You let them get to us...
You knew that they were near, but you ignored their threat...
You had no right to outlive, and yet that's what you've done...
You...
He woke up in an instant, blank, pillows, and everything else falling off as he jumped up before his foot hit nothing but air and he fell to the hard floor in lieu of the absence of a mattress at that specific coordinates.
God damn it...
He slipped back in his bed, rolling and tossing continuously. Eventually he got the message. He wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.
Well...
Removing his S & W revolver, he fiddled with it continuously until the sun shone.
Taking it apart, he replaced the parts back in, before taking it apart again and repeating it.
When the sun finally rose, he finally snapped out off his doldrums, and prepared his shit for school. As usal, his revolver was placed inside his jacket.
Opening the door, he walked out into the streets of Tokyo, turning on his way to school.
...
"Conan-kun... wake up."
What?
"Wake up, Conan-kun."
Uh huh...
"Wake up! Are you ill or something?"
"Fine. Verdammit. I'm coming."
He slowly awoke to his senses as his mind reverted from the container maze to a classroom. His thoughts left the dark walkways as he found himself in a chair, in front a desk, the room filled with the scraping of lead versus paper.
"Uh... what?" he asked.
"Are you ok? You look tired." Ayumi replied, her voice full of concern.
"Guess so. I basically stayed up the night," he replied.
Immediately Ayumi jumped up on his case.
"Why, then? You know that its not good for you! Why—"
Conan cut her off.
"A bad dream, ok?"
Ayumi sighed.
"Ok... so keep your rest from now on, ok?"
Conan nodded in response.
"Verdammit," he cursed under his breath.
Staring out of the window, he turned his thoughts to the classroom.
Even if you try, they'll murder them all. the darkness spoke to him.
Then they'll not go unchallenged. he responded.
The darkness remained undaunted, it continued to press him. To control him. To burrow deep into his brain, squeezing his mind deep into the unknown and never get out again.
And he wasn't giving in.
For hours, it was a constant battle. The darkness wasn't giving in. Neither was he.
The battle continued for a few more hours until—
"Conan-kun, are you ok? You didn't sleep last night."
Ayumi gently nudged him.
Conan groaned. Ayumi was right. He was tired. Oh boy, he was Verdammit fucking tired.
"Conan Egodawa? If you're tired then go to the nurse's office," the teacher said, her voice filled with concern.
"I heard that you didn't sleep last night."
Conan shook his head.
"No, I'm still good."
—
A gunshot rang out.
Then another.
And another.
Ai stood with her back to the wall.
With nowhere to retreat.
The man in black in front of her then without hesitation, raised his rifle, aimed it at her, and fired.
—
Ai instantly awoke, sweat on her face and clothes.
After a while, she calmed down.
It's only a bad dream...
But down below, she had a strange feeling. A gut feeling. Like danger was close.
Danger is close...
She looked at the alarm clock. 5:30 AM. Sighing, she prepared her stuff for school as she removed the Colt 45 inside her desk drawer. Sliding the .45 caliber rounds into the magazine, she sighed and prepared herself for another day of school.
She sighed. Nightmares were nothing new for her. Every time she went to sleep, they would torment her. No matter what she did, they would always rush in, bringing with them all the horror.
And with her sister gone, what can she do?
Nothing, she mused.
Not a dammed thing.
...
The rest of the day was usal. She went to school, focused herself on the board. She ignored the chatting first-graders around her (no small feat especially when one of them tried to nag her to get along).
But now, there's nothing. And the darkness had finally caught up to her, wrapping itself around her, burrowing it's way in. Mentally, it was a constant battle; the darkness would wind its way in; and she would push the darkness out.
And the battle raged on.
The darkness would pry its way in...
She would smash it out...
It would pry its way in...
She would fight her way to push it out...
Am I a joke to you? the darkness spoke to her.
That was the last thing she heard when the entire world for her went dark as she fell backward from her chair.
A/N: Sorry for this chapter's short length, I got slammed by a writer's block and to top that all off, a lot of crazy stuff. When I started "Das Sonne, Die Nacht", "A Tale of Two Countries", and "Gerade, So Wie Ich", I was in Saigon (or HCMC as of 2021), and right now, I'm at my grandparents's house in Cam Ranh, and that necessarily mandated a full day without writing (WiFi sucks at TSN airport, and the Airbus A320 used here infamously has no WiFi). Sorry for that, I'll try to write a longer chapter next time.
Yeah.