Raining Hellfire 2

Chapter 3: Breathe It In

You were pulled deeper into the dark, your body struggling for escape. Sounds of chittering flooded your ears as you squirmed, particles floating in front of your eyes.

The vines dragged you across the bumpy ground until they finally dropped you. You landed on your back, spinning to leap to your feet and run. Before you could sprint, the ground in front of you darkened, a shadow falling across you.

You slowly turned around, every nerve in your body frozen. A giant silhouette of mist clouded the air, shaping into the monster you had seen once before. It formed right above you. It didn't have a face, but it wasn't looking at you. You could tell that much.

The gaze was fixated on something behind you. Turning with caution, a figure could be seen a few metres from you.

"Will?" You whispered. He didn't hear you. His fear-stricken face staring up at the shadow. You took a step toward him until he vanished.

Into dust.

"Y/N."

Another silhouette stood where Will had vanished. The same long armed creature that appeared in all your visions. Each time, it was closer to you. Each time, you found it harder to run away.

"What do you want from me?!" You screamed, paralysed.

"You will soon take your place." The bone-chilling sound pounded in your brain.

"What does that mean?!" You wanted answers for all the nightmares. For everything you saw but could never explain. For the fear.

"Soon."

The figure turned its head to the right and you mirrored its action. The shadow in the sky was dissipating into smaller particles of dust. They moved around in a long formation. You stared back at the figure in confusion. It turned its head slowly back to you. It raised its arm. It pointed at you.

The swarm of dust moved closer to you with more speed than you could react to.

You screamed and the dust-

"Y/N! Hey, hey!"

You sat up with so much force, Steve yelped, falling off the edge of the couch. Sweat covered your forehead as your heart hammered in your chest.

"Woah, calm down. You were having a nightmare." Steve consoled, rubbing his head from the fall.

You tried to catch your breath, hugging yourself tightly. You didn't have any explanation for what you just saw. What you think you saw.

"Sorry." Your voice was croaky and the vibrations from speaking stung your neck. You raised your hand to brush it slightly. It felt sore. Like a vine had wrapped around it, you thought, shuddering.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Steve was crouched beside you. You finally looked at him, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion, prompting him to explain. "I- I heard you screaming. I thought something happened."

He slumped against the couch and your eyes widened. You knew why he was so worried, especially with everything that had happened earlier with Billy.

"I'm- I'm okay." You lied, forcing a smile onto your lips. You looked around and saw the room was still dark, the middle of the floor lit by the moonlight sneaking through the curtains. "What time is it?"

"Uh..." Steve rubbed his eyes. He looked tired. "Like 3? Maybe?"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." You scrambled out of the covers so you could move your body to face him. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't! I couldn't sleep." He admitted, wincing from the memory of Nancy's words.

"I don't think I'll be sleeping any time soon." You shakily laughed. He chuckled at your words.