Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Micheal’s perspective
Gloomy, that is how one could describe the sky. Gray looming over everything the eye can see. The clouds seemed to be on the verge of crying but held back tears for the sake of it. Some of them seemed tired and numb, done with everything they have worked towards. In such a scenery you would expect consistency in colour, you would expect endless shades of gray but one thing stood out from everything that blended in with the gray, purple. It was an odd choice for a car, usually you would see colours like blue, white or black but purple was the colour my father chose for this car. The car was a 1960 Coupe Deville, back in the day this car was often associated with luxury and the colour purple was a symbol of wealth.

That’s what father always told me when he bought it, it was decades after 1960 and this car was still intact, unlike our family. He would often put emphasis on ‘luxury’ and ‘wealth’, he repeated over and over that this was the way to show the audience the standard at which we lived, opting for nothing less. “We will be happy, forever together. ” he said. What pathetic lies we believed in, what pathetic lies I believed in. We may be forever together but happy? What a foreign word.

Father was a bold, confident man. Sometimes I think that he was too bold and confident for his own good. Sometimes I wish he went to therapy, just once, only once. But I can’t sulk on something that is dust from the past. I can only look ahead both figuratively and literally. Up ahead a house, it resembles a cabin and a mansion (a small mansion but a mansion nonetheless). It was a two story house, the outside of the house used to be a subtle pottery red. A colour that mother chose for the house but now it's just another thing blending into the gray sky. The house wasn’t maintained, now it was a rotting mess engulfed by mother nature herself. The red was no longer a vibrant red but a red that resembled dried blood that has been sitting out. Forgotten. This is something that I am all too familiar with.

Pulling into the driveway I can’t help but feel nostalgic. It has been years. 30 years, no 40 years since he had last been here. The lawn in front of the house is littered with overgrown weeds and grass, one thing that I need to add to my to do list. The car comes to a halt as I shift the gears back into their original position, I sit in my seat pondering if im doing the right thing.

“Michael, are we already here?” a voice asked from the back. Looking back into the seat behind, there are 3 figures.
A brunette female in casual clothing. This isn’t Elizabeth's usual choice of clothing, as she often wore an array of red dresses, nor is it her hair or eyes. Nothing of this figure is what Elizabeth used to be, she is no longer the little sister I remember. I miss that version of my sister
A ghostly apparition of a child. A figment of something that used to be, now forced to roam because of my mistakes. Those mistakes may be forgiven but they will never be forgotten, not by me or him.
My precious creation and son, Helpy.

“Michael?” the voice called out, pissed off.
“Yes, we are here. Tired, are we?” I respond ensuring to get under her skin
“Not tired. Just irritated by your terrible driving” she snapped back. “Who even gave you your license? you can’t even drive in a straight line” she said annoyed.
The 3 of us got out of the car. Elizabeth goes towards the front porch of the house trying to find a key or a way to get into the house without breaking the lock. Evan, Helpy and I stayed back to move boxes to the front porch
“Suprising this place is partially intact" Evan said in a monotone voice. It seems like he was pondering about how this house is still under our name, how it was still intact or the fact he has to live with his siblings after 30 years.
“Well, it’s better than nothing in my opinion. At least we would have a place to stay” I responded trying to lighten the mood, passing a box over to Helpy. Evan grabs a box and makes his way to the house. In the time we spent sharing a few sentences, Eli had already found a way to open the door and it was wide open now.

I grabbed the smaller boxes that were left in the car, shut the trunk, locked the doors, and made my way into the house, our house. The house we were going to stay in for all of eternity if it was needed. Every surface, every crevice was covered in dust and debris. There were rats scurrying around. The appliances in the house needed to be fixed or replaced and the plumbing and wiring had to be dealt with. Another thing to add to my growing to-do list.

“Don’t worry about anything, Mr.Michael! Helpy is here to help!” Helpy exclaimed, attempting to show sympathy to the situation the house was currently in.
“Thanks Helpy but I think I'll be dealing with most of this mess” I said with regret in my voice “How about you move the bigger boxes to where they are supposed to go and I'll look at the wiring and plumbing situation" I said, placing the boxes down on the tea table.
“its going to be a long day of work, so we might as well start now” By the time I finished this statement, both Evan and Elizabeth had scurried into their respective rooms.
“Nevermind, guess I'm on my own for all of this. Hopefully they clean their own rooms”
Starting now I can clean up most of the dust and debris up and kick the rats of the house

————
As Michael slaves away, cleaning up the dust, debris and attempting to fix appliances, placing orders for new ones. Alongside this Michael tasked Helpy to shift specific boxes into specific rooms. Elizabeth and Evan were dealing with dusting and cleaning rooms, changing the sheets and whatnot. Amongst all this commotion, the siblings did not realize that they were being stalked. stalked since they first arrived. Figures lurking in the trees behind the place they called their own. Figures watching and learning.

————
Toby’s perspective
“Are they insane? Moving into a place far away from the nearest civilization?" One of the figures asked, speaking in a condescending manner.
4 figures stalked the partially intact house in front of them. All dressed differently, all here for the same reason. To understand if these newcomers would pose a threat or not. To understand if they need to be gone or if they could live.
“Honestly, bringing a kid along with them. Speaking in general, anyone with a kid wouldn’t come out this far unless it was for nefarious reasons” one of the figures said with subtle concern in her voice
“The bigger question, Rouge, is why was that man wearing a white bear mask, with a funky ass suit?” Another one asked, completely letting the previous comment fly over their head.
“Is that your biggest concern Kate?” Rouge was flabbergasted at the comment that was just passed. “Toby, are you hearing this?”
“B-Both of your concerns are irrelevant and f-fucking stupid. Remember we came here for f-fucking a reason. Stay focused.” I responded harshly. But I have to say their concerns are valid, more like Rouge’s concerns were valid. Why was there a child just here in the middle of nowhere, it's a completely different thing if an adult wants to live in isolation but a child?

And why was that man wearing that bear mask? What does he have under his mask? His hands and maybe his arms were covered in bandages. So was his neck covered in bandages.Another question we all silently shared, why was he so freakishly tall? It didn’t make sense for him to be at such an extreme height, his sister was an average height. But that could be chalked up to a genetic condition.

Something about the man in the bear mask didn’t sit right with any of us. Wilson and Rouge made their way back while Kate and I watched to sun down. The others weren’t seen, most likely in their rooms or else where but we had a clear line of view of him. He was still wearing that bear mask.

