I hope the last chapter wasn't boring or annoying! I was trying to capture what a sensory overload feels like for me sometimes. It varies from moment to moment, and the things I can handle change quicker than the weather in Florida. Long sentences are too much for my brain to comprehend, so usually I think in short, compartmentalized ways. I take shortcuts to get where I'm trying to go and I pray that I'll get there soon. If any of you have ever experienced a sensory overload and don't mind sharing, leave a comment! I would love to see what it's like for you guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, love you guys!

Also, Trigger Warning! There's some fairly messed-up stuff in this chapter, some gore, some vomit, and some sexual references.
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  I woke up this morning feeling utterly exhausted. My wrist, now bandaged and clean, still hurt like a buttcheek on a stick. I felt like crap. And yet, I still knew I deserved it. What I did to Roman...

  I shuddered at the thought of what had been described to me shortly before I overloaded. It was gory. It was awful.

  It was me.

  I felt my eyes sting as they welled up with tears. I sucked in a deep, choppy breath, knowing that I wouldn't be leaving my room for a long time today. How could I face them after the horrors I had caused?

  I swallowed hard, but the newly formed lump in my throat didn't go away. I rolled over in my bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin. I squeezed my eyes shut as a tear leaked out onto the sheet below me.

  What kind of a monster am I?

---

  I felt a warmth enveloping me. I looked up to see the glorious sun smiling down on me, more bright and beautiful than I'd ever seen it. Truly a vision that embodied joie de vivre.

  I looked back down to what was in front of me. An idyllic grassy meadow stretched as far as the eye could see, full of dandelions and aster. I could feel the blades of grass between my toes and the cool dirt beneath my feet. A lone weeping willow sat on a slight incline not twenty feet from me. I felt compelled to draw close.

  I took a step and felt the pads of my feet being tickled by the jaunty plants beneath them. I ignored the playful sensation and carried on. I knew naught of where I was or how I came to be there. I only knew that I must reach that tree.

---

  Loneliness.

  It's not something anyone would expect me to have a problem with, especially since I can conjure replicas of people. That's one of my little talents that the others don't share. The problem is that my replicas are only thoughts. They're not real. And they only do what I tell them to. That gets boring after a while.

  That's part of why I was more excited than a lioness in heat that we had a new Dark Side. Finally, someone to talk too. Someone who might indulge in my horrible creations with me. Someone who's purpose was as twisted as mine.

  But they didn't treat her like a Dark Side. They didn't put her room at the end of the hall with mine and Jan's. They didn't shun her and send her off to live with us. They didn't treat her like an unwanted outcast.

  Not yet at least.

  I noticed that she wasn't present when my brother was having his bloody little freak-out. He was probably freaking out because of her.

  It was obvious to me. The nightmares, the panic attacks, the self-harm...all of it happened after interactions with her.

  It wasn't just Virgil and Roman either. Patton had been less cheery than usual, and Logan was often lost in thought.

  They always thought I wasn't around, but I simply hid in places they couldn't see. I knew things. I heard things. I saw things.

  Y/n was cutting. That much everyone should have guessed. I mean, hello? Depression? Hoodies and oddly-timed bathroom visits? A missing first-aid kit?

  These guys really are as dumb as a sack of dildos.

  She was cutting, and now...Roman had too.

  She had an odd dream that told her to make Thomas think about ending his life, the night after Virgil had one of the very same manner. But, y'know, his life, not Thomas'.

  It was frustrating how blind they all were. They called themselves the Light Sides, and yet, they were the ones who seemed to be living in darkness.

  No matter. They couldn't see it, but I could. I knew it wouldn't be long until they all started listening to Roman.

  Then, they would ostracize her the way they did us. She would retreat to our little section of Thomas' mind. We would accept her. We would befriend her. We wouldn't push her away because of the reason she was made.

  She would come to us.

  Then, finally...

