Good Night | Dreamcatcher [COMPLETED]

39 - Hongbin

Open the doors of Hell.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Everything will come true.

'Damn, where did it go?'

Hongbin ran a hand through his hair, five minutes having passed since his friends went upstairs whilst he searched frantically for his wallet. He'd looked everywhere, carefully trying not to smash any of the mirrors on the floor, but he couldn't find it. Maybe he'd dropped it outside...

He turned to walk out the door and stopped in his tracks. The door was closed. Frowning, he made his way over to the door and turned the doorknob. The door didn't budge. He tried again with more force, rattling the doorknob until he thought it might come unscrewed. He sighed, trying to ignore the tinge of panic creeping up his body, and threw his weight onto the door.

He slammed a fist against it, his breathing becoming ragged.

It was as if the door was made of stone, and every time he hit it the door strengthened. Again and again he pounded the door, yelling his friends' names. They were only upstairs, they should've heard him, right? But even as he screamed his throat hoarse, there was no response.

'Shit,' he muttered, an icy chill running under his skin. He was suddenly aware of the silence isolating him. There were no windows to this room, and the only door was locked. Fear pounded his chest like a fist as the panic set in, sending tremors down his body.

And then the lights flickered out.

He almost jumped out of his skin as the bright yellow glow of the chandelier became an eerie red glimmer. Wallpaper was peeling from the walls in mouldy strips, and the sparkling glass of the mirrors had become a dull, smudgy surface. A clock on the mantelpiece suddenly started ticking, a loud echoing tick tock, tick tock.

'Wh-what the—?'

'Come closer.'

Goosebumps rippled on his skin. 'W-who's there?'

'Come closer.'

His eyes slid over to the biggest mirror, which was where the voice had come from. Hongbin shook his head, his heart thundering in his chest. No way. In horror movies, when a disembodied voice told you to come closer, it was always a terrible idea. The mirror was large and ornate, with a rusted golden frame. And the rippling glass — rippling?

In a transfixed horror, Hongbin watched as several objects fell from the glass, pushing through the surface as if it were water. They landed on the ground with several thumps, and he blinked and pinched his skin, wondering how insane you had to be to hallucinate this.

The voice hissed, 'Pick one up.'

He stood frozen in place. His muscles seemed to have cemented themselves together and he couldn't even open his mouth to refuse.

'Pick. one. up.'

'N-no.'

His mind was blank as he replied, and immediately regretted it as he felt the voice's anger ripple across the room in a deadly wave.

'You refuse?'

The silence that followed was like calm before a storm. It coated his heart like ice, amplifying the sound of his rapid heartbeat. He wanted to run, kick the door down, smash the mirror — anything, but his feet were glued to the floor as the thing speaking from the mirror was silent.

And then it screamed.

Hongbin yelled, covering his ears as a horrifying, ear-splitting shriek filled the room. The sound was like daggers in his ears, stabbing again and again and again. His knees gave way and he sank to the floor, screaming in agony along with the thing.