Of Wedding Cakes and Dresses

Chapter 18

In her dreams, Misa knows that danger is coming, but she is powerless to stop it.

She sees herself walking through the forest, always the same forest since her nightmares began upon her awakening from her coma, dark and dreary and listless. The wind blows through the empty branches of the gray, dead trees, creating a sound much like a moan, but even as it fills the air, warning her off, Misa continues to walk deeper into the forest.

Dead, fallen leaves crunch under her feet, and despite this being the same dream from before, she is surprised when she looks down and finds her feet bare. It is then, after looking at her bare, exposed feet, that Misa feels her chest constrict, feels the hairs on her neck stand and tingle.

Danger is coming.

A quick look over her shoulder reveals nothing, but Misa is not comforted. She turns, surveying her surroundings as if only now made aware of them, her eyes finding no source of safety that she can see.

A twig snaps from behind her, sending Misa into a panic. It is just the sound of a dead branch, but to Misa, it is so much more.

Danger is coming.

She begins to run, her feet instinctively darting away from the sound. She can hear her own breath in her ears, loud and painful, frightened, but she doesn’t dare stop. Around the trees, in between them, under a fallen branch she scampers, sending leaves and dirt scattering in all directions, running, running, escaping.

From what?

For a moment she considers stopping, feeling winded and tired and a bit foolish. A twig had sent her running, but from what?

Her legs slow down and she forces herself to take deeper breaths. Her heart yammering against her chest has now joined the chaotic orchestra in her ears, and she winces at the horrible melody that it plays. She continues to run, but feels her body slowing, as if her body is shutting down.

With growing horror, she glances down and finds herself waist deep in mud, restricting her movements. She struggles against the heavy muck, throwing her entire body into taking another step forward. It is hard, almost impossible, but Misa continues to struggle.

Another twig snaps.

It is always that second twig that freezes her, always that sound that ominously echoes in the dead forest around her. She’s had this dream before and knows what happens next, but even as she begs herself not to turn around, not to face the danger approaching, she sees herself slowly turn around.

She screams.

The creature is hideous, a kaleidoscope of every horror monster she can remember. Its body is that of a man, dressed in a dark, tattered suit, but his head shows no resemblance to being human. It has, in fact, three heads, each frightening in its own way: the first appears to be the head of a snake, but none Misa has ever seen in real life. It’s the requisite diamond shape, but instead of smooth scales, bumpy, leathery skin covers it and its eyes are glowing blood red. Rows of sharp teeth protrude from its slightly opened mouth, its forked tongue rapidly darting from in between its lipless mouth.

The second head, the one in the middle, is a deformed blob of decomposing flesh. She supposes the face that sat upon it was once centered and almost normal-looking, but now she only sees a pair of eyes where a cheek might have been, a nose in the vicinity of a chin, and a mouth hanging loosely from a flap of skin on the neck. She immediately thinks of fire and almost pities the head whose face seems to have melted.

The third head frightens her the most: it is the face of Sang Daehyun, but it’s not him. Like the snake-head, his eyes are glowing blood red and his skin is paler than anything Misa has ever seen. He sees her staring at him in abject horror and smiles.