Chapter Text
There was nothing.
Nothing except a rushing void and a hot feverish darkness.
“𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦” a deep snarling voice spoke, the only thing inside the void that surrounded Eight.
She didn’t have the full control of her thoughts at the moment (or at all for most of the time) but in this second she felt absolute clarity, a never before felt feeling of oblivion and serenity.
The voice belonged to her, a sort of deeper part she never fully noticed, repressed beneath the waves of her new way of life.
Eight rolled around in her bed, trapped within a state of waking and sleeping, red light pounding behind her eyelids like lightning during a thunderstorm.
There it was, an incessant drilling in her skull, a bitter revolting coppery taste that made her tongue curl, imaginary nails that scraped over a metaphorical chalkboard.
It was the world's most awful headache, and all of it was a gift from her own body to herself.
“𝘞𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘨,𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥” the voice from within the pain that hung outside snarled lowly.
Slowly her eyes peeled themselves open, her eyelids were feeling like two pieces of lead tied to a way too thin bed sheet draped over a bed that was simply too large.
Her mouth felt dry and rubbery,her tongue reduced to a moving piece of extra coarse sandpaper.
“Water” she croaked and untangled her limbs from her thin moth-eaten blanket.
As she slipped out of her, to put it nicely , abstractly built bunk bed her bare feet were immediately touching the perpetually cold metal of the floor, the frostburns that would inevitably come at some point making her shiver before she braved the coldness like everyone did.
She quickly rubbed her hands up and down her shivering arms,goosebumps racing up and down her barely clothed form.
Despite the constant freezing cold she always slept in her undershirt, usually putting on the only piece of clothing she had over the day.
“LOOK AT THAT GOOSEFLESH,LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE NEEDS THE WARM HUG OF A CERTAIN SOMETHING EH?”.
an overly loud and obnoxious sounding voice screeched from somewhere behind her.
She whipped around in a long since reflex-like motion, instinctively scanning the area for any danger.
Mono was snoring in the back,his exhale crackling with equally slumbering energies.
Six was huffing on the other side of the room, her face in a perpetual smirk as she committed whatever twisted deeds made her happy in her dreams.
And Seven had been lying next to her,slumbering in the most goofy fashion possible to mankind.
“mimimimi” he muttered, a gnome cap on his head resembling a giant cartoonish night hat.
Nothing.
So who had been talking?
“DID YOU FORGET ABOUT ME? AFTER ALL WE DID?
OH HOW DARE YOU?!” the voice returned, accusatory but still in a gregarious and over the top screeching manner.
Her eyes had finished her scan of the area and the cold had finished creeping into every place on her body.
Her breath became unsteady as she began to jump from one foot to the other,her body starting to shiver heavily.
She quickly stumbled back to her bed and grasped at her oversized sweater.
Her fingers hesitated in front of the cheap polyester fabric mash, something felt….different.
“EIGHTSY YOUR FREEZING! PUT ME ON IMMEDIATELY!”
Her eyes widened.
“Put me on?” she whispered to….well who really?
She knew the answer.
She hated the thought that had unbidden and unwanted snaked itself into her head.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺” the Snarl said soberly.
“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯,𝘕𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱…..𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦”
Her head suddenly felt way too small for her brain, the walls of her skull squeezing it as tight as possible.
Eight gripped her head tightly, this was just another episode and she would get through it like she overcame all the others before it.
She took a deep breath,counted to four and then exhaled.
“The sweater did not talk to me and there’s no grumpy snarly voice in my head” she mumbled quietly and took another deep breath.
She felt it lingering in her lungs,warming itself up, before making its way outside and joining the cold.
The sweater simply laid on her bed.
An ugly stained thing when she really thought about it.
If anything it was crazy and not her,with its utterly bizarre voice and its disturbingly vibrant color.
“𝘛𝘤𝘩” she made,clicking her tongue in defiant annoyance, and quickly grabbed the horrific piece of clothing and pushed her head in before sticking her arms into its sleeves.
A strange feeling overcame her, the snug fabric seemingly rubbing itself against her body almost like a giant magenta cat rubbing itself on its owner’s legs.
She grabbed the worn hem and tugged down, disciplining the two legged fleabag before straightening herself and regaining composure.
“Kitchen, now” she thought to herself, rubbing her hands over face.