Lyon 06:26

Clicking heels on stone, the tinkling of metal accessories and that distinct sound of bending leather screeching in protest. All sounds that reached Baekhyun in between the songs, all sounds he liked to drown out like he drowned out the whole world. He liked it, the numb lack of noise around him as his senses were filled to the brim with guitars, keyboards, voices - a perfect melody filling the void of his mind. Soundlessly, the world passed by in a blur of colors, endless shades of brown seeping into each other in the same, warm light of the streetlamps.
Baekhyun took the stony steps one at a time, matching with the beat pulsing in his ears, his heart beat… that stuttered. Baekhyun felt his own heart follow along helplessly, jumping a beat as the music in his ears began to sizzle, hissing like an angry cat, getting buried under an avalanche of white noise… and then it was gone.

Baekhyun stilled, suddenly raw and vulnerable to the outer world, now that the music was gone. One lonely person in the midst of a narrow side street behind a church in Lyon. It wasn’t that late, right?
Why wasn’t there anyone around? Had he been alone all this time?
His delicate fingers flitted up to check the earbud almost frantically. This was bad, a very bad sign. Maybe he was calling it forth himself, but all of a sudden, the light he was standing in was flickering. Like the beating lifeline that had been cut, the light went out, just like that. It shook Baekhyun awake, and he his heels to run.
It was here, it had found him.
It shouldn’t have, it was way too early. Now he heard it, regular heartbeat exchanged for the harsh, hasty clacks of his heels against cobblestones. Behind him, another lamp started flickering, and with a resounding crack, it went off. The sound was unnaturally loud, and it felt like it was mocking him. Showing its omnipotence and superiority.
Still, Baekhyun was never one to go down without a fight, and forced himself to breathe in and out, tried to prolong the inevitable. He was quicker, but barely so. It was always right behind him, throwing reverberating cracks and darkness after him, letting him know that it was close. Baekhyun skidded around a corner and the alleyways were getting increasingly uneven and narrow. He had no idea where he was running to, but was fairly certain it was leading him on, like a kid blowing at the flame of a candle, just for the sake of watching it flicker precariously. Just to ultimately murder it, out of sheer amusement. He tripped and cursed under his breath, but kept running nonetheless. He mustn’t fall behind, and there was a clearing ahead. Wide places meant more lights, more people, a safety that was second to music, but better than none. His possible exit came closer and a string of golden flickers pricked Baekhyun’s panicky mind. A fence, there was a fence- he could slip behind it, lock the gate and maybe-
With a thud his body met the gate, and frantic fingers fumbled with the handle. Locked. It was locked, why was it-
With a last, final thud the lights around him died, and his fingers froze around the handle. Everything inside Baekhyun froze. He turned around, listening to the sound of his own, ragged breathing call out into absolute darkness. His back was pressed into the metal. Cool, unforgiving metal coaxing more noises of protest out of his leather jacket and tinkling against the silver snaps and hooks. All noises that were painfully loud and attention-seeking now.

Baekhyun stared into the darkness and couldn’t do anything but shiver.
Darkness.
There was only one thing scaring him more than darkness and that was what lurked inside it. The thing that loved to taunt him, to come at him when no one was around, that would pull him down by his ankles until he was the one buried in white noise. The thing that loved him, in this sick, twisted way. The thing that Baekhyun kept alive, because at the end of the day, maybe it was even scarier being without it.
It was fear. And fear wanted to play.