[Not exactly doing daily chapters but so far I am??? I'll see.~]

Stay Creepy, My Friends!~

Chapter 3

Ben's POV

Smile and Ladon chased each other around the front yard, and I kept watch on the porch. The weather was pretty warm, but a nice warm. The sun is high and shining over everything. The forest should be looking really pretty, if I were to take a walk in it right now.

...Jesus, I feel like an old man, and I hate it.

"Ugh, I don't want to be old and boring," I groaned, laying across the floor.

"What?" a voice replied softly.

Startled, I flinched in my spot and looked over to see who spoke. Ao stood in front of the mansion doors, leaning over a bit to look down at me. Her clothes were casual, telling me she wasn't going out on any business like killing Corrupted or scouting. She still had her blue glasses, though she cut her hair a long time ago so now it reaches her shoulders (no more pretty braids...). Her eyes were still as bright and as green as ever, though they hold a more mature flare to them now.

"Nothing," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I'm just talking to myself."

"You don't have to be boring if you're old," she remarked, taking a seat next to me on the porch steps.

I chuckled and responded, "Well, I won't be boring, because I'm never gonna get old!"

"Really?"

"I think so."

She giggled and looked out at the yard as Ladon and Smile bounded around each other. "Eventually, all of that playing will be too much for Smile," she stated, "Ladon will get bigger."

"God, I'm not looking forward to that," I muttered.

Ao tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, still gazing out at the forest ahead. I took this time to get a look at her body. She had shorts on due to the warm weather, allowing me to see the white markings that now completely covered her right leg. Her left leg was starting to become overrun, too, as swirled, tribal marks formed up to the middle of her shin. I wasn't sure what was going on with those tattoos, but it hasn't affected Ao in any way. She doesn't know how or why they're growing, but we all know that they'll eventually overtake her entire body.

"How is everything?" I asked.

She shrugged and said, "It's still the same. No progress in our search for Elizabeth. Masky and Hoodie should be coming back today. So far, Corrupted are beginning to show up in big cities more often... People are becoming more aware, and authorities can't do much to cover the truth."

"They're not seeing what they want to anymore?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what's happening but they're unfazed by magic less and less. At this rate, they'll see the reality behind what they think are natural disasters and human attacks. If that happens, there won't be stopping the hysteria."

I frowned at the ground, imagining all of the panic, and uncertainty, and fear. All of it would be a challenge to deal with, even though humans aren't strong enough to overtake us. Unless they have advanced technology like SCP did, then in that case we'd be screwed... Shit, maybe it will be a challenge.

"Well, that's good to hear some news," I started, "but I was kind of asking about you, personally."

She glanced over at me with wide eyes. "Oh, me?"

I nodded.

She stifled a wry chuckle and messed with her necklaces (one from her friends, the other from Jeff and Ellie). "Um, I'm doing okay. I've just been busy...looking for Ellie...and everything else."

Looking out over the yard, I hesitantly questioned, "Do you ever just take time for yourself?"

"I mean, I get sleep, and make my own food..."

I flashed her a look and she blushed. "That's not what I mean either, Sheba. Does Jack take time to hang with you?"

"He's always with me."

"But to do other things besides work," I retorted.

"Like?"

"Jesus, my girl, you need to start living a little again," I preached, "Try going on a date with Jack. Take time to paint. Play music again; I'll get you another violin! Do something to make yourself happy, ya know? After all you've done, you definitely deserve that. Why do you limit yourself to work? I know it's important, but if you keep going like this, you'll wear yourself down. By the time everything's over, you'll just be a shell craving for more work."

She crossed her arms over her chest and asked, "Is that how you're feeling?"

That's when I shut my mouth and looked at the ground. I twiddled my thumbs, suddenly uncomfortable. "I shouldn't have run my mouth off like that," I murmured.

"Ben, it's fine, but..." Her voice faltered as she thought for a few moments. "You're right. I do need to take some time for myself. But I have a feeling you do, too."

I whipped my head up, giving her a wide-eyed look. Just when I felt my lips begin to twitch into a smile, images of Jeff hitting me, and screaming, and hurting himself, and talking down to me flitted through my mind. My throat closed up and I clenched my jaw.

