench his thirst, and then made his way back to his bedroom. Finding a jockstrap, he slipped one on, slipped the peas into the front pouch and collapsed onto his bed. He'd need to wash his sheets, but first he wanted to check his emails. There were two emails from Zeke.

From: ZekeOliver24:
Oh God, I thought we were free. I thought you were right behind me when we were running. I woke up in the dream bound worse than ever last night and now we only have one more night to escape. I don't know if I can do this anymore. I don't want to go to sleep tonight.

And another:

From: ZekeOliver24:
Okay. I looked again at what you said. Sorry my first message was frantic. I have the weekend off from work, aside from some grading which I've asked a coworker to take care of. Yes, there were originally six arms on that beast when all this started, then four after my first escape during your first week, and now only two arms.

I'll admit that I didn't see much during last night's ordeal. I woke with my arms crossed in front of my body, by legs standing at attention, and my whole body encased in what felt like a metal sarcophagus. I could not move my head to any side. My mouth felt taped and wrapped in leather straps. I could see out of my encasing through two small eye holes and there stood the monster, staring straight at me. It waved with one of its arms, and showed me a large key with the other. It hung the key on the back of my cell door, then lit up the torches in my room so I could plainly see it, and so I'd sweat in the encasing. I couldn't do anything to move or shout and my alarm noise barely made it through to my ears to wake me this morning.

For us to get out, you'll need to escape to my cell, quietly unlock the device holding me captive, and help us both get out. After tonight, we may not be able to escape together.

Glen considered his reply. He wrote to Zeke that he'd flubbed his first and second attempts to escape. He left out the part about the boot hanging from his balls, though. He said he tried leaving a Swiss army knife under his pillow but didn't have it in the dream with him. He wrote that he had tomorrow and Monday off for work, and would be available all of today to communicate.

Zeke's reply came pretty quickly. He wrote that he still had a few hours before he'd go to bed, and would try to delay that for as long as possible so that they'd be in sync. He wrote that he hadn't found anything else about the monster in his research. At this point, he didn't get much coherent work done during his waking hours. Just enough energy to drink coffee.

Glen by now had showered and shaved. He didn't like the haggard looking reflection in the mirror. He peeled off his sheets and put them in the washing machine. He thought about how to reply to Zeke. He wanted to be positive and inspiring, akin to a hero's speech before a big battle, but he was at a loss for words. Sleep deprivation was a horrible curse. He tried to think about writing up a blog post a a warning for future captives. But what would he say, and what would it matter if they didn't stop the beast tonight? He wrote back to Zeke that they could do this, and that he would be there to free Zeke before he knew it. Zeke didn't reply back.

Sheets washed and dried, Glen wondered again about when to set his alarm. He ended up setting it for noon the following day. He considered not setting it at all, but he wanted to give himself as much time as possible to escape, without leaving himself in an endless nightmare bound and chained in a dungeon. He closed his eyes once more, and woke staring in the face of the monster. He dropped into his usual routine of presenting his hands and complying as much as possible. He loosened his shoelaces along the way and in his cell it took him only about ten minutes to get unhooked from the ceiling. He dropped as quietly as he could to the ground, got his boots back on, and made his way to Zeke's cell.

The journey along the corridors was quiet and tense. Everything had to go perfectly. He knew he had time to get to Zeke's cell before the beast saw that he was missing, but didn't know how long it would take to free Zeke. One inside Zeke's cell, which had torchlight coming from beneath the door, Glen stood facing what was indeed a sarcophagus. A large black monolith stood in the middle of the cell, shaped in the outline of a black and gold pharaoh with his arms crossed. Glen closed the door to the cell quietly, seeing the key. He grabbed it and searched the sarcophagus for a lock. None seemed visible. He checked the center chest area and the sides but didn't see any distinct openings. He checked the back and finally there it was: a small opening in the back of the head. Glen moved the key inside and turned it. The lid of the sarcophagus popped and began to fall forward. Glen darted to the front and caught it. He gently set it against the nearest wall and moved back to Zeke.

Inside, Zeke was wrapped tightly in what looked like mummy bandages, but were actually thick strips of tan leather. Glen took the key and used it to cut and rip away the thinnest part of the wrappings. Finally, he had everything removed from Zeke, including the tape that was wrapped around his head. Zeke didn't have any clothes on underneath. Glen was going to offer some of his but Zeke held up his finger for 'quiet' and looked towards the cell door. It was still silent outside the cell. Zeke left all the bandages in the cell, whispering that he didn't want the monster to animate them or something during their escape. Their last escape. They were going to do this. Tears welled up in Zeke's eyes as he kept whispering that over and over. They were going to do this.

