A Little After a Dream (Ad-Vitam!)

[Anonymous]

She had seen this before, heard it all before, felt it all before. The dream was no less vivid than when it first came to Leilani.

   "Was it all worth it?"

   The woman's words, whose face was nothing more than a distorted blur- an image ravaged too much from time, were of a language she did not know in the waking world and yet she understood it as if they were speaking the common tongue of Arca - full of the rough slum dialect. She knew it was not the city nor anywhere near. It was some place...A long time ago. And as every dream like this one, she was merely an actress in a play which the outcome was already written. She only had to say her lines.

   Her character opened their mouth to speak and the image before her broke away from the bottom up. A darkness swallowing everything. The scene was changing.

   Leilani could feel her eyes weren't open, as she always could with these lucid fantasies. An uneasiness prevailed. Her heartbeat quickened, the pounding ringing through her ears. Something...Was about to happen.

   The sweet kiss of iron sunk into her chest.


   "No!"  A cold sweat beaded down her face, she was sitting up hunched over with a hand gripping onto the fabric of her nightgown - were a bloody wound should be. Should be? Caught in the moment, Leilani's hold on the present and waking world waned. Emotions, even pain spilled out from those dreams and through to her. Iron plunged into her...She felt it. The blade cutting through her skin, and slipping through bone and muscle to her beating heart below. And she couldn't move, couldn't fight, couldn't hear the approaching danger.  She was helpless.

   She had never died in her dreams before.

   Uncontrolled tears slid down her cheeks, they stung from the previous day's sunburn. She covered her face in shaking hands and dug fingers into her hairline in frustration. "Don't be so weak!" Leilani cursed herself. Frightened by a dream, she wasn't a little girl anymore! And yet... It overcame her and she still cried away her fears. And tonight her sister was not there to stay up with her, to listen to her talk only what seemed to be madness. She hated being alone. Loneliness begets thoughts that would drag her further into an insanity. That was why a body slept beside her now on the cold hard floorboards of her tiny one room home.

   Quinn...

   She had forgotten about him. Leilani slapped a hand over her mouth attempting to deafen her whimpers. She didn't even breathe and stared straight ahead of her into the crumbling brick mortar of the walls. The echoing sound of water dripping into the bucket in the corner was not helping her anxiety. It ticked away the seconds. Quinn could not see her cry! What would he think? That she was some poor helpless girl? She was not! She so was not! Nevertheless Leilani's sunburnt cheeks turned redder under a growing embarrassment she couldn't hold back.

[Anonymous]

It was one of those nights where he didn't have to work and had nothing at all to do. She always managed to find him on those nights too and drag him to her place for a sleepover. He didn't really mind. Having a sleepover always kept him out of trouble and that made his parents happy in the end. They always urged him to get more friends so that he wouldn't end up pulling his schemes. Sometimes that didn't work out though because a lot of people knew his antics so it wasn't always easy to meet new people and befriend them.

A good reason why Leilani was his friend though was because she always scolded him before he even thought about doing something. Not that he enjoyed that though but that was just how their friendship worked out. He was pretty much used to it at that point.

No matter how many times he had slept over though he still wasn't quiet used to sleeping on the floor. Sure there were a couple blankets between him and the floorboards but it wasn't a bed and therefore wasn't as comfortable. Quinn wasn't about to complain about it though because he didn't want Leilani to feel bad. Sleep always managed to come despite the little noises that the worn house made or the drips from some leak. After listening to them long enough they would drown out or actually lull him to sleep.

Nevertheless it wasn't a deep sleep. Even if the sound was drowned out, his ears would still twitch from time to time when they were made. It prevented him from getting into a too deep of a sleep. That was a problem at his own home too, though. Every little noise made his ears twitch or perk up and inevitably wake him up at least a little bit.

"No!"

And then things like that couldn't be blocked out and would result in almost anyone, unless they were a heavy sleeper, into suddenly waking up. Not a very nice wake up call either. He knew he had jumped awake in a sense, his body had jerked enough to bring him out of his light sleep. His heart beat rapidly against his chest and was a deafening noise in his ears which were now twitching and turning to the left and right as if some sort of sound detecting radar.

If anything else was said he hadn't heard it over the rapid beating of his heart. It was slowly starting to die down to the point that he could hear the dripping again. The sound of dripping and sniffles? He was sure the house did not sniffle...nor could it. It was time to get up and see what happened.

