Finding Self

Sivad didn't usually have nightmares, but they did happen at times. He would wake up in a cold sweat, and would stare at the ceiling, afraid to go back to sleep as he knew the nightmare would occur once again. This was different though. It started as a regular dream of him walking through school. He saw his friends hanging out together, and the guys who would insult him daily, but they didn't do anything this time, which he was grateful for. Sivad walked through the hallway, but stopped when he heard a strange sound coming from the bathroom. Curious, he walked towards the bathroom and a small uncomforting feeling nagged at the back of his mind. The sound wasn't heard again, but he walked inside the bathroom anyways, just to be sure. It felt...odd. He realized with shudder that he was the only one here. Nobody was walking down the halls anymore. They had just disappeared! The hallways were crowded just a minute ago! But that wasn't the most disturbing thing he saw.

He saw someone staring at him out of the corner of his eye. A male, black unicorn with red eyes and a fire-like mane looked at him with an unblinking gaze. Something inside Sivad snapped. He'd seen this unicorn before. He felt like he knew who this was. Yet at the same time, the other unicorn seemed completely foreign. Like a distant memory of the past that was too horrible to remember. The other unicorn did nothing as Sivad cautiously approached. When they were face to face, the other unicorn spoke with a voice that was almost like Sivads'. "Finally decided to come back? After you just get rid of me, throw me away like trash and forget about me? Not to mention you made everyone else forget about me as well!" Sivad didn't know what the other unicorn was talking about. The unicorn continued. "It seems even you of all people have forgotten. Is it because your spell worked on yourself as well, or because you've refused to remember and blocked those memories from yourself? Not to worry though, I know something that might jog your memory. Do you remember a girl named Serenity?"

Sivad felt like he'd just been shot. He did remember Serenity. The more he focused on Serenity, the more he remembered. "Ah, yes. I thought you would. Now do you remember what you did? Not only to her, but to many others as well? How, even after you fixed everything and she somehow, despite everything you did, found it in herself to forgive you, yet every night she would wake up next to you in a cold sweat screaming? Did you ever wonder how she felt? To have a nightmare, then to wake up and see your nightmare in physical form right next to you? Yes, you must have. That's why you left after all." Sivad was visibly shaken, his eyes locked on a fixed position on the wall. Yes, he recalled everything that had happened. The murder, torture, the knife he had used. But what hurt him most of all was Serenity couldn't stand to be in the same room as him. He didn't blame her, he had murdered her after all. It's not like she didn't try to get past everything, she did. But whenever she looked into Sivads' eyes, she couldn't stop herself from screaming. So he decided it was best to leave. It was obvious that no amount of magic could erase those events from her memory, so he chose to do the next best thing he could think of. Leave, and never go back no matter how much it hurt.

The unicorn crept closer to Sivad, levitating a knife. Sivad couldn't move. It was like he was paralyzed. Fear ran through him as the unicorn raised the knife. Sivads' body wouldn't respond. He wanted to move, to jump out of the way and run. He wanted to escape. He wanted to wake up. He could do nothing but close his eyes. The knife came down on his side with a sickening crunch, but he felt nothing. He waited...nothing. Slowly, Sivad opened his eyes and looked around for the unicorn, but there was no sign of him. He stood up, and that's when he noticed the mirrors. The reflection looking back at him wasn't his own. It was the black unicorns'. Two stab wounds appeared on Sivads' sides, and were bleeding terribly. He collapsed in a bloody heap on the floor, while Serenitys' screams echoed in his mind.