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Susie’s yellow eyes glistened in the darkness of the night. The soothing wind softly blew against the pale curtains. The birds screeched and the crickets sang. The last thing she could faintly remember was setting up sleeping bags in Kris’ bedroom. Having never used a sleeping bag before, she found it to be a hassle to set up. Noelle recognized her frustration—it had been twenty minutes and Susie was on the verge of tears—so she offered to help her as Kris was already asleep by then. Berdly stood by, commenting on whatever the new meta for Super Smashing Fighters was. Susie really felt the need to shut him up, no matter how drastic it would be, but she knew she could never do such a thing in front of Noelle. Once it was all said-and-done, they each drifted off into their own worlds.
There lay Susie, side-by-side along with her two friends Noelle and Berdly. Referring to them as friends felt off-putting to her, especially because of how they only became friends as of a day ago. Susie's sleeping bag was torn up and had a purple-pink shade with an ax on it. Noelle's sleeping bag had a red and green argyle pattern with a gingerbread drawing. Berdly's sleeping bag had a video game controller on it with the words "EAT, SLEEP, GAME, REPEAT" plastered over it. Noelle was snoring loudly, while Berdly was talking in his sleep. Susie could only deduce that he was talking about nothing but fighting game combos.
As Susie sat up from her sleeping bag, wearing pajamas that were a bit too small for her size and a striped nightcap, she looked toward Kris’ bed. Their side of the room was much emptier than their brother’s side, which seemed to detract her attention. It reminded her of herself in a way. Nonetheless, she noticed that Kris wasn’t in their bed. It was a bit hard to tell, as Kris was very silent even in their sleep. She got on her knees, quietly inching towards the bed. The blanket was rustled up and there were no signs of a human in it. The scent of apple shampoo lingered, which suddenly made her stomach growl.
Susie heard a little rattling noise coming from her right, which grabbed her attention. Turning to her right, she saw a blanket in the corner of the room that seemed to be covering something. She slowly crawled over to the blanket, listening to the rattling. It began to accelerate as Susie approached, either becoming more desperate or luring her closer. She remembered seeing that birdcage atop the wagon last time she visited the Dreemurrs. She expected it to be some kind of bird or maybe even a rat. Humans were mysterious and a bit hard to understand, which she knew solely from Kris.
When she removed the blanket, she found a bright red object within the birdcage. It was bouncing around inside of the cage, trying to escape. It startled her at first, but she quickly remembered to stay quiet. The glowing object was pulling itself toward Susie, to which she backed up. She felt oddly curious, though she tried her best to ignore it. She grabbed the blanket and covered it up again, hoping that the others wouldn’t see it.
She maneuvered back to her sleeping bag, silently conjuring an internal debate as to whether she should look for Kris or go back to sleep. It didn’t take her long to decide. She got back into her sleeping bag and tried to get some shut-eye.
After about fifteen seconds of trying to fall asleep again, she couldn’t manage it. She sat up again and awkwardly stared at Noelle for a moment, planning on how to wake her up. She was wearing a white nightgown with a snowflake on it. After making her choice, Susie took a deep breath and very, very gently tapped her nose with her finger, trying her best not to use her nail. Noelle’s snoring grew quiet as her eyes slowly began to open.
"S- Susie?” she asked exhaustedly.
"Hey, Noelle,” Susie whispered, being cautious not to awaken the roaring goat. She never saw it herself, but she’s heard horror stories of how menacing her wrath can be. “Have you seen Kris?”
Noelle slightly rolled over in her sleeping bag. “Aren’t they asleep?”
"That’s the thing: they’re not.”
"They’re not? Where are they?”
Susie anxiously tapped her fingers together. ”Um… that’s what I was asking you. And that’s why I was going to ask you to get up and help me look for them.”
Noelle turned away, her nose growing brighter a noticeable amount. It wasn’t noticeable enough for the mind-wandered Susie. She felt like she was dreaming once more, but she wasn’t so sure. Susie wasn’t in her really cool outfit this time around, but she still looked just as cute to her. They were also still in Kris’ bedroom, which wouldn’t make sense to see in another strange fantasy realm. Noelle still chose to go along with it. “Y- you want… my help?”
