Chapter Text
-[OCTOBER 7th, 1996]-
“So… How are you, Sunny?”
He asked with a smile across his face, both of them were sitting right on the edge of that small wooden dock on their secret spot near the park, the blonde boy just enjoying the feel of the wind hitting him right on the face while hearing the sound of the water shaking a bit on the edges of the lake.
It was a beautiful day, it really was, the sun hitting him on the face, it felt warm, safe. But still, it couldn’t shake that weird feeling off.
S: “I’m… doing better… i guess…”
He said without looking at him and just with his stare locking onto the nothingness of the horizon, his hair moved as the wind grew stronger.
B: “It’s been… 2 years already…”
Said the blonde, Sunny felt some kind of knot on his troath by just remembering what happend.
B: “Time sure flies haha…”
He smiled, his legs, hanging in the air under the edge moved softly forward and back while sunny just stood still.
S: “I still… dream about her… sometimes.”
He said, that tone… Basil could feel it, the sadness and guilt on his voice, couldn’t say he didn’t share the feeling, but he surely learned to forgive himself thanks to his friends, now Sunny? He said he was doing better… but how much better was he actually doing?
B: “Sunny, you know you can always talk-“
S: “I’m not talking about… that…”
He said looking at him trough the corner of his eye, Basil frowned a bit in confusion.
B: “You mean… that… sleep-space or something?”
S: “Headspace.”
Basil remembered when they talked about it, Sunny told him about that huge coping mechanism that he lost himself into those 4 years after the incident.
It took him several therapy sessions to finally let go of that world in his head, and a couple of months to even mention it to Basil, his closest friend, him and Kel were the only ones who actually knew about this place, this dreamy hallucination he had, Sunny never really went too much into detail, and just limited himself to say that this was his way to escape reality and just be with her again, it felt like something he had to share with someone.
S: “No i… i haven’t been there again… i don’t need it… it would just… hurt to see that version of her again i… i wouldn’t stand it.”
Sunny slowly put his own hand in the front of him, looking right at the palm, he still felt as if blood were on them.
S: “I’ve been trying so hard to move on… so hard to forgive myself… and all of you keep trying to help me progress, and i-i just… i-i just feel like i’m going back to that moment over a-and over and over again a-and i j-just want to h-hug- s-sniff- her and ask her to please f-forgive me- hic- f-fuck-“
Suddenly his hand, shaking and even stained with some of his tears, was grabbed, Basil held his hand strongly, feeling the warmth of his skin over his, Sunny looked at him eye to eye, revealing thar huge scar and blind white eye, he usually covered it with patch, but letting his scar see the world felt a little less suffocating.
B: “It’s okay… really, Sunny… i know how you feel… you’re trying so hard to progress… to move on… and i get it… it’s hard, feeling as if… you’re stuck, in the same old room, with those fears, guilt and sadness eating you alive and just telling yourself that this is what you deserve non-stop… but in reality… i learned to know that you don’t… you don’t deserve that… you shouldn’t torture yourself over something you know you didn’t wanted to do… i’m not saying you should just forgive yourself and move on, i know is not easy… there are some things that we can’t forgive… but we can learn how to live with that, and heal with time… Sunny… when we are at our lowest point… we are open to the biggest change… so… let’s just go one step at a time… okay?”
He smiled. That smile, gosh, he always knew how to make him feel better, they had been trough a lot together, Sunny took a deep breath, with his other hand he wiped away those tears and after a while, smiled back. The blonde boy was surely suprised, even after everything, it was still wierd to see him show a smile.
S: “O-Okay… y-yeah…”
He looked right into the water, still holding his friend’s hand, seeing his own reflection.
S: “One step at a time….”
“Hey you two! You ok?!”
Those screams coming from behind them were non other than Kel’s, and just as they suspected, looking behind they saw their friends coming with a picnic basket and the same old blanket they always used, it was still suprising that Aubrey still had it.
