Faces of the Night
That night, I had a terrifying dream. My breath was uneven, my pulse still hammering in my ears as if I had been running for my life. I staggered into the kitchen, the floorboards creaking under my unsteady steps. Pouring milk and cornflakes into a bowl, I found myself staring blankly at the counter, yet all I could see was her cadaverous white face - pressed tightly against me as I screamed halfway across the city. I glanced down at myself, catching glimpses of dark stains. Was it blood? It coated half my body - or it seemed to. But as I stepped closer to the dim kitchen light, the illusion unraveled, revealing itself as nothing more than a figment, a cynical trick of shadow and reflection.
I dipped the spoon into the bowl. The clinking of metal against porcelain grounding me for a moment. As I brought a mouthful of cereal to my lips, I saw them again. The faces of the night. Clinging on my bottle, the air had been thick with heat, sweat, and music. The people around me had whispered in hushed, knowing tones. She had disappeared from Chan Shin with some guy, her steps unsteady, her words slurred beyond recognition. Too drunk to think. Too far gone to fight back. The details blurred in the chaos, but one detail remained sharp in my mind - I had screamed for her. Her name, again and again, as if the louder I howled, the more I could will her back to me, to safety.
I turned the corner. There she was. Lying in a filthy backyard, the world around her frozen forever. Every feeling in the universe crashed into me at once. My vision tunneled, my breath caught in my throat as I ran to her, words tumbling from my lips in frantic desperation. They were garbled, meaningless, yet I cried them anyway, hoping they would reach her, hoping they would bring her back. The faces surrounding us melted into a vast puddle of pity as I held her lifeless husk, squeezing so tightly that everything around me shattered. My lungs burned. I choked on blood and tears, and the last thing that seared itself into my mind were her soulless eyes. The doorbell rang.