Black Beauty- Steve HarringtonxOC

Chapter 7

"You say you have to be awake every weekday morning," she says with a sigh, holding the receiver close to her mouth. "Why are you not sleeping?"

"Because I'm talking with you! It's just school, besides it's almost the end of the school year. And you have to say "over" when you're done." A sigh comes through the line, echoing into the bare metal interior. "I bet you don't even know how late it is. Over."

"School is good for your brain health. Why would it end?" Filly reaches into her lap, plucking another Cheeto out of the bag. It has a puffy yet crunchy texture that she greatly enjoys, a gift from the young Byers brother. He never arrives empty-handed. "Also, it is nighttime. Over."

"Well, it's not good for my mental health. Everyone there is a wastoid. Over."

"I do not see the difference," she huffs, but secretly she'd love to hear what the difference is. Dustin is a smart boy, however, so it may no longer be a secret to him. "You do not know how important your sleep is until it is stolen from you. Over."

The cheesy snack is no longer appetizing. The teen has a sour taste in her mouth. The topic of dreams was never so hard for her. Dr. Brenner had kept her so exhausted that she couldn't dream. He would wake her at odd hours or keep the lights on, ensuring that she was unable to relax. When she would be so drained as to fall asleep despite all that, there was no fantastical escape waiting for her there.

There was nothing. Emptiness.

What awaited her in her dreams was far worse now.

"Whatever you say, Filly. Listen, I gotta go now. The guys and I are gonna meet up at the arcade pretty soon." Dustin's shrill voice crackles when she bumps the antenna on the bus window. "You're sure you don't want to come? Over."

"You know what I will say. Goodnight, Dustin." Filly flips down the antenna and switches it off before he can make a dispute.

-------

"Filly..." he calls, his feet bare in the lush grass save for his one white sock. His coat is pitch, but one twinkling star breaks the void at the center of his forehead. His rounded muzzle snuffs greedily at what he's found. The meal should satisfy his companion well enough, for she cannot thrive on his favored foliage. "You have to try this."

She wears a velvet dress. It melds into the knoll the same as she, fluttering up and following her when she rises. "What have you, Black Beauty?"

In her dreams, she is well-spoken and well-fed. Her hair is long and its dark hues match Beauty's coat perfectly. She has no need for manuals or atlases because the world is at her fingertips. Filly's fantasy plays out in her head, reinvigorating her hope while allowing her to rest. In her dreams, she was never imprisoned in that wretched place.

"Something delicious. You'll love it," he whinnies.

This is no longer Filly's fantasy. Beneath the beast, four broken bodies lie in a lake of their own blood. The increasingly bloody mouth of her favorite horse has pushed so far into Lucas's ribcage that it splits in two. The horrid stench of Mike's visible cerebellum fills the meadow, maggots inching their way around his open skull. His head gives the impression of an egg that has hatched as if it was under so much pressure that it simply burst apart. They lie back to back, both bodies bisected at the hips

Will's fragile form floats in the air, held aloft just a touch by the spike running through his frozen heart. Black rot eats at the wound, the dead feeding the living as he is consumed by the fungus from within. His silky bangs splay across his forehead, tacked in place by scabbing blood, his mouth permanently gaped in terror.