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Everyone's inside is laughing and having fun together, friends carving pumpkins like everyone else would do around Halloween. Joking around tossing the insides of a pumpkin at each other, no reason to be concerned because it's a fun night for friends.
The lights shine from outside the window, you can see a group of five talking about as thousands of others watch in joy. A group of teens who had no reason to be concerned, especially when one went missing.
Why would they? To them this was another weird bit the boy was doing, it was just Tommy being Tommy that's all it was. They joke about it every now and then, yet continue to focus on the pumpkins as they laugh at jokes and talk about things because it’s a normal night with friends.
It’s just a normal night, that's all.
While they're laughing, a blonde is sobbing barely able to catch his breath as he digs and digs because the man on the phone demands it. He digs even when leaves catch in his hair and roots scrape at his fingers, he digs when the man tells him to keep going.
It has to be big enough, it has to fit someone inside.
Tommy is cold and he's scared, he wants to be inside with his friends laughing making dumb jokes as he helps carve a pumpkin with Tubbo. Making dumb jokes that would make them groan or just give him that smile that made him feel warm and safe. He wants Tubbo or Ranboo to tell him he's ok, that everything will be ok even if it truly wasn't.
Yet he keeps digging, praying they keep the door locked long enough until the man on the phone finally finally goes away. Until the thing is pleased enough that it allows him to be free even if for a moment.
He has to scream at them when they try to let him in, he screams and he tries to run yet the man on the phone isn’t happy with that attempt. So he has to plead and beg, relief flooding in when they listen. He’s alone and it's the scariest yet relieving thing ever at the moment.
It's not the first time this had happened, no it had been going on for months. He wakes up in the living room, mud all over him and the floor leading out the door. He ignores the blood on his hands, the red that washes away when he takes a shower to get rid of the dirt and leaves. He ignores the scratch marks on his skin as if something had fought him, maybe it was himself. Maybe someone else, yet he chooses to forget as much as he can.
He's doing a good job, a voice will say, keep going, it tells him.
But it's the first time it happens with his friend's, the first time he knows where the voice is coming from and that it wasn't from his head.
Wilbur, his older brother figure, is the man on the phone. Yet just like Tommy, neither are in control. Wilbur is the man on the phone who tells, and Tommy is the boy in the dirt who listens. Ironic because Tommy would still do anything Wilbur asked, yet it's scary when neither are in control.
This Wilbur screams at him to dig, to do things he didn't wanna do and even laughs when one of them tries to unlock the door. Tommy is scared, he's tired and he keeps crying. He wants his Wilbur back who comforts him when he's scared, but this Wilbur tells him to dig. This Wilbur didn’t care if he was hurt or scared at all.
"They need a place to fit." A cold hoarse voice rings out his speakers as dirt hits the ground, "Dig the hole Tommy."
He sobs as his hands ache, "I wanna go home, I don't wanna do this anymore please." He pleads, begging for them both to be free.
"Just dig the hole, and we can go home."
He digs, and he digs. He digs even when his fingers bleed and ache in burning pain.
"Dig the hole Tommy."
It's all he can do, while his friend's laugh and have the time of their lives while he suffers under a full moon filled with pure terror. He digs and he digs, and he cries to the ground that swallows him whole.
Tommy loves mud, he loves digging in the dirt and he loves it when he finds the worms that hide deep below. He loves the outside, loves feeling like he's a part of earth. When he was younger, his mum had always teased him about being a little dirt gremlin.
She would always laugh when she pulled out flowers or grass from his hair, sigh when another towel got dirty after cleaning his face. Yet she never stopped him all because she knew it made him happy. It used to be the biggest comfort in Tommy’s world.
But Tommy doesn't feel that comfort anymore, he doesn't feel that feeling of being a part of earth in a good way. He's terrified, and for once, Tommy wishes he wasn't outside digging in the mud.
Suddenly he feels himself standing, and the last thing he hears is Wilbur.
"Go find someone, make sure they fit." He says, commanding and with no warmth in the tone. And as Tommy's mind fades away out of control, he pleads to any god out there to save them both.
Inside, everyone gets concerned when Tommy is no longer in the backyard. Yet they chalk it off as him doing a bit. Tubbo however, feels the worry build up inside.
"Next time tell me when you're gonna do a bit, yeah?" Tubbo mumbled, pressing the cold cloth onto Tommy's head where it had bruised after his sudden head banging attack. "You had us all worried, big man."
They weren't worried. Lies, it's lies you know it is.
Tommy smiles as best as he can, "Sorry, just wanted to give you all a scare for the Halloween vibes." He says wincing when Tubbo pressed too hard.
Though Tubbo frowns more, "You know, if you genuinely were upset you could've told me and I would've taken you out the house until you felt better right?" The older says concerned, Tommy had been acting off for a good bit and no one knew why. It had just come out of nowhere, and that scared Tubbo.
