Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In Whitespace, Omori is sitting, looking at the broken lightbulb, hanging from the cord.

“Why did he do such a thing? Does he know how long I’ve tried to hide them away? Locking them up inside a cage, only for him to open it. What a waste of 4 years that was.”

A faint voice can be heard in the distance. Omori looks towards the voice, sighing at them.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be gone from his head?” Omori asks.

“It seems his friends have made a terrible mistake. And now he is yet again going into his slumber.” The voice, soothing but spiky, sends a cold chill in Omori’s back.

“Great, now we have to restart this stupid cycle again. How long do you think he will stay?”

“Depends on how hard he has been broken. But don’t worry, I know what to do. You just keep him busy.”

Omori doesn’t like where this is going. For a moment he thought he was at peace. That this god forsaken pain would end. But the truth keeps haunting him, even if told to others. If only he would have listened to him that day. If only he hadn’t found that artifact of shame. Now is not the time to worry. Omori knows what he must do now, even if it hurts him more than the dreamer. He grabs his knife, picks up the lightbulb and stabs his head with his weapon. Black liquid with eyes start flowing like a waterfall, all the way to the ground. He looks at the broken light in anger.

“Don’t worry Sunny, I will make you happy again. Even if we need to forget everything. Even her.”

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Memory 1: Welcome Back
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It has been 3 days since Sunny has been staying with Basil. In the pitch black darkness of Basil’s room, Sunny looked up at the ceiling, having his eyepatch still on. The room is littered with plants on shelves and even on the ground. Basil was already asleep. Sunny could not go to bed. He wasn’t tired, nor was he bored. He closed his eyes, trying to get some rest.

He remembers what happened back at the hospital. That day had been tattooed in his mind. He remembers everything to the slightest details. The cold atmosphere of the hospital room. The number of tears he had cried. And the face’s of his friends when he told them the truth of what happened with Mari.

Hero didn’t even look at him. He only walked out of the room, with a whimpering sound to his voice. After Kel tried to comfort Sunny, he immediately ran to find his brother.

Only Aubrey was left. She had grabbed him by his hospital gown and yelled at him. A loud ringing was hiding the words yelled by the pink haired girl. She was yelling for a few minutes, until she started crying and dropping to the floor, grabbing onto the end of his clothes.

Sunny knew that this would be their reaction. Of course it would be. Why would anyone wanna care for a killer? For a monster? He had no more tears to cry. His face was blank with just sadness.

Aubrey got up and left the room running, still shedding tears. Sunny lifted his arm to stop her, but he doesn’t want to make things worse. He looks at the bed where his friend is lying, patches on his face.

“S-sun-ny?” The boy was not fully awake, Basil was trying to open his right eye to look at his friend. Sheer guilt filled his mind. “Sunny, I’m sorry. I didn’t want them to wor-”

“I told them. Everything. About that day,” Sunny blurred it out as fast as he could.

Basil’s expression changed to relief. They could finally let go of it. After 4 years of agony and fear, now it has been told and they could rest easy.

“But, where is everyone? I thought they would be here?” Basil got up from lying down and turned his head towards Sunny.

“They left. But, it’s going to be okay. They might come back. If they don’t, we’ll live with it. Like we always do.” Sunny smiled at Basil and the feeling in the room was happier than it was a few minutes ago.

It had been a few days later and Sunny was starting to worry. He told his mom that he wanted to stay for a while with Basil. His mother was fine with it, as long as he was happy with it. But being in this room does not help him relax. He can still see the face of his flower friend, the fear engulfing him. Now was not the time to think of such painful memories. Sunny closed his eyes and went to sleep.

The next morning, Basil and Sunny decided to take a walk, to see the neighborhood. They walked towards the park in utter silence. The feeling was awkward, but no one dared to break the silence.

Birds were chirping in the distance, as well as hearing the cats fighting in bushes or just seeing them while passing by. Pinwheels were scattered around the place. Kids love to put these anywhere. The leaves on the trees were starting to turn orange. Fall was coming.

Basil leads them towards the park, not wanting to enter, but only to look. As they approached the park, they saw a group of people near the entrance, talking and standing there. A feeling of dread surmounts Sunny. As they walked closer, they could see it was Aubrey and the hooligans. The group stops their conversation and looks towards the two. Kim comes out in front of them.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the freaks. What brings you here?”

“Kim, please don’t say that,” Vance replied to the unwanted comment.

“We were just -uhm- passing by. Could you, maybe, please let us through?” Basil asked. Sunny stared at the ground.

“Why should we? We can’t let criminals like you wander around this town!” Mikae— the Maverick exclaimed, holding a protective pose.

“Master is right! You shouldn’t be here!” Angel followed his master’s words

“Guys, please shut up and let them go!” Aubrey looked at them with dead eyes. The whole group stopped. “You guys can go. I didn’t want to see you two. Not after what I know, freak.” Aubrey walked towards the swings with the rest following behind.

At that moment, Sunny felt a sharp pain in his stomach. This is the consequence of telling the truth. He grabbed Basil by the arm and continued to walk.

They continue to walk for a few minutes until they hear someone running towards them. They turn around to see a familiar face approach them. In his orange shirt and sport shorts, Kel stopped in front of them with a bright smile.

“Hey you two, how have you been? It’s good to see you guys.” Basil smiled but Sunny looked away. Kel noticed. “Hey Sunny, don’t worry. Don’t think that I could stay mad about that. You were young and you acted out of emotion and fear. I know that you didn’t mean to do that. Come on, man!”

Sunny turned to face him slowly. Kel never got mad at Sunny. He would always stick by his side, even if he knew that his friend was a killer. Kel would never leave a friend. Sunny had a faint smile on his face before looking behind Kel to see that someone else was following them.

Basil also looked behind to notice the figure. It was Hero, walking with a bag in his hand. The blue shirted friend looks at them before turning around towards the road.

“Kel! I’m headed home. You come back before dinner, got that?”

“Bro! You don’t want to say hi? They got out a few days ago.” Kel’s face turned a bit sad

“Kel, I gotta go get ready for college and I have to help Mom with dinner so I don’t have time!” Hero walked away, never turning back. The feeling in Sunny’s stomach only grew larger.

“Welp, can’t do anything about him. He’s been acting like this for quite a while, I still don’t know why. But, that doesn’t matter now! What are you all up to?”

“We were just passing through. We were gonna head back soon,” Sunny said with a shaky voice.

“I’ll accompany you guys! I’m sure it will be fun with the three of us.” Kel wrapped his arm around Basil’s neck. The flower boy was happy. Sunny was still in his head, thinking too hard. Kel woke him up by slapping lightly on his back. Sunny smiled and they took off towards Hobeez since Kel wanted to grab something.

The central plaza was filled with cars in the parking lot. The fountain looked more shiny at the bottom. Hobeez was the first building to the place so it wasn’t hard to find. While pacing by the fountain, Sunny took a glimpse into the water. The bottom was filled with coins. He couldn’t find his.

Kel walked in first followed by the two. Same way it was. Nothing had changed. Even if it had only been a week since Sunny had been here, it felt like a whole month or 2 had passed. Kel looked around the comic section a bunch, while Basil and Sunny were sitting at a table.

“You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been here. Didn’t have anyone to go with. All of our friends were busy getting over her…” Basil sighed. “It must have been lonely being in your house all alone. Just the thought of that made me feel lonely. I didn’t want to hide it but I was scared of their face’s if the truth came out. But you got there first.” Basil chuckled a bit. Sunny did not react.

“It’s fine Basil. I had it rough, that’s all. But now it’s done so… We just need to move on I guess.” Sunny isn’t the best at comforting. They both went silent after that.

“You guys! I got what I came for! We can go now.” For the first time since Sunny left his house with Kel, Kel finally bought something with his own money. Sunny started to chuckle leaving his two friends confused

“Yeah yeah. Let’s go.” Sunny signalized them to follow him out as he was leaving to go to the door.