Basil showed a happy smile again, quickly looked at Sunny for a second before grabbing his bag and saying…
B: “I guess we’ve never been better hehe”
In a funny and ironic way, he stood up, and waved at them who also waved back, Sunny took his backpack, and also stood up so that he could go with them finally being all together again.
It had been two years, two years since he told the truth, he killed Mari, it was an accident, it really was, and they all knew it, it was tough, hard and really painful, and yet there they are, together, like a family.
Sunny turned 18 last month, after the hospital back then he was going to move next town, or maybe the big city, but luckily for him, he convinced his mother to stay, he told them the truth, even to his mother snd it took a while but they forgave him, Sunny took therapy, opened up to his friends and mother, focused a bit on himself and even started to plat basketball with Kel sometimes to also try to have a physical change, even tho basket ball wasn’t really his thing, nor anything that requires too much movement-
Either way, what’s important it’s the fact that all of them were moving on, progressing, evolving even, Aubrey built the courage to get his mother into a mental hospital, remodeled his house a bit and lives off the money his father sent every week while trying to enter university, Kel had a part-time job in Gino’s thanks to Sunny’s recommendation, Hero kept slaving himself to become a doctor but also took some professional cooking courses, and Basil, after also long therapy sessions and talking things out with Sunny he managed to heal pretty quickly, grabbed his love for gardening and made it a full time job around the neighborhood.
And there he was looking lost into the void of that blue sky while laying down on that blanket, Sunny, who still was trying to figure out the next move, heck, he was still trying to figure out how to even leave the past behind, even after everything, after telling the truth, after showing how much he actually hated himself he was still feeling guilty, he still felt hurt, he was still an open wound, bleeding out, slowly, but still bleeding, yes, it was better than before, surely, but still.
And the worst part? He missed her, he missed her so much, he wished he could see her at least one last time, just to tell her how sorry he was, he didn’t wanted a dream, nor a ghost, he wanted her, more than anything in the world, he wanted his sister back.
B: “Still thinking about that?”
Said Basil dragging him out of his toughts again.
S: “Ah- no… i’m just… thinking in general…”
Said the black haired one, looking back at the sky, Basil took a deep breath before laying down next to him and also look up to the sky.
B: “Then… what are you generally thinking about?”
Said with a little smile, Sunny sighed.
S: “I guess… i feel stagnant… seeing all of you move on with your life and me just, still struggling with low-self-esteem, and… trauma… sigh… it makes me feel pathetic… lately the most exciting parts of my life are you guys and… having dinner with my mom before going to bed... maybe because all of you make it a lot more… bearable.”
Basil let out a silly little giggle hearing that last part, Sunny making jokes was something weird but he could get used to that.
B: “Heh, now that’s depressing… sigh, well, you know what i said.”
S: “Yeah yeah… i know… one step at a time… it’s just, now i don’t even know where to start…”
Sunny looked aside, Aubrey sleeping with a smile an her face and both arms behind her head right next to him on that blanket with her legs just over his’, and behind her right next to the lake, was Hero and Kel, playing catch with a small ball.
Basil tilted his head a bit still looking at the sky.
B: “Well that’s something you need to figure out… but… maybe, you also need something to help you decide, to pass the time, like a hobby! Something that clears your mind at least for a while… and no, sleeping doesn’t count.”
Said knowing how much of a sleepy head was his friend.
B: “Ah! I know!”
Said with an excited smile quickly standing up, Sunny raised and eyebrow confused, he also leaned forward but thanks to Aubrey’s legs he couldn’t stand up, Basil quickly grabbed his bag and opened it, searching in there for something non stop.
B: “Here it is! Hehe”
He pulled something out of it, leaving the bag on the floor, Sunny couldn’t see what it due to him being behind Basil.
B: “Okay, close your eyes.”
The blonde said looking at him over his shoulder, Sunny rolled his eyes before obeying.
B: “Okay, ready….? Open your eyes.”
