Chapter 1, Part 2

CHANGE OF PACE

"Monika? I thought you weren't supposed to be here until Saturday." I quizzically glance at Sayori before closing the door behind Monika.
"Actually, after what you said before you left today, I got worried about Sayori too." Monika walks over to Sayori's couch, and takes a seat.
"I'm fine, you two. Let me go put this stuff in my room, then we can talk about whatever you needed to, Monika." Sayori begins to make her way up the stairs to her room.
"Monika," I whisper to her, "Something isn't right here, Sayori said she got groceries, but why is she putting them in her room?"
"Just because she said she got groceries, doesn't mean it specifically has to be food." Monika leans in next to me. "But I think you're right, though. She's been acting really strange these past few weeks. I'm sure you've noticed too."
"When a friend you've known for years starts acting differently, yeah, you notice it." Monika returns back to her seat as we both hear Sayori's bedroom door shut.
"So, Monika, what was it you were needing to talk about?" Sayori takes a seat.
"Well, aside from worrying about you, I was wanting to talk about the festival preparations." Monika pulls out a stack of papers from her bag. "I figured we could make a few fliers, but since Shin is here, it will go a lot faster!" She says with a bright smile on her face.
"Wait," Sayori holds a hand up to Monika. "Shouldn't we talk to Yuri and Natsuki about this before we decide on anything?"
"Oh, you're right, I'm sorry, I tho-" Monika catches herself. "I um.. I guess I didn't think about that."
"Yeah, we should talk to them about it tomorrow." I try to ignore what Monika did, but I can't help but get a nervous feeling just thinking about it.
"Well, in that case," Monika starts to put the papers back in her bag, and gets ready to leave. "I'm sorry to have bothered you two." She begins to walk to the door.
"Wait, Monika." I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I was actually needing you to help me with a few things, would you mind coming back to my house for a little while?"
"Oh, sure, what did you need help with?" I can see she almost starts to smile after I said that.
"I needed help with, uh..." I try to find an excuse. "I need help figuring out some things about poetry, actually." I know it was a poor excuse, but I just needed Sayori to believe it.
"Of course!" Monika turns to Sayori. "I hope you don't mind me stealing him, Sayori!" She says jokingly, but I can see something about that upset her.
"Oh... Of course not, Monika." Sayori puts her hands behind her back. "Just make sure you keep both of your hands to yourselves!" Sayori tries to force herself to laugh and smile.
"You don't have to worry about that, Sayori." Monika goes to give Sayori a hug. "Trust me." Both Monika and Sayori smile after they release each other.
"Anyways, I'm just glad you're okay, Sayori." I go to give Sayori a hug myself. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye guys!" Sayori waves as we walk to the door. "Thanks for visiting!"
After the short walk back to my house, Monika and I walk in.
"Shin, are you completely oblivious or something?" Monika stops after closing the door, and looks at me with an irritated expression.
"Wh... what?" I stand in the kitchen doorway, confused. "What are you talking about, Monika?"
"You seriously don't realize what's going on, do you?" She puts her hands on her hips. "Let me show you something."
Monika pulls a pen and paper out of her bag, and begins to write on it. After a while, she's finished, and holds the paper against her chest.
"You might want to get a trash can before you read this." I still have no idea what's going on, but I do as Monika says, and get a trashcan from the kitchen.
"Why do I need-" Monika stops me, and shows me the paper.

Everything starts getting fuzzy, my heart starts racing, my head pounding in pain. I drop to my knees, crying and screaming in pain. I lean over the trashcan and throw up several times. I start seeing flashes of Sayori, dead, hanging from her ceiling. Yuri with stab wounds all over her body. I can't make sense of any of it, but everything I see feels like it's already happened, but it can't have happened. I just saw Sayori minutes ago, and today,Yuri was at the clubroom, completely healthy. Then, I succumb to the pain, and I pass out on the floor.

"I'm really scared..." I hear a voice, but I still can't see anything.
"What are you scared of, Sayori?"
Did... did I just hear... myself? No, that can't be possible. I haven't said anything yet.
"I'm scared that... that I might like you more than you like me..."
What? I have no idea what the hell is going on. I can't make any sense of it. I feel like this has happened before, but I know that can't be possible.
"Sayori?..." I hear myself again.
"It's true, isn't it?" I finally start to see an image fading in, Sayori and I are standing outside my house. She's in tears. "I was weak and started to like you too much... I did this to myself... Shin..."
This feels... wrong. I can see myself, but... I'm not me?...
"I like you so much that I want to die!" I see Sayori start to cry as she says that. "That's how I feel!" I see her trying to find words in between her sobs. "And... and..."
"That's enough, Sayori." I see myself grab Sayori on the shoulders. "I don't want you to hurt anymore." My hands slide down from her shoulders to her own hands.
"Shi.. Shin?..." Sayori looks up to me... whoever that person is... and looks him in the eyes.
"Sayori..." I can see the words come out of my mouth, but I can't hear anything anymore. I see us in a tight embrace before everything starts fading again.
No.

NO!

I wake up, and the sun has gone down. Monika is sitting on the couch, playing on her phone.
"Oh, finally decided to come back to the land of the living, have we?" She sees me open my eyes. I can't move. Everything feels numb. I can't form any words.
"Don't worry, you'll be back to normal within the hour." Monika puts her phone away, and goes into the kitchen to get a glass of water. "You'll want to drink a lot of water, you lost a lot of fluids throwing up as much as you did. Don't want you getting dehydrated, now do we?" She giggles. How could she be laughing at a time like this? What the hell did she do to me? What was on that paper that did that to me? I still can't make sense of anything I saw. I feel like I'm going to throw up again, but I can't. Monika kneels down next to me. I don't think she knows, or cares, but I can almost see up her skirt. I almost feel embarrassed, as it's the last thing I see before I black out again.