Kuroi Chi no Yume
Look an update! That was fast! C:
^^CHAPTER 2^^
The next day in class was a stressful one, despite encouragement from fellow classmates. Maka was exhausted from the little sleep she'd gotten in the last few days and Soul seemed very distracted, refusing to meet her gaze.
I'm sure it's nothing, Maka thought to herself, determined not to dwell on it, It's just lack of sleep…everything is fine…
During the course of the following week, however, it became less and less easy to convince herself of that. Every night without fail, Soul would wake her screaming bloody murder. It terrified her every time.
The lack of sleep and vivid nightmares that plagued her partner and friend were really starting to take their toll on him. She noticed him dozing restlessly in class; constantly yawning during their training exercises but worst of all was his attitude around her. Their conversations were strained and filled with awkward pauses. It didn't help that Soul never met her eyes, averting his gaze whenever it became absolutely necessary to talk to could have just been her imagination, but Maka was sure he was walking further away from him than usual. And he always leaned opposite to her during class.
Damn it Soul! Why won't you trust me enough to tell me what's wrong? Maka mentally raged. Despite her best efforts of being friendly, however, Soul merely brushed her off as quickly and easily as possible. Maka debated to herself whether to talk to her partner about it or not.
It's just some nightmares; it's really not a big deal. The rest is probably just from not getting enough sleep. Maka refused to admit it could be anything worse caused by the black blood. Because if that was the case, then that would make everything that was happening her fault…
No! Everything is fine! Everything is fine.
Maka was worried about him. Not surprisingly, his act wasn't fooling her. The fact that he woke up every night to find Maka shaking him awake from his nightmare probably did little to reassure her. Soul grimaced, glancing at his meister who was currently reviewing her homework with Tsubaki.
"Number 28 was an easy one, Maka. Normally you're good at this sort of stuff, what's wrong?" Tsubaki's blue eyes peered into Maka's green ones, trying to find answers. Maka gave a short laugh that Soul could tell was forced.
"Oh, it's nothing, just been pretty busy lately, you know?..." Soul tuned out the rest of Maka's excuse. He already knew the reason was because he kept waking her up in the middle of the night. Soul clenched his fists, resolute to let at least one of them sleep soundly tonight.
"Well, I think I'm going to turn in for tonight." Soul announced, replacing the last of the supper dishes in the cupboard after drying it. Maka glanced up from the book she was reading in surprise.
"Already?" She questioned, "It's only six thirty."
"Yeah…well, I've been feeling a little tired lately so…" Shrugging Soul made his way to his room.
"Hey Soul?" He stopped, waiting for Maka's inevitable question. "Are you…are you okay?"
"Yeah." He didn't bother turning around, knowing Maka wouldn't believe him either way. He closed his bedroom door and sighed. As much as he hated making Maka worry, he didn't want to let her know how worried he was himself. Changing into his pyjamas, Soul flopped onto his bed and looked at the item in his hands. It seemed slightly barbaric, but hopefully it would ensure Maka slept soundly tonight at least. With a sigh of resolve, Soul ripped a large piece of the duct tape from the roll.
Maka stretched her arms, groaning as she felt her joints pop. She'd reviewed her work twice now and it was already almost an hour later than she'd anticipated. She trudged wearily to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. After brushing and rinsing, she couldn't overcome her curiosity to peek into Soul's bedroom. Opening the door just far enough to poke her head in Maka took note of her partner's tossing and turning. Was that enough to assume a nightmare? Should she wake him now? Then she could get a full night's sleep at least. Maka angrily banished the selfish thought.
This is probably your fault in the first place and all you can think of is your beauty sleep? She chided herself. With a muffled groan, Soul finally pulled the blanket to his chin and stopped moving. After a couple of moments Maka was satisfied enough to head to her own bed, still trying to banish the taunting voice in her head.
Everything is fine…
Everywhere he turned that horrible laughing voice taunted him. It sounded vaguely like Maka's laugh only far more twisted and insane.
"Soooouuuuul…" The voice hissed right in his ear. He whirled to find the source, but there was only darkness. An insane laugh sounded in his other ear, so loud it made him jump. What do you want? He tried to yell, only to find he couldn't speak.
"Loooooooook…" In his first ear again. He whirled determined to catch a look at the disembodied voice, but to no avail. Though it was not only darkness that greeted him this time, but also a floating blue light out in the distance.
If I have that light, these voices will leave me alone. Soul was surprised by how certain he was of this fact, but it made sense in his mind. The light. He needed the light. He moved toward the shining blue light, ignoring the cackling laughter on all sides of him. The laughter seemed to dim as he approached the light. He reached a trembling hand for that wondrous light, but he couldn't quite reach it. Something was blocking his hand.
No! I need it! I need it… He was so close, but there was something solid surrounding it. The taunting voices were returning, laughing loudly in his ears and Soul could feel his grip on sanity loosening. He looked suddenly at his left arm which had transformed into a scythe. Something told him this was a bad idea, but such reasoning was instantly disregarded as the blue light beckoned him. Slashing wildly at the barrier he was surprised how easily it gave beneath his blade. Despite his best efforts, he could feel a ridiculously big grin form on his face. To his own surprise he even let out a small giggle. He could already imagine the wondrous feeling of that light sliding down his throat… It wouldn't really have a taste, but the feeling in his throat would be unbelievable. Soul froze suddenly. He remembered saying those words to Maka once…what had he been describing…? Soul's eyes widened in horror. The light was…then the barrier stopping him…? He became aware of a warm thick liquid dripping from his left arm. Widened eyes, suddenly able to pierce the blackness moved from his arm which was covered in a thick layer of oozing red blood to the still bleeding figure at his feet. The soul hovered in the same spot but the weapon's eyes were locked on the disembowelled body of his partner. Slash marks covered her entire front half, some shallow, but most deep enough to tear out organs and flesh. He wanted to look away, but couldn't avert his gaze from the pile of ravaged intestines that spilled from his meister's torso, stomach contents littering the black ground, awkward pieces of bone erupting from a shattered chest, entrails still oozing out…he became aware of something thicker than blood oozing from his clenched fist and slowly opened his palm to reveal a splattered, disgustedly squished organ that had at one time pumped blood through the slaughtered corpse that lay before him. He could see small wisps of steam that rose from it from being in the warm body and feel the tiniest of twitches as it tried to recover from suddenly being wrenched from its lifelong home. He dropped it to the ground, horrified. Soul's mind replayed the feeling of tearing through the invisible barrier, replacing the shapeless form with that of his partner's and Soul could feel the bile rising in his throat. He tried suppressing it, and was nearly successful until the smell wafted over him. His stomach contracted forcefully and the burning vomit flew up his throat. He tried to open his mouth to expel his stomach contents but to his horror, found he still couldn't open his mouth. The burning vomit swirled in his mouth, making him retch again. His lungs gasped involuntarily and he could feel the burning moving down his windpipe…