Just as Sunny opened his eyes, those baggy and tired eyes were opened wide in suprise and shock watching the object the blonde had on his hands.
S: “T-That’s-“
B: “My polaroid… i want you to have it, helped me a lot back then and… i think it can help you too… plus… maybe it’ll remind you of us when you need it hehe, i already bought a new model and… i really don’t want to throw the old one away.
Sunny softly grabbed that camera, looking at it, reliving all those memories from the photo album, eating watermelon, making flower crowns, halloween, christmas, all those birthday parties, gosh, just remembering them made his eyes teary.
Maybe Basil was right maybe he needed some hobby to clear his mind, something to focus on while trying to heal, and maybe even make new memories and have a record of his own progress, his imagination already started to give him ideas.
Suddenly he hugged his friend so hard that took him off guard, but instantly he hugged him back.
S: “Thank you… i… i really needed this.”
He said, Basil smiled and just said.
B: “I’ll always be here for you… me and well… everyone else.”
They stood there hugging for a few seconds before both Kel and Hero stopped playing and decided it was a good time to start eating.
And the day passed as usual, they laughed, joked aroune, slept, and much more all day together and right before evening, Sunny took his first picture, a group picture with everyone in it.
S: “I’ll need to buy and album or something…”
He said seeing the picture on his hand as he walked next to the two brothers now coming home, Basil and Aubrey left together.
K: “Hell yeah!! A new photo album sounds amazing! Hehe… and to think you’re the one taking pictures now… ah- they grow up so fast- sniff.”
Said joking Kel, Sunny let out a small giggle, Hero put a hand on his shoulder.
H: “Well, i’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to make a new album together haha… man this brings good memories…”
S: “Yeah… it does…”
K: “Now now you two, you’re gonna make me cry, let’s hurry before it gets cold out here.”
It didn’t took them long to finally reach home, Kel and Hero were still his neighbors so everyday they pretty much always came back together, mostly Kel and Sunny, either way, by the time they already got home, the moon and stars were already visible on the sky.
And after saying goodbye and before entering his house, he took another quick picture outside of the place he called home, shaking that polaroid as he approached the door.
-(…)-
“So, how was your day sweetie?”
Said Roselle, his mother, they were already having dinner, Sunny didn’t took a single bite of his plate yet, laying his face on his fist just looking at the food.
S: “It was good… i uh… i’m not really that hungry… sorry”
His mother tilted his head confused and a bit concerned.
R: “Really…? Huh, you’ve never said no to steak before… anything wrong son?”
She said, Sunny looked aside, that polaroid sitting right on the couch next to his backpack, remembering that conversation, and yet he couldn’t shake that feeling of, that feeling of guilt and sadness eating him alive from the inside, it felt like hole in his chest that just grew larger.
S: “You think… she would forgive me….?”
Said with a cold and depressing tone, that question took his mother really off guard, she took a deep breath, and softly reached her hand to grab his.
R: “Of course she does honey…”
Said with an empathic tone and a smile lovely and yet nostalgic, Sunny looked at her revealing that expression, empty and sad.
S: “I-i… i know you forgave me… all of them did… b-but i- hic- i-i just can’t let it go m-mom… i-i f-feel so bad… i-i k-killed her mom… i-i killed her- s-sniff- y-your daughther- m-my sister- i-i fucking k-killed her- i-i ruined our family- i-i’m so sorry mom i-i’m so sorry-“
R: “Shhh… it’s okay…”
Said as she suddenly stood up to quickly hug him, Sunny didn’t had the strength to stand up and just hugged her back sinking his face on her belly while he clunged to her crying his hearth out, his mother couldn’t help but also let out a few tears, seeing her only son like this was horrible.
R: “We already talked about this… it was an accident… i know you didn’t meant to…”
She softly put a hand on his left cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin gave him a sense of safety that he really could’t get anywhere else. He slowly looked up, his mother could see those eyes, tired and baggy, still letting tears out.
