Dan
I wake up to a knocking sound and sit up to see that I've fallen asleep on one of the chairs in the lounge room near the fire place. Carter's asleep on the other chair too, but has woken up having heard the series of knocks just like me.
Josh and Nari are leaning against eachother, asleep on the couch, not having heard the series of knocks.
"Should we get that?" Carter asks me.
"Uhh, I don't know... This isn't our house." I respond.
"True. It belongs to Shelby, not us." Carter responds.
The knocking continues again.
"And I don't think whoever is at the door is going to give up any time soon either!" Carter mumbles. "True, let's answer the door." I tell him. We stand up and head to open the door. We open the door to reveal a man and a woman rugged up warm and holding lanterns as it's dark outside.
"Hey..." Whispers Carter. I give a little wave. The man steps forward.
"Greetings, my name is Owen. We're just passing through. This here is Rain." Smiles the man, introduction himself and his friend.
"Good morning, Owen and Rain. My name is Carter Lewis and this here is Dan, I don't know his last name."
"Hey!" I scowl, crossing my arms. He's right, but he didn't need to embarrass me like that, but then I greet Owen and Rain."
Rain is trying to peer around us. "Uh, is there something you're looking for?" I ask her. Owen places his hand on Rain's shoulder. "I don't think she's here, Rain. We tried using the control panel. I'm happy that you and Sebastian opened to us somewhat, but there appears to be interference so it can't detect her and you did tell us that it's only an assistance tool as well, so it's capabilities are lessened in a wide sense."
"So, we just keep moving forward?" Rain questions.
"Let's call it quits for today. We'll restart in the morning. Let's just go home, Rain. We'll let Sebastian know it was unsuccessful. Our attempt at finding her." Owen says while looking down to his feet.
"Uh...?" Carter wonders, confused.
"Were deeply sorry for disturbing you both. We'll leave and get our of both your hair now." Rain apologizes very politely, curtsying. She looks as if she's about to cry. The couple turn around and Carters closes the door. The bang of the door's a little loud. "Ah! ", "Eek!" I hear ring out and I turned around to see Josh and Nari are awake now.
"Hey, sorry about that you two. A couple was at the door being weird, I don't know." Carter explains.
"Err, okay?" Nari responds, rubbing her eyes. "Do you know what exactly they were here for or wanted?" Josh questions, curious. I chose to take the moment to speak up. "They were looking for a 'her' and are now going home to resume searching tomorrow. They mentioned some 'control panel', but didn't elaborate on what that was..."
"Her?" Nari responds only for Josh to tug on her arm. "Josh?" She questions. "What if, what if, if, if they were looking for Shelby?"
"Hold the Core, you're right!" I exclaim. "Carter, what if they were looking for her?".
"Could be. We're they, her parents? Does she even have parents? Maybe they are relatives? None the less, I haven't asked, but she's an adult so..." Carter trails off. "Hey, we might be jumping to conclusions. It might have just been an isolated incident and they have nothing to do with Shelby." Suggests Nari.
"We'll ask her when we see her." I speak up. The others nod their heads in agreement. All of a sudden I hear footsteps, although soft and look up to the top floor to see Declan is on the railing, being adorable.
"Meowww!"
"Hey, kitty!" Cries Josh excited. "I'm not usually a cat person, but he's awful cute." States Nari. I and Carter both end up chuckling and he jabs me in the ribs. I laugh and then Shelby appears, walking up the railing and takes Declan in her arms. Her face is heavily shadowed because she's up high.
Nari finds her feet. "Good morning, Sherbet! How are you?"
She looks down on Nari and shrugs her shoulders. Josh looks like his about to run and hide. "Shelby... Why don't you come down here and join us in front of the fireplace?" Suggests Carter. I nod my head. "You should join us!" I smile.
She just looks at us for a few seconds, or rather through us, blanking before starting to walk down the stairs, towards us. When she arrives, she places, Declan down in front of the fire place upon a pillow. He curls up and she removes her shoes, dropping them to the side and just stares into the flames. Carter approaches her, suggesting that they sit and goes to place his hand on her back and she shivers. "Oh, sorry!" And then removes his hand.