Susie also turned away, holding her hand behind her head and smiling like a bit of an idiot. “W- well, it’s really dark out there. And, y’know, you’re the only one that brought a flashlight.”
"R- right, I did!” Noelle exclaimed, rising from her sleeping bag as if being lifted up into the air.
The two of them silently exchanged glances for a moment. “So… are you gonna get it?”
"O- of course! Here, let me just…” Noelle stood up, fumbling out of her sleeping bag for a moment, and rushed over to her backpack which she placed against Kris’ bed. She began to dig through it, while Susie stood behind her, waiting. Susie felt curious and peered over her shoulder. “It’s too dark for me to see anything. Here.” Noelle pulled a flashlight out from one of the side pockets, to which Susie swiftly backed up a fair amount. She held her hands over her mouth and remained quiet, hoping that Noelle wouldn’t turn around to see her. Noelle, determined as ever, continued searching through her backpack, still to ostensibly no avail. “Did I misplace my flashlight?”
Susie gave her a confused stare. “Uh, Noelle.”
Noelle briefly paused to look at her with a very faint hint of fear in her voice. ”Yes?” She looked at her hand, then back at her backpack. “Oh, oops! Fahaha!” She stood back up and headed for the door, still giggling at herself.
A small ruffling came from where Susie was standing. Noelle turned back for a second, expressing concern. Susie was looking down at Berdly, but quickly turned back to Noelle. ”I’ll be there in a sec!” she whispered. Noelle nodded and promptly left the room. Susie only just realized how much more awkward she made things for herself.
In order to cover it up, she wanted to make it look like she punched Berdly in his sleep. But for some reason, just the thought of doing so made her feel very uncomfortable all of a sudden. She stared at Berdly for a few seconds, then slowly pushed his head a little further to the right. Then she stood up and slowly headed for the door, hoping Noelle wouldn’t question her antics.
The lingering smell of a not-so-freshly-baked pie immediately captured Susie’s attention. “What’s that smell?” she asked, even though she already recognized that smell.
"Pie?” Noelle replied, not sure of it herself. “It smells exactly like the kind of pie Ms. Dreemurr would bake.”
"But she’s still asleep, right? It’s not like she’d bake a pie this late.” Susie was still hoping she did bake another pie that night. She was still fairly hungry, despite having already eaten half of the pie they made together just a few hours ago. Smelling Kris’ apple shampoo earlier definitely didn’t help with that. She imagined herself alone in the kitchen eating that pie with a single apple on top of it, then rushing back to bed to make sure nobody else would know that she ate it. She could easily pin the blame on Kris.
"Now that I think about it, another pie tonight wouldn’t be so bad…” Noelle began to fantasize a scenario in which she was eating that pie with Susie, completely alone in the silence of the night. She visualized her at the kitchen table with Susie right across from her. Her heart slightly fluttered as she saw Susie’s sinister yet lovely smile in her mind. Perhaps afterwards they could sit outside the Dreemurrs’ house and look at what the stars had to offer. She was rarely ever allowed outside very late at night, meaning she almost never got the chance to stargaze. Doing so with Susie would be a dream come true.
"Nevermind, we’re getting side-tracked!”
Noelle instantaneously snapped back to right outside the door to Kris’ bedroom. She was still blushing a little bit. "Oh, r- right! Sorry…”
"Hey, don’t worry, it’s cool…” Susie grinned anxiously, this time seeing it on her face. She was too nervous to point it out right in front of her. “Let’s just keep looking for Kris.”
Noelle headed for the stairs. Once Susie knew that Noelle wasn’t looking, she took a very small bite out of the cactus next to the door. It surely wasn’t enough to satiate her appetite, but it made her feel cool. Noelle shined her flashlight onto Susie, who turned around and stealthily made her way over to the stairs, slightly embarrassed.
