[Ireland]

Nev found me as well as Tucker and told us what happened to Grace. She was really upset about it, seeing that she'd been on of Grace's closest friends besides Addie and a few others who weren't present here. Later we held Grace's funeral, and then we went about the day as best we could. But a thick pall seemed to hang over the village, one of darkness and melancholy that I couldn't quite describe.

The feeling still weighed on me as I walked down the dirt path to the harbor. Well, we call it a harbor. Really it's a few makeshift docks we made out of wood and other materials we find. It's stable enough to walk on, but I wouldn't push it past that. Near it was also a small hut, full, I knew, of chests with some fishing gear and other odds and ends for marine-related things. The sounds of clucking were always present in this part of the village - a coop was built for a bunch of chickens we keep for eggs.

The gentle swish sound of the waves filled my head as I came closer, sitting down on the soft sand near the shore. It pushed my sad thoughts to the back of my mind, washing it over with calming. I exhaled, feeling the wind brush my hair against my forehead. It was nice to get away from people for a while, get some alone time.

After a moment of sitting there, I realized something... off. Silence filled the air. Abnormal silence. Like even the birds felt the sadness that weighed on us all.

What the hell?

I stood up, very cautiously looking around. It was as if the world had hit some kind of pause button, everything silent as the dead on a dark night. Even the water stilled. A breeze swept through the air, sending an icy chill down my spine.

A small figure materialized from shadow, four-legged with fur and pointed ears. It was almost innocent-looking at first. My eyes flickered to the side, then back to the small creature. That's when I saw the two crimson wings spread from its small body, the two wing shapes glowing red on its chest.

And it's eyes. It's eyes. Two red dots like small lasers boring into me. You'd think it's lack of a smile or sharp teeth would be slightly comforting, but that's just it - it lacked a mouth entirely.

The small creature's grey tail swished contently. It tilted its head, quick like a curious owl staring from a tree. My heartbeat quickened. A deep, demonic voice echoed through my head.

"Hello, young one."

I tried to scream, run, do anything, but my eyes were glued to the thing. My muscles refused to obey my commands, frozen by invisible ice to the ground below me. The thing started to slowly creep towards me, never blinking or faltering in step as it paced calmly and ominously to my position. It only stopped when it was barely a foot from me.

What do you want from me, was what I wished to say. But even if I could utter a word, most likely it wouldn't reply.

"Don't worry," it spoke in a reverberating voice around me once again. "You'll be safe once you're dead."

Suddenly the small creature lunged, knocking into me with surprising strength that sent me to the ground. It's bright red eyes very suddenly disappeared, it's fur turning ink-black as a needle-toothed smile split its face horizontally in two, opening to consume me whole.

-

Sunlight flooded my eyes as I shot upright, gasping for air that suddenly filled my lungs. My heart was pounding with a vengeance, instinctively I placed my hand on my chest as if to make sure the pounding was truly my heartbeat and not an illusion. The surroundings were back to normal, the sounds now reaching my ears. I was still on the dock.

I let out a long exhale. I fell asleep. It was a nightmare.

Unsteadily, I pushed myself to my feet, legs slightly shaking as I walked off the wooden pier and onto solid ground.

That's an experience I could live without repeating, I thought with a nervous chuckle.

Though I didn't miss the abnormally cold breeze that chilled my bones as I left the harbor.

I quickened my pace.

-

[Addie]

I did my best to push down the rising, depressing agony that filled my chest. But I could tell some of it leaked through my words when I spoke, even of happy or joyful things.

Grace was one of my oldest friends. And now she was gone.

That was hard to believe for me.

That's not all that bothered me today. All day, I've been feeling this... well, I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. It was like there was another presence, one that followed my close everywhere I went. Like some kind of shadow creature that waited for the second that I let my guard down.

It was... unsettling. Because of it I felt tense most of the day.

After a while I decided to just go to my house and stay in my room for a while, maybe rest a bit and get the sadness that weighed on my shoulders out. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil from my desk and began doodling, mostly memories from the past of Grace and I.