R: “Oh Sunny… don’t you remember what i told you?”
S: “T-That- s-sniff- n-no m-matter w-what happens… y-you’ll always love m-me…”
Said between sobs trying to calm himself down, his mother let out a little lovely smile while softly petting the same cheek she had her hand on.
R: “Haha that’s right… no matter what happens, or what you do… Mommy will always love you… okay…?- Tell you what, why don’t you go to bed while i warm your food up again… and maybe who know… tomorrow we could have a movie night? What do you say?”
Said with a smile on her face, Rose always did anything she could to cheer his son up, showing love and affection in every way possible and Sunny loved it, the love he had for his mother was something that couldn’t be put into words.
Sunny nodded, honestly he could use some sleep, plus the look in those baggy and tired eyes speaked for him. He told his mother he didn’t wanted to eat and just went straight to bed without saying anything else except for “good night.”
And there he was laying on that bed, motionless with the eyes lost in nothingness again, even after all that happend today he still felt like shit, he spent time with his friends who at this point were more like a family and all he could think about is how he didn’t deserved any of it, and then, there was that conversation with Basil.
He looked aside, seeing that Polaroid sitting on his night table next to him, next to it were the two photos he took, his house and his friends, and in the last one he focused remembering those words again.
“You need time to heal”
“One step at a time”
“You learn how to live with it”
“Something to clear out your mind”
He closed his eyes after taking a deep flustered breath, it was easier said than done and he more than anyone else knew it, at least now he felt calm, there was still a lot on his mind but as the slowly let the warm bed sheets embrace him with that comfort, a comfort he needed for a while now, his body once tense was now fully relaxed, his clothes felt more comfortable than ever, and suddenly he was no longer in that bed, he felt the air punching his skin, a small breeze, how? If the windows were closed?
“Wake up sleepy head…”
A voice could be heard, a female familiar voice that as soon his ears heard it his whole body freeze as a slow goosebumps crawled in his back.
S: “Mari…?”
He said in almost a whisper as he opened his eyes being met with the sun over him on a completely blue sky without a single cloud on it, then two soft hands slowly placed themselves on his cheeks being upside down, he could feel it, her prescence right behind him, but still he didn’t look around to see her and just softly pet his skin. Her hand was cold.
M: “I’m here… i’ve always been here.”
She said, her tone, it was weird, hard to describe, Sunny couldn’t help but to start quietly cry again, it hurted.
S: “I-I m-miss you soo much… h-hic… i-i’m so sorry Mari… i-i didn’t meant to… i just… i-i just couldn’t handle it… t-the lessons… the practice… t-the… perfectionism- sinff- g-gosh… i-i-“
M: “Shhhh…. It’s okay…. It’s okay….”
Her hand slowly moved petting her left cheek with a lovely and affectionate tone, Sunny softly leaned against it.
S: “I-I can’t… move on… i-i can’t move on without you…”
M: “I know…”
He just kept crying non stop as she kept showing that little gesture of affection still without making herself seen.
M: “But… you do know… all of this… is your fault right?”
S: “W-What…?”
Suddenly her hands started to go deeper, slowly reaching down to his neck an her fingers firmly began to wrap around this, Sunny’s body was frozen and herint those words made the whole in his chest who disappeared for a moment now appeared again but this time like a sudden stab right into his guts.
M: “You caused this Sunny… you did this to me… to us… you ruined us little brother… you ruined everything…”
S: “I-I d-didn’t meant to- g-gah!”
Her grip to her neck strengthened, her nails began to dig into his skin he couldn’t breathe, he tried, every part of his body tried to move, but he couldn’t he couldn’t even shake, his body was just paralyzed, and then she saw it, her head slowly entering his field of visios and revealing her appearence, her hair covered his whole face as just one of her eyes were visible staring dead at him, it didn’t flinch, move nor blinked, it just stared as the only sound that could be heard were Sunny’s desperate gasps begging for air.
