Chapter Text
l'appel du vide
Sickness or madness?
Over the last four months reports in High Place Phenomena, also known as HPP, have been on the steep incline. Scientists have told us that they are unsure of how the illness spreads, but have been working on figuring out the means by which it has avoided people who have come into close contact with others who have it.
Reports started out in the Pacific Northwest and cases have begun to crop up all over the midwest and east in rapid succession. It is still unclear where the illness originated, leading many to suspect it is the result of some kind of terrorism.
Doctor–
Wirt threw the paper in the fireplace, watching the edges turn black as the words disappeared from the paper, turning to ash. How could they even call this a report? All it said was, Well, we don’t know what’s happening! Oops! In fanciful language.
He didn’t know why he even bothered reading the newspaper anymore, it wasn’t like this had anything to do with him. HPP was a problem, sure, but it wasn’t HIS problem, it couldn’t even happen here, at least that's what he was starting to suspect.
People there, in the entire bounds of the town at least, weren’t catching it. Well, that wouldn’t really be weird, if they knew how it was spreading. It wasn’t orally, through bodily fluids, it didn’t even look like it appeared in bacteria, it just happened to people. It happened to people everywhere, except here. Wirt had seen the maps, cases cropped up all over Massachusetts, every town surrounding, just not in his.
Now, Wirt was one to overreact, that much he couldn’t deny, but it was weird! Especially with all of the other things that had happened after the unknown, he didn't think he should rule out he and Greg’s existence in the town being part of the reason.
Wirt walked away from the fireplace, heading towards the kitchen. He wanted to shake off the unwanted thoughts about the world, and what better way to do that than talking to his mom.
Stepping onto the cold tile floors he saw her there with his step father, they were planning something at the table judging by all the paper scattered on the dark wood. He stood in the doorway, waiting to be noticed, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. He didn’t take note of anything they said really, unable to keep his mind from wandering off to the news.
“Wirt? Did you need something?”
His mother’s voice napped him to attention. She looked worried, she was worried about him, she was always worried about him lately. “Oh, yeah. Uh, when are we heading out today? For the picnic I mean, Greg’s really excited so..”
She and Mike, Greg’s dad, smiled at him. “We should be ready to go in about thirty, can you make sure your brother is ready?”
Wirt nodded at her, giving a small smile to both of them. “Yeah, I can go do that. I’m just gonna…”
Wirt turned around, almost power walking out of the kitchen. He wasn’t expecting them both to be in the kitchen, it threw him off, made him a little awkward, well more than usual. They both wanted the best for him and he knew that, but he wasn’t used to being so civil with his step father. He really did hate the guy for a while, but he had been spending so much time trying to be better, more understanding with Greg and he figured that it should extend to his mom and step dad.
༄ 🕯 ༄
They had been so worried for both of the boys after Halloween Wirt figured he should at least give the guy a chance. Now instead of being annoyed or angry whenever he had to talk to the guy, he was trying to hold actual conversations, which wasn’t hard really, especially because the guy loved to talk. They had some things in common Wirt never knew about, things he never thought he would want to know about really. It had been good for him so far, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of displacement when in a family setting. It made him feel weird.
༄ 🕯 ༄
Wirt walked down the hall, past his room, family photos, and the bathroom to reach Greg’s door at the end of the hall. The floors of the house were old and creaky, so he knew Greg would hear him and be at the door, ready to try and scare him.
His sweet little brother had finally moved past his phase of digging in the dirt for worms to bring to his tea parties, and onto scaring people. He was bad at it of course, he was young so he would trip over himself, giggle too loudly in a cabinet, sometimes he would just get the timing wrong. Wirt had to admit though, it was so admirable and a little adorable, so much so he couldn’t help playing along sometimes.
Wirt pushed the door open to find an empty room, the toys scattered on the floor letting him know that Greg got up in a rush. The closet door was shut tight, meaning Greg couldn’t be there, he was afraid of being trapped inside and his bed didn’t have any space to fit a person under. That left only one place left for him to be. Behind the door.
Normally Wirt would play along, but he really needed to make sure Greg was ready to go, so he needed to skip the whole song and dance of today’s scare.
Wirt turned and pulled the door closed, finding his little brother on the other side, a bright smile on his face. “Oh dang, you found me! I thought I was going to get you that time.”
Wirt fought the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn’t that he found it annoying, Greg just said that every time anyone found him. “Yep. Looks like I win today’s round of hide and seek buddy.”
Greg walked out from behind the door, he was still in his pajamas, little black trains covering the blue fabric of his shirt and pants. “Okay, but next time I get to seek, even though you’re a terrible hider.”
Wirt snorted out a small laugh, following behind the boy, ushering him towards his dresser. “Sure, Greg. I’ll let you seek and cheat like you always do.”