Nari and Josh are still sitting on the couch. I take a seat in my comfy arm-chair. "Soooo..." I murmur.
She says something we can't make out and just keeps staring into the flames of the fireplace. Carter tries to start a conversation with Shelby and then I feel something uncomfortable behind my back. Turning my head, I'm horrified to see Solayo's artifact. How did it get here?! I panic and place a pillow to cover it and lean back.
"Something wrong, Dan?"
"Oh no, It's fine, Libby! Don't worry. I respond.
"Dan... That's Shelby, not Libby." Nari interjects. "Oh? I'm so sorry!" I cry out. Shelby looks at me. "Do you like me or something?" She asks me, raising an eyebrow.
"What? Uh no, no. No!" I respond She turns away to look back at the fireplace. "Uh, how about I make us all some hot chocolate? It's a rather cold day. Shelby, you don't mind I make some do you?" Questions Carter. She shakes her head, but stays silent. "I'll help too!" Says Nari, standing up. Josh jumps up too and runs to the kitchen, ahead of both of them. They go to walk away, but Nari stops short. "Has anyone see Brax? I know we weren't too preoccupied with keeping an eye on him because he's awful company, but he hasn't surfaced in days" She asks. "No." I respond. "I haven't seen him since we arrived here. Maybe he took off despite the solar eclipse? Before, I was just assuming he found some fancy ass bedroom and decided to just sleep or something, crazy."
"Perhaps..." Cater murmurs, eyes narrowing and brain ticking over clearly. "Anyway, hot chocolate time!" He adds on, returning back to normal mostly. Nari follows him so they can go after Josh. It's just me and Shelby now. Oh, Declan too! "Shelby?" I ask her. "Mmm?" Is all I get from her. "I saw you were glaring when Nari called you 'Sherbet.' Is their a reason?" I ask. She says nothing. "Have you seen Libby?" I ask. "Bath." She responds. "She's taking a bath?" I question. "Yes." She responds. "Oh, okay." I answer. "I actually want to catch up with her later..."
Shelby says nothing. "Shelby...?" I whisper. "What Dan?" She says, clearly annoyed at my constant chattering.
"I think I do want to be something with Libby. We've been off and on with eachother in the romantic department for a while. I actually like her, I really, really do. When we were running from monsters, I let it slip that I wanted to marry her... But we never got to revisit the topic as we ran here... " I tell her.
"Good for you in knowing what you want." Is her answer. Her voice devoid of all emotion though. She's not even looking at me. I put my arm around her shoulder and she flinches, snapping her head my direction, eyes glaring. "What happened to you? Did something bad happen in the past? You're so..."
She nods her head. "Want to tell me?" I ask. She doesn't answer. "Shelby. Maybe you might want to talk to Nari or Libby? They are girls. If it's a personal problem, you could talk to them... They are really understanding."
"No, I manage my period fine..."
"What? No, no! That is not what I meant!" I exclaim. Ahhh, so embarrassing! I mentally slap myself. "Nevermind!" I tell her. She's just looking at me, saying nothing.
"Tell me something about yourself. Do you have parents? Extended family?" I ask.
"Not anymore I don't..." She trails off.
"How come?"
"....."
"I'm sorry?" I tell her. She rolls her eyes. "Why are you here all alone in a big house in the middle of nowhere?" I ask her. "I'm not alone." She responds. I raise my eyebrow. "Do you really think Declan is all I have?"
"Uhhhh... Do you have another cat? I ask.
"Uh, not exactly. No..." She answers. I push for more information, but she refuses to open up. Her heart clearly guarded.
"Please just stop, Dan." She requests and buries her face in her knees. She starts to sob.
"Shelby, what's wrong?" I ask, rubbing her shoulders. "He's so mean!"
"He? Mean? Shelby, is anyone else here?" I ask.
