Chapter Text
Paul is in a terrible mood. Earlier, people were singing to him left and right and Paul simply could not handle any more nonsense.
Paul had freaked out a couple of hours ago, and he had run all the way home before even making it to work.
Paul was currently sitting on his sofa staring at the wall. He had been doing this for approximately an hour.
He wasn't really planning on moving, but when he heard faint singing close to his house he immediately got up and closed his blinds.
“Okay... OKAY” He muttered. Everything's gonna be fine. Probably just some festival or holiday he hadn't heard of in his entire life living in Hatchetfield! Yeah. That's probably it.
He sat back down on his sofa, putting his face in his hands out of exhaustion. He hadn't even told his boss he wasn't coming into work today.
Mr. Davidson was probably wondering where he was. He had forgotten to get his weekly reports done yesterday, and he hoped Mr. Davidson wouldn't give him a lecture when he came back.
He hadn't even had time to say hi to Emma yet! He was really letting this whole thing get to him.
Paul almost jumped off his sofa and face planted when he suddenly heard a voice echoing in his head. Or at least he thought it was in his head, he couldn't quite pinpoint where it came from.
It was calling his name, it was loud in his head, but the voice itself was a whisper. It felt like it came from everywhere but also nowhere at once. He covered his ears, trying to drown out the voice to no avail.
Though suddenly, the voice quieted down, he slowly withdrew his hands from his ears, looking around the room for what was practically yelling his name in his head.
Paul didn't really spot anything out of the ordinary, until he saw a small white spider on the carpet next to his feet.
Paul quickly pulled his legs up off of the floor, balancing on the sofa. Paul was already on edge before whatever was happening now, so now he was pretty much panicking.
Paul's eyes widen in both shock and fear as he blinks and the spider is suddenly replaced by a human- or at least what looks like a human.
What he gathers from this maybe-woman is that she has long white hair and dark eyes which he can't quite decipher the color of. She's wearing a flowy white shirt- or dress? He's not quite sure.
The woman looks slightly distressed, but also determined. She is looking right at Paul, making direct (and quite awkward, in Paul's opinion) eye contact.
Paul looked around his living room, his jaw slightly agape in shock by whatever just happened in front of him.
“Hello Paul!” She says with a kind tone to her voice, but Paul still has his doubts. The woman's eyebrows furrow at Paul's silence for a split second, then she speaks again.
“I'm Webby. Please don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you.” She put her hands up in the air, trying to assure Paul as best as she could.
“I know you're probably confused, maybe scared…” She paused, taking a second as she tried to gather her words in an understandable way.
“Im sure you've noticed the people in your town acting weird?” She gave Paul a second to reply.
Paul, still on edge, his shoulders tense and his head reeling, nodded once in reply.
Webby nodded back. “Good, well, that's all because of one of my Brother's schemes, but it's a long story that we don't need to get into right now. Anyways, my point is, I'm going to help you.”
Paul had no idea what to make of this situation and information. What, her brother made a holiday? At least that's what he hoped was happening. Also, help him with what? Paul was just planning on waiting until tomorrow where whatever holiday this was blew over.
“Help me with what?” Paul asked quietly. Webby smiled, glad to get a verbal answer from him.
“Well, to put it simply, not die. But I also suspect you won't really like what I need to do to help you.” She tried to put it as carefully as she could, she understood this could be a lot for Paul, hell, it was stressing Webby out too.
Paul tried as best as he could to gather all this information. Paul wasn't made for a life of action, and now some spider-shapeshifter comes and tells him she's gonna help him survive... a celebration?
Though, for some reason, Paul wasn't as shocked as he should've been. While he was staring at the wall and zoning out earlier, he had thought of a lot of things, this was tamer than a lot of what Paul had imagined.
“How are you gonna ‘help me not die’ by a celebration? What's the danger??.” Paul asked nonetheless, he was still tense and stressed, but he was slightly curious too.
“It's not a..-” Webby cut herself off. If thinking this was a celebration could help Paul feel any sort of comfort, Webby decided to let him have it until it was necessary to tell him the truth.