It was late afternoon when they were going to Kel’s house to drop him off. The walk was full of conversation about how Orange Joe is good or bad, if Sunny would look cool after his eye heals and even about the night that Kel and Hero slept at Sunny’s place. They all laughed but Sunny felt a dark presence inside his chest, pounding hard.

They continue to walk only to see the hooligans again, standing in front of Kel’s house. Sunny and the rest look to see that Vance and Charlie are not there.

~What is going on? Kel put his arm in front of Basil and Sunny, ready for if something would happen.

Aubrey was in front, with the rest following her. She stopped and looked at Kel with disgust.

“Wow! So now you're going to protect them? I thought you saw the bigger picture.” Kel looks back at Sunny and tells them that they should just leave them and go.

“Woah hold on a sec there chief! Where do you think you're going? We need to talk,” Kim orders them and Angel gets in front of them as they are trying to walk away

“What do you want now? Can’t you guys leave us alone. For a few days, Aubrey, we were there for each other. And now you decide to threaten us! Why?” Kel asks

“You know why. How come he isn’t gone? I thought he moved away. But now, he’s here? What a joke. What a good fucking joke! Why are you protecting a monster?” Aubrey walked slowly closer to them.

“Because he is my friend. Aubrey, we need to move on. It was an accident. You can’t just-”

“Oh what! Like what he did doesn’t matter? He ruined everything about our relationship. If he wasn’t some selfish bastard, Mari might still be here!” The hooligans started backing her up by adding other comments. Kel wasn’t able to talk. Basil looked down. Sunny also looked away.

Aubrey was right. If Sunny had not been mad about the violin and the recital, Mari might have been here and everyone would have been happy. But he threw that all away.

“Oh look!” shouted out Kim. Basil and his partner in violence can’t face the truth. What a bunch of lousy losers. Maybe if you stayed for more than 4 years we might not be having-

“THAT’S ENOUGH KIM!” Aubrey yelled. “We did not come here to start this fight again. Kel, think about what you're doing right now.”

“I know what I’m doing. So could you please stop. You’re hurting him more than he is now.” Kel walks closer to Aubrey.

“You know nothing of what I felt after that day. Everyone is trying to get over this by leaving me alone to suffer!”

“Aubrey, for Christ sake, we were all suffering! The one that’s most selfish here has to be you!”

They continued arguing with each other. No one wanted to intervene. It got louder and louder the more it dragged on. The Maverick tried to intervene but Kim stopped him.

“You’re a fucking piece of shit you know that Kel?! How come you can never understand me but you can to others? You were never there for me so why should I care about how you feel or even how everyone feels?!”

“Aubrey, you said nothing! You locked us out of your life, only to come back as a bully.”

“Oh you want a bully? I’ll give you a bully!” Aubrey lifted her arm and clenched her fist to go smack Kel. But she was stopped by someone grabbing her arm. A large figure stood there in confusion.

“What the heck is happening?! Aubrey, lower your arm, now!” Hero was there, pushing away Kel and holding onto Aubrey’s arm. She got out of his grasp and calmed down. “Okay you two, that’s enough for today! Everyone, go home now, please.”

The hooligans departed but Aubrey stayed to calm down. Sunny and Basil were left speechless. What could they say? Nothing. Nothing at all. Hero looked over at the two and stared at Sunny. Hero looked away in rejection.

“You two should go now. I don’t want to hear about it. It would be better if you would stay away from this place. You know what you did. So just get out of here.” Hero looked at Kel and grabbed his shirt and they went into the house. Aubrey ran away after they had entered the house. The only ones left were Basil and Sunny. Tears began to drop from Basil’s eyes.

Basil was crying thinking that the truth did this to them. It was his fault for having it hidden for so long. He was scared that this would be their reaction and it sure was that same reaction he never wanted to see.

Sunny on the other hand was looking in the distance. In front of his old house, on the sidewalk, he saw a figure standing there. They looked at him and then walked towards the abandoned building. Sunny felt compelled to follow it.

Basil cleaned his eyes before looking towards Sunny, who was walking in the direction of his house.

“Sunny? You okay?” Basil asked, but Sunny did not turn to respond and just kept walking forward. He started walking next to him towards the house. A feeling of dread filled his soul.

The house doesn’t have any new neighbors so it’s completely empty. Sunny looked at the door, which was slightly open. If he looked close enough at the crack of the doorway, he could see something looking at him, only for it to go away after blinking. He pressed onwards, leaving Basil afraid and confused.

“Sunny? Why are you going in there? We need to go home, it’s getting late. Sunny?” He looked towards Sunny. He did not respond and went to open the door.

The living room was empty, nothing was left. Darkness filled the house. Sunny walked into the middle of the room and looked around. He could still remember the time everyone would sit on the couch, watching T.V. in the morning. When they would celebrate his birthday here. Those were happy times. Everyone was happy.

Basil looked around the kitchen and the dining room. Shelves were supposed to be filled with plants and photos. But they were gone. He looked outside the window of the kitchen. He saw the infamous tree trunk with a pinwheel on it. A flash of the tree with Mari appeared in his vision for only a second. Basil yelped and dropped to the floor. He wants to get out. He doesn’t like it here.

Sunny went into the room with the stairs. The closet door was there and the piano room too, but there was no more piano. He looked up the stairs to see the dark figure standing there. Fear took control of him. He was immobilized in place. Dark matter was starting to spread through the cracks in the walls. The doors started disappearing. The figure became more clear by the time the room was nearly engulfed in this dark entity.

~No please no~ Sunny grabbed his head, denying what was happening. Why did he come back? What reason did he have!? Out of curiosity? Out of guilt? He doesn’t know.

“You… deserve this…” Sunny recognised that voice. The thing that has tortured him for the past few years. The thing that keeps reminding him.

“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!!!” Sunny yelled as laughter and cries were heard. Basil ran towards him in fear and sat next to him. Sunny’s vision started to get blurry and he couldn’t hear what Basil was saying. He felt tired and in agony, as if his soul was being stabbed and killed. He closed his eyes trying to hide from the horrible thing he just saw.

Basil grabs Sunny before he falls to the ground. He was out cold. Basil, in his adrenaline rush, grabbed Sunny and dragged him out the front door. He got him out and before he shut the door, he saw a hideous monster, with its neck broken and head to the right side, running at them with its jaw wide open and it's horrendous hair flowing in the air. Basil slammed the door and fell down on the ground. He needed time to breathe, to think. He quickly grabbed Sunny and rushed to Kel's house.

He knocked as fast as he could on the door. Kel’s mom opened the door with a very worrying look on her face.

“Oh my, what happened? Are you okay!”

“Please! Help me! He won’t wake up! He won’t get up!” Basil cried, tears streaming down his face. “Sunny would not wake up, even if I shook him a bit, he wouldn't wake up.”

Hero looked in the back with a straight face but somewhat still worried. Kel pushed by Hero and was at the front door, comforting Basil and letting him inside. Sunny was put on the couch and Hero was asked to check up on him. He sighed in annoyance and checked. He told everyone he was going to be fine and that he just needs rest. Basil sat next to Sunny, not wanting to leave his friend’s side. Kel asked him if he wanted a blanket to sleep here. He also wants to be next to Sunny, just in case something goes wrong. Basil accepts and they are now sleeping, Kel on the single couch and Basil was next to Sunny on the long couch. They slept the night.

“Hey….. You're gonna wake up soon?” A child's voice could be heard. Sunny opened his eyes and was trying to get used to the environment around him. He got up and looked around. A large white room. He was back here again.

“Hey! Hello? Are you deaf or something?” He looked at the one talking. Omori was there, standing in front of him, with his same non-expressive face.

“What do you want? Why am I here?” Sunny asked

“Thought you wanted a way out of that mess. It was really the only thing I could do to get you back here and talk.” Omori sat down in front of him. Sunny looked around the room and realized something was off about this place. There wasn't just one lightbulb. There were about a dozen, all the same.