"He won't leave me alone; he never stops tormenting me! Us!"
"Shelby, if someone else is here in this house that's danger to you and to us staying here, then we need to know so we can call the police department! We can help you."
"No one can stop him."
"Shelby, what's his name? What does he look like?" I ask. She starts to sob more. "Shelby..." I say, wrapping my arms around her properly and bring her closer towards me till shes resting against my chest, her ear against it. Hopefully the sound of my heart beat calms her down or something. I'm terrible at this emotion game generally... A few seconds pass and her crying lessens before stops completely. She turns her head to look up at me.
"Shelby?" I ask. "Dan." She responds, smiling sweetly. "How do you feel now?" I ask her. "Better. Thank you, Dan." She answers.
"You're welcome." I say, hugging her a little more. Our eyes are locked. I reach my head down and our lips meet. Her lips are soft, gentle and sweet. We nibble for a few seconds, then pull away from each other. Her arms are resting on mine. "Thank you." She speaks. I smile while blushing a bit. She's blushing too. "Sorry to back track a bit. But you mentioned a 'him?' Is anyone else here in this house?" I ask. She shakes her head. "Physically? No. Just me and Declan... And all of you."
"Then what do you mean?" I ask. All of a sudden, she jumps back from me and starts screaming. "No, no, no, get out! GET OUT! I don't want to hurt him; I don't want too! You need to leave! Just get out!" She cries, pulling at her scalp.
"Shelby?" I call out, standing to my feet. She has her hands on her head.
"Dan! I heard screaming? What happened?!" I hear Nari yelling. She's running into the lounge, followed by Josh and Carter. I look to Shelby who's on the ground. She's stopped screaming, but her breathing's ragged. "What happened in here?!" Yells Carter, glaring at me. He thinks I did this to her... Well, did something.
Shelby looks up from the floor, her face, tear streaked. Nari bends down to her. "Sherbet... What happened?" She asks. Shelby stands up with Nari's aid.
"I'm going to my room, don't disturb me, anyone. Please!" Then Shelby leaves and heads up the stairs as quickly as she can. Declan follows her.
"Dan! What happened?" Asks Nari "Uh... Nari, Josh. why don't you both go back and get your hot chocolate? i and Dan will talk." Says Carter. Nari nods. She and Josh head back to the kitchen. Carter motions for me to sit down and join him on the couch.
"Dan, what happened?" He asks me. I look to where Shelby had been crying, only moments ago.
"Dan?"
"She was talking about a 'he'..."
"He?"
"Yeah, I asked her if anyone was here. I didn't get a straight answer."
"Alright. Did she say anything else?"
"Sounds like she might be orphan or something, I don't know and that's pretty much all I got from her."
"You remember those people who came by? If she has no family, then they must not be related her."
"Wait!" I call. "Yeah?" Is his answer. "She mentioned that she was scared of 'him.' There was a man with that lady. Maybe it's them she's scared of?" I suggest. "Maybe... Just when I heard screaming, it was so..." I tell him, just looking.
"Dan?"
"Yeah, Carter?" I ask. "Do you think there is a chance she could be a nut case at all...? I don't want to assume the worst about someone who's not here to defend themselves, but... Well, my mobile alongside a walkie talkie and a location beacon is in my backpack. I can call for help if need be..."
"I don't know, Carter. Honestly... She's probably just upset we've invaded her home and she seems to be a bit of a recluse. She might not be a nut case at all." I respond. "Anxiety might have just gotten the best of her. She might just need a nap?"
"You're probably right, I'm sure it's nothing. But at dinner tonight, we'll bring it up and talk about it as a group."
"Sounds good." I say, standing up. "Anyway, I'm goanna go look for Libby. Shelby said she was showering. So, yeah...."
"Go get her mate!" He laughs.
"Thanks?" I smile, half heartily. How did he know? Does he think I want too...? No, but then it dawns me I just kissed Shelby and he doesn't know about me liking Libby as he wasn't with us before. Okay, never do that again, me. I scold myself.
