「Chapter Two」
☬ Obscure; The Paradox »「The Story」
C H A P T E R T W O:
The Nightmare
The leaves crunched loudly under Ryu’s feet as he walked along a never ending path. He looked around himself and saw only the high walls of hedges, he then looked ahead of him and behind him only to find that the wall of hedges were still present and slowly faded into the fog that surrounded him. He came to a stop before he looked up into the sky and to his surprise he saw the moon which slowly began to disappear behind the clouds. He tilted his head before he looked ahead of him and began to walk again. Where was he going? He didn’t know. He only followed where the path took him.
After what felt like hours Ryu began to hear a woman’s voice in the distance. Upon hearing her voice he stopped to listen closer. She wasn’t talking. No. She was singing. However he didn’t understand what she was singing. It sounded like a foreign language to him. He slowly began to walk again as he followed the path again drawing nearer and nearer to the singing female.
Soon Ryu came to broad open space. He could only make out what looked like to be a water fountain in the middle. He slowly made his way towards it being cautious of anything that was to pop out. It wasn’t until he was half way to the fountain did he notice the woman had stopped singing, she was not crying rather loudly in fact. He covered his ears as he walked closer to the fountain for the crying only got louder and louder.
As he reached the fountain he didn’t see anyone. He looked around searching for where the unbearable loud crying and screeching came from. The water in the fountain began to glow blue. Ryu raised an eyebrow before he slowly looked over the fountain edge and into the water. There in the water was a crying lady. Her back was to him, but she had long beautiful black hair that went far down her back. She was dressed in a white laced white gown.
“A-are you okay?” Ryu asked.
“Who’s there?” the woman asked as she stopped crying immediately.
“I-I’m Ryu,” he replied as he slowly lowered his hands.
“Ryu? My Ryu?” she asked.
“Uh, no ma’am. I’m Eun Ryu. I-I don’t believe I know you,” he told her.
“No. You’re my Ryu,” she said loudly as she turned around. Ryu’s face turned into horror seeing her face. Unlike her back appearance her face was wrinkled and seemed to be in the middle of rotting. There were two dark black holes where her eyes once were.
“N-no! I’m not!” Ryu screamed as he back away. He let out a scream as he felt something cold grab a hold of his wrist. He looked down and saw the lady’s hand on his arm. Quickly, he shook his arm trying to get free.
“You’re my Ryu,” the lady sharply said as she began to pull him back.
“No! I’m not! Let me go!” Ryu yelled as he tried to fight back. But everything he did didn’t work. She was strong. She was overly strong for a woman who seemed so fragile.
“You’re my Ryu, my love,” she said.
“Nooo! Let me go!!” Ryu screamed at the top of his lungs. He knew he was going to be pulled in.
“You’re mine! Rest with me forever!” she spoke loudly as she came out of the water and wrapped her arms around him pulling him under with her.
Ryu bolted up in his bed, cold sweat all over his body. He panted and looked around before he let out a relief sigh seeing he was still in his room, safe and sound. He laid back down and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
After he returned to his calm self he closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but he quickly sat back up. The woman’s face was still clearly printed in his mind. He sighed and scooted over to the edge of his bed before he got out of bed. He glanced at the time on the clock before he slowly walked out of his room and down the hall. He came to a stop outside a white door. He raised his hand to knock but hesitated. What if she got mad at him? No she wouldn’t get mad at him, why would she? Ryu gathered up his courage and gently knocked on the door. He waited for an answer, but none came. He then slowly opened the door and peeked inside to the room. He looked at the bed and noticed her fast asleep as the moonlight hit her bed from the window behind her bed that laid in the middle of the room; she forgot to close the curtains, yet again.
“Noona,” he whispered from the door. She didn’t move.
“Yah, Ji noona,” he whispered a little louder.
Ji Ra stirred and moved onto her other side.
“Noona,” he whispered louder.
“Hmm?” she mumbled.
“C-can I uh you know be in here?” Ryu asked.
“Ryu?” she asked as she quickly sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Yes it’s me, Noona,” he answered as he pushed the door open a little more.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Ra asked before she let out a yawn.
“Can I… spend the night in here?” Ryu asked.
“You know that answer to that question,” she replied. Ryu nodded and quickly stepped inside the room before he closed the door behind him. Ji Ra was more than just a member of Obscure to him; she was like her older sister that was always there for him. She took care of him and his brothers as if they were her own blood brothers. She understood him better than anyone else did. When he was younger he spent most of his nights in her room and since his early teen years he slowly adjusted to sleeping in his own room and learned how to comfort himself. She always welcomed him into her room. Ji Ra was more than just a member of Obscure to him; she was like her older sister that was always there for him. She took care of him and his brothers as if they were her own blood brothers. She understood him better than anyone else did.
“Mm, are you okay, Ryu?” she asked him seeing that he was stuck by the door.
“Oh, yeah. Just a nightmare,” he replied.
“A nightmare? Mm come here and talk,” she told him patting the empty side of her bed. Ryu nodded slightly and made his way over to the bed before he sat down.
“It was a nightmare,” Ryu reassured her.
“I know it has to be more than a nightmare, Ryu. You don’t just come to my room if it was a nightmare,” Ji Ra said looking at him with a concerned face. The last time he visited her room was because he had a nightmare about t his hair which he had to do the next day due to his mother’s orders and that was almost a year ago.
“Well it was a nightmare, but I guess you can say I have anxiety about traveling tomorrow,” Ryu confessed looking up at her.
“Why anxiety?” she asked looking into his ice blue eyes.
“You know I don’t like to travel in weird things,” he said to her.
Ji Ra chuckled before she replied, “An airplane isn’t a weird thing.”
“Yah Noona. Don’t laugh at me, this is serious,” Ryu told her.
“Okay, okay. Noona is sorry, but why are you scared?”
“Mm what if the plane crashes?” Ryu questioned her.
“Eh, why do you think so negatively? Didn’t I tell you to think more positively? The plane won’t crash. I promise,” Ji Ra said.
“But what if it does?”
“Yah. Don’t think that way,” Ji Ra told him sternly.
Ryu sighed, “Fine.”
“Good. Anything else you have to say?”
“Can I… possibly sleep in here until morning?” Ryu asked.
Ji Ra chuckled and nodded her head as she said, “Just stay on that side of the bed.”
Ryu smiled and nodded before he laid down. Ji Ra smiled and laid back down.
“Sleep well,” Ji Ra said to him before she closed her eyes.
“Sleep well too,” Ryu told her and watched her nodded her head before he closed his eyes too.
Author's Note:
I hope you guys like it. Sorry for the long wait. There is some foreshadowing in this chapter and I'm begun character development and relationships. There will be a few minor changes in the story, but it won't be anything to drastic or at least I hope it won't.
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