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Sleeping.
Sleeping was a sense of comfort. An action to bring you peace after a long day of struggles. On regular occasions it be just a way to relax and forget about all the bad that has happened.
But.....would you sleep for only a few seconds if you lived in a world where nightmares never ended? At every corner you look there has to be something or some creature waiting to just end you. Not a single second you can let your guard or else they'll come after you. Would you really want to rest at this point?
Perhaps yes, as a way of what people would most call it : "giving up"
But for Mono, he never rested.
Mono knew that if he stopped and closed his wary eyes at that moment, it will all be over. He couldn't let a single hint of sleep get to him. He needed to hide.....to flee....anything to get away from this corrupt world. It haunted him like there was no tomorrow, not letting him get the rest he so desired and longed for.
Until now.
It was.....surprisingly comfortable. He felt at ease with the sheer amount of safety he was feeling at that moment. There were no noise, no screeches from any nearby monsters, no sense of fear, just the calmness and a surprisingly comforting presence.
Mono couldn't describe it but the presence was awfully familiar. Yet all he felt was the safety of being protected by whoever was holding him tightly with a lot of care. Its been so long since he had last felt this much peace. It was almost like a dream.
Then....the presence left...
Dread dawned over the young boy. He shot his eyes open and bolted from the bed he was on. Only to fall on his face. Dang it! What was him and falling on his face all the time!? Was he that ugly that fate decided this? He missed his paper bag....the one thing that kept him from falling into the signal tower's clutches, a way to hide his face from the cruelty around him, a mask to hide his true self to those around....it backfired quite a lot.
Mono brushed off the dust on his coat, standing up with his legs still wobbly from that great nap. Mono took a good look around himself and it was still the same before his nap.
He remembered now, the flesh walls, the thin man, everything that happened before his rest. He wondered, where exactly was the thin man now? What was he thinking!? He should be glad the thin man left him all alone. He didn't needed a monster to accompany him.....yet......
Mono shook his head. He looked around and then spotted the pile of toys the thin man left for him earlier. He walked over to the pile and picked up the train toy he was riding earlier. He hopped on it and started "wheeling" away being careful not to hit a wall again like that time earlier.
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Its been a few hours now....or maybe minutes? Mono was still playing with the toys. Two of them catching his attention besides the train : a spinning top and a yo-yo. Both toys being way too big for the young boy. Yet the spirales decorated on both toys mesmerized Mono upon spinning both of them.
Static filled the room.
Mono looked around every corner quickly. He realized what was happening. He immediately ran and slid under the bed. Keeping his voice as low as possible. From underneath his hiding spot, he could see long legs entering the room. Something smelled good too...The entity walked over to a drawer and placed whatever it was holding on top of the wooden furniture. It kept on walking until it stopped......right in front of the bed. Mono held his breath. No noise must be made.......
He failed
Long arms reached out to Mono, indicating he knew he was hiding. He recoiled further underneath the bed to avoid the thin man's clutches. A small part of his coat got grabbed and he was dragged out of his hiding spot. The thin man adjusted his grip on the small boy to make it less threatening. Mono only looked up at the thin man wondering what the he'd do next to him. Perhaps trap him in a cage? He gently put Mono down on the floor.
Walking over to the drawer, he picked up a tray full of food. The thin man slowly pushed the tray of food near Mono, Mono stared at the tray and felt his stomach grumbling. A fresh batch of good looking food presented in front of him was definitely a sight that made Mono's hunger grow within the minute. It was poisonous, wasn't it? Mono looked away from the tray of food, closing his eyes. He couldn't give in! The thin man was humiliating him! Waiting until he gave in and ate the food whole. But just you wait! He won't lose his dignity that easily--
The scent of the small buffet became stronger all of a sudden. Mono opened his eyes, a bread right before his eyes, a few inches apart from his face. The thin man held the piece of bread between his fingers and waved it around Mono's face as if trying to convince the boy more and more. He won't give in!
Mono looked up. The thin man stared at him with a look of empathy. He waited and waited and waited. Was he really that desperate to poison him? Mono averted his gaze at the bread, he sighed and took it. He took a small bite, not expecting to see nothing happen to himself. He took more bites out his said food. Finally! A decent meal for once! He was about to cry from joy as he ate more.
Mono perked up at the thin man who was watching him eat this whole time. A small smiled curled up his lips. Mono quirked a brow. That was unexpected.....but Mono smiled back either way.
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It was a week now since that interaction. Mono was still trapped in the room but it wasn't so bad he supposed. The thin man would bring him new toys to play with. With the small occasions he would sometimes bring in new furniture too. Oh of course, we can't forget the daily meals now can we? Mono wondered how exactly the thin man managed to find all that good food in the first place. One thing's for sure however, he knew he had to leave the signal tower in order to get all of the food in the first place.
