Falling In Reverse

𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓇

Joss's room was dark, and there was nothing in it. No noise, no light, no smell or taste. No sensation against her feet as she ran, frightened and confused through the empty void, arms outstretched, flailing frantically to try and feel something. But there was nothing. Joss was terrifyingly alone.

Or so she thought.

Something cold and scaly brushed past her legs, sending a shiver up her spine that caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand erect. She froze, immobilized by the unseen force. The frigid, scaly beast began to coil around her, binding first her legs and then reaching her chest, and yet still, Joss could not bring herself to move or even try to escape.

The creature tightened its grip around her, squeezing harder and harder until Joss could barely breathe at all. A sharp crack came from her ribs, and with a shrill cry of pain, the last bit of air was forced out of her lungs.

She struggled to try and breathe in, but there was no air. Her head was heavy and she could feel her heartbeat throughout her entire body. Even in the darkness, she could tell that her vision was beginning to fade as she started to pass out, but right before she could lose consciousness, a flash of red lightning struck across the void, illuminating what appeared to be a mirror in front of her.

All she could see was the silhouette of her body hanging limp in the clutches of a giant shadowy serpent that stared down at her with insidious red eyes. The creature tightened its grip around her one last time, but right before her vision faded to black, a small being clothed in pink light appeared, banishing the shadow. And she was free.

Joss awoke startled and gasping for air. She jolted upright, screaming, her heart beating so fast that it felt like it might explode out of her aching chest. Her body was covered in goosebumps from the cold feeling of dread that had sunken deep into the pit of her stomach, and her mind was racing with questions. What the Hell was that?

She checked her surroundings to make sure that everything was back to normal. Her sheets were a mess from thrashing about in her sleep, strewn across the foot of her bed and dangling onto the floor. Her room was also quite messy from packing her adventure bag the night before, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Maple, who had been sleeping at her feet, was now on high alert. Her fur was even more puffy than usual and her back was arched with her ears flattened backward, but as soon as she saw that there was no danger and that the scream which woke her up came from her trainer, her posture softened and she carefully padded over towards Joss, brown eyes filled with concern, pressing her head against her arm.

Upon feeling her Pokemon close to her, the tension in Joss's body faded. She ran her fingers through the Eevee's soft fur, earning some purrs as a reward. She let out a sigh of relief. Everything was fine.

Before Joss had time to lay back down, Cynthia busted open her bedroom door.

"Are you alright!?" The blonde panted, eye bags dark as ever, "I heard you screaming bloody murder, what happened?"