S: “G-GAH! H-Haah… Haaah…”
He violently leaned forward on the bed, still gasping for air even tho he had finally woken up, once he realized he was back in the safety of his room he let out a huge sigh of relief falling back down onto the bed still tense with adrenaline running trough his veins, he was even sweating.
S: “F-Fuck…”
This had to be the worst nightmare yet, he looked aside, once again into that night table, and right next to that polaroid and pictures sitting in the exact same way they were when they saw it before there was a digital clock, marking 3:26 A.M.
S: “Sigh… god…”
He said, once again he could feel it, the urge to cry, that hole on his chest just kept growing larger, kept consiming more and more, he knew that even if he tried to, he wouldn’t fall asleep again, so he just stood up the bed, went to the door, careful to not wake his mother up with noise, and slowly approached the bathroom, once there he turned on the lights and just stood up in front of the mirror looking at himself, Sunny did grew, his scar was visible and his hair a little longer than before, he finally gained some weight even tho not much, but at least wasn’t looking so pale, he was wearing his usual sleeping clothes, black shirt, some shorts and long socks, he opened the sink and splashed some water on his face, and for a few seconds just kept staring losing himself again on his own toughts again, and now on memories, going far back as when everything started, and then where everything ended.
Sunny lived in too much in the past, and that ironically was something that was just hurting him, it wasn’t healty, and then something csme back to his mind.
-(…)-
*Creek*
Was the sound of the closet door opening seeing it sitting there in the middle of the darkness, he searched blindly in the wall with his hand until he found a light switch, the light turned on, barely flashing a couple of times before finally turning on revealing the toy box in the middle of the closet.
S: “It’s still there… isn’t it?”
He said, he knew it, if there was somewhere he needed to start, it had to be here, looking at the thing that started and ended his secret a long time ago, he slowly put a hand on top of that box, passing his fingers over the old wood, carrying dust with them, he softly opened it it and there ir was, between the dust and dirt, and old photos from that old photo album, forgotten for years now, that broken violin.
It looked a lot smaller than he remembered, grabbing it with both nostalgia and sadness he studied it with his eyes, memories came back almost like some kind of sad memorial he was on his knees just holding it and surprisingly he didn’t cry.
*B-Bzz*
Suddenly the light of the room flashed again, it was an old light, barely holding together, he didn’t paid attention to it, he just needed that moment alone.
*Bzzz!*-*Pop!*
Suddenly the light turned off, a short-circuit it seemed, he sighed in frustration, at this point the world just had to be mocking him, sitting in the darkness holding in his hand a reminder of the pain he caused, and there he sat, just in silence, for some reason it was, comforting, it was as if a part of her, a real part of her were there with him.
Then, suddenly, Sunny noticed something, somthing weird, in the middle of the darkness, just a few inches in front of him, a thin, small barely visible line of ehat it seemed to be light appeares, he frowned in confussion.
S: “Huh…?”
He said, light? Impossible, the small little bulb over them literally just burned out, all other lights wre turned off, it was in the middle of the night and none of the street lights could pierce trough any window, the more he analyzed it the less sense it made, that thin line of light with a yellowish tone to it seemed to almost come out of…
S: “The… wall?”
He tilted his head a bit, softly left the violin aside and did the same thing to the toy box before standing up, he leaned closer to the wall, reaching one foreward arm until his hand touched the cold concrete wall, the only thing he could guide of was that yellow line of light, he lesned even closer now bot hands pushing against the wall just searching for anything… until
S: “Aah!-“
*Thud*
Suddenly he… phased trough the wall? Without any logic way of explaining it, he somehow managed to enter trough the solid concrete as if where nothing but thin air, and the thing that cushioned his fall was what it seemed to be an ugly carpet on the floor.
S: “U-Uh… w-what… the… fuck…?”
