Not just a dream?

Reaper - Chapter 3

When Suki carefully opens her eyes, she can only see shadowy, dark outlines around her. Her throat burns and she coughs. Gradually her senses become clearer and she realizes that she is in a gloomy room that is peppered with bright colors here and there. She tries to straighten up when a hand grabs her shoulder from behind and pushes her back into the pillow. She turns and looks into the green eyes of a young woman who is standing behind the arm of the couch on which Suki had apparently been placed. The woman has dark, tanned skin, neon-pink, short hair and several piercings in the narrow, pretty face. In addition, a tattooed barbed wire loop climbs up from her cleavage to around her neck, so that it looks as if it were the rope of a gallows. When she notices Suki's glances, she grins coldly at her.
"So, you woke up at last, Sleeping Beauty?"
The contempt in their voices can hardly be overheard.
"I'm Amander, my friends call me Amy ... but for you ..."
She takes a long drag on the cigarette she is holding and blows a plume of smoke at Suki.
"... Amander for you, right?"
At the other's repellent Art, she is speechless for a moment, until the memories of the last events strike her mind like lightning.
"Where is he?!"
"Who?"
"Sey! What happened? Is he okay?"
In her panic, she jerks herself up, causing her head to turn and nausea.
"Hey, hey cool it off, honey! He's over there ..."
Sure enough, Sey is lying on a large leopard-print bed at the far end of the room with her eyes closed. His chest rises and falls slowly and evenly. Suki finds it hard to hide her relief.
"He's fine, right?"
Amander puts the stub of her cigarette out in the hand of a bright statue standing next to a dirty aquarium.
"Sure ... what else? Those damn devils always find a way to survive ... just like rats, you see."
"What happened?"
Amander sits down on a narrow bar stool and crosses his legs.
"I have no idea, sweetheart. All I know is that this weirdo was suddenly soaking wet and standing in front of my door with you on your back. Ruined all my carpeting ... and looked like he was on a bad one Trip, or something ... I've already seen crack whores, they looked better! "
She twisted her mouth into a smile in amusement.
"But in my limitless goodness, I refused asylum for you both ... and you owe me something for that!"
The change that goes on with her laughter as she utters these words makes Suki uncomfortable.
Not that she didn't already feel uncomfortable enough in this strange living room ... The walls of the room, as well as the ceiling, are painted jet black and the gloomy atmosphere is only loosened up by a few colored neon tubes and the bright red carpet.The furnishings mainly consist of a colorful mix of antique furniture from different eras and a considerable collection of curious, colorful art objects. The windows are covered with heavy, wine-red velvet curtains. Just as Amander lights a new cigarette, bored, Suki notices that she no longer wears her own clothes, but a wide, dark blue top with brightly colored different firearms and black sweatpants, which are about 6 inches tall long and a lot too far. With flushed cheeks, she turns questioningly to Amander, whom she has apparently observed with amusement.
"Don't look at me like that, your own clothes were completely soaked, not to mention the boring style ... you should be grateful to me, now you're at least wearing a nice top ... you should wear more color, then it works at least as if you had a little more bust size. "
Suki's head becomes even redder and she turns away quickly so that Amander doesn't notice how uncomfortable this conversation is ... When her gaze falls on Sey, she notices that he is still wearing the same wet clothes as before, his jacket is lying down dripping on a chair under which a dark stain has already formed in the carpet. When one of Amander's smoke wafts past her ear from behind, Suki involuntarily flinches.
"... Or are you not mad at the end because I changed your clothes ..."
She stares at Suki with a meaningful grin.
"... You are probably only offended because I didn't leave it up to him, huh ...?"
Suki opens her mouth to say something, but Amander doesn't give her a chance. Swinging her hips, she turns on her heel and walks towards the door. Before she finally leaves the room, she pauses.
