Chapter 1

"Xuesong?" Xuesong turned away, quickening his pace.

"Xuesong, Xuesong. Why are you running so fast?"

There were too many windows inside this house.

He made the mistake of glancing over, and his breath hitched as he saw "it" in the reflection of the misty windows. The pale moonlight made his shadows longer, and he couldn't bear looking at them.

"Xuesong, don't run away~"

Hands grabbed at his legs, nails digging into his ankles. He tripped, his head hitting the ground with a dull thud. No, the thing, it was closing in. 

As the shadows got bigger, he could see the thing more clearly now. A dark black shape, the shape of a boy. It's eyes were void of emotion, and it held a knife in it's hands.

"Xuesong, do it."

Xuesong gagged, slapping his hands over his mouth and closing his eyes, running faster. He raced out of his bedroom, slamming the door shut. It wouldn't keep the monster out, he knew, but it counted as an effort.

Nononono, I need to get out of  here, he thought.  Please. 

The door was only so far away, just down a few steps, then past the living room.

"Xuesong, do it. You can do it, I believe in you."

The boy, no, the thing with the knife, came closer. He ran towards the stairs, but the shadows below it made him think twice.

He had to go down. Go down the stairs, and get out of the door.

But, as he looked down, below the shadows that wrapped around the stairs, he only saw a void. A hole.

He turned around, facing the thing that was approaching him. If he jumped now, he would die.

His palms started to sweat, and his whole body shook as the thing kept walking.

No, no, stay back. 

As the thing came face to face with him, he could feel its breath on his cheeks. It took his hand softly, then, with a smile on its face, it said,

"You can do it, Xuesong. I believe in you."

Suddenly, the thing was replaced by Baihua, a friend of his. He gulped, staring into his dark eyes, that glowed a little silver in the moonlight.

"Xuesong! C'mon, you can do it, right?" Baihua asked, smiling like he always had. Xuesong shivered, biting his tongue until it bled, his mind going blank.

Baihua's hand with the knife slowly came up, and he gently placed it in Xuesong's hand, closing his fingers softly around it's wooden handle. Xuesong felt his arm lose strength, a shiver down his spine every time Baihua's cold fingers touched him. It felt like pin drops. Like cold, shattered glass.

"Xuesong... I believe in you..."

As he said those words, Baihua closed his eyes, a soft smile on his face. A small ounce of blood trickled down his face, down his chin, hitting the ground with a  plink. Then, that small drop turned to thousands of drops, caressing Baihua's pale face and wrapping around his neat black hair.