“Usually, you would expect a person to get into comfortable clothing at home but he seems adamant on wearing that suit. What a fucking eye sore” Kate said irritated. It was fair that she was irritated, we have been here for almost 7- 8 hours.
“You can go back kate” a familiar voice spoke up.
“Didn’t expect to see you here, Virus and you brought Plague with you, how nice. The more the merrier I suppose” Kate responded back.

I didn’t bother with the conversation that was unfolding behind me. There was something so familiar about this man yet I couldn’t put my finger on it. His mannerisms, the way he walked and moved his hands when he talked. It all seemed so familiar, it was bothering me that I couldn’t tell why it seemed so familiar. It was like walking into a room and forgetting why you were there.
“Something on your mind?” Plague asked, curious about what I was looking at.
“No, don’t worry about it” I responded, I wasn’t interested in making conversation right now. Right now I was focusing on that man, he was fixing something. He switched between tools with ease, not hesitating for a minute. He must know what he is doing if doesn’t have an ounce of hesitation.
Yet, one can’t tell anything if the observed face is blocked from view.
A tiny robot? animatronic? I'm not sure but the bear approached.
The tiny bear started talking to him, the bear mask only slipped up his mask a bit, revealing his mouth and continuing the conversation
His skin looked pale, ghost-like. But there was nothing else that stood out. He had no facial hair, or he had facial hair, I just can’t see any.
The tiny robot and the bear mask continued to talk. In the middle of their conversation, he took his mask off. And we were met with a disgruntled expression.

His face.. was all too familiar, I have seen him before but when? He couldn’t have been a victim of mine, that wouldn’t make sense. But I know him, I’ve seen him.
His complexion was pale. His hair contrasted with his complexion, it was jet black and his hair put up in a half up, half down situation. To be honest, it looked like he just got out of bed. He had blue eyes but not the eye burning, soul staring blue eyes, no they were soft. He looked tired and done with life but honestly, that's a fair reaction. He looks kissable though.
“Toby, come on man” Virus called out to me. “Let's go”. I turn around to see Kate and Plague leaving, Virus was waiting for me

“Yea I'll be there. You go on without me” I called out back. I’ll join them later. Turning back to the house, I see him staring into the woods. Could he be looking at me? No that’s not possible. I blend in with the trees. Not to mention its pitch dark outside, other than the light from inside the house. But no he wasn’t looking at something in the trees, something definitely caught his eye. he came out into the yard and turned to face where I was standing and that’s when I knew, he was looking right at me

Chapter Text

Chapter 2
Toby’s POV
How? Just how did he see me? He couldn’t have seen me. I don’t understand, he was staring right at me. I shouldn’t have been able to be seen by a normal person. He was still looking at me. I could see his face clearer. His pale skin really did stand out, and those eyes, those blue eyes were staring right into my soul. Empty, soulless.
The more I look into those eyes, the more I think about them, the more I can't shake off that feeling. That oh so familiar feeling. We maintained eye contact or I think we maintained eye contact, I still wasn’t too sure if he really was looking at me or I was just being paranoid, I slowly backed away into the trees, then darted. Darted away from the house, darted away from where I assume is his line of sight.

Michael’s POV
I never expected to see someone this far from the city. The whole reason I came out here to live is because of the isolation factor, far away from people, far enough so we can be safe. But that man, I've seen him before. I couldn't make out most of his face, as it was dark but one prominent detail stood out. That gash across his lip, starting from the bottom of his eye down to his chin. It exposed the flesh and teeth underneath. If I wasn’t stripped of my organs (or you know, fucking dead), I think it would have made me squirm. It doesn’t matter if I’ve seen that man before, I should be careful. I should tell Elizabeth and Dave to be wary.

“Michael, it’s getting dark. Don’t you want to come inside?” A voice called behind. A voice that I didn’t except or wanted to hear

I turned to see that man who promised us paradise. That paradise ended up being ruins, debris, it was nothing but dust and dirt. How could I have believed him that easily? But then again, he was a terrible person, not a terrible father. He had kind things to say to me, calling me his favourite but was it just a lie. A lie so that I could be a pawn in his game. He acted like he loved us, he acted like a good father. Well to me at least, David has a different opinion and Elizabeth is too stuck up, trying to make this monster proud. How did I love him? How did I have faith in the fact he would take care of us?

“What are you thinking about so hard out here? Usually I see you think like that in your office ” He asked, his voice steady and monotone but curiosity and care (or what I assume to be care) scattered in between. Care? from him? What a joke. That man is nothing but an egotistical bastard with a god complex who cares about nothing other than himself and immortality . The only thing he cares about is the fact I am a carbon copy of him. I just had to end up looking like him. Karma really is a bitch.

“Just thought I saw someone in the forest” I replied, turning away from him to face the dense forest in front of me.

“Oh? How curious.” He said with this voice. The tone of his voice reminded me of that day. That day he said that he was proud of me for putting Dave's head in that animatronic. It was something that I came to terms with a long time ago but something I could never forgive myself for . “I suppose we have some new friends to deal with” He continued. I knew what he was hinting at but I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. I don't understand why I try so hard to hold on to the hope that it's something better than whatever he's planning. Anything coming from him isn’t usually good.

“Now come inside, Elizabeth and David are waiting. I heard that a revamp of The Immortal and Restless is airing today.”

“I’ll be in in a bit, don’t start watching without me”

“Oh we wouldn’t, it’s your favorite after all”

As my father left me alone on the porch outside, I couldn’t help but ponder about that individual. How did someone find us this quickly? Not to mention it can’t be any of the neighbors, we have no neighbors. Are there people living in the forest? Now that I think about it, Father did end up buying a cabin somewhere in this area. We used to stay there and fish in the river nearby or was it a pond? Whatever, it was a body of water and I wouldn't be surprised if there were squatters living in that house. But if they stayed in that cabin of ours, why is someone so far away? That cabin is a good distance away.

The more that I think of that person, the more I am able to make out his face. I think there were goggles on his face and maybe a mask under his chin. I could barely see him because of the dim light from the kitchen and because I'm able to see better in the dark. But one feature did stand out: That gash on the left side of his face. A gash that exposed his teeth and the muscle underneath. From where I was standing it looked well taken care of. This person reminds me of someone, someone I used to know. Someone I used to love, someone who was dear to me. But he passed away years ago. Why am I being reminded of him? He’s long gone dead.

Maybe I’m just trying to fill the void his passing left me with.

