"You've been up all night?" he frowned from behind, making his brother jumped.
He'd been so engrossed in the information he'd come across to realize Isaac had even entered the room.
"Ah, not all night. Just since four."
"And what time did you go to bed?"
Taylor hesitated.
"I don't know," he shrugged.
Isaac sighed and shook his head, making his way over to the refrigerator for a drink of juice. Once he'd poured a glass, he made his way over to his brother and sat beside him, watching him. His eyes were practically glued to the screen, and he looked as if he hadn't slept for days. He stared for a moment.
"Maybe you should go back to bed for…"
"No," he replied sternly.
Isaac frowned, took a drink, and watched him again. His eyes fell over his brother's arms to his fingers tapping away. Knowing them as well as he did, he could see even in their movement that they were shaking.
"Taylor?"
He hesitated, not getting a reply.
"Why are your hands shaking?"
Taylor hesitated, still staring at the screen. He glanced at his brother, then continued typing.
"You know why."
"I'm afraid I don't."
"Doesn't four a.m. ring a bell anywhere inside that head of yours?" Taylor continued, unfazed.
Isaac hesitated, looking at the table. Then he remembered.
"A nightmare has you freaked?"
"It wasn't a nightmare," Taylor frowned, closing his laptop and standing up frustrated.
He paused for a moment with a sigh, glanced down at his brother, then went to get himself a drink.
"You've been up since four a.m. trying to work out if someone was in our room?"
"In a manner of speaking…" Taylor began, pouring his drink and taking a sip.
He set it on the bench and hung his head. Eventually, he shook it.
"Ike, it's a disorder."
"Huh?"
Taylor turned to him.
"It's a sleeping disorder. No one was there, it was a hallucination."
"You're hallucinating?"
"No. Yes… I don't know. As far as I know I was. Well, I mean I'm not now, obviously."
"Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
Isaac hesitated with a frown, "What is it?"
"Sleep Paralysis," he sighed, "need the gist? It's a sleeping disorder that will effect many people in their lifetime - many having it every night for forty years of their lives, mainly starting at the age of 16 or just over. Sleep paralysis itself is the name used for the trick your body plays while you sleep. Your brain paralyzes you so you don't act out your dreams. But sometimes… sometimes when you wake up it's still there. You're still paralyzed. Many people hallucinate while this is happening, most saying they see a dark hooded figure leaning over them, or hearing them and other noises. You can't move, you can't talk, you can't stop it. It can carry on from seconds to minutes. It induces paranoia, and people more often than not think they're going to die."
My Hanfic
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