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Z hadn’t slept in a few days. He couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes he heard that horrible, grating laugh. He saw those stupid eyes whenever he was in the dark. He hated it. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep.
Apparently it was pretty obvious that he was struggling, because Moe had lent him a few of her favorite plushies. It warmed his heart greatly, but it did little to help drive away the constant feeling of being watched.
Regect had even seemed worried, which made Z’s stomach flip in an uncomfortable way. Having a weird supernatural entity… care about you was… odd. Z chose to ignore it for now. He was too busy focusing on not passing out in the mines. As much as he wanted to avoid caves right now, he really needed some more coal, and he wasn’t about to worry Regect further by asking him to get some.
So, Z loaded up on as many torches he could physically carry, brought three guns and enough ammo to take out an army, and went to the closest cave he could find.
It didn’t help.
Anytime he turned a corner, he was met with a brief flash of bedrock. Each corner of the cave was filled with unblinking, bloodshot eyes. Just a few more pieces of coal, then he could go home.
He drove his pickaxe into the stone one last time and triumphantly held up the final chunk of coal he needed. He eagerly turned to leave, only to be met with darkness. Where the hell did his torches go? He heard shuffling to his right and went to pull out his shotgun in a panic, only to find it missing. All three were gone, and so was his sword.
He needed to run. He took a careful step through the dark cave, attempting to leave based off memory, only to slam directly into a wall. It would have been humorous if he didn’t feel like he was about to die.
The eyes were in front of him now and with them came that horrible, grating laugh. It bounced around his head like the sound was coming from his own brain. He fell to his knees, clutching his head, desperately trying to get the noise to stop. He clawed at his hair and ears, barely feeling the burning sensation and the warm feel of blood dripping down his face.
His phone. He needed his phone. He needed to call Regect.
He reached into his pocket with blood-stained hands, praying that the eyes didn’t take his only way of contacting his friend.
It seemed they granted him a small amount of mercy, though, as he wrapped his hand around the small device. The screen lit up his face, and he could see the blood smudged onto the screen from under his nails. He ignored it, the maniacal laughing in his head getting louder. He pressed Regects contact, listed right under Msak’s, and clutched the phone in his hand, leaning his head onto the stone floor. His phone rang for a moment, the sound barely audible over the sound invading his head, before Regects voice rang through it.
“Ze? Whats up, man?”
All Z could manage in response was a choked sob. As embarrassed as he was to say it, Regects voice felt like the most soothing sound he had ever heard. For a brief moment, the clanging in his brain stopped, only for it to return full force. Regect spoke again, sounding panicked.
“Ze? Ze! Where are you? I’m gonna come get you.”
He somehow managed to form a sentence around his rapid breathing and sobs. “C.. cave. Near house… Birch forest…”
“Okay, okay. I’m on my way. Don’t move.”
Z wasn’t planning on it. He doubted his legs would even work right now. He spared a glance up from the cave floor, and was yet again met with those piercing eyes. He quickly cast his eyes down again, slamming his head into the rock below. Why couldn’t this thing just leave him alone?
It felt like he sat there for hours- hands digging into his head, rocks and dirt stabbing into his forehead and legs- before Regect appeared in front of him, pulling his hands away from his scalp.
“Ze-! What the hell happened? What's wrong?”
“E.. eyes… the eyes…”
Regect carefully lifted Z’s face to look at him. The light had returned to the cave, and the second he was face-to-face with what would’ve been Regects face if he had one, the noise cut off abruptly.
He couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down his face. He leaned into Regects touch, sobbing embarrassingly loud. If this were anywhere else, he would be impossibly embarrassed, but he was so tired- so scared. Regect would never hurt him, he knew that. Regect would never let anyone else hurt him, either.
As if to confirm that fact, the entity pulled him into a silent hug, allowing him to cry into his shoulder.
When his tears finally began to dry, Regect spoke softly, the sound filling Z with warmth.
“Lets go home, okay? You can tell me what happened once I clean the blood off your face.”
Z managed a small nod, but couldn’t bear to pull away from the other. He just felt so safe. Z had this underlying feeling that if he even dared to look away from Regect, the eyes would return again. Regect made no comment about this, and instead wrapped his arms around Z, teleporting them both with a quiet whoosh.
