Cerberus

(/ˈsɜːrbərəs/;)

noun, plural Cerberuses, Cerberi

Latinized form of the Greek Κερβερος (Kerberos), which possibly meant "spotted". In Greek myth this was the name of the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to Hades.

I heard voices behind me, but I was unable to make out the exact words that were being said. Everything was a blur when I slowly opened my eyes and lowered my arms. The sight that unfolded in front of me wasn’t appealing at all.

The once green grass that stood in front of me turned a dusty brown, withered and dead. It was as if somebody drew a line in front of me, because everything beyond that line didn’t look alive. The leaves left the trees as they fell to the ground. A few birds had crashed on the ground, wings sticking out in an unnatural manner.

Cerberus had bent over from its spot, slumped beneath me, beside my feet. Trembling, I looked down at it and brought my hands in front. I stared at the burnt black marks on my fingers and wrists.

Did I... just... kill... it?

My thoughts were all over the place. I turned around, still staring at my shaking hands. They looked mangled and wrecked, were my hands going to look like this for the rest of my life? Did they do this to me, or did i do this to myself? Are they still alive? Or are they dead?

There were a million questions racing through my mind, I couldn't comprehend what had just happened. My feet moved on it's own accord as i slowly took a few steps forward, before my knees gave out and i stumbled to the ground.

There wasn't any pain. My hands were numb. The grass poking my shins didn't hurt. I didn't even feel my knees hitting the ground. My gaze travelled from my hands to the Ipad lying down a few feet away from me. In a way, i resembled it - broken and destroyed. I heard footsteps approaching me, and soon enough a pair of feet appeared in front of the Ipad. I looked up with blank eyes to the owner of it. My mouth was slightly ajar, in a dazed manner.

He mirrored the same expression of my face, but there was something in his eyes i couldn't decipher - Was he scared of me, because i looked like a deranged killer? His eyes shifted to what was behind me, and the eye contact we shared was broken. I looked down, fearing to meet his eyes again.

Feeling disgusted, i had a sudden urge to scrub myself clean. The smell in the air was rancid, my uniform was painted with mud. I felt dirty and worthless. With my eyes still staring at the Ipad, i pushed myself off the grass, wobbling slightly before somebody held my arms to steady me. It took me a few moments to register the fact that somebody was touching me, and I whipped my head around to look at the perpetrator.

How did he… get behind me so fast? He was just standing right in fron-

I jerked my arm away from his grip, and wrapped them around myself, hiding my hands between my armpits. My eyes avoided his gaze as as I walked faster, away from him. On the ground, i saw that there were more shoes ahead, and that's when i broken into a sprint, not bothering to look back.

Sehun stared at her retreating figure, his arm holding on to nothing as she ripped her arm from him. His eyes flickered to the Ipad lying on the grass, and walked towards it to pick it up. It was in a bad condition, but as he clicked the power button, the screen flickered to life. Under the cracked glass screen, he saw the song that Min had been listening to, before it paused when he bumped into her.

Merry Go Round - Joe Hisashi.

The ache of her legs settled in quickly. Afterall, she did run a lot for one day. However, it didn’t slow her down. Instead, she ran even faster. She knew that she was drawing a lot of weird looks from the students along the hallway - but it really didn’t matter right now.

Min just wanted to get the dirt and grime off, it was suffocating her. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin, and she stripped her blazer off while she continued running towards the direction of her dorm.

Seoul Elites had specially followed her request of living alone, because she knew that she would keep her roommate awake with all her nightmares. Feeling thankful about that fact, she fumbled with her keys as she tried to unlock the door.

Opening the door with a loud slam, she didn’t bother to close it back as she made a beeline to the bathroom. This time, Min remembered to close the door. Dropping the blazer on the ground, she hastily ripped the buttons of her blouse and ped her skirt.

The water tap was turned all the way, slowly flooding the bathtub with cold and freezing water. The temperature didn’t matter- as long as Min was clean, she was fine with it. She grabbed the sponge and drowned it in soap. The rough surface of the sponge scrubbed her skin harshly, ripping the layers away. She repeated the motion several times at a particular area before moving to the ne