Burn ~ Chapter 1
Title: Burn
Author: clovert & kokkaii
Rating: PG
Pairing: Aimiya, Sakumiya, Ohmiya, Sakumoto... (yes it's messy)
Summary: There's something Nino couldn't remember. And it won't leave him alone until he does.
A/N: This is a very very messy collaboration with Kokkaii (but it was really fun writing it that way). She made me post this cus I haven't been showing up for... a long time. beware, we're on 4 horror movies + crack when writing this.
Chapter 1:
He was here again, in this dark corridor with candles adorning the wall. The blue flames from the candles made his shadow dance on the wall as he walked by them. He could feel a breeze from the darkness ahead of him, and the faint creaking noise of old wooden floorboards rang in his ears.
An unsettling feeling sank to the pit of his stomach as he realized that this corridor wasn't normal - it was the lack something rather than the presence of something - and it paralyzed him. He was looking for something again, night after night after night, but then…
What is it, he wondered again and again as he urged his heart to slow down and his legs to move, what is it?
His breath hitched as the creaking sounds turned into the sound of something rolling on the floor. And then something small rolled out of the shadows beyond him. It stopped at his feet.
He looked at it hesitantly. What is it this time? He thought. It was different, always different every night.
He squinted his eyes at the white thing, but was unable to decipher what it was. Unwilling to pick it up, he used the tip of his sneakers to roll it over. It was a snowball tainted with dust. He pulled his leg back to kick it.
Something large crashed at the end of the corridor, and he looked up just as yellow and orange flames started to rush towards him. His bent leg was suddenly heavier than before and he fell on the ground. He screamed.
“What’s wrong?”
Nino opened his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” the voice asked again. Nino turned towards it, his neck creaking painfully. A man, someone Nino was sure he hasn’t met before, was beside his bed. The man laughed and Nino’s eyes widened at the familiarity of this situation.
“Why are you here?” Nino asked the man.
The man laughed again, getting up from his seat. "The better to take care of you with," the man whispered to him, a hand on his knee and the other onto his shoulder. “I'll always be here," the man said as he began to burst into flames.
"Wait!" Nino screamed. "Wait! Ai-"
He woke up.
His vision was blurry, and he knew he must have cried again. He was in his room, but he felt disoriented. It was as if he could still feel the heat from the flames.
It was like this every single night for the past three months. He was always in the same house looking for something important, and then that man… He must be punishing me for this, he thought bitterly as fresh tears poured down his face.
With shaky hands, he reached over the bedside table for his cellphone, and clumsily punched in the key for speed dial number two.
".... Nino." The voice sounded groggy on the other side, but it was a statement and not a question.
"Sho-chan," he whimpered softly from under his blankets.
It was as if the other man understood all that he wanted to say with just that tone. "Alright, I'll be over soon."
Sho will come, he reassured himself as he heard the dial tone. He always comes. He balled himself into the covers tiredly. In the meantime...
He shut his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, he never does, not after the same nightmare, but he was comforted by the fact that with his eyes closed, he won't be able to see anything.
"When you wish upon a star," he sang softly. "Makes no difference who you are..." He paused, forgetting the rest of the lyrics.
"Anything your heart desires...." a voice whispered.
Nino shut his eyes tighter. "A-anything," he stammered. "Y-your heart desires...will come to you."
"-come to you."
His heart started pounding louder and faster as he realized that it was singing with him. "If your heart i-is in y-your dream," he sang louder.
"I'm in your dream," a breathy voice whispered by his ear.
Nino's eyes snapped open. He opened his mouth but a fistful of cloth was shoved into it and he started to choke. Panicking, he kicked at the covers, leaning further and further back away from the voice.
Sho-chan, he screamed soundlessly. Please help me!
Fingers frantically flipped open his phone, and he fumbled to hit redial. Sho-chan! Sho-chan! Sho-chan! His own breathing almost covered the sound from his phone. Please pick up the phone, he prayed as his eyes darted back and forth in the dark for the thing that was in his room. He almost sighed when the line connected.
"I'm in your dream." The same breathy voice whispered through his ear piece.
Nino flung the phone away. It hit something in his room and fell to the ground with the sound of glass breaking.
The door to his room slammed open.
He scampered to the corner of his room, curling himself into it. "Go away!" he cried. “Please just -" A pair of hands pulled him and he screamed.
"CALM DOWN, NINO!" He opened his eyes.
A blurry Sho was standing in front of him, sloping shoulders and all, and he had never seen a more welcoming sight. "Sho-chan," he croaked. He threw his arms around the taller man. "Sho-chan." he couldn’t stop the relieved tears that flooded down his face.
Somewhere in the room, the window creaked slightly open.