The soft grass beneath his feet was comforting, the light keeping away the encroaching darkness and eyes. He finally pulled away slightly, keeping his shoulder pressed close to Regect, afraid of losing contact. He briefly faltered, realizing that Moe was probably home. His stomach churned at the idea of the kid seeing him like this, all bloodied and haunted. It seemed Regect picked up on this nervousness, and he gently guided him into the house.
“Moe is over with Ptolemy and Msak for a sleepover, don’t worry.”
Z exhaled, the tension finally leaving his body. He was home, he was with Regect. He was gonna be okay. As the adrenaline left his body, he felt his legs shake, his knees buckling beneath him. He didn’t meet the ground though, and was instead caught by Regect, who was quietly swearing under his breath.
“Come on, Ze. Don’t collapse till you're inside, ‘kay?” There was no hint of malice in the entity’s voice as he carefully lifted Z into his arms. The man couldn’t even bring himself to protest as he was lifted like a newlywed. He was set carefully on the couch, a blanket draped over his shoulders. His eyes drifted close for a brief moment before he shook himself awake. He couldn’t relax fully yet, the eyes may still return when he gave into sleep.
He wasn’t sure when Regect left, but the entity popped back into existence in front of him, holding some rubbing alcohol, a cloth, and some bandages. Z silently stared ahead as Regect pressed the cloth to his face, flinching slightly. Regect didn’t apologize, but he did tense for a brief moment before speaking.
“So? What happened down there?”
Z went rigid almost immediately. Could he really tell Regect the truth? What if he didn’t believe him? Maybe Z was crazy and whatever… thing was haunting him didn’t even exist? Maybe he had truly lost it…
“Ze? You gotta answer me man. I’ve… I’ve never seen you act like that. Not even when I sent you to hell that one time.”
Z paused his train of thought. He was talking to Regect. An entity with half an invisible body whose main hobby was online gambling. Hell, this entity was bandaging his wounds. They were friends. Of course he wouldn’t think he was crazy.
“I- I think there's something after me. Or- or someone? I don’t know…” Z took a deep breath before continuing, “You know a few days ago when you and Moe were out with Msak?”
Regect nodded. “Yeah, you ate that fruitcake I made. You don’t even like fruitcake.”
“Thats- thats whatever. Not important. Anyways- I heard some weird sounds from that big cavern that was out front, so I went down to investigate. I don’t really know what happened but I ended up in some weird bedrock hallway without an exit. I walked back and forth for awhile until an extra hallway appeared and it brought me back up to the surface.” He didn’t bother to describe the house he saw, it probably wasn’t important anyways. It just looked like a basic starter house. “Then I saw these… eyes. I tried to shoot at them but it didn’t work- then suddenly I was back home and- and there was this noise…” He was shaking now, breathing heavily. It was so embarassing.
Regect paused for a moment, hands stilling next to Z’s face. He cast a brief glance over his head before shaking his own head, carefully unraveling some gauze to cover the nail marks that Z inflicted upon himself. “Breathe, Ze. We’re at home now, nothing is gonna get you. Not with the scariest entity ever around!”
Z managed a quiet chuckle, “Who, Moe? She’s not here right now…”
Regect gasped, pretending to be offended, “Me, obviously!” He finished wrapping the last of the gauze and pulled his hands away. “...There. Don’t take those off, this is my first time ever wrapping bandages like that, so don’t ruin my hard work!”
“...Thank you, Regect.”
They both sat in silence for a moment, awkward tension seeping back in between them before Regect sighed, pulling Z to his feet. He rubbed the back of his invisible neck before speaking quietly. “I promise I won’t let anything hurt you, Ze. I- I’ve lost one friend before, I won’t lose another. You and Moe are my… family. I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you guys.”
Z just stood there in response, unsure of what to say. It was strange to hear Regect talk like that, talk about protecting him instead of trying to prank him or whatever, but he couldn’t help but feel safe. Regect was right- they were family- as weird and dysfunctional as they seemed.
Regect spoke again, “On that note, you need to sleep. Moe has been worried, y’know. She said she’s gonna start staying up with you too… You know how she gets without her sleep.”
Z shivered in memory- he did not want a repeat of that. “Okay-! Okay. I’ll try to sleep… can you just…” he tapered off, unable to finish his sentence- god this was embarrassing.
“Yeah, Ze. I’ll stay here.”
Z nodded and laid his head down on the couch, pulling the blanket up over his shoulders, feeling safe for the first time in a long while.