---
I've gone down the corridors of the mansion, looking for Libby. I checked the bathroom and found it empty. The bath was dry as so I went looking elsewhere, assuming she used a different bathroom. I'm about to give up and go back to the others when I saw a door open and out comes, Libby. She turned the opposite direction, away from me and starts walking rather quickly.
"Libby!" I call out, but it goes unnoticed by her. She's always a faster walker than me. I see her pull on a book in a shelf which triggered some stairs to open in the wall. She heads down them.
What are you doing, Libby? I follow her down and the passage way closes behind me. As I come down the stairs, it leads into what looks like the basement. I notice a wall looks odd on the other side of the room, it has to be false so I head over to it and bring my ear to rest against the door.
"Hey, Libby. How you feeling? Ha! It seems your little boyfriend, Dan was planning to marry you or sometime, not wanting your relationship to be on/off any linger. Well, guess what? I think he likes me! He kissed me on the lips you know."
"Why are you doing this, Shelby? I wanted to be friends and to help you out! You murdered Brax, poisoned me, then saved me and now you have drugged me and locked me up here."
"Why am I doing this?"
"Yes!"
"I think you know why. Ugh, must I explain it, again?"
"Yes!"
"Ugh, fine, Libby. 1. You all invaded my home. 2. You and Brax were creeping around in my personal business. 3. You wouldn't leave me alone. 4. You all have no business playing with shit you don't understand in the first place. You should never have touched that artifact you brought with you."
"I understand your reasons, but you have no right to judge and furthermore, it's not okay, murdering Brax and taking your anger out on us!"
"Do you even know how long I have been suffering for? Ha, you have no idea!"
"No, tell me. What happened to you? It seems like something bad happened to you in the past...?"
"...... I used to be home, surrounded my friends. Hell, maybe I would have called them family, but not anymore that that sorry excuse got in my way and we clashed. He hurt me... This place isn't home, it's just a copy and I want what they won't give me."
"And what is that?"
"Knowledge. You're much too young to understand right now, beautiful. But, perhaps when you're older. All thing's come to an end, sometime."
"Can you tell more?" I ask.
"I don't owe you the truth."
"Then what do you want from me? From us?"
"Someone to talk with..."
"So, it's also about that? Not us invading your home? We're here, if socialization is all you want, then why don't you go back to Carter's town with him?"
"Oh, it's not the kind of meager socialization you're thinking of, human - angel in training. It's more than that and I never expected you all to end up here. You're all way in over your head! I was going to let you go at first, but then you began invading my home and poking your nose into my business, I decided I'd make your regret your actions and suffer. You should never have come here."
"You know what we are?! Well, except Carter. Shelby, you're not making sense. Why don't you just let us go? Let me go?"
"Hmm? Nope."
"So, you're just going to leave me locked up here while you go out there and murder all my friends before something we haven't done to you?"
"That's the plan. You're the one who begged me to spare your life so you should consider yourself lucky I had mercy on you."
"......"
"Nothing to say? Well, alright then! I'll see you soon. I just to need to go pay a visit to your boyfriend, then I'll be back."
"Wait!"
"?"
"What will you do to Nari, Josh and Carter?"
"The very same thing."
"You don't have to do this! I beg you to re-consider your choices, Shelby. We're really nice people and we can help you. It seems like you've been really hurt alot. Does anyone ever listen to how you're feeling? You mentioned friends you'd call family."
"I did once, but not anymore as I told you. What are you getting at? Hurry it up! You're wasting my time!"
"Did they ever hold you when you got hurt or cried? Help you when you were injured? Listen when you wanted to talk?"
"......"
"Please tell me."
"No one's coming looking for me, no one's decided to end this. They just cast us aside and life went on. They clearly don't care about us that they oversee."
"How do you know they don't care? Friends fight sometimes. It's what they do. Even the ones like family. But at the of the day we still love eachother. If someone's ignoring you or hurt you, you should tell them. They might be willing to listen, provided your reasonable."
"What?"
"Do they even know where you are?"
