Built From Ash - Sequel to Burned Out

Chapter 3: Nightmare

Tw: Blood, disturbing scenes

Skeppy plopped into his desk chair, spinning in a circle. He ran his hand through his freshly washed raven hair. He couldn't lie, the shower had felt amazing after a couple days of staying curled up in one spot.

Sitting in front of his computer, he could hardly believe that it had only been last week when he was streaming like normal and posting videos. He shook his head, not wanting to get sucked into his own thoughts.

He swiftly checked behind him to make sure his room looked clean before pulling up Twitch and going live.

For the minute he was waiting for people to start joining, he twiddled his thumbs and chewed the inside of his cheek. Finally, the chat flooded with remarks.

Where have you been?
Are you okay?
What happened with Bad?
Is Bad okay?
What's going on?

He took a deep breath and began.

"Hey uh-" his voice was a bit rough, but he cleared his throat and continued.

"Hey guys. I know it's been a while, and you're probably worried about the whole situation with Bad and Dr-" his voice broke and he cleared his throat once more, "and Dream and George." By now he had begun fiddling with the aglets on his hoodie.

"Well I wanted you all to know that I'm fine and Sapnap is fine, but you-" he had to stop and take a deep breath before continuing.

"You won't be seeing anything from Bad, Dream, or George. E-ever." The silence around Skeppy was palpable. He looked into the camera, trying to convey as much sincerity as he could, and spoke, "I'm so sorry guys."

Immediately, condolences came flooding into the chat, but Skeppy didn't want to see them.

"So, you guys wanna see some bedwars?" he asked, forcing excitement into his voice.

He opened Minecraft and logged into Hypixel, getting swarmed with fans. Soon enough, he was absorbed in the game and it almost felt like before.

Finally, after an hour or two, Skeppy began winding down the stream. He sincerely wished that he could keep pretending like it was old times, but he knew he couldn't.

He ended the stream, sighing and slumping back into his chair. He looked at the clock, for the first time realizing what time it was.

A shock ran through him as he yawned. It had been days since he'd gotten any sleep at all and he hadn't felt remotely tired throughout the whole ordeal.

Skeppy got up before collapsing right back onto his bed. As he fell asleep, he had a fleeting thought about something, but it couldn't have been important.

Once his eyes closed, he was soon immersed in a dream.

He was walking up to a small, picturesque house with a crisp white facade and red curtains covering the black trimmed windows. Underneath each window were flower boxes filled with poppies and daisies. The idealistic, perfect front lawn flanked a sidewalk leading to the porch. On the porch itself sat a chair, rocking gently in the breeze.

The sun glared down from the blue sky, and on the breeze was the smell of salt. He approached the door and knocked, feeling the wood grain under his hand, even in the dream.

He stood back and bounced on the balls of his feet, oddly excited for some reason.

The door opened, and standing behind it was Bad. There was no blood on his sweatshirt like the first time, only a carefree smile on his face, his face bright and not tired at all.

Skeppy tackled him in a hug.

"Skeppy, you muffin," his voice was muffled in Skeppy's shirt, "Quit trying to suffocate me,"

"Sorry," said Skeppy sheepishly, running his hand through his hair in exhilaration. His friend was here, and happy, and... in Florida?

"Skeppy!" shouted a familiar voice from inside. As he and Bad walked further into the house, a tall figure with dirty-blond hair rounded the corner.

"What are you, six foot five?" Skeppy laughed, giving the taller man a one armed hug.

"Six foot three," Dream responded cheerfully, but a darker note underlayed the words.

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway. What lay beyond was a grisly scene. One the ground were the bodies of Dream and George, blood covered the floor and splattered the walls, and in front of him was Bad, dropping his hand with the knife and stabbing Sapnap through the chest.

The blood sprayed further than Skeppy had thought possible, but it didn't register properly in his confused brain.

He turned to the two who had led him in the house. "W-what's happening?" He stammered.

The tall man in the green hoodie spoke. "Didn't you know, Skeppy? Dreams can just as easily be Nightmares."

The smiles on his and Bad's faces turned sinister before each figure faded away completely, leaving Skeppy facing an empty hallway splattered with blood.

Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder, fingernails digging into his skin through the fabric of his shirt. The hand spun him around and in front of him stood Bad, now covered in more blood than seemed likely and wielding the knife precariously.

The weapon was balanced in one hand, and as Bad cornered Skeppy, the point pushed into the underside of Skeppy's chin.

On Bad's face was a half-crazed smile, and in Skeppy's eyes was a growing panic.

The knife traced Skeppy's jawline, settling on his carotid artery. He began hyperventilating and he saw the first drip fall from the ceiling.

Tilting his head slightly, as to not cause the knife to sink into his neck, Skeppy saw the ceiling transform from plaster to a mess of dark red blood.

Drips fell, splattering the floor, the furniture, even Bad. It then began cascading down the walls, covering the wallpaper in sticky, red blood.

"I guess you didn't get so lucky this time, did you, Skeppy?" An evil cackle filled the room, echoing in Skeppy's head.

The scene faded, and the only sound was his own screaming ricocheting off the walls of his room.

As he opened his eyes, he saw a dark figure looming towards him out of the darkness.

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A/N: So yeah it's kinda late but like, I finally finished this chapter after a couple days. It's the shortest chapter yet, but for some reason it took the longest? I'm not sure about the logic behind that but okaaay. I don't know why but I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Welp, see ya in chapter 4! Byeeee

Chapter word count: 1108 words