The two monsters tiptoed down the stairs, still keeping an eye out for any hidden humans. Noelle was glad to have time to herself with Susie, but she was also really hoping that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate prank made by Kris. Though it had been a while, she didn’t want to see Susie being part of it because of how much they’ve grown as friends in the last few days. Susie was feeling exhausted as she had only been able to sleep for a couple of hours. Susie yawned, then made a little growling noise. Noelle found it to be a little cute.
After descending down the last step, the two of them entered the kitchen. They were greeted by an empty countertop. “No pie,” Noelle observed. Susie frowned as her stomach quietly growled again. Then she took a quick sniff of the room. “I still smell it. Maybe it’s in the fridge?”
"Huh? No way! There were nothing but eggs, flour, ketchup, frozen hot dogs, fruit juice, ripped flowers, a salad, and shredded cheese in the fridge!” Noelle gave Susie a befuddled, accusatory look. “Um… I mean…”
Noelle slowly strode over to the fridge and opened it, with Susie looking back at her with a bit of guilt. Both of them were met with a completely empty refrigerator. Noelle turned back to Susie, simply giving her a sweet yet annoyed look. Susie threw her arms out, expressing her rage. “L- look, my point is that there wasn’t a pie in there before I… err… before everything in the fridge suddenly disappeared.”
Noelle tried her best to ignore Susie’s anger, for one reason or another. "The smell is still here. What now?”
"Wait, hang on.” Susie raised her nose up, trying to pinpoint the location of the smell. She first approached the couch, where she found nothing. Then she scavenged behind the new television, only finding some newly-made cobwebs. Then her attention suddenly shifted to the kitchen cupboards. She eyed them suspiciously, her right eye twitching a little bit. Noelle glanced at her then back at the cupboards with curiosity.
Susie fiercely swung the first two open, but they only found pristine plates and other silverware. “Shouldn’t you be a little quieter with those?” Noelle asked.
"Feels cool to swing them open like this, though,” Susie replied confidently. Noelle glanced away and slightly blushed once more. Then she opened the next two, to which they found another pie. One slice was taken out. “So she did make a new pie!” Susie quietly shouted.
"Either that, or this is a leftover pie,” Noelle suggested. “Why would she leave it in the empty cupboard, anyway? Wouldn’t it just make more sense in the fridge?”
"Well, whatever. Let’s dig in!” Susie rolled up her right sleeve.
Noelle waved her hands around briefly. "Hang on! Don’t you think we should at least find Kris first?”
Susie already shoved a large handful of the pie into her mouth. “Hmmmph?”
Her hands fell to her sides. "Um… n- nevermind.”
Susie gobbled up the last bits of pie in her mouth. “It’s a little stale.” she denoted. Then she navigated to the front window where Noelle was looking outside. “What’cha looking at?”
"Oh, just…” Noelle was watching the sky. Seeing it at night always made her feel both happy and remorseful. She imagined walking around the town at night while everyone else was asleep, not having to worry about a curfew or being seen by others. Then she envisioned that same walk in the night with Susie having a nice, friendly talk together. They could talk about school, talk about Kris and their other classmates, and maybe talk about the unknown and unspoken feelings they may possibly have toward each other. Then afterwards, they would sit by the lake and stare off at the distant mountains. There were many things she wanted to do with Susie, yet she knew she could never tell her that now. “N- nothing, really.”
"Really? Can I see?” Susie began pushing Noelle out of the way in a playful manner.
It was unexpected, but Noelle continued to play along. "H- hey, Susie! Cut that out!” She cheerfully cried as she pushed back.
As they kept fighting to see what the window to the outside had to offer, Noelle accidentally whacked a small table with her flashlight. Both of them promptly stopped as soon as they heard it and turned right to where the trouble was happening. On top of the table was a fairly large flower pot. On top of that fairly large flower pot was a small, empty vase. It wobbled for a few seconds. Both of them were too scared to do anything. They could only watch the vase inevitably topple over, roll off the table, and fall to the ground with a loud “KSSSH!”
They remained silent for a solid ten seconds, looking at what they’ve done. Then Susie suddenly yelled, “Noelle! Why would you do that?!”
