tw: a series of death, blood, gore

Eventually, to Michael's dismay, he had to start going back to school while his friend was recovering. Sure, Jeremy would only be in the hospital for another week tops, but Michael missed him.

If Michael missed any more school without a doctors note, he would have to take summer school, leaving him less time with Jeremy.

So, Michael went back to school, ignoring the rumors floating around. Michael hung out with Rich and Jake at lunch, but other than that, he was left to his own devices.

Whenever the last bell rang at the end of the day, Michael bolted out of class. He started keeping all of the books he needed in his backpack all day so he didn't waste time going to his locker and waiting in the traffic the student body created.

He went directly from school to the hospital everyday. He always just went directly to Jeremy's room, once in a while bringing chocolate or other junk food.

Michael would always cuddle with Jeremy on the small hospital bed, telling him about his day at school and taking breaks to make out with Jeremy in between.

Once or twice, Michael fell asleep with his head on Jeremy's chest, and the hospital staff didn't have the heart to wake Michael up when visiting hours were over.

To Michael's dismay, he always had to go to school in the morning without his favorite thing in life.

He was so ready for Jeremy to leave.

-

After the Christine incident, Jeremy had unimaginably painful nightmares, all involving Christine.

Now, these dreams didn't happen when Michael was with him, but when he wasn't, Jeremy often woke up screaming and crying.

Tonight was one of those nights without Michael.

As Jeremy finally fell asleep, he entered into his worst fears.

Jeremy ran towards the familiar scream, his movements more like those in a slow motion scene.

But he was the only thing moving in slow motion.

He finally made it to the familiar old oak tree where Christine almost killed him. He doubled over from the pain of his memory, sobbing.

He could still hear the gunshot that went off, hitting his foot clearly. It wasn't anything new, that sound rattled repeatedly in his brain, haunting every one of his waking moments.

But this time- and he didn't know how he figured this one out- the gunshot was real.

He followed the sound, panicking as he was unable to run.

He saw the glow of a lantern up ahead and knew that it was where the gunshot took place.

He finally made it after what felt like centuries of running far too slowly.

His heart dropped.

He saw Michael tied up against a tree, Christine standing in front of him with a gun.

Time seemed to move quicker now, as Jeremy ran faster towards the two.

He was about to tackle Christine down, but a foot before her was a completely invisible wall of sorts.

SLAM!

Jeremy ran into the force field at lightning fast speed, breaking his nose- and probably some other bones in the process.

He fought against the pain, pounding on the imaginary wall.

But it was no use.

The force field disappeared a second too late. Jeremy tried to dive in front of Michael, but the gun had already fired, temporarily deafening Jeremy in the process.

Blood splattered all over Jeremy, but it wasn't his own- it was Michael's.

The forest turned completely black.

Jeremy expected to wake up from his dream then, but it was the same forest again.

Everything played out the same way.

Jeremy couldn't run, and he was forced to hear Michael screaming for help.

It was agonizing.

But this time it wasn't a gun, Michael was being hanged.

Then darkness.

The dream kept going on an infinite loop, the endings only getting gorier and more twisted.

In one, Michael was in a bathtub still in the middle of the forest, when Christine threw a hairdryer in.

Jeremy got a glimpse of Michael's blackened face, but then it went dark again.

Probably the most vivid, this time Christine had a dog with her as well, and her and Michael were having a friendly chat.

Jeremy was confused. In this reality, were the two friends?

He started to relax as he listened to their pleasant conversation.

But then, Jeremy felt fear growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Something isn't right," Jeremy thought. Surely enough, Christine started transforming incredibly slowly in front of Jeremy's eyes.

Her teeth and nails were getting sharper, her eyes turned red. Finally, after hours, her skin turned a pale shade of green.

Michael was seemingly unaware of the changes taking place as they continued conversing.

Christine's dog started barking before pouncing on Michael, knocking the wind out of him.

Christine- who was no longer human- dug her razor sharp claws just below Michael's belly button, dragging her hand heavily, creating a deep cut.

Jeremy gagged at the putrid smell that filled the air, Michael somehow already decaying.

Christine started picking Michael's already spilling organs out one by one, feasting on them with her dog.

Jeremy was paralyzed in fear, unable to do anything but scream.

Finally, he woke up.

He had this nightmare before, but the ways Michael were tortured were always different.

Jeremy was never physically hurt in the dreams, only Michael was- and that was much, much worse.

Jeremy started to remain awake through the night, dark bags forming under his eyes as sleep deprivation started driving him insane.

Sure, he was under constant monitoring and nothing could happen to him, but what would happen when he would be discharged from the hospital?