Who: Susan Bones When: Late, August 26th What: Demented Nightmares Where: Home Status: Completed Warnings: Depression, Death, Etc
Susan stood in the entryway to the Bones family home. The silk paper was peeling from the walls and a thick coat of dust covered the picture frames and side tables. Susan walked deeper into the home, her footsteps echoing on the dusty wooden floor. She felt drawn towards the grand staircase and began to climb them. The house was dark, the lights not having be lit for nearly four years now. As she climbed slowly, the house became colder. Frost coated the windows at the landing and Susan began to rub her arms to ward off the chill.
She looked left and right, trying to remember where her room had been. It was the right, wasn't it? No.. the left. Susan frowned, frustrated that she couldn't remember which way to go. Her feet took her to the right and Susan took several steps before shaking her head and turning around. No, that wasn't right. Her room was on the left.
"Susan."
Stopping suddenly, Susan felt her heart speed up. She wanted to look behind her, to see the face where that voice had come from, but no. That voice had been gone. That person was gone. Squeezing her eyes shut, Susan ran towards her old bedroom and jumped into the bed, covering herself with a moth eaten blanket.
"Susan, love. Look at me. I'm here. Look at me Susan. Look at me. I'm right here. You're not alone, Susan. Susan. Susan, love. Look at me, Susan. Look at me."
She began to shake, rocking back and forth on the bed and curling herself into a tight ball. This wasn't real. No, she was alone. They were all gone, all of them. Susan was alone, she was ALONE.
"Suuuuuusan. Please, love. I'm right there. You have to look, Susan. You have to see me. I'm here. Look at me Susan. LOOK AT ME."
The voice had started to scream at her. A broken, primal scream. Susan squeezed her eyes tighter and began to cry. She could feel someone leaning over her and it was so tempting to just look, to just take a peek, to look for even a second. As Susan began to open her eyes, she felt herself move. No, she was in the same spot, it was the room that moved. Suddenly she was in the rose garden her Auntie had loved so much.
"It's alright, Susie," Seamus said. "It's alright. You're safe." Seamus' hand was heavy and warm on her shoulder and Susan sat up, opening her eyes to see the first boy she ever loved look down at her with a kind smile. She stood and wrapped her arms around him, crying into his shirt.
His hand stroked her back, but with each stroke it hurt a bit more. His nails began to rake down her back and Susan tried in vain to pull away. "Stop, Seamus. Stop. It hurts. Stop. Stop hurting me."
His laugh was cruel, broken and harsh. "Look at us, Susan. Look at the people you kill."
She couldn't stop herself. Susan's head moved up and her eyes opened. There she was. There they were. Her family, staring at her, dead and decaying. Dressed in their funeral best. Dirty. Rotting away. Susan screamed, trying to scurry away, but Seamus held her close.
"You did this to them," he whispered to her. "Everyone you love dies, Susan. I lived because you stopped loving me. You have to stop loving them too. You're killing everyone. Look at them, Susan. Look at them. You're killing them all. You've killed them. It's you, Susan. You're the reason. You did this."
Her family began to walk towards her, reaching out. Susan broke free from Seamus and ran, running faster than she thought possible, fleeing from the ones she loved so much.
Susan thrashed in the bed, lost in her dream until her eyes opened in the dark. Gods, that had been... awful. Truly awful. Susan reached for a body next to her, feeling the warmth of Ron next to her and sighed to herself before closing her eyes again. As bad as the dream had been, Susan was so tired... so tired...