#hypnophobiac

[spectral-silhouette-archived]

(@hypnophobiac​ continued from here)

The boy kept crying, kept crying until he was finally interrupted, at which point he slowed. He was… being spoken to, but by who? He didn’t recognise that voice. After a few seconds of simply trembling he worked up the courage to look up from his knees-

-and then he instantly tried to scramble backwards as his sheer terror enveloped him again. His only noises were strangled gasps for air and broken sobs. What was that?! It was the dark! He knew something must’ve been hiding in it! Marcus covered his tear-stricken face and curled into a sobbing mess again. He didn’t have his flashlight, he didn’t have Fred. There was nothing he could do but wait for it to end.

…but it didn’t. He was still… well, not alive, but he could still think, still move. Was the monster not angry at him? Why hadn’t it attacked him yet? He hazarded another looked, but this time he didn’t cover his face again, just stared up at the thing with those dark, hopeless eyes of his. It had… It had talked to him… What if he talked back?

“N-no- y-yes- I-I…” The ghostly child stumbled over his quiet words and he ended up just trailing off without actually saying anything very meaningful. “G-gold! G-gold..”

“Oh dear...”

The spectre raised a hand to his mouth in quiet surprise when the child scrambled away from him. Was he really that frightening? He had long since forgotten exactly what he looked like. Mirrors no longer his reflection and all photographs of him had ceased to exist not long after he fell into the Core.

Though, the more he thought about it, he supposed the child wouldn’t have reacted well to any stranger approaching them in this state, regardless of their appearance. 

When they looked up at him for the second time, he squinted and lowered his hand. His sight wasn’t what it used to be, but...it almost seemed like this human infant didn’t have any eyes. How unsettling! 

Were they even human at all?

Silhouette leant closer slightly when they began to speak, heart sinking as he recognised the confusion and fear in their voice. He stood straight again, humming quietly to himself and tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“Gold...? I’m...afraid I don’t know what you mean, little one,” He admitted with a sigh after a moment, shaking his head. Not wanting to cause further panic however, he quickly offered a kind smile and continued.

“But, you don’t have to worry. I’m....I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t come any closer if you don’t want me to,” As if to emphasise his point, he raised both his hands and took a step back, “What is your name, little one? Are your parents somewhere here too?”

[spectral-silhouette-archived]

It was dark. The ghostly boy didn't like the dark. Bad things lived there, the things that hunted him, that had torn away what life and hope he'd had. It wouldn't be as bad if he hadn't lost his golden teddy, his only friend, his only guardian.. now what would he do? Marcus didn't know, of course, and soon he was curled into a sobbing mess as the complete terror took over his senses.. (@hypnophobiac)

Silhouette spent a considerable amount of time wandering the Void. Occasionally, he would come across the remnants of some long-dead world, the remains of various worlds that had suffered unspecific apocalypses and had been slowly claimed by the darkness.

Such was the nature of the Void, to assimilate broken and lifeless things into itself.

When he wasn’t exploring these vast ruins however, the spectre often found himself listening to the background noise of the environment. Sometimes, if he was lucky, he could catch a few notes of a musical piece that had never been finished. 

No such luck this time, it seemed. Though he could hear the distinct crying of a child, somewhere…

He frowned slightly, listening closer. Was it real? Or just one of the many hallucinations his mind concocted in the oppressive emptiness?

After much deliberation, Silhouette eventually opted to follow the noise, surprised to find that it was actually coming from a specific place. His chest tightened as the sound grew louder. Was a child actually lost here?

Unconsciously, he began to approach a little faster. It wasn’t long until he found the source of the noise, which to his dismay he found to be exactly what he suspected.

For a while he simply observed them, wringing his hands as nervousness overtook him. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say?

What if he’d finally lost it, and this was just some sort of…strange hallucination? 

Eventually, he coughed quietly, offering a small wave.

“Hello, little one. Don’t be afraid, I…ah…I mean no harm. Your parents…Where-I mean…Are you lost? Hurt? Do you remember how you…get here?”