Michael POV
I sighed, watching the sunrise as it streaked the sky with splashes of beautiful purples and pinks, as well as rich oranges and reds. 'This is the best part of the day is watching this. Nothing could ever top this.' I breathed in the forest air, closing my eyes momentarily. Even when I closed my eyes, the sunlight peeked through my eyelids.
"What are you doing up so early?"
I looked to see Luke standing behind me and walking towards me. Not in the mood to talk, I just shrugged as he plopped down next to me.
"Are you an early riser?" He asked quietly.
"No. I didn't sleep," I said calmly.
"What do you mean, you didn't sleep?" He squawked loudly.
"It means that I haven't slept for a year. Every time I go to sleep..." I trailed off and felt my stomach flop at remembering the nightmares I had. "Never mind."
"That can't be healthy!" He protested.
"It probably isn't but I don't care," I said dismissively.
"But-But you need sleep! Your body naturally craves it and if you don't go to sleep, you do eventually go insane!!! What you're saying doesn't add up at all," he mumbled.
I rolled my eyes irritatedly.
"If you've just came here to rant about my sleep schedule then don't bother."
"No, I just... it doesn't make sense."
"The human body is a strange thing Tanea."
We sat in silence and I silently chanted in my mind for him to leave me alone. Alas, we don't always get what we want in life. I decided just to ignore him and I took out a cigarette, lighting it.
"You do know you could contract lung cancer."
"I don't care Tanea. I could die and no one could care less."
He stayed silent and I huffed. 'Good. He finally shut up.'
"Nicki cares."
I was lifting the cigarette to my lips and stopped when he uttered those words. For some reason, this triggered my hallucinations. Everything morphed gray and brown. Shadows towered over me, laughing as I circled around and felt a sob bubbling up in my throat because d*** it I felt like the air had been literally whisked away from my lungs. They were mocking me, until one of them morphed into... him... His usually warm green eyes were nothing but dark and cruel as he stepped forward. He sneered, his fingers wrapping around my throat.
"You thought I loved you? A filthy wh*** sh** like you? YOU LET ME DIE!"
Tears sprung up in my eyes as those words felt like a bullet to my ears, echoing through my brain and torturing me from the inside out.
"YOU LET ME DIE MICHAEL!"
His fingers squeezed, crushing my windpipe slowly and destroying the little oxygen I still had. My head spun as I reached out, trying to stop him.
"St...op! KAITO!"
"MICHAEL!"
I gasped, nearly falling behind if not for Nicki and Luke supporting me. My breaths came out in wheezes as the words just assaulted my mind cruelly, as if taunting me or teasing me. Teasing me about my failures to keep Kaito safe-
"Who's Kaito?"
I looked up at Luke who was both looking concerned and curious at the same time. I steadied myself, pinching my nose bridge and willing the nausea away.
"N-No one... No one at all..."
"Michael, it's obviously someone! What happened?" Nicki fretted.
"Nothing okay? Just... leave me alone..."
"Michael, you just froze up and started muttering stuff under your breath and then you made weird motions as if you were trying to slap me!" Nicki huffed. "Then you're crying of all things and-"
"I'm not crying," I muttered before reaching up and feeling wetness on my cheeks. "Okay never mind."
"EXACTLY!" Nicki yelled.
"What's happening up here?"
I turned to see Rachel who had her hands planted on her hips. Nicki explained everything, despite my complaining that this was just unnecessary.
"Michael... were you having a hallucination?" Luke said softly.
I froze and felt my fingers curl into tightly clenched fists and shook my head, not trusting myself to even speak right now.
"Michael, I know stuff like this. Your reactions seem to tell me you had some sort of episode or hallucination," Luke said calmly.
"I-I'm not some psycho, okay?" I snapped.
"I never said that."
"Well that's what you were implying!" I yelled back before standing up and glaring at him. "You just don't get it, okay? NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!"
I stormed off with the cries of Rachel and Luke calling after me but I completely ignored them. I didn't want to talk with anyone right now. 'They wouldn't understand even if you told them what had happened. None of them need to know anyways. It's not like you owe them anything,' I thought bitterly to myself.
"Hey, Michael!"
Nicki grabbed my arm and I slapped his hand away.
"What is it with you and touching me you perv!?" I screamed.
His face went red and he scowled.
"I-I didn't touch you like that! Anyways-"
"Then stop touching me without my permission you-"
"CAN YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS?!!!?"
I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth before just nodding stiffly. He let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his hands through his hair.
"Luke was only trying to help you know? Why must you push everyone away all the time? Is there some specific reason to explain that? Huh?" He asked aggressively.
"I'm antisocial. I hate people."
"THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL US THAT?!"
"YOU F****** IDIOT IT WAS A JOKE!" I swore.
"WELL WHAT I SAW WASN'T A FREAKING JOKE!!!! I WAS SCARED OUT OF MY MIND THAT SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING LIKE A SEIZURE!!!" Nicki roared.
"THEN DON'T BE WORRIED OKAY?! DON'T WORRY ABOUT STUFF THAT ISN'T YOURS TO WORRY ABOUT!" I screamed.
Then everything went dead silent. I was breathing heavily through my nose, my chest heaving in an effort to keep my breath even. He sighed again.
"Michael, just because we don't know each other that well doesn't mean that I don't care about you! I don't know if I could ever forgive myself if something terrible happened to you, okay? And whoever this Kaito person is... you've mentioned him before which means he's pretty important to you isn't he?"
My fingers brushed absentmindedly over my sheathed dagger. He noticed this but didn't comment on it thankfully. He continued to talk.
"All I'm saying is that I'm worried. Between those terrible coughing fits you've been having and your constant smoking and what just happened... I'm just worried okay?"
"Well, you shouldn't be," I said aggressively.
He smiled at me, then held out an arm.
"Come here."
"Why?"
He rolled his eyes, waving his hand at me even more.
"So I can give you a hug you idiot."
I hesitated before nodding and shuffling towards him. He enveloped me in his arms and I sighed in relief because he was really warm... I leaned into his embrace a bit with a small smile as I too wrapped my arms around him.
It actually felt... really, very nice.