Chapter Text
It was December 20th. A few days before Christmas. The Boys decided that they wanted to spend this season together. They wanted to celebrate it as the family they created. They all planned a trip to Texas where they were all going to stay at Eddie’s for the week.
It was dark out, maybe around 8pm. It was the first day the group was together for this trip. They decided they didn't want to record any big videos, maybe just a few for their personal channels. They wanted and needed a break.
Life since the boys recorded their last haunted video was normal. Life continued. Life was calm.
Gaege caught up on his well deserved rest. The group learned how to cope with what happened that night. Most of them decided to reach out to their therapists mainly and talk to them about what happened.
Gaege didn't. He knew he should have, but how in hell would he explain that night to someone who wasn't even there and not end up sounding insane? He would occasionally reach out to his friends but after calling Eddie for the seventh time that week over night terrors, Gaege felt like he was getting annoying. He wanted to move on like everyone else did, but he couldn’t for the longest time.
Eventually, he did. After the Halloween season was over and Gaege was completely away from anything horror related, his mind calmed down.
Gaege enjoyed having something to do that wasn't scary. He pushed through horror game after horror game for his October videos. He avoided going to any scare attraction and even avoided watching any type of scary media like movies or youtube videos.
For the first time Gaege found joy in decorating for Christmas. He never used to enjoy this holiday or time of year. It would get cold where he lived in Florida. Stress seems to multiply as the end of the year grows closer.
But this year, Gaege decided to ignore the stress and instead just decorate. He took out old boxes he kept tucked in the attic and put up lights around his house. He even got a small tree this year.
One day all Gaege did was play some Christmas jazz on a speaker, drank some hot chocolate, and decorated his tree. He was so happy to see everything colorful and light up.
He was excited to see how Eddie decorates his house, if he did at all.
Eddie had up his tree, much taller than Gaege’s, which Gabby decorated with beads and ornaments. It looked amazing, so amazing that Gaege couldn't stop complimenting her on how well it looked.
The boys were sitting in Eddie’s back yard around a tall campfire. They talked amongst themselves with hot drinks in hand. It was cold but not too much. It was great weather for curling up under a blanket with a loved one and wearing a soft hoodie.
Gaege was having a great time. He was sitting next to Liv under a red plaid blanket. He held onto her around her shoulders as she was curled into him. They both were so happy as they listened to the group talk and recall stories.
“No, because then I had to run to the hose and spray water all over myself!” Mully shouted, recalling the events that took place after a messy stunt for a video with Josh.
“Well, it wasn't my idea to throw yourself into the pile of pudding!” Josh argued back in a teasing tone.
“Yes, it was!” Mully sat up with a smile.
“Oh yeah…” Josh joked, causing the group to laugh
“Well that clean up was better then what I had to do with you after the Walsh house! Ha! I swear you needed like 50 fucking Band-Aids!” Josh said before the laughter could even calm down. Once he finished, the laughter came to a dead stop. The mention of the haunted house caused the group to plummet into silence. He all looked awkwardly around, not knowing what to say to move on.
“Wait, what happened at the Walsh House?” Liv asked, tilting her head. “Gaege didn’t you say that was that haunted house you were doing research on over the summer?”
“Um…” Gaege cleared his throat, the memories of that night flashed in his mind as he stared into the fire.
“It's uh…not important!” Eddie chimed in. “Did you guys see the new trailer for the How to Train Your Dragon movie?” Eddie smiled, trying hard to change the topic.
“I did!” Grant sat up in his seat, excited to talk about the movie.
“Oh, I know you did, you Viking wanna be!” Eddie teased with a laugh.
As the group continued with their back and forth banter, Liv turned to Gaege, speaking softly to him.
“What happened? Why don't you guys want to talk about it? You love ghost hunting.” She asked, trying to get Gaege’s attention since he was forcing himself to listen to the group talk instead of thinking about anything paranormal.
“Gaege?” Liv started once more, her voice filled with concern. She looked up to try and meet Gaege’s eyes but he had all his focus on the rest of the group. Liv just let out a soft sigh, hopping to return to the topic later.
As the conversation continued, the fire grew smaller. Grant reached for another log but saw they were already out.
“UH? What do you mean out? Nah, I just got some today!” Eddie stood up to double check.
“It's fine, Ed. It's getting late anyways” Josh huffed, checking the time on his phone.
Gaege’s head jerked, a chill running down his spine. Liv looked at him.
“I'm fine…just getting cold.” He smiled, curling the blanket around the two closer. Liv accepts the response and turns back to the group, another conversation already starting up.
Gaege watched the fire in front of him. He watched as Eddie tried to restart the first by blowing deep breath into the base of the embers. He chuckled as his friends' attempts failed to rekindle the fair.
With each breath, the charred logs glowed a deep orange. Ash and embers danced up from the fire.
Gaege’s eyes relaxed as he watched the fire. Another breath from Eddie caused the logs to glow. Gaege’s eyes feel like a singular log. He watched it glow on and off. The logs bark moved. He thought it was from Eddie blowing on it, maybe the bark was falling off. But no, the bark split open and continued until what looked to be eyes and a mouth had formed.
Gaege furrowed his brows, not understanding what he was seeing and how this is possible. The face's mouth split at the sides, creating a thin smile. Then the mouth moved, to speak…
“Boo!” Gaege heard from behind himself. He jumped, turning to look behind him with widened eyes. He panted, scanning the scene from left to right. He saw nothing besides Eddie's house. No one was behind him. Nothing was behind him.
He turned back to the fire, hearing an abrupt cheer from his friends. They all were applauding Eddie for getting another flam started on the fire. Did no one else hear that? How could they not have heard that?
“Hey, you okay…?” He heard from Liv beside him.
“Um…y-yeah…I think…I uh…I need to piss…be right back!” He said to his girlfriend before standing up and rushing inside. Liv watched Gaege leave before turning to the group with a shrug.
Gaege rushed into the bathroom, turning on the faucet and splashing cold water onto his face.
“No, no, please, no…it's over…please!” He begged into the air, water running down his face.
Gaege looked up to the mirror, watching himself pant as he tried to catch his breath. He stared, leaning close until his face was inches away from touching the glass mirror. He looked at his eyes, making sure they were normal and not fucking yellow, or glowing, or even still had circles for pupils.
“What the fuck am I doing?” He asked himself in a breathful whisper. “What the fuck is wrong with me…?”