“Why so many?” Sunny asked Omori, who didn’t seem to mind the question. He got up and explained.

“These are the dark feelings you’ve been having ever since that day. The day you told them. So I had to, or rather was forced to put all those dark thoughts back where they needed to be, so that you could be happy. But I guess that wasn’t what happened was it?”

“No not really,” Sunny sighed, looking at the ground. Omori looks at him and then at the white door a bit further away from them. Its ominous aura was nothing towards Omori. He sat back down.

“You can stay as long as you like. No worries. You're safe here. Nothing can harm you.” Omori opened his arms and Sunny dropped into them. Sunny was about to shed tears until Omori stopped him.

“You cannot be having dark thoughts right now. It was hard for me to put them in those lightbulbs so when you are here and you keep reminding yourself about it, these things will shatter and you might as well call this the end of your happy time here. But don’t worry about that, you need rest now.”

Sunny layed on the floor and closed his eyes to rest. Omori got up and as he walked by towards the door, he looked back towards the boy and exclaimed:

“Welcome back, old friend.”

Memory 1 end

Chapter Text

Sunny woke up, back in Whitespace, looking at one of the lightbulbs. If everyone of them had his dark thoughts, how come he still has some left outside of these capsules? Omori had not returned from his journey so Sunny was left alone for a few hours. 

Mewo is sleeping on his back, on the side of the carpet. Sunny lay down next to her and looked at the ceiling for a few minutes before he hears the door opening. Omori came out and looked at Sunny.

“Hey. You slept well?” Omori asks as he walks towards him.

“Yeah, sorta… The ground isn’t really comfortable. How are you doing?” Sunny pets Mewo and gets up from sitting down.

“If you’re asking me if I’m okay doing my job for you or if I’m okay, like, personally, I guess I’m okay.” Omori scratches the back of his head. He sits down and taps the floor in front of him for Sunny to sit. Sunny sits down and they look at each other.

“Alright so, I have a proposal for you but I think you might refuse the offer,” Omori says.

“It’s fine. It’s not like it’s gonna be worse than the situation I’m in, out in the real world.” Sunny curls up.

“Well, speaking of that situation. Are you happy out there? With Kel, Basil, Aubrey and Hero? Is it what you wished for?” Omori tilts his head a bit to have a clearer look at his face.

“I mean, they rejected me. Hero, Aubrey and Kel hate me. They don’t even care about me. I lost their trust. So no, I’m not happy… I’m not.” Sunny starts to curl up more into a ball and falls on his side.

“Then why not forget about it? If those memories and the fear of them are what's haunting you and trapping you here, why not get rid of them?” Sunny’s face turns into surprise as he gets up and looks at Omori with a worried face. He thought he was joking. But Omori did not say anything after that. No… he can’t be serious.

“What do you mean forget? What do I need to forget?” Sunny’s stress levels increases, his heart rate starts speeding up. Would he forget the good times or the bad times? Omori looks at him and hugs him.

“Breathe, calm down. I won’t push you too hard if you don’t want to.”

“But, what will I forget?” Sunny’s eyes are sparking with sadness and anxiety. Omori sighs before turning back and answering his question.

“I want to make you happy. To achieve this, we must forget. Forget everything.”

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Memory 2: Imagine What I Suffered

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Basil wakes up, his eyes adjusting themselves to his surroundings. He looks around the living room he is in. Kel is still sleeping on the single couch, drooling onto his right shoulder. Sunny is still asleep next to Basil. His face gets more worried than ever for his friend.

Basil gets up and hears sizzling coming from the kitchen. He walks up to the room and sees Hero preparing some bacon and eggs. Basil had not seen him cook for a while, so he’s happy to see that he had not lost his touch.

“Oh, good morning Basil. You slept well? You went out cold so fast, I didn’t want to wake you up.” Somehow, Hero says this without making eye contact with him. Hero is not smiling as well, but Basil has a feeling that he is hiding his worried expression.

“Yeah I’m fine thank you… I can see that you’re still cooking,” Basil answers. Hero did not say another word and continues his work for breakfast. 

Kel wakes up and waddles to the kitchen.

“Wassup bro, yo Basil.” Kel leans on the wall and takes a sniff. “Are you cooking, Hero? Smells amazing.”

“Yeah, mom is tired so I told her I was going to make breakfast for everyone. Could you help me set everything up, you two?” Hero was looking at Kel the entire time.

Basil and Kel set the table for everyone, even Sunny has a place. Kel setup Sally’s chair next to his parents' place. Basil places the utensils and Hero puts the food on each plate, with equal share each.

Basil shakes Sunny to wake up, but no matter how hard he does, he does not wake up. Kel comes and tries to help by clapping his hands near his ears, being loud or even pinching him. Nothing works.

“Guys, leave him be. He needs rest. He’ll wake up at some point, but not now,” Hero says as he tilts his head towards the dinning room for the two to come eat. They agree and sit down for breakfast. It was really good.

Basil is being impatient. It’s been 4 hours since they all woke up and Sunny has not given any sign of life for them. Hero is preparing his stuff for college since he is going back tomorrow afternoon. 

Basil decides that it would be best to bring him back home, so that Kel’s family’s couch is free. He grabs the phone and calls Polly for her to come over here and help him get Sunny home. Polly gladly accepts and says she’ll be there in 15 minutes since she is at the store right now.  He puts the phone down and goes to the bathroom to wash his hands.

As he goes to the bathroom, Basil bumps into Kel as he is chasing Sally into the living room.

“Hey! Sorry, she crawls everywhere when she’s excited!” Kel says as he continues to chase her.

“No, it’s ok. I was just… gonna go to the washroom… That's okay?” Basil asks.

“Do whatever you want here. You don’t need to ask permission, you know.” Kel laughs and goes into the living room. Basil smiles a bit before going into the bathroom.

As Basil washes his hands, he feels this pain that would not let go. He cannot stop thinking about Sunny’s condition. How could he have let himself do that to his friend? He knew it was a horrible idea to let Sunny go back to where it all began. The trauma that surged from his mind must have shattered him to the core.

Basil shakes the thought out as he turns the lever to let the water pour out. This is no time for him to bash himself around. Sunny might be in danger. He washes his hands slowly, trying to forget about the past and focus on the future ahead of him and his friends.

As he is about to finish rinsing off the soap from his hands, the light in the room shatters and he is enveloped in darkness. Dread crawls down his spine faster than his own heart can make a beat.

He looks up at the mirror and sees a shadow behind him, edging the wall. It has the same shape as Sunny.

“Sunny?! You’re awake! Do you need the bathroom? I’ll leave if you do.” Basil turns and looks at the ground. “Look… I’m sorry. I should’ve been more safe about going there. I let you go and you got hurt. Can you forgive me?” He looks up to realize the shadow is not there. He looks around the room but no sign of Sunny. Basil tries to light the room up but it seems as if the lights of the bathroom don’t work anymore.

He falls with his back to the sink. He is breathing fast. His vision is getting blurry. He tries to calm down by clutching his legs with his arms. Breathe and calm down. The dark ink is spreading through the cracks, creating tentacles slowly slithering towards him. Basil tries to think about the good times. The good memories. Him with everyone.

He is able to calm down and he looks back up. The room is still dark, but the entity is gone. He gets up and looks at himself in the mirror. As he looks up, he sees the shadow right behind him, his aura freezing Basil in place. Its eyes are red and its mouth is destroyed and rotted with pitch black mucus. The dark entity seems to grab Basil’s leg and the disturbing presence leans towards his ear. Basil can’t stop crying. His whimpers are mere specks of sand through the wind, not to be heard. In a disturbing voice and sinister tone, the shadow says: “No…” 

Basil is then choked by the tendrils and flashes of red with photos of the incident rush through his mind. Basil yells for help, for someone to save him. He feels his lungs burning and his face turns blue. 