“Paul. Something dangerous is happening as we speak, and I need to help you as soon as possible, so that you can help others.”
Paul slowly nodded. “Okay..” He muttered, mostly to himself. “What is it that you're gonna do to help me?”
Webby straightened up. “I can't tell you that here, I'll tell you when we get somewhere safer. Do you know any places we can go?”
Paul thought for a second, the only places he really went to were beanies, CCRP and his own house.
“Can't we just leave town for a bit if it's that serious?”
As if that was a cue, Paul's tv turns on to see Donna, a news reporter Paul was very familiar with and relieved to see. At least something was normal today, he thinks. But as she speaks, Paul's face drops.
“Our skittish neighbours in Clivesdale have raised the Nantucket bridge. With the ferries down for the season and no accessible means off the Island, Hatchetfield citizens are advised to stay indoo-”
Paul turns the tv off. This really did read like some sort of twisted apocalypse. He looked up at the woman in front of him, she looked like she was mentally cringing.
“..Thats okay! We can just go to the shore, I'm sure my brother is going to gather people mostly in the city.” Webby smiles reassuringly.
Paul has a mental discussion with himself, should he trust her? I mean, if she wanted to harm him she would've probably done so already, but she could also be luring him to his death here.
After a long moment of silence, Paul nods. “Okay.” He was still curious over what webby was going to do to help him that he ‘wouldn't like’.
“We better go now then, I don't think we can afford to wait with this too long. Stay close.” Webby patiently waits for Paul to stand up, and when he does, she turns and walks out the door.
Paul follows closely, pretty much right at her heels. He fidgets with his hands and looks around anxiously as they make their way down the sidewalk, holding his guard up for people singing or dancing.
It was surprisingly quiet on the way toward the shore, maybe Webby was right about people being ‘gathered in the city’.
Webby tried making small talk as they walked, but Paul's vague and quiet responses cut those interactions short. Paul was generally okay with small talk, but with the situation dawning on him as they walked he really just couldn’t get himself to respond sincerely.
Once Paul could see the shore in the distance, he felt a bit more relaxed. They hadn't seen anyone singing, or even anyone at all. It was both disturbing and a relief.
Webby suddenly turned and looked Paul dead in the eyes. Paul abruptly stopped walking, almost bumping into her.
“We can talk now. Do you want the long explanation or the short one?”
Paul was caught off guard by the sudden seriousness. He stuttered for a moment, fumbling over his words before landing on “uh, long version?”. Yeah that's probably the best he could do at the moment.
Something shifted in Webby's expression when she started speaking. “Okay, so as I told you earlier, my brother is the one who controls all the people acting strange.”
Paul nodded in acknowledgement.
“He creates ‘hives’, he's taken over other worlds too. with a singular voice, he alone chooses what the people contained within it say and do, and right now he's making them all look for you while singing and dancing.”
“Me???” Paul questions, baffled at some brother of Webby's looking for him of all people. Paul was just some average guy after all.
“You, yes. He finds some sort of interest in you, and wants you to be the main character of his ‘musical’.”
Paul's heart dropped, he felt sick. “Why me?”
Webby shrugged. “I don’t know. But I'm not letting him get you, so there's something I have to do.”
Paul felt a bead of sweat run down his forehead, his fidgeting getting more intense by the word.
“Okay. What is it?” Paul asked hesitantly.
Webby took a breath. “I'm going to transfer the leadership of the hive to you.”
Paul froze. What? He couldn't lead a hive?? This had to be some joke. He stammered, dumbfounded. All he managed to say in reply was “W..what?!..”
Webby had expected that Paul would freak out, but she still didn't really know what to do to help him feel better. “it's the only option you have if you don't want to die.” She didn't mean to be that blunt, but she couldn't really go back on it now.
Paul had no words. His mind was spinning and he felt dizzy. What was he supposed to say to this? “Okay… Okay. This is just a bad dream. None of this is possible, and there is NO way an evil singing god is after me, personally… I just drank too much coffee before sleeping and now I have nightmares… sorry lady but this is enough, I'm gonna wake up now… enjoy all… this. Bye!"