He said with an expression of pure shock and awe as soon as he raised his head up to see his surroundings, a room, a giant room, covered in that carpet under him, in the middle of it was what appeared to be chairs, just placed everywhere, some smaller some larger, but all of them looked the same, and some of them where stacked like a pile of trash in the middle, the walls were covered in an ugly yellow wallpaper with the same pattern, an the ceiling were lights, divided in tiles, with a fluorescent yellow tone to them, being these the source of that line coming from the closet, and they were emanating an non-stop buzzing white noise, every single one of them.
What was this place? How was this at his house? How did he never knew about this place after all this years? No- how whas this even possible to this place be behind… concrete? It just didn’t make any sense.
He slowly stood up, being still in socks, the carpet felt weird under his feet. Seeing those walls, and how behind that pile of chairs weas a hall, a corner, turning left, he slowly began to walk, carefully, having his feet only with socks made it hard to even hear his steps, his whole body felt tense, was he still dreaming? Was he high or something?
This felt too real, but every dream feels too real, right…? right??? Once he finally reached the corner, he saw how the hall kept going, with a another hall in the middle, another corner turnig right, he again he walked up to it just to be met with more rooms, the same noise, that room had another opening, an empry window frame that had halls and even pillars behind it, more corners, halls and rooms could be seen from afar, some places darker than others, one in particular behind two pillars in pitch darkness, he didn’t dare to step in the darkness inside another corner right in frokt og him, some furniture thrown in wierd places, some literally seemed to be stuck in the wall as if they were part of it.
S: “H-Huh…”
He said looking at that weird view, this place already seemed illogical, there was no way this was in his home, it was far too big, then he could hear it, a small noise right around another corner left, or was it the same he had seen? It all looked the fucking same.
Music, there was music, wierdly relaxing music, somthing you’d seen in an elevetor, if the elevator didn’t had doors, as he slowly approached trough the hall, he found Another room, huge, surrounded by darkness, darkness that was broken thanks to what it seemed to be a pole with two traffic lights in the middle of the room, both traffic lights pointed against each other, one shining green light on one hall in the left, the other a red one in the light, the music seemed to came from a some kind of old speaker in the cealing.
S: “T-This… this is a dream- t-this has to be-“
*Thud*
Suddenly, as both lights changed color, a white heavy noise was heard in the distance, coming from the left, as the light turned yellow, flashing non-stop, the right one jumped to green instantly, Sunny felt his whole skin crawl, paralizad, took a small step back, his face, being lit up by that yellow light.
Sunny kept dead silence, it was such a small sound and yet for some reason it put him edge, something about this place made him feel like that, like something was wrong, like he was somewhere where he shouldn’t be, but maybe it wasn’t a big deal, maybe jusr some other pile of random chairs fell to the ground, right?-
*THUD*
It was louder, closer. This time it didn’t sound like chairs, it didn’t sound like wood falling to the carpet, no, it was heavier, alive.
*T H U D*
That yellow flashing light turned red, his whole face matching that color thanks to it bouncing all over him in the room, the music kept playing.
“hhhh-“
That sound, like something gasping for air so desperately, so pleading, gags, as if it were choking with his own troath, slowly pierced trough his ears, his brain took a good second to finally process what he just heard, his own troath tied up with barbed wire not making him able to even breathe in that moment.
And then he saw it, as the red from the street light began to flash, barely peaking from that corner there was… something, and it wasn’t small, no, the only part showing from whatever the fuck that thing is, was what it seemed to be it’s head with long hair that had a weird purple tone, so long it almost touched the carpet, peaking from the top of that corner almost touching the cealing, it was too tall, too tall to even resemble something human, and then as it slowly showed more of its head.
Right from inside that hair, between one small flash from that red light, saw it, that thing’s face, it didn’t had two eyes, it had a lot, and all were locking right onto him, it was the only part that the fear in his body let him process.