All of a sudden, everything stops. He falls down, tears still dripping down his face. The room is lit and the water is still pouring. No one is near him. He vomits in the toilet.

Hero is in his room, looking at the ceiling. Kel is with Sally so he has time to relax a bit. His stuff is packed and he can leave tomorrow. These past few days have been a wild ride into the pain of what happened 4 years ago. He was fine with her death, but now that he knows the truth, it makes him furious. He can’t get the image of Sunny pushing Mari down the stairs out of his head.

Hero gets up and looks out the window of his room. He can see the neighbors’ backyard from here. He looks in that direction and notices that his surroundings are starting to get darker. Chills go running down his spine and the sky is turning to crimson red. 

He can see three shadowy figures. One is being dragged by the other two. They approach the tree and Hero feels fear penetrating him. His heart clenches looking at the scene. The two figures lean the dragged one onto the tree and they start fiddling with something. They turn around and they are holding a red rope tied in a noose.

Hero drops to the ground and loses sight of the event. The dark aura is slowly getting closer and Hero tries to cover his head with his hands, denying what he is experiencing. He gets back up to continue looking. 

As he looks, he freezes in place. The two figures are looking at him, with red eyes leaking with bloody tears. The last one is hanged by the rope, attached to the tree, its hair covering their face. A giant white eye appears on the corpse and the two others start running away. Hero stops looking and looks to the ground. What did he just see? Was it his version of what happened? He hears his door creaking slowly. He turns around slowly and sees Mari with her hair down, with a feeling that she is looking at him.

The figure stands there and Hero cannot move. It takes a step. Hero feels his lungs clench. He has a hard time breathing in this room. 

It takes another. He can only hear his heart pounding. Blood is circulating through his body so fast that he starts to feel dizzy. 

The creature takes another step. Hero can see dark waves invade his vision. The hideous form stops. The room goes quiet. Hero feels the cold air hitting his skin. He can’t move, nor breathe. The creature then jumps at him with a screech. Sounds of voices and cries and yells are heard everywhere. Hero feels his body being slashed and bashed around. Flashes of the corpse fill his mind. He yells in agony and pleas for it to stop.

Hero wakes up in a cold sweat. Tears drop from his face and his breathing is rapid. It was all a nightmare. He quickly looks outside at the backyard. He can see the tree trunk with the pinwheel on it. He drops to the ground to calm down. He hates this place. He just wants to go.

Kel is playing with Sally in the living room. They’re playing with blocks and toys, scattered on the ground. Sally smiles happily during the fun. Kel tells Sally that he needs to go grab some ingredients at the store for mom. He pats her on the head, hugs her and brings her back to mom.

As Kel is about to leave, he hears crashing in the bathroom. Basil might have just fallen by accident, he’s a bit clumsy. Kel keeps walking towards the front door, making his way outside and heading towards Othermart. 

As he is heading towards the supermarket, he notices someone is sitting, curled up below a giant tree. His hair is mint green with a destroyed flower crown on his head. The boy is wearing a lime shirt with a jumper. 

Kel approaches him to only hear sobbing coming from the strange boy. His cries are filled with muffled sounds. Kel feels awkward for trying to go up to a random person and cheering them up. He could be called a weird guy who goes for the innocent. He immediately removes that thought. 

As Kel gets closer, he feels his chest tighten and this feeling of fear surrounds him. The light of the sun swiftly drifts away as clouds cover the sky and darkness blocks his view further down the road. The tip of the boy’s hands drip with a dark ink and the muffled voice can be heard, being eerie and nerve-racking.

“Please… Am I… Worthless… Have they taken me? Into the darkness… again?” 

The boy starts to uncurl and Kels face turns pale, scrunching up in fear. The strange boy’s face is covered in dark ink with red horizontal eyes all across. What looked like blood is slowly dripping down each eye. The boy starts to cry louder. Kel’s ears are filled with the pleas and curses the monster in front of him says. He tries to cover his ears but the shock of the moment renders him as immobile as a statue.

“Help… Me…” 

The boy clutches his hair, slowly turning it red. Distorted faces are seen in the darkness, eyes hollow and black ink dripping from their mouth. Kel looks up, dread pooling in his guts, to see a giant cyclone with a white eye above a hideous mouth.

A large tongue slowly descends from the hole in the sky and approaches the boy. Kel runs towards the boy but is stopped by the laughter and cries of pain he can hear, coming from all around him, deafening Kel. As the tongue gets closer to the cursed child, it latches itself around it and a snap of bones are heard. The boy yells in pain.

“STOP! MAKE IT STOP! I DON’T WANT THIS! I WANT TO BE FREE FROM THIS TORMENT! FREE FROM THIS PAIN! OH LORDS ABOVE, SET ME FREE!!!!” 

The cursed one yells to the sky and Kel feels his ears bound to burst any second. The disfigured entities all seem to rush closer to him and they catch him fast, their faces tattooed into his mind.

Kel snaps out of his scenario. His breathing is fast and heart rate is through the roof. He looks back at the tree to see a young boy wearing an orange t-shirt being helped by his friend. He takes a deep breath and comes back to reality. What the hell was that? Never had he suffered from illusions and hallucinations. Why now though? He continued to think about it during his travel to his destination, still shocked and taking his time.

Aubrey is in her room, brushing her pink hair. Her blue ribbon is sitting on her unmade bed and her bat with nails is close to the ladder to her room. Her bunny is in its cage, sleeping peacefully, with no worries. As she brushes her hair, she looks deeply into the mirror and stops herself. Scowling, she shoots up from her chair and slams her brush onto the desk. The bunny jumps in fear, sprinting around the cage for a way to get out of this situation. 

Why can’t she get them out of her thoughts? Those idiots can’t understand what kind of twisted truth Sunny told them. He killed Mari. He fucking killed Mari! How can Kel just say that he accepts the truth and live with it? The moment she died, it ruined her life! She had no one to go to, not even her family nor her friends! Sunny was stuck inside his house for 4 years, Basil back stabbed her with the photos, Kel just smiled and moved on, not caring for the situation and Hero went through his years without comforting anyone!  It meant everything to her. She meant everything to her. Mari was the older sister that she could never have! 

She looks back at the mirror, a few tears dropping down. No time to start mourning. She gently sits back down and as soon as she calms down, she hears a voice coming from behind her.

“Nice hair you have.”

Aubrey swiftly turns around to see a figure with a white dress and long hair touching the ground. She looks towards the bat at the other side of the room. She slowly tries to get up from her chair and get closer to her weapon.

“Who are you! What do you want, weirdo!” Aubrey keeps eye contact with the figure.

“You took care of your hair so well. I wonder…”

The figure teleports in front of her. The smell of rot fills Aubrey's nose and the eerie sound of heavy breathing creeps its way into her ears. The figure lifts a hand onto Aubrey’s hair. The pink haired girl cannot move.

Aubrey looks at her hair and fear starts to develop. Her hair is starting to turn green and moldy, in a zone where the hand of this thing is located. It starts to spread slowly all over it. She gets scared and, with courage, she leaps for the bat and swings it at the foul monster.

She looks at her target, only to notice that her weapon is starting to melt by the singular touch of its hand. Blood drips from its hand and the weapon becomes useless. Aubrey’s fear and stress skyrocket. She crawls backwards, hoping to get away from the entity. She hits the wall, at the back of her room. The creature slowly walks towards her. Aubrey can’t take her eyes off the creature. It leans close to her ear, the same smell and noise invading her private space.

“Your hair, it’s beautiful now, isn’t it?”

“NO, IT’S UGLY YOU PIECE OF SHIT, GET AWAY FROM ME!” 

Aubrey tried to move, but her body would not. It felt as though she’s being grabbed by strings and being pulled to the wall. Tears start to form and slowly drop from her eyes. The hideous being in front of her scares her to her core. Fear has finally gotten control over Aubrey.

“Say, what would Sunny think of it?” 