Quinn sat up a little and kept himself propped up with one hand while he rubbed his eyes with the other. "Leini.." A nickname of course. What was the point of just taking out two letters of her name? There really was none..it just sounded cool. "Is something wrong..?" His eyes quickly adjusted to the limited lighting and when he finally stopped rubbing his eyes enough to actually look at Leilani he noticed she had a hand over her mouth. She was the only one there so she had to have been the one that made the noise, right? Unless he had been sleep talking himself and woke himself up.

There was only so much he could see in the dark though, he wasn't at all amazing at seeing at night. Only slightly better than a normal person could. He couldn't tell that she had been crying or that she was turning red. "Leini..are you trying to suffocate yourself? I don't think you're supposed to try something like that." he mumbled in between yawning.

[Anonymous]

Leilani heard the rustle of movement beside her - the gentle shifting of blankets and the breathing pattern that changed. She had woken him up. Guilt twisted her stomach. No, nothing was wrong. Go back to sleep, Quinn.

   Her hand dropped from her mouth and she remembered to breathe when a light dizziness began to ail her. She shook her head in the dark only half aware that the person beside her could not see it. In that sense, she was still alone. She wanted to reach out to Quinn, place her hand on him to make sure he was not another voice in her head, an image in her mind's eye and nowhere else. However, she remained where she was.

   "N...No...I'm not." She choked out, her voice strained. "I was trying not to wake you."

   There was a long pause as she searched for words. Quinn would ask another question, she knew. He always seemed to have a way to pry and have it sound utterly innocent - and it was without a doubt in her mind, innocent. He was the only man she knew of which thought of "sleepovers" in the same way someone younger would. She often wondered how sheltered a life her friend lived or if it was simply his nature. However she never had to worry with him unlike the men her sister used to bring back with her. Leilani trusted him. But she herself didn't know if that trust would extend to her deepest secrets.

   "It...Was just a bad dream is all." She said pushing back her dishevelled hair, out of its normal braid, not that it mattered. The only light in the room came from slats in their boarded up window and as of that moment Leilani could heard heavy rain pounding down on the roof. No light would break the dark tonight.

[Anonymous]

Quinn yawned a bit more and rubbed his eyes a little. Waking up completely was always a hard thing to do right off the bat. Normally he'd just go right back to sleep after waking up but since something was wrong he couldn't bring himself to do it. "You're not? Then why does your voice sound weird, Leini?" He smiled a bit at the last part and waved a hand at her slightly. He probably would've pat her on the shoulder if he were more awake or could see exactly where it was. "It's fine if you wake me up if something is wrong."

Again he rubbed his eyes a little even though it wasn't helping out in any sort of way. "A bad dream? About what?" He racked his tired brain for something he could do to help her then. There were ways to comfort a person who had a bad dream but those were usually for little kids. Well maybe not just little kids...he still got hugs when something woke him up and scared him enough to not go to sleep.

Oh that would work!

"Leini, do you want a hug?"

[Anonymous]

"It's the dark! Your voice sounds different in the d..dark...Yeah." She said in a panic. Her sister always used to say it to hide that she was upset in the middle of the night and could not sleep, quite like now with her instead. Leilani was young. She believed her. She believed a lot of things back then which didn't turn out so true in the end. But she was betting Quinn wouldn't know any better.

      She couldn't see Quinn's movements- that he had smiled at her, and waved as if to toss all her concerns away. Her hands gripped tensely on the small and tattered blanket laying over her legs. He makes things seem so simple, they were, however in Leilani's mind greatly exaggerated. Despite her friend saying it was fine, she would still feel that horrid guilt rising in her. He was probably dreaming of something happy, something pleasant, something different than this dirty little shack in the middle of a slum. She had torn him away from that.

   Leilani laid back down, pulling the blanket up and over her chest. 'About what?' he says. She didn't say anything. No matter how much she told herself it was a bad dream, that it was not real, the throbbing from that imaginary wound would twist its way back. Dreams shouldn't be able to hurt you; shouldn't make someone feel like they are losing themselves bit by bit every time they close their eyes to sleep...

"..A...a...a hug?" She stuttered out, her eyes wide and her cheeks burning. "No...No..."

   She guessed that next he would say 'are you sure?' and in reply she would say 'yes', all the while regretting. But she was afraid; afraid that she may wince and pull away from the friendly hug only meant to comfort because she believed a wound had been their in her chest.