Paul pinches himself carefully, then harder, then frantically…
“Bye I said… BYE!!” He repeats, crying out in frustration as his efforts completely fail to end the situation he has no idea how to handle.
Webby shook her head. “You need to do this, Paul. I believe you can do it.”
This absolutely did not help with what Paul was going through. He still felt nauseous at pretty much every word Webby said, the reality of the situation hitting him hard. He felt bile in his throat. This was not what he expected when he woke up today.
“Why me?” Paul asked again.
“I can't get a hold of anyone else, pretty much everyone is either already infected or in the process. We need to do this quickly, so are you okay with it?”
Paul had never really been in a great position of control in any way ever, and he never really wished for it either. He was strongly debating saying no, but he couldn't stop thinking about Emma. He wanted her alive.
Paul nodded slowly. “Uh, okay.. quick question though, how am I gonna, uh, control other people??..”
“You'll know.” Webby didn't really have any more time for in-depth conversation. She felt a presence and she knew she needed to hurry up.
“Okay! Are you ready?” She said urgently.
“Uh, yeah..!” Paul said hesitantly.
Webby started counting down from three. And when she reached zero, she disappeared. Paul stood on the shore completely alone for a couple of seconds. “Did it work?-”
Paul was cut off as he suddenly felt hundreds of peoples consciousnesses in his head, their wants and desires. Paul collapsed to the ground, an overwhelming amount of information entering his head at once.
Paul felt his body getting lighter, and like his insides were twisting and moving within him. His entire body was shaking and he felt like he was going to puke.
Paul had a raging headache now, he could feel blood pumping through his veins as his body tried getting used to everything he was experiencing at the moment.
After a few minutes of laying on the ground and grasping his head, Paul felt slightly better. He slowly stood up, a bit wobbly on his feet, but he could stand.
The headache didn't seem to be getting much better, but he was slowly getting used to it. He tried to walk, stumbling forward and almost face planting onto the sand.
Paul glanced towards the shore, then he started walking back home. Paul just wanted a break.
Paul felt people he knew inside his head. He felt the presence of his boss, Mr. Davidson. He could feel what the man wanted, and he grimaced at the thought. Everyone has their wants, I guess.
He felt the presence of one of his co-workers, Melissa..
…nevermind.
Paul didn't feel Emma's presence, and he took that as a good thing.
As Paul walked back home, he couldn't help but get more and more nervous. What is he even supposed to do now?
Pokotho was angry. where the fuck is Paul Matthews. He had been making his lesser puppets look for him for practically the whole day, he couldn't go on with the show if Paul was nowhere to be seen.
Pokotho growled in frustration, he knew Paul had to be in Hatchetfield, so where the hell was he? Maybe Pokotho had miscalculated where he would be. Paul's house had already been ransacked from head to toe, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Pokotho was mad and everyone in the hive could feel it. Until suddenly they couldn't. Pokotho suddenly felt detached from his hive, not feeling any control over them, which made him even more pissed.
He knew only a few people who had the power for this, his brothers and his sister. He knew his brothers had their own business and wouldn't be interested in messing with him like this, so he knew who was behind this.
He muttered curses at the woman who dared to ruin his plans. Paul is going to be the star of his show. He was going to make sure of it.
Emma had been in the city since the morning, she had to come early to her job because her boss demanded she needed to learn some song and dance or else she'd be fired.
Emma was currently leaning against the counter, holding her head up with her hand. She was staring at the wall, Beanies was relatively quiet today, which she didn't really have a problem with.
She checked her phone, Paul should've been here and ordered something by now. Not that she cared or anything, just that it was nice to see a face she could actually talk with.
Suddenly, a bell chimed over the door, someone walked in, and Emma reluctantly carried herself up from the counter.
She figured since Nora and Zoey were currently in the breakroom together, they wouldn't notice if Emma didn't sing.
