woke up gasping, clutching my blanket so tight my knuckles turned white. My heart slammed against my chest like I'd just run a mile. For a moment, I thought I was safe-I was back in my room, posters on the walls, my desk in the corner, the same mess of clothes on the floor. Everything was normal.
But I didn't trust it. Not anymore.
I sat there, staring into the dark, afraid to even blink. What if this was still a dream? What if Bubble wasn't gone? I had to know. I had to test it.
So I crept out of bed, every step slow and shaky, and sat down at my computer. The screen's glow lit up my face, making me feel exposed, like something could be watching. My fingers trembled as I typed: trapped in dreams.
Page after page popped up-articles, blogs, creepy forums. Most of it looked fake, but then I saw a word that froze me: Dream Loop. I clicked.
The site was old, like no one had touched it in years. But the words felt like they were written for me: A dream loop is when you never truly wake up. You can dream of waking, dream of normal life, but you're still trapped. Fear feeds the loop. The more afraid you are, the stronger it gets. The only way out is to face the dream itself.
I swallowed hard, whispering to myself, "This... this is what's happening to me."
That's when the words on the screen began to shift, twisting into something new. Letters bled into sentences until I read: You can't escape, Timmy.
My chair screeched as I pushed back. My stomach dropped. The air in my room felt heavier, like it wasn't mine anymore. Then I heard it-faint, but real.
Carnival music.
It was drifting through my window, soft and sweet at first, then growing louder, filling the room until it drowned out my thoughts.
"No," I whispered. "Not again. Please not again..."
The walls shook. My posters peeled away, turning into bright banners. My ceiling lights flickered, stretching into carnival lanterns. And when I ran to the window, my street was gone. In its place, a glowing midway sprawled under the night sky.
And then... the voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen... welcome back to the show..."
The floor gave out beneath me, and I stumbled forward, landing on dirt. My room was gone. The house was gone. All around me stretched the carnival again-bright lights flickering, rides groaning, the smell of popcorn mixed with smoke. Only this time it felt worse, heavier, like the place itself was alive and breathing.
I spun around, searching for Jake, for my mom, for anyone-but what I saw made my chest tighten.
Children.
Dozens of them stood scattered across the midway. Boys and girls my age, some younger, all of them pale, eyes wide, their faces blank like they'd been here forever. Their clothes looked faded, like they hadn't changed in years. They weren't talking, just... staring.
And then I saw him.
"Jake!"
He was standing near the carousel, frozen like the others. His eyes flicked to me, and for a split second I saw life in them-recognition, hope. But before I could reach him, the music blasted louder, drowning me out.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" boomed a voice from everywhere and nowhere.
The lights around us spun, flashing red and gold. Drums rolled. And then, through the smoke, he appeared.
Bubble the Clown.
His grin stretched ear to ear, painted red and dripping like fresh blood. His suit, bright and patched, shimmered in the lights, but his eyes-black pits, bottomless-locked onto me.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" Bubble sang, twirling in the center of the midway. "So glad you could join us again, Timothy. And thank you for bringing your fear. The show must go on, after all!"
The children flinched at his words, as if they'd heard them a thousand times before. My stomach dropped when I realized the truth: They had never left. They'd been trapped in this loop all along.
I wanted to scream, to run, but my legs wouldn't move. I could only watch as Bubble raised his hands and the carnival came alive-rides whirring on their own, game booths snapping open, laughter echoing through the night.
"This is my stage," he declared, bowing low. "And tonight's performance... is just for you."
Jake's voice finally broke through, weak but desperate. "Timmy... run..."
But there was nowhere to go.
I froze, my chest tightening as every instinct screamed at me to move. But my legs were glued to the ground. The carousel spun faster, lights blurring, and the hollow laughter of the children-my friends, my classmates-echoed all around me. It wasn't normal laughter. It was empty, hungry.
Bubble twirled closer, each step leaving a faint trail of darkness on the cobblestones. "Why fight it, Timothy?" he purred, circling me like a predator. "You keep coming back. You bring your fear with you. You feed the carnival."