   "Quinn..." She said albeit with hesitation. "Are your dreams ever...Scary? I mean...Oh that sounded so stupid! Never mind, never mind! Just forget I said that...Scary dreams are for kids after all.." She forced a laugh at the end. I'm too old to be afraid...

[Anonymous]

"It does?" Quinn questioned. He went quiet after that for a second as if trying to hear the echos of his own voice to see if it sounded different. Of course when he talked his voice sounded the same but that was to him. "My voice doesn't sound different...well to me anyway. Does it sound different to you?" As far as he could remember no voices really sounded different to him in the dark before. But maybe it was still possible? He was half asleep after all.

When she turned down the hug, he frowned a little. He was sure it would've helped her somehow. "Are you sure, Leini?" Exactly as she had figured. It really was a common response for anyone though, just to double check and make sure there was nothing that one could do for another.

Quinn's head bobbed forward a little as he felt himself drifting back off for a second even though he was sitting up. As soon as he started to tilt forward though he quickly sat back up straight, once again somewhat awake for a moment. "Hm? Scary dreams? Yea I have scary dreams. Everyone does sometimes. They're not just for kids." Though that could be questionable since he pretty much had the mentality of a kid... "They're nightmares right? Yea. That's what they are." He could feel himself starting to doze off and to keep himself somewhat awake he reached up and put a hand on Leilani's head. Well he had been aiming at her head and was surprised to find that he had actually hit his mark. "Ha found it~" he said happily before messing up her hair a little. "It's okay, Leini."

[Anonymous]

Quinn was silly. He could bring a smile to Leilani's lips like the one that twitched at the edges of her mouth. He believed her, of course, that the dark changes people. It was only the perception that changes. What you think you see, what you think you hear, smell, touch or taste. Your superstitions increase tenfold and you begin to think of the dark as a creature with its own mind, when it is only alive in yours. She thought of it a lot in those long nights where she didn't want to sleep - to dream.

   And she had been right. He was double checking.

   She wished she hadn't said anything. Quinn's response simply made her feel her words were more stupid than she originally had thought. Leilani pulled the blanket up over her head. She really was attempting to suffocate herself this time.

   Nightmares...She didn't know exactly what those were. In fact, she didn't know what dreams were normally like first hand. Only what people told her was what she knew. They were random, for the most part. Made up of bits and pieces of the person's life, or something. Influenced from the outside. Or something. Then there were different dreams. Like, prophecies. She knew of tales. But they were simply...Tales. Oh, she knew it was possible as well, through magic. Through hard work. Or destiny. Or something... However, her dreams were nothing like that. It was hard to call them even that. They were at times so clear, so vivid, then others were simply blurs and mumbled voices. And the emotion...

The emotions...

They weren't hers.

   "Nightmares...huh..." She mumbled. Quinn's words did little to comfort her. Were his dreams like hers? All the time? Some of the time? Never? It was a difficult thing to ask or describe. "Quinn- ngh!"

   There was a hand on her face.

   Oh he found her. When was she lost?

   His hand move to her hair, his fingers pulled at the strands as he ran them through mussing it up -which, oddly, did it justice. Leilani slid the blanket away from her face, becoming tired of the warmth engulfing her already burning cheeks. If Quinn could see her...Well, he probably wouldn't notice a thing. It was Quinn.

   The words he said next had her swallowing hard.

   It's okay.

   She wanted to believe it.

   "I think..." She said. "I want to take you up on that hug." And rolled over to wrap her arms around her friend's body.

[Anonymous]

Quinn couldn't really remember what he had been dreaming about or if he had been at all. He was sure he wasn't in a deep enough sleep to dream but then again couldn't people who were half awake still dream? He wasn't entirely sure and wasn't going to think hard on it. His half functioning brain would never come up with an answer. He didn't want to try and figure out what he had been dreaming about either..if he had been dreaming anyway.

"Yea a nightmare." Why was he repeating what he had just said and what she had just said? Again, he had no clue.

When she shifted, his ears twitched a little and he tilted his head slightly. She took up his hug offer then which had him smiling a bit. "Really? Okay~" There was no need to wait for an answer. She had already said she wanted a hug.

Quinn wrapped his arms around her and for a few seconds gave her a type of bear hug before going to a normal gentle type of hug. It was mostly because as soon as he hugged her it was easy to feel how warm she was and that was making him sleepy again. It was like hugging a blanket or a stuffed animal. His tail swished back and forth a little as his eyes started to drift closed again. "Better, Leini?" he asked, yawning a little.

[Anonymous]

Warmth.