Everything happened so quickly. One day I'm smiling and laughing with him, holding his hand and dancing at dawn ,and the next I'm asked to identify the bodies that were in that house. No, you couldn’t even call it a house after seeing the state it was in. And the worst part of that, was that none of the bodies was his. They never found his body.

Some fucking insane person just lit it up and took the love of my life away from me. He was everything to me. He stayed by my side after all the deaths that had happened, after the death I caused. I couldn’t understand how he still loved me after that. And in the end, he died. I really am bad luck, aren’t I? I couldn’t even say goodbye to him one last time

“God, what am I thinking about”

I need to stop thinking about this. Pondering about this will make me emotional, something that I don’t need right now, especially with that bastard staring at me

He's not alive.

I’m just seeing things

I’m just going insane. It’s been a long day

God, Am I so desperate for love from another? Love that I can trust will stay forever.

Am I so desperate that I am making delusions?

That person is someone I used to love and laugh with.

Someone who was there when my siblings had passed.

Maybe if I saw him again, I would cease to think like this.

He's gone, let him be gone. He’s a figment of my past and it would be better if it stayed that way.

Toby POV
Running through this forest feels like eternity sometimes. It doesn’t matter how long I've been here, I will never get used to the ever changing and forever winding pathways.

The forest is a peculiar specimen but many of us call it home. Many ‘outcasts’ end up here, living out our days, doing what we need to do to survive. Going back into society wouldn’t be an option for many of us, we’ve become inhuman and let go of our humanity, only willing to converse with others in the forest. Us, proxies are a different story. We are forced to retain humanity and human looks to lure targets in easier. There were 5 of us, or there could be more, I can’t be bothered to remember all of them. He took us from our families and made us murderers. None of us remember our past or anything to be honest, but recently he decided to stop appearing. It's like that connection has broken and now we have the freedom to do what we want.

I wasn’t looking in front of me, just running. I didn’t expect anyone to be out here or at least I didn't expect to bump into someone. But I did run into someone, a fellow proxy of mine.

“Toby, what the fuck. Do you not look where you are going?” they snapped at me

“C-Chill , it's not that b-big of a deal Kate” I shot back, pissed off at everything that had and is unfolding.
We both stood up and dusted ourselves off. Honestly I'm not surprised to bump into someone at this time of day but out of all the people it was Kate I bumped into and here out of all places, I thought she had gone back to her cabin.

“Surprised to see you here” I said, actually surprised

“Did you find anything new about them?”
I wasn’t sure whether I should tell her about the whole masked man staring me down. She probably noticed the hesitation and the not immediately giving an answer

“Did something go wrong?”

“Woah, did Toby fuck up the task he was given?” A voice spoke up from behind Kate. “Didn’t expect someone like you to fuck up something like stalking”

“Haha, very funny. But no” Turning back to see Cut Hunter and his precious little cat with him

“Hey Rodrigo.” I said, ignoring the comment that Rodrigo made. “Hello Loki.” I said bending down to pet him. He accepted my pets gleefully purring and rubbing my hand, before proceeding to try and bite my hand. How adorable. I ended up giggling like a child because of that.

“Never heard you giggle before, do you really like Loki more than us?” Rodridgo asked. Ignoring the comments that Rodrigo made I continued to pet Loki . He was a nice kid, silent at first but once he gets comfortable, he really is something else.

“You didn’t answer my question, Toby. Did something happen"

“Nothing new”

“Are you sure about that?”

My voice cracked. I wasn’t able to say anything. Why wasn't I able to say anything? Was it worry or fear, I wasn't too sure. I hesitated. Should I tell her the truth? What would happen if I did? What would happen if I didn’t mention it?

I shouldn’t tell her, well at least not yet. I shouldn’t tell them because I want to learn more about that person. Well obviously, we have to understand if he is a threat or not, if we should worry about him or not. But I, also, want to understand why he seems so familiar to me.

Those blue eyes looking at me with curiosity and something else I can't put my finger on. That expression when he was looking towards me, it’s like he didn’t understand whether I was a bush or a person. I wouldn’t be surprised if he confused me for a bush, I mean after all we were trained to blend in with our surroundings.

The more I think of it, the more it seems I know him. I have definitely seen him before, maybe it was those albums of photos that were in my cabin. I had packed them and kept them away somewhere but I'm not too sure where I kept them, was it in the attic or in that spare room?

“Guess I'll have to search for them” I mumbled under my breath without realizing.

“TOBY!”
“WHAT?”
“I’ve been yelling at you for the past 10 minutes. Have you been listening to me?”
“No and i’m not interested in listening to you”

I turn to walk away, ignoring the comments and statements being thrown at me from Rodrigo and Kate. I had a lot on my mind, I couldn’t be bothered with trivial matters. Walking in the darkness of this forest with no one to discuss such issues with can make you mind wander and ponder. I can’t seem to get my mind off of him. Those hollow beautiful eyes follow.
But that’s not the only thing on my mind. Ever since that thing disappeared, things have been quiet, too quiet in my opinion. Usually, this place would be sprawling with creatures and questionable individuals (I, too, was a questionable individual). At this point it’s like only me, Kate, Rordrigo and a few others that exist in this damn place. And it’s not like we can go out and live with other regular people.

We’ve been so mentally fucked over, forced to reanimate after death. There is no break for us and there will continue to be no break. We were forced to stay here, in this damn fucking place, forced to suffer and survive. I have been 25 for who knows how long. It’s tiring, it’s painful. And then after we come back from the dead, it’s treated as if nothing has ever happened to us. No scars, no reminders that everything we’ve been through is real and always continue to be real. Everyone bats an eye, acting like nothing happened like it's normal but it isn’t, it’s painful. Gut wrenching pain that has no end.

Enough blabbering. Up ahead, straight ahead. A cabin amongst the trees. Someplace that is the closest thing to home. A rickety old cabin that mother nature herself had consumed whole. But saying that, the house was surprisingly intact and functioned as it should.

Entering an empty home has never been fun, homes are meant to be warm, comfy places but i suppose its better than entering a home and then immediately getting a bottle thrown at you
Dust covered the counters. Food left out rotting, the pungent smell engulfed everything that came close. Bed sheets covered the bigger pieces of furniture.

Even though I've been staying here for ages, I never had the time to clean. It's something that has been on my to do list for ages now. I think the only clean place is where I sleep. But I'm not here to sleep. When I first moved here into this house, there were pictures kept up. They were dusty, but surprisingly in decent condition. I didn’t pay attention to most of them and threw them into a box. Those photo albums are up in the attic. I don’t remember which box I kept them in. I’ll just have to rummage through all the boxes.

