Mari's return

Something

Opening her eyes, Mari found herself on that same roof where she saw Sunny jump from in her first vision. But unlike in her prophecy, there was Sunny’s pale counterpart standing right next to her brother at the break in the railing. With Sunny facing his destination, the other boy stared right back at Mari.

“Who are you? Why do you keep showing up in my dreams?” asked Mari which surprised her since in her other dreams she couldn’t move and talk like she could now.

The boy did not answer her question, rather he turned around and put his free hand on Sunny’s back, while the other tightly held a knife.

“What do you think you’re doing? Stop that!” she yelled at the boy.

Extending his arm, the boy pushed Sunny sending him headfirst to the concrete down below. Rushing after him, Mari was about to reach the edge of the roof herself, until something penetrated her stomach. Looking down, she found the dull knife wedged deep inside her. She felt as her warm blood ran outside of her freezing body.  Looking up at the boy, Mari felt so confused. Why would this boy who looked so much like Sunny, keep showing up in these nightmares that brought so much pain?

“Why... are you... doing this? Is... it because… Sunny… killed me?” With the knife inside of her, Mari struggled to get her words out. “Even though… he… loves me?”

Placing his hand on Mari’s shoulder, the boy leaned in and whispered four small words.

“Get away from me.” Pulling the knife out, Mari’s body fell forward and plummeted from the roof.

Waking up from the dream, Mari felt cold sweat run all over her body. Lifting her shirt, she found no stab wound, assuring her that what happened wasn’t real. However, when she turned to where Sunny was sleeping, all she was met with was a vacant quilt. Turning around she didn’t see him there either, just her three friends sleeping soundly.

‘He’s just in the bathroom, right? I’m just overthinking things...’

But she suddenly heard yelling coming from the hallway, and a loud thud following after. Storming to the door to Basil’s room, Mari knocked on the door. “Basil! Is everything alright in there!? Is Sunny with you!?” There was no response. Placing her hand over her eye, Mari concentrated her mana to see past the door. And she couldn’t believe what she saw.

Inside was Sunny and Basil, both of them appeared to have been knocked unconscious. Blood was pouring out of Sunny’s right eye and other parts of his body, while a bruised and beaten Basil was holding a pair of garden shears coated in a dark red substance. Yet there was something else in the room that shocked Mari.

It looked as if there were shadows that surrounded the two boys. One with large teeth encompassed Basil in its mouth while its tendrils reached out into every corner of the room. While the other floated behind Sunny, it looked just like Mari did when she first arrived in the other world, yet it was much more unsettling than she remembered. Regardless of whatever these shadows were, Mari kicked down the unlocked door, the light from the hallway eliminating the shadows inside.

Scrambling to her brother’s side, Mari began casting some healing magic on him. But it wasn’t working. Even after increasing the intensity of her mana, the boy’s flesh refused to mend back together and his blood continued to pour onto the hardwood floor. Yet, Mari persisted and continued to attempt her spell to the point where Basil’s nearby flowers began to flourish. But nothing happened to Sunny.