Nightmare
Shi Nian didn't know why, maybe it was because she was too sad and enraged for Jiang Jinyan, but that night, her sleep was plagued with continuous nightmares. She dreamed of many things, some were too broken to be discerned.
She dreamed of the last time she saw Qiang Fei. The woman wore a slim fit suit with her hair combed into a bun, smiling cheerfully at her. "Baby, wait for mama to come home, okay?"
Then, Qiang Fei's face distorted, replaced with a mangled face, her eyes were missing from its sockets and blood seeped through the corner of her mouth. Shi Nian was shocked and took a step back but Qiang Fei lashed forward, her mouth opened wide with rows of sharp fangs dripping with red liquid.
A sense of weightlessness overcame her and she jolted, the scene shattered to pieces and she was standing in an empty room. There was no window and no door. Only a wooden bed that was placed against the wall, the color of the bed sheet was yellowing.
Out of nowhere, a voice sounded. "Why did you try to resist me?"
The tip of Shi Nian's fingers trembled, her blood ran cold at the voice. She knew that she didn't recognize him but the fear and terror that he imprinted had been carved into her bones. She huddled in the bed, trying to make herself as small as possible.
She looked down and saw her hands which were stained with half dried blood.
Then, a tray with plates appeared out of thin air, followed by the same voice. "Today's meal. Eat it. Or else, you will not get any for three days to come."
Shi Nian didn't want to look, but she couldn't control herself. Her eyes trailed onto the tray and she saw it. On the plate, there was a row of neatly sliced flesh, still fresh and oozing with blood. The heavy stench of blood assaulted her nose, causing her tremendous nausea.
But her mind was blank as she scrambled to get the tray.
"Eat it." The man said with laughter in his voice. "Eat it and you will be free. I promise you."
Shi Nian's hands hovered on the fork. Then…she ate it.
Shi Nian gasped and her eyes snapped open. Her forehead was soaked with sweat and strands of hair stuck to her face. She was grabbing the blanket so hard that her nails broke. Her stomach churned and she scrambled into the bathroom, bent over the sink and retched.
She was lightheaded and the nauseousness was making it worse. She vomited her dinner, the putrid stench of gastric acid and tomato soup filled her cavity. She lifted her head up and saw a pale face and wide eyed girl staring back at her, her eyes were red with tears from the force she used to vomit.
What…was that?
Her missing memory?
She turned the faucet and cold water ran down in a loud whoosh, drenching her hands and washing away the stain of her vomit. For a while, Shi Nian stood there in daze, her entire body freezing. The more she thought about it, the more the dreams became a blur as if everything was just an ordinary nightmare.
But she couldn't ignore the discomfort as she kept feeling like she had to remember something but unable to do so.
She emptied out her bladder and came out to lay on the bed weakly. Her fingers had turned pruney and even though the heater was working fine in the room, she couldn't help but shiver in chill. The light in her room was out and the only source of light was from the bright hallway.
It was 2 am in the morning and the whole hospital was tranquil and filled with silence.
Shi Nian closed her eyes and listened to the sound of light rain, her breathing softened. However, under her eyelids, her eyeballs were twitching continuously and she couldn't force herself to sleep anymore after the nightmare.
In the end, she grabbed her phone.
She didn't want to browse Weib8, fearing that those people were going to make her feel worse, but there was nothing in her phone except the messaging app and Weib8. It was in the middle of the night, everyone must be asleep right?
It was like Shi Nian's fingers had its own soul as she opened WeChat and saw the empty interface. She looked for the contact inside and clicked on Xu Binchen's profile. He was still using the default profile picture which was set when someone first registered their account, his moments were a deserted land, nothing to be seen.
Shi Nian hesitated but still typed.
[Ten Years[1]]: uncle
To her surprise, Xu Binchen replied not even half a minute later.
[Xu Binchen]: Why are you not sleeping?
[Xu Binchen]: Are you browsing Weib8 again?
[Xu Binchen]: I have told you not to.
Shi Nian could even imagine Xu Binchen's face when he typed that. Her disgruntled feelings eased and her lips curled into a faint smile.
[Ten Years]: I can't sleep.
[Xu Binchen]: Then you're pulling people to suffer with you?
Shi Nian rolled her eyes.
[Ten Years]: you're clearly not asleep yet!
[Xu Binchen]: The world of adults can't be understood by you teenagers.
[Ten Years]: gasp.jpg
[Ten Years]: you're in a club drinking booze and hugging women left and right?!
[Ten Years]: struckbylightning.jpg.
No reply came for the next five minutes. Shi Nian had almost fallen asleep, then the phone in her hand buzzed lightly. She opened her eyes blearily and saw Xu Binchen sent her a string of ellipses.
She burst out in laughter and giggled softly.
[Xu Binchen]: Go to sleep.
[Xu Binchen]: I am coming back now.
[Xu Binchen]: If I come back and find that you're still awake…
[Xu Binchen]: RIP.jpg.
Shi Nian opened her eyes wide in astonishment.
[Ten Years]: You actually sent stickers!
[Xu Binchen]: eyerolls.jpg.
[Xu Binchen]: who do you think I am?
[Xu Binchen]: SLEEP!
O—Oh, he had even used capital letters. Shi Nian replied with an OK and shut her phone down, putting it on the nightstand beside her bed. She closed her eyes and tried to hypnotize herself to sleep.
When one's sight was blocked, then other senses would be magnified. Shi Nian could clearly catch the sound of cars passing by on the road outside, the pitter patter sound of rain dropping onto the window, as well as the soft and steady footsteps that walked down the hallway.
Coming closer and closer...then stopped right in front of her room.
[1] Basically it's still Shi Nian but in different characters.