Climbing up the stars to the second floor, you can see the imprints of the pictures that used to hang up there. Pictures of a loving family, I think one of the pictures was a father and son. They looked quite alike, it was uncanny. I moved on forward, bringing the ladder of the attic down and taking a peak, trying to figure out the condition the attic was in. I hadn’t been up here in a while and wanted to figure out if something was living up there or if I was good.

There were boxes stacked on top of boxes. The first box I had opened was just old kitchen appliances, maybe some of them were functionable and I could use them. The second box is just old bedsheets and cloth based items, I could also use these. The third box on the hand were photos.

The photos I was looking for. Bingo

The pictures consisted of 5 members. 2 parents and 3 kids. But a few of them were just the father and what I assume to be the oldest child. The father was standing behind the child, they both were in formal attire. The child’s smile was bright and bold, something that could light up an entire room but the father’s … his smile wasn’t an annoyed one, he genuinely did seem happy to be there with his son but there was something else in his smile that I couldn’t put my finger on. The resemblance was truly uncanny, I wouldn’t expect the resemblance to kick in this early on but it seems like it did for this child. One major difference between the two were their eyes. One was grey and the other was blue.

They were like his eyes. Soft but full of life, something that his eyes lacked.

There were other pictures in the box, I suppose they were pictures of the children when they got older. But one picture caught my eye. The same family, only the father and kids but much older now. The father looked to be in his late 30s, early 40s. His eldest son seemed to be an adolescent, the middle child he was most likely 8 or 9 and the youngest ranged between 5 and 7. They were sitting on the front stairs of the cabin, the father holding his children close to him. All of them were smiling brightly.
The eldest, he really resembles that man with the mask. The eyes matched his eyes and the smile matched his smile when he looked at something he loved, like that little bear robot of his.

Most of the pictures were the same set of people in different locations. One picture was taken near the pond, another one at the beach and even on a snowy hillside. The same set of people doing family things, there was nothing that stood out among these pictures. Just a family enjoying themselves and spending time together.

At that point, I managed to go through the entire box. There was one picture at the bottom of the box that was placed faced down. I don’t remember storing away any of the pictures like that but I could be mistaken, anything could happen if you're careless. Picking it up and looking at the picture. There were two people, one was the eldest son from the pictures before and two..

The second person looked awfully like me. Probably because that is me. How? What? I did know this person. There was someone from my past that I knew and who was still alive. We looked happy together. We were smiling, holding hands and having some ice cream. I looked so happy… so fulfilled. I always knew I had a life before this.

I never knew I had someone to look forward to.

Chapter Text

Who was that man? Does he want something from us? I just don’t understand how someone found us this quickly. It’s only been a day that we have been here. Was I not careful? I took the longest route here to make sure there was no one following us. But, from what I could make out of him, he looked ragged. How long has he been watching me? How many people have seen us already? Fuck. How could I be so careless?

The TV was running, Elizabeth and Garrett were focused on whatever was running. Father, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. He left me with a cup of coffee, it was warm. Not too hot, not too cold. It was just warm. I like warm things. When it’s cold, my muscles stiffen up and I cannot move. It is painful to move. Winters have also been difficult for me, the sudden weather change meant a cold for me but after death, it just meant more pain and danger. If anyone were to catch me, it would have been during the winter.

I could see my reflection in the coffee. Pale. Paler than someone who is meant to be alive. Even my eyes blended in with my complexion. Ghostly is how one could describe it.

I am just a mimic of something that is meant to be living. A mock. A fraud. A fool.

I shouldn’t be alive. But I am. How? I’m not too sure.

It’s something I made peace with long ago. It's something all of those poor souls made peace with. Unless and until he is gone, they will not be able to rest. They will never be able to rest. Oh these poor children.

“Mike, your show is about to start” Garrett called out to me. I didn’t realise but I was just standing near the door that leads to the backyard. He approached me, curious. “Something on your mind?”
“ Be careful when you go out. Don’t float. Just walk. And make sure you wear your illusion disk.” I responded.
“Did something happen?”
“I saw someone out there”
“What do you mean someone out there? Like in the forest? What did they look like? Do you think they were stalking us?”
“I’m not too sure”

Silence. Honestly I too wouldn’t know how to respond to the answer I gave. Garrett and I have never had a strong bond, even after reconciling. But it’s nice to see me curious about what I'm thinking about or worrying about.We are finally together after years of being apart, 30 years was it? It feels weird living with other people. I haven’t lived with someone in years

I honestly thought if I were to live with someone, I would have lived with him. I always thought that I would have grown old with him and that we would own 2 cats and a dog. It was quite silly of me to think like that, to think anyone would have loved me after everything that had happened because of me and my father.

To think that I would have a happy life with the ones I loved. How I yearn for it yet I know, it will never happen. How can a dead person find love? That is a question that I will never find the answer to.

Love is a cruel thing. As much as I hate it, I still yearn for it. He was everything to me. His eyes, brown in colour but they were closer to black. They were like staring into an endless abyss, an endless abyss that I was willing to fall into. An abyss I was willing to die in. His hair was always ragged and messy, whoever cut it did a horrible job (I cut it, I cut his hair) but it was always so soft. I would run my finger through his hair, twirling strands of his hair between my fingers as we laid down. He would often lay on me. Huddled up next to me, his head on my shoulder. I would talk to him as he fell asleep next to me.

How I wish he was sleeping next to me, in my bed, in a house we chose together.

His smile was something I looked towards everyday. It was the brightest, softest smile I ever saw. And his laughter. Goodness, don’t get me started on his laugh. It was this giggle mixed with whole hearted laughter. Every time I heard it my heart would skip a beat, actually it would skip several beats, I completely stopped breathing at times. I was so mesmerised with everything he did. He was ethereal, how could anyone hate him?

We would go into the trees behind my house and we would just roam till the sun set and the moon graced us with her light. Under the cover of the night and the forest, we would dance together. Hand in Hand, we sang and swayed, laughing every time we messed up a step or laughing when our voices cracked. It was the only place where we truly were ourselves. Back in the day, not everyone treated people like us with kindness. If anyone were to find out, they would cuss and ruin our lives.
But nonetheless, we didn’t care if someone caught us. We danced and sang till the moon left to rest and the sun was back from its slumber. And then we bask in the early morning sunrise and fall asleep on the grass, between the trees and in each other's arms. In my eyes he was everything to me. All I needed.