I swallowed hard, trying to push through the panic. "I'm not afraid of you!" I shouted, though my voice wobbled.
"Oh, but you are," Bubble said softly, almost tenderly, before bursting into a manic cackle. "Everyone is! And fear... fear is delicious."
Jake's hand appeared from the crowd of frozen children, trembling. "Timmy... you have to wake up," he whispered. "Figure it out... break the loop..."
The words hit me like ice. Break the loop. That's what this was. Every time I thought I was escaping, every time I blinked, I ended up back here. It wasn't just a nightmare-it was a trap. A trap powered by fear... and by Bubble.
I clenched my fists, forcing my legs to move. The children's blank eyes followed me, pleading, though they couldn't speak. I had to do something. I had to save them... and myself.
Bubble stopped twirling, tilting his head. "Ah... you understand now. How delightful. But knowing isn't enough, Timothy. You have to act. And every act... strengthens me."
The ground beneath me trembled. The carnival seemed to lean in closer, suffocating, alive with malice. I realized then that the only way out... was to face my fear head-on.
I took a shaky breath and forced my legs forward. Every step felt heavier, as if the carnival itself were trying to hold me back. The laughter, the lights, the rides-they pulsed with Bubble's power, trying to drown out my thoughts. But Jake's hand still reached for me, a small tether to reality, to hope.
"You can do it," Jake whispered. "Just... remember who you are."
I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, remembering everything I feared-but also everything I loved. The courage I had buried deep inside me. And then I ran.
The children shivered as I passed, their frozen eyes tracking me, but I didn't stop. I grabbed Jake's hand first, then one by one, the others reached for me. Each touch seemed to weaken the dark shimmer of the carnival, a spark of light flickering through their blank eyes.
Bubble screamed, high and piercing, spinning above us. "No! You cannot! This is mine!" The carnival groaned and twisted, trying to pull us apart, to drag the children back into shadows. But together, we held fast.
"It's okay," I shouted, panic giving way to determination. "We're not afraid!"
Something changed. The blank faces of the children flickered with life, their fear breaking, and the carnival began to warp, the colors bleeding into one another. Bubble's grin faltered, just slightly.
"Finally... you see it," Bubble hissed, his voice cracking. "Do you know why I trapped them all in my dream loop, Timothy? Why I needed their fear?"
I slowed, trying to make sense of his words. The answer hit me like a punch: he fed on fear. That was how he survived, how he grew stronger. Every nightmare, every terror I'd felt here-it wasn't random. He was feeding on us.
"So... all this... all your games... you wanted to feed off our fears," I said, my voice rising with clarity. "To grow stronger, to keep us trapped, to keep yourself alive!"
Bubble's eyes glimmered, almost proud. "Exactly! And every time you doubted, every scream, every heart-pounding moment-you made me more... unstoppable."
"But we're not afraid anymore," I said, a grin breaking through. "You wanted to feed on our fears... but now we're done giving them to you!"
The ground shook violently as Bubble shrieked, summoning shadows from the deepest parts of my mind: my monstrous mom from my earliest nightmares, the creeping dark shapes, the impossible things I had feared in the dream loop. They lunged at the children, claws out, teeth gnashing.
But we didn't run. We stood together. Hands linked, hearts steady. The children fought back with courage that seemed to light the carnival itself. Every shadow that tried to trap us dissolved as our determination flared.
Bubble roared, spinning faster, a cyclone of darkness, but the children's unity shattered his hold. One by one, we pushed forward, breaking the dream loop apart. Light pierced through the smoke and shadows, and suddenly-the carnival, the rides, the flickering lights-they vanished.
We tumbled onto dirt, gasping for air. Sunlight streamed down. My heart raced. We were free.
Jake shook his head, still pale but alive. "We... we made it..."
I nodded, looking at the children around me. They were scared, yes, but alive. And we had done it. Bubble's laughter faded behind us, distant now, but I knew-it wasn't gone for good. Not yet.
But for the first time, we were no longer trapped in his nightmare.