Aubrey’s expression turns blank. The disfigured humanoid’s hair starts to part ways to reveal their face. A large, broken, wide open jaw hangs from its skull, its eyes are replaced with hollow holes, its head tilted to its right side. Sharp teeth start forming in its mouth, twitching and begging to see the light.

Aubrey is frozen in fear. She starts to panic at the horrific creature she is looking at. She closes her eyes and tells herself that it’s not real, that it's only her vision of her trauma or something else. None of this makes sense! Her bat shouldn’t be melting on contact, nor her hair should be rotting. She opens her eyes to see the creature’s mouth surrounding her head and bites a chunk out. Blood drips from Aubrey’s head and the creature starts to go for more, descending to her eyes. No pain is felt. The mouth closes.

Aubrey wakes up on the ground. Her breathing fast. She holds her head to see if there's any injury. No wounds are found. She goes to the mirror to check her hair. It’s perfectly fine. No green substance nor disgusting moss can be found. She sits down and takes a moment to calm down and check her surroundings. The bat looks fine. What the fuck just happened? Was it just a nightmare? It felt so real though. Almost as if she was lucid dreaming at that point. She takes her time to adjust to her surroundings and decides to go grab a glass of water in the kitchen. She leaves her room, going down the ladder slowly. 

It has turned night outside. Basil and Polly got Sunny back home. Kel explained his event to his family. Everyone told him to calm down and rest for a while. Hero is still in his room, having thoughts about his experience. Kel walks into the bedroom. Hero is sitting on his bed.

“You okay there, Hero?” Kel becomes worried and stands in front of his big brother.

“Oh… Yeah, I’m fine… it’s just… something happened today that was absolutely not normal.”

“I had something like that too when I was going to Othermart to grab some things mom wanted. I saw something awful and disturbing. Is that what you saw?” Kel sits down next to Hero.

“Yeah, sorta… I saw two guys hanging someone. The dead one must have been Mari, and the two others… I’m assuming it’s them. But it was all twisted. I can’t get her horrid face out of my head.”

“For me, there was a boy with super light green hair that was crying, until a giant wormhole appeared and a tongue grabbed him and…” Kel’s face turns slowly pale and disgusted. “Why did we see these things? This is the first time this has happened to me!”

“I don’t know either. But let’s hope it’s a one time thing. Tomorrow I’m going back to college and I’ll forget about this place. I don’t mean it as if I don’t want to see you guys again. This town has just been filled with dark memories that none of us seem to get rid of.” Hero passes his hand through his hair, lifting his posture.

“I never thought those feelings would come creeping around us. I’m worried about everyone though. Is that what happened to Sunny? Maybe it wa-”

“Could you please go a day without talking about him?! Gosh, this is all you ever talk about. What he did was awful, evil and completely selfish.”

“Hey! Do you really think that if you did something like that you would want to out yourself? He was 12 for goodness sake!”

“Even at that age, you shouldn’t fake a suicide to get out of trouble! He didn’t even contact anyone for help! They both did something undeniably wrong! They don’t deserve my forgiveness.” Kel stands up fast and goes back in front of Hero.

“You’re the older one, you should be more focused on thinking about how they felt rather than making them feel worse! You were always someone we could go to when we needed comfort. You’re locking that door for them with your arrogance!”

“KEL! That’s enough! I don’t want to leave this place with us having a fight over this shit!”

“Well then apologise to them and let’s all have a happy ending!” Hero stands up, pushing Kel to the ground.

“There is no happy ending to this story! None! We will all still be in pain and have our lives ruined by idiotic people such as themselves! For the past 4 years, I have tried to forgive myself for what Mari did, but now knowing that Sunny and Basil faked it and that he is the reason she died, how am I supposed to forgive them if I couldn’t even forgive myself?!” Hero starts to cry. Kel is tearing up from his brother yelling at him. It was just like this, a few weeks after Mari had passed away. Hero sits back down on his bed and starts to sob. Kel sniffles and removes his tears forming from his eyes. He gets up and hugs Hero.

“I’m sorry I’m pushing you. I should not have brought it up after what today had in store for us. Let’s just rest and forget about this. I’m sorry bro… I really am.” 

Hero hugs back and they both calm down. Kel and Hero are now both in their beds, ready to fall asleep. Hero slowly closes his eyes and tries to forget about today and looks into a bright future. Even if there is nothing lighting up his path.

Aubrey lays in her bed, her ribbon in hand. The lights in the room are closed. Bun-Bun is still sleeping. What a twisted day it was. After what happened to her, she left her house to go talk with Kim about it. She understood her and told her that it is going to be fine, that it was only a nightmare. Probably due to what Sunny told her. She shook that name out of her head. There’s no way she can look at him the same way. All she sees is a bloody killer. But, reflecting on that thought, Sunny was a good kid. Truly he would never want that to happen. What was going through his head at that point? Why the day before the recital? So many questions, yet so few answers. Next time Aubrey sees him, she will try and get her answers. If she has to resort to brute force, well, let’s just say that she isn’t scared to try. She puts her ribbon on her desk and goes to sleep.

Basil can’t sleep. Sunny is in his bed and he has to sleep in Sunny’s given bed, situated on the floor. It isn’t a comfortable spot but it was unexpected when Sunny wanted to stay longer so they resorted to either giving him his grandma's bed or the floor next to Basil’s bed. They sadly chose the floor.

Everything happened so fast today. Basil still can’t get his event out of his mind. It's as if it is hanging above him, slowly tying a noose around his neck. After he had hurled his stomach in the bathroom, he waited in there for 20 minutes, hoping someone would open the door. Eventually, Polly came in and helped Basil get into the car. She carried Sunny to the vehicle with Hero’s dad’s help.

He looks back at Sunny, not moving a muscle. He was afraid of losing him again. He doesn’t want that. If only he could save him, protect him from what is tormenting him,  Basil might forgive himself a lot more. He wants everyone to be happy, to enjoy their time together. He wants his friends back, the way they were. Basil slowly starts closing his eyes in fatigue and drifts away in his slumber.

Basil wakes up with the sound of wind blowing freely. The sky is pitch black and the trees he can see are dead. He gets up and looks around the place. He sees a few trees scattered around and some are further down the path. A giant wall of trees taller than a building are blocking him from exiting this path.

He notices Kel, Aubrey and Hero all asleep on the ground. Basil crawls towards Kel and nudges him to try and wake him up. Kel opens his eyes slowly and looks at Basil.

“Hey… are you um… okay?” Basil asks as he helps Kel get up from his lying posture.

“Hey Basil. Where are we?” Kel looks around and notices the two others getting up. Both groan and moan as they get up. Aubrey’s vision clears and sees the two on the ground, Basil on his knees helping Kel get up.

“What are you guys doing here?” Hero questions them.

“That was what I was gonna ask. Is this another weird dream I’m having with you guys? Great!” Aubrey turns around to get a good look at where they are. None recognize the forest.

“What do you mean your dream? This is definitely my dream,” Kel says as he gets on his two feet.

“Well, I feel as though it’s my dream, too,” Hero says. The group looks at each other in confusion.

“It sure ain’t your dream! How can you tell it’s yours? I would imagine your dreams being something stupid or idiotic. Kind of reflecting yourself.” Aubrey flicks her wrist at Kel.

“Okay, Aubrey, now is not the time to start insulting each other. Maybe we can all wake up.” Hero then notices that he can feel the wind hitting his face.

~Strange… I shouldn’t be able to feel it if I’m dreaming. Hero thought to himself. This may be a lucid dream.

As the two start arguing, Basil looks at his surroundings. Nothing he can see is scary but he feels this ominous presence watching him. He feels chills running down his spine. Hero tries to break the argument, but Basil steps in.

“Um…Guys?! Before we start… fighting um… we should focus more on… Where we are,” Basil nervously says

“You’re right.” Hero looks to the sky. “Where in the world are we?”

