Hello readers and followers, it's been a while since my last story, huh?

Well, that's because when I wrote and finished my first story of this year, it burned me right out and I needed a long time to recover. But I'm back, and with a one-shot that is not a sequel to the other one I did during last year. I believe someone also requested a one-shot involving these two girls, but I forgot who it was, lol. Anyways, hope this is to your liking.

Lingering Dreams

One dark evening, Mai and Rottie had just called it a day when it was getting late at night. They were sleeping together in a double bed and Rottie had already fallen asleep whilst Mai looked at her before looking out the window and seeing the evening sky as the moon was already high up above the city. In a normal situation, there would be two separate beds, but these two girls were far from normal.

Memories of the dark, sick and twisted events that traumatized them both and their other friend were still present in their minds. As much as they try not to think about it, it sometimes couldn't be helped. Which was exactly what was happening for Rottie who wasn't able to sleep quietly. Mai was moving around in bed as well and she opened her eyes to see the other side of the bed moving.

"Mmm...huh?" She looked at Rottie who was shaking a little. "Is she having that dream again?"

"Ngh...Mai...help me..." Rottie whispered.

Mai wasn't sure what it was she dreaming, and it was probably for the best that she didn't know.

*Nightmare sequence*

In her dream, Rottie was running down across an endless hallway that resembled a school dormitory, much like the one she lived in decades ago which was an all-girls school.

"Why...why is this happening to me?" She asked herself. "I didn't do anything wrong, right?!"

There was no end in sight, the darkness kept going like an infinite loop. She was panting as she kept running, alarmed and disturbed by the reason of why she was running. Behind her was a faceless human-shaped monster that spewed out a dark red aura that resembled the colour of blood. When she glanced back, she could see the faceless human running after her pursuit.

"ARGH!" Rottie yelled. "DON'T CATCH ME! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

But there was no reply, it kept running faster and faster until it was inches away from grabbing her. Suddenly, the endless hallway ended and there was now a door, she opened it very fast and dashed out of the building. She ran far away and then looked back to see that the faceless monster was nowhere to be seen.

"Hah...hah...hah...it's gone." She said as she cried.

But then she turned away, and in front of her was the faceless human who reached out to her and grabbed her by the face.

*Nightmare end*

"AHHHHHHHH!" Rottie suddenly woke up and yelled, not noticing that Mai was right next to her.

"What the...Rottie?" Mai asked.

"I'M DONE FOR...Huh?!" She responded by looking to her right. "M-Mai?"

She could see the shock in her face. So Mai did what was right, she took her hand and held it tight.

"It's okay, I'm right here, Rottie." She assured, with a soft tone. "Did you have that dream?"

Rottie cried before she flung her arms around her. "It was horrible! I dreamt that I was...being chased by..."

"So, it happened again?"

"Hic...yeah it did." Rottie sniffed. "Mai? Why does this have to keep happening?"

"I don't know..." Mai replied sadly. "What we went through, it's going to take a long time. But as long as we're here together, we can get through it, you know?"

Rottie wiped her eyes. "Yeah...I know."

Mai sighed, looking away.

"What about you, Mai?"

She looked back at her. "Nothing yet, but I can't sleep somehow."

"Oh, is it because you might have a bad dream, too?"

"Maybe, but I don't wanna live through those times again."

Rottie looked worried. "But Mai, if you don't get any sleep, you'll feel unwell tomorrow."

"It's okay, all that matters is that you get some sleep."

"Hmm, okay."

"If it happens again, I'll snuggle up with you, like always."

That made Rottie smile. "Yeah, thanks, Mai."

Mai smiled back and watched as Rottie got back to sleep. As much as Mai didn't want to, she knew that it wasn't healthy to not sleep well enough. So, despite blushing madly, she moved up to Rottie and held her hand before she fell asleep as well. Unaware that her worst fear was about to happen in her dream.

*Nightmare sequence*

What Mai was dreaming, was not what she expected. She had ended up in a very dark forest, and in her hand was a flashlight.

