Reality was stretching and shrinking, darkening and brightening, full of color and then devoid of it.
That's how her brain saw it anyway.
She was still carefully propped up on Hyunjin's lap as they raced through the night, the soft rays of morning beginning to tickle the edges of the ebony sky.
Nari's body felt light and floaty, as if she could just rise up and lay against the ceiling if she wanted to. The thought was so absurd that it caused a giggle to bubble up in her throat, and she couldn't keep it in, the cute, somewhat hysterical noise a strange, almost unwelcome sound in the dank van.
At the change in her behavior, Taeyong leaned over her face, brows creased in worry as he examined her expression. "What's so funny?" he fretted, blinking his hair out of his eyes.
Nari giggled again, hiccuping with child-like joy, completely out of it. "I'm floating," she cooed, fluttering her fingers in her brother's face as she dissolved into laughter again.
Taeyong's concerned expression turned flat, and he squinted at Minho in annoyance. Finger pointed at Nari, he asked, "is she supposed to be floating?"
The medic lifted his head up in a jerky movement, sending the most confused and fed up look at Taeyong. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"
Hyunjin sighed and shook his head, shifting his numb leg out from underneath the loopy girl. "She's way out of it. It's probably leftover exhaustion."
Nari tilted her head up, the dried blood on her neck cracking slightly as she stretched the skin. Hyunjin made a sound of distress, but she ignored it, arms reaching for his face. As her palms squished his cheeks, she laughed in delight at his reaction, eyes bulging in surprise as she teased him.
"You're cute," she declared happily, oblivious to everyone's stares and muffled snickers. Hyunjin clenched his jaw to hide his own smirk, redness creeping into his cheeks as he snatched her grasping hands at the wrist.
"Cut it out," he said in a winy tone, twining her fingers with his own. "Seriously, you need to conserve your energy. We're still a ways out from base. You'll pass out again at this point."
Nari shook her head lazily, her muscles looser than usual. The corners of her mouth turned down as she spoke. "But I wanna look at you."
Her fingers brushed against Hyunjin's nose and mouth again, and he batted them away, scrunching his nose to get rid of the tickle she had caused. "You can, just stop straining yourself. And quit touching my face, your hands are filthy," he joked with a playful grin, settling Nari's hands onto her chest.
"I know," she muttered back, her eyes struggling to stay open as her body once again began to shut down, working double-time to heal itself.
Nari's vision waned, and the girl panicked, not wanting to lose sight of her loved ones for yet another episode of oblivion. But her body didn't heed her desire to stay conscious, and she fell asleep with barely a sigh.
° ° °
He was slicing deeper this time.
Nari gritted her teeth, panting, a feral growl crawling out of her throat. As the blade slid across her skin, she threw her head back, screaming in anguish.
The brute above her leered down at her trembling body, a disgusting pleasure racing through him. "Are you sure you don't want me to stop? You know you could make this all stop with just a little bit of information."
Nari sucked in a breath, forcing her exhales out of her mouth and trying to get her heart rate down. She relaxed her jaw and bit back another cry, meeting his gaze with burning eyes.
"I told you, I don't. know. anything."
His smirk deepened as he set down his blade, exchanging it for a pair of pliers. He focused on her hands as Nari started to thrash, knowing the look on his face far too well at this point.
"Suit yourself," he chuckled, bending over her once again.
And she screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed and -
° ° °
"Nari."
Ripped from the dream, Nari flinched and halfheartedly threw her fist out, only for it to be caught in a larger hand. Her disoriented eyes flew open and darted around, every muscle tensed to run.
The hand holding hers squeezed her fist gently before releasing it, fingers brushing up her forearm to pull her into a sitting position. "What's the matter? Are you in any pain? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Taeyong's face slowly swam into her vision, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he waited for his sister's answer.
"No, I... I'm fine," Nari groaned, pressing a hand to her face as she shook off her nightmare. "Have we stopped? Are we there yet?"
Her brother glanced over his shoulder for a moment before answering. "Yeah, we just parked. We need to get you guys inside; can you walk?"
Nari glanced around the van and scooted herself to the edge of the back doors, which were hanging open for the others to exit through. She shimmied her legs off of the van and towards the ground, grunting as her pants caught on something, and she listed sideways towards the ground.
As Nari made to catch herself, her open palms slammed into someone's chest, knocking the air out of them. Hyunjin's hands secured themselves on her shoulders as he caught his breath, laughing the slight pain away.
"Damn, even now you're trying to start something."
Nari managed to let out a laugh, but it quickly turned into a rasping cough. Bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, Nari let Hyunjin support her as she tried to relax her body.
When she was finished, Nari licked her lips out of habit, grimacing as she registered the strange wetness in her mouth, accompanied with a metallic taste. Taeyong peered at her from the truck, still helping the others get their equipment out.
"Nari, there's blood on your lips."
The sentence didn't sound that sinister, but the dark sheen of splattered blood on her palm was. Nari looked with wide eyes at Hyunjin, turning her head suddenly to spit out the red glob of saliva and blood that had been hacked up her throat.
"Pretty sure I need a doctor."
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🚶♀️ so yeah
while i've been gone i graduated, got a full time job, went to a skz concert WHOOP WHOOP, and am moving out rn
also before i came back i reread all the comments and y'all are so funny, you should be proud fr
i've been writing the rest of the story so i could publish it all at once bcs i felt bad so
i'm uploading the rest at intervals throughout the day so enjoy if you're still reading :)
