Good Night | Dreamcatcher [COMPLETED]

19

Loneliness was painful.

Now that winter had come, the ground was hard and uncomfortable, so Yoohyeon had struggled to sleep. The large tree Leo had led her to no longer provided shelter and there were no leaves to sleep on, and that left her feeling pretty resentful towards winter.

She leaned against the ice-encrusted tree trunk and sighed, pulling a glass vial from her pocket. She actually had pockets now, thanks to Leo. He'd somehow found some more practical clothes for her at the place where he lived, and Yoohyeon had never been so happy to see jeans and a hoodie.

Uncorking the vial carefully, she raised it to her chapped lips and let the red liquid slide down her throat. It was colder than it should have been, and her stomach complained at the small amount, but it kept her from starving.
It didn't take away the loneliness, though.

Leo came by every now and then to deliver her blood and check how she was doing, but those moments were short-lived, and her heart ached with lonesomeness. At one point, she had thought of writing a letter to Siyeon, apologising for what she'd done, but then she realised she didn't have the right to apologise. Siyeon didn't need her, and she deserved better.

Yoohyeon had finally accepted the thought that she might have to stay here forever. None of her friends would want her after what she'd become, and she was afraid to be around them. She wanted to find them, but what would happen if she did? What if she hurt them? The thought pummelled her mind on a daily basis, and despite how miserable it made her, she had come to terms with her fate.

She wasn't that selfish, though. She hadn't given up entirely. She'd owed it to Siyeon to make sure that she and the others got out of this forest safely. And if Yoohyeon was left behind, so be it.

Her hair blew around wildly in the frigid wind, and she closed her tired, dark-circled eyes. Silently, she begged her mind to take her to the memories she treasured most. It obliged.

***

A few months ago.

'Woooah, this place is huge!'

The awe-struck girls stood at the entrance to an old, ornate building. The ground beneath them was cobbled, the sky clear, and small, neatly trimmed bushes sat at the entrance. The gate behind them was white, and in their wonder, they'd left it hanging open.

'Remind me how the hell you managed to afford this place?' demanded Sua, turning to Handong. Handong shot Dami a sideways glanced and shrugged.

'Who cares, Sua, we're on holiday!' squealed Jiu, her face alight with excitement, wind whipping her hair carelessly. Gahyeon raised an eyebrow, and Siyeon laughed.

'You really act your age, Jiu.'

Jiu's eyes glittered. 'Let's go inside.'
A few minutes later they were darting around the holiday home, examining the contents of the fridge, choosing their beds, and gawking at the fancy oil paintings plastered on every wall.

'I'm almost intimidated by how posh it is,' remarked Dami, gingerly poking the polished mahogany table.

'It's our first holiday together, we can let ourselves go,' said Siyeon, putting her feet up on the coffee table. She'd already made herself comfortable on the sofa with a glass of orange juice. Yoohyeon grinned.

'France is way more interesting than I thought it was,' Handong said, flipping through a dusty-looking book she'd picked up from the bookshelf (also mahogany). 'The history in this book is really fascinating—'

'Yeah, we get it, you're a nerd,' laughed Siyeon, ignoring the withering look Handong sent her. Yoohyeon noticed she had some orange juice around her mouth and suppressed a snigger. She was about to point it out when she heard a scream from behind her.