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Taehyung jerks awake, lips smacking. Someone snickers next to him, his eyes still shut; he gropes around on the bed, snuffling a little. A warm hand finds his, fingers tangling together. Taehyung smiles sleepily, snuggling back into his pillows and blankets.
“This is a nice dream,” he murmurs, “I don’t have those too often.”
“Do you want to?” the person asks, voice warm.
Taehyung’s smile softens with sadness, nose snuffling.
“Yeah. That’d be nice.”
The person hums, rubbing his hand soothingly. Taehyung snuggles into the bedding, lips smacking a bit. They sound familiar, and it makes Taehyung relax further, body sinking into the mattress.
“If you open your eyes, I’ll make this such a nice dream for you, Tae-ah.”
Cracking his eyes open, Taehyung spots someone sitting on the bed with him. He thinks it could be any of them—maybe Jimin, or Jungkook—but it’s hard to tell in the low light. They grin at him, teeth bright in the dark; huffing a laugh, Taehyung tries to move, body locked tight. He frowns, eyes opening a bit more.
“Wait, why can’t I—?”
The figure moves, so fast they’re just a blur; Taehyung lets out a small sound, blinking away sleep.
“What’s happening?”
“Are you scared to dream because you know what you’ll see?” the figure asks, suddenly right in his face.
Taehyung lets out a shrill yell, body frozen in the bed. The figure is grinning at him, but instead of comforting—it’s terrifying. It’s not Jimin or Jungkook, like he thought.
“Y-you’re—you’re—”
The creature’s grin grows, thin and pointy teeth on display. It’s horrific-looking, skin pulled taught over its skull, eyes sunken and bright red, pointed ears and hairless, claw-tipped hands stroking down Taehyung’s cheek. He shudders in fear, trying to back away.
“Yes, you know me,” the creature purrs, running a single claw across Taehyung’s lower lip.
He gags a little, nostrils flaring; he can’t move his body except for his face, so he squeezes his eyes shut, blocking out the foul sight.
“Oh, Taehyung, don’t be like that,” the creature says mockingly, “you’ll hurt my feelings.”
“No, no,” Taehyung mutters, “you’re not real, this isn’t real—”
“I like to think I’m very real,” the creature says conversationally, claws digging down into Taehyung’s chest.
He whimpers, tears running down his cheeks. The creature chuckles, licking a long stripe up his skin. Shuddering, Taehyung tries to move his head, desperate noises leaving his mouth.
“So pretty, and all for me.”
Taehyung grits his teeth, sweat running down his face. He opens his eyes, staring straight into glowing red; the creature is grinning down at him, body hunched over his torso.
“Like what you see, Tae-ah?”
“Don’t call me that,” Taehyung spits out, a few tears leaking down his face, “only my friends can call me that.”
The creature lets out a low laugh, ripping into Taehyung’s chest. Taehyung lets out a small sound of pain, feeling blood soak into his pajama top.
‘“Friends,’ huh? But that isn’t all you want, is it, Taehyung? Feeling a little greedy, aren’t you, wanting all of them. But don’t worry, you can have me.”
“Shut up, shut up,” Taehyung snarls, practically vibrating in anger.
The creature pouts at him, a sharp smirk on its face a moment later.
“You can fool yourself all you want, Taehyung, but you can’t fool me.”
The creature cackles as Taehyung curses at him, claws dragging along Taehyung’s throat. Breath catching, Taehyung stops, eyes tracking the creature’s claws as best he can.
“Oh no, please, continue. You’d look so pretty in red.”
Taehyung forces a breath through his nose, throat bobbing slightly. The two stare at each other, waiting for the other to make a move; Taehyung doesn’t know how long they stay like that, hate and fury prevalent in Taehyung’s eyes. The creature opens its mouth to say something, head whipping towards the door as someone passes in the hall.
“H-hey!” Taehyung calls out, taking advantage of the creature’s distraction, “Help!”
He can hear a voice, frantic and concerned; a moment later, the doorknob starts rattling, whoever it is on the other side trying to get in. The creature growls in annoyance, forcefully grabbing Taehyung’s face. It glares down at him, claws digging into the soft flesh under Taehyung’s eyes.
“Don’t think this is over, Kim Taehyung. I own your soul.”
“Fuck you,” Taehyung spits out, crying out in pain as the creature rips his hand down his face.
Taehyung watches as the creature blurs, disappearing just as the door is slammed open. Jungkook tumbles into the room, the others crowded around him with fear and worry on their faces. Taehyung lets out a shaky breath, gasping out a sob as his limbs relax. Someone says his name in horror, everyone scrambling into the room as Taehyung tries to sit up. Jimin helps him sit up, letting the sobbing man lean against him.
“God, Tae-ah, what happened to you?” Jin breathes out, turning the room’s light on.
“S-sleep paralysis,” he gets out, curling into Jimin’s side.
The other shushes him, running a shaky hand through his hair. Taehyung breaks down further at the sweet, gentle touch, his blood and tears soaking into Jimin’s shirt. Namjoon scrambles for something to clean the other’s face, clattering around the room; Yoongi is staring at Taehyung’s body, swearing a mile a minute as he looks at the rips and blood in his shirt.
“What the fuck happened,” Yoongi snarls out, eyes hard with worry, “this wasn’t sleep paralysis.”
Taehyung shakes his head, tears still falling even as Hoseok tries to wipe his face clean. Jungkook holds his hand gently, like he’s scared Taehyung will reject his touch. Shuddering, Taehyung laces their fingers together, trying to erase the feeling of the creature’s hand in his. Jin crouches down next to Hoseok, murmuring a thank you as Namjoon hands him a moist towel.
“Please, Tae-ah, tell us what happened.”
Taehyung looks around at all of them, their faces pinched with worry and fear—fear for him, or fear of him? He lets his eyes slip shut, taking a deep breath.
“I…there’s this—this creature that shows up whenever I have sleep paralysis. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, but…it came back.”