Leaving.....the one thing Mono desperately wanted. Yet it couldn't be granted......
Mono went over to a drawer that was filled with huge amount of basic art material, pencils, crayons and of course chalk. He picked up one of the chalk from the drawer and went to a more empty corner of the room. He started drawing.
He imagined all the past places he has gone through. The forest with its darkened atmosphere, the school that screamed control, the hospital that insured the opposite of healing. All of these places.....what if they weren't as twisted as he had remembered them?
Mono traced figures around the floor and walls, the chalk held tightly in his hands. Trees started forming with a few animals to represent its peace. A tall school was drawn, children playing so joyfully across the playground. A representation of true happiness. A hospital with its patients, a doctor making sure each of them deserved the care they needed. It showed safety.
Mono quite proud of his work, then looked over at the remaining spot that wasn't drawn yet. What could he put there? An idea struck him. He traced a square looking shape with two holes representing its eyes, followed by a coat that reached almost to the ground with the rest of its details. Another figure was drawn, a triangular shape for its head, the iconic raincoat he could not forget.
Mono stopped. He looked at what he had just drawn. He frowned.
Using the sleeve his coat, he erased the raincoated figure. He couldn't handle it.....it still hurt so much....leaving him in this place.....
Tears fell from his face, messing with the drawing as it washed away small bit by bit. Mono wiped the tears away. He shouldn't be crying! Stupid Mono! It wasn't worth it.....
He thought for a moment.....he picked up his chalk and drew a new figure right next to his.
With a nod of his head, he was satisfied.
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The thin man expected a few things when he came back in the room. But he never expected to see a corner of the room full of drawings. Then again, he did give him drawing material to entertain himself. He recognized practically all of them. He wondered though.....where exactly was Mono?
His question was answered once seeing the small child sleeping calmly over where he supposedly finished his work of art.
The thin man quietly made his way towards the young boy, being very careful not to wake him up. Then he gently picked him up, the boy still peacefully sleeping.
At that moment, a drawing caught his attention. It was Mono, but the figure next to him shocked the thin man more that anything. It was a bit hard to tell with the previous chalk smears on the drawing, but you just knew. The thin man stared a few moments and looked back at the sleeping child.
The thin man hugged him gently, small tears of joy forming on his face. Mono didn't knew of course.
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The door was opened. When Mono awoke, he was surprised. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming, the door was open! Mono got off the bed, not even questioning how he got there in the first place or why the door was opened. It was opened and that was all it matter. He stopped dead in his tracks. Looking over to his right, he noticed a new tray of food along with a new furniture which was a closet.
Mono ran over to the huge furniture and opened it, multiple hats fell over him. He shuffled his way out of the pile of hats. There were multiple of them, the hat the nome gave him, the ripped teddy bear head, oh yeah! We can't forget the iconic paper bag now can we? Mono gasped and immediately picked it up. It was a bit dirtier than the last time he saw it, but it was still the same either way. He was about to put it on when he noticed another hat that looked quite interesting. A fedora hat specifically. Mono picked the other hat, looking between the two hats.
Mono ran over to another drawer, picking up a pack of glue. Using the tool, he placed the fedora hat on top of the paper bag, gluing both accessories together. Picking up his new creation, he placed it on himself. Posing a few times, admiring his new look. Wooooow.
Satisfied, he ran out the room. Not bothering to get a piece of bread.
The hallway was the same as ever. The atmosphere full of dust as a blue light lit the way to the next door. Now the real question is.....could he open the second door?
He jumped and held on the handle. It opened.
It was a sight to behold behind the door.
Toys scattered and floating across the pink hallroom that followed, multiple staircases and platforms with either doors or dead ends, other pathways leading to who knows where. This place was like a maze. Typical signal tower, using its power to bend the reality. Just like he remembered once first getting in the tower.
Mono started to walk around one of the staircases, not having a single idea where he was heading. Jumping on each stair, he giggled. The gravity in this place sure was entertaining! He jumped up the stairs more until reaching the top of the platform.
He entered the door way and he was in a new hallway. It looked pretty familiar to how the usual hallways he had been through, practically decorated with doors from top to bottom and left to right. This is gonna be a huge pain to navigate.....
Mono walked over to one of the doorframes, each of them having the same results, a pinkish void filled with floating toys. He went through one of the doors......only to come back to the same hallway through another door. He already had difficulty warping through TVs! Finding his way through this!? THIS WAS EVEN HARDER WHAT THE HECK--
He sighed heavily. Its okay Mono....no need to become frustrated....Stupid doors.... The only reason he managed to get through this before was because of that music bo--
He cut his own thought.....Maybe echo location would work? He stood in front of a doorframe and yelled.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, the whole hallroom shook as the sound of his yelling resonated with the room over and over again. Mono covered his ears and fell on the ground. He waited until the yells died down. And it did. Mono stood up slowly, still a bit shaken up from the burst of loud echo he just committed. Alrighty then, echo location WASN'T the answer.