"Hey! You were the one pushing me around!” Noelle retaliated.
"YOU were the one who didn’t let me look through the window!”
"You were definitely joking about that!”
As their frustration continued to grow, and so did their voices, the sound of a door creaking open rang through the house. Noelle and Susie grew silent, eyeing each other briefly. Loud, booming footsteps came from upstairs. Noelle instinctively grabbed Susie’s hand, which made Susie perk up in surprise. As the footsteps began banging down the stairs, Susie held Noelle’s hand tighter, which made both of them sweat. They were way too nervous to hide, but not brave enough to own up to what they had done. They were not ready for the goat’s wrath to be unleashed upon them. With three more steps down the stairs, they saw a large, shadowed figure approach.
They were suddenly blinded by a bright light. “Gah!” Susie shouted, shielding her eyes.
Berdly was standing across from the other two, wearing his buttoned-up polo and sweatpants with lots of video game sprites all over them. Holding his own pocket-sized flashlight, he asked in disbelief, ”Susan? And Noelle? What are the two of you doing up at such a belated time?”
Noelle could barely muster up anything. She glanced back at her hand, still in Susie’s hand. “U- um… w- w- we… errr…”
"I- it’s… not what it looks like…” Susie added, reading her mind.
Berdly began rubbing his chin. “Hmm… you two were simply…”
Susie and Noelle braced for what Berdly would say. They knew that he knew what seemed to be going on.
"…eating the last slice of pie together, weren’t you?” he declared, pointing out the crumbs on Susie’s face.
Susie sighed very quietly with lots of relief. Then she felt a bit of shock as she hastily wiped her face and let go of Noelle’s deflated hand. “Uh… y- yeah, exactly!” Noelle exclaimed in an attempt to turn the conversation. “We were just here alone, Susie and I, eating some… pie, together?” She gave a very flawed smile to Berdly.
"I would’ve expected you to be more careful. A broken plate is not something I’d expect to hear from you, dear Noelle.” Berdly faced Susie with a cue of love. “With Susan, however…”
"Can it,” Susie interjected. She was getting a little more miffed, but still nowhere near ready to give him a knuckle sandwich.
"Hey, Berdly,” Noelle began, “have you seen Kris, by any chance?”
"Hum… I have not. I particularly observed that they were not in bed when I left to find you two.”
"Yeah, we saw that, too. That’s kinda why we came out here in the first place.”
"I thought you said you were here eating pie!”
“U- um… well… l- look, not everything is fully fleshed out yet—”
"Yeah, we did,” Susie summed it up, holding her hand over Noelle’s mouth. Noelle pouted, though no one could see it. “But, y’know, being a detective is really tough on an empty stomach.”
“Well, you do make a good point. Not the first one I’ve heard from you, but certainly not the last.” Upon hearing that, Susie grinned. Then after another few seconds of comprehending what he just said, her eyes widened. “So, where have you scavenged?”
Noelle shoved Susie’s hand out of the way. “We’ve already searched everywhere that seemed to be in logic: their room, the hallway, the kitchen, and the living room.” Everyone slowly turned to the bathroom door. “That only leaves one room left…”
The smell of mint toothpaste and dental floss soared through the air, right in the faces of the monster trio. Susie easily recognized that familiar scent of apple shampoo. Berdly turned on the lights, only for Susie to promptly turn them off again from right behind him. “You have a flashlight, genius.”
Berdly smirked with confidence. "Right! Thanks for the compliment, my dear Susan!”
"Stop calling me that, please,” she muttered under her breath.
While Noelle and Berdly went to open the window, Susie looked at herself in the mirror. For a brief moment, she saw that same red, glowing light on her chest. She quietly gasped and jumped back. When she looked again, it was just her. She glanced back at Noelle and Berdly for a moment, hoping they didn’t see or hear her. Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, she went back over to accompany them, still with a feeling of uneasiness looming over her.
"What could be right outside this window, anyway?” Berdly questioned with skepticism.