I want things to be okay. I want to go a day without feeling like shit. I want to feel like myself again. But then there's my obligation to everyone here, and especially to Jeff. I don't want to fuck up. I don't want to be blamed for something that's breaking me, too. I don't want to be the only one hanging on to what we used to be, to the memories that this mansion has held when everyone else is leaving them behind.

"Yeah," I mumbled, "I'd sure love to go for some arcade gaming, hehe. Get some pizza and drinks. Chill out, you know. But, maybe another time."

She stared at me for a few seconds, before the front door opened and Ms. P walked out. The both of us put our attention to her as she spoke, "Ben, it's going to be lunchtime soon."

The moment she said lunch, I already knew what she meant. I sighed and stood up so I could go to Jeff again. I walked to the front door, but not before taking a glance at Ao. Her fair-toned face held a concerned expression looking at me. Quickly, I turned back so she wouldn't see my discomfort any further. I also didn't want to see her looking at me in that way.

Don't pity me. You of all people shouldn't be pitying me.

...

Reese's POV

"Reese, mi niño, why don't you make friends?" Mom chimed as she sat on the couch folding laundry with me. It was a Saturday night and Hunter was out for work again, leaving the apartment to Mom and I.

"It's a little too late for me to make friends now, mother," I murmured.

"You never know," she added, "maybe you'll make a best friend, or maybe even a...girlfriend."

"Aye, mother," I sighed, "we've been over this--I don't want to have any relationships. The last two I had were utter failures."

"You shouldn't give up, then," she encouraged.

"No."

"At least make friends."

"No."

"Reese, mi niño..."

I set aside a folded pile of shirts to make space for pants. "No one likes me, Mom."

"I like you."

"You're my mom, Mom."

"Hunter likes you," she said.

"He's my brother..."

"Artem likes you, and he likes no one."

I shrugged. "True, but he's my boss, and nothing more."

"What will it take for you to socialize? Should I vow never to make tres leches cake again?"

I gasped and she smirked. I fuckin' love her tres leches cake and will die without it.

"Maybe when I go to college, I'll make new friends," I said with some hesitance. Mom only nodded and paired socks in silence.

The truth is, we're not even sure if I'll be able to go to college. We can always take student loans, but we'll end up having a crap ton of debt when I graduate out of whatever major I pick. Mom has saved up money towards putting me in college instead of increasing her pension, but it still won't be enough to guarantee a clean enrollment.

What was immensely shitty about my dad was that he never saved up money for me. And whatever money that he and Mom had saved for Hunter, he used it up on booze and other things. Because of that fucked up, selfish decision, Hunter was forced to enroll in a regular community college that has less options than his dream university does. He wanted to go into engineering, and now he's working at a damn Starbucks and a bar; handing out margaritas and venti lattes to people who wouldn't give a crap that he serves them because he can't find any other job.

"I'll try to make friends, Mama. Te prometo," I murmured, stopping to look up at her. She returned the gesture and smiled at me.

"And," I added, "I'm not only saying that for the tres leches cake."

"Mmm-hmmm, sure." She raised an eyebrow at me and I chuckled.

Later on, Mom and I went to bed before Hunter could come home. I fell asleep worrying about him because of the strange creature sighting, but I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of him opening the front door. I've grown used to the sound of his keys jingling and his footsteps coming down the hall. I sighed with relief knowing he was back, and turned over in my spot to get in a more comfortable position.

There came a knock at my door and I sat up in bed. Hunter poked his head in quietly and said, "Reese, you awake?"

"Yeah," I croaked, my voice affected by sleep.

I saw his figure come into the room and close the door behind him. Reaching over to my nightstand, I turned on my lamp so we could see each other. Hunter sat himself down on the edge of my bed and held a small, cardboard box in his hands. With the light on now, I could see how tired he looked, coming home at 3am. He smelled of alcohol and something musky like smoke, but that's just what a bar does to you. Smelling him makes me grow more and more opposed to ever going to a bar.

"Okay," he began, "so, I know I should wait for morning to tell you this, but I know I won't wake up until like five in the afternoon. While I headed for work, I went to pick up something I ordered off of eBay for us. I think you're going to love it!"