Emma recognized the person walking up to the counter, it was a boy with overalls, glasses and a bowtie.
Emma practically groaned in annoyance, but she forced a customer-friendly smile as the boy walked up to the counter. “Let me guess, hot chocolate?”
The boy nodded and Emma turned around and started making the drink.
Zoey suddenly came out of the breakroom, an empty smile plastered on her face as she had all morning.
“I'll take it from here, Emma!” She spoke, a sing-song tone in her voice, but Emma took it as her following the new policy in this God forsaken workplace.
“Fine, go ahead” Emma stepped aside and handed Zoey the cup Emma was about to pour hot chocolate in.
Suddenly, Nora came out with the same off putting smile on her face. “Y'know Emma, you've been working so hard, you deserve a break!”
Emma was confused, her brows furrowing in concern. Emma usually isn't offered breaks like this. “Uh.. okay??” Emma walked over to the breakroom and sat down on one of the chairs there.
She sat there silently for a bit, mentally debating if she should try to contact Paul or not.
She slowly pulled out her phone, staring at her phone's wallpaper. It was a picture she took a while ago on a hike. She missed when she was more outdoorsy, but nowadays all she could really afford to do was work at this shitty Coffee shop.
Emma put in the code to her phone, unlocking it and going into her messages with her and Paul.
Conversation with Paul
Yesterday
Paul: Hey Emma! It was nice talking to you at beanies yesterday :) [yesterday at 3:47 pm]
Paul: Are you at beanies right now? I'm at work so I might be able to come by [yesterday at 3:48 pm]
You: Yeah i’m at work [yesterday at 3:48 pm]
You: Please come by i need to talk about what happened in work today [yesterday at 3:48 pm]
Paul: I'll be there in 10! [Yesterday at 3:50 pm]
Today
You: Hey Paul are you okay? You haven't been at beanies today [4:29 pm]
You: i have loads to shittalk about work has been so exhausting today [4:30 pm]
You: are you sick or something do you want me to get something for you [4:36 pm]
You: text me back when you can [4:42 pm]
Emma put her phone down and turned it off, sighing. She didn't want to worry about Paul at the moment, she could just see him when she got off work anyways.
Emma suddenly heard her name being called from outside the breakroom. She walks out and immediately freezes in her tracks.
Everyone is staring directly at her, the same uncanny smiles on their faces, but the most off-putting thing is that everyone's eyes were vibrant blue, not just their iris, but their entire eyes were blue.
Emma took a step back. “What the hell?” She suddenly felt someone grab her from behind her, pushing her toward the people standing still and smiling at her.
Emma spots Zoey staring at her with the same unnatural eyes, and Emma feels a lump start forming in her stomach.
“Zoey, what the fuck is going on.” Zoey's smile widens, and in unison, everyone else does too. Emma looked around her, she was surrounded by people just staring at her. It looked like they were waiting for something.
Suddenly, everyone starts singing a note, Emma's heart drops. This was so strangely disturbing, and she felt she needed to leave immediately.
Emma tries to push herself through the crowd of people around her, but they manage to keep her surrounded.
Emma stands on guard in the middle of the circle of people, quickly reflecting on her options, and reluctantly pulls out a pocket knife.
“I don't wanna hurt anyone, let me leave!” She yells, sounding as threatening as she could. When she got called in to work, she knew today was gonna be a shitty day, but not this shitty.
The gathering of people around her only got closer, singing in chorus. Emma took a deep breath, swung the knife in front of her and forcefully pushed herself past the group of people.
As she bolted toward the door, she cast one last glance behind her, and she saw the boy who ordered hot chocolate on the ground, blue liquid dripping out of his mouth, as the others were all still staring at her and humming to a song in unison.
Emma slammed the door behind her and took a few deep breaths. Did she just kill a kid? Emma didn't have time to think of that now. She was sure she had a few bruises from being pushed around and she felt like she needed to get home as fast as possible.
As Emma was about to put her knife back in her pocket, she spots out of the corner of her eye something blue.