He would come over to my house and watch over Garrett and Elizabeth. We would put them to bed and spend the night talking about everything we could talk about and eating everything we could find. It was funny because the next morning everyone would complain and ask where all the food went and we would sit there laughing because no one wanted to blame the guest.
But what I really focused on is how he would care for my siblings and how even my father (you know the immortal psychopathic serial killer) liked him. My father actually liked him and he doesn’t like anyone.

He really was something else. I loved him dearly and I know he loved me too. Before he died, he promised me that he’d stay with me forever and he made me promise not to fall for another. I’ve held my side of the bargain but I can’t say he has. I mean it’s not his fault that his house burnt down and he was caught in it. It’s not his fault he died, nothing was his fault.
“Michael?” A voice called out. I hadn’t realized it but I had started shedding a few tears. I mean it is expected when reminiscing about a loved one who has passed. The coffee in my hands had gone cold. I don’t like the cold, my muscles become stiff.

“You haven’t drank your coffee yet. Let me heat it up for you”
“Theres no need but thank you”

Silence once again. Father keeps acting like everything is fine, as if we’re just one big happy family. But that’s not the case, and it never will be. He took the cup out of my hands, even though I said no and took it to the kitchen.

Silence

“Clara, I tell you, the baby isn't mine!”
“Count, I tell you that it is! You're the only vampire I've ever loved! And the baby turns his bottles into powdered milk.”

It seems like my show has started. I still can’t believe they decided to revamp a shitty soap opera out of all things but I can’t complain, I actually enjoyed the thing back in the day. It was something I could wind down to and something. I guess I liked because it was the easier thing to process

“Why does it matter? You need to be part of your son's life!”

—-----------------
I don’t even know how much time has passed. I must have passed out on the couch. The TV was still running, the seats next to me were empty. Garrett, Elizabeth and father must have gone to their rooms. I feel like an old man falling asleep on the couch like that.

2:36 AM. That’s what the clock showed. I remember the show started at 10 PM, I must have slept for a good amount of time. I know I won't be able to fall asleep again, being a night guard for decades has major long term effects.

Oh well I suppose I'll have to deal with being awake. When Elizabeth and Garrett aren’t bickering about something, the house is quite silent. I can actually think without my thoughts getting interrupted. Getting up from the sofa, I walked towards the kitchen. I wasn’t too sure what I was going to make but thought I would start off with a cup of tea.

The kettle started to heat up. I was choosing what I should drink. Chamomile or lemon balm, both are meant to help with sleep but which one would work better. Or even better, which one would taste better?

“I guess I’ll just drink both”

As I poured the water into the cup, the steam from the water hit my face. The steam fogging my glasses and giving me a facial. The warmth from the water was comforting. I actually felt sleepy because of it. I suppose drinking won’t be necessary to fall asleep.

Cup in hand, I made my way to the dining table. The table was in front of the sliding door to the backyard and usually gave me a clear view of everything outside but since it was dark I could barely see anything.

The silence in the house was quite nice. For once, I didn’t have a headache. Is this how father was when we were kids? No wonder, he tried to leave the house any chance he could get. It’s quite funny to think about. There's no point holding a grudge against something that happened years ago, especially when you are living with the person who caused it.

The tea tasted quite nice actually, I thought it would taste odd since I mixed the two. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything outside yet I kept starting into the distance. It was calm. Then the sound of shattering glass ripped broke the silence. Was someone awake? I’ll just clean the glass up in the morning.

“F-Fuck”

I heard a voice say. It wasn’t Elizabeth’s or Garrett’s or Father’s voice. No. It was someone else. Who could have broken in? Was it that person from earlier? What should I do?
There isn’t anything I could use nearby, other than my boiling cup of tea. I mean there are knives in the drawer but would I be able to reach them in time? I don’t even know what weapon that person has.

In the midst of thinking what to do, a figure stepped out from the dark hallway. We made eye contact. Scruffy was one way of describing him. The first thing that caught my attention was the axe he had mounted on his back, it being visible in the dim kitchen light. Something clung to the blade, and I prayed it wasn’t blood but I should know better. He had two hatchets that swayed when he moved. His eyes were covered with these neon orange goggles and his mouth was covered by a mask. He looked like he had a slender yet muscular build. He was at a good height, not as tall as me but taller than a normal person. His jacket was run down and worn. There were stains on it, stains that looked awfully like dried blood but I wasn’t too sure. Despite the clear sirens going off in my head saying this person was dangerous, he didn’t seem hostile. If anything he looked pretty lost and confused.

Still in a panic and in shock, I could only muster up one thing to say.

“Would you like some tea?”

Chapter Text

Happy, I looked happy.

Pacing around the room, I can’t stop thinking about those pictures. How come I never noticed them? That’s a stupid question.

This cabin must have been theirs before I decided to live in it, the world really is a small place. How… what.. fuck I don’t even know what to say. Everything is so.. god, I can’t even think. I can’t think of the words or anything. It’s so difficult to explain. Why are feelings so difficult? I don’t want to deal with them but I can’t think of anything else without coming back to this.

Why do I wanna cry? Why do I feel so nauseous? God I wanna throw up. Everything is overwhelming. Before this fuckass life of murder and serving under that fucking slender bastard, I had a life? I had someone to love? That bastard lied to me and I can’t believe I believed him.

I hate this

I hate everything

I hate everyone

I hate this situation I am in. Why is everything like this? Why can’t I get a break? I’m so tired. I don’t know how to feel or what to feel. I never expected something like this to affect me this much. Not only did I find that picture of us sitting together but other pictures too. I took the time out to figure out and connect the dots but i’m just left with more questions than answers

What am I even saying right now? God, I just can’t fucking think straight either. All these pictures, what am I supposed to feel? I feel so lost.

Sitting down on the sofa, pictures in hand. I look up in thought, I don't know what to make of this. Being alone with my thoughts is not a fun thing. The way my mind wandered to places it shouldn’t have, trying to open a locked box of memories that will forever be sealed shut.

Silence. I wasn’t a big fan of sitting in silence. Usually I would be able to hear something, maybe the tap leaking or the creaking of floorboards but it's like the world has fallen into a slumber to let me think. The door cracked open, I couldn't be bothered to look back.

“Toby?”
A voice called out. I couldn't be bothered to respond. I was too focused on the pictures in my hands.
“Toby, you good man?”
Nothing. I didn’t want to respond

A person came in front of me. Tall, slender. A wooden Baseball bat in hand, the imprint of bashing people was left on the bat. As well as the blood of several victims. In his other hand was his mask. Looking up, looking at his face. He was pale but not as pale as him and he had a clean cut beard.