Greg only giggled in response, opening his bottom drawer full of pants. Wirt watched the boy throw a couple glances his way before pulling out a pair of pants similar to his own, then a shirt like his. It had been happening a lot recently, the boy wanting to dress just like him. His mom and step dad found it adorable, but Wirt thought it was weird. Yes he had been a lot nicer to Greg, actually acting like an older brother over the last year, but he still had some lingering reservations in the back of his mind that just didn’t want to go away.
The younger boy changed into the outfit, looking like a mini version of Wirt. Wirt sighed, noticing something odd about his brother's shirt. “Greg, hold on, I think there's still a leaf left.”
Wirt turned the boy around, pulling at the collar of his shirt, finding a dark orange leaf that seemed to merge with his skin. He plucked the small leaf off Greg’s shoulder and tossed it in the small trashcan of the room. He thought he had plucked all of them this week already.
༄ 🕯 ༄
Ever since they came home from the hospital they had become a little weird. It was normal for people to act differently after a near death experience, especially after the unknown, but they weren’t normal. It started just after thanksgiving. Wirt came down with a small cold, it didn’t last very long but the cough just wouldn’t stop.
They tried everything, cough syrup, cough drops, he even tried to gurgle salt water and boiling hot tea to no avail. Then Greg started scratching, like he was trying to dig into the bones. His mother eventually started making him wear long sleeves so he would stop. Oddly enough his skin wasn’t scarring from the scratching.
Their parents didn't worry too much, it was winter after all, flu season. Then there was the sleeping. Wirt would fall asleep on the cough watching TV sometimes, and he just wouldn’t wake up. His mother told him he was as still as a corpse, he would breathe lightly, and it felt like his heart stopped beating.
It scared her so badly the first time he woke up in the back of her van, finding her tear streaked face driving erratically on the road. She nearly crashed the car when she saw him moving in the rear view. The doctors told him while it was certainly weird, and maybe a bit concerning, he was fine, just a little weird.
Greg had the opposite thing happen. He ended up with even more energy than before, finding it difficult to fall asleep. He would sit up for hours after everyone had gone to bed, drawing in his room. The pediatrician told her that it would be incredibly concerning if he didn’t seem healthier than before, save for the coughing, they were both medical anomalies.
༄ 🕯 ༄
Wirt pat Greg's shoulder and smiled at him. “We are leaving in fifteen minutes, go find Jason Funderberker so we can go.”
Greg visibly lit up at his words. Wirt knew he had been waiting for today, so he saved the news that It was time to go for when he wanted to get the kid out of his sight for a minute. “Oh yes! I can’t wait to go find dingoes in the woods!”
Before Wirt could tell him for the tenth time that there were, in fact, no dingoes in the US, let alone Massachusetts, Greg sprinted out the door, letting out a small war cry as he fled down the hall.
Wirt looked out the small garbage can by the door with a frown. He was sure they plucked all the leaves for the week, he sat on the floor of this room doing it himself, he couldn’t have missed one. Especially not one in such an obvious spot.
Maybe they were coming in faster? He doubted that was the case, he hadn’t had any new pieces of bark to pull out from under his nails or black stains to clean off his carpet, so the likelihood wasn’t too high. He really hoped he was right about this.
༄ 🕯 ༄
The weird sleeping pattern, coughing, and scratching wasn’t the worst part, it was the scraps. Wirt didn’t know what else to call it really, it wasn’t like he and Greg could go to a doctor about this stuff or tell their parents, and when he looked online he found nothing but creepy pasta stories!
A month after the coughing started he got a bad fit in the middle of the night. He was on the floor coughing, it was like he had something in his throat that needed to come up, like when you hack up phlegm when you have the flu. This however, was different. It felt viscous in a way mucus didn’t, it made the back of his throat taste metallic and herbal. The smell made him feel sick, it had a pungent smell of rotting wood and grass, it was like compost and fresh bones packed into one disgusting cup.
He laid on the floor in the dark, half coughing, half puking out whatever it was he could’ve eaten to give off this smell. When it was finally done he wiped his mouth with his hand, wobbling over to the light switch on the other side of the room. His mom was not going to be happy about having to help him clean puke up off his floor, or the smell it left behind.
He flipped the switch, already preparing himself to see the chunky remnants of his dinner and midnight snack. What he was met with instead made his gut twist in a way no vomit ever could, it made the taste in the back of his throat feel sinister, it made his heart sink and his head feel light. That shouldn’t have been possible.
༄ 🕯 ༄
Wirt looked away from he garbage can. He didn't need to dwell on things that already happened, there was no point. He walked out of Greg's room, closing the door behind him. He had other things to focus on, like finding his little brother and that frog.
Wirt walked down the hall, ignoring the feeling of impending doom that crept up his neck.