Memory 2 end

Chapter Text

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Memory 3 : Black Out

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The group look around and search for a sign or a clue for them to figure out where they have awakened. Hero doesn’t want the group to go in different ways, so they stick by each other and look around. All they see are the dead trees and the tall ones. Nothing much can be found.

“This is useless! Why don’t we jump the gun and walk towards the paths ahead!” Aubrey says, pointing at the vast road. 

“Please Aubrey, be smart about this! We know nothing of what is out there. Plus, the sky is creeping me out.” Kel replies. In fact, he was right. The black sky is not a pleasant sight to see. It felt as though something was watching from up there.

“Well we aren’t getting anywhere. We can stay as much as we like figuring out where the fuck we are, but if we don’t get back home, we might be stuck here forever and believe me, I don’t want to be stuck with you for my whole life.” Aubrey gestures a push towards Kel.

Both start fighting again and Hero turns towards the two.

“Ok that’s enough. Not now, ok? You guys can fight as much as you want outside but not now. Got that? Basil, you umm… find anything?” It had been a while since anyone spoke to Basil. The boy is looking at the ground, trying to remove his gaze from the dark aura that surrounds him. He feels his heart thumping on his chest. He looks towards Hero’s feet.

“I uhh… well… no…” Basil troubles to say. Hero sighs and turns back to the two others looking away from each other. He goes up to his brother and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Okay listen. I think we might be dreaming right now. So our best option is to try and wake up.” Hero says

“I know that but like, how do we wake up? Everything around here seems so real, it makes me question if what we are doing out there is the dream or not…” Kel’s look turns into a worried expression

“Don’t worry, ok? We got this. We just need everyone to cooperate and we can make it out of here.” Hero smiles at Kel, lighting up the mood a slight bit.

“Yeah… You’re right. We can’t keep our heads down. Let’s get through this!” Kel lifts his elbow and clenches his fist as a message to Hero that he’s ready. They both smile and return to the others.

Aubrey is walking around, kicking some small rocks. Basil is still looking down with an anxious look to him. Hero tells everyone to join in a group.

“Okay, let’s all relax and figure out this situation. No one knows where we are, correct?” Everyone shakes their heads in agreement. “So let's make a vote about what we should do.” Hero points in the air to initiate the voting.

“Well this is a very easy option! We should just walk down the path! We’re never gonna go somewhere without pushing on. Urk! I sounded poetic right now.” Aubrey’s face turns into disgust for a second.

“I don’t really think that’s a- uh- good idea…” Basil can feel his words slipping.

“Oh my god, could you agree with me for once?!” 

Kel jumps in “Woah Aubrey calm down!” 

“Man, who gives a fuck! This is my dream! I can say and do what I want!” Everyone seems a bit confused.

“No, this is my dream! There is no way we can be dreaming the same thing. The chance’s of that are 0,000000000000000000-” Aubrey cuts off Kel counting a fake percentage.

“You are so annoying when you want to be, huh! Can’t you be smart and not act like a fucking brat?!” Kel and Aubrey start fighting again.

Basil walks out of the conversation and covers his head with his hands. If everyone thinks that they are dreaming, then how can it all feel real? Basil never had a lucid dream, as far as he can remember. His breathing starts to fasten. He looks around to see that nothing changed, despite hoping that something or even someone can give them answers.

The fight continues on. Hero tries to speak but the insults and attacks Aubrey yells are overpowering his ability to act upon this fight. Kel keeps trying to defend himself by stating their situation.

“Could I give less of a damn about where we are! This is all because of that fucked up shit I had a few hours ago! A horrible nightmare! Yeah, this is what this is. Why is this a nightmare? It’s because you’re here, annoying me to death!” 

Kel clenches his fists. “Can you be less selfish?! You’re always angry! And I thought that we were all coming to good terms and being nice to each other, only for a few days after what happened at the hospital, you decided to go back to being a bitch!” Kel puts his hands on his mouth in shock at what he said. Hero also gets a bit shocked. How long had it been since his brother swore? A few years at least or somewhere in his life. Aubrey gets furious and tackles Kel to the ground.

“HEY! YOU TWO STOP THIS! BASIL COME HELP!” Hero grabs the girl's arm and tries to pull her off of his brother. She pushes him back to try and regain her arm, but Hero persists and keeps on holding. Basil looks at the fight and freezes in place. He can’t move. Why are his friends fighting? Weren’t they all back to being good friends? Basil starts to panic.

“BASIL! STOP BEING SCARED AND DO SOMETHING!” Hero yells. But Basil does not move. Tears start to form.

Kel tries to push Aubrey off but she continues to engage. He takes initiative and with his knee, he hits her in her stomach. She lets out a hurtful sound, before being pushed back by Kel and held by Hero. She struggles against the grapple, but even though she has gained strength, Hero can still hold her. Basil stops freezing and goes to check on Kel. 

“Are you… are you okay?!” Basil says in a shaky voice.

“Yeah I’m fine, I guess…” Kel replies.

Aubrey stops struggling and gives up. Hero feels her muscles stop tensing. He lets her go and Aubrey swiftly, with her arm, pushes Hero away. 

“Look Aubrey, we don’t have time to fight with each other. If you desperately want to leave, we need to help each other achieve this objective as well. So, just be cooperative with us for this and then we can stop talking or being around you if you really hate that.” Aubrey’s eyes get bigger in realization. She has mixed feelings. She wants that but also doesn’t. Aubrey can’t decide. 

She runs away, following the lonely path ahead. Hero tries to stop her but she has taken distance.They all agree to follow her and start chasing her, with hero leading the group. This place might be dangerous! She could get lost and get hurt or worse.

The dark sky still haunts the gang and the tall dark trees block them from exiting the singular path given to them. The dead trees start to disappear the more they run through this place. Aubrey is crying and running away from the rest. The others are trying to catch up, yelling at her to slow down and to stop. Basil doesn’t have good cardio, so he starts to slow down. Kel stays close to him so they don’t get separated. Hero continues to chase after his friend. Kel wants to follow but doesn’t want Basil to get lost and never return with the group. He knows there is no way he can get lost since there is only one path, but it gives him some sort of excuse to stay with him. Not that he needed one exactly.

Basil stops to catch his breath. Kel stays by his side. The two sit down and Kel opens a conversation.

“Hey man, sorry for fighting with Aubrey. I was just so furious at her. She kept talking bad about you and I couldn’t let that slide.”

“It’s fine, really… I was just useless. I didn’t help getting you to safety and I let you get hurt.”

“Well I’m not hurt. While it did hurt me when I got thrown to the ground, I was the one who knocked her off with my knee. Smart thinking I did!” Kel realizes how strong Aubrey got. He would definitely lose at a game of arm wrestling against her.

“I’m sorry… It’s because of me that you got hurt…” Basil starts to curl back up into a ball.

“No no, you did nothing wrong. Me and Aubrey are the ones at fault. We got mad and started fighting, that’s all. Don’t pin it on you, Basil.” Kel put a hand on Basil’s shoulder.

No matter how many times Basil was sad, Kel would always be the one to come over and try to cheer him up when Sunny was not around. He really is a nice person and would never harm his friends. His fire can light up the dark places people are in. Basil was happy to have him by his side.

Basil uncurled and smiled at his friend. They nod to each other and get back on the road. They run in the same direction Hero and Aubrey went to. They keep running, passing by 1 or 2 trees every minute. Slowly, the trees vanished and they were left with an empty space, aside from the large wall of trees surrounding them.

Suddenly, they see a wall of these large trees in front of them, with a hole at the foot of a large tree. They look around to find the other two. They were not found. Basil got worried and tugged Kel’s shirt to indicate the hole in the tree. With no other solution, they walk towards the mysterious hole. 

The hole is the size of 2 Hero’s. That’s what Kel thought of when he measured the size of the passage. The thick wood surrounding it seems to be slightly burned and old, very old. From a much closer look, the gray leaves on the trees look off. Scribbles and half colored in marks represent the, supposed to be, green leaves. The wood looks as though a child drew it. This all felt off. Without anything stopping them, the two enter.

