We Can be Heroes {Sanders Sides Superhero AU}

Chapter 53

TW: Nightmares, Mentions of Cancer, Mentions of substance abuse, Unhealthy grounding techniques (NOT CUTTING! He scratches and he mentions self-depreciation and meaning it but that's it. I will NEVER write about any of the sides cutting in this book) Lastly this is a risky chapter for me so I hope you enjoy it

Day Ninety-Five | Monday | June 13th                                                                                                                                            

They wouldn't stop. They just kept moving and swirling around him. Screaming at him and yelling at him. Some of them asked for help. Some of them called him terrible things. Some said nothing, just taking the form of people he cared about. But all of them attacked him. All of them hurt him. And with each painful attack, they just got bigger and stronger.

And then it changed. They changed. The dark figures collapsed to the ground like a house of cards. There was silence before Virgil saw the small cafe. His friend Pan used to love that cafe, he would make Virgil and Wren and whoever else go with him and they would get whatever they wanted before walking to a park and sitting there for an hour or so. Virgil still had a sketchbook from back then filled with drawings of his friends sipping on coffee or eating sweet treats.

This wasn't a happy scene though. 

Daniel was talking to his friends, laughing as they enjoyed their night out. Virgil felt himself moving forward, he heard him talking and felt the whole night repeat itself. Except this time he lost control of his powers. This time he couldn't reign them in. This time people died. The shadows attacked Daniel and his two friends until a bubble had formed around them, it moved as Virgil watched his shadows continue to attack the bodies. 

And then the shadows were gone, and Virgil wanted to scream as he saw that Daniel and his friends had been replaced by Roman, Patton, and Logan. Eyes wide as they stared back at him, not a breath remained in their bodies.

"Did I do good?" he heard himself ask

"You did amazing, Virgil," Deceit said with a grin on his face. Virgil watched as everything jumped back towards him, turning into shadows once again and attacking him. Hurting him. 

Killing him.

*

"Virgil?" Roman asked as Virgil's eyes shot open and he felt himself gasping for air, "Hey, are you okay? You were scratching at yourself in your sleep, it looks like you lost a fight with a cat"

Virgil looked at Roman for a moment, his brain trying to catch up to his body as slowly the realization that it had been a dream came back to him. He looked at his arm, the sleeve of his hoodie had been pulled up and there were violent scratch marks were his fingers had torn into his skin. They weren't deep, but they did sting, and Virgil knew that if he had been asleep for much longer than he would probably be bleeding right now. 

"Virgil?" Virgil looked back at Roman, "you good?"

Virgil nodded and pulled his hoodie sleeve down again before wrapping his arms around his chest, "Yeah, I'm okay" he looked around the common area they had all fallen asleep in last night.

"Logan and Patton already left for work, we wanted to let you sleep in since none of us know when you actually got to sleep last night"

'Late.'  Virgil thought as he let Roman continue

"Anyway, it's a little past nine, do you want anything to eat?"

Virgil shook his head, "I'm not hungry. Thanks though" Virgil said as he focused on his breathing.