Mono could feel his frustration growing more and more by the minute. He ran across multiple doors not even caring whether it be the right one or not. The hallways changing or it just be the previous hallway again. Mono jumped from door to door only to end up practically in the same places all over again. He screamed.
The screams rung, shaking the room. Mono fell.
They died down a little, but Mono still laid on the floor, covering his ears. Tears falling down from his face. He cried and cried hoping for help.....he was alone....he was afraid......
Back in the room, he felt a sense of safety and comfort. While he was trapped, he knew nothing would ever hurt him there. A bittersweet place to be. But now? He was completely lost.
His stomach grumbled....
He should've really brought something to eat. Maybe he should go back to the room....its a lot more safe there....
No! NO! What was he thinking!?
He had to get out of here somehow! He just......
Mono sighed. The screams had completely gone out by now. Standing up slowly, he re placed his mask on his head. Looking around each of the individual doors in the hallway. Standing in front one of the doorframes, he took a deep breath and jumped.
The warping process was the same as ever, he got ejected to a pink void and come out again through another door. Definitely a boring process if you asked him. Well that is if you been through it uuuhhh perhaps.....THE 86TH TIME IN A ROW--
Mono stopped dead in his tracks.
This hallway.....it wasn't like the other ones he had just got thrown into....no this was..... Mono silently went walking forward. He turned a left, a door cracked open a bit, he peeked inside. He had no doubts at this point.
The pink light enlightening the room, toys and dolls scattered across each corner, a suitcase at the far end middle of the room. This was the room that.....Six....she was in this room and......
Mono looked behind himself, there was another door. He ran over to it and immediately went through. He was on another platform staircases. But the familiar view the huge room was emitting, it gave him a small tint of hope. He hopped down the stairs and entered the next room. Another hallway, but he recognized it. It was this door first....then this one....and this one......and another staircase.
He kept repeating the process, going down each staircases, remembering the right doors until finally he had reached the main entrance. He was actually here...he was actually about to leave!
He ran and stop just in front of the main door. He hesitated. The thin man.....should he wait for him? No! If he did that, he might take him back to his room. It take him ages to find a good opportunity to escape again! He had to go now! Even if the thin man was nice to him, even if he took care of him, even if he protected him, even if.....he treated him like his own.....
Mono clenched his hands. He had to go now. He didn't have a choice.
Stepping forward, he opened the door.
It all went downhill.
The ground shook as well as the whole tower. Mono turned back and cracks started to form on the walls, getting ready to burst out whatever it was holding back. Mono's fear only increased once seeing the mass of flesh pouring in the hall, eating up everything in its way. Mono didn't waste a single second before climbing up a closet, reaching its top and jumping towards the staircase. He ran up and watched in horror as below him the huge gutlike creature started to fill the huge hall. Multiple eyes staring at him. Mono kept climbing up more and more, looking back he only saw the stairs he was previously on, destroyed completely.
His breathing became more short with every step he took. He took off his mask dropping it the fleshy abyss, he needed to catch his breath! Tripping over multiple steps, trying his best to escape the fate that was coming right below him.
A dead end. The stairs led to a dead end.
Mono was shocked. This couldn't be it! Why did it stop here!? There had to be a way through this--
The remaining platform, it collapsed completely. Mono had fallen right into the flesh, not a single sound coming from his voice. He could only struggle and watch as it engulfed him completely, suffocating him. It tried to drown him. Mono wanted to reach out and grasp whatever remaining light he could see.
His violent trashing became pathetic attempts. His breaths shortening. And it all went silent.......
No.......
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He had a bad feeling. When the thin man returned, it was all chaos. Half of the tower was filled with flesh, many broken walls that only poured out more of the grotesque substance, not to mention it was still rising. It was a good thing the thin man warped through a TV that was higher in the top floors and there he stood on one of the remaining platforms. God knows what would've happened if he went through the main entrance instead. He could just imagine the huge pile of flesh toppling over him. Of course it wouldn't be that much of a problem as he could just warp out of it easily. But still..... At least Mono was safe--
The sudden realization made him fill with dread. No wonder the flesh lost its form, it was because Mono tried to--
The thin man no longer wasted a moment. Static coursed through him. With a single movement, he parted the flesh in half. He spotted Mono within just a few seconds and teleported to him, picking him up gently with one hand while using the other to control the flesh's actions and retract them back inside the walls. The thin man raised two fingers and gently placed them on the boy's neck. Please let there be a pulse, please let there be a pulse!