He never mentioned a bit, never told them a plan. He just did it all, ran off only to come back scared, upset, and confused. Then he brushes it off, bangs his head on the table and overall acts like someone that wasn't his Tommy.
You know you wanna hurt them. They wronged you Tommy, they hurt you remember?
"I know, and I appreciate it but I'm fine. Just went a bit far with it all." Tommy gives back, and he ignores the look of disappointment Tubbo gives in return.
He ignores the looks Tubbo and Ranboo share the entire night, watching him as if he would collapse then and there. Ignores how Wilbur screams in his head that they aren't worried, they wanna hurt him when he's weak.
He gives the best fake yawn he could ever do, even putting in the painful stretching part as he says, "I think I just need to crash for the night, energy levels are shit y'know?"
"Yeah that's understandable, you can have the big bed tonight if you want. Besides, I think me and the other's are gonna stay up a bit longer." Tubbo replies back, helping him up as they walk to the ladder.
Tommy gives a more genuine smile, though it's shaky and tired it's a real one. Or at least it seemed like a real one.
"Thanks man, you can kick me out once you wanna sleep." He says as he climbs up, choosing to not look back when Tubbo replies with a scoff.
By the time Tubbo's gone Tommy is already under the covers, shaking as he turns his phone on. He whines when he sees the calls from Wilbur, he all but throws his phone away harshly closing his eyes as he begs for a night of full sleep where he stays in the bed.
In the kitchen, Tubbo sends a message to Wil asking what had happened that had Tommy so upset. What had happened that had Tommy come in like he had just come from his own grave?
He figures he wouldn't get a message from the older man until later, so he sets his phone down before joining the group of friends who had been talking about the stream. Tubbo pushes away the concern for now, because Tommy was safe and sound in the house asleep.
He didn't have to worry about it at this moment. Yet there's something screaming at him to run.
"You did so good, my little champion." The ghost of his pseudo-brother chants, holding his face even as he stays limp and cold, "My little listener, you'll do anything I tell you won't you?"
Tommy wants to say no, he wants to scream at this man he barely knows and demand he is set free. He wants to stop playing this game, and wonders what went wrong that he got involved. Wants the blood that swallows them both to go away and never exist in his life.
Against his will, he nods and tries to ignore the chilling warmth he gets when Wilbur smiles grimly at him.
"It's ok that you don't remember, I can remember it all for us. All you have to do is listen." He says, grip turning harsh as nails dig into Tommy's face.
He is damned to this life, he has no choice in the matter.
"Just listen, and you will be safe."
He never had a choice.
There's a crash, a loud one at that. It startles them all when it happens, growing tense when silence only follows after and the first thing Ranboo does is run to check on Tommy. He all but literally hauls himself over the counter and runs out the kitchen, Tubbo following shortly after as everyone else slowly walks out scared.
The next thing they see is Ranboo climbing the ladder, and a broken window with glass covering the floor. Tubbo hears Aimsey gasp when they see blood on the glass, and his heart stops when Ranboo yells "He isn't here!"
Faintly he swears he hears Wilbur laughing, it's chilling and downright terrifying yet he's the only one who hears it.
"Freddie, you stay inside with Aimsey and Bill ok? I'm going outside to find Tommy." Tubbo states firmly, grabbing Ranboo by the arm before dragging him towards the door with them both.
"Make sure you lock yourselves in the kitchen, have the cops ready to be called just in case as well." Is the last thing they all hear before he all but shoves them both out the door, immediately calling out for Tommy.
It's cold, more cold than earlier and Tubbo all but shivers the second the wind hits him. Though he can't tell if the shivering is from the cold when he finds a large patch of dirt in his yard, the thought that Tommy had dug that all in under half an hour for no reason scared him.
"TOMMY?!" Ranboo shouts, taking off towards the front of the house while Tubbo takes the back.
He doesn't shout loud like Ranboo did, if Tommy was in the back he found no need too.
"Tommy, you out here man?" He asks hesitantly, "I'm not mad about that window, I just need to know you're ok big man." Stepping past the dirt he walks over to the tree, immediately feeling like something had attached onto his skin when he did.
Tommy's there, shaking in a curled up position behind the tree. It feels wrong, this feels wrong.
"Tommy..?" He whispers, slowly reaching for the boy's shoulder only to yelp when Tommy's hand grabs his wrist out of nowhere. The grip is harsh, shaky and cold.
He distantly feels a wet feeling on his wrist, red that didn't belong to him staining and dripping off the hands that hold him there.
Tubbo desperately wishes Ranboo hadn't left him alone, he wishes they could go back in time and everything be fine. Wonders how long it had been since Tommy had truly been feeling fine.
He tugs at his hand, trying to break free while he puts on a smile just trying to ease the tension. "You- You can let go now man, Everything's fine!" He speaks fast and terrified, whining when Tommy slowly looks up at him with tired puffy eyes.
