『 Dying of Asphyxiation was seriously not my goal in life. 』
Neither was meeting a Governor of the Afterlife and getting sent to another world for a second chance at life.
Drew was assaulted by a group of men for reasons she didn't understand. Drown...
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29. Birth
She was running. She was crying.
She struggled to put a foot in front of the other, moving forward, forward-- forward? She was running, she was proceeding, but she was running on a hallway that had no end.
Desperately, desperately... She was escaping. She was running-- for her life. She was scared. She was fearful. And so, she kept on running. From what? Who knows? She just knew she had to run.
She tripped.
She looked down, and there-- a shadow in the form of a hand had grasped at her right ankle, and she had no other chance to react before she was pulled away towards the direction she was running away from.
She punched at the shadow, but her fist went through it, hitting her leg instead.
No, she screamed. Please, no.
Another shadow reached out from the darkness, and despite her struggles, got a grasps on her left wrist. The dragging ceased, and she realized she was out of the hallway. She was submerged in nothingness.
And in front of her, will-o-wisps floated out of the darkness, the purple flames scattering out of its shape to form a wicked, sick smile.
Ninomiya Rei woke up screaming.
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I was wrapped in a tight embrace.
My eyes were wide and my whole body was shaking. My ears rang and I could feel the tears at the corners of my eyes and down my cheek. My breathing came in and out in short pants and gasps, my heart was beating loudly, rapidly-- painfully.
I was covered in sweat.
"It's alright," Dad's deep voice soothed me, speaking softly into my ears. He patted my head in a calming manner, his other arm wrapped tightly around my body, holding me close. "It's alright, Rei. It's just a bad dream."
Dream?
That was a dream?
Shakily, I brought my hands up, clutching tightly at the back of my Father's shirt, clenching the fabric tightly. I know I was grasping on so tightly my nails may be digging into his back, but I didn't want to let go.
I held on, as if for dear life, as if I feared losing this moment of body contact. I lowered my head, burying my nose into his shoulder. I sniffled, feeling another tear fall out of my eyes.
"Breathe slowly," he urged softly.
And I obeyed. I forcefully calmed my breathing. It took me a long while to manage even one deep breath, and letting it out slowly took me another long while.
