Felix's life was anything but vibrant-cursed, he'd argue. To him, it was nothing short of horrendous, marked by relationships rife with daily disrespect and parents who prioritized alcohol above all else. As Felix's mental health reached a breaking...
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In the middle of the night, it had been a long while since I last encountered nightmares. However, the deepening of my connection with Hyunjin had stirred something within me, awakening emotions and reactions that had lain dormant for years.
As I drifted between sleep and wakefulness, a heavy weight seemed to pull me down. I found myself caught in a dark abyss where I could faintly hear the voices of my deceased parents calling out. Panic gripped me as I tried to move, to respond to those familiar voices, but I was paralyzed, unable to even twitch a finger. The sensation of sinking intensified, growing colder with each passing second, as if I were being dragged down to the very bottom of the ocean.
The chilling depths enveloped me, and the voices grew fainter, leaving me in a terrifying silence that pressed in from all sides.
The chilling depths enveloped me, and the voices grew fainter, leaving me in a terrifying silence that pressed in from all sides. The darkness seemed to pulse with a life of its own, oppressive and overwhelming. Just as panic was about to overtake me entirely, a distant, familiar voice cut through the void.
"Stay with us," it whispered, a voice so much like my mother's that my heart ached. The memory of her warmth clashed painfully with the cold darkness surrounding me.
"Dad, is that you?" I called out, my voice echoing strangely in the vast emptiness. "Mom?" There was a desperate hope in my plea, a longing for a response, for any sign that I wasn't alone in this nightmarish descent.
The voices didn't answer, but the sensation of being pulled down eased slightly, as if my calls had somehow lightened the weight dragging me deeper. Encouraged, I continued, "Please, I need help. Don't let me go!"
The pressure around me shifted, and for a moment, I felt a gentle touch, like a caress, reminiscent of my father's comforting hand. "You're not alone," the voice murmured, softer now, more distant yet imbued with a warmth that spread slowly through the cold.
Tears welled up in my eyes as the touch faded, replaced again by the heavy, oppressive darkness. "I miss you both so much," I whispered, the words barely escaping my lips before the silence reclaimed its hold.
Suddenly, the oppressive darkness began to dissolve, and I felt a warmth spreading over me, as if the sun had finally risen after a long, harsh night. I gasped, startled, as my limbs regained feeling, the paralysis lifting like a fog. Sitting up abruptly, I found myself back in the safety of my room, Hyunjin sleeping peacefully beside me.
Still shaking, I slipped out of bed, my heart pounding as I tried to make sense of the dream. The remnants of their voices lingered in my mind, both comforting and haunting. I knew then that the intensity of my emotions connected to Hyunjin was stirring deep-seated memories and fears, bringing them to the surface in ways I hadn't anticipated.
Breathing heavily, I stood by the bed, trying to calm the racing of my heart. The remnants of the dream clung to me like a cold mist, and every shadow in the room seemed to echo with the whispers of my parents. My skin prickled with the phantom touch of the dream's caress, and the more I thought about it, the more the boundaries between sleep and wakefulness blurred.
