Work Text:
Oh, the folly of being human
Well
Acting human.
But your acting skills are not in the question
What is
Is the matter of dreams
You've hardly dreamt
You've never slept as of late
You haven't had a reason
After all, your body doesn't get tired.
But
It's been rather stressful
So what a better time to sleep than as an excuse to ignore your problems?
So, you lay crossing the sofa, arms crossed and attempt to see if you remembered how to sleep.
It's been so long, your body must be so unfamiliar
Consider it unnatural.
But
That was not the case.
You feel asleep with ease
And
Almost instantly, as if your body was waiting
A dream appeared.
You didn't know where you were, all you could feel was confusion
And fear
A dark abyss spread out as far as the eye could see
And you can see endlessly
This scared you.
You were not in a fit state either
Both mentally and physically
Your suit jacket was gone, tie untied, your shirt and pants ripped
As if you had been dragged through a thorn covered bush backwards
Or thrown in a industrial shredder.
You were disheveled to say the least.
A state you were completely unfamiliar with.
You started to walk, it felt normal
You
Are
Fine.
Why are you so scared?
The taste of iron filled your mouth
Then your feet started to feel heavy
As if walking through tar
You looked down
Tar isn't red.
What is your subconscious telling you?
You don't fear blood.
You continued to walk, determined to beat your subconscious in these literal mind games.
Before long, you were immobilized by the blood, which had now reached your knees.
Why is it trying to say?
You're almost mad, if the feeling of fear hadn't turned to dread.
You no longer felt confused, just scared.
You refused to fight against the pull of the blood, allowing whatever was going to happen to get over and done with.
And for you to wake from this nightmare, to never sleep again.
You see, Humanity comes at a price
You start to have morals and things to that degree.
So ethics also come into play.
You see, most humans consider it unethical to kill whoever you please
You, as a non-human, don't find this wrong.
But you, as the one learning to be more human, is finding it unethical.
Well...
Your subconscious is.
Guess it's the most human part of you.
You see a familiar face float in the blood ahead of you.
You don't need to think about the name, the second you see them all information and memories are instantly remembered.
To say you feel guilty is an understatement.
Yes
Some faces you see were more guilty than others.
Some had done things you could justify their death with.
But some were completely innocent.
Just got in the way of the job
So they had to go
You felt nothing at the time
But now?
You wanted to throw up at the guilt.
God, what have you done?
The blood had reached your waist, immobilizing you further
You still made no efforts to move
You were now overwhelmed by the information, memories and faces of those you saw in the blood
Were there really that many?
Your subconscious believed so.
Then
You heard a familiar voice call your name
One you had never forgotten
Even after all these years of their death.
The death you believe you're responsible for.
They appeared, but not as just a face
They were fully formed, below you, grabbing onto your shoes.
You realized you weren't immobilized by the blood
But by fear
You couldn't move an inch.
They crawled closer, their fingers now claws.
Suddenly, they were face to face with you.
They held onto your shirt, as if they let go of you, they'd immediately fall back down.
You don't know if that's true, but what was underneath the blood could be a black hole for all you knew
It felt like one.
They spoke to you, you couldn't hear a word
The guilt was overwhelming, blood pounded in your ears and fear sent adrenaline through your body.
Then
You heard it as clear as day
They blamed you for their death
Said you most definitely caused it
Your fear of them leaving
Your reluctance to tell them how you felt
Everything is your fault because you never spoke up
Or learned to hold your tongue.
You wanted to throw up from guilt.
But you didn't have the time, the second they relayed those words to you
They pulled you under.
The last thing you saw before you woke up was their ghoulish face below the blood and your scared reflection.
The cut on your face was fresh, bleeding once again.
You woke up with a start, your hand immediately shooting to your face.
The cut was normal.
Everything was normal.
You are fine.
Totally fine.
You're never sleeping again.
Not until you get your subconscious under control.
At that thought, your cut reopened
Bleed just like it did on that day.
Fuck.