Yaru doesn't wake up.

Instead, the dream changes, shifting like gas and taking a different, more unsettling form. Silver-grey mist starts trickling in and prevents Yaru from seeing the ground. The wind howls like a hungry beast, and the air grows cold enough to be seen by the naked eye.

Something is breathing down Yaru's neck. It's watching him.

The pond rapidly ices over, and the tree leaves fall off like tiny little knives, sharp enough to cut.

"Hehehehehe." A creepy-crawly voice sounds familiar, but at the same time, alien. In all honesty, the sound is hair-raising.

Yaru hastily gets up from where he dropped down. His eyes move around the clearing carefully, as if looking for danger.

A rustling in the bushes alerts Yaru seconds before a pitch-black owl shoots out.

"Show yourself!" Yaru calls.

No one answers. It's silent again. The lack of sound is just as unpleasant as the laughter before, maybe even more.

Yaru shouts again, but other than his voice echoing back to him, nothing changes.

Something catches Yaru's hand and pulls him closer to the pond. Yaru falls, and his body gets dragged to the point where water meets land. Straggling doesn't help. Fighting back against this is useless.

Yaru is hopeless, and in this thing's mercy.

Suddenly, as if there an invisible hand that starts writing on the frozen water, words appear.

"חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטהחרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטהחרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטהחרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטהחרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה חרטה"

Unknown words get repeated in some strange language. It's a tongue Yaru never seen before, so the black-haired boy has no idea what's going on.

A shrill scream penetrates the silence, and an oily black substance starts oozing out of the frozen pond.

Yaru tries to run away, but his legs can't move. A pair of sickly white hands are clenching at his ankles, holding him in place. Yaru straggles, his movements get jerky and sharp.

"No!!!"

"הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי הבטחת לי"

The black ink enters through Yaru's mouth, choking him.

"Umm!"

Yaru wakes up.

A/N -

Thank you for reading this far!

You promised me = הבטחת לי

regret = חרטה