Good Night | Dreamcatcher [COMPLETED]

9

The sky was clear and blue, and bright rays of light sliced through the mass of trees above her. The morning almost smiled with light and warmth.

So why did she feel so cold?

The darkness within her seemed to latch onto everything around her, darkening and destroying. Everything was deathly, everything was evil, there was no light and no hope.

The two girls in front of her were oblivious to the evil surrounding them, even when she screamed at them.

She hated them for being ignorant.

There were tears spilling from their eyes as they wept for the thing that wasn't her, with smiles of pure glee and relief on their faces.

She knew them.

But she didn't remember them.

It was as if a thousand needles were pricking her skin, begging her to remember who they were, who she was. She was so close, if she could just take control of her mind...

And then the demon laughed, turning her outstretched hand into dust, the darkness flowing through her veins.

They were not her veins anymore. This was not her body. She was nothing, nothing more than a speck of light amidst endless darkness. And with each passing moment, the speck succumbed more and more to its host.

So, as it embraced the crying girls, she let the demon pretend to be whoever she had once been, and yet another thread of her mind unravelled and sank into the abyss.

***

They talked for hours.

There was so much to be said, so much to cry and laugh about, so much to be relieved about.

They barely noticed the sun sinking behind the earth and the moon peeking out from behind several clouds even when it was too dark to see. The dancing fire they'd made glinted and glittered in the darkness, and a breath of wind blew the last flickering flame away, leaving only glowing embers and ashes.

And yet they still talked for several hours more.

The three of them sat on logs around the remains of the fire, like girl scouts at a campfire. Instead of toasting marshmallows, they had fished some old sandwiches out of Jiu's tattered backpack. It was no feast, but they ate them ravenously, their energy slowly returning to them.

'You're sure you haven't heard or seen anything from the others?' asked Yoohyeon eagerly.

Jiu shook her head.

'You two are the only people I've seen. I wish I knew where they were... I feel like this is my fault.'

'Jiu,' said Siyeon softly, 'this isn't your fault. You saved our lives. Those... creatures... would have killed us otherwise.'

Jiu bit her lip. She seemed troubled about something, a haunted look in her eyes.

'Jiu? Is everything okay?' asked Yoohyeon tentatively. 'I... I didn't want to ask about what happened in that room with the mirrors... but if something happened...'

'I...' Jiu shook her head wearily. 'You probably wouldn't believe me.'

'I think we've already learnt that this forest isn't normal," murmured Siyeon darkly. 'I don't think there's anything I wouldn't believe at this point.'

Jiu hesitated. Yoohyeon studied her face. It was odd, sometimes her eyes almost looked black in the pale moonlight.

'Ok. I'll tell you,' said Jiu finally. 'But even if it sounds like something from a stupid teenage supernatural romance novel, I promise that what I saw was real. I wouldn't lie to you.