Lightning, however evanescent, illuminated the room, and thunder exploded soon after to fill the silence lingering between the two figures outlined with the flashes of light. The girl standing at the threshold swept her cobalt blue bangs over her red eyes to avoid the piercing gaze of the other figure, but the gaps between those soaked strands didn't help. The figure in question, a taller girl with sapphire hair, sat on a white bed, propping her chin in the palm of a hand, her eyes cold and black as a void. Then, her lips moved, spewing words with the distorted shapes they made.

"Mei? Have you disposed of the body?"

"Yes." The shorter girl winced and nodded, leaning against the door frame for support. The voice she answered to was the loudest amongst the cacophony that filled her ears. Her mouth ran dry from talking to every single one of them, imploring them to be silent. She needed personal space, but those voices warped it. Of course, she had been aware of her schizophrenia, but the pressure the voices exerted on her was stronger.

Her friend got up and took two slow steps forward, her oceanic blue eyes not once leaving Mei. A small smile formed on her lips when she heard Mei's staccato breaths. The girl was now clutching onto the door frame, and her friend took ginormous delight in seeing her suffer like this.

"Where? Did anyone see you?" She focused her gaze on Mei, who bit her lips, and shot her a look of disgust.

"N-No, Sayo." The second-year student glanced at her feet. "River."

"Mei, you're a very good girl. Do not make me punish you like this again."

Mei brought her hands to her ears and lowered her body. The tears she failed to barricade streamed down her pale face. She could still feel the damp feathers brushing against her skin and hear the squawks of the Pidove when she turned away from her feet and looked at Sayo. She could still feel the lashing of gentle waves against the back of her palms. She could still feel the Pokémon's glassy eyes glaring at her, and in her peripheral vision, she saw them move even after she let go of it. They were following her as she dashed along the river bank. Even now, she could feel them watching her through the frosted glass windows of the room. They were still there, watching and waiting.

"I want to go home," she repeated to herself. "I want to go home."

"Goodbye, Mei. Today was fun."

Then there was silence. All voices disappeared. Sayo simply vanished with the last streak of lightning. Gradually, Mei took her hands off her ears. Bawling, she lay on the cold mahogany floor and spotted the haunting pair of golden oval eyes pleading at her in between the cracks. Mei looked away.

She trembled, took a second glance and sent her eyes to the windows which burst open, the crimson curtains flying in the howling wind. The rain persevered, more resilient than ever, pelting the earth and contaminating rivers with its acidity.

"Mei-chan!" A new voice, high-pitched and full of fear, entered her ears, but she refused to turn her head.

She felt a set of hands rock her body and lift her off the floor and onto cool skin. The Pokémon's eyes still stared at her, asking, questioning and interrogating her. Mei flipped her body on the person's lap and met a pair of brilliant green eyes, so green like the damned forest she was in. It was Jade, her classmate and roommate.

Mei's lips were quivering as she mumbled, "I killed it..."

"Huh?" The brown-haired girl bent forward and placed an ear closer. "Speak louder, Mei-chan. What's going on?"

"Mei killed... a Pidove."

"Please tell me you're lying, Mei! Where is it now?"

"Drowning river." Mei's mind was shutting down. In those evergreen eyes, she saw a blur image of herself. As Mei's eyes scanned her friend's sweating face, she gasped. "Jade! Behind you. It's here. Here for me!"

The brown-haired girl turned around and blinked. The rain grew louder, the pitter-patter like mystic whispers from fear-feeding ghouls brushing past their ears and fingering their eardrums. Jade shivered and sneezed. Returning to the girl in her arms, she said, "No one's there, Mei."

"I want to go home."

"Have you taken your meds?"

"I want to go home."

"We can't, Mei-chan." Jade looked around, but there was no soul in sight in the dark corridor. "The Writers' Guild session is beginning an hour later at seven in the evening. And we stay in the dorm till we graduate."

"Mei wants to go home. She feels afraid. She feels the Pidove pecking her head." There was a strange steeliness to Mei's voice.

Sighing, Jade placed her gently on the floor and rushed to the table. There, a bottle of pills stood beside two blue 2B pencils. Snatching it off the surface, she shook two pills out and slid them into Mei's mouth one by one. Water cascaded from Jade's black water bottle and into her friend's mouth.

"Alright, it's fine now." Jade carried the girl and placed her onto the bed before pulling the covers over her. "You should get some rest. I'll check on the Pidove, okay?"

"No!" Mei screamed. Her hands were shaking tremendously. This was not what she wanted when she told Jade about the Pidove. It was a risk she had taken. "Sayo will find you! Then she make me stab you. Punish us! Then, then..."

"Sayo? Who's that? Calm down, will you? I've my good luck charm with me so I won't die." Jade patted the girl's head and turned to the door, her hand groping for her clover pendant that hung around her neck. Mei's crazed look unsettled her, and she stepped away from the bed and across the room. She knew better than to leave Mei alone, but she had to check on the Pidove. With the way things were, she knew Mei was simply overthinking because of her delusions and hallucinations. Sayo was probably a hallucination as well.

Light filtered in from the windows as the storm clouds gradually cleared, and Mei could see Jade slightly better now.

"Jade, please stay with me."

"Sayo won't find me, I promise." Jade smiled, trod to the bed and gripped Mei's arms. She gazed into the abyss called Mei and found herself in the eye of a tornado. Feathers, black and grey, crimson-stained, danced around her. In the vague vicinity, two blue eyes stared back at Jade, and a cackle tickled her spine. Long blue threads swept across her vision as a sprite twirled and stretched a hand out to her.

That is... Sayo?

"I don't want to be alone in here."

The haziness of the voice made Jade question if it was Mei or Sayo who said it. Jade looked up and peered away, returning to the room once more. Mei blinked and looked at her, waiting and watching.

"Okay, I'll stay."

Jade stiffened as she surveyed the room. One of the blue pencils was rolling off the edge of the table and hit the floor with a light sound. The lights in the hallway flickered. The lamp above her swung, and she shuddered upon hearing the creaking. The air around her tightened, and the temperature of the room fell.

Was Sayo in the room?

Is she more than just a hallucination? No, of course not. That was the wind.

Jade blinked. The pencil was back on the table, and the lamp stopped swinging. She felt her breath sucked out of her soul.

Was I just imagining things? Maybe. I got to stay calm and stop stressing over things too easily.

A small smile crept up Mei's lips.

"That's more like it." Again, the muffled voice was there. Was it Mei? Was it Sayo? Or herself?

A sudden gust of wind sent the door slamming, and a thick silence echoed throughout the hallway soon after. The rain diminished, only to give way to a soft coo.