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+--- Thread: Daiyu Sòng (/thread-224.html)
- Daiyu - 08-12-2016
Name: Daiyu Sòng
Age: 18
Birthplace: China
Location: Moscow
Goddess: Melinoë
Talent: Dreamwalker, unsparked channeler
-----
Age 3:
Daiyu thrashed in bed. Her skeletal arms waving and voice screeching terror in the darkness. Her mom scooped her into loving arms, bouncing and talking to little Daiyu, trying to break her from the nightmare.
Age 4:
Daiyu lay in bed listening to the heavy sounds of her mom and dad breathing in their sleep. When she was certain of their comatose state, she pulled the flashlight out from under her pillow, slipped her legs out and quietly padded across the bedroom floor. When she reached the closet, she winced at the squeak of the rails moving in the tracks. Her parents didn't wake as she snuck into the closet, clothes tickling the top of her head above. She flicked on the flashlight and pointed it to the corner.
"It's okay," she whispered to the shadowy shape huddled by the shoe rack. "You can come out now and play."
Age 5:
Daiyu's lips twisted in boredom as she fingered at the face of her dolly in the car. Her mom was worried, but Daiyu promised that her shadowy friends were harmless. They were just shy. When they got to the doctor's office, she was suppose to color pictures. But instead, she drew one of her many friends. They were black as sheep, small like a cat, and hunched like a grandma. They were always skittering around the edge of the bed or lurking in the closet. More than once, Daiyu found one sitting on her parents chest as they slept. When it happened, Daiyu had screamed, begging them not to hurt her them. Her friends didn't. But after that, mom and dad made her go to this doctor once a week to talk about them.
Age 6:
Daiyu sat at the breakfast table. Her parents served rice, egg and salmon like always. Alongside her plate was a cup of juice and a little white tablet that dissolved on her tongue that made her sleepy.
-----
After she started to take the medication, her pets left her alone. Daiyu was lonely at night, and after the birth of her younger siblings, she moved to stay in her own cot in her own big girl room across from her parents.
Once the nightmares eased, her childhood transformed into a more normal routine - except for the tablet everyday at breakfast.
Puberty changed all that. By 13, the dreams returned. But Daiyu did not cry out in the night anymore. She eagerly looked forward to bedtime, and was renown by her family for being so fond of sleeping.
She had found a new playground in her dreams. One where she could be anything. Do anything. Go anywhere.
Then she found her friends again. They snuck into bed with her, and she would find one sitting on her chest, nuzzling and purring like a charcoal black cat. They showed her the way through the dream land. They found her black cyclones to play in. And Daiyu was happy.
By sixteen she published her first book. It was a horror tale that astonished her parents for its dreadful imagery and complex plot. A best seller, she was contracted to write two more within the year.
By seventeen, Mara Sòng, as was her penname, was a famous author in the horror genre.
Six months later, she was on her third book tour, signing in Moscow, when she had a psychotic episode. She was sleeping more than ever, but somehow chronically deprived. She had lost weight. She wouldn't eat. She forgot about signings. All she wanted to do was sleep.
And dream.
And play with nightmares.
At age 17 she tried to commit suicide.
"No!" She kicked and bit at the hands grasping at her. Restraints bit into her wrists, arms bloodied by the trails of razor blades.
"Daiyu, you need to stay calm!"
"My name is Mara. My name is Mara!" She roared, not understanding why they called her Daiyu.
Needles poked into her veins and she screamed, teeth gnashing and head banging. Her raven black hair whipping like shadowy pine needles. A sedative was given, and warmth chased her eyes heavy.
Just before she dozed off, she saw her pet friend, the nightmare, sitting in the corner of the ER. He seemed sad.
"My name is Mara." She said just before passing out.