Button Eyes | SKZ horror fanfic

Chapter 3

The pain pulled Jeongin out of his sleep, rubbing his throbbing shoulder. He squinted against the brightness of the room, sitting up when he saw Chan standing next to him.

    "What are you doing? That hurt," Jeongin complained. "You could have woken me up more nicely."

    Chan had no reaction to his complaints. Instead, he gripped Jeongin's arm, a dull burning sensation erupting through his body. His grip felt as though it should leave a mark but it didn't.

    "Chan, let go! You're hurting me!" Jeongin yelled, freaked out by Chan's odd behavior. He yanked his arm away, Chan staring at him blankly.

    Abruptly, the entire bottom half of Chan's face began to bubble and melt, melted drops of what used to be skin falling to the floor and collecting in puddles. The melting stopped at his upper jaw, his rotted teeth on full display, saliva mixed with blood dangling from the roof of his mouth. His eyes bugged out of his head, severely bloodshot. The tip of his nose began melting away as well, revealing the cartilage underneath.

    Jeongin screamed but his body refused to move. He was forced to remain frozen in place and watch the morbid changes unfold in front of him. Chan's hands morphed into razor sharp claws and his shirt burned away, revealing his heart and part of his ribcage. Blood gushed down his front as his heart pounded, covering Jeongin's bed with blood.

    Chan's claws raked across Jeongin's chest, causing him real pain that the adrenaline coursing through his veins helped num. Despite the fact that Chan was very obviously cutting into him, no blood appeared. This couldn't be real.

    Pulling himself out of his temporary paralysis, he sprinted through the hallway back into the living room where everyone was already standing on edge, preparing to go to him. On the couch was the real Chan, intact and well. But was that the real Chan or another hallucination? Was it even a hallucination? He knew that pain he felt was real.

    "Jeongin, what's wrong?" Changbin asked, concern in his voice. "We heard you scream. Did something happen?"

    Would this happen to the others too? He felt dizzy, hallucinations and reality blurring together into one, morbid hellhole that he didn't know the exit to.

    "Room...Chan...face...melted...please..." Jeongin choked out, his face turning a ghostly white.

    "Sit down and try to speak clearly," Felix coaxed, leading Jeongin to an empty armchair, his hands shaking. Jeongin slapped Felix's hands away, becoming increasingly distressed.

    "I'm scared...his face...Chan...you too..." Jeongin continued, spewing out words that made no sense. Nothing made sense in his jumbled mind any longer.

    He made eye contact with Chan, the whole room taking a sickening lurch. There it was again. Chan with his melted face, laughing at him as blood dripped down the walls swallowing his familiar surroundings with one he no longer remembered. Abruptly, Jeongin swayed on his feet before hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
   
~~~

    Seungmin reached him first, gently rolling the youngest onto his side and lifting his head slightly to place a pillow underneath it. The others stood back, giving Jeongin space. The anxiety in the air was almost tangible. He couldn't help but wonder what Jeongin had seen that made him react in such a way.

    "He mentioned something about his room," He said abruptly. "Can someone go check to see if there's anything in there?"

    Hyunjin immediately rushed away to check for what may be lurking inside the youngests room. Changbin, however, seemed skeptical of Seungmin's request.

    "He also said something about Chan but we know he wasn't in the room. Could this have happened because of a nightmare or a bad case of sleep paralysis?"

    "That can't be it," Chan chimed in. "He's told me about upsetting nightmares he's had in the past, but nothing has ever made him react this way."

    Jeongin sturred, sitting up and glancing around the room as if he were trying to remember how he had gotten there and why everyone was staring at him.

    "Are you okay?!" Jisung cried. "You ran down the hall freaking out and then passed out!"   

    "Right," Jeongin replied absentmindedly, a dreamy look in his eyes. "I think it was just a bad dream. I'm okay now."

    Hyunjin came rushing back into the room, Foxiny in hand. "I couldn't find anything strange in his room."

    Jeongin reached up, grabbing Foxiny away from Hyunjin and clutching him to his chest for comfort. What he had said earlier was a lie. He was far from okay. He was hearing things but he couldn't let the others know. He had just had a nasty fall. That was most likely what was causing it. Everything was okay.

    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Changbin sneaking away from the scene, most likely to process the confusing and traumatic events of the last few minutes. Seungmin decided to join him when he heard a soft, almost childish voice whisper in his ear.

    "We don't appreciate being hidden away to be forgotten. Jeongin was the first to experience what we can do, but he won't be the last."