The darkness of the corridor enveloped him like a wet blanket. Footsteps echoed behind him: quick, insistent, each one closer than the last. The air was saturated with tension, distorted as if the dream itself was crumbling.
Yoshi turned his head slightly as he ran. Charlotte was right behind, her expression icy but determined. Haruka followed a few paces behind, panting. Neither spoke, but their intentions were clear.
-Hey, listen to me! -he shouted, his voice on the verge of emotional collapse. Tomorrow! Tomorrow don't go to school! Get some sleep! I'll do it too... and I'll meet you here.
Charlotte frowned, her footsteps not slowing a bit.
-And don't think that I'm a fool! I'll catch you... and make you confess where you're hiding in the real world.
-I'm not lying! -He replied, turning sharply down a side corridor, "This isn't about beliefs! We'll meet again... whether we want to or not, if we sleep at the same time, sleep will connect us!
He ran to a less well-lit area. The windows in the corridors were covered in a whitish haze that seeped through the cracks. The walls creaked. The very reality of the dream world seemed to vibrate.
He turned to Haruka, who was running with a grimace of effort. Their eyes met for a moment.
-Tell me, Haruka... Since that dream we talked about, you never came back here, did you?
She looked at him, surprised.
-If I don't show up tomorrow... you can stop believing everything I told you before," Yoshi continued. But right now... I need you to check it out.
Haruka, still running, nodded slightly. Charlotte noticed this and turned her face away suspiciously.
It was at that moment that Haruka tripped over a crack that had formed in the deformed floor. She fell to the ground with a groan of pain.
-Haruka! -shouted Charlotte, stopping instantly.
Yoshi also came to a screeching halt. For a moment, the dream world seemed to have held its breath. The distortions stopped. Even the distorted laughter that had haunted them in the distance dissolved into distant echoes.
Haruka tried to get up. She had twisted her ankle, but it was nothing serious. Still, the impact had stopped the chase.
Seizing the moment, Yoshi kept a safe distance.
-Listen to me, please," he said, in the firmest voice he could muster. Tomorrow. Before school. Sleep for just a moment. I will, too. This world... this dream, it's not just a vision. It is an ability that draws me here. And if that's true, we'll be able to see each other again.
Charlotte looked at him suspiciously. Her fist clenched, her body tensed. Wanting to pounce on him.
-Please wait until tomorrow," insisted Yoshi.
Haruka struggled to her feet, Charlotte helped to hold her up. At that moment, Haruka whispered something in her partner's ear.
Charlotte tilted her face to one side, thoughtful. Her gaze sharpened like a blade at Yoshi.
-Then listen to me.... -he said, taking a step forward. Tomorrow, if you don't show up. If you don't come here when we've allowed you to.....
His voice was a poisonous whisper.
-I'll make you pay. And I'm not talking about a chat. You have no idea what I have in store for you. Don't you dare lie to me...
Yoshi swallowed hard.
She did not need to shout for her threat to be real.
The tension remained for a few more seconds. But the atmosphere began to warp again. The darkness, which had given respite, returned.
The laughter...
Far away, but regaining strength.
It was coming towards them!
-See you tomorrow," Yoshi shouted before turning on his heels and starting to run in the opposite direction.
Charlotte took a step as if to follow him, but Haruka stopped her by the arm.
-That's enough for now.
The violet-eyed noblewoman narrowed her eyes, watching Yoshi walk away down the corridor that twisted like a spiral, slowly swallowing him up.
-I won't let it go forever....
Meanwhile, in the distance, the echo of laughter merged with the growing darkness.
The dream was about to break.
And the real nightmare... had just begun.