𝐀 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐄 ━━ S. UCHIHA

XXXVII

I bolt upward on the couch, my skin dribbling in sweat from my bare skin to what's covered under a fuzzy blanket. My breath shakes more than the house does when lightning strikes. I'm too terrified to jump at the bright lights flashing outside or the delayed rumbles that rattle everything. Right now, my skin fills with goosebumps from the cold air hitting my wet skin. I shiver, panicking.

Everything is so dark.

I'm trying to control myself, but everything is pitch black with only hints of my surroundings from the lightning flashing outside. It wasn't enough, it's not enough. My eyes still water from fear, my whole body rattles from the aftermath of my nightmare, and my breathing is so scattered, it's unhealthy.

I want to get up, go to the bathroom, and clean myself up just so I can regain my composure. I can't go back to sleep after what just happened. I can't walk around in the darkness just as I come from a dream surrounded by blackness. I can't stand up knowing that hands could shoot from the ground and pull me down and suffocate me. I don't want to see myself in the mirror after I had seen my own, psychotic reflection before it reached out to me and—

My hand clamps over my mouth as I muffle a whimper, hoping not to wake anybody up. I'm completely horrified, quaking to the very marrow of my bones. I want to cry. I want to stop fighting all of this and just let my tears and screams fall, but I can't. I can't disturb anyone. They aren't awake. They're not the ones with a heart-aching nightmare.

Maybe I can just fall back asleep and clean up tomorrow when there's light and I don't have to worry about hurting myself when I walk to the bathroom. I'm already packed with enough dread, I don't need to add more fuel to it by awakening my CPS.

Despite this, there's no way I can sleep. Not again. What if I go back to where I left off? Or I start the nightmare all over again, replay all of the agonies I experienced? Or will it be an entirely new nightmare filled with more scares than before? No. I can't go back to sleep.

I stifle a whine, the reminder enough to make me want to disappear completely. Why can't this just end?

A click followed by a squeak alarms me. In a panicked state, I whip around to the source of the sound, extremely frightened to find nothing there. Again, there's only darkness.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe I'm in a dream where I woke up from a nightmare. There's no reason to be scared. No one is there. No one is there. No one is—

"(Y/n)?" a raspy voice whispers.

I bite my tongue to keep from letting out a bellowing scream. A high-pitched sound still comes out, but not as strong as what it could've been.

There are more squeaks making their way towards me.

This isn't real. I'm dreaming. That's it! I'm just dreaming!

Someone taps my shoulder. "(Y/n), what the—"

Like a bunny, I leap to the other end of the couch, fear overtaking me. My nails dig into the cushions as I stare into the darkness, hopefully at someone standing there with no intent to kill. My hand reaches for a pillow in case I fear they're going to attack me.

Lightning flares outside, shining into the room, lighting up the intruder. Out of instinct, even after recognizing who it was, I launch the pillow at him with a solid hit, which I could tell from his grunt.

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah. What are you doing up?" he asks, unbothered by the pillow completely.

I fold my arms, hiding the fact that I was completely shaken from my nightmare. "The real question is what are you doing up?"