The Night Everything Lost Sense

1. It Was an Accident...

A shiver left Briar's mouth.

Dark circles and shadows danced in front of his eyes, clouding his vision and rendering him blind. Air, forced by continuous sharp inhales, barely passed through his throat. Each inhale chilled his teeth. Each breath hurt his lungs.

"Soyoung?"

Briar's hands shook. His whole body trembled as if he was exposed to extreme polar weather. His fingers were as cold as ice. The sensation shot through his skin and pierced his bones. His fingers cramped as he reached his hand out and brushed his fingertips through Soyoung's hair. Her raven locks slipped between his snowy fingers and fell from his hand. They were graceful, like streaks of waterfall water.

"Wake up, Soyoung," Briar whispered. "Please wake up."

He took ahold of the girl's shoulders and pulled her up. Briar's grip on her tiny shoulders was tight. He held her in place trying his best to keep her propped up in a sitting position. Yet, her head kept falling to her sides and hanging low. Her long hair touched the floor with its tips, sweeping dust as Briar tried to wake her up with a shake. She didn't respond. Her body remained limp as Briar begged her to open her eyes.

The boy's vision blurred. "Please don't do this."

He raised her chin, analyzing her expressionless face and her pale skin. Her face morphed into a blur as watered coated his eyes. "Soyoung. This isn't funny."

Briar let go of her chin and her head immediately dropped. The boy shivered, simultaneously letting out a cry of hopelessness. "Please, stop."

His eyes began leaking. Tears gently trailed down his blood-lacking face, dripping off his chin as he trembled. His shoulders rose and fell as he took sharp inhales and short exhales. No matter how hard he tried, his lungs screamed for air. He could never inhale enough.

Briar closed his eyes shut. His long eyelashes immediately began sticking to his tear-stained skin. Cries erupt from his mouth, replacing horrid silence that engulfed his and Soyoung's bodies. His grip on her shirt loosened, and she slipped back onto the old wooden floor.

Surely, it had to be a nightmare. He had to be in his bed and dreaming. Surely, he was bound to wake up soon and be free from the horror. He had to be in his warm bed, tightly wrapped into a soft blanked and buried in a pile of pillows. There was no other explanation for what he was experiencing. It had to be a bad dream. It couldn't be real. Soon, he will be awake and texting Soyoung good morning. He will soon see her smile at his newfound funny videos. He will soon be passing notes to her during class.

He calmed his rapid breathing as he kept his eyes shut and as he thought about waking up. He forced himself to breathe slower – to calm down. He was going to wake up soon. Briar loudly shivered as cold air continued to bite his skin. He wasn't getting warmer. He wasn't in his bed.

He gripped his chestnut hair, pressing his eyelids shut so tightly that his eyes became sore. The boy waited and waited. Nothing was happening.

Briar slowly opened his eyes. His eyelashes were stuck together and damp. His eyes glistened in pain as his gaze fell on Soyoung. She was still there, sleeping next to his knees.

"No..." Briar's voice broke. A cry left his mouth and he was unable to speak. He covered his mouth, horrified by the realization. The boy's eyebrows knitted together. Tears collected on his bottom lashes, threatening to douse his already damp, pale cheeks.

He gently took Soyoung's hand and squeezed it. A sob left his throat, followed by a river of tears that glided down his face. "I didn't mean to do it."

He watched her helplessly, desperate to see her eyes flutter open.

"Soyoung, I didn't mean to," he sobbed. "I didn't mean to. I didn't-"

His voice broke off once again and he was rendered mute as his throat clogged. He tried to swallow whatever blocked his throat but ended up almost choking as he couldn't get himself to gulp down the bubble in his airway. He shut his eyes and squeezed the girl's hand tighter.

Barely managing to swallow the lump in his throat, he gasped for air and let out a pain-filled scream. "I'm so sorry!"

Following his sob came a river of words. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry. Soyoung, I'm so sorry!"

He pulled on her hand desperately, still trying to shake her from her slumber. "Please I'm so sorry. Please, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

He sprung up on his feet. Briar pulled on his hair as he walked back and forth. Millions of thoughts polluted his mind. His ideas were quick like comets, lingering for a few seconds but disappearing to make way for new ones. They were irrational and mangled together. His thoughts raced from calling Seth, to waking up Soyoung, to running away, until one of them finally clicked and set him in action.

He took ahold of Soyoung's legs and pulled her body as he took a step back. She was light. Her petite short figure should have made it easy for him to drag her, yet he struggled. He was shaking too much to have proper grip.

The boy accidentally pulled on her shoe and took it off and staggered backwards. He didn't expect it to happen, and the sudden event surprised him. He shivered, dropping the shoe like it will scorch him if he holds it for long. He gulped and picked up her feet once again.

He pulled her as he walked backwards. Her hair gracefully spread behind her. It brushed against the floor like waves. As if it was alive and swimming. The image was hypnotizing. Briar snapped out of it only after he hit the staircase railing with his elbow.

He worriedly glanced at the busted front door and stared into an overgrown garden filled with metal scrap and broken furniture. Nobody was there. Of course. Nobody was ever there with them. It was their secret spot. A hideout and a sanctuary. It was only him and Soyoung.

He picked her up, struggling to stand as he held his friend in his trembling arms. He began hiking upstairs, carefully holding the girl so that he doesn't drop her. As soon as he glanced at her face, his knees began feeling weak and he sniffled as he almost succumbed to the weight in his arms. Somehow, he managed to get to the top of the stairs and knelt there for a moment, catching his breath. Sweat beaded his forehead and his hands became clammy.

The next time he tried to carry her, he couldn't even lift her up. He resorted to dragging her to a nearby room and he placed her against a wall, making her sit up as if she was resting. He caringly fixed her tangled hair and brushed dust off her shirt.

Briar sat on the floor in front of her, lowering his head and shakily breathing as if he ran a marathon. He covered his face, feeling sweat under his fingers and the coldness in his muscles. He wiped his nose, and took a deep, trembly, breath, before cupping his hands together and resting them on his lap.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

He sat in silence for a minute. The whole building was quiet. It wasn't even creaking like it usually would. The whole place had gone mute. It seemed as if it was listening to him speak. Briar picked up his head, meekly glancing at Soyoung. He observed her quietness.

"You don't hate me do you?" he asked quietly.

She was silent. Everything was silent. The atmosphere was deafening. Briar couldn't stand the static of nothingness in his ears. "Don't hate me..."

He lowered his head once again. Not looking at her, he was able to imagine her listening to him. He imagined her sitting attentively and smiling at him like she always does. "Right..."

Briar let out a silent, sad chuckle, that faded into the walls. "You would never hate me, right? We are friends. We could never hate each other."

He stared at the dirty wooden floor and began dragging his finger against it, drawing waves in the dust – the lines looked like strands of hair swimming on the floor surface. "It will be fine. We are still friends. We always will be."

The boy never received an answer from her side, yet he began talking to her. He talked and talked, rambling about things that they would usually talk about. He became nauseated after a while.

After hours of talking to his friend and battling sickness, Briar decided to go home.