Dark Heart

Fools Rush In

"Is.... is she dead?"

Harsh, knipe sharp pain lanced through Nian Nian's temple as awareness slowly trickled back to her, as thick and clouded as quagmire. Her whole body felt incredibly odd; her mind was swimming and yet her torso was heavy, as though she had slept on a bag of rocks instead of her comfortable, down filled mattress. Her blankets must have been kicked away during her fitful sleep, as she could no longer feel them swaddling her comfortably like they usually did. Nevertheless, she was hurting too much to even consider retrieving them, it seemed like far too momentous a task for her delicately aching muscles. Also... had she just heard a voice or was she still half asleep? I must have imagined it she reassured herself sluggishly as she inhaled deeply, her brain a throbbing brick in her skull. The poor girl was hurting all over - even her littlest toe was throbbing with an inescapably dull ache and her head felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton wool.

Her so called 'rest' had been plagued by scattered and erratic dreams, but their contents were hazy at best - perhaps a truck had ploughed into her subconsciously and she was illogically paying the price in actuality. The funny thing was, Nian Nian didn't even remember falling asleep. An unusually muted sort of panic was tugging at the edges of her memory, and yet for the life of her, she couldn't justify why she felt like her skin was pricking all over with an impending sense of doom. She knew her cousin had been in her room with her, lazing about on her computer instead of doing his assignments; perhaps Dou Nai had bored her into unconsciousness. It was entirely possible she thought to herself uncharitably as her head gave a particularly painful pulse, white sharp agony shooting across the back of her closed eyelids like a lightening bolt. Little Squid felt like a mirror that had been fractured into a million shards and thereafter hastily pieced back together. Scatterbrained, confused and tired - three words had never been more fitting. At that moment, Tong Nian wasn't quite whole and she suspected she wouldn't feel right until she had gotten her daily caffeine fix into her bloodstream. Nothing a double chocolate mocha with whipped cream couldn't fix... after five more minutes in bed, of course.

Nian Nian could tell from the light filtering beneath her eyelids that night had well and truly fallen, although she didn't feel like she had had an ounce of peace. Her mind was still playing tricks on her, clearly not yet fully back in the land of the living - the tiny student could swear she could feel eyes watching her as she pressed her eyelids even tighter together in a futile attempt to assuage the ache. The pounding was relentless - she had obviously spent too long staring at her computer screen the evening before, otherwise why else would her mind feel like a wrung sponge? Her nose wrinkled unconsciously as an unseasonably cold breeze drifted over her like pale, ghostly fingers, laced with the smell of sea salt and some type of flower she couldn't seem to identify. It wasn't a familiar smell but Nian Nian refused to panic senselessly; logically speaking, her mother was most likely trying out a new scented candle. That was the only reasonable explanation. She was letting her imagination get the better of her, and she was far too pragmatic and practical a soul for that. You need to get up she ordered herself sternly, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling something wasn't quite right. Little Squid's senses were suddenly on high alert and registering a rustling sound echoing from somewhere to her right, almost directly beside her. Far too close for comfort. It was now as clear as high definition... Tong Nian most certainly wasn't alone in her bedroom, and the presence near her wasn't one she recognised...

The hairs on the back of her neck were prickling uncontrollably but her blood didn't turn to ice in her veins until she felt something move to hover over her like a shadow, a puff of cool breath ruffling her bangs as her brow furrowed defensively. Her body tightened as if tensed for battle and her pulse accelerated manically as she swallowed hard, gauging how best to react. There was definitely people watching her, it wasn't all just in her mind... had she been abducted? What was going on? Nian Nian slapped herself mentally as panic threatened to consume her, a cloying, deadly nightshade in her bloodstream. Now was not the time to lose her head. Now was the time to utilise the brain she had honed tirelessly for so long and think of a way to talk herself out of her current predicament! There is nothing logic can't solve she reminded herself feverishly as she flexed her fingers, bracing herself to lock horns with her faceless captors. Regardless, alarm bells still rang in her head as a distinctly male voice sniped waspishly "of course she's dead, Demo, you idiot. Why else would she be here if she wasn't?"