(Akira's section)
Dreams and nightmares pass like memories, vivid and grotesque, reminding me of my weakness. My mind is loose, running like an animal, Am I going insane? I hear things that aren't there and talk to myself a night, I've learned to laugh at my insanity, the laughter is the only thing keeping me from committing myself, that, and the ever-present belief that I deserve this.
I opened my eyes to the dark room, sweat soaking the front of my tank top and my sheets ripped. I blinked slowly, taking in my surroundings, letting my heart calm down, the nightmares were getting worse, and my sanity was plummeting as a result. I felt something wet on my arms and noticed fresh scratches, my nails were coated in blood.
I got up and went to the bathroom, washing my nails and noticing a red stain on my shoulder, I turned around and looked at my back in the mirror. "What the fuck?" I let out a harsh whisper, red slashes cut through my back and shirt, sticky blood coated my back, and dripped slowly on the floor. I felt like screaming but I just pulled off my tank top carefully, grabbing bandages and ointment I quickly and carefully dressed all my wounds.
I grabbed a new shirt and slipped it on, my head aching. I opened the curtains to a dark sky, it was 6 am. I rubbed my fingers together and longed for a cigarette for the first time in 3 years, a little nicotine would take away this horrible headache. I looked through my dresser and found a pack, I grabbed my lighter and opened the window, leaning out and lighting up.
"Those are gonna kill you." I turned and looked at...myself? a mirror Image of Myself was staring at me and sitting on my bed, her jeans and jacket reminded me of myself 2 years ago, with combat boots and brass knuckles that she kept playing with. "You're not even slightly scared?" She asked, irritated from my lack of reaction. "Can I finish my cigarette before I answer that?" I asked, not wanting to waste it.
"I'm you." she said with that cocky attitude I used to have, I held back a chuckle realizing why Emmett punched me when we first met "No, you're not, you're a hallucination caused by my sleep-deprived mind," I said with a chuckle, finishing my cigarette and throwing it out the window. The hallucination glared at me "Or I could be your subconscious telling you you're going soft." The hallucination said, I laid down on my bed and covered myself with the blankets.
"We used to be feared by everyone! now we're a laughingstock! A shell of who we used to be!" The hallucination stood up and started pacing. "Nightmares and mates running away, you're pathetic." I recognized that, my own hateful words to myself. "Shut up," I said while curling up on my bed. The hallucination looked just like me from two years ago, acted just like me, maybe this was another nightmare, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me again.
I opened my eyes to a dark forest, a place that had become familiar. The cold ground was hard underneath my hands and I pushed myself up. A cracking noise resounded through the woods and I started running, this part of the dream was familiar. I kept running, pushing through branches and trees, being a werewolf wasn't a bonus here, my usual super hearing and speed were gone.
I ran harder, my heart beating out of my chest as I heard growling coming from all around. It wasn't fear, but something pushed me to run harder, I suddenly felt a heavy hit from behind, knocking the air out of me and making me land on the ground. I flipped over quickly and saw the creature chasing me, A cloaked figure, it put a foot on my chest, I flinched and prepared for the pain.
Only this time, the dream changed, the cloaked figure pulled its hood down, revealing...
Charlotte.
Blond hair spilled out of the hood and piercing green eyes were fixed on mine, she kept her foot on my chest and I saw her fingers, Metal...claws, of some kind were fastened to them. "Charlotte?" I asked, she smiled, before burying her hand in my chest.
Before waking up, the last thing I saw was Charlotte holding my heart in her hands and smiling.
I woke up and fell out of bed, my head spinning and my heart beating out of my chest. I crawled to a corner and sat with my knees in my chest, muttering and holding my head. I must have finally gone insane, my brain fritzed out and I simply sat there until the sun rose.
"Akira?" I heard Robyn ask, I stared at him, his face was knit into one of concern and worry "Are you okay?" His voice seemed faded, my hallucination laughed in the background. "I...Don't know..." I said slowly, a cold feeling creeping up my spine, and Robyn walked over to the window "Did you smoke last night? I didn't know you did that...what's this?" Robyn's lecture was interrupted by him discovering a letter on the windowsill, I rubbed my temples and stood up.
'Akira,
Your nightmares and dreams are the results of a weave, a sorceress has set her eyes on your dreams, and your sanity will deform, crack, and break until finally, death will take its place.
Stay strong or she will succeed.
there is no clean quote that perfectly summarizes this, I am at a loss for written words so I leave you my own. Good luck and fair flying.
'Sincerely, R.'
The letter was the same as the others, it inspired a new determination, I looked at my hallucination and back at the letter. "A sorcerer after your sanity? but why?" Robyn asked, I rubbed my head again, a headache had come on and I had to listen to a psychotic hallucination tell me how I should kill people, insanity seemed like an easy escape.
I read the letter again and held the feather, its black shine reminding me of my darkness, Even Charlotte didn't know my whole past, my life has been hidden away in perfect little sections, each more horrifying than the next. I hide it even from myself, no wonder I'm being attacked through my dreams.
I'm the weakest prey.
My weakness is my mind, Charlotte was a reminder of this, my sanity has always hung on by a tenuous thread, I never assumed, however, that they would find a way to sever it. My dream bothered me, the note weighed on me as well, Robyn and Emmett had become happier, our wolves were pushing into Blue Moon's territory and we were winning.
I was losing, my sanity, my mind, my love.
I'm going insane.