~3~

Dream's POV

"G-George..?"

Tears started forming in my eyes. I couldn't believe what I witnessed. George was curled up against a corner, eyes closed. His breathing was very slow and calm, although he looked as if he was met with the choice of life or death. The side of his forehead was bleeding, a dark red color flowing down like a raindrop on a window. There were a lot of bruises around his arms and torso, as if there was some struggle. I shut my eyes closed as my breathing hitched. I cry my heart out and sit there for what felt like hours. I didn't know how or when this happened, which made me feel even worse.

I got a med kit and started to patch George up. I knew a bit of first aid from when Sap and George thought it was a good idea to play tag around the house. They ran like little kids until they both hit their head on my door. They both cried as I rolled my eyes and got some bandages. Of course George's state is much worse right now, but I at least know how to wrap up someone's head to stop the bleeding.

I couldn't do much about the bruises except put ice packs on most of them. I looked back at George and quietly sobbed. I wanted to be there for George when this happened. I wanted to kill whoever did this to him while I was out. I clenched my chest as I thought about it. The voice in my head during my blackout said something about getting rid of George. I didn't want to believe that this was what it meant. Was it trying to get me to hurt George? Kill him? I didn't want George gone. He was, and still is, my everything. Our childhood meant the world to me, and I wasn't about to throw it away for some stupid demon thing in my head.

I looked out the window. The sun was setting and it was getting darker. I had wasted an entire day dealing with this. I looked over at George who was shifting around. I tried to walk over and hug him, but something kept me from doing that. I looked around, but there was nothing there. I reach over to George once more, but still nothing. I flop my arms down in defeat and get up to walk to the door. My body refused to let me look at him when I walked past, and I couldn't stop walking. A tear streamed down my face as I headed out the front door, not knowing what I was doing.

Once I left, I quickly turned around and turned the knob. It was locked for some reason. I started banging on the door like a maniac, but I heard nothing from the other side. George was probably still out, so any chances of him hearing me was slim. I sighed and continued to walk. There was no point in waiting for George to wake up and open the door for me. If anything, he probably hated me for whatever had happened to him. I look up and walk in the direction of Sapnap's house. He didn't live too far away, just a few minutes walk. I thought about what to say to him while I continued walking, stopping my thought every once in a while to check for any cars.

When I reached, I quietly knocked on the door. A couple of seconds later, the door opened to see a tired Sapnap. He looked up and down at me and quickly dragged me inside. Before he closed the door, he looked around outside to see if anyone was following me, then shut and locked the door. I guess the way I looked made me seem as if someone was trying to kill me. Which I guess mentally was accurate.

"Dude, what the hell?" Sapnap looks at me worryingly. I keep my head down low. "Why do you look as if you've been beaten up by a gang? Are you hurt? Where's George? Is he alright? What hap-." He stopped his sentence mid way to find blood stained on my hand. I look at my hand and then back at him. He looked at my eyes. They were red and had bags surrounding them. He came closer to me and hugged me. I leaned into his chest and started to cry again. Sap just stood there and rubbed my back, not bothering to ask anymore questions. When I finished, he set me down on the couch and went to the kitchen to grab some water. He gave it to me and I gulped it down. I put the glass on the table and looked back at Sap. I sigh and tell him everything that had happened. I slowed down a bit on the part where I saw George laying on the floor, but continued to speak. When I finished, Sap took a minute to reply, trying to process everything he had just heard. I wouldn't blame him. So much had happened in the time span of a couple of hours.

When Sap finally did finish processing, he told me more about the sickness I had. The sickness was terrible, and I was lucky enough to have it. Apparently in the 20 years it had been discovered, only 5 people had gotten it. It appeared to show up in someone every 4 years, and these years it had been me. The 5 people before me all died within those 4 years, not being able to withstand the sickness. I was scared. I didn't want to die in the next 4 years. I didn't want to leave George behind. There was so many things I had wanted to do, and I couldn't do all that in 4 years. Sap noticed me dozing off and tapped me. I quickly brought myself back into reality and looked at Sap, who looked at me more and more questionably as time went on. He took my gaze as a sign to call it a day, and decided it was best for me to stay over his house for a few days. I didn't want to leave George by himself, but Sap decided it was best for him to see what was happening to me before leaving me with George again. I reluctantly agreed, heading up to the spare room Sapnap had. I lied down on the bed staring up at the ceiling, before dozing off into a painful yet much needed sleep.

