𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮'𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙠 ᵃᵗᵉᵉᶻ

1. prologue

━━━━━━━━

༄ 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦

━━━━━━━━

nostalgia came barreling at him like a vicious wave. aggressive waters churning and prying at years worth of heavy sands, allowing memories that were buried so deep to surface once again in his mind.

it was suffocating.

he took in a long breath, hoping that deep breathing would help calm the pounding muscle in his chest.

womp , womp , womp

it was so harsh in his ears, almost as loud as his frantic thoughts. those were also loud, assaulting his mind almost as badly as the nostalgia.

the rotting cottage house that stood weakly at the top of the hill stared down at him with piercing charcoal eyes. almost daring him to venture up there once again after all these years.

❛ come here san ❜

it called to him, and who was he to deny what the house wanted. so with a heavy sigh, and a soft nod from his partner, san ventured up the sloping hill and into the older house.

it almost felt like he'd walked back in time. the structure that was seemingly falling apart before him, morphed into the cosy house he remembered all too well.

flaking paint and falling boards all floating back to their original places right in front of his eyes until the house became the one of his long forgotten childhood. he could still smell the vanilla incense his mother used to burn to keep the bugs away, still taste the mossy water on his tongue as he breathed.

another sigh left his full lips. well, more of a whimper.

the floor moaned under him as he walked through the living room and out to the porch. he was careful to take gentle steps while he walked on frail boards; some of them already having gaping holes passing through them.

the back view too, was just like before. the only thing that lacked were the docks that used to stand only a few meters from the porch itself. images of him and his friends playing there's appeared like haunting phantoms. distant giggles and squeals filling his ears. they were drowned out by the sounds of the rushing water though.

he shivered.

there was a sudden need to go down there. to let his feet wade in the water, to feel it licking up his skin and splashing at his toes. but before he could even twitch a muscle in his body, an overbearing feeling of dread swallowed him whole. fear plunged into his chest and strangled out a gasp from the back of his throat. his hands clenched tightly at the handrail, attempting so desperately to steady himself as he crumbled in on himself.

images of that day splayed across his vision in horrifying flashes, each one only increasing the searing pain that burned in his chest.

thrashing limbs, speeding tides, pleading screams, hands reaching towards him. all of it. all at once. a horror film forever playing in his mind.

his knees buckled and he fell to the floor with a choking sob, tears began to pool in his eyes before spilling over into heavy streams down his cheeks. too much, all too much. he let out another sob, clutching his chest even harder.

he shouldn't have come here, not when the wounds were still so fresh; not when they hadn't even healed yet.