Sweet but Psycho

XVI

Darkness surrounded Dani.

It was still light outside, sunlight casting down into her bedroom, but darkness still surrounded her.

It has been, ever since she went to middle school.

No amount of drawing, selling her art, or delicately beautiful forms of torture was enough to cure her of that darkness.

Her art didn't make her happy anymore, but it took her mind off of other thoughts... 

Usually.

Her crimes were never to make her happy, but she did get a little kick out of Hanni grinning at a successful attempt at marking what was "theirs".

Hanni...

The only thing that kept her going was Hanni.

The only thing that kept her trudging on this fucked up world was Hanni.

But as years passed and they grew up, Dani couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want to leave Hanni alone, or if it was because if she did, Hanni would lose it.

At the very least, everyone around her would feel her wrath.

And at the worst...

She knew she'd meet Hanni in whatever hellish purgatory she'd be contained in for her crimes soon after she died.

And she didn't want Hanni dying anytime soon, even if she herself had no will to go on.

Her best friend was like quick bursts of light that pulsated through her darkness, her darkened thoughts disappearing every now and then with the constant thought of "she needs me, I need her".

Dani cleaned up her desk, scrunching up loose pieces of papers that had doodles on them before throwing them away in her trash can, they sucked anyways in her eyes.

But she paused as she held a piece, 'when did I draw this?'

From how clean the graphite was, it was relatively new, but she didn't remember drawing it.

"When did I... draw Haerin...?"

'Why, would I draw Haerin?'

But as soon as Haerin's name rolled around Dani's tongue, it began to populate her mind, multiplying itself as it rid all of the darkness in her head.

She stared at the eyes she drew, however similar it was, it would never compare to the life that shone through in the cat-like girl's orbs.

Her lively eyes and the fact that she was still rather nice to Dani even with her current circumstance sparked something within the older girl.

Something she hasn't felt in a long time.

Something only her parents could spark in her.

"Haerin..."

And with her name being spoken once more, a constant ray of light shone through, helping Hanni's pulsating light in ridding the darkness in Dani's mind.

But...

Dani felt bad.

She couldn't let Haerin go, she'd risk both her and Hanni's freedom if she set Haerin free.

She'd risk losing everything.

However selfish it was of her, she didn't want that.

She wouldn't be able to handle losing everything again.

Dani grabbed her sketchbook, gently placing the loose paper in between the papers before putting in another piece of paper in front of the drawing to keep the pencil from smudging.