"Believe me, little one, you shouldn't make the mistake of being fooled by him ... those damn reapers are real masters at pretending, and they don't have any kind of conscience ... at the first opportunity he'll be you deliver to the knife, I can promise you that! "
Suki looks after Amander, who has disappeared in the door frame, unsettled. She's not entirely sure what to make of this warning. But if she had to decide, Sey would definitely be someone she has more trust in than Amander! ... On the other hand, ... She still lacks a real reason for this trust ... With a vigorous shake of the head, Suki throws their doubts aside. After all, Sey had already saved her life twice, no ... even three times in the last 24 hours! Therefore, to doubt him now it seems to you to be profoundly ungrateful. She lets her gaze rest for a moment on the sleeping Sey. He is lying on his back on the bed with his wet clothes, as if he had just let himself down on it as soon as he had entered the room.His left arm hangs motionless from the edge of the bed, Suki can see goose bumps on his forearm even from this distance. There is a loud squeak as she gets up from the small sofa, the warm blanket she woke up under tucked under her arm. With slightly hesitant steps she approaches Sey and gently puts the blanket over him. She carefully brushes a few strands of hair that are still quite wet from his face. Just as her fingertip touches his skin for a split second, Suki feels like an electric shock is racing through her entire body. From one second to the next, her eyes go black and she feels as if the ground is being torn from under her feet. Suddenly the darkness tears open in front of her and she can see some vague outlines that seem to become steadily clearer. Confused, she realizes that she is no longer in the strange room in Amander's apartment, but in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. It seems to be autumn, for the entire ground is covered with leaves in various shades of red and yellow, and only a few brown stragglers are still hanging on the dry, gray branches of the bare trees. A cold breeze winds between the trunks and blows a strand of her hair into her face. As Suki strokes it behind her ear with one hand, she suddenly notices that her hair is many times longer than usual. She no longer wears Amander's strange top or sweatpants, but an old-fashioned, simple little one and a bright apron, the edges of which are decorated with an inconspicuous lace fabric. Next to her on the forest floor is a slightly battered basket made of willow branches with some mushrooms and other plants. As if in a trance, Suki picks up the basket and takes a few steps to the right, along a barely visible, narrow path. She has no idea why she's walking in that direction, it's almost as if her body is moving on its own. Suddenly she hears voices that seem to be rapidly approaching her. But since the trees dampen most of the noise around her, she cannot say for sure how far away they are or which direction they are coming from. But for some reason she is suddenly sure that she has to get out of here as soon as possible. She runs as fast as she can over the uneven forest floor, but in her hurry loses sight of the path and after a few minutes she has to pause to orientate herself again. After she has turned several times on her own axis, in the hope of discovering the path somewhere in her immediate vicinity, her gaze suddenly falls on the remains of an old stone wall overgrown with moss. She feels a sense of relief, and without knowing how she got this absurd idea, she is suddenly sure that she knows exactly how to get home from this wall.Just as she is walking around the wall, she is suddenly gripped roughly by the arm and thrown to the ground. When she looks up, she looks into the eyes of a tall soldier who is staring at her with disgust on the one hand and almost eagerly on the other. Two other uniformed men appear next to him, both with sinister smiles on their faces. They toss a few sentences to each other in a language Suki cannot understand and then burst out laughing. One of them approaches Suki, puts one hand around her neck and roughly pulls her to her feet. He seems to want to know something about her, but she cannot understand a word of this strange language. The tall guy she'd first seen shakes his head briefly, then puts a hand to his mouth and gives a loud whistle, followed by a shouted command. After a few minutes another soldier comes around the wall, his helmet pulled down over his face and an old-fashioned rifle on a strap casually thrown over his left shoulder. He's a good deal smaller than the other three, and a lot slimmer. In terms of stature, Suki would probably estimate him to be around 16, maybe 17 years. The tall soldier hits him lightly on the battered metal helmet and seems to be giving him instructions with a grim expression. The other nods silently, his eyes still fixed on the floor. When the big guy has finished, he takes the rifle from him and pushes him roughly in Suki's direction, where he comes to a standstill a few meters in front of her and looks up for the first time, straight into her eyes. Suki's heart seems to stand still for a moment when she realizes that it is Sey who is standing in front of her. His face looks a bit narrower than she is used to, and with all the dirt and dark circles under the eyes is a great contrast to the Sey she usually has to do with ... But the black hair that extends into him his eyes fall and that annoyed, sullen look on his face leaves no doubt that