Good Things Never Last

Chapter 30

I somehow managed to calm myself before I ended up in complete hysterics. Steadying my breathing had been rather difficult, but once I had managed to do that, calming myself down had been a piece of cake.

Wiping away my final tears, I looked over to the mirror in the corner of the room and locked eyes with my reflection's puffy ones. It was extremely obvious I had been crying because of how swollen and red my eyes were, but I couldn't think of anything I could do about it. I slowly sat up and made my way over to the mirror to inspect the redness on my face but I paused when the sound of knocking reached my ears.

As I listened closer, I realised the knock wasn't as gently as Sapnap's had been, it was a lot harsher and a bit more frantic.

"Come in"
I was quick to turn away from the mirror to make sure whoever was at the door wouldn't have been able to see my red face in the reflection. I saw the door slowly creak open out of the corner of my eye and in the doorway stood a shy looking Dream.

"Training. We're going now"
I paused as I noticed the slight tremble in his voice. He quickly turned and left as I suddenly became really nervous. Jumping to my feet, my thoughts from moments before quickly disappeared as I began to chase after the boy, making sure to keep my head down so no one could see my puffy eyes.

It didn't take me long to catch up with him, and once I did, we walked in complete silence. I trailed behind him as we headed outside into the gorgeous grounds of the house, but we quickly came to a stop. I just stood behind him, rocking on my heels as I waited for him to say something. After a while he cleared his throat and turned around so he was facing me, his painted eyes locking with my puffy ones that he didn't seem to pay attention to. He then straightened himself out slightly, the mask's menacing glare making me gulp.

"So today, we'll be working on your agility. I want to see how far those little legs can get you"
When he spoke, his voice still wasn't the same smug one that I was used to, but he did sound a lot more confident than he had beforehand. He then stepped over to me, leaving us under a metre apart. Still looking directly at me, he knelt down a little, moving his head towards my ear.

"I want you to run Y/N and you better hope you don't get caught"
I shivered slightly as his low whispers made their way into my ears. I could hear his breath hitting against his mask as my cheeks flushed red at his closeness. A bubbly sensation made itself known in the pit of my stomach but I decided to ignore it and focus on the more important things going on.

He then straightened up and looked down at my smaller figure.

"Go"

I just stared blankly at him for a moment before I took off into the grounds. I didn't know where to go. L'Manburg was my first thought, but it seemed too obvious as I needed to hide somewhere. The forest was another option, but I thought I would get lost and end up starving if Dream didn't find me. The only other place I could think of was the castle. It had countless rooms and a maze of corridors on every floor, making it the perfect hiding spot.

I headed off towards the wooden paths, trying to make sure my footsteps were as quite as possible so I couldn't be followed. The wind hit against me as I ran, making my hair float behind me so I could see where I was running. I was wearing the same orange t-shirt and grey sweats with trainers, so they were quite easy to run in, which was lucky.

I took a sharp left turn onto the cobblestone path that led into the grounds of the castle. I briefly glanced over my shoulder and saw that I wasn't being followed but I didn't slow down in the slightest. Making my way to the main doors, I threw them open and took a quick right turn, heading towards where I remembered seeing a grand staircase the last time I'd been there. I struggled to slow down as I skidded around every corner, but I somehow managed to make it to the foot of the staircase without flying into a wall.

Taking off up the stairs, I managed to take at least three steps at a time, quickly making my way up four floors. By that point, my lungs were screaming at me to slow down, so I did. In my mind, there was no way Dream was going to find me in the maze of corridors. I quickly made my way down one of the many hallways as my footsteps echoed against the stone floor. I walked around aimlessly for almost five minutes looking for a good hiding spot while getting completely lost in the process.

As I opened a birch door, my eyes lit up. Before me were hundreds, if not thousands, of books lining every single wall. I slowly stepped into the room, mesmerised by my surroundings, as the door swung closed behind me. My eyes quickly fell onto a leather chair in front of the many windows along the back wall of the library. Quickly grabbing the first book I laid my hands on, I made my way over to the seat, lodging myself between the wall and the chair before sliding down into the gap and getting comfortable. The walls and chairs covered me completely, leaving me out of sight, or I thought I was anyways.

I then opened up my book and began reading the first page of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had never had the chance to sit and read a book, so that was a first to me. I settled down and read for what felt like hours before I heard a light tapping from the window, making me freeze. I closed my eyes, telling myself to calm down and that it was just the rain even though it was a glorious day outside.

The tapping continued for several minutes before I plucked up the courage to turn around and look for the source of the sound.

What I didn't expect, however, was the masked man crouched on the other side of the window, staring directly at me.