When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Basket Case

A loud ring blared, and Y/N's head shot up. It was odd, as soon as her head rose from the desk she'd fallen asleep on, vivid images of a car crash --which she thought she was killed in-- flashed through her mind. But that didn't make any sense; after all, she was in class, unfortunately. Y/N decided that she just had a really fucked up dream. Gathering her things on her desk, her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't remember showing up to class. Actually, Y/N couldn't remember anything she'd done that day. All she could remember was her fucked up dream. Shaking her head, she looked up. A jolt of panic and confusion ran through her as she realized this wasn't her classroom. Actually, looking around the room, it became apparent that this wasn't even her school.

"Hey, new girl, you doing okay?" Someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned rapidly, her own hair slapping her in the face. Standing behind her were two people. One of them was completely translucent, eyebrow raised in skepticism. The other was pink, and had gills. Plus, a crown on her head. She looked just as skeptical as her ghost friend did. Y/N was almost as confused being called the "new girl" as she was about seeing what appeared to be a ghost and a fish princess.

It was clear that Y/N defintely wasn't where she was supposed to be.

Finding herself unable to form a fully functional sentence, Y/N tried to swallow past the lump building in her throat, only muttering out a "Yeah, I'm good." Y/N shook her head with a grimace at her pathetic attempt at conversation, but that definitely wasn't her main concern. That, she decided, was getting to a bathroom before she vomitted. Quickly slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she rushed out of the classroom only to see her surroundings were completely new. The hallways looked like a spooky, camped up rendition of what Hollywood depicted high schools to look like, complete with cobwebs, spiders and what Y/N could only describe as monsters walking the hallways, just going about their business. She just shook her head again, heading for the bathrooms. On her quest for the restrooms, Y/N hadn't even noticed someone was watching her, and that that someone was familiar.

She immediately booked it for a stall and slammed it shut, hurling into the toilet. She had to use her forearms to keep her sitting upright, but even then, the shakes going through her body were relentless. Once she finally felt okay enough to leave the stall, she stood on shaky knees and brushed her hair back from her face, just grateful she hadn't gotten vomit in it. It was at that point she'd also taken the time to notice that she was wearing a jacket that most definitely wasn't hers; even the scent lingering on it was distinctly different from her own.

Opening the stall door, Y/N jumped in shock, not expecting to see someone sitting on the counter next to the sink, swinging their legs like they were bored, waiting for her.

"S-shit!" She steadied herself on the stall door. Looking again, she realized that she remembered the red faced... Person? "Wait a minute, you're-"

"Yep, you're welcome." They nodded in a way that was nonchalant and cocky all at the same time. If Y/N had any doubts before of how the person sitting before her was familiar, the devious smirk on his face told it all.

"Uh, sure? For what, exactly? Where the hell am I? Why the hell am I here? Who the hell are you? And who's jacket is this?" Y/N raked a hand through her hair, pacing the small bathroom, just listing all of the questions she had in her head like rapid fire as they popped up. At her last question, she pulled at the pockets, which were lower than she was used to. The sleeves, she also noted, were longer as well, and those two hints combined with the scent that smelled only what she could describe as a steriotypical male smell told her this was some guy's jacket.

"Ah, good questions." He nodded, rolling his eyes before clearing his throat. "Welcome to Spooky High School." He gestured dramatically, using the best narrator voice he had. Immediately after, though, he dropped it and went back to looking only barely amused. "I'm Damien. Son of who you would probably describe as Satan."

Y/N felt the need to interrupt. "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." She muttered, eyes rolled.

"Fuck off, I'm answering your questions." Damien scoffed, and Y/N begrudgingly nodded.

"Sorry."

He didn't respond, but instead continued his tale, his legs still kicking out. "You're here because you asked to be--"

"Yeah, except I didn't." Y/N interjected again, glaring at Damien for a fraction of a second. Damien's hands slapped down against the counter top in frustration.

"Are you gonna listen or not?" Y/N didn't say anything, so he continued, muttering something under his breath that caused Y/N to glare at him again. "You're here because you prayed to whatever being that existed to make your life interesting. Now, the things you humans don't get is that the prayers you make are like letters that get dropped by an office and just pushed to the corner of the desk, never to be read. Well, I was snooping around my dad's office, and your letter dropped in. Now, my dad doesn't get many letters. It's usually that prick upstairs that gets 'em all. So, I read it, and decided to do just that: make your life interesting." He nodded, completing his story.

"You couldn't just... I dunno, give me a tour of hell or something?" Y/N shrugged, and Damien let out a noise that was between a scoff and a laugh. Her face heated up at the sound. She didn't like being laughed at, no matter the context.

"No? Hell is boring as fuck, why do you think I'm here all the time?" He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "So, you're here because I want you to be."

"So, where exactly is... Here?"

"Not your world, if that's what you're asking." He shrugged. "It's... Like yours, I guess, just a little flipped, if you couldn't already tell."

"This is..." Y/N drifted off, shaking her head. "This is fucking insane." She decided, unsure of what else to say.

"Is it really, though?" Damien cocked his head to the side, his devious smirk softening just slightly. "You've had to have wondered what lies beyond your world and what you know. I've been in your head for a bit, and you're a fuckin' mess up there, let me tell you." He chuckled, "but I've seen how you think. I really thought about just taking you to hell, just to see how far you got, but after I orchestrated that car crash to get you out--"

"So the crash was real?" Y/N was so focused on her current situation, she had almost forgotten about her dream of the car crash. "And... And that was all you?"

"Yep." He nodded curtly. "What, did you not see what you were wearing under that?" He gestured to the jacket, and Y/N realized she hadn't looked. Unzipping the hoodie, she found the outfit she'd left the house with to go to work, all ripped and blood stained. She only hummed in surprise, wondering how she'd managed to miss that. "After I got you out, I could see what you were thinking. Just for a little bit. And it was fucked up, almost as fucked up as Hell, so, I decided to bring you here. And I gave you my jacket so you wouldn't look like a car wreck. I mean, a complete one, anyway."

Y/N didn't miss the jab at her appearance and stuck her tongue out, frowning. "I just... Don't get why." She muttered.

"Like I said. Hell is boring. Here is much more interesting. Plus, here you'll last a little longer. Maybe, anyway." He shrugged, standing up. It was then that Y/N not only realized how tall he was, but also how short she was.  "So, here's the deal. I brought you here, I can take you out. Just don't expect it to be in the way you want me to." He started, leaning down just so slightly so they could be eye to eye. "I want to see how long you'll last here. It's kind of like a game, if I'm being honest. Just try not to get killed." A bell sounded out, and Damien looked up for a second, standing to his full height.

"That's lunch." He shoved his hands in his pockets, brushing past Y/N and standing in the doorway, his back turned to her. "Oh, and try not to get too many stains on my jacket, new kid." Then, he let the door shut behind him, leaning Y/N alone with her thoughts.

"Is this real fucking life?" She whispered to herself, shaking her head for what felt like the millionth time since she woke up. Remembering how horribly tattered her current clothes were, she zipped the jacket up again. "Or am I really just a basket case?"

She left herself to wonder, but decided she'd been hungry long enough, and headed to find the lunchroom. It's not like it could be that hard to find.