Unfamiliar

EIGHT

"Come back to me, Anxiety," a voice whispered as I was dragged down a long dark corridor.

I screamed in terror when I recognised where I was, only to flinch harshly as the air shifted around me. The light brown door in-front of me twisted into a deep pit of endless suffering, and the shadows dug into my skin and pulled me through it.

"I'm the only one that could care about something as useless as you," it whispered softly as it's claws punctured my skin. Blood rolled down my bare arms, dripping to the floor as I silently resigned myself to my fate. He was right after all, no one could ever love such a waste of space.

"Come back to me willingly and your punishment for leaving won't be as severe," the shadows spoke, their words surrounding me and branding my mind with negativity. It, he, was breaking me even in my dreams.

"Okay, okay sir!" I yelled, desprate for the pain to end.

"Good boy, now repeat after me," he stoped and dug two of his nails under my chin, forcing me to look at him, "everything about you is terrible."

"Everything about me is just terrible," I said brokenly. My mask of snark and sarcasm didn't manage to make me seem less afraid, it never would when up against him.

"Everything about you make a me want to die," he said before shoving me onto the floor.

"Everything about me makes me wanna die," I said confidently, I wasn't lying after all, although my voice cracked on 'die' as I struggled to hold back tears.

--- 3rd person pov---

Anxiety was screaming. His body thrashed around in terror as night-terrors invaded his sleep.

Patron ran into the room with the others close behind, before rufhing over to the nightmare-trapped trait.

"Wake up, please, Kiddo," he said as be tried to shake Anxiety awake. Logan and Roman had pinned down Anxiety's struggling form, so that he wouldn't accedently hurt any of them. However, because they were so close to Anxiety they could hear the things  he was saying in his sleep.

"Okay, okay sir!" He yelled fearfully as he flinched back against his headrest.

Pattons heart ached, who was this man that Anxiety was so afraid of? Was it his ex-'caretaker', the man that had abused him for years?

"Everything about me is just terrible," he muttered, his voice so broken that they all knew he believed the words he was saying.

"Everything about me makes me wanna die," he whispered again and they couldn't handle hearing anymore. The words coming from his mouth devastated the other three, and Patton had started crying again.

They shook him awake but the teenager flinched away from them mumbling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, honest. I'm sorry. I'll be good. Honest. I'm so sorry, sorrysorrysorry," he mumbled into his arms as he tried to protect himself from blows that where not coming.

"Shhhh, you're safe Anxiety. It's me, Patton, Logan and Roman are also here, remember? You are in your room, in your bed, okay," Patton said trying to calm down the almost-panicking trait. His heart broke at the teenagers reaction to being woken up; the way he flinched was forever burnt into Pattons mind.

"Patton?" Anxiety asked brokenly, still staring at a demon that was not present.

"Yes, it's me. You're safe, Anx," Patton said before slowly reaching forwards, asking permission to touch him. Anxiety nodded and Patton pulled him into a hug, gently combing a hand through his hair.

The added weight of Pattons hand on his head and arm across his shoulders grounded him and bought him back to reality. Back to his bed and the walls and the not his house-ness of his room. He relaxed slightly and leaned into Pattons gentle embrace, burying his head into the older mans shoulder so he couldn't see his phantom demons any more.

The others left the room and left Patton and Anxiety in a careful embrace for an hour afterwards, before they left to go get some breakfast. Patton supported Anxiety the while way due to the trouble the younger had with walking, his legs where trembling far too much to walk properly.

Logan sat at the table, drinking a mug of coffee and reading a book. He waved as the two approached before turning back to his book. Roman was duck-taped to a chair, a over dramatic scowl on his face. He didn't wave, although that was because he couldn't move his hands.

Patton asked Logan a silent question and Logan shrugged in response.

"He was trying to cook," he said, turning a page in his book.

"Didn't he nearly burn the house down once?" Anxiety asked as he stopped leaning on Patton and sat down. The normal, stupid, things that went on in the house wiping some of the nightmare from his mind. His hands still trembled and his mind was still over-annalysing everything; finding possible escape routes incase everything went wrong.

"You set one thing on fire and this is what happens!" Roman yelled dramatically and trying to wave his hands around. He failed, the ducktape keeping his hands from moving.

"You where making toast," Logan said, once again finishing the page he had just been reading and turning into another one.

Patton laughed before going to make pancakes. The chaos of their daily life calmed Anxiety down, and distracted his mind from his past. Distracted him from his nightmares and the panic he was so used to feeling.

It was familiarly unfamiliar, and maybe that ment things where getting better for him.