Outside the cell, Zeke led the way towards the exit. Glen still had all his clothes and boots on, and was a little embarrassed that Zeke was still nude in front of him. As they turned the last corner, the coast completely clear of red eyes, they began picking up their pace. Not quite running, but moving faster than before towards the daylight. Behind them, they heard a deep roar echo throughout the dungeon. The monster had just been to one of their cells and was not happy. The two men broke into a run, not letting go of each others hands. As they both crossed the threshold into the daylight outside the cave, they turned to see the monster at the far end of the corridor. A bright light flooded into the dungeon towards the monster, and they saw it's body fall to pieces before the light flooded their vision.

Glen woke up, not moving his body. He looked around with his eyes, rubbing them. The alarm said 10:00 AM. He moved a hand towards his smart phone and checked his emails. Nothing. He thought about sending Zeke a message, but before he could send something he got a new message.

From: ZekeOliver24:
I think we finally did it. The scary part is we'll have to wait to see later tonight.

That was it. A short message, especially after all they'd been through this week. But Glen figured Zeke was just being apprehensive. After all, Zeke had thought he'd broken the cycle before, only to wake up in a worse predicament. If the pattern of escalating bondage held, going forward Glen could expect to start each night held in weighted and chained bondage similar to how he'd first seen Zeke. And Zeke, after three escapes, may not have any hope of escape left for him. The monster could leave Zeke bound tightly in a sound-proof box, buried in the ground with the only key kept around its neck. Zeke may not be able to wake at all, and those thoughts were likely leaving him in a pit of despair right now.

The day crawled by. Glen ate, tried to watch shows to take his mind off things, but ultimately his thoughts went straight back to his recent experiences: what he might have to face tonight and for the rest of his nights. Being a creature of habit, he set his alarm for the usual morning time and laid down to sleep. He'd have the day off tomorrow if all this worked out. He closed his eyes, and had for the first time that week a dreamless sleep. Glen woke to his alarm, blinked at it a few times, and hit it. It slowly dawned on him what he'd, what they'd, finally done. He went for his email and sure enough there was a new message waiting for him.

From: ZekeOliver24:
No dreams, only sleep! We did it.

Exhausted and content, Glen went back to bed. He didn't bother setting his alarm. Throughout the following week, Zeke shared that with a sensible amount of sleep he was finally able to get credible research work done. He theorized that they'd cut themselves off from a "dream world", where people can interact with their thoughts and the thoughts of others while sleeping. The good news was they'd never dream about that monster or its dungeon ever again. The bad news was they'd never dream again, period. A small price to pay, he rationalized.

Zeke wasn't sure if the monster was completely destroyed, or if it would surface in a few generations. He was writing a book about his findings, keeping it strictly to his research, so that the details of what it was and how ancient "warriors" once sought to defeat it. He also offered Zeke a place to stay, if he ever found himself on the other side of the pond. It took some time, but the two eventually met in person. And spent many sleepless nights together. The end.
:)21
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sharpliketoday
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Post by sharpliketoday »

Aw! A happy ending :) Although spending a night here and there mummified in leather and tape, yes please! :P
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Post by Jb99 »

Great story - best I've managed is having a sub in a leather sleepsack for 10 hours solid - chained and roped to a bed. He could move about 5mm each way.

If anyone is interested I can send them the link to the pic on Fetlife. I'm on there (and Recon) as alfiej_uk
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Post by NeedControl »

Wow, such a great story!! I was on the edge of my seat in suspense, and also eagerly awaited what the monster would do next!

[mention]bigsmile21[/mention] you better believe that I'll be looking up more of your stories; I hope there are a ton! Thank you for sharing this with us!!
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Post by george_bound »

Wow, I read this before going to bed last night :shock:... fortunately I heard my alarm and woke up this morning ;)

Such a great story [mention]bigsmile21[/mention] ! Loved the format, the evolution of the recurring scenes and the bondage within them, the fact that the 2 characters worked together in the dream and outside it, and the reliance on hearing the alarm clock to be "saved" from the dream for the time being. I think it actually had a vintage video game quality to it. Would love to end up in those leather bindings within the metal sarcophagus too... but not for eternity locked in a nightmare :)
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bigsmile21
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Post by bigsmile21 »

Thank you for the feedback!
:)21
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Post by BDBrit »

Wow, I'm glad a great story like this resurfaced! I enjoy the supernatural twist to bondage and this story did it really well.
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