"Huh? Where in the hell am I?" She asked herself.

She slowly walked around the forest, the only sounds were the calm evening wind and the gravel from underneath her shoes. There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, despite it being very dark and the shapes of the trees being creepy in some places. But then, she noticed a piece of paper that was stuck to one of the trees. Following her curiosity, she walked over to the tree and read the note.

"Feeling lucky? Try and find six more of these." She said. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly, she started hearing faint loud noises from somewhere and the flashlight was starting to flicker. This made her feel tense and the atmosphere was beginning to fade out of colour. Mai gasped, because she knew that this was a very bad sign that a faceless human was approaching. She began to move quickly away and then as luck would have it, the surrounding colour drained and it appeared not far from her.

"N-no! Go away!" She exclaimed as she tried to run.

The faint banging noise wasn't going away, she picked up the pace and tried to run faster to get away from it all. At first, the forest seemed like it would never end. But eventually, Mai found a way out of the forest. But the faceless human was still trying to catch up. She kept rushing forward, not knowing where she was going until she reached an edge. She could now see that she had reached the end of a top hill and that it was a very long way down.

"Shit! I can't let it end like this!" She said as her voice shook a little.

She turned back to see the faceless human closing in and it was then, that she knew this was going to end in one of two ways. To be either caught and killed, or to jump off the edge and survive the fall. As a way of defying what stood against her, she went with the latter and leaped off the edge. But it was to be her only mistake, the fall was taking much longer to end. in fact, it was more like she leaped off a mountain than a hill.

But the ground was fast approaching and Mai closed her eyes, accepting her fate that was mere moments away before she eventually hit the ground.

*End of nightmare*

"ARGH! Hah...hah...hah." She woke up, startled and in shock.

"Mmm...Mai?" Rottie then woke up and switched on a table lamp on her side of the bed. "What happened?"

"R-Rottie?" Mai asked, unsure if she was awake. "You're okay?"

She nodded in response before she took Mai's hands and then hugged her.

Mai let a tear fall down her cheek and she let it out whilst hugging Rottie in return as they cuddled up side by side.

"I guess I should've stayed awake for you." Rottie said.

"No, you're right. We both need to sleep." Mai replied, her voice still shaking. "These dreams just...won't go away."

Rottie hummed. "Then...why don't we make a dream together?"

"How?"

"Well, if we snuggle up to each other like this and then fall asleep, maybe we'll have the same dream together."

Mai was unsure of the idea. "Umm, okay, if you think that'll work."

"It should do, because I never dream of bad stuff when you hold me tight every night."

She then blushed. "But that was just the one time, and-"

"Hehe, I'm kidding, Mai. I already know how much you love me."

"L-love?"

Rottie moved closer to her. "And you know how much I love you, right?"

Mai was not surprised at that. She knew how much Rottie fell for her, long before they overcame terrifying odds. But since they both got a chance to have a peaceful life together nowadays, Mai came around to the idea of wanting to be close to Rottie as much as she does. And that included affection and support. She gave a warm smile to her and held her closer. Rottie smiled happily, understanding her answer before the two of them took a moment to calm down.

Once the bad dreams were fading away, they slowly laid back down and cuddled up together, looking at each other.

"Goodnight, Rottie. I hope this works." Mai said.

"It will, Mai. Goodnight." She replied.

She then kissed Mai on the forehead and giggled before she fell asleep.

Mai could only blush in embarrassment before she shrugged and after waiting to make sure she was dreaming, she moved her head forward and softly kissed Rottie on the cheek. She then held her close before falling asleep with her.

As the two of them began to have a dream that was far much better together than alone, Mai was reminded that there will always be days when bad dreams will come back, no matter how many times it happens. But she also knew that it won't be that way forever, there's always a light at the end of a long tunnel.

'Don't worry, Rottie. I'll always protect and be there for you.'

THE END

There we are and I'll admit, this one is very short, but it sometimes makes a huge difference compared to writing a very long story.

If you wanna see more of my stories, feel free to fave or follow me, that's all. :)