They reach the other side to see something unexpected. Hero is further from them and Aubrey as well, who is next to Hero. A massive tree stands before them. The leaves have dead off and dropped from what they once called home. Ropes are attached to the branches of the tree, tied into nooses. A sealed up hole lies at the foot of this tree, the size of a child. Some dark aura is felt throughout this whole life form. Fear, anger, jealousy, regret, denial. It’s all there. Basil feels a chill run down his spine. 

Looking at the ropes, he feels this presence behind him. Like something was behind him, watching him closely. He looks back to see nothing and the aura of the tree grows larger. Whispers and voices are heard all around him. He tries covering his ears, but to no avail. He can’t escape them. Kel grabs his shoulder and holds his hand. This feeling calms him down, knowing he is not alone in this situation.

“What is that?” Kel asks.

“Oh! You guys! We don’t know, but it kinda has a weird feeling to it, don’t you think?” Hero asks. The two approach Hero and Aubrey. Aubrey is stuck in place, looking at this enormous being.

“Yeah it does… So, are you calm now, Aubrey?” Aubrey returns to reality and looks at Kel. She swiftly turns away and says she’s fine. Kel can’t help but feel sad at her reaction.

Aubrey looks back at the tree and starts approaching it. Somehow, she can feel something. Something dark and sad coming from the tree. Hero notices this and follows her to see if there is anything they can find about this place. Kel and Basil do the same. 

Kel can’t help but hold Basil’s hand. Not out of fear, but comfort towards his friend. He knows Basil can get scared and nervous about these things. He also feels this dark aura surrounding him like he was prey. It reminds him of that episode he had in the park. Those faces have not left his mind. The face of the boy also terrifies him. He couldn’t do anything about him. He feels this guilt but also anger at himself for having done nothing. But right now is not the time to be thinking of the past. He must focus on getting out of this place and making sure everyone is safe.

The group stands at the foot of the tree and looks around the sealed up wall. Hero touches it to see if pushing it would move it. Nothing happens. Aubrey wants to search around the tree, but it is so massive that getting around it would take around 10 minutes. Too long and even if she wanted to, leaving the group would be dangerous. Basil stares at the ropes while Kel helps Hero look around, still holding Basil’s hand.

“What’s behind this?” Hero asks as he pats the sealed hole.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I don’t think someone wants people to go in there.” Kel adds.

“Hero… I think umm… It would be… uhh… better if you backed away…” Basil suggests, looking at the ground.

“Do you know what this is, Basil?” Hero turns to look at his friend.

“No! I um… I don’t…”

“Basil. If you know anything about this or have suggestions, just say them please,” Hero says, being a bit aggressive.

“I just think th-th-that we shouldn’t m-mess with it.” Basil can’t look at Hero. Hero grabs his shoulder.

“Basil, listen. We are stuck here in a weird dream and we need to get out. If you have anything to say, please make it important. A tree can do nothing to us. So why all of a sudden you’re anxious about it? Is it those nooses?” Hero looked serious. Basil was still not looking at the tall boy and was diverting his gaze somewhere else other than his friends eyes.

“Hero, I think that’s enough, okay? You know how Basil is.” Kel tries to intervene in the situation but his brother keeps on going.

“Does it remind you of that time? Huh!?” Hero asks.

“No… that’s… that’s not it!” Basil starts to tear up.

“Oh don’t cry now! Stop that, it gets on my nerves sometimes.” Aubrey looks at Hero and joins in.

“Hero, now is no time for that.” Hero turns towards the pink-haired girl.

“You’re one to talk. You caused a commotion when we first got here and you're asking me to not do that? Look at yourself before saying things that you ignore”

“Okay, but that just means you need to be better than me! You’re the adult here!’ Aubrey raises her tone.

“I’m being the adult here! I want answers from him and he will give me my answers, alright? If Basil is up to something here then…”

“Wait, bro, why do you think Basil is the culprit for this?” Kel joins the conversation too.

“I’m not saying he’s the culprit. I’m just saying he isn’t normal right now!”

“What’s normal to you?! Do you think I’m normal!?” Kel asks

“Yes you’re fine! We’re not talking about you!” Hero raises his tone.

As the group starts fighting, Basil is crying, looking at the ground. Those nooses. They haunt him. His mind filled with the horrors of that wicked day. Hero now hates him more. He doesn’t belong here. He shouldn’t be crying but he can’t stop. His friends are being pulled away from each other and one day they’ll all leave him again. Stress pulsates in his veins. He can’t stop hearing them yelling at each other. Just because of him. He can’t stop the words from running in his head. Hate, regret, stupid, arrogant, pathetic, moron. Basil is shaking and whimpering.

“There he goes again! Stop that shit, it will do you nothing!” Aubrey says. Hero agrees and Kel defends him.

“Woah you guys! You can’t say that! Basil is not okay right now! He needs sup…”

“Kel, please stop intervening in this! I’m tired of you trying to be the boss of this whole situation. You’re the bystander, not the victim! Now, understand our side of this story and help us get out!” Hero backs away with confusion. Why did he get aggressive all of a sudden? He never gets angry at his brother ever since that fight they had after Mari passed away. Something feels off.

“Yeah dork! Move!” Aubrey pushes Kel to the side. Kel returns the hit by holding Aubrey in place. The two start pushing each other. Hero tries to break them apart. Basil can’t breath and his anxiety and stress peak to its limit. He can’t think. His friends are fighting physically with each other now. They hate him. He doesn’t want to lose them. Without thinking, Basil yells out:

“S̵̨̧̜͍̮̲̮̫̞͇̜͌̈̀͗̍́̑̎̍̅͜T̴̛͖̝͇̻̱̺͎̬̄̐̈́̆͊̆͠Ơ̸̟̩̲̗̳͙̼̓͐̓̿͒̔̿͘P̷̢̝͚̮̲̟̣͖̘̗̩̞̮̅̕ ̷̝̭͕̣̫̦̓́̓̈́̅͜Ţ̸͖͖͈̗̝͛͋̊̃̈̄̌̋̓H̴̡̛͐͛̀̇͂̈̚͝Ḁ̵̧̪̩̥͎͙̈̔̏̐̐̽T̷͍͇͙̹͌̀̾̉ ̵̗̮͇̄Ǹ̵̡̛̦͓͎̲̦̣̪̦̪͕̳̭̀͊̇O̸͍͐̀͌̊̏̀̈́͋͂͠W̸̧̳̯͔̪̅͐́!!” A loud distorted and powerful voice is released from the boy. Everyone freezes and looks towards him. Basil is covering his mouth with his hands, tears still dropping from his eyes. Basil looked behind him and saw something he never thought to see. A dark version of him with white eyes is standing close to the entrance where they came from. His aura is felt through everyone and it gives of a chilly and dark one.

“Ã̷̝l̸̠̈́l̷̡̀ ̷̪͝ò̴͙f̴̠̆ ̵̝̊t̶͖͆h̸̤̍o̵̝̒s̷̖̀ẽ̴̞ ̴̢̃i̵̤̒n̷̬͗s̴̟̾u̷̺̅l̴̬̑ṱ̴͠s̸̙͂ ̶̛͜w̴͖͝i̸̗͝l̶̥͝l̶͕̾ ̴̛̫d̶̯̃o̸̡͝ ̷̝̚n̵̜̔ö̵̦́t̸̀ͅh̷̨̒i̸͙̎n̵̳̓g̴̜͝ ̴̙̀t̴͉̽ỏ̵͕ ̸̖̅ỳ̷̼o̸̯͌u̶͕͆ ̴̥̚d̵͔̃ṟ̵̏ḙ̵̇å̷͙-... O̵͕̎h̵͈͝… Y̶̰͆ȯ̷̯u̵̧͒'̵̦͛r̸̨̛e̵͇̕ ̷̜́n̶͆ͅo̴̬͌ț̷̚ ̵̝̕t̵̫̆h̷̡̿e̵̓͜ ̸͓̄d̸̫̓r̷̡̐ẻ̶͜a̶̲͛m̸̮̿ȩ̵̌r̸̩̅.” Hero gets everyone behind him. 