Every so often I found myself glancing at the strange speckled crystal Grace gave me just yesterday. It still sat there, right where I put it after it had cut me. A small splash of old, dark crimson, almost brown in color, stained the tip. Was there more black speckles than before?

Eventually I picked it up. I ran my thumb across the smooth surface, more careful with handling it this time. It was only then that I noticed the cut that very crystal had caused was entirely gone. No trace of the injury remained on my palm, where barely yesterday it was a dark slit on my skin.

It wasn't very deep, I thought. It probably just healed quickly.

I feel like I've had smaller cuts than that that took at least a week to heal over, though...

I shook the thought away, thinking nothing of the partially odd pace of healing. I tilted my head, bending down in my chair to reach a drawer in the desk I sat in. Within was a messy arrangement of miscellaneous odds and ends, including shells, a cool looking rock here and there, a flower (how'd that get in there? I set that on the desk, deciding to put it outside since I had no idea why I had it), toothpicks, and - there it is - a roll of twine. I pulled out the spool, unrolling a length of the thin brown rope and cutting it with some scissors I had in a cup on the desk's surface. I tied the crystal to it, making sure the string was tight and positively secure on the twine before placing it over my neck and pulling my hair from under it.

Having the crystal close seemed to ease my nerves at least a little.

I picked up my pencil once more, ready to resume drawing when I felt something liquid slowly drip down my cheek. It was hot, as if it were a teardrop. Oh, stop crying, Addie-

I simply rubbed my sleeve across the droplet and was ready to draw again. But the smudge was unmistakeable - pitch black like tar. I stared at the smudge for a moment, feeling the same substance still crawling across my skin down my face. Slightly creeped out, I stood up, setting my pencil aside and walking to the bathroom.

I froze to the spot when I saw my own reflection in the mirror.

Sure enough, the black tears fell from my eye as if I was crying. It was an odd feeling, since I didn't feel like I was crying. But that wasn't all - the eye it dripped from wasn't mine. The sclera was black, the pupil transformed to a slit glowing white as snow in the sunlight.

I gasped, stepping back in surprise. I blinked, the reflection blinked. I waved, it did the same. It was still me staring back in the mirror.

Holy crap.

What could have caused this? I felt no pain, it wasn't some kind of injury (not sure if any injury would cause a change like this). My hand rubbed the crystal around my neck, and I held it for myself to see. The crystal cut, maybe? I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure even severe infections don't cause things like this. Plus, the cut was shallow, and it's healed now.

That creeping, watching feeling sent a shiver down my spine as it returned. Did it ever leave? I wasn't certain.

Whispers. Suddenly I could hear them, voices from the corners of the room like someone spoke from the walls. Ghosts.

"They have wronged you..."

"Don't let them get away with what they've done..."

"They must be eradicated..."

"Kill them like you did her..."

A meow from the door made my heart skip a beat and made me turn around with a start. Arachne sat there, amber eyes staring at me with an almost concerning expression. The voices were gone. My gaze flew around the room, alarmed at the whispers that suddenly didn't plague my mind as they had thirty seconds ago. I looked to the mirror - my eye was back to normal, the black liquid gone. I didn't feel it on my cheek, either.

Arachne tilted her head, blinking warm eyes as she stared at me with curiosity. Her black tail flicked. I sighed, rubbing my forehead as I walked out of the bathroom. I gave Arachne a pat as I passed.

Okay... I don't know what that was.

Was it real?

That feeling still gnawed at my mind, that feeling that I ceased to be alone. That someone was there, watching, prowling in the darkness.

I'm just... stressed, I thought. Yeah. Stressed. People think weird things when they're stressed, right? And that could turn into creepy hallucinations, right?

Yeah.

Totally.

I decided after a while I just needed some rest. Finally I flopped down on my bed, staring at the ceiling as I managed to eventually drift into comforting sleep.

-

Neph you gave me motivation thank you-

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