“H-Hhaaaaahh”
As if some kind of switch inside his brain finally turned on, his body reacted making him instantly turn away and start running, right from that thing, as his body finally came back into the yellow fluorescent light, he kept running from the way he came from, his socks punching against that carpet as he could hear behind him the music slowly fading away as soon as he ran away.
The sound of his breathing, heavy, agitated and horrified, the adrenaline, the only thing louder than his own hearth beats was the sound of the steps of that thing behind him.
“H-Hahhh!! HHAAAAHHH!”
It screamed from afar, this time like a twisted roar, it almost seemed to be another helpless scream for air, he didn’t turned back, he didn’t dare to, he kept running, switching corners, helplessly trying to get away from that thing.
S: “O-Ohh f-fuck- o-oh fuck…!! W-WHERE THE FUCK DO I GO?!!”
Left. Right. Right. Left. Middle. Left.
It didn’t make any difference, it all looked the same, it was a laberynth, an horrifying laberynth with yellow wallpaper and ugly carpets, with non stop buzzing from the lights.
Sweat was dropping from his forehead, both out of exhaustion and nervousness, passing trough giant rooms with wierd stuff, long hallways, giant rooms, things so bizarre, illogical, almost as if the architecture itself was a dream, he turned into another corner, this time a dark one, a dark dead end, leaning against the wall trying to catch his breath.
That thing lost him, at least it seemed like it, still, those noises, it was searching for him, still gasping for air, Sunny knew he had to get out of there, he had to find a way back.
S: “H-Hah, g-god… h-haah…”
His mind still had the image of what he saw, that head, that hair, it was so blurry and yet it terrified him, his whole body shaking.
S: “F-Focus- F-Fuck, focus!”
Quickly put both his on his head, pulling his own hair a bit, trying to make memory and remember something, anything that could help him go back.
He could’t go back on his steps, it was both a death sentence and a stupid decision, running away from that thing didn’t left him time to keep track of his turns, so then he quickly tought of something else, reference points, if everything looked the same, look for something that looked different.
S: “U-Uh- s-shit okay- uh… remember… t-the… the charis… y-yes the chairs…”
Then it came back to him, the room he slid in, had all those chairs piled in the middle and put randomly around the room, a clue, something to at least guide himself.
S: “O-Okay- okay u-uhh um… t-that hall- T-The window frame!”
He remembered, letting out a shocked look of realization, in the middle of the hallway next to the one that the chair room was located, there was that empty window frame, and behind that window frame were all those halls and rooms again, but there it was, that small dark area behind those two pillars, and looking right next to him, there they were the same pillars, or at leat that’s ehat his delusioinal mind chose to belive.
Praying to god and every single saint, he softly peeked the corner searching for it, for that window frame or anything that seemed like it.
And then, as if his prayers were heard from heaven itself there it was, that window frame, his hearth skipped a beat as his eyes filled with hope, his whole body with goosebumps, if it wasn’t for the fact that he still wasn’t sure it was the sane window frame, he would have started crying right there, not even out of happiness, it was both for the fear of it being a mere delusion of his brain and the fact that in moment he left out the place, he was dead.
But he knew, if he stayed there, it was just a matter of time for that thing to find him. So, what else could he do?
He took a deep, shaking, breath and carefully looked around making sure nothing was there, there was no other sound than the buzzing of the lights and his own nervous breathing, it was now or never.
He quickly run to that window frame looking around, and once he reached it, he didn’t think twice before jumping across it.
*thud*
Landing on the carpet made a lot less noise thanks to him being still in socks. The hall, still looked the same as everything but it did had that corner, and as he rapidly run trough it, he saw them.
S: “T-The chairs…”
Without any doubt sprinted with all the speed he could towards that place, the room, the exact same room he came in, with all the chairs piled in the middle.
S: “Y-Yes! H-Hah!”
He said quickly running to the wall, both his hands put against the wallpaper, rubbing them everywhere desperately trying to find the space he came from.
