The Rhythm of Your Heart [Yan!DSMP x Reader]

CHAPTER XXXVII: D3@TH

FANART SECTION

Made by: Avery

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everything feels weird. very weird. it's such a disorienting feeling, but the familiarity is undeniable.

you expect to find yourself in the town once you can finally open your eyes, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like that's what 's going to happen today.

instead, you're in a place that is so known to you, but you can't place where this is. you know you've been here before. and you know that you're not alone here either.

the sound of bullets echo against the walls, filling the halls with such a hauntingly beautiful noise. you've not just been here before, but like this as well. as you look down, you see the clothing that you wore that day as well. they're covered in blood.

your heart seems to be beating in your ears and your breathing subtly quickens, as you look down to your chest and allow your finger to touch the bit of blood that's rolling down there, the liquid weakening your brain. your ears ring, but the voice is so distant, despite being so close.

a bullet. a bullet in your heart. not through it. not past it. right in it.

"don't faint, little one," the familiar voice of Death whispers, a cold air coming from its presence as you quickly startle, looking up and gasping as if you've been under water for the past minute. there they stand. it's undoubtedly them. they're holding their scythe, which is entirely clean and shiny, not a single drop of blood on the metal of the weapon. they're not wearing their usual top hat, which throws you off quite a bit.

however, their words do strike you, and you try to keep yourself conscious as they put their finger on the hole in your chest, almost putting it in the wound which only makes your head feel lighter. you cough, also coughing up a bit of blood, which goes through the Grim Reaper. "the wound will soon heal. it's healed before, and it'll heal again." confusedly, you look at them.

"where am I? what am I doing here? what happened?"

"you already know the answer to two of those questions, Y/N," the Grim Reaper states firmly, looking at you with eyes as cold as their body. "you know where you are and you know what happened. what you're doing is, is a question I cannot give you an answer to." you panic.

"I have to get back," you start saying, not knowing where these words come from. "I have to go home. I have to go back. I want to go home!" you start shouting it out, not knowing exactly where this sudden desperation for home is coming from. maybe it's the place in which you're living. maybe it's the mall, reminding you of the horror that you experienced that same day. all that you know, is that you have to leave this place. you have to go back to your parents. that's what you need.

that's what your longing for. a hug from your parents. an embrace from the family. and you won't getting that the longer you stay here.

"calm down, Y/N," Death speaks in a motherly tone to you, trying to follow you as you walk away, needing to breathe, but failing to do so. your beating heart – or maybe it's just an illusion? – has completely paralyzed your mind, changing you into some frantic, terrified, little child: a toddler in desperation for its father's company, or its mother's arms. everything is so bright. a beeping sound enters your ears, and it's almost as if you're falling in and out of reality. white wall. grey wall. white light. death. a stranger. death again.

"stay with me, Y/N," Grim speaks, their voice melting together with someone else, a lot more desperate and fearful. "breathe in. calm yourself."

after a few deep breaths, you just lean against the wall and close your eyes, the exhaustion truly kicking in once you've gotten yourself under control again. you let out a deep sigh.

"what do you want from me?" you then ask Death, as if they could want anything from you to begin with. "why is it that I'm here now?"

"you passed out, little one," Grim answers plainly, as if that's totally normal. and maybe it is, but to end up somewhere else? no, not so much.

"but why here?!" you scream out and Death sighs.

"why do you think?" you try to come up with an answer yourself, but have no clue. and the reaper doesn't exactly help you either. "don't worry, Y/N. you'll go back. soon enough." there comes a clear realization. you will not be able to escape here without cooperation of the most powerful being alive, so you agree to walk with them a bit. quickly, you come to discover more and more, yet less and less. every explanation brings you in a more confusing position, and at some point, you're even convinced you're in your very own limbo, and perhaps, in a sense, you are.

if hell is where you'll end up, this must be it. there's no other option.

"it seems like we've arrived at the entrance," Grim Reaper suddenly states, forcing your mind to look at two glass doors, behind which is a hallway you cannot see. instead, it seems to have been closed off by bushes of red chrysanthemums, which sound as though they're crying out for someone to help them. you look over at Grim Reaper confusedly, who lets out a sigh. up till now, every single question you've had, they've reflected in one way or another. not a single possibility as to what is going on, has been denied to be the case, only leading you to more confusion. it's like solving a crime with no evidence. or rather, there is evidence, but they're all pointing in other directions.

you truly have no clue anymore. everything's so disorienting.

"so, what now?" you then ask them, and they smile, you believe, but the world gets slightly blurry.

"that's up to you," they state. "you can either stay here with me and see what happens, or you can go back to Urvorum, where your friends and foes are waiting for your awakening. if you want to return, go through the door."

"how do you want me to go through a door that's been grown closed by a bunch of flowers?"

"you can do it," they insist, and thus, you make the final decision. you'll go through it.

you approach the door and it opens automatically, startling the shit out of you as you take a step back, feeling a sense of danger overflow your senses as you actually reconsider your decision. before making the final choice, you turn around and look over your shoulder, keeping your eyes on death who remains in silence completely.

you turn back to the flowers and step towards it. according to death, you'll have to find a way to go through it, so you start digging into the plants, feeling a lot of pain going through your fingers as you do so. the flowers are almost fighting back, forcing you to stay with death, but you refuse to.

you're going towards the red light. and you'll reach it too.