  W̸̧̨͓̰̮̻̟̣̬̖̦̱̓̆̏̾̈́̾̐̑̂̀̕ͅe̸̢͖̜̎̐̓̏̀͋͘ ̷͍̟̬̤̯͖̭̬̠͙͍̓̽ͅẉ̸̡̮̺̗̼͖͍̩̺̗͛̀̃́̿̀͝ͅo̸̡̢͍̥̰̯̻̲̤̭͛̆̐̍͊̈̍̍̌̊̓̚͜n̶̨̡̟̯̹̮̰̹͖̺̓͐̀̍̓̈̂̓͒͛'̴͍̍̊̓̓ͅt̶̡̞͈̭̳̙͉̩̅̆̋̎̂̾̿̽͘͝͝ ̶̧̘̘̰̼̝̃͋̍͑͂̄̊͐͝͠b̸̛̟̫̯̖̰̫͍͌̽̎̏̍̄̽̂͋̊̾͝͠͝ͅȩ̸̔̅͑̈́̐͑̈́̎͝ ̶̨̢͓̮̗̪̥̹̜͈̩̟̄̒͠s̴̢̨̨̺̳͎͇̩̠͖̯͉͌̓̂̊̂̉̈̌̈̚͝o̸͇̗̣̣̼̲̟̫̞̹̭̾͋͐̌̒͘ ̴̛͈̮̱͙̤͚̱̤͈̝̽̏̋̔̈͘͘͝͝ͅà̶̦͚͎̬̞̦̱̤̹̲̲̀̉̒̀̾̽́̈ͅl̴͚̥̼̟͖͖̪̒̓͑̎͐͗̇o̴͙͖̯̤̪͔͑n̴̖̘̣̯̩͛͊ͅȩ̶̻̺̝̺̥̳̦̋̚͘͜ͅ

---

  The journey to the mysterious tree took longer than I thought it would. It was farther away than it had appeared, and was much larger than I initially thought.

  As I stood at it's base, I realized that the towering tree loomed far above me, blocking out some of the sunlight that had previously shone down.

  I peered through the wandering tendrils, all swaying peacefully in the gentle wind as if performing a lover's dance. There was a figure perched high up, resting on a branch.

  I decided to get a closer look and reached up for a sturdy limb to begin the climb with. The moment my fingers touched it, I felt a jolt of electricity surge through my body. I immediately tore my hand away and took a step back, scanning the tree for any hidden wires.

  I furrowed my brows. There was nothing there.

  I stepped closer again and hesitantly reached out a hand, letting only my fingertips brush against the wood.

  Nothing.

  I brought my other hand up and tried to hold onto it once more.

  Still nothing. No shock, no surprise, nothing.

  Before I knew it, I was dangling on another limb, many, many feet above the ground. I pulled myself up to a sitting position and tried to get another look at the figure. I could barely see them through the whip-like vines of the willow, but I could tell that they were there. Their hands seemed to be moving in an odd way, but I couldn't tell what they were doing.

  I climbed towards them, up and to the far left. The higher I climbed, the more visible they became. I steadied myself on a branch about fifty feet from the ground and set my focus on the figure. I could just make out some familiar features. My eyes wandered along their form and finally settled on the black hoodie that cloaked their upper body. It took me only a second before their identity clicked in my mind.

  This was Y/n.

  She was moving her fingers about in an odd, foreign fashion. I leaned forward to try and make out what exactly she was doing. I leaned a bit more. Then I lost my footing.

  My stomach dropped even faster than I did. My hands frantically grasped at the air for anything I could use to catch myself, but I found nothing. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The ground was getting closer and closer. I couldn't even breathe. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my arms over my face, bracing for impact. My eyes flew back open as I felt my body violently jerk upwards, led by my wrists. An unknown force had stopped my descent with a powerful, shooting pain that left me suspended by them.

  I was dumbstruck for a moment, staring down at the ground that had finally stopped getting closer. I was dangling not five feet above it.

  After a moment of forced, staggering gasps, I managed to make myself breath again. I looked up to see what had caught me and was met with a sight that sent chills down my spine.

  Y/n.

  She was still sitting on the tree branch, staring at me as if I was a wounded deer. And her, a hungry wolf.

  Her smile.

  God help me, her smile.

  It was wide and sinister, wordlessly letting me know that I was caught. A mouse in a trap. A canary in a cage.

  Prey, practically on her plate.

  My chin quivered as my eyes began to sting. I tried to swallow past the newly formed lump in my throat, but it felt as if my mouth had suddenly dried up.

  Her gaze pierced me, rendering me unable to look away. That is, until her eyes closed and her shoulders began to bounce. I was confused for a moment. I didn't know what she was doing. Then it dawned on me that she was laughing. She knew she had me right where she wanted me. And she was laughing. A cruel, silent laugh. She had the victory. We both knew it.

  Now that I had been freed from her petrifying stare, I could look up and see what was holding me. I wished I hadn't.