   The tattered little blanket that she wore around her and the worn nightgown that covered her was nothing compared to having Quinn's arms respond to hers. She doubted she'd ever get as close to another man as she was with him in this moment. In any way. She was not...Romantic material. A too plump young woman who looked as if paint was sprayed across her face in tiny dark freckles, and hair that would never listen to her. In her mind she was unwomanly. It didn't bother her. She didn't want to be like her sister whom always forced herself into any man's arms. Quinn was different. He was a friend. It had taken quite some time for her to even consider him a 'friend'. There were no 'friends' in this part of Arca. Only those who would backstab you now, and those who would backstab you later. With Quinn, she didn't need to check if there was a knife held to her back.

   It didn't hurt. The images from her dream were slowly fading away. That was the reality, she had to remind herself. This was real. Quinn was real. She was real. Bad dreams weren't. They were simply bad dreams. Though the part where she would lose her mind, where those emotions would stay like someone was force feeding her another's memories, experiences, that...It was...She had no answers. It had been like that her entire life. It was a part of her. But did not quell the fears she had.

   Leilani held her eyes closed, her face rested sideways against Quinn's shoulder. The cold floor boards between them didn't bother her, and her arms didn't quite make it around her friend's width, and his just barely around hers. She was...Safe.

   Until she felt it.

   The red-head slowly opened her eyes and looked upward. She was alerted by the sudden uneasiness; a rising of chills going up her back, the prickling of her skin and hair standing up on the nape of her neck. A fist of cold sank like an iron anchor in her stomach. It was standing over them. Even in the pitch black she could see it. It was a different darkness. The kind that stands out no matter how deep the shadows ran because it was deeper than it. It stood in the shape of a human - one that was thoroughly decaying from death- its figure made out of thousands, no, millions of tiny wisps of smoke or something that looked equally like smoke. She could not tell if it was a man or a woman. But it reeked of pain and violence.

   Quinn was about to breakaway from the hug.

   "N...no!" She said unable to keep the panic from rising in her voice. Her mind was playing with her once more. Haven't you gotten enough from me?! Let me rest! Her fingernails dug into her friend's back, and her body sudden dropped into a cold sweat. "I..I mean...Please, a little longer, okay? Please?"

[Anonymous]

No reply.

He could only assume that the hug actually was doing some good. Then again he could ask but he was sure at the moment any words would come out in an incoherent mumble. Sleep was coming again and he couldn't help but want to succumb to it. Leilani was warm and he could always sleep in about just an position even if that position was sitting up. That would take him being really tired though..and at the moment..that was the case.

His tail's swishing slowed down a little but his ears twitched and twisted again at every small sound. That would last only a minute though and he'd be able to get back to the sleep he had been in before. Even if that wasn't a very satisfying state it was still some form of sleeping and even though he wanted to stay up and comfort Leilani, it was welcomed.

No matter what form of sleep it was a person's body would still feel heavy too and his was starting to. His arms started to slip away from around Leilani, just for a second though. She spoke up and again he was awake, his ear radar back. "No? What? Huh?" She had surprised him. His heart was racing again and he was wide awake for a minute.

Something else was wrong though. Just her talking wasn't it. Sure it was the only reason he was now alert to this other problem though. His tail fluffed out a bit, making it seem even poofier than it already was.

The feeling of being watched. But watched by what? He didn't want to know..nor did he want to look around to find out. The feeling wasn't a nice one. He'd be scared if he looked. It was easy to figure that out.

Quinn held Leilani a bit tighter when he felt her nails in his back. He hadn't even really heard her words after that. He was too focused on listening and keeping himself from looking. "Leini..what is there..?" There was no way he was going to look and if nothing was there..well then he'd just sound crazy...

[Anonymous]

"N...nothing." She lied. "I just don't want the hug to be over, that's why! Y...you're so soft and cuddly." Normally, she would not say something like that. It wasn't like her to admit that someone was else soft and cuddly. Usually it was her.

She couldn't let Quinn see that she was crazy, or going crazy. But in her opinion seeing things bordered on the line of 'been there and done that' when it came to insanity. Her sister had known something was wrong with her for years. Leilani did not want Quinn to look at her in the same way. In pity.

