Chapter 6

Fuck. Having her care about me was the last thing I wanted, but fighting against it would just make everything worse. I needed to keep her happy so that the Nightmares wouldn’t get us.

Not that she cared for real. No, she didn’t. I knew better this time, and would not be lured into this shit again, only to be left at the mercy of the Nightmares. They had none. But keeping all those feelings at bay was fucking difficult. Especially when Hana did everything she could to stay close to me all the time.

At least I would sleep well tonight. I could hold my shit together, and she seemed happy, and so she wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention. I was sick of sleeping on a train, so having a bed would be a welcome change. I looked at Hana, still scrolling through the images on my laptop.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

She looked at me with childlike excitement.

“Maybe I should try now.”

I shook my head.

“It will be better if you rest before you try. It’s been a long day…”

She nodded, but I could see that she was disappointed. Good, the more excited she was about it, the better. We went to the bedroom, and I collapsed on the bed. Finally.

“Good night, Ame”, she said softly and turned off the light.

“Good night, Hana.”

                                        —------------------------------------------------------------

The moment I opened my eyes, I knew we were fucked. Grey sky loomed above me, and the ground was covered in sharp rocks that resembled melted glass. Crossroads… Fuck.. But how…?

I shivered under the gust of cold wind and hugged myself. It was freezing, and I still wore the same clothes as when I fell asleep. That’s how this shit worked. Hana stood a few steps away, holding her Dreamstone in her hands. She didn’t seem bothered by the cold.

Of course, her wish to find her sister had pulled us into a dream. Fuck. I should have foreseen it. I frowned and shook my head. Fuck. But it was too late to be regretful. We needed to get out before they… I ran to her.

“H…”

A cold gust of wind gagged my voice, and a chill shot through my body. Fuck. Too late. They had found us. A dark void appeared around us, and time and space lost their meaning. I looked at Hana with rising panic. She raised her hand high in the air, holding her Dreamstone, and the Nightmare spoke,

This stone doesn’t belong to you...

“Don’t listen to it”, I shouted, but it was too late.

Hana hesitated, and it was all that Nightmare needed. Black tendrils shoot from the void towards her. Fuck. I jumped between and screamed in pain, collapsing as the dark coils pierced my body.

“Ame!”

She ran to me and wrapped her arms around me.

“Ame… I am sorry, I…”

“Hana… I...”

It was my fault. I deserved it … I looked away.

How pathetic, Ame…, the Nightmare snarled. You failed. As you’ve always done.

“Leave her alone”, Hana cried, clenching her Dreamstone in her fist.

“You can do it, Hana…”, I whispered.

She raised her stone into the air, and bright light filled the void, blinding me for a moment. When I regained my vision, she stood there, in the most ridiculous costume I could ever have imagined. I smiled. It didn’t really matter; she was… safe.

So little one… How does it feel to be manipulated into becoming a mahou shoujo? Did she tell you what it really means? I guess not. She never cared about anything but herself…

The Nightmare loomed above us. Hana stood in front of me, trying to protect me from its gaze.

“Stop it! You are lying, she does care about me.”

Does she…?

It hissed, feeding on our despair. Fuck.

If she really did, why has she never transformed to protect you, little one?

“Kill it..! Don’t listen to its lies, kill it, Hana!”

Lies…?, the Nightmare snarled. It was you who lied to her, Ame, not me. Or did you really tell her what happened to your stone…?

Fuck. Rather than killing it, Hana just stood there listening to its crap. Just as it wanted. It didn’t want to kill her; it wanted to break her and turn her into one of them. I looked down. It was my fault…

It is your fault.

Hana turned to me with tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around me.

“Ame… What happened? What did they do to you…?”

She sobbed.

She did it to herself.

Hana looked at me, confused.

“Ame…”

I looked away. How could I tell her what I had done? She would hate me. No. She would hate me regardless.

Everyone hates you, Ame.

“I don’t care…”, Hana whispered.

The Nightmare snarled, and black shreds shot from the void, piercing Hana’s flesh. She screamed but didn’t move, protecting me with her body. I tried to push her off, but she held on to me with all her strength, ignoring the pain and the blood that seeped through her clothes.

She didn’t deserve it. It was my fault, not hers.

“Go… Hana”, I whispered.

“No…”

“Go… Find your sister… You don’t need me any longer.”

Of course, she doesn’t need you. No one ever did. That’s why you broke your stone. Yet, now you regret it. Did you really believe she would like you if you were a mahou shoujo? How pathetic, Ame.