“What’s on your mind man?”
“Where's Rouge? She usually comes home with you.”
“She's having a girls night. But that doesn’t matter at the moment, what's on your mind?”

I contemplated telling him. Wilson and I have become good friends over the years. He doesn’t piss me off and I don’t piss him off, and because of that our bond became pretty strong. But should I even tell him this? I mean he has experience in this kinda stuff. Him and Rouge were something else before dating, they were like stalkers.

“Wilson”
“Yes?”
“God, how do I put this into words”
“Listen, If you almost got caught by someone that's fine.”
“God, I’m not that stupid will”
“Then what's on your mind”

He took a seat next to me, placing his bat down next to him. From his pocket, he pulled out a pack of smokes, offering me one in the process. I accepted, thinking I might feel better after a puff or two. The lighter he had with was this antique thing that barely worked but he refused to throw it away. I’m not complaining though, it’s quite funny to watch. He finally lit the cigarettes up, passing one to me.

“Now tell me Tobia-”
“Don’t fucking call me Tobais. I hate it when people call me that.
“I know, that's why I do it. Now answer my question”
“First of all, fuck you asshole and secondly, I don’t know where to start.”

We took a moment, the smell and smoke of cigarettes surrounding us. They smelled cheap (probably because they were) but it didn’t stop them from doing the job. I know a few proxies who used to smoke packs a day but never got affected by them, that’s the curse we bear working under him. We basically were immortal because if we did die, we would just come back.

“How did it start?”
“What?”
“I mean if you said you I didn’t know where to start, when did it start. What triggered it or what made you think about it. Start from there”

—----
He made a good point and helped me start talking about what had unfolded in the previous day. I hadn't realised but at this point I had been speaking for almost hours and he sat there listening to me. I talked for so long that even Rouge came home and started listening. I talked about him, how he was familiar, what I had found, how I started to spiral, everything. At the end of my lengthy rant, I simply asked them

“What do I do? Why is this so difficult?”

I was desperate.

I was desperate to figure out

I was desperate for something, closure perhaps? I wasn’t too sure but I just wanted to know.

Why did he make me feel the way I do now? Why is he affecting me so much? God I never should have gone there that day. None of this would have happened, I would have been at peace not worrying about such pathetic and absurd things.

My head was in my hands at the end of my rant, I had started to tear up. I didn't want to cry, well at least not in front of people. I calmed down the best I could and looked at Wilson and Heather (Rouge), they looked at me with this expression. They didn’t know what to say, they didn’t expect me to be worked up over something like this.

SIlence. Silence ran through the halls and into the room.

God, did I say too much? That’s what ran through my head. What if they fixate on the fact he saw me? Oh god, fuck, what if that becomes into a brigger issue. Shit, fuck. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to tell people. How could I be so stupi-

“Toby” Heather said softly, concern in her voice.

I didn’t respond, I didn’t know what to respond with.

“Listen Toby” Wilson started “Man it’s great that you know someone from before all this” He gestured to the place we were in, referencing the fact that we were taken from our homes and forced to kill.

“And I understand your concerns and what your feeling right now, but maybe, you know, you could just barge into his house and ask him yourself all the questions you have”

He said that jokingly, I know he said that jokingly. But right now, that doesn’t seem like a bad idea. That sounds like a great fucking idea.

Oh my

Why haven’t I thought of this? Its a perfect idea, i could just break into his house, figure out who the fuck he is and make him answer the question I have. And if needed, I could just kill him in the end and his siblings (or kids) of course. Then I won't have to deal with these bullshit feelings, then I could just exist dealing with any of this bullshit.

“Toby, please don’t tell me you took that seriously”
“What? No, of course not.”
—------
An hour or two had passed, after that conversation. I don’t remember what they said after, I just remember what Wilson said. Laying in bed I think to myself “Why hadn’t I thought of that before? It was genius. I started laughing at myself, truly genius I must say.

Yet so simple.

I grabbed what I needed, my hatchets and axe. A pocket knife. My mask and goggles.

“Fuck, a-am I missing something?” I mumbled to myself, I wouldn't have the time to turn back mid way. Well if I am missing something, i’ll just take it from his house.

Leaving the room, the halls were empty and dark. Silence, other than the occasional creaking floorboard. The clock showed 1:36. Only so much time I have to reach get answers and leave before sunrise and before others realised I was gone
—-------
There's something peaceful about walking alone in the dark. If I wasn’t like this, a serial killer probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. The trees danced with the wind, letting glimpses of the moon shine through.

It was calming, walking in silence. I was so distracted by how mesmerising everything was, that I completely forgot where I was going and what for, for a moment. If I really want to be at peace or just for these things to stop bothering me, I need to figure out who he is.

I was nearing the house, from a distance you can tell there was a light on, was someone awake at this time of night? Standing in the spot where I was spotted, I really couldn’t tell if someone was there awake. There was just the dim kitchen light, nothing more.

The next few minutes were just surveying and observing, seeing if something would move or if I would see someone but nothing, nothing in the house atleast. In the bush, a bit further away from me, there was something moving. I can’t tell if it's an animal or an actual person and if it's a person, who? A few more minutes of waiting watching, like a predator watching prey. Something stumbled out.

It wasn’t anyone I knew, but a drunk. How did a drunk get this far from the camping area? I have no clue. The camping area was at least 20 miles (or 32 kilometers) away. Nonetheless, it was an issue. It's going to bring attention to us, if this idiot starts blabbering or who knows what. I have to deal with this now. Killing it would be the best option. That drunkard wouldn’t be bothering him in the morning tomorrow if he was dead.
Killing that thing it is.

Luring them away from the house wasn’t that difficult. Never expected Rouge teaching me how to mimic things would come in handy. The smell of alcohol was pungent from them, they must drank a good amount. No wonder they ended up so far. It’s a pity, their friends and family won’t see them again. They followed my voice for a good while, staying just far enough from the house. It felt like I was a siren of some sorts, mimicking and singing to them.

I stopped speaking, leaving them in silence. Honestly it was quite funny seeing them confused and looking around. Toying with people before killing them is quite fun in my opinion. But it's a pity I have to end them so soon, I have work that has to be done.

