Dream 002 02-26-10 [Recurring Nightmare]
Warnings: Headcanon used. Blood, dead bodies, getting hit by a car
Effects: Horror, shock, feelings of confusion, helplessness and of being trapped in the second half.
Notes: This is the same event that was in Ran's nightmare, at least for the first part.
All replies will be in Japanese. Or really, really bad attempts at English.
It starts with a scream.
Aya stands just outside the kitchen. Her hands shrink back to her chest as she takes a step away from the discovery on the floor. Blood paints the linoleum in glossy crimson. Two bodies lie side by side in the middle of it: Mom, on her back; Dad, on his side.
She can't stop staring. Can't stop her body from trembling in place. Can't think. Her brother ventures forward, kneels at their parents' side, and she barely sees him. He gasps and yells at her. Though the noise startles her, she doesn't understand.
Run, he said.
The next seconds are a haze. An imprint of the sight of Mom's and Dad's corpses lingers like a ghost image through a rough tumble back to the door, desperate hands guiding her all the way. A violent shove and a loud boom. A wave of heat at her back with the bright flash of light behind her. Her body hits the ground. She tastes dirt in her mouth and feels the rain hitting her back. Her kimono's soaked from the puddles underneath her but still carries the tingy stench of smoke.
Her body doesn't want to get up. She fights for the strength to push herself up, and for the courage to look over her shoulder. Home is a giant pile of wood. Her brother is partly visible at the bottom of it, his head and shoulders poking out from the debris. He isn't moving.
"R...Ran-niichan."
She stands, mud pushing between the toes of her bare feet. She cranes her neck further in the direction of the wreckage. Through her blurred vision (rain, it's just the rain), she can't tell if he's trying to get up or not. She wants to believe it but...
"Oniichan!"
Tires screech. An engine roars. Headlights glare upon her, stealing her attention to the road. Her gaze is locked on those twin beacons. They rush forward so fast--
BANG.
Everything flashes white. And then goes completely black.
~*~
All is still. All is silent. Seconds pass by; it seems the Dreamberry should have cut out. It hasn't.
Then, beeps. A steady, clinical blip. It comes and goes between short spans of nothing. Sometimes, there's an equally rhythmic hiss of air with it. Sometimes, one of her hands feels warmer than the other. And sometimes, she hears a soft, quiet and oh so familiar voice speaking to her.
"Aya... Happy 16th Birthday."
Aya tries to answer, but finds no voice. She can't even move her mouth.
"To keep the memory of your suffering alive... I will take your name from now on."
Ran-niichan...
All goes quiet. Then the beeping returns.
Quiet, and more beeps.
Quiet, and finally:
"When this is over... I promise to come get you."
What? When what is over? Oniichan, please don't go...
He doesn't hear. His footsteps lead him across the room, every clap against the tile more distant than the last. She wants to respond. She wants to ask questions. She can do nothing. She can't raise her hand to wave him back. She can't call his name to capture his attention. She can't even look at him. Imprisoned behind closed eyes and a body that won't respond, she can only await the inevitable.
The door closes, and she is left with nothing.
Oniichan...!
---
[Aya gasps as her eyes shoot open, staring at the ceiling. She swallows once and curls a fist over heart. Her hand fumbles for her Dreamberry on the bedside table. She rewatches her own dream, mesmerized at the second half.]
I don't remember that...
[She doesn't notice she's crying.]
Effects: Horror, shock, feelings of confusion, helplessness and of being trapped in the second half.
Notes: This is the same event that was in Ran's nightmare, at least for the first part.
All replies will be in Japanese. Or really, really bad attempts at English.
It starts with a scream.
Aya stands just outside the kitchen. Her hands shrink back to her chest as she takes a step away from the discovery on the floor. Blood paints the linoleum in glossy crimson. Two bodies lie side by side in the middle of it: Mom, on her back; Dad, on his side.
She can't stop staring. Can't stop her body from trembling in place. Can't think. Her brother ventures forward, kneels at their parents' side, and she barely sees him. He gasps and yells at her. Though the noise startles her, she doesn't understand.
Run, he said.
The next seconds are a haze. An imprint of the sight of Mom's and Dad's corpses lingers like a ghost image through a rough tumble back to the door, desperate hands guiding her all the way. A violent shove and a loud boom. A wave of heat at her back with the bright flash of light behind her. Her body hits the ground. She tastes dirt in her mouth and feels the rain hitting her back. Her kimono's soaked from the puddles underneath her but still carries the tingy stench of smoke.
Her body doesn't want to get up. She fights for the strength to push herself up, and for the courage to look over her shoulder. Home is a giant pile of wood. Her brother is partly visible at the bottom of it, his head and shoulders poking out from the debris. He isn't moving.
"R...Ran-niichan."
She stands, mud pushing between the toes of her bare feet. She cranes her neck further in the direction of the wreckage. Through her blurred vision (rain, it's just the rain), she can't tell if he's trying to get up or not. She wants to believe it but...
"Oniichan!"
Tires screech. An engine roars. Headlights glare upon her, stealing her attention to the road. Her gaze is locked on those twin beacons. They rush forward so fast--
BANG.
Everything flashes white. And then goes completely black.
~*~
All is still. All is silent. Seconds pass by; it seems the Dreamberry should have cut out. It hasn't.
Then, beeps. A steady, clinical blip. It comes and goes between short spans of nothing. Sometimes, there's an equally rhythmic hiss of air with it. Sometimes, one of her hands feels warmer than the other. And sometimes, she hears a soft, quiet and oh so familiar voice speaking to her.
"Aya... Happy 16th Birthday."
Aya tries to answer, but finds no voice. She can't even move her mouth.
"To keep the memory of your suffering alive... I will take your name from now on."
Ran-niichan...
All goes quiet. Then the beeping returns.
Quiet, and more beeps.
Quiet, and finally:
"When this is over... I promise to come get you."
What? When what is over? Oniichan, please don't go...
He doesn't hear. His footsteps lead him across the room, every clap against the tile more distant than the last. She wants to respond. She wants to ask questions. She can do nothing. She can't raise her hand to wave him back. She can't call his name to capture his attention. She can't even look at him. Imprisoned behind closed eyes and a body that won't respond, she can only await the inevitable.
The door closes, and she is left with nothing.
Oniichan...!
---
[Aya gasps as her eyes shoot open, staring at the ceiling. She swallows once and curls a fist over heart. Her hand fumbles for her Dreamberry on the bedside table. She rewatches her own dream, mesmerized at the second half.]
I don't remember that...
[She doesn't notice she's crying.]