No One's Perfect (A Zodiac Story)

Falling in the Dark

Aquarius

Sleep deprivation is an interesting thing. It does things to your mind, warp your senses until you can't even think straight. You mingle with the others like a mindless zombie, hoping they don't notice how you're really just flying by on autopilot. There's no more energy left to drive you forwards. You open your mouth to protest everything that holds you back but you really just can't, because if even one crack appears in your glamorous facade the whole show comes crumbling apart into a thousand glittering daggers, all poised to dig in, to hurt in places you never want revealed to the open. Sleep deprivation numbs you to all that, drains you of everything until you're just an empty shell, so fragile, so easily crushed.

My head throbbed, my vision blurred. They had said I had passed their test. I was good, I had met their expectation, I was normal.

So why was I still feeling like this? Would they still call me a cured patient if they saw the way I was now? 

Why do they always turn a blind eye to the things that go on behind closed doors?

I pulled out the bottle of pills I had hidden under my mattress. I'd stolen these my second day of coming here, either they didn't notice or didn't care. My money was on the latter. 

Aries was sprawled out on her bed, her loud snores had already started filling the air two hours ago. Faintly, I heard the creak of the window next to me open. 

Ah, Libra must be stargazing tonight again.

Over the past few days I'd gotten to know him, and I found that he seemed to be really into looking up at the stars at night. Libra would often ramble about the different constellations that appeared, sometimes without even realizing. Then he would get all flustered and apologize when he finally caught himself. It was pretty cute how his face would get all scrunched up when he got excited. 

Wait, what am I even thinking? Ugh. Back to the task at hand. I uncapped the bottle and tipped it over. 

Five, round, perfectly pink tablets sat still in my hand, faint black letters glinting in the soft moonlight.

A bit more than normal couldn't hurt, right? 

And honestly, I didn't know what scared me more. The fact that I could die from this, or the fact that I didn't care if I died or not. 

No, I really didn't care at this point. Enough was enough, and I've reached my breaking point. 

I tossed all five pills into my mouth at once, then pressed a bottle of water to my lips and took a good, long swig. Before I could even process my actions the pink tablets had slid down my throat, coating it with a bitter aftertaste. 

Swallowing hard, coughing slightly because all five pills had gone down at the same time, I did a quick check on myself. It felt as if nothing was different for a moment, then a wave of drowsiness rushed over me. This made me chuckle a bit. I'd fall asleep now. I could finally drift into sweet unconsciousness, away from all those horrifying nightmares. 

A harsh, cold laugh startled me. On the other side of the room, Aries groaned and rolled over. 

Wait... was that me?

Startled, I shook my head a little. The medicine was doing its work on my body, but I needed something to clear my mind. 

I walked over to the window and flung it open, relishing the cool breeze that flew in. The chilliness no longer felt bitter. Instead, the wind wrapped around me comfortingly, almost like the gentle embrace of a lover. 

"Aquarius?" A timid voice broke through the silence. I made sure the smile was still on my face before turning to face the boy that spoke. 

"Hey, Libra." I said. "Couldn't sleep again?"