Ba-dump Ba-dump
The thin man sighed in a huge relief. Not noticing one of the eyes attached to the flesh, creeping up on him. Upon spotting it, the thin man pulled Mono closer to his chest, holding him more in a protective manner. He glared at the eye, DARING it to do any more damage that it had already done. The eye only looked at the small boy with fascination and curiosity before blinking and retreating back to its wall.
That was odd......
The thin man peered back at the unconscious boy. What had he been thinking!? Of course the child would try to escape the tower as soon as seeing a small hint of a chance. Leaving the door opened was definitely a huge mistake. However......he could no longer watch seeing the boy being trapped in that room. Yeah, he did expand it a little but no matter how much he can change its appearance.....it was still a prison in some way. The thin man could leave the tower yes, but it was never for too long or else. He didn't had enough faith in the child yet to bring him, he'd probably try to escape and it end both of them up in a really bad situation. So the only freedom he could provide to him at the moment was the rest of the tower......which backfired very quickly. The thin man sighed, he went to sit at a nearby couch with Mono still in his arms. He knew he was going to have quite the talk with the boy.......
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Mono coughed a few times. He lifted the top of his body up with a gasp. He looked up and saw the thin man staring back at him with a frown. He looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze.
The image of him getting chased by the flesh replayed in his mind over and over again. It scared him, how close he was to dying if it weren't for the thin man.
And then it clicked. The door of his room.....the thin man opened it for him. He placed a small bit of trust in him. And how does he return that trust? By trying to escape. Guilt washed over him.
Then it dawned on him. Six.......she put her faith in him. But he just dragged and exposed her to lots of danger in the first place......and then he destroyed the one thing that gave her comfort. No wonder she left him to die, she was mad at how much he had put her through.
The thin man must want to leave him alone too, right? H-he must hate him after what he's done. He-he didn't w-want to be left alone!
The thin man noticed the small tears forming on Mono's face. He started to pet the small child's back, giving him as much as care he could provide. Had he looked a bit too severe?
Suddenly, Mono jumped and clung to the thin man. He buried his face in the crook of the thin man's neck. He let out the cries he's been holding in and hugged the thin man tightly, not wanting to let go.
"Hai! Oi! Oi!"
He apologized, he apologized for what was like the third time. Haha.....who would've thought....apologizing to the last person he'd expect to.
The thin man's last expectation was for Mono to jump on him, being a huge crying mess. The thin man hugged Mono back, trying his best not to squeeze the small child to death.
"Ǫ̸̟̘̱͍̔͘͘i̵̻͗̌ ̸̢̗̆h̶̼̖̅͛̄ā̷̳̖̻̒̈́̏͝i̴͍̼͗͝͝ͅ ̶͕͇̋̈́̋̊ó̶̹̗i̴̤̖̖̜̽̉ ̴̧̧̮̦͎̃ȯ̵̟͙͙ị̵̹͓͎́̈̈́̔͠"
"?Hai"
Disappointed? The thin man supposed he was. A bit at his small pass self but more at himself than anything. Leaving the small boy? As if that will ever happen.....they may have had a bitter meeting. But after spending almost more than a week with the child, he could only imagine what pain the young boy would feel if he suddenly left him. The thin man had spent YEARS in that room, if the child faced the same fate.....
"̵͙̋̌O̷̯͔̟͂ị̸͊͑͊ ̸̠͒̔͝o̸̗̍i̷͎̋ͅ ̵̧̟̺̔̾̾h̷̪̭͉̏ȃ̵͙̝̪i̵̪̤̽̆͠i̸̱̪̖̋i̷̱͙̜̓͘"̷͉̱̎͑
"?oi haiii"
"̷͓̃̂͒O̵̟̘̲͐o̴̜̤͒̑̇o̸̳̖̊̽i̸̻̖̚͝í̴̦̏ī̴̢͎̭i̶͉͐̍ ̷̖̖̒͜h̷̰͓̳̿a̵͉͇̣͛i̴̭͛́͌ ̷͉̻̏͊͗h̵̤͂â̴̗̪̝͒i̷̛̪"̸̫̐
"......hai"
The thin man suddenly remembered something. He picked up something from the far end of the couch, Mono stared at his actions. Surprise, surprise, the paper bag with the fedora hat. Mono took the accessory from the thin man and put it on himself.
Mono looked back between the main door and the thin man. He looked down at himself and back at the thin man. He hesitated a few moments....before he hugged the thin man again.
This tower......this hell.....it was his home now wasn't it........he'd have to spend the rest of his life here......but not alone.....