Leilani did not take her eyes off of the figure, though they heavily stung with sleep. It didn't seem to move, simply stare at them with eye sockets that were endless black holes in its face. It wasn't the first time she saw them. There have been many nights where her mind would conjure up these...Things. They had a habit of lingering, watching her, coming close enough to her to touch but never reaching out a dark decaying finger. And they would always leave without doing harm. With those she had felt loneliness radiating from them. Loneliness and hopelessness. Sometimes she would talk to them if her courage was strong enough and she was confident that she would not lose herself in another one of her fantasies. Her words seemed to ease them, make them seem nearly human again before they disappeared.

However, she was always alone when they came. And she could feel a rising jealousy spreading across the room, pushing down on her in a play of guilt. Was it envious of Quinn? Her arms were still around her friend, and he had decided not to let go of her despite the very obvious signs that he was starting to fade off. Leilani glared at the figure, her eyebrows furrowing, showing her displeasure with it. The wisps making up its body flew off in wild clumps as it moved.

   The creature's hands gripped onto Quinn's shoulders and with one quick movement he was torn from her arms and placed into a hold. Dark arms wrapped around him, fingers caressed his cheeks, like a monster toying with its soon to be kill. Leilani could only sit in shock.

[Anonymous]

Soft and cuddly? He had definitely never been told that. Well not about himself as a whole anyway. If someone felt his tail or anything they would say that was soft and cuddly but that was expected. The thing was poofy and made of soft fur. If it was long enough he'd probably use it as a pillow cause even he thought it was soft and cuddly but it wasn't and it wasn't too much of a loss.

The foreign hand on his shoulder had him wide awake. It wasn't Leilani's, her arms were still around him. He could feel his heart start to beat faster against his chest. His breath caught in his throat and he found himself closing his eyes tightly, hoping that everything was just a dream and that when he opened his eyes again he'd just be hugging Leilani still.

Except he was being pulled from that hug and though he desperately tried to keep hold of the girl it didn't help any. He had even tried to grab a hold of her arm again before he was pulled too far but that, as well, didn't work out. His eyes were open again and this was no dream.

The thing that had him then, holding him with it, definitely felt too real. His face paled quite a bit and his ears flattened against his head and all he could do was stare at it as it caressed his cheeks. He didn't know what to do and couldn't quite talk his mind into moving or trying to get away from the thing. Quinn held tightly onto his own night shirt when it felt like his breath was caught in his chest. Was he breathing? He wasn't sure. It was hard to tell or hear past the rabid beats of his heart.

"L-L-Lein-ni h-help..." Quinn managed to stammer out even though it came out in a sort of squeak. How was she supposed to help? He didn't know. He could only imagine that she was just as scared as well. All he knew was he couldn't get himself to move and he didn't want to become dinner or chew toy or anything for the creature that held him now.

[Anonymous]

The cold of the room was rushing back to Leilani, to her arms, to her body that had only mere seconds ago held the warmth of her friend. It was a long drawn out moment. Quinn had reached out to her. His fingers missing her grasp just barely. She could imagine the pale image of his face, terrified. The thing had him in its possession. Thin decaying arms wrapped around Quinn, as if it had the strength of a hundred men rather than of smoke. It was solid. It could touch, see, hear, and feel. It had a motivation. When you are alone at night the dark became things, but it was only in your mind. This was supposed to all be in her mind!

   A flurry of thoughts raced- attempting to take everything in on such short notice. No, no, no! It wasn't meant to happen this way! She was simply meant to hold onto Quinn. Keep him near her, continuing feeling safe and ignore whatever else was lingering in the dark, because it could not hurt them and wasn't important. It was not supposed to touch him! That could mean too many things. One, it was real, or two Quinn was also apart of some twisted game the sub consciousness of her mind liked to play on her.

   "You're not real!" She screamed. "Not real, not real, not real!" She pulled hard on her dishevelled hair, and shut her eyes, hoping that the pain would wake her up. It was all too much. Years upon years Leilani had forced herself to think that everything she had seen, and felt, and upon certain times believed was a break in lucidity. Her own sister...

   "L-L-Lein-ni h-help..."

   Help.

   That single word resounded in her like a beacon. Here she was, having a nervous breakdown, albeit without much dignity to boot, when Quinn, the friend she had claimed to care about dearly has his fate hanging in the balance quickly shifting to one side. What kind of person was she? To do that? Help...It sedated her thoughts. Leilani's fingers loosened from her hair and her eyes flashed open. Her heart rate slowed. An unnatural calm was taking over her; forcing her to focus. Quinn needed her.