"Xuesong... you can do it," he said, still smiling until the blood devoured him. "You c̷̨̡̯̟̠̬̤͍̩̫̼̐̾́ạ̸̢̯̜͙̙̞̫̞͍̄̿̈́̄́͑̕͜ͅǹ̴̲̼͇̟̭̙̝͔́̌̓̂͘̚͝.̷͙̻̝̃̓̈́̑̑̓̀͋͊̽̕͠͝.̶̙͓̙̌̓.̶͎̹̺̹͉͍͔̼̩̟̠̟́̚ ̷̧̜̭̱͇͎̼̍̂̑̄́́̑̽͘͘k̵͓̝͎͉̀̊͌͌͋͐̏̉̔̓̉̄ǐ̵̦͙͙͙̟͈̤̊̋̾̓̓͗̔͒̈́͒͝͝l̸̖̙̟̦̗͉͈͍̎̽̍̀̇̚ļ̸̗͎͖̼̪̜̗̯̓͊͑̋̀͊̈̕͜.̵̡̢̨̡̛̬̻͔̫̠̬̳̤̖͙͎͍̹͕͆̔̆̓̐͐͂͜͠.̴̛͍̗̤̠͙̳͎̞̉̌́̓̑̔͛͒́͊͘͠.̵̨̢̨͇̘̻͔̭̦͍͙͖̺̪̭͛̈́̀̽͛̈̊̅̀͆͘͝͝ ̸̰͔̬̠̘͉̲̠͖̣̰̙̠̊͋̿̇͋̂̈́͊̋͠͠ͅy̵̛̛̬̜̳̙͓̩̖̌̂̔̅̓͋̽̉̀̅͠o̵̧̧̧̪͍̪̳̭̰̭̝̥̣͉̞̠̹̺͈͆̔̈͌̅̕͜͜͝ư̴̟̗̦̘̗͐̀͒̋̚͝͝r̶̡̝̫̃̏̎̂̍͒̔̀͋̎̑̓̉͐̽̑͌͊̒̈́̽̐̚͜͝s̶̛̱̼̙̿̔̍͋̓̉̃͊̒̀́̍̓͌̒̐̓̀͊̑̚͝͠ē̷͍̉̄͒͊̅͑͑̀̑͠͠͠ļ̸͕͕̝̟̤̰͕̲͈̬͎̥̤̩̝͙͂̓̔̓f̷̮̬̮̥͆̈́̑͠.̷̨̡̛͇͖̼͓͔̜̙͍̖̫̟̦̼̝̥̘̘͙̭̖̳̯̎͒͋̉̾͊̈̅͂̅̏͂̕.̷̧̢̧̪̠̘̙͇͕̯͓̮̥̍̃̄̈́̿̽̀͑́͋̚͝.̸̨̡̧̧̡̛̝͙̦͔͚̬̯̥̜̪̥̼̻̲͈̈̈́̈̑͊̄́͊̏͋̂̐̿̅̉̚̚͜"

As the something appeared again, it wrapped its black tentacles around Xuesong. He gulped, too shocked by the sight.

"Ugh," Xuesong muttered, holding his head with one hand. Why did Baihua look like that? Why was he all c̴̺͌́̇͊̈́͋̊̋̍͗͠͝ŏ̶̧̢̯̺̠̳̓̎̄͂́͌̚v̸̧̗̫̞̟̻̘̄̌̈́̚͜e̷̢̨̧͈͇͚̖̱̐̄͜ŕ̶̥͓̞͖̤̟̲̅e̷̖͖̖͔̳̼̘͇͎͋͜͜ḏ̶̤̼̼̳͕̬̬̼̟̘̜̊̇̋͋͌ͅ.. ̶̢͙͎͌̏͗͆͂͛͊͆̈́̅͊̚̕i̸̢̱̟̪̼͇̘͆́̈́͑̎̀̈̈̈̋̓n̵͍͈̦̱̹͋̊̊̊̇ͅ ̸̨̯̞̦̭͕̹̪̮̫̞̒̈́͛͗́̔́̆̎͆̕͝b̴̢̢̪͖͕̯͎͚͑ḽ̸͚̫̦̋̿͒̊̚͜ǫ̸̝̜̼̬͎̗̳̫̌̃͋̃̿͛͐̆̃̚͜͝o̶̧̨̖̼͍̫͉̩̤͋̈́͂̃ḑ̶̩̟̰̻͚̱̜̦̈ͅ?

As he pressed the tip of the knife to his chest, he squeezed his eyes shut. The thing was silent now. Only the sound of his breathing remained. Short, small gasps.

Before he could plunge the knife into his chest, he felt himself falling... falling...

As he was brought back to a fuzzy reality, he blinked at the yellow lights. He was... in his kitchen. He was sitting on the cold, hard ground. In one shaking hand, he was still holding the knife, which he dropped, grasping his hand with his hands and curling up in a ball.

"I... I can't do it," he sniffed. "Ugh.. I can't." Tears rolled down his face, and he wiped them away harshly. "I... I can't..." In the distance, he heard his phone ringing. He peeked at it, laying beside the knife he had thrown. 

Hehuan? Why is he calling?

His head hit the ground, as he finally collapsed.

Thud.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU USELESS BITCH?"

Hehuan flinched, snapping back to reality. How could he have fallen asleep to the sounds of his parents arguing? He groaned, rubbing his temples. What was he doing again?