Blunt

Second Passage

Draco stared at the ceiling wall above him. Though the weather was chilly, and it was in the middle of the night, he was sweating profusely - like he had just gone to a run or something similar. He sat up, massaging the temples of his head. The nightmare he just had was the same as the previous nightmare a week ago, and so was the headache. His fingers slowly moved toward his Band-Aid covered nose, feeling the crooked dent that reminded him every day that his nightmare was real.

Xalline, or as he liked to call her, Lyn, had disappeared.

He didn't remember much, but even just a tiny bit of memory gave him a life-long wound. His whole body ached and trembled in fear if he remembered a scene or two. He and everyone else were in the chemistry lab. Their teacher was running late. He was joking with some girls when the chemicals inside the glass bottles exploded one by one, the acidic smell so pungent it still haunted him. A man in a black top hat appeared from behind the poisonous smoke, a long purple tailcoat swaying behind him as if orchestrating a symphony. He felt an agonizing pain as something sprang and sprayed his left eye, and then all he had in mind was to scream. The burning pain reached up from his eyeball to the end of his spinal cord, sending daggers through his nerve systems. It wasn't like dying, and he didn't have any hope for living after the burning pain started to spread. The man laughed, thoroughly amused. His friends fell down like a limp pile of duck grease and soon, he was on the floor too.

Then he heard voices. One was weak and all shivery, and the other was loud and sounded like a choir of storms. Maybe he was in heaven, or God knows what other place he was sent to.

His eyes were forced open - maybe he wanted to take a good look at this 'heaven'? - And two silhouettes came into his vision. He recognized that he was still in the chemistry lab, unknown to the rest of the world. He recognized the weak voice. He had heard it sound so cheerful, or maybe happy, but never this fragile and strong at the same time. He made out her tightly tied raven hair, her small nose, and her plump curves that made her stood out from the rest of the girls in his class. Draco wanted to claw out his left eye and just throw it to the top hat man; in hope maybe he would scare him. But let alone clawing out his own eye, even just a slight shift of his weight sent him to another trip down the torture lane. He laid still, unable to move, only hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

And that conversation still hadn't left him.

Draco decided to forget about trying to get back to sleep since once he was awake, he will keep stay awake until his body demand another rest. He grabbed his navy blue jacket and went outside, trotting down the neighborhood's road in circles. He often does this - especially after the nightmares started to appear. It gave him some times to think alone and forget the terrifying memories. If he was lucky, he would find some spare money in his jacket pocket, and use it to buy frozen sandwiches or instant noodles from the convenience store. This means he wouldn't need to have breakfast with his overly annoying stepsister who, without a fail, kept reminding him of being "nice to girls" every day. Speaking of girls, talking to Lyn was one of the things he considered as an exception...

He searched for a note or two and was relieved when he found that he still had 2 dollars at his disposal. Breathing cold air from his lungs, he jogged to the convenience store, the street bathed under the moonlight. It was a clear night, without many clouds hovering around the moon, and Draco felt a bit more boosted. Nights like this were his forte. Or that was what he liked to think.

The convenience store was empty, save for a security staff and a half-asleep cashier. He entered and lurked around the snack and frozen food section, and then pushed his luck by going to the drinks section. Soft tunes - he recognized the song as Fear of The Dark by Iron Maiden - filled the store, replacing the empty buzz of the giant drink cooler. Draco searched through the cooler for a bottle or two of red bulls, but of course, thanks to his luck, he found none. Grunting mentally, he picked up a bottle of Palpine and proceeded to the cashier.