Another Fairy Tale /Ateez

Chapter 3 - The burden of living

Crushed by anxiety
My heart had become like ash
Keep fallin' down down
I feel trapped

- Ateez, Better

Rory saw the ferry again. Other than in her usual nightmares she was swimming in the water. It was freezing cold and Rory tried to warm herself but then she spotted a familiar figure in the water. 

"Danbi?", she whispered and swam towards her. Danbi was floating in the water, her eyes closed and lips blue. Desperate Rory tried to grab her but her hand wasn't able to touch Danbi. 

The wind was pulling on Rory's hair and the rain hit against her skin with no mercy. Before Rory could try again, Danbi's eyes opened. They weren't brown like usual but red. 

"Come with me." Danbi grabbed Rory's hand and pulled her under water. Rory wanted to scream but only water filled her lungs. Panicking she tried to free herself from Danbi's grip but she didn't let go. 

A second later Rory was on deck again, panting hard. Scared she looked around but Danbi was gone. So was the storm. There was no wind, no rain, which confused Rory. 

The sky was pink-ish and when Rory stood up she gasped in surprise. They were no longer on water, no. The ship was floating on top of the clouds. 

"What the hell?", Rory wondered. The ship she was on was no longer the ferry either. It was like a pirate ship. Confused Rory looked around. 

When she reached the back of the ship, Rory gasped in shock. She ran towards the bodies and when she turned them around, she could easily recognize their faces. 

Even though she hadn't seen them in a few months, Rory recognized them immediately.

"Seonghwa." Tears were blurring her vision but his facial features were so familiar to her. Then her eyes wandered to the next person. "Hongjoong." 

With shaking hands Rory pushed away his longer red hair which covered his face. It confused Rory, because his hair colour was different but that was not important right now. She saw his eyelids move. 

"Hongjoong. Wake up. Hongjoong!" 

"Rory! Wake up. Rory!" 

Surprised Rory opened her eyes and sat up. Confused she looked around and when her eyes fell onto her brother, she relaxed a bit. 

"Are you okay?", Chan asked worried and put a hand onto her forehead. "You're burning up." 

"I'm fine." Rory was definitely not fine. And Chan could see that. She was sweating and shaking. Rory hadn't noticed but she had cried while sleeping. 

Chan had heard her screaming, that's why he came into Rory's room and woke her up. It didn't happen a lot anymore but every time it did, Chan would come into her room and try to calm her down. 

"You should shower, okay? I'll prepare breakfast.", Chan said with a sigh and left Rory's room. Rory on the other hand noticed something in her hand. 

It was Danbi's bracelet. 

"Welcome to hell! Or how other people call it: School.", Changbin announced happily and pulled Rory into a short hug. 

"Are you always this enthusiastic about school?" 

"We are having our Maths exam today. How could I be?"