Cosmo's oneshots / drabbles

Whumptober Day 26 - Nightmare

[another 'though you annoy me, ill take your hand in mine any day' scene rewrite.]

He hated when he woke up tired. Sleeping was supposed to make him feel energized, and ready for the next day, so why was he still groggy when he woke up? He blinked away the blur in his vision, letting out a yawn as he moved to wrap his arms around his partner, but... Nothing.

MePhone blinked fully awake, sitting up now, his expression souring a bit as he checked his internal clock. Ugh. OJ was already up for the day, it seemed. He just sighed, figuring he'd go bother him in a bit, just taking a few minutes to fully wake himself up, and try to stomp down the groggy feeling so he could function normally today. It was also... Really warm, but he chose to ignore that. He was pretty sure it was getting colder outside anyways. Maybe. He wasn't really sure, actually.

Really, he couldn't even recall the events of yesterday. Which was surely just a problem for later. He was still waking up, he figured. It took some effort to swing his legs off the side of the bed, slouching a bit as his socked feet met the carpeted floor. A few more blinks, and a big stretch before he stood up. His balance seemed fine. He felt a little dizzy, but he figured it was just because he was groggy still. He'd be fine. A change of clothes so he didn't head out into the rest of the hotel in pajamas, and he was out of the room.

At first, he didn't even really notice how quiet it was. An afterthought as he went straight from his and OJ's shared bedroom, towards the ginger's office. A knock. Another knock after a few moments, before he just sighed again, opening the door to just peek in. Obvious that he wasn't in there. Great, so he'd have to go looking. Maybe he was folding towels. Or breakfast. That made more sense, probably, but... He couldn't really smell anything being cooked. He couldn't hear the usual sizzling of a pan on the stovetop.

He became well too aware of how quiet everything was as he slowly made his way down the hallway, into the main lobby. Nobody was there. A slight sense of unease settled in his mechanical stomach as his pace faltered. A gaze towards the kitchen, also quiet. Slow, hesitant as he made his way over, peeking through the doors. Nobody. The unease grew. This felt all too familiar. He didn't like that. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't like how warm it was in here. Stepping back, he figured maybe the people were taking advantage of a nice day outside! Surely that would make sense, walking over to the doors, only to yank a handle that didn't budge. He knew the force was probably going to make his arm sore, but he was starting to think the worst as he tried again. Locked? Why were the doors locked? On the inside? He fumbled to mess with the lock on the door, but trying again, nothing changed. The door didn't budge, so he moved over to the window, flinching in surprise as he pushed it aside to look outside. It was so dark out there, it might as well have been nothing. Nothing around the hotel. That wasn't right. Not at all. There was still clearly sunlight coming through into the hotel from the window, but it was pitch black.

MePhone stumbled back, letting out a surprised, upset noise as he swung around, looking around the lobby again, this time, desperate. Not a trace of anyone else. The TV was off. Nobody was playing any games. Nobody was preparing to go outside, nobody was heading into the kitchen for breakfast, or a snack, nothing.

It was so utterly quiet. Another noise of distress from MePhone, who sprinted back towards the hall. Nobody in the stageroom. Nobody in the spa. He even checked OJ and his shared room. Nobody. Nothing.

He stumbled back against the wall of the hallway, his breathing picking up. Did he do something? Was-- was he somehow back? He got that stupid wire removed-- if they were gone why was the hotel still here?

Tears pricked at his eyes as he let out a shuddered breath, before sprinting towards the stairs. Knocking on any door he could find. Calling out all sorts of names, desperate. He needed to find someone-- anyone to prove he wasn't going crazy, he didn't want to be alone like this again. He didn't want everything to fall apart around him when he was finally feeling somewhat safe, and wanted.

A sob as he reached the top floor. Nobody had answered. Nobody was here but him.

He was surprised the door to the roof opened, honestly. But it offered no support. A hope that maybe he was just going crazy, and that window was just being weird-- or something he just couldn't justify, and maybe he could see something up here, but there was nothing. The hotel was all there was.

And he was truly alone, and he was fully terrified. He fell to his hands and knees, heaving in breaths through his panic. Tears falling to the roof as he sobbed. He didn't want to live through something like this again. He didn't even understand what happened this time. How was this happening? Why was he so tired? Did something mess up in his systems to remove everyone? He just didn't understand. It was so warm. Too warm. He prayed to anyone listening that this wasn't real, and as soon as that thought crossed his mind, he jolted out of the simulation.