"Of course they know where I am! Well, kinda... Some, but not all. Sometimes things are like looking for a needle in a haystack..."
"You could leave a sign if you wanted to be noticed? Okay, it's bad advice. I'm sorry, I don't really understand your situation-"
"For people who may never come?"
"You don't know that."
"Shut up! I'm tired listening to you, time to shut you up!"
"You'll come back for me, won't you?!"
"You really want to be friends with me, don't you?"
"......"
"So you lied? Then no. You can starve down here for all I care. The sedative will wear off sometime, but you will still be restrained. Anyway, time to boost you up for the moment!"
"No, stay away! Please!"
Holy shit! All this time... Shelby, really is a nut case. I have to save Libby! I push on the false wall and it slides to the side so I burst in to see Shelby, near Libby with a needle in her hand. "Shelby!" I shout.
"Dan?! What the-"
"Dan, you came!" Cries Libby with a weak smile on her face.
"Agh! Your both so goddamn, agh! How much did you hear?!"
"I heard every word." I tell her.
"How did you find us?" Shelby questions me.
"I followed Libby here."
All of a sudden, Shelby pulls out a pink wig from thin air, styled in two loose plaits to resemble Libby's hair. "No. You followed me, thinking I was your girlfriend. I must say I enjoyed the kiss, but now you know too much and so does she! You can both die now!"
"What?!" I scream.
"Please don't hurt him, Shelby!" Screams Libby, tugging on her binds which cause her pain.
"Oh, I am sick of your constant crying, Libby! You're just as much as a cry baby as, Prudence. That's it!"
"Wait!" I yell out, but Shelby is faster than me and moves to Libby and wraps her hands around Libby's neck and I hear an awful crack. She's gone, but at-least it was quick and remotely painless.
"Libby?" I whisper, trying to hold back tears. Shelby turns to me. She reaches down and kisses me on the lips. "I've never had a boyfriend you know? While I'm not one for this, I admit it's been an interesting experience. You don't need her. Perhaps, you're a friend. Loyal and-"
"You just killed, Libby!!" I shout.
She glares, getting angrier by the minute.
"Is this really you? There feels like there's two sides to you..." I tell her. She looks like she's about to cry, her expression no longer angrier and her dark eyes are brightly coloured now.
"I wish I had never entered this house and picked up that damn mask. I would have been better of taking my chances outside..."
"What?" I ask. All of a sudden, I feel her push me and I land on the bed where Libby is. It chills me to the bone.
"I'm sorry Dan, but I have to kill you. Mostly because he wants me too."
"Okay." I tell her. "If that is what you truly want, go ahead. I'd rather die and join Libby anyway. It will be peace. Just grant me the answer to one question and let me tell you something!"
"Go on..."
"Who is 'he'?" I ask her. She taps her head. "He never leaves me alone."
"Oh god!" I speak. "That's horrible! You don't have to suffer, there is help you can get. We could take you to a doctor if you're actually-"
"I'm not sick, this is a curse. I'm sorry this had to happen."
I nod my head even though I'm confused. "But I just can't let you live now. I'll make it fast and painless for you." She walks over to me and thrusts the needle into my leg, emptying every inch of liquid that it would be a fatal overdose. "You won't have to feel a thing, I promise. Bye Dan, bye, Libby. It was nice meeting you both. Maybe in another timeline, we'll meet again... Maybe even be friends?" She speaks. "Till then... Thank you for coming here, both of you."
"Please ask for help. Carter can get you the help you need!"
She nods. "I'll think about it, I'll try..."
I murmur and goodbye, feeling my vision dim. She gives me a little wave, as well as a little air kiss. "Goodbye my friends." Are her last words, then she walks out the door, sealing the wall behind her. The room goes dark, but maybe it's just me? I roll over to cuddle... Libby.
I breathe into her ear. "I love you!" Then I feel the temperature of my body go deadly cold. I just hug Libby, feeling the last of her lingering warmth. A second later I'm gone too.111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOE3TQQ4df
