whether lana imagined the darkness or not, sera is scared. lana doesn’t know if it’s something she did or not, but she just made a promise. i’m here for you, too. she’s not about to back out on it now, so she moves as quickly as she can to the cabin door, shoving her feet in some flip flops that have been abandoned there. she hurries ( or as close to hurrying as she can manage ) out the door, hearing it swing shut behind her.
“sera!” she calls, looking around for any signs of where sera’s gone. “sera, where are you? please, i–i just want to help!” she continues as she starts walking around, avoiding the paths because she knows that’s what she usually does when she’s freaking out, and sera is likely no different. lana starts walking up the alley between her cabin and the robin cabin, moving towards the tree line behind the row of cabins. “sera!” she calls again, dimly wishing she’d thought to bring her phone for a flashlight.
suddenly, the dizziness which has been swirling at the edges of her mind since she stood up overwhelms her, and her vision goes out. she stumbles backward, feeling her back hit a tree. she presses one hand behind her against its bark for support as she leans heavily on it, and her other hand presses to her head as she closes her eyes. “shit,” she whispers, waiting for the spell to pass. after a moment, though, it still hasn’t fully passed – she can see, but she still doesn’t feel able to move, and she scowls as her legs betray her and she slides a little further down the tree. “sera!” she shouts again, wincing as the action makes her head hurt.
Sera runs. And runs and runs. Her lungs burn as she tries to breathe but to no avail as if she’s stuck in a vacuum. It's dark out, but Sera navigates the woods with ease. Countless evenings spent wandering the trees in hope of some sort of solace have her used to the dark. There’s a certain tranquility to being alone with nature. Or as alone as she could get, what with her thoughts and emotions coming into sentient form.
Her legs finally stop and she collapses with her back against a tree, head clutched in her hands. She’s whispering utter nonsense as if that will help get a hold of her emotions. To tamp down the attack in hopes of stopping them from taking shape. But it’s too late and she can see a form in her peripheral, one she saw in the corner of her eye as she ran from the cabins. It morphs as it comes closer. ‘Told you i’d be back. Just didn’t think she’d be around, it’s a lovely surprise for me. You really didn’t have to. Do i finally get to meet her?’ Mockery is what the approach seems to be this time. Sera tries her best to just ignore them, focusing more on evening out her breath. ‘
She hears her name and so do they. ‘Tell her to go, to leave you alone. She’ll see you like this and want nothing to do with you. She doesn’t love you, let her go and save yourself the trouble.’ They slump down and sit across her, legs crisscrossed and looking far too comfortable in comparison to Sera’s own frantic expression. There’s more calling and yelling, she clamps her hands over her ears. ‘That works too, I suppose. Just don’t go to her. She’ll see me.’ The black mass gestures to themself. A dark figure looking much like herself, but their eyes were dead and hallow. Their face was gaunt and hid other unspeakable horrors. Horrors that would surely drive anyone away. Even someone as stubborn as Lana. ‘You wouldn’t want her to see me. You know I can be quite frightening whenever I please.’
Her emotions are a mess and it’s showing through her shadow. It’s being indecisive for once. They usually poke and prod with whatever has wrought her mind, picking one stance and hammering it into her over and over until she can’t take it anymore. But now it’s bouncing back and forth. Show her, don’t show her. Scare her off, let her see. They can’t decide. Much like she can’t decide. Does she bare herself to Lana and let out all the monster hiding in her closet. Does she finally release them in hopes that she’ll still be accepted. Or does she hide away into herself again much like she did the past two summers.Right now the latter is winning out.
“Lana please just go, you shouldn’t be here.” Her own voice is hoarse as she yells out into the woods, hoping her words will carry to the other. The shadow merely look on, out into the trees. Maybe they’re looking at Lana. It looks like they want to speak, mulling over the correct choices of words.