  Fishing line.

  My wrists were bound in fishing line.

  I had been strung up as if I were a dead animal, ready for exsanguination.

  I followed the line with my eyes to find it's origin. My blood ran cold.

  My bindings were tied to her fingers. There were lines tied to every single one, but only two were connected to me.

  I hadn't time to ponder how they could hold my weight, for I was once again trapped in that gut-wrenching gaze. Her sickening grin seemed even wider than before. She turned her eyes down and I followed them, feeling as though I was under some sort of spell.

  Or rather, some sort of curse.

  I caught sight of what she was looking at, and suddenly, her strange hand movements made perfect sense.

  Those other lines weren't tied to me.

  Everyone. Patton, Logan, Virgil...they were all in the same position I was. Dangling by their wrists, trapped in a twisted web. Completely under her control.

  Their faces were blank and expressionless, their eyes dead and soulless. They had been ripped of any sign of life.

  What had she done to them?

  I was seized with a start as Virgil turned his head and looked up at me, his hair falling in his face.

  I drew in a sharp breath as his mouth stretched up into a hellaciously eerie smile. It wasn't right. It was...off. Far worse than unsettling. It was truly terrifying.

  His right arm began to move downward, stopping once it was bent so his hand was level with his face. It moved back in forth, in some demented form of a wave. I felt sick to my stomach.

  They all began to move. Swinging around as if they were dancing. But Virgil never stopped waving. Never stopped smiling.

  My head jolted down as my stomach lurched. Soon I was emptying the contents of my stomach and watching as they cascaded down to the grass below.

  My friends were being forced to bend to Y/n's will. She was treating them like marionettes. And her, the twisted puppeteer.

  I wanted nothing more than to put a stop to her. To free myself of these shackles and climb the tree, ready to fight for my friends' freedom.

  But I couldn't.

  I was stuck in the same place they were.

  And no one was going to rescue us.

  No one.

  I looked back up to Y/n.

  She was watching them with a sadistic smile. My gaze began to wander. Then, I stopped. There, sitting on the far side of the tree, was Remus. My head whipped back up to her. Janus was sitting in the shadow behind her. How had I not seen him before?

  He was speaking. His mouth moved slowly, but I couldn't make out a single word. He was too far away for me to hear. Y/n gave no indication that she was listening to him other than the slow drop of her smile. Her fingers continued to twist about in sharp, methodical movements.

  I looked back.

  Remus was drawing closer to her.

  He moved swiftly and stealthily.

  There was a glinting knife in his hand.

  As Janus spoke, Remus continued to sneak up undetected. He was close. So close. His knife was in position, ready to strike. There was a glint in his eyes. Something I didn't understand. I couldn't tell what it was or what was going on in his mind. All I knew is that he looked ready. Ready to end this nightmare. Ready to kill her.

  He stepped onto her tree branch, slinking as cautiously as he could. He was poised. Prepared. It was as if he had been doing this all his life. There wasn't an ounce of fear on his face, not a hint of hesitation in his gait.

  He paused. He was beside her now. He lifted his arm up, knife ready to plunge. Janus watched him intently, still speaking silent words. He was so close. So close.

  The knife swung down. I watched, waiting for the glorious moment when it would embed itself in my tormentor. I was so ready to be done with this torture. It seemed as if the world was in slow-motion. The knife was going down, down, down, until...it stopped.

  My heart fell into my stomach.

  How had she gotten him up there so fast?

  Only moments ago, he was hanging from the tree at the same length I was. Waving. Staring with that horrid smile. Swaying back and forth as the others performed their sick dance around him. And now...Virgil was splayed across Y/n.

  A knife protruding from his chest.

  Blood spilling from his mouth.

  Dead.

  My mouth fell open in yet another soundless scream.

  Remus and Janus were gone.

  Y/n was smiling.

  She was looking right at me.

  I watched as she carelessly pushed Virgil's body out of the tree, letting him fall until he jerked to a stop the same way I had.

  Then...she made him dance.

  Virgil's body was dancing with the others.

  Tears stung my eyes. I tried to clamp them shut, to be rid of this awful vision, but there was no escape. I was stuck. Stuck with this monster. Stuck with the helpless shells that used to be my friends.

  What could I do?

  How could I save them?

  How could I save Thomas?

  I knew the answer, even as I asked myself the questions...

  I couldn't.