Chapter Text
Ze was exhausted.
Anyone would be, after spending almost an entire day digging around cave systems for resources and hiking through the woods. His legs were sore from all the walking and climbing and his arms ached from swinging the pickaxe, but it had all been worth it. His bag was full of iron, coal, a little gold, and even a few diamonds.
Regect had scoffed at him when he’d left that morning - once more reminding the Player that he could summon any material or item they needed (as if he hadn’t said so a thousand times already) - but Ze had ignored him. He enjoyed the payoff of doing the work himself. It was hard work, sure, and it was sometimes frustrating to dig out dozens of blocks with no reward, but it gave him a sense of accomplishment in the end. Ze pushed the front door of the house open, careful not to scrape the blade of his pickaxe against the wood. Wakafante probably would have never even noticed a new scratch but Moe would have, and she would have given him a lecture about ‘respecting the house they were (still) guests in’.
She made a good point and Ze knew it, and Moe knew that Ze knew it, so he was careful anyway.
The house was dark inside, but he’d expected it to be. If he had to guess, it was somewhere around two, maybe three in the morning? Late enough that everyone else had long ago gone to bed, but not early enough for any of them to be getting up yet, either. The Player dropped his bulging backpack to the floor as gently as he could to minimize the noise of clanking rocks and metal, and then leaned his pickaxe up against his backpack.
He really should have put it away in a chest first, but he really wanted to get out of his mud-crusted boots and the yard was crawling with hostile mobs this late at night, so really, it was just safer to leave it on the floor and get to bed as quickly as possible, right? Right.
Ze took off his boots and set them down next to his backpack with a sigh of relief before straightening up and stretching to try and work out a crick in his back. He’d pushed his luck a bit tonight with some of the caving he’d done and he knew he was going to feel it in the morning. Ze looked down at his backpack and paused for a few moments of thought before shaking his head. He could sort and store the spoils of his hunt later. All he wanted now was to just flop down in his warm, soft bed and sleep like-
Creeeeeeaaaaak.
Ze’s eyes snapped up at the quiet sound of a floorboard creaking, ready to berate Regect for trying to line up a cheap scare while the others were sleeping, and felt his blood run cold in his veins when he spotted the source.
The dark shape looming on the far side of the living room, staring him down with blank cyan eyes, was NOT Regect.
The Player stared back, afraid to look away in case that triggered some sort of prey drive in the creature. Was it a creature? Was it another entity? So many of them came and went through this particular world that he’d stopped keeping track of all the ones that didn’t settle down in their weird neighborhood. This one seemed to be just a blob of darkness - humanoid in shape but with no real definition between the parts of its body, save for its eyes. Ze briefly thought about trying to grab his pickaxe again but just as quickly decided against it. Most of the entities he’d encountered around here were freakishly fast, and unless this one was different, it’d probably be on him the moment he started turning around.
He wasn’t going to die like a bitch tonight, thank you.
The creature…entity…shadow…thing…hadn’t yet moved, and Ze’s eyes were beginning to water from the staring contest. He finally had to blink, and his heart jumped into his throat during the split second of darkness. But when he opened his eyes again, blinking rapidly against the dry burn and struggling to keep his vision adjusted to the darkness, the shadow was still standing there against the wall. Silent, still, and creepy.
Okay. Okay, maybe he could just…
“…look,” Ze finally whispered, breaking the silence first. “I have been awake for sixteen hours and doing physical labor for almost twelve of those. I am tired, and I can’t tell if you’re real or if I’m hallucinating from being tired.” He raised his empty hands like a shield, as if the shadow were some sharp-toothed predator that needed reminding he wasn’t a meal. He couldn't be sure that wasn't the case. “So I’m just gonna…go to bed.” The Player slowly started to move toward the stairs, one cautious step at a time, and all without turning his back to the room. The shadow did not seem to move, itself, but its eyes shifted somewhat in perspective, as if it were following his movements.
“If you are a hallucination, then you’re gonna be gone by morning. And if you’re not…then…uh...” Oh, he didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Ze felt his ankle hit the top edge of the bottom step and nearly tripped but managed to catch himself. With his heart trying to beat its way through his ribs, he stepped backwards onto the stairs, reaching behind him blindly for the railing. The shadow only stared. “Then, um. Do-don’t kill me in my sleep. That’s rude.” He finished lamely.
If Regect were awake to hear him now he’d have been rolling on the floor in laughter the stupid bastard.
“Are we good? Are we cool?” The shadow slowly blinked its blank eyes like a cat, moving at an almost purposeful speed, and still did not move from its position against the far wall. Ze took that as the closest thing he’d get to an agreement from the creepy possible-figment of his imagination and kept backing up the stairs.
“Okay. Okay. Um…good-. Goodnight. I guess.” It took all of his willpower to keep moving slowly up the stairs until the finally reached the second floor, and then he still didn’t turn around until he’d put a few more steps between himself and the staircase. Ze half-expected to see the shadow oozing up the stairs in some sort of pursuit, but the dim moonlight shining through the skylight Regect had insisted was necessary for the aesthetics (Ze agreed but refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right) was not obstructed by anything worse than the usual dust motes. After holding his breath and listening for any sound or sign of movement, the Player finally turned around and made a break for his bedroom door.
He slammed it as quietly as he could and quickly turned the lock, his heart racing in his chest and thoughts of shadowy beasts clawing at his heels in pursuit racing through his mind. He leaned against the paneled oak, straining his ears, but still heard no roaring, hissing, pounding footsteps, or even static thank god. Ze remained pressed against the door, bracing it shut with his body despite the fact that he’d already locked it, until his heart decided to chill out and start calming down. He then took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out slowly as he dragged his hand through his short hair, tugging off his bandana as he did so.
That had been...rough.
“At least it wasn’t just eyes this time…” Ze whispered to himself as he finally relaxed and shuffled toward his bed, discarding his dirty mining clothes in messy piles along the way. He flopped down face-first on the mattress and sighed in audible relief as he finally - finally - got off of his feet, and slowly burrowed his way under the warm covers. He was still sweaty and gross, and he’d have to change his sheets in the morning now that he’d already crawled into them, but the thought had barely crossed Ze’s mind before his eyes were rolling shut as he dropped off into a deep, tired sleep.
He did not hear the soft creaking of floorboards out in the hallway.