Corpse Party: Damaged Souls

Chapter 2: Nightmares

   Once again, I woke up in cold sweat. 

I could see her face appearing in my dreams. She was always watching me, she claimed. She caused the younger ones to become insane, thinking they have caused the deaths of their friends. I became to be wearily of my younger brother, even if he was controlled. 

I sighed and wiped the sweat. I jumped out of bed and walked to the kitchen. Everyone had been asleep for it was late. I grabbed the glass and poured cold water into it. Sometimes, this made me feel like myself after these horrors. 

My mind then wavered to think about my friends. They all have talked about they have seen the bodies in each their dreams and then they described they have seen her as well. Makes me think that she's not gone completely. 

Not feeling tired anymore, I fell into the couch and sighed of relief. Not sleeping anymore would surly solve my problem, but then I wold imagine her when I'm in school. I then realized morning arrived once my mother stepped out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes. 

" Anna, why are you up so early? You don't have to wake up for another hour." 

" Because I couldn't go back to sleep," I answered. " I keep seeing that girl in my dreams. She's haunting me, I know it." 

" She's not haunting you. You must remember her quite well since you keep seeing her." 

I then changed the subject. " Souta has been quite silent for these past couple of days. Has his therapist been helping him even more these days?" 

My mother sighed. " She has doing her best. She claims that he keeps speaking the same thing. 'She is still watching me' he says." 

" I wish everything would stop. I never wanted this to happen. Our friends are dead, even the younger kids. They never deserved such a thing." 

" Mayu, Morishige, and Kotone," Mom muttered. " All three are dead, without any mercy." 

" How did they die again? Her parents I mean." 

" Died together, in each other's arms. I guess she showed some mercy to them, because others were separated when they died. The whole thing with Hana being possessed is quite..--it's missing details about what happened. I trust Hana dearly because she's a young girl, but her story is missing details." 

" Are you thinking she was sane when she killed her?" I asked. She shook her head and walked to the kitchen, getting a glass of water. 

" Anyway, just have a good day at school today. You need all your energy." 

"Do I have to go? I'd rather be with Souta in his counseling. I might need some myself." 

" Should I ask for an appointment?" she asked. I then nodded. 

~

As school started, I was resting in the counselor's room. The woman was quite nice, compared to the ones at my school. Every time I opened my mouth, she wrote something down on her clipboard. I wondered if they cared about our problems. 

" Your mother says you have experienced something horrible in the past. Your grandparent's death?" 

I nodded. " Died in a car accident." 

" I see, she also talked about how your had nightmares like your younger brother. Something about a girl haunting your dreams?" 

" Do you believe everything your patients tell you?" I asked. She smiled, but shook her head. 

" Honestly, I don't believe half the things people tell me. Some say they think someone is stalking them while others talk about their loved ones haunting them. It's a mixture sometimes. However, you and your brother have a different story I'm sure. A little girl in a red dress haunting your dreams. Your brother mentioned he tried to hang you." 

" He did, but he was possessed," I explained. " The little girl possessed him and she walked around with a man, that had a big hammer. I wondered how they got there." 

" I see, a girl with a man, that carried a hammer. After all this, are you thinking they still exist. You said they were erased." 

" Erased," I repeated, while nodding. " They're pictures are blacked out. I can't even remember what one of my friends look like." I turned to face her. "Is that a bad thing? People whom I knew almost half my life and they're gone." 

" Have you thought about using pills?" she asked. " Perhaps using some might make you sleep better. I wouldn't give your brother such a thing because he is young but you on the other hand, is big enough to use them." 

" Pills? Will I forget about the girl in the red dress?" 

" You will." I watched her as she stood up and walked over to her counter, writing up some form. I wondered if the others were talking about their problems as well. The twins were frightened about the horrors of the school, but they never really talked about nightmares. Only Hana, Souta, and Akahana had feared their dreams. 

When she was done, she handed me the form. " Go to the counter and ask for some of these pills. Show them this and then they'll give you it." 

I nodded and took the document. As she said, they had given me the pills. Even if these were given to me to forget my dreams, I wondered if it would be better if I never woke up at all. I shook that from my mind and walked back. My parents were at work for the time being. I decided to go to the park, not bothering to head to an empty house. 

All the kids had looked so happy, but here I was, acting like I was an outsider to everyone. I sat on the bench, feeling like I have been in this spot before. I then realized I met Haru in this park. She was like me, sitting alone, waiting for someone to talk to her. However, I had no one to talk to. They all ignored me because I had looked strange. 

" Anna?" 

I turned around to find Ruka. She had looked even more exhausted than me. There were dark bag underneath her eyes and her body was hunched over. " Why are you here? I thought you were at school today?" 

" I was, but class ended early because the teachers had a meeting to attend to. What happened to you? I went by your house and Aunt Naomi said you were gone." 

" Went to the counselor," I answered. " Gave me some pills." 

" To forget about the girl I'm guessing." 

" You're right. I haven't slept since we came back . She keeps haunting me Ruka, it's driving me crazy." I felt my throat get dry. It was too much for any of us, middle school children suffering from terrors. 

" Ryu had trouble sleeping as well. He claims that girl is standing in the corner of his room as he sleeps. He hasn't gone completely insane, but his mind slowly is."

" What was that girl's name again?" I asked. 

" Don't remember." 

" Do we know her past?" 

" How would we know? Didn't you say you found an old newspaper letter when you were in the nurse's office earlier?" she asked. 

" I think so, talked about three children being killed. Something I wouldn't want to read in front of Lenora and Souta." 

" But she had a background, along with those kids. Maybe we can find something about them and get rid of this girl once and for all." 

" You sound so confident," I muttered. " We need more people like you in this world. Not many want to find out about something so cruel, but surely you have a goal. How do you suggest we find out more about her?" 

" Check the news?" she suggested. " Anything for us to find out more about this girl and make our nightmares cease."