A/N: Darkiplier / Reader, first-person POV. It's partially a self-insert fight me but the reader/OC will be addressed with neutral pronouns and is also unnamed so almost anyone can immerse themselves in the story. M/18+ for violence, language, possible sexual themes, and drug use.
"..ey..."
God, today's been dragging on forever.
"..ey..!"
I still can't believe it's only 5 o'clock.
"Hey!"
I jolt back from the counter and turn around and see my manager frowning at me, arms folded across her chest. I gave a nervous chuckle and shrugged. I like Marie. She was basically everyone's work-mom, or the mom-friend if you got to hang out with her outside of work. She looked frustrated but her brows were furrowed like she was concerned. I knew it was about me. She told me that I'd been dazing off a lot and it was starting to interfere with my work. I already made two wrong drinks in a row for the same customer; I'm surprised she hasn't sent me home.
"What's up, 'Rie?"
"Don't 'what's up 'Rie' me, you know what's up, (_). You came in looking dead this morning and the morning before, you screwed up a poor customer's drink twice in a row earlier, and now you're practically snoozing off at the counter. If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to force you to take time off", she huffed, "I mean, if that'll even do anything..."
I sighed and looked at my feet, shrugging. I didn't know what to say to her, I knew she was right. I was having such a hard time sleeping at home. I've tried basic melatonin, I tried chugging NyQuil, I tried edibles. I would manage to get to sleep but I would wake up in a cold sweat every hour. As if someone, or something, was trying to prevent me from sleeping. What kind of sick asshole would not want an opening barista to sleep for crying out loud? It pissed me off but there was nothing I could do about, I tried everything that was (for the most part) legal. But I couldn't afford to take time off. Not with my rent just recently being raised, my bills going up, and all my other expenses on top of that. And I don't really make good pay an hour since I make tips and I do have to keep track of (most of) them.
"Hey, quit that."
Suddenly Marie's hands were holding mine. I didn't realize I was bleeding. Everyone tells me that I dig into and pull onto my skin around my nails when I get anxious. I've been doing it for years and I know I do it but I never realize it when I'm actually going at it. I finally glanced up at Marie who was looking at my hands, her expression differing from the one she was giving me earlier. It was a lot sadder now, her eyes half-lidded. It almost made me want to cry but I was still on the clock. Luckily no one had come in except for a co-worker who was clocking on in an hour, so right after I get off.
"Let's go to the back and clean this up, okay?" Marie's voice was much softer than before. Quieter. Gentle. I'm really glad to have someone in my life like Marie. I owe her my life practically since she's always gone out of her way to help me. She even helped me get this job by putting in a good word (or several) for me. We've been friends for years and worked together for a good portion of our friendship. Honestly, I have a crush on her but I knew nothing would happen between us. Which was okay, it would probably destroy our work environment, our work ethic, and most importantly our friendship. All this time I spent thinking about my relationship with Marie, she was already putting Hello Kitty band-aids around my fingertips. They were pink and had a bunch of different pastries on them; I knew she stocked up on them just for me. Despite being a nervous wreck, I was also just really clumsy and rowdy in general, so I hurt myself a lot on job.
"There, all better. And cuter!"
"Aw, you're saying I wasn't cute before you put these on?"
I wiggled my fingers at her and she snorted.
"Why don't you go home, (_)? I can take care of the place for an hour. Maybe I'll have Gavin start half an hour early if I need the help."
"No, it's cool. I really need the mo-"
"I'll give you the tips for today, you clearly need them more than I do." She was still smiling at me.
"No, god Marie, don't do that to me..!"
She wasn't having it, I could tell. She left the backroom and printed out the report from the card reader, pulling the money out from the electronic tips, emptied out the tip jar and organized it all. She walked back and practically shoved the money into my hands.
"Go home, hun. Try to rest. You got the next two days off, you might as well get a head start."
She winked.
...
That was cute.
I nodded and put the money in my wallet, took my apron off, and gathered my stuff from my locker in the back. Gavin walked in and made note that I was leaving early.
"Where're goin' kid? Y'got like 45 minutes left!"
"Marie's letting me go early, I'm not feeling too good."
"Ah, still not sleepin'?" He frowned. "I'm sorry, bud. Sleep's important!" He glanced around and made sure we were still the only ones in the room. "I got some cookies if ya really need 'em.."
I laughed. "I tried edibles already, Gavin. Not even those work."
"Man, the weed in this state is a sham, I'm tellin' ya! Maybe if ya had the good stuff, might work better!"