She brings the knife closer to her, and instead of normal blood, it's the same color as the eyes of the people in beanies, and the blue liquid that was dripping out of that boy's mouth.
Emma closes the knife and puts it in her back pocket. She is not fucking dealing with this today.
As Emma ran, she patted her other pockets. Fuck. She had forgotten her phone in the break room. What if Paul comes by later and is attacked too?
Emma suddenly felt something grab her arm, pulling her into an alleyway. Emma tried screaming, but the person quickly covered her mouth.
They turned Emma around and put their finger to their mouth as a ‘be quiet’ gesture.
Emma slowly stopped retaliating, though she was still on edge. Emma tried to figure out who this person was, but the alleyway was too dimly lit.
The person, and what Emma saw now as two other people led her deeper into the alleyway and toward a few trashcans.
The two other people hopped in the trashcans and Emma grimaced at the thought.
The person who grabbed her earlier looked around, and when they were confident they were alone they started speaking.
“Are you okay? We heard screaming from inside the beanies and then saw you running out looking scared so we-” the person talking was interrupted by a male voice from inside one of the trashcans
“Not ‘we’! I didn't wanna save her!” The man yells, his voice changing tone for every word.
“Ted!” The man in front of Emma replies back, sounding offended on Emma's behalf.
“What? She's not gonna help us anyway!”
Emma watches as the two start bickering between themselves, Emma stands in awkward silence as the man in front of her turns to her again.
“Ted's a bit mean to people he doesn't know sometimes, don't take it to heart. He is even worse when you get to know him better, a real treat that one.”
Ted rolls his eyes, retreating back into the trashcan but also very obviously listening in on Emma and Bill.
Emma nods. She wasn't really taking it to heart anyways, but it was good to know.
“I'm Bill by the way! The guy in the trash can is Ted and the woman in the other trash can is Charlotte.”
Emma had almost completely forgotten about the third person, which she now knew as Charlotte. She probably wasn't gonna remember any of these peoples names anyways.
“Uh, okay. I'm Emma.” Something changes in Bill's expression as he hears the name ‘Emma’. It seems like he's connecting dots in his head.
“Emma? As in Emma who works at beanies, right?” Emma nods, a bit confused over why he had to mention beanies specifically when he had already mentioned it earlier.
“So you know Paul!” Bill half asks and half exclaims. Emma tenses as Paul is suddenly mentioned. She looks Bill dead in the eyes. “Do you know Paul? Do you know where he is?”
Bill is taken aback slightly at the sudden change of demeanor from Emma. “We're all his coworkers, though he wasn't at work today, which was probably for the best honestly.”
Emma was about to ask more questions before suddenly, Emma heard police sirens in the distance. Emma hoped that wasn't for her, she did just stab someone afterall.
Suddenly, the woman, Charlotte, jumps out of the trash can. “Oh, that's Sam! He's my husband. And a police officer! He'll get us out of this!”
Emma decided to take Charlotte's word for it, and as she saw the cop car pull over right outside the alleyway and three cops jump out, Emma actually had hope for a second.
As they approached, Charlotte ran towards who seemed to be the leading police officer.
As Charlotte starts to explain to Sam about people singing and dancing, Sam puts a hand up to silence her.
She slowly trails off, confused at why Sam is quieting her down. He starts walking toward her, his hand still up.
Emma suddenly realises that under their sunglasses, the police officer’s eyes are blue, just like the people at beanies. Emma realises these people aren't people anymore, but before Emma can warn Charlotte, Sam continues his stride toward his wife.
Charlotte backs up as Sam gets closer, and he looks like he's about to begin singing in unison with the two cops behind him until they all suddenly freeze in their tracks.
Everyone is confused, but Charlotte is by far the most taken aback. “..Sam?” She walks closer to him, alarms in Emma's head tell her that she should stay away from Sam and the other cops, but Emma does nothing.
Charlotte looks over to Ted, then Bill, then Emma, then back at Sam.
“What the fuck is going on??” Ted speaks up, getting out of the trash can.