FIREWORKS

Chapter 1.

Diana was walking through the woods alone, trying to find dark oak wood for Tommy. She'd promised to keep a compass with her, in case she'd get lost, but had lost it earlier.

When the girl heard the sound of twigs breaking behind her, she stopped in her tracks, but when she didn't hear anything she began walking again, it probably was an animal. Nothing to worry about, she assured herself, though she wasn't too sure about that anymore when she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

"Diana." This low voice was met by static, it all seemed to be in her head, but that couldn't be true. Not quite sure if she just wanted to prove her own sanity to herself, the girl tried to turn around, but she quickly learned that the hand holding onto her was stronger. "Who are you? How do you know my name?" 

"I'm Dream."

The small girl stays silent, not quite sure of what that information provides her with.
"I came here to warn you," the static voice which, well, was actually named Dream spoke, "Tommy isn't real, he talks about you behind your back. They're plotting to kill you." Dream's hand looses his grip on Diana's shoulder, and though the girl took note of this, she didn't seem to make move to run away, much to both of their surprise. "Why would he do that?" Diana would've never paid attention to it, but her voice showed a bit of weakness, which only made the male behind her grin even more.

"I am your only real friend." 

The girl felt herself getting lightheaded, she could just barely make out the blood dripping down from her nose, landing onto the dirt beneath her, before her whole vision started to blur and then eventually everything went black.

When Diana woke up the next day, she was confused as to why she was so disoriented, but upon looking around the dark room, she realized that she had no idea where she was. Which only spooked her more, was the fact that there wasn't even a window, she'd had to do it with the very few torches spread across the walls of the room, which only provided the bare minimum of light, those weren't much help either. The door the girl had been observing was abruptly swung open, the bright light coming from the seemingly never-ending hallway painted shadows behind the masked man that was standing in the doorway, the sight of which would've probably made Tommy piss his pants in terror, hah. Diana quickly shook that thought away, it'd be better if she wouldn't think about that boy for now, right?

"Dream?"

"That's me," the familiar voice calls out, the girl couldn't help but think about how that static was really weird, maybe she was going crazy, maybe there wasn't even someone there at all, maybe-

"Are you alright?"

"Hmm," the girl hums, having abruptly been brought out of her thoughts by Dream, "yeah, sorry, I-I was just thinking about, about stuff..." 

"Right," the static voice chuckles, which makes a shiver run down Diana's spine, "anyhoo, follow me!"

Diana found herself being a little taken aback at the sudden excitement of the masked man, but decided not to go against his words, as though it seemed like an offer, something about his tone made the girl question if there really was a choice. In the hallway, Dream catches Diana staring at the door, which immediately made him think about the odds of the girl escaping. "Don't even think about it, Diana. Punz and Sapnap are outside guarding this house, there's no way you're getting out without my consent."

"I wasn't planning on. You're my friend, remember." A little taken aback at the offense evident in the girl's voice, Dream sighs, "right." Carefully he opens the front door, mumbling something about meeting Sapnap and Punz, the sudden stop he made caused the girl he was followed by to almost bump into him.

"This is Punz." Following the masked man's eyes, Diana sees a guy in a white hoodie, holding a crossbow with firework attached to it.
The girl recalled hearing about how this method of killing would make it appear to look like a suicide rather than an actual killing, she was so caught up thinking about that, she hadn't even noticed the unfamiliar man walking towards her.

As soon as she did though, the girl ran towards Dream, hiding behind the man as she lifted a shaky hand in an attempt to cover up the scared look on her face, because God, was this embarrassing. "Are you okay?" Dream asks the girl, chuckling, though he did truly sound concerned. "Do you want to kill me," Diana dodges the man's question, failing to cover up that she felt betrayed. "No! Of course not! It's in case someone wants to try and take you away from me, wouldn't want you leaving this soon."

Punz puts the crossbow away, but the girl was too focused on the mocking tone in Dream's voice to even realize that she could let go of the masked man's arm. "Are you scared of fireworks," Dream suddenly asked, turning around to face Diana, who was still shaking slightly. The girl sheepishly nodded, looking away in embarrassment. "Is that why Tommy wanted to ban all fireworks," the brown haired male finally speaks up, Diana couldn't help but notice that he hadn't said a word the entire time. Turning around, Dream gave the man a death glare. "I don't know," the girl softly says, shrugging. 

"No, I reckon it was for a selfish reason again, he doesn't care about people."
The girl nods her head, not wanting to let the men see how Dream's words upset her, she actually believed it. "Alright now, let's go meet Sapnap. He has fireworks too, so don't be surprised," the static voice warns her, and once again Dream's voice sounded in the girl's head, rather than actually coming from the man. Following the masked man, Diana couldn't shake the feeling of nausea that hit her like a train, and she had to just stop, because fuck, she felt like fainting. "Everything alright," the static voice asks, making the headache the girl already had so much worse, though all she did was nod in response, ignoring the burning sensation in her chest.

 Looking up, the girl noticed a black haired man walking towards the three. "Hi, I'm Sapnap! You must be Diana," the man says, putting out his hand towards the girl, tilting his head in confusion when she flinched. "Put down the crossbow."

Sapnap does as he gets told to, smiling when the girl takes his hand and greets him with a soft "hello." 

"Diana." The girl turns around, and, when her eyes met Dream's, she felt that same pressure on her chest, only this time it seemed much worse, so much so to the point where she felt like she couldn't breathe. Before Diana could take note of what the fuck was happening to her body, she started coughing up blood, lots of it. As she bend over, watching the blood cloths falling onto the grass beneath her, she almost choked in the large amount of blood that was collecting in her mouth. When the coughing seemingly winded down, the girl could faintly make out Dream's smile as he looked at Sapnap and Punz, who, judging by the looks on their faces knew something she didn't. As soon as the masked man's face turned towards the girl, though she forgot all about that, as the coughing started once again.

"Diana," Dream's voice calls out, it was distant this time, much less intense than it was just a few minutes ago, but something in his tone made the younger's interest spark. "Hmm," the girl in question hums, turning around swiftly, barely being able to save herself from tripping on her own shoes as she looks up at Dream. 

"I am willing to give you an offer," Dream says slowly, "I've been watching you closely, observing, you could say." Diana looks at the men standing on opposite sides of Dream, and for the second time today she gets the feeling that they know what's going on, that she's the only one who has no idea what the man dressed in green was talking about. 

"I want you on my team."