“Basil? Basil, what have you done?” Basil shakes his head in denial.

“Y̷o̷u̶ ̶a̵r̶e̵ ̸h̵i̶s̶ ̷f̸r̵i̴e̶n̸d̸s̶! M̷y̴ ̷a̶p̷o̸l̶o̵g̶i̴e̷s̸. I̷ ̸n̷e̷v̷e̷r̶ ̵k̶n̴e̸w̸ ̶h̴e̷ ̸w̷o̶u̷l̶d̷ ̵h̴a̵v̴e̷ ̸t̶h̴e̸ ̶g̶u̶t̷s̴ ̵t̸o̶ ̸b̷r̵i̷n̵g̶ ̸y̴o̵u̸ ̷3̶ ̴d̵o̴w̸n̴ ̸h̸e̶r̴e̷.”

“Who are you, who is this dreamer?” Hero asks.

“D̵o̸ ̶y̵o̵u̸ ̵r̷e̵a̶l̸l̷y̶ ̷k̴n̵o̵w̶ ̷n̸o̷t̴h̴i̵n̷g̶” The shadowy figure realizes the situation and takes a more formal approach.

“S̵o̴r̷r̴y̶,̵ ̶I̸ ̵t̴h̸i̷n̸k̸ ̶I̸ ̵t̴o̵o̵k̸ ̵y̸o̴u̸ ̶f̴o̵r̴ ̵s̸o̷m̸e̷o̵n̸e̸ ̸e̴l̷s̵e̷.̷ ̵Y̵o̸u̴ ̶l̷o̷o̷k̸ ̸s̷o̵ ̶m̶u̷c̴h̷ ̴l̶i̷k̶e̶ ̷h̸i̷s̸ ̷f̷r̸i̶e̸n̸d̸s̶.̸ ̵I̸s̶ ̶y̶o̷u̵r̷ ̴n̶a̵m̷e̵ ̴p̷e̸r̴h̸a̴p̵s̶ ̴H̵e̴r̸o̸,̸ ̴K̷e̷l̸ ̴a̵n̵d̵ ̶A̵u̵b̵r̵e̷y̴?” Aubrey pushes aside Hero’s arm blocking them.

“How do you know this, creep?” Aubrey says. Hero puts his arm back up.

“B̴e̷c̸a̶u̶s̵e̷ ̷I̸ ̶w̶a̷s̷ ̸o̴n̴c̴e̷ ̴b̸y̷ ̶y̶o̵u̷r̵ ̶s̷i̴d̷e̶,̵ ̸u̷n̸t̵i̴l̸ ̴h̸e̶ ̷d̸e̸c̴i̴d̴e̶d̸ ̷t̸o̵ ̷p̴u̴t̸ ̷m̷e̷ ̶h̴e̸r̶e̸.̶ ̷A̶l̶l̸o̸w̶ ̴m̴e̸ ̵t̷o̴ ̸i̸n̸t̵r̴o̶d̴u̶c̸e̶ ̴m̸y̷s̴e̴l̸f̴.̴ ̷M̶y̸ ̴n̶a̴m̵e̷ ̶i̵s̶ ̷S̸t̵r̷a̷n̴g̴e̵r̶ ̵a̴n̷d̵ ̸I̷ ̴l̶i̷v̶e̶ ̸h̶e̸r̸e̵.̶”

“Wow, even your name is not trustworthy.” Kel says. Aubrey hits him with a light punch to tell him to not speak. He got the message.

“Wait, you said you knew our names. What about him?” Hero points at Basil.

“H̵m̸m̴m̸.̵.̷.̴ ̸H̶e̴ ̵l̴o̷o̶k̵s̷ ̷l̴i̸k̴e̵ ̴m̸e̴.̴ ̶B̵u̷t̴ ̸I̷ ̵d̶o̸ ̷n̸o̴t̴ ̷k̷n̷o̷w̶ ̸h̶i̴s̶ ̸n̷a̴m̶e̸.̸ ̶M̴i̴n̵d̸ ̵i̶f̴ ̴I̵ ̸a̶s̸k̸ ̶w̸h̶a̵t̶ ̸i̴t̷ ̵i̶s̵?̵” Stranger approaches them slowly. Hero forces everyone to back slowly away from the strange boy.

“My name is - um - Basil.” The boy tries to look at Stranger but feels this dark energy pulsating from him. He keeps looking at the ground.

“B̸a̷s̵i̷l̷?̷ ̵I̸t̴ ̵f̴e̶e̸l̸s̷ ̸l̵i̷k̴e̸ ̶s̷o̵m̵e̵t̷h̷i̷n̶g̵ ̵I̸ ̴s̸h̴o̸u̸l̸d̷ ̷k̸n̸o̶w̷,̷ ̸b̷u̷t̵ ̵h̵a̶v̶e̵ ̸f̶o̸r̶g̶o̵t̶t̷e̵n̵.̵.̵.̶” The dark boy tries to remember.

“That’s not important right now!” Hero says. “Can you tell us where we are?”

“W̸h̸y̴, ̴y̵o̴u̵'̴r̵e̷ ̷i̸n̴ ̸a̷ ̷r̵e̴a̵l̵m̷ ̷o̴f̷ ̵t̵h̴e̸ ̵f̸o̷r̷g̸o̴t̵t̸e̶n̴ ̶a̸n̶d̷ ̴t̵h̵e̷ ̴d̴a̵r̸k̴.̴ ̴A̶ ̶p̷l̴a̴c̷e̴ ̴w̶h̵e̴r̷e̵ ̶c̴o̸l̶o̶r̸s̶ ̴f̶a̸d̴e̵ ̸a̵n̵d̶ ̴d̸a̵r̷k̵n̸e̴s̶s̸ ̸c̷o̷m̷e̷s̵ ̶t̷o̸ ̷e̵a̸t̷ ̴y̸o̵u̷ ̸w̸h̴o̶l̴e̸.̸ ̸A̶ ̶p̵l̶a̶c̶e̷,̵ ̸w̴h̸e̵r̶e̴ ̸n̸o̵t̴ ̸e̷v̵e̶n̴ ̴t̷h̵e̵ ̴t̸r̴e̵e̵s̷ ̸c̵a̷n̵ ̴g̷r̷o̵w̸ ̴l̷e̷a̴v̵e̷s̶.̴ ̶A̵ ̶p̶l̶a̷c̸e̴ ̶w̵i̴t̶h̸o̴u̸t̴ ̵a̴n̶y̷ ̵c̷o̸l̷o̸r̸,̴ ̷i̶t̸'̸s̵ j̴u̸s̷t̷̷ b̶l̶a̸c̵k̸ ̸a̷n̸d̶ ̴w̵h̴i̵t̶e̶.̶ ̴A̶ ̵b̵l̴a̵c̸k̷ ̵s̷p̶a̶c̶e̸.̸ T̵h̴i̴s̶ ̸p̴l̵a̴c̴e̶ ̸i̸s̵ ̵c̸a̴l̷l̵e̵d̶ ̷B̸l̷a̸c̴k̴S̷p̵a̶c̸e̴.̶ ̵O̴n̴c̸e̶ ̸y̷o̴u̷'̷r̴e̵ ̵h̵e̷r̸e̴,̴ ̸y̵o̸u̴ ̸c̶a̷n̴ ̵n̴e̶v̴e̸r̸ ̶g̸e̸t̶ ̴o̵u̷t̷.̸ ̶T̵h̶i̶s̵ ̶i̶s̵ ̶y̵o̸u̵r̶ ̷g̷r̷a̶v̶e̶.

Memory 3 end