"I dunno, maybe they left through here?” Noelle theorized. “If we don’t find them at home, we may have to look…” Noelle quickly glanced at Susie, who was politely glaring right at her. She instantly turned back to the open window. “…outside.”
"Sounds dumb,” Susie responded, crossing her arms. “When’s the last time you saw Kris jump out of a window?”
"Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
"What about the toilet?”
Berdly and Noelle gave Susie very intrigued looks. Berdly truly felt like retracting that statement he made just a minute earlier. “What?” they asked in unison.
"Y’know, like a human-shrinking device. I remember seeing it in one of the d—” Her expression changed for just a brief moment. “Uhh… in one of my dreams.”
Noelle tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Susie, I really doubt Kris would be swimming around inside the toilet, one inch tall.”
"Well, you never know with humans!”
For just a brief moment, they thought they could hear what sounded like a rustle in the trees. Berdly incontinently turned back to the window, peeking over the sill with his flashlight. After observing the trees for not more than a few seconds, he closed the window. Noelle glanced back at Susie before opening the toilet. There was nothing but water inside of it. “See?”
Susie sighed with disappointment and a hint of annoyance. “Okay, what else?” Then her attention shifted to the cotton and checkered elephant in the room. “The shower curtain.”
"The shower curtain?” Berdly inquired.
"The shower curtain…” Noelle repeated hoarsely. She was and wasn’t ready to see Kris jump out at her the instant she opened it.
Susie noticed her reluctance and asked, "You alright, Noelle?”
"Y- yeah, just open it. I- I’ll be… looking over here!” Noelle spun herself away from the shower curtain and towards the wall.
Susie was a bit perplexed, but that didn’t stop her from fiercely pulling the shower curtain open. “HERE’S SUSIE!” she yelled very, very quietly with a wide, menacing grin.
There in the bathtub lay Kris, still in their everyday attire, with a plate of pie and a toy knife in their lap. Noelle turned to face them, at ease again. “Oh, they’re asleep…”
"That looks uncomfortable,” Berdly indicated.
"It’s a bathtub, dude,” Susie jabbed at him. "Last time I checked, they weren't made for people to sleep in."
"They don't look like they were here for that long,” Noelle regarded. “They only ate half of their pie slice.”
"Err… what should we do, now that we found Kris?” Berdly chimed in.
Susie grinned. “There’s only one thing we can do.” She picked up Kris and hoisted them up on her shoulder with a quiet but noticeable grunt. “Come on, let’s go.” Noelle grabbed the plate and toy knife. Upon leaving the bathroom, she put it back on the kitchen table. Berdly guided the way for Susie with his flashlight.
Once they made it back, Noelle stowed her flashlight away in her backpack. Susie lay Kris down on their bed, snuggling them in their blanket, and patting them on the head a couple times. Noelle started blushing. When Susie turned around, Noelle swiftly looked away, her hand over her mouth and nose. "Alright, case closed," Susie declared, rubbing her hands together. "Anything else you two wanna do before heading back to bed?"
Noelle tapped her fingertips together. "So… about that pie…"
"We can save it for tomorrow. Berdly?"
Berdly began to say, "My dear Susan, how about—"
"Okay, time for bed."
Susie, Noelle, and Berdly got back in their respective sleeping bags. Susie was lying on her side, looking up at Kris in their bed to make sure they wouldn’t leave again. Noelle, a little more distant from Susie, was looking up at the ceiling, occasionally glancing at Susie when she wasn’t looking. Berdly, the farthest away from Kris’ bed, was staring off into space, continuing his omnipresent thoughts about the latest and greatest fighting game combos. Susie was the first to fall asleep, then Noelle, and finally Berdly.
Once Kris knew that everyone was asleep, they opened their eyes again. Very quietly and stealthily, they crawled out of their bed like a spider. They made sure to step over their three exhausted friends. They glanced back at the blanketed cage, where the rattling noise continued. Before leaving, intent on finishing that pie, Susie’s stomach called out to them. They looked over at their purple friend and sighed with an unknown emotion. They decided to save a slice of pie for Susie.