*THUD*
his eyes wide opened as he heard that noise again, his body paralyzed with both his hands still against that carpet, that freezing spike of coldness, a goosebump, making his whole skin crawl, hair by hair, he slowly turned his head around looking over his shoulder. The room was empty
*CRACK!!*
“H-HHHAAAHHHH!”
Suddenly a chair, the same chair that was a bit more deep inside the hallway in the corner and the one that confirmed him this was the righr room, flew against the room, smashing against the wall and breaking into some parts, and right next to him that same horrifying sound.
*THUD*-*THUD*-*THUD*
It was close, and getting even closer FAST.
Sunny couldn’t even scream out of fear, the hear of that thing practically on his back, his nails almost ripping the wallpaper off the wall, as he quickly moved across the whole wall now desperate.
S: “P-PLEASE!! H-HELP ME!!
He screamed at the top of his lungs, his nails almost bleeding thanks to the force he put into digging them into the wall, begging hopelessly for someone to save him.
Mom, Kel, Basil, Aubrey, Hero…
Mari.
S: “H-Hic… p-please…”
His eyes began to drop tears, his lips began to break as he softly leaned his forehead to the wall, he knew it, he knew it was over, and all he could do was just… accept it.
He closed his eyes.
S: “I-I’m… sorry… h-hic… i-i’m so so-“
*Thud*
S: “-A-Ah….! H-Huuh…?”
And just when he gave up, as he was ready to accept his own death, like a miracle, he fell down, the air felt different, natural, and there was a weird smell of… dust?
He slowly open his eyes to find himself back into that closet, the window behind the closet door, once full with the darkness of the night, slowly turned into a bluish, orange color, marking the start of the morning.
He stood up, still in silence, his expression showed just pure shock, tears still fell from his cheeks, as he softly walked out the closeth, finding himself st home again.
S: “H-ha… haha… hahaha! H-HAHAHA!”
He let out a manic laughter of disbelief, a nice softer way of saying “HOLY FUCKING SHIT I’M ALIVE!”
His whole body kept shaking non-stop as he once again fell to his knees, put both hands on his chest, still hearing his hearth beat stomping without rest still agitated, as he catched his own breath finally and slowly calming himself down.
He closed his eyes, standing there on his knees still trying to process what the fuck did he just went trough, how did he came back? Was it pure luck? Was it his prayers? Who knew.
He looked back at that closet, the wall at the back of it, his eyes locked into that white dirty concrete, looking ordinary as it always did, as any wall would look, and his eyes, filled with dread, confusion, still fear, still confusion but there was something else apart of those feelings, something far more dangerous.
Curiosity.
All of this should have been a lesson, even if it was real or not, this should have teached him something, a lesson of how the unkown could be dangerous, but something, something about that placed just seemed… interesting.
Despite the fear, the horror, the danger itself, his soul, craved more, it wasn’t about adrenaline, no. This felt like some sick kind of call, as if the universe itself presented him an opportunity, he remembered those words.
“You need a hobby, something to clear your mind…”
Then he made it click into his own mind.
S: “A purpose…”
When he looked back at that concrete wall, he showed a frown, not fear, not dread, a frown of pure focus.
Every negative feeling that was supposed to be a reminder of the reason why he should stay away, why he shouldn’t even fucking consider thinking about going in there again, for some reason, it felt like an invitation, to see if he he had the courage to even think about it, to see if he was the same little scared cowardly kid who ran away from the truth and his problems burying himself in a dream.
For the first time in two years, he felt a sense of purpose, the sense of purpose he craved for so long, the start he needed, he didn’t felt guilty, he didn’t felt like a pice of fucking shit.
He wasn’t going to run away from the truth, no, he was going to go after it. He was going to show it, to himself, to his friends, to everyone how capable he actually was.
Sunny knew that behind that wall was a void, a void so endless, so dangerous that could eat anyone alive, and he, the traumatized, murderer weal child he once was, was going to stare at it, And he wouldn’t blink until there was nothing left to see.
To be continued.