"I don't have the funds to move to California, dude. I'd never make it. And living there is way too expensive. I have a hard time up here enough as it is!"
Our laughter filled the room and Marie suddenly came in out of nowhere and pretended to be angry with us. "I heard fun in here and y'all know how I feel about fun!" was all she said before leaving and shutting the door.
"She's somethin', that lady", Gavin muttered. "Anyway, get outta here before Marie changes her mind!"
I smiled and nodded, throwing my tote bag over my shoulder and walked out. I looked back and waved at Marie who waved back, and Gavin who popped out and gave me finger guns which I, of course, returned. I opened the door and the cold air hit me like daggers to my skin after being inside a warm, cozy cafe all day. Luckily I lived a few blocks down the street so I didn't have to be out in the cold too long, but I also enjoyed the cold. I definitely like freezing better than sweating to death. I'll take fall and winter over spring and summer any day. The plus side of living further up north is that the colder seasons last longer.
Finally back in my humble abode that I can barely afford, I throw my tote bag onto the small "dining table" that's mere steps away from the kitchen. My bed's a few more steps away and I flop onto it without hesitation. My bed frame has wheels on it that don't lock so the force of me falling onto the bed knocked it against the wall and back and I groaned. I only owned a twin size mattress (I couldn't fit a bigger one in here even if I tried) but somehow the compact size made it all the more irritating to fix. Or I could just be whining for nothing. It's most likely the latter.
I lift myself up to push my bed back against the wall and lay down with my back against the bed and stared at the LED clock on the nightstand (it's a chair but I had to make do with what I had).
[ 5:47 PM ]
I close my eyes and let out a loud groan. I was so tired of not being able to sleep that I might actually be tired enough now to pass out. I still had my work clothes and shoes on but I didn't care at this point. If I was finally going to be taken by slumber, then I was going to let it take me the way that I am now.
[ 6:01 PM ]
I'm almost there, I can feel it.
[ 6:38 PM ]
Wow, is this what being this tired feels like?
[ 7:17 PM ]
...
[ 7:52 PM ]
...
[ 8:12 PM ]
...
[ 8:49 PM ]
..
[ 9:06 PM ]
..
[ 9:32 PM ]
. . .
[ /
...
[ 99999999,,,,,,,,,,,,;;
...
352gbdf44u0b9933bhe.../;;fhg
...so cold...
"..ake up.."
..Why is it so cold..?
"..ake up, (_).."
..Who is that..?
"Get up, (_)."
I opened my eyes immediately at suddenly hearing the voice much more clearly. It sounded as if it was right next to my ear but there was no one else around me.
In fact-
...There was nothing around me at all.
Everything was just pitch black, but some areas were different shades of black.
They looked as if they were...moving.
Shifting.
As if the room was...breathing.
Like the darkness in this place...was alive.
The panic was already settling in and I couldn't control it. I wanted to yell out into the darkness, I wanted to scream, I wanted to escape. But every time I opened my mouth, I could feel myself yelling but I couldn't hear anything. It was so quiet I could almost hear my heart beating, I could practically feel my heart beating in my throat.
I was terrified.
I was trapped.
How the hell could I even escape?
Where would I go?
I started to cry. I couldn't not cry. I felt hopeless. I was so shaken up by the environment that I couldn't even think about getting up. I was trembling now, tears rolling down and off my face, falling onto my pants. I curled my fingers into my hands so hard that I started to bleed. My blood was so hot that the contrast from feeling hot blood on my now-freezing hands stung me more so than the wounds did.
"Are you afraid?"
That voice again...
It echoed all around me, it could've been coming from anywhere. I wanted to respond but still my voice wouldn't come through.
"I didn't quite catch that... I'll ask again."
It sounded threatening, malicious. I wanted to answer, but...
"Are you afraid?"
This time the voice was right by my ear again and sounded clear as day and I managed to let out a bloodcurdling shriek.
And then nothing.
Absolute darkness.
...
[ 6:19 AM ]
I opened my eyes and practically hissed at the daylight, the light from the rising sun pained me to look at as morning rays were coming into my room from the window. I looked at the clock and heaved a sigh, bringing my hands up to my face. Thank god I had the day off or I would've been late as hell. Thanks to that nightmare, I'm actually terrified of sleeping now.
God...
And what a wild nightmare too.
It felt so real. That was what bothered me the most. So I have a messed up dream? So what if it was scary? Dreams are just dreams but that didn't feel like a dream and that was a problem. It felt real. It had to have been real. I mean I know I'm not all right in the head but...
It was real.
It was real.