The next couple of days were just me and Sap hanging out. He didn't like to mention the sickness around me, scared that it would throw me into a panic attack or something. He wasn't wrong, but I did want to know more about it. It seemed so interesting, but then again, it was happening to me. I hated how I was the one to have it. But now I had to live with it. Fighting against it wouldn't do anything anyways, as it seemed I could just black out whenever it was mad at me. As much as Sap hated to talk about it, he would usually do that to help me. I would normally get hallucinations and see George shouting at me. Normally I cry, but sometimes I get angry and start throwing a fit. Sapnap would then proceed to grab me and ask me if I wanted my sickness to kill me and take George away from me. I hated when he would say that, but it was true. These hallucinations were trying to mess with me to make me weak, and I had to realize that they weren't real. Afterwards, he would apologize to me like he always did, and I would forgive him saying it was the only thing he could really do. I didn't like how stressed out Sap seemed, but he brushed it off saying he was just caring for his friend. I didn't want him to go through this, but it wasn't like I could just get rid of this sickness. At least not consciously anyways.

One day, Sap finally knew how to keep me from drifting of into my own world. Since he knew this, he decided it would be a great idea to bring me back home. I almost screamed from excitement and practically begged him to take me there now. He calmed me down and told me we would be leaving in a couple of minutes. I had a huge grin on my face as Sap gathered some things like honey and water. He said the sweetness of the honey would keep me from passing out, and the water would be beneficial for when I have hallucinations. I smiled at him and waited out the door. When he was ready, we headed outside and walked back to my house, talking about the sickness on the way there. I was feeling much better knowing I was going to see George again, so I listened to Sap intently, trying to figure out all I can to stop myself from doing what I did last time.

We reached the house and Sap knocked on the door. It opened slowly to reveal a sad George, who was lying on the couch, curled up into a ball. He looked as if he's been like that for a couple of hours, but it was hard to tell. I assumed he was upset that I had left, so I started walking towards him. When I got close to him though, he backed up against the wall, his eyes filled with fear. I looked at Sap, who looked back at me sadly. He walked to George slowly, but when he got close, George inched closer to him and hugged him. I felt hurt at George's actions. George looked genuinely scared of me, while he felt relieved that Sapnap was there. I looked down and sat on the couch, my head laying on my knees.

Sap tried to get George to sit on the couch as well, but he refused to go anywhere near me. He took this as a sign that George was scared of me for what happened to him, so he decided to explain my sickness. After a couple of minutes, George looked at me, and a tear rolled down his face. I had never felt more hurt seeing George this way. He looked at me, and with the courage he had, he walked up to me and pushed me towards the door. He had an angry look on his face. He opened the door and gestured for me to go outside. I looked at him confused, but his next words turned my expression from confusion to sadness.

"Get out," he said, as sternly as he possibly could. Sap tried to protest, but George looked at him with the same expression. Sap backed away slowly and sat back on the couch. He looked at me with a face that said I'm sorry and then looked away at the tv which was now playing something. George turned back around at me and tried pushing me through the door. I refused to go out, which only made George angrier.

"George please! Listen to me," I cry. He holds his hand up and puts his index finger up. I take it as if I only have one minute to explain, so I start rambling on about my sickness.

"George, listen. I swear I did not mean to hurt you! It wasn't me! This thing that I have doesn't want me to be with you. It told me so itself. I don't know who it is or what it wants, but please believe me when I say I didn't mean it!" I desperately attempt to get out a couple more words, but I'm stopped when George grabs the door. His face tells me he doesn't want to do this, and I believe him. I listen closely to what he says, before I get a door to the face.

"I'm sorry, Dream. But if what you say is true, then you can't stay here."

"I'm sorry."