   She could see everything as if a light had suddenly been turned on in the room. A dim light that made the edges of the objects glow. She could make out her friend and the creature. In this odd sight, which she would not question at that moment, the thing was like a black void - a wound. She saw it with such clarity, it was revealing itself to her - what it was, its thoughts-

   K...it.... Kill..

   "Don't hurt him." She called out, her voice dull sounding; void of all emotion. The thing stared at her, or she thought it did. It did not move to release Quinn. It couldn't be that easy, though she had hoped that it was. Instead, it took a hand, its long fingers flexing, and made one single cut across his cheek. Leilani's heartbeat started to rise again. It had the capacity to hurt.

[Anonymous]

His hearing was starting to come back to him. He could hear Leilani screaming but for a moment her words just didn't register in his head. He was too frightened to think or even understand what she was saying. He was even afraid to turn to look to see what she was doing. Wide eyes were fixated on the creature. He didn't care what it was. All he wanted was to get his body to move and get away from it.

And then the screaming stopped. Was Leilani talking? Again he wasn't sure. The thing raised it's hand though and Quinn cringed before trying to shy away from it with not so much luck at all. The cut he received then had him stiffening up again. It wanted to hurt him. At that point he knew he hadn't been breathing or at least not enough. He was starting to feel dizzy and his chest was starting to hurt. His heart was beating faster and again it was the only thing he could hear.It wanted to hurt him.

Quinn quickly shook his head and tried to push himself out of the creatures arms. He wanted no part of that. "S-Stop!" he managed to choke out. That seemed enough to get him to start breathing again. At least a little bit. Quick short breaths as he continued to try and get away. "L-Leini!" Was she even there anymore? She wouldn't leave him when he needed help. He just wasn't sure. He only wanted to focus on getting away at that point.

[Anonymous]

Quinn wasn't even attempting to break away from the creature's grasp. It was fear. Fear consumes you, makes it so that the only thing you think about is what might happen if you make the wrong move, if what you're running from catches up with you, and what will happen next. She was more familiar with it than she'd like to be. The slums was a dangerous place. As a whole the entire city, no country, could be dangerous. That was the nature of her home she would think...At times she would wonder, bitterly, how in the world she was able to get through it all. Then Leilani remembered. She always had someone standing beside her, even when she was alone. It was an alien presence, yet familiar, and now it was taking over her. Pieces of her tried to fight against it. She didn't want to lose herself. She didn't! Quinn needed her, this couldn't happen right now!

She saw blood starting to pool from the small wound across Quinn's cheek. Her stomach twisted with that same cold anchor she felt when her eyes first befell the thing invading her home. The presence wanted to push away all that; push away all the feelings and react to only what she must do. No! Leave me alone, I don't need you! Leilani stood up and scrambled at the arms that held Quinn, her fingers slipping through the smokey appendages. Why couldn't she touch it? It had Quinn! "Let go of him!" She said with more of her voice back, that spark of emotion, it was tinted with the vibrant red of anger and frustration. She attempted to grab Quinn, tug him by his arms to release him from the thing's grip. It didn't work, and the force only made her fall onto her backside.

   A terrible clicking sound echoed. It was laughing. She clenched her teeth tight, grinding them, her eyebrows knitted together.

Help.

"I know!" She choked out. And then the thing began to move, taking Quinn with it. "Oh, no you don't!"  Leilani reached over and grabbed the closest thing she could find - a pillow. It was thin and of well needed replacement, stains from sweat and dead skin marred it. But it would do. She didn't need anything fancy for her next move. She would not let it have her friend. Leilani gripped the pillow and threw it with all her might.

It hit something with a thud. While she had an arm, her aim was something to be desired. Damn, it wasn't her best idea after all.

[Anonymous]

Leilani was tugging at him. He could feel that and slowly he could hear the words coming from her mouth. She was trying to help and he was trying to get away and nothing either of them did seemed to be working. He tried to hold onto Leilani as she tugged. It only resulted in his grip breaking free when she tumbled back. "Leini!" The clicking noise that came after was awful. So close and so creepy. His ears flattened against his head. Not that it helped too much.

The thing started to move away from Leilani and Quinn was sure his heart stopped for a second before beating rapidly again. He didn't want to go with it. He clawed out at the air, attempting to grab ahold of anything. The wall, the floor, anything. Nothing was within reach though. He'd have to wait until the door frame and that was too long. That would be almost out of the little home. That was not going to happen. He wanted to be as far away from the door as possible since it was the way out. He didn't know what would happen once he was outside of that door...he didn't want to know either.

