A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 13: Nightmare

"NO! Please, Bo- I mean, my King. I'll never leave again; I'll listen, I-I swear!" Luigi begged as he turned to face him. Luigi didn't want to be locked up in a cage or in a room in pitch darkness without any windows or doors. Wasn't being a nutcracker enough for this madman?

King Boo smiled before grabbing Luigi. He tossed him in the cage, throwing the key away as Luigi shook the cage. King Boo laughed as he watched Luigi try to break out of the cage, with horror in his eyes.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" Luigi ask

"I'm doing this because I want you to see what it's like to be trapped against your own well. I want you to see what it's like to be hung on a wall and be forgotten. I want to see you suffer." King Boo said as he floated closer and closer with every word he said. However, his reasons only got worse. "But that was at the beginning."

"W-What do you mean...?"

"I mean, I still believe in all those words I said, but..." King Boo girn grows, "I have found that I love your dancing. The Ballet that you do when you're with Melody; they are so breathtaking to watch. It's like you're a little doll in a music box. A music box that belongs to me."

"You're insane!" Luigi yells; King Boo didn't think of him as a person. All he saw was property, and Luigi calling him insane made him angrier. King Boo slammed the cage against one of the pillars, making Luig stumble as he swung in the air.

"No one takes what belongs to me, and that goes for you too." King Boo hissed as he floated away, "Maybe some alone time will do you good. Then you'll be more willing to litten."

"NO! Let me out of here! Don't leave me in the dark! Please, King Boo! King Boo!" Luigi yelled as King Boo left him in an empty room, and the lights went out one by one. Leaving Luigi in the dark.

Luigi shot up from his bed, shaking from the nightmare. Since that second week, he started falling asleep; Luigi had been having nightmares. Some were fine, just memories of the last few years when he was hiding in Peach's castle. But some were sickening to him, like the one where King Boo were in. He wasn't going to go back to sleep; he feared that that nightmare might go on repeat.

Jumping out of the makeshift home and getting down from the nightstand was easy as he approached the door. The hard part was opening it. Junior had put a string on it for him to open it, but it was still hard as he had to pull down and in with all his weight just to get it open. He got it open and peeked out the door, waiting for the Koopas that were patrolling to pass as he went in the opposite direction.

Luigi didn't want anyone to find him, so he went to a balcony that mostly seemed forgotten. He thought this since it was in a tower that no Koopa was guarding. It had a great view of the Darkland and was quiet for him to think. But thinking wasn't what he wanted to do right now, but as he climbed the steps to the balcony, his mind kept returning to the nightmare. Back to that room that made him get used to the dark, the room that reminded him of his mistake, the room that made him lose hope every single day.

When Luigi got to the balcony, he almost lay on the floor. Just lay on the ground and stared at the roof, but he wanted to look outside to remind him that he was not trapped inside. Using the cracks in the frame, he climbed to sit atop the balcony to watch the night slowly go by. It was nice as he felt the wind on his wooden skin, making him listen to anything that would let him be at peace. But there was no sound at this time of night, making him start thinking again. He moved his knees to his chest, hugging them to calm down, but the nightmare had done its damage.

Luigi placed his head on his knees as he started to cry. It was the only way he could let out the emotion; after all, the only person he could think of who would understand being locked up was Peach, and she didn't remember him. Junior is a child and Kamek...Kamek would ask too many questions he didn't want to answer. He wishes it could have been any other nightmare that just didn't have King Boo. He hated the ones with King Boo in them; he was the one who hurt him the most.