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She was cornered. All exits gone, and something she couldn’t see closing in.
Her breath came in shallow, fear stealing her limbs.
Otherworldly growls echo around her
Hot breath huffs against her face
Please-
Please no
The thing growls, she can’t comprehend what it is but she feels bone chilling terror.
And then there was pain. She screamed but no sound came out, claws dug into her arms
Teeth in her gut,
Please-
Her joins popped as they were pulled apart.
Make it stop!
Struggling only made the pain bloom more.
She screamed until her throat burned
Her limbs burned, blood dripped hot onto the floor.
She can’t run she can’t hide she can’t escape.
She can’t-
She can’t do anything
It’s worse than a kick to the stomach
Please!
Claws rip apart muscle and bone
Someone- please help!
She can only scream.
Oddie! Please!
Teeth crunched down against her throat and-
She woke up with a scream.
Jesus Christ Cassandra! Yellow startled, but she was too busy scrambling to sit up with only one arm cooperating.
Eventually she just gave up, hand clutching her chest as her heart raced beneath her ribs.
What the fuck was that!? Yellow still demanded, her breathing came in hard, she needed to calm down.
She tried to slow her breathing, focusing on the music softly playing from her radio. She didn’t mean to ignore Yellow but…
Claws, teeth, too many eyes, pain, blood, bones crushing under iron jaws.
God
Cassandra? Yellow still sounded mad, but was slowly becoming confused, she should respond soon.
She takes a deep breath.
“Sorry, just… had a nightmare” she murmurs, continuing to take deep breaths.
A nightmare? Yellow asks, is this something that happens when you sleep?
“Sometimes, usually you dream. But, sometimes the dream turns bad, or scary.” She waves a hand, “and you get a nightmare.”
I see. All the better I don’t sleep then.
Ass
They’re both silent, she listens to the words of some late night ballad as she wills her heart to calm.
What was it about? Yellow asks, sounding neutral.
A part of her really doesn’t want to talk about it.
But… another part of her thinks it’ll help.
She takes another breath before answering.
“I dreamt that the monster at the Larson estate killed me. It… it grabbed my arm, where it scratched me, then bit into my leg…. Claws and tendrils I couldn’t see tore into my guts. Worst part is this was a vivid dream, so I felt like i was being torn to shreds.” She wanted to laugh, to lighten things up with a joke.
The chuckle never came.
“A mercy though, I don’t think you were there?”
She didn’t think anyone was there.
She was just alone.
All alone.
That sounds… unpleasant. Why would you have nightmares like that? He sounds… genuinely confused. It kind of reminds her how unaware of things he is, sometimes.
“You say that like I have any say in what I dream about” she sighs, but decides to explain.
“Dreams are the minds way of organizing thoughts and memories, it just… meshes things together. So it never makes sense, nightmares are the… bad memories I guess.” Finally, she sat up, Yellow helping push her to a seated position on the bed.
“I’m surprised it took this long for it to happen, considering what happened at Addison” she still wants to chuckle, it still never comes.
I admit, I thought it never bothered you. Beyond the initial day, that is. Yellow confesses. You always seem so… cheerful? Care free, joking and taunting me or your brother. If you’re having nightmares, why haven’t you said anything?
Damn him, he still sounds so genuinely curious.
Not concerned, it’s almost innocent in a way.
Academic, not malicious.
Just genuine curiosity.
“…I don’t know, I’m dumb sometimes,” she dismisses, then shakes her head. “Oddie is worried enough, and if I ranted to you, you’d probably get sick of it or call me a coward or something.” She didn’t say that to be mean, honestly, she hasn’t had… well she hasn’t had only good dreams since that day, but they hadn’t been this bad before.
Yellow gets quiet.
“I just… it happened, I can’t change that fact. The only thing I can control is my reaction to everything.” She falls back into the bed, head thumping against her soft pillows. “I’m trying to stay positive, to be curious about the new world of possibility I can learn about… and trying not to think about the horrors ahead.” She takes in a breath.
“If I let the fear consume me… nothing will get done” she exhales slowly.
How optimistic, if foolish.
“It’s all I have going for me. I’m not about to be impractical, but I’m choosing to focus on the thrill of discovery. Even if it’s horrors beyond my comprehension” stay positive.
Yellow sighs like he’s exhausted.
I don’t understand you.
She sticks out her tongue, too drained from the nightmare to make a clever comeback.
She sighs.
“Sorry if I startled you, I’ll try and get back to sleep” she blindly grabs for the covers she threw off, Yellow not helping one bit.
It’s fine, now I know to be more on guard.
Well that’s one takeaway.
“Hopefully that doesn’t happen often, I usually have more pleasant dreams… or weird ones.”
Interesting. Yellow hums. Would you tell me about them?
“Really? Not all of them are too interesting.” She warns.
I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t serious! Yellow huffs. And she smiles a bit.
“Alright, next time I dream I’ll tell you.” She settles back into bed, pausing only to turn the radio volume up a little bit.
She probably won’t be getting back to sleep that quickly.
“…Can you tell me about the Dreamlands?” She asks quietly, “it’s… a world that runs on dream logic, right?”
No, there is no logic. None that you’d comprehend. Yellow corrects.
“Like dreams then?” She smirks, then hears Yellow scoff.
I’ll consider it, if I find your talk of your own dreams satisfactory.
Pretentious prick. She huffs quietly.
“Alright, deal” she agrees.
They both sit in silence, eyes closed as she tries to relax and focus on the music.
In the dreamlands, Yellow speaks up. There is a plant called a BlarneyBell it’s… I believe carnivorous is the word you’d use. It lures in prey by emitting a variety of colors and scents, and it traps them in a hypnotic trance, in which the roots will ensnare them, and slowly consume its prey.
“Woah” she breathes, she’s almost certain it’ll be scarier to witness in person, a plant moving in an otherworldly manor, luring in man and beast alike for a meal. Maybe Yellow is dumbing things down for her. But still, she grins.
“It’s like… a pitcher plant, or a Venus fly trap. It can’t move to hunt so it’ll bring the food towards it.” She hums a bit, “guess some things echo, even in different worlds” she breathes. “Amazing”
Yellow hums, she has no idea what he got out of that.
It’s a dangerous place for someone as fragile as you. He says.
“Well, humans also dive into the depths of the ocean or caves for fun. I’m sure some could adapt.”
Humans are strange. Yellow tuts. Or perhaps you’re all just mad.
She snorts.
“Maybe it’s both.”
She can imagine him nodding silently to that. She hopes he does.
Let it be known, I think you handled things in Addison admirably for a human who’s never been involved in things like this. Yellow admits, perhaps someone with as much audacity as you could survive a place like the Dreamlands. He chuckles, it rumbles like distant thunder.
She feels like it’s the most genuine compliment he’s given so far.
She wants to tease, to taunt him about finally being nice. But she decides against it.
“Thanks, I try my best,” she says instead.
Get some rest. Cassandra, we have more to do tomorrow.
“I’ll try, Goodnight Yellow”
And, thankfully, her mind settles enough she slips back into dreamless sleep.
She swears, she could hear Yellow humming along to the music before she drifts off.
Goodnight Cassandra.