Quinn attempted to bite the thing thing, only to end up biting his own bottom lip when his teeth just went right through it. To make matters worse right after he had done that his face said hello to the pillow Leilani had just thrown. The pillow hit the floor right after with a soft noise and ended up leaving Quinn temporarily dazed. It was like getting hit with a pillow during a pillow fight. The impact caused your brain to be shaken up for a second. "Ha..."

All scattered thoughts stopped for the moment. His heart was still pounding rapidly though. The sound of that and the clicking again had his ears twitching. The blood on his cheek had pooled up enough to spill over and slide down his cheek. He could feel it but didn't react to it.

He was moving again after that. Moving further away from Leilani. The temporary stun feeling had started to fade, just as he...well the creature had reached what he wanted to stay away from. If his face could go any paler, it just had. Quinn started to kick and struggle again and actually latched onto the doorframe with his hands and even his teeth. He wasn't going and he'd struggle to the point that it didn't matter if he lost a few teeth.

[Anonymous]

"Oh gods, Quinn. I'm so sorry!" She said clapping a hand over her mouth. She missed. Missed. It was her intention to catch the creature off guard and hopefully give it a good knocking, if the pillow didn't simply fly through it as her hands seem to, and make it release Quinn out of surprise. It didn't work out that way. Instead, her aim had led it to hit her friend square in the face. Definitely not what she planned. The aura of anger rose in the room, pressing further down on her and invading her thoughts - like she didn't have enough to contend with. It was from that thing, she was sure of it. The intense violent motivation, growing worse and worse each passing moment, and one of sorrow and pain. It came from that creature - was it a spirit? A demon? Or something else entirely otherworldly? She didn't know. Leilani felt like she didn't know anything anymore...Except what was right there in front of her. She only knew that she somehow had to save Quinn. And he currently sat dazed in his captor's arms.

   "H...hold on. I have another idea." That was just like asking someone to wait a second while another readies their pocket knife or picks up their dagger they clumsily dropped in the first place. They never wait. At least no intelligent ones wait. It started heading towards the door. Its movements were sloppy, as if it didn't have complete control over its legs, but it was quick. Leilani scrambled towards it. "Oh carp!" Quinn was reaching out to her, or reaching out to something, anything, his gaze was unfocused. She felt worse than she already did, seeing him like that...And knowing that possibly it was all her doing- well, the pillow was definitely her doing no questions there.

   Leilani had him only for a moment, her fingers clasping around his hand; his cold, cold hand. She lost her hold when the door flung open and the rain and wind began to pour inside. The weather whipped at her face and clothing, stinging her eyes and bringing an icy shock to her lungs. But she couldn't stop. She couldn't. No matter how much she wanted to curl up into a ball and wish someone else would take care of it. No one else would. She had to. It was all on her shoulders. She made one last attempt to lunge at Quinn, quickly wrap her arms around his waist and make the thing drag her along with it. She was in the motion, her feet leaving the ground in push off as the smoky creature was heading out the door.

   Then something hit her hard in the chest.
   
   It took one gesture to disable her, to send her sprawling against the wooden floorboards of the house. Her back hit against the chair of the dining table, spilling it over with a clatter. The red-headed girl had already lost consciousness by then. Her eyes had been wide when the creature, for a moment, released one arm from it's hold on Quinn and raised it. That was it. Something came at her like a shock wave, and left her on the floor with blood lining her forehead and trickling out from her nose.

[Anonymous]

She was talking again and again he didn't completely hear her. He probably wouldn't have been able to get out a straight reply anyway. His mind was everywhere and couldn't stay stuck on one thought. He did feel her grab his hand though. It felt so much warmer than his. That wasn't anything new though. He always felt cold due to his anemia. The cool air wasn't helping much either. For a second his mind came into focus and he looked at Leilani and frowned a bit. He tried to keep a hold of her hand. "Leini."

The door swung open at that point and Leilani lost her hold on him again. Again Quinn clawed out at the air, attempting to get a hold of Leilani again but to no avail. It was after that when he latched himself to the door frame with his hands and teeth. He didn't want to think about how odd it must look. That didn't matter. All that mattered was he didn't want to go outside into the rain and the cold. It was causing him to shiver but he still refused to let go.

When Leilani was knocked back, his eyes went wide and he ended up letting go of the only anchor he had to keep him in the house. "Leini!" It felt liked everything had stopped when Leilani hit the table and didn't get back up. His breath caught in his throat. "L-Leini...?" She wasn't moving. She wasn't getting back up and saying she was okay. He could hear his heart beat rapidly against his chest again. "Leini get up!"

