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Your eyes water, strained from how long you’ve held them open. You feel every breath, every movement, down to the goosebumps forming on your arms. You’re painfully aware of how each of the eels beside you twitch in their sleep, each small jolt sending a fresh wave of adrenaline through your system.
You should’ve known. Well, actually, you’d known very well what you were going into when they’d asked to watch that horror movie with you. In the moment, it had been cute, even sweet, as they cuddled you through every jumpscare, every tense hiding scene, the final confrontation with the evil force that had haunted the corners of the screen and your mind the entire movie. But no matter how it had felt in the moment to be comforted by them, now they were fast asleep.
You could never handle horror. Creepypastas were interesting in theory, sure, but if you delved into any of them long after the sun went down, well, it was goodbye to any possible sleep that night. Not to mention full-on horror games or movies. That movie you’d just seen, “Such a Curse Do Follow”, was the first one you’d watched in full, barring the occasional tense scene in an action movie. And you should’ve refused them. You should’ve learned your lesson from the many sleepless nights after you’d been just a bit too curious on GameTheory.
But no. There were two outcomes: Either they would’ve been far too visibly hurt the rest of the night, or they’d never forgive you and your life would be forfeit.
And so, here you are. Pathetically huddled in your sleeping bag, existentially worried that the Wendigo of the curse would sneak into the dorm and drive you into insanity if you so much as closed your eyes.
This was ignoring, of course, the fact that the Wendigo was on fire. And you’re underwater. But fears aren’t rational.
You can’t go to sleep, or the Wendigo will jumpscare you and curse you into madness.
You can’t move, or else the Wendigo might see you.
You can’t leave for Azul’s room, or else the Wendigo will be angered and kill you.
Isn’t your brain a fun place?
You’re so hyperaware of every action that occurs in your 30-foot vicinity that you flinch when Floyd rolls over and wraps his arm around you. You immediately still yourself, stupidly scared that the Wendigo sensed you, but in your sudden movement you seem to have woken a different being.
“You...” the small murmur makes you freeze, but when a shadow rises from in front of you, you realize it was just Jade. “Are you... awake?”
You can barely bring yourself to speak, but when you do, it’s short and abrupt. “Yes.”
He brings himself to a whisper, likely seeing Floyd still asleep behind you. “Did my brother wake you?”
You shake your head, then realize the stupidity of your action in the pitch darkness. You open your mouth to respond verbally, but Jade places his hand over yours, giving you a shock. “It’s alright. My eyes are adapted to darkness.”
He begins to rub your hand, and you are now painfully aware that he can see your lack of blinking. “How long have you been awake?”
Once again, you struggle to form an answer through your cracked throat. You whisper hesitantly, “The whole time.”
He stills, and sharp panic that you’ve done something wrong shoots through you. You quickly rasp, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up...”
“Shh,” he shushes you. “I’m a very light sleeper. I am far more worried about you. Why have you been unable to sleep?”
Your voice stops. Your throat closes up, and you find yourself once again unable to articulate your primal terror at the horror genre. You manage a few unsure sounds, but nothing else slips past your trembling lips.
Before you can move to intercept, the shadow of Jade’s arm reaches over you to push Floyd. A tired sound comes from him “Mmmf...?”
You’re now trapped between two forces of nature, a maelstrom of unpredictable emotions. You freeze, remembering that the Wendigo preys on the unsuspecting, the ones who feel distracted by worse problems in life, who would never see it coming. If it wished to target you... this would be the prime moment to do it.
“Eh? Shrimpy?” Floyd’s mumbles catch your attention, a lifeline of noise to keep the shadows at bay. “Why’re you so tense? You look like the Wendigo’s about to curse us all.”
You flinch, his idle teasing hitting too close to home. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of, is what you want to say. But your tense throat leaves you stranded without so much as the ability to communicate your fears.
“You’re...” Realization and sadness tinge the edge of Jade’s voice. “Have you been afraid the whole night?”
You nod hesitantly, seeing the cat out of the bag.
“Oh, little Shrimpy...” Floyd coos, moving his head to nuzzle your back. “I didn’t know you were really so scared.”
Jade stands up, a little shaky, but then offers a hand down. “Come on. We can move to my bed.”
Still afraid to move, fully aware of your paranoia, your desperate gaze locks on his hand even as every muscle in your body is simultaneously screaming to move and stay still. Seeing your tension, or perhaps feeling it, Floyd picks you up suddenly, a yelp escaping you as your hands tighten around his neck.
“Shh, little Shrimpy. ‘S just me.” He tries to walk slowly and smoothly, Jade keeping a hand on your shoulders, until he lets you down on Jade’s bed.
You feel Jade’s silk touch as he crawls over you, Floyd taking the bed edge. “Yer gonna be alright. We’ve got you right here.”
Between the two eels on either side of you, you finally feel like you can relax a little, both putting one arm over you in a two-sided hug. You nestle further into their embrace, both arms settled between you and Jade.
Floyd tightens his arm around you, hand squeezing against your left elbow. “What got you so scared, little Shrimpy? We’re here for you, ya know.”
Once again you stand at the crossroads of speaking up or not. It feels like life or death. In your musings, a small light begins to glow in front of you, a golden ring around a black center. You’re terrified for a second, before the light briefly goes out, and you realize that Jade is staring straight into your eyes. And you’re staring straight back.
He clearly knows. “I don’t want to,” he starts, a clear precursor. “But I want to keep you safe. And for that, I need to know what triggered such a reaction. Your happiness matters first to me.”
You’re now ever so painstakingly aware of every second that your eye is meeting his, every possible opportunity he has to say those three words. But you also know that it would be his only cast of Shock the Heart, and that in an ideal scenario, both he and Azul would rather save it for something of more consequence. And yet, you still know that if it meant keeping you safe, warm, and happy, he’d gladly use it for something as trivial as this.
So you relent. “...It was the movie.”
There’s painful silence, forcing your next words out in a rush. “I-I don’t do well with horror, I’ve never been able to handle it, it just digs into my head and forces me into thinking it’s true and it leaves me with terrible nightmares even if I fall asleep and I’m so sorry that I never told you...!”
The last words leave your mouth in a breathy whisper. The eels tighten their grips right after, Floyd’s head coming to rest on top of yours and Jade’s in the crook of your neck.
“Why didn’tya tell us before we watched it, Shrimpy?” Floyd asks despondently. “We coulda done somethin’ different, somethin’ else so you wouldn’t be scared.”
“I was afraid you’d be disappointed,” you admit. “And I thought you’d think I was weak for being scared of horror movies.”
Jade hums, his hand rubbing small circles onto your back. “There’s always more to do. We could have watched it ourselves another time without traumatizing you. And why do you think Azul bowed out before then? A little secret about him:” Jade moves to whisper into your ear. “He can’t handle horror either.”
You smile a little. Floyd takes your hand in his and weaves your fingers together, giving a small squeeze. “We’re here for our Shrimpy. And if any Wendigos come knocking, they’re gonna have to go through me."
You feel far more secure in the companionship of the two beside you. For the first time that night, you let your tired eyes drift closed. You still don’t sleep until the sun begins to penetrate the waves, but knowing that you’re protected, the rest feels just a little less tense.
You thank every one of the Seven that you have friends that are as loving and crazy as the eel twins.