Quietly approaching them from behind, I placed my hand over their mouth and one hand and the base of my hatchet. Seeing them process what's happening and start to panic when they realize what is happening is amusing, how stupid can people be. I quickly took my hatchet out, raising it, so it hit his neck perfectly.
—----
What a mess. I managed to get blood all over my clothes. Piece of shit kept fucking moving and it managed to get out my grasp. A careless mistake of mine but oh well, nonetheless I got the job done. It was fun trying to watch him run away but what stupid little thing it is.

That’s done, I made sure to move the body further away. Attempting to peer into the house, I really couldn’t see anyone, it was just that one dim light in the kitchen, nothing more. I suppose they slept, I mean it must be 2 something. Well if they are awake, there is only one way to find out. Coming closer to a window and peering into it, I couldn’t see much.

Opening it and climbing I still couldn't see much. But one thing that I didn’t realise was the fact there was a table right under the window and on that table there was a picture frame. Now one can expect what happens.

The picture frame shattered. In such silence, it sounded like a thousand sirens were going off.
“F-fuck” I said, holding my breath. Someone must have woken up to that. Quickly closing the window and trying to move away from the scene, I ended up going to the light. How stupid of me.

Coming into what I assume is the kitchen, I look to see him sitting there with a startled expression on his face. We made eye contact, both of us not knowing what to do.

“Would you like some tea?”He said calmly, disregarding the situation that might unfold. How silly of him. Does he not understand how dangerous this situation will be.

Chapter Text

This situation is quite awkward to say the least. He was the person I saw in the forest. He said his name was Toby. What a coincidence, his name was Toby and now there's someone named Toby who looks awfully like him. If only he could take that mask off.

“Do you have any preference in tea?” I asked with a smile on my face.
“I’ll have whatever you're having” he responded with a blank, monotone voice.

It was difficult to keep a conversation with him, it was like talking to a wall. He sat at the table while I poured him a cup of tea. He was fidgeting with a pocket knife, I wasn’t too sure what he was planning on doing with that but I didn’t question it.

“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised you decided to break in. After all it's only been a day”

“So you did see me” he responded

Placing the cup of tea in front of him and taking a seat, I can only help but wonder where this conversation will go.

Silence, it gets awkward fast. He isn’t the type to make conversation or give answers longer than a sentence, better than a word I suppose. I wonder what's going through his mind right now, is it a question? I mean it would be something on the lines of that, otherwise he would have tried to kill me by now. His eyes, they looked tired, like he hadn’t slept for days. His hair, scruffy and unkept. He hadn’t taken off mask, so I couldn’t see his mouth. I wonder what's under that mask of yours

“You like staring at people, don’t you?” which was followed by a dry chuckle. I must have stared for too long.

“Apologies, I didn’t realize I was staring”. How embarrassing

“Your name, it’s Micheal isn’t it?” He asked, once again his voice was monotone.
“It is, how-” before I could finish my sentence he replied “It’s written on these pictures”

He laid out a few pictures in front of me. I remember taking these pictures. I always loved that cabin, father used to take me there before B.V and Elizabeth were born, before he got married again. And then after he got married, after they were born, after I had met him, we went to that cabin again. It wasn’t too far from this place. I mean, father had the money, I don’t think he cared where he bought his properties. I’m pretty sure he bought a few properties in Canada, I'm not sure why but he did.

“I’m in these pictures with you”

“How did you even find these?” I asked. God, I sounded desperate. I hated sounding desperate, it made me feel and look like I am vulnerable and naive but I suppose in this situation a bit of that is necessary to get the answers I want.

He didn’t immediately respond, his grip tightened around the pocket knife he had in hand. Silence engulfed the room, it wasn’t the peaceful kind tho. He looked as if he was deep in thought, how did this situation come to be? Goodness, this is frustrating. One moment I’m drinking tea, finally having a moment to myself and then the next moment I'm barging with this person who has been stalking me and who had broken into my house for who knows what. I mean, it's better than having a knife through me.

I should start up the conversation again, this silence is bothering me.

“Do we know each other, is this why you are here?” I asked, trying to break the silence.

“What made you come to that conclusion?” He asked.

Honestly I couldn't tell if he was stupid or playing me for answers. He knows where he's taking this conversation. He wants me to break first, he wants me to do the work. There were so many things that pointed out that he was the person in the picture. The same eyes, the same hair, not to mention these pictures were taken in the cabin and left in the cabin. I never went back there after all those incidents. If it were any other person, they would have thrown them out or left them to rot somewhere but this one, he saw these pictures and wanted to learn more. Someone like him wouldn’t be bothered to come all this way, just to figure out who and why. No he wouldn’t, unless he wanted something.

I don’t want to believe that the person in the pictures is the person in front of him. He’s dead, let him stay dead. Don’t let him suffer the same fate I have suffered all these years, the constant cycle of death and reanimation. Oh, how I miss him. How I miss the way he smiled at me, how I miss the way he would hold me. The way he would grab my hand and run into the forest behind our house without a care into the world. How we would dance in the moonlight and watch the stars and make wishes that one day, just one day we would be together and no one would bat an eye. He held me after Eli died and he told me that everything will be ok and he promised me that he would stay with me no matter what. I know it wasn't his fault that he just disappeared that day but I wish he hadn't made that promise.

Everything went downhill from that point, B.V’s death, the missing children, fathers disappearance, the locations, Henry’s death, those hallucinations, my death. My death. I sometimes forget that we all are dead. I’m tired . When will he answer? When will he leave?

“ If you aren’t going to speak up, I'm going to ask you to leave” I said to him firmly. I knew he wouldn’t leave but it was worth a shot, I suppose.

“What makes you think I’ll leave”

“I mean, you won’t tell me what you want. So If you are planning to stay here idly without telling me, I'm going to ask you to leave. I have work in the morning.”

“Are you threatening me? Wow, you really are stupid. Aren't you afraid to die?” He said that with this cocky, arrogant tone. It really pissed me off and I decided to blurt out
“Well, you can’t kill someone twice. Try seeing how long it’ll take you to kill me”

I immediately regretted saying that . The one reason I came out here was that no one would know about us, “the infamous afton family” or whatever they called us and I decided to blurt out the one thing I was meant to keep hidden. He looked at me, first with a smirk but then he realised I wasn’t joking. I couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind, all I knew it was a mix of a bunch of different things

“You're dead?”

“What do you want?” I wanted him out of here.

“Who are you?” He asked “I mean, who really are you? Who are you to me?” his voice cracked when he said that last sentence.

“You know my name and guess who I am to you”

“Don’t pull this shit with me right now. Just tell me” He sounded desperate. Talk about a switch up.