Everything started moving again. The creature headed outside, taking Quinn with it. The rain brought him back to his senses and he was quickly trying to reach out for the door frame again. It was too late to grab it though. He could touch it with his fingertips for a brief moment but he couldn't get his fingers on it.

"Leini!"

[Anonymous]

Is this a dream?

Could it be normal kind? Was this what it was meant to be like? Or...Was she dead? She remembered what happened. Quinn, the smoky figure - everything, yet it was all hazy, seeming to have occurred years ago instead of moments. She should be laying on the floor, perhaps drifting in and out of consciousness, with blood- There was no pain here. She was floating in a pool of darkness, however it didn't frighten her rather the word instead may be soothing. It was a different sort of darkness. Like in water, her clothing was rippling in constant movement and her red hair was flowing around her face. Leilani reached out her hands. She could see her stubby little fingers, and dimples around her knuckles from the weight she has never been able to lose, all was enveloped in a soft radiating light. As she looked herself over, she realised her whole body was encased in it.

   "Those that dwell in the In-between," said a voice "are such temperamental creatures."

   She froze, catching her breath, she wasn't expecting that.

   "Who-"  Leilani began to say, but the voice began to speak again. She could not tell who's voice it was - or even if she had heard it before. It was not speaking to her in a sense, instead she could feel it throughout her body. There were no real words spoken simply...Understandings.

   "First, they appear to wish for our help, and then...If they do not like what we give, they turn. Selfish things..."

   She looked around her trying to catch a glimpse of anything that may be in here with her, but her eyes fell on nothing but darkness.

   "I don't...Understand what you're saying." She said, swallowing hard. There was a twisting in her stomach telling her she should not be saying anything, only listening.

   "We understand." The voice said. "Spirits who linger seek to be free of mortal coils. Mortal minds beget cruelty, suffering...To be free means to end."

   "Could you please speak in common?!" She snapped, her fists were clenched at her sides, her knuckles turning white. This voice was toying with her! She had no time for this. Right now she did not know what was happening to Quinn, or even what was happening to her own body. She didn't...Believe this was death. No, it wasn't. Not yet. "I don't know what you expect me to understand. But I need to get out of here! I need to wake up!"

   "Wake up?" It said.

   She could feel amusement playing on it's 'words'. It made her uneasy. It was just like her to let her mouth get the better of her logical thinking. But she didn't feel threatened, nevertheless.

   "Indeed. Surely we shall die if we do not."

[Anonymous]

It was cold. He was cold and he could not longer see Leilani's home. The creature was quick to get away as it seemed to grow even more used to it's own legs. He couldn't struggle anymore. There was nothing to hold on to. He was worn out from all of his attempting before anyway. Not to mention cold as well. He was still shivering. He didn't want to wear himself to the point that he would go back to sleep while he was outside and with the creature and without Leilani.

Quinn closed his eyes and tried to focus on staying warm at the moment. He didn't want to think about where the creature was taking or what it's intentions were. The more he thought about it the more frightened he'd get and the more he'd want to struggle again. Then in the end he would just wear himself down to the point of exhaustion and he'd go to sleep.

He opened his eyes a little again when closing them left him with the last image he saw of Leilani before the creature had gotten far enough away so that he couldn't see her anymore. He was worried, more about her than himself at the moment. The door had been left open, jerking back and forth in the wind. Leilani was out cold, blood trickling down her face. Anything could get in the home then. She could get hurt and he couldn't be there to help her. He hadn't been able to get away and get back. 'Leini..'

His attention was brought back to what was going on now when it felt like the creature had slowed down a little. Quinn glanced around a little and paled again when he noticed why it had. It had almost reached it's destination.

A cemetery.

A barren and awful looking area, even worse with the rain. The tombstones were all lopsided or fallen over completely, cracked or broken into pieces. There were even some holes where no doubt looters had been to steal whatever valuables the bodies or pile of bones had with them. Even those were probably gone due to wild dogs wanting something to gnaw on. The area was all muddy due to the rain and looked like it hadn't had proper care even before the rain came. Probably forgotten or no one just wanted to bother much with it. No telling how old the entire lot was anyway.

A cold chill ran down his spine as the cemetery drew closer and closer. He didn't want to go. There was no tell what the thing had in mind for him there. He didn't want to know. He had to get away. Somehow.