Black Magic

Shift

Chapter 14: Shift

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Baekhyun rolled over and stared at the empty bed across the room. He usually found comfort in the way the streetlight crept through the curtains at night, but right now, with the light falling directly on Minseok's lonely pillow, he only felt desolate and cold.

It had been 2 weeks since the incident with the Dark Dragons, but Baekhyun's roommate was still spending his nights in the infirmary.

The Master Healer wanted to keep a close eye on Minseok for any obvious signs of infection, even though there had so far been none.

Thinking of Minseok distressed Baekhyun, and he could feel that same crippling fear rising back to the surface of his mind. That same fear that had been with him since the day Kai had stumbled onto the practice field, breathless with urgency and worry.

Baekhyun exhaled sharply and the thin beam of light shining on Minseok's bed suddenly dimmed, bending under Baekhyun's will and redirecting away from the window. He shifted onto his stomach and squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to redirect his thoughts as well. He wanted to sleep.

But sleep eluded him.

As it had for the past several nights.

Baekhyun groaned and thrashed in bed, throwing a small tantrum.

He was tired, and cranky, and it didn't help that Chanyeol just didn't understand Baekhyun's situation.

They had argued earlier (Baekhyun couldn't even remember why), but Chanyeol had literally dismissed him afterward, walking off without even saying goodnight.

It pissed Baekhyun off, but on a lower level, he knew it was probably his fault that the argument had happened in the first place. Two weeks of no sleep was starting to catch up to him in the form of a short temper and a limited attention span. It seemed like everything got on his nerves when he was exhausted, especially Chanyeol.

Why do you always do that?

Do what?

That! You fidget so much, Chanyeol. Would it kill you to just sit still like a normal person?

Goddamn, Baek. I was just trying to get comfortable.

Yeah, well, you've been trying to 'get comfortable' for the past 15 minutes. So just....stop. I can't concentrate.

Little things.

But Baekhyun didn't know how to explain to Chanyeol what it was that was bothering him. Because if Baekhyun was being truthful, it was more than lack of sleep that was making him irritable and uneasy.

It was the memory of the nightmare that woke him in the dark and the clinging fear that stuck to him all throughout the day afterward.

The few precious times Baekhyun had managed to fall asleep, he found himself sinking into the same dream, one he'd been having over and over for the past couple of weeks. It was terrifying, full of pain and emptiness. He'd wake up, heart pounding, a fine sheen of sweat covering his skin, chest heaving. It would take Baekhyun a few long minutes of flailing around in the dark before he realized that he was safe, Chanyeol was safe, and everything was okay.

The emptiness and fear from the dream was starting to sink into him though, it was becoming like a second skin, curling around him, clinging incessantly.

And he didn't know what to do about it.

Talking about the nightmare would somehow make it seem more real, and Baekhyun couldn't handle that.