“Michael Afton and if you tell me who you are, I can tell you who I was to you”

“Toby. Tobias Erin Rodgers”

I knew it was him, I didn’t want to accept it. I, too, have questions but I can't bear looking at him. I told myself that if he did ever come back to me, I would cry and hold him and kiss him like the world was ending but now I can’t even look at him. I missed him but I just can’t.

“Who are you to me? it’s us in this picture, isn’t it? We’re smiling and holding hands. And in this picture, look at the way we're holding each other.” He was getting desperate and impatient. Just in a few sentences his voice cracked several times, he’s barely able to keep it together.

Looking at him, he’s taken off his mask. I can see the entirety of his face .

Those lips I used to kiss and that scar I called pretty.

It really is him.

And how I hate it is him.

“Don’t leave me hanging. Answer my question”

“I was your lover at one point in time”

“Lover?” He looked at me with a mixture of nervousness and confusion

“I’ve answered your question. Now get out”

“Wait no, I have more questions.”

God, I can’t bear this anymore. Grief overtook me and I wasn’t able to keep it together. Tears streamed down my face. They were like a river flowing, there was no end. He looked at me with confusion and worry. I covered my eyes with my hand. I didn’t know what to say, he just looked at me with pity or something.

He reached out towards me, at this point I couldn’t care what he did to me. But I didn’t expect him to hold my hand. And his other hand went on top of my hand, holding it tight. It was so unexpected that I had stopped crying and just stared at him with awe and confusion. We sat in silence for a while, slowly moving our chairs so we were closer to each other and in the end, we were holding hands and we were the closest we could be together at this moment.

—----------
The time read 4:27. God, were at this for over 2 hours? We argued and then attempted to talk and then argued some more and then I got emotional. I think at one point he got emotional too, his voice was cracking and his eyes were red as if he was holding back tears. We just held each other and sat in silence . He broke the silence at one point to say that he doesn’t remember things before a certain point in time, after that it's just been quiet. We were leaning on each other, his head on my shoulder and my head on his head.

This is actually kinda nice. We haven’t been like this, together in a long time. Honestly this kinda makes up for whatever happened before, I guess I was just out of it. God, I'm tired. And I wasn’t lying about work, Sammy wanted me to come check on some stuff. He said that he found some of Father’s and Henry’s old designs.

“Were you really my lover?” His question broke my stream of thoughts. “How were we? Like were we a good couple? Like, were w- goodness how do I do this?”

“Don’t worry about it, I got where you were getting at. ” I replied, trying to reassure him . “We were happy. And we never fought and you loved my siblings and surprisingly enough, my father liked you”

“Is your father a difficult man to please?”

“He’s an apathetic person”

“Did we do anything? Like how couples go on dates or something along the lines of that?”

“We did a lot of things. We lived pretty close to each other, so I was able to see you everyday. There was a forest behind the place we lived and when no one was watching, we would go into the forest. We would dance and sing and cuddle under the moonlight. It was the one place we actually felt we were safe and no one could judge us. We would bring tents and camp out. And we talked for hours on end.”

“Wow, I don’t even know what to say.”

“That’s not all .You used to babysit my siblings and sometimes, for some reason, whenever I ran errands and I came home, you would greet me like a wife greeting her husband when he gets home. We would stand near the door so that B.V and Beth wouldn’t see us and we just chat while we held each other. Your arms around my neck, my hands around your waist.”

“That’s cheesy but I have to admit I wouldn’t mind doing something like that” He looked at me with these doe eyes and a soft smile . Was he flirting with me? He was just threatening to kill like an hour ago. what the fuck.

“Yea, we were happy together. That’s all you need to know. Don’t worry about the rest of it”

“You know, I wasn’t lying when I said I couldn’t remember any from the past” his voice was soft, it had guilt in it. He doesn’t even remember me, yet he’s guilty for a person he has no recollection of.

“How did you lose your memory?” I asked.I wanted to know what happened, maybe finally have some closure.

“It’s a long story” He seemed uncomfortable when I asked that question. Letting go of hands and looking away from me and to the cup in front of him. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable… God, why am I worrying about this now? I wanted him out of here just an hour ago, yet now I’m worrying about how he feels. Leave that now. What should I say? Fuck.

“Were you there when my house went up in flames?”

“I wasn’t there but I rushed to the scene when I heard what happened”

“I don’t remember anything before that point. When I was in that fire, this man came up to me. He was this tall, slender faceless figure.” He paused, wanting to say more but couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Right now all you need to know is that because of him I don’t remember anything and because of him, I've done some shitty things.”

I didn’t want to pry more but I had to ask “This figure, are you under his control or something along the lines of that?”

“I was under his control but just a while back he disappeared. Not sure if he’ll ever come back but now we are at peace” He said solemnly.

“We?”
“I wasn’t the only one under his control, there are more of us. Right now, most of them are trying to live their own lives, trying to build relationships and families.”

“What did he want from you?”

“He made us do his bidding. And if we didn’t comply, there were consequences.” When he said that last sentence, there was fear in his voice. I couldn’t see his face but I could tell that he was afraid of this figure. Never have I thought that there could be someone like Father. Guess, this just proves me wrong.

It was quiet again. He was sitting up straight, his eyes wouldn’t meet mine. Maybe I asked too much. Fuck, we just met and I just had to be noesy.

“You said you were dead.” he asked, still facing away from me.

“ Ah, yes that. I am dead, yes, currently I'm a soul” I responded. It was only fair that I gave him an answer.

“ How did you die?” He asked slightly, tilling his head towards me “And you said currently you are a soul, were you something else before?”

“ Well, where do I start? Se-” I was interrupted by Toby telling me to start from the beginning. He asked me to tell him everything from my perspective, everything from when things started to go downhill. I talked about everything that happened so far. Eli and B.V’s deaths, father’s immortality obsession and everything else that happened so far. And he started to talk about what had happened after that figure took him. He was cryptic about it but I suppose, it’s an answer to my questions nonetheless.

“I should go. I've been here for far too long” he said, standing up and grabbing the mask and goggles from the table. “And not to mention, you did say you had work in the morning and now it's currently 5:09. Maybe you should get to bed”. He said with a soft smile and a chuckle before putting on his goggles and mask.

Making our way to the sliding door that leads to the backyard, I can’t help but think about how this situation came to be. It did not go how I imagined it would go but this meeting was decent enough. He went to go out but he turned around to face me once before leaving. I could tell he wanted to tell me something or do something but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“Thank you” He finally said.

“Don’t worry about it”