Good Night | Dreamcatcher [COMPLETED]

32

The rapid pulsing of a heartbeat throbbed in her ears, beating like a drum throughout her whole body. Her vision was clouded, all she saw was blurry shapes and colours.

But the pain.

The agony ripping through her body was the worst part of it. She felt as if the very marrow in her bones was being eaten away, rotting and decomposing. The inside of her mouth stung and ached, and her insides roared with a terrifying, insatiable hunger.

She was dimly aware of the shouts being directed at her, but the thing she was most aware of was the lack of control she now had over her own body. And her mind. Dark thoughts crept in, whispering, hissing, begging her to let go.

A sharp yell briefly brought her to her senses: 'Yoohyeon!' Siyeon stood a few metres away from her, her facial expression unreadable and blurring through Yoohyeon's unclear vision. Her heart pounded in Yoohyeon's ears, and for a moment Yoohyeon suddenly remembered what was happening.

'Siyeon, no.' Her voice sounded foreign in her own ears, husky and foggy. 'G-get away. P-please, I—' She gagged, doubling over in pain. With a drunken stagger, she stumbled away, her legs moving of their own accord. She was getting closer to the metallic, salty scent.

'Dami! Do something!' yelled Siyeon.
Dami stood still, frozen with shock.

'I-I can't. Not without harming her.'
Dami sounded helpless. 'I'm not strong enough to affect her mind without seriously damaging her. She's been starving herself, Siyeon. She needs blood.'

Yoohyeon had stumbled to the source, clinging onto the doorframe like it was a lifeline. The room was stained, red, red, red. She reached out a trembling hand, touching the bloodstained wall. She felt nothing on her fingers, and her hand came away clean. Panic caught in her throat, and she reached again, letting a drop fall from the ceiling onto her finger. It fell straight through like her finger wasn't there, not leaving a single trace.

'No...' she murmured in a dazed panic, her throat closing up. The pounding in her ears was deafening now, getting louder and louder. The room was filling up with blood, dripping from the walls, falling from the ceiling and coating every corner, the scent intense and the colour a deep, vibrant red. Yet she couldn't touch it. Every vivid drop slipped through her as if she was an illusion.

Why was the incessant throbbing getting worse? Yoohyeon let out a dry sob, her entire body shaking uncontrollably. She was going to die.

Something touched her shoulder, and before she knew it she'd whipped round, pinning someone to the wall. Yoohyeon saw red, her breathing erratic and harsh. Everything was blurry, she didn't know where she was, she didn't know what she was doing...

'Yoohyeon, stop,' whispered a voice. The voice was soft and gentle, and it cut through the blurriness somehow. Her vision wavered. 'Please stop. You have to calm down. Just listen to my voice for a minute, I swear this'll all be over.'

Yoohyeon's hand slipped, her palm drenched in sweat, sliding down the wall. But it held the girl firmly, nails digging in hard. Pain was still shooting through every vein in her body, and her mind was a black void, telling her to give in, to give up.

'Listen to my voice, Yoohyeon. You're my b-best friend, you always have been. You're the person I've always felt closest to. And I know... I know you'd never want to hurt anyone. That's why you've been doing it, right? That's why you been starving yourself. Because we're your friends, and you don't want to hurt us. I'm your friend. You know that, I know you do. You can beat it, Yoohyeon. You know my name. You know I'm your friend.'

Her vision was clearing, the pain lessening. But something was still holding her back, and it fought hard.

'Say my name, Yoohyeon. Say it.'