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Hero breathed steadily in his sleep.
His nights were usually dreamless. In his opinion, it was for the better. The nights he had dreams, he had to relive his worst mistake over, and over, and over again, until he woke up. That horrible snapping sound, her dangling legs... it would forever be ingrained into his head, and there was nothing he could do. Did he even try? If he did, he would've noticed. There must've been signs, and he must've been too incompetent to notice. There was everything he could've done, and yet he didn't.
This night, he saw darkness. He was asleep, he knew this. Was he dreaming? This wasn't one of his normal dreams. He laid down, tethered to the nothing below and above and around him, but he didn't struggle. There was no need to. He was safe, surrounded by his friends again, just like he was when he was younger.
A formless, distant shape crept into his vision.
"H▉▉▉..."
...Who? The voice sounded familiar, but it was too distant.
"Hero."
He yearned to hear her voice again to fall in love with it all over again every single day, to have his face heat up every time she outwitted him, to be truly and shamelessly happy in her arms. He never wanted to hear it again or else he wouldn't ever forget his neglect of the signs she had to have shown, ever move on from his horrible mistake and learn, ever stop keeling over in pain every single time he thought of her. The voice filled his ears like a sweet nectar and jabbed into him like needles in a pin cushion. He didn't struggle. There was no need to. He slept warmly and sound. He was safe. He had tomorrow morning to look forward to.
"Hero. ▉▉k▉ ▉p."
What? Was she asking him to do something? He couldn't understand her. He clearly never did. How could he ever hope to understand her now that she was gone? He just wanted to hear her gentle voice again, reassuring him that it will always be a reminder of his failure. A ghastly, cold breeze pressed against his face and cupped his cheek in its grasp. It was so comforting and yet so haunting.
"Wake up, Hero."
He tried to focus on her voice. He felt her hand more clearly, individual finger tips gently caressing his cheek. He felt his eyes moving around under his eyelids, searching for the figure he kept seeing, trying to get closer to it. He felt his chest rising and falling as he breathed in and out the cold, dry air. He felt her hand slipping away from him.
"Hero, they're in danger."
Hero jolted up from the floor, forced awake by whatever grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him upright. His heart thumped in his chest as his eyes darted around the dark living room, searching for whoever woke him up so abruptly. His eyes fell on Kel and Aubrey. ...What? None of them had any sign of waking up-- neither even stirred in the slightest. The only thing that's changed was Kel's quilt managing to make its way under his leg and Aubrey's position shifting onto her back. He held his head and squeezed his eyes shut, adrenaline still high from his... dream? Hero tried his best to sift through his pile of thoughts, taken apart by his time asleep. When he opened them, his eyes immediately landed on the empty quilt lying flat on the floor.
...They're in danger.
He threw his quilt off to the side and jumped up, taking off upstairs towards Basil's room.