"It's not gonna be fine, it won't ever be fine." The blonde whispers, letting go of Tubbo's wrist. It was definitely blood, It was blood Tubbo felt.
He laughs nervously, inching away from the boy just out of caution. "It can, we can go inside and wrap up your hand. I'll tell my parents I accidentally tossed something at the window, just please come inside Tommy." He pleads, motioning towards the lights of the small home they stayed in. Please act ok goes unsaid.
Yet Tommy shakes his head, looking away at something Tubbo couldn't see.
"I didn't have a choice." Tommy mumbles, yet Tubbo can't tell if it's directed towards him.
He backs up more, the unease rumbling in harsher as the hair on his skin rises up.
"W-what? Tommy you aren't making any sense right now. Just c'mon man, let's go get warm and forget this happened." He looks back, realizing just how silent it all was. No shouts coming from Ranboo, no more wind or leaves moving about.
There weren't any sounds coming from the house either, his attention immediately turning towards his home forgetting Tommy had been behind him for a second. Yet suddenly he feels like something's behind him, and he's terrified to look.
"I never had a choice, Tubbo." Tommy whispers full of regret, and Tubbo slowly turns around only to be met with Tommy right behind him looking downright devastated. Faintly he can hear Wilbur's laugh, manic and painful as if this entire situation was a comedy show.
Tommy's hands raise up, a face once scared and upset no longer is there. Blank, gone, nothing was on Tommy's face. No emotion, and Tubbo knows that isn't his best friend. It has to be a nightmare, this is all a nightmare and he can't run.
Hands slam down at a harsh force, and the last thing he hears is Tommy crying out,
"None of us have a choice anymore."
Everything goes dark, and a boy stands still as a ghost when his friend falls to the ground. He stands still when a man he was terrified of walks up behind him smiling at him with twisted kindness.
"This is why we listen, Tommy. This is why we must listen." Wilbur grins, holding him tight as he cries.
Wilbur coos, and god does Tommy just want the real Wilbur back. "All you need to do is listen, and everything will be ok."
Tommy sobs, shaking his head as he tries to pull away from the cold harsh grip. He wants to go home, he wishes he never picked up that call all those months ago. Wishes he and Wilbur could just go back to living the life they had, not the life they were forced into by some demonic thing that wanted to have fun.
Tommy wants to have a choice in this, he wants to be free. Yet he knows until this thing is done playing, they never will be free. And he is forced to listen and obey as a man he looks up to is forced into the back of his mind. Controlling Tommy to hurt and hurt, controlling Tommy to bury what he loves most including himself.
Wilbur sighs, holding him close and if you looked carefully you could see his own tears slip out as Tommy struggles to get free. As he tries to deny the warmth the man gives, as he is forced to face everything again. Just as Wilbur is forced to watch Tommy hurt. They aren’t allowed to be free.
They'll never get that choice.
Tubbo wakes up in the living room beside Ranboo, Aimsey and Freddie both asleep at the other side while Bill snores loudly by the TV.
He knows his head hurts, he knows he had a bad dream yet he can't remember much. He remembers a crash, looks at the window only to see a perfectly clean and intact one, remembers dirt in his yard, yet when he walks out there the dirt is covered by grass, and nothing makes sense.
When he goes to check on Tommy, he sees his friend sleeping peacefully in his bed and feels comforted that Tommy had a good night of sleep. He misses the poorly bandaged hand that is hidden away under covers.
Later when everyone leaves, Tubbo Tommy and Ranboo chat in the kitchen about the day they had. Only then does Tubbo recognize the hand, and he starts to feel cold again.
Nudging Tommy's foot he points to the hand, "The hell did you do last night?" He asks, tense as the faint sounds of crashing echo's again in his ears.
Yet Tommy smiles wide and bright, like the story behind it was funny.
"During my bit last night I accidentally scraped it against the tree, looks badass though." Tommy tells him giggling, smiling brighter when Ranboo laughs along.
It's fake and he's lying.
Tubbo smiles back, feeling the cold wash away as the topic fades into something new as the shorter pushes away the small memories as if it really was a dream. Tubbo and Ranboo start talking about plans they could do while the boy was still here, going into their own world as they talk and talk.
Neither of them see Tommy's smile quickly go away, they don't see him shake or the way his hand starts to bleed again.
They don't hear Wilbur laughing in Tommy's ear, and Tommy is forced to remember it all as everyone else moves on.
Remembers how he thought he killed his best friend, how Wilbur moved everyone's body's around telling him they're just sleeping. Demanding him to never let them know, that is the favor he owes Wilbur.
"I could have them disappear in a second," He spats as Tommy shakes in Tubbo's small room, "Just listen to me, and you can keep your friends."
He is never free, he doesn't get that choice.