"What'd you get?" I asked, my sleepiness wearing off to make way for curiosity.

His smile was wide as he opened up the box and pulled out what he had bought. In his hand was a gray, two-by-two inch sized object. I grabbed it out of his hand to look at it closer and went wide-eyed once I realized what it was. Even though the picture label was worn, I could make out what it was clearly.

"No way...," I murmured, "you got...the Nintendo 64 Majora's Mask cartridge. H-How?"

"I just looked around," he answered. "That was the best one I could find that was affordable. I know you've been wanting the sixty-four version of the game for a while now, so I went through every page I could to get it."

I smiled and clutched the cartridge in my hands. Then, I leaped onto him, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you," I said, "this is awesome! You're amazing, Hunter!"

"I know I am," he bragged ironically.

I pulled back and asked, "Can we check this out later?"

He nodded. "Sure, but you've gotta wake my ass up before you play it."

"Of course. I'm not that much of jerk."

He chuckled and ruffled my already tussled hair. "I'm glad you like it. I'm gonna let you sleep. Good night, little brother."

"Good night, big brother," I replied as I watched him stand up and head for the door. As soon as he left the room, I placed the game cartridge on my nightstand and turned off the light. Again, I went back to sleep, though was excited to play our new video game that I've been dying to have for so long.

...

I remember it being really late at night, or at least too late for a five-year-old. Mom was crying in her room because Dad yelled at her earlier before he left. I didn't see if he hit her, but I'm sure he did. A part of me wanted to go and tell her to not be so sad, but then the other part of me remembered when I tried to talk to her last time that Dad got mad at me and shoved me in my room to stay in until bedtime.

Dad isn't home, but I was still scared to talk to Mom, because maybe she was going to get angry like him, too. Instead, I left my room and went to Hunter's. I knocked on his door quietly, afraid to break the uneasy silence in the hallway. Slowly, the knob turned and Hunter peeked through to see me.

"Is dad gone...?," he asked. I only nodded.

Hunter opened the door wider to grab my wrist and pull me inside his bedroom. There, I found that he was staying up late, too, and had a paused video game on the small screen of his cubed TV.

"I didn't play the next levels yet," he said. "I only replayed the ones I beat. I didn't want you to miss anything." He pulled down some pillows from his bed and put them on the floor for me to sit on. I placed myself on them, and he took a seat on the floor next to me. I watched as he grabbed the controller on the floor and un-paused the game. A smile came upon my face the moment I saw a pixelated dungeon with a little, green-clothed hero wielding a sword.

Before Hunter moved the character, he looked at me and asked, "Do you want to try it?"

I turned my head towards him and gave him a surprised look. He smiled and handed the NES controller to me. Gingerly, my small fingers grabbed it and held it in my lap. I suddenly felt nervous as I placed my thumb on the square arrow buttons to move the character, like I've seen Hunter do so many times. I moved to the right, and ended up in a new room. Pixelated enemies started attacking me and I watched the green-clothed character blink as he got hit. Before I could react, my character turned red, and a sad little melody played as the screen changed to black. All that was left was Continue, Save, and Exit in white letters. From watching Hunter, I knew that I had just died.

Without knowing, I started to tear up and cry silently. Hunter noticed and touched my shoulder. "Hey," he started in a calm voice, "don't cry, Reese. It's okay!"

Sniffling, I mumbled, "But I died..."

"It's no big deal," he said. "That's why there's a Continue button, so you can try again. Continue means you can keep fighting the bad guys, even if you die. So, always press Continue and you'll keep fighting, okay?"

I nodded and pressed the button when a heart was marked on Continue. Suddenly, I was back in the room from before again, and I gulped. Hunter moved my fingers and explained, "You attack with this, and move with this, okay? And be careful when you get to the Boss because it..."

We stayed up even later so that Hunter could teach me how to play his video game.

"It's our video game, Reese," he chimed sweetly at one point.

He kept encouraging me and telling me where to go with a kind nature. I would die, but I always pressed Continue like he said to, so I can keep fighting and being a hero. Finally, I got to the Boss.

"You can do it," he said.

I bit my lip and started to fight him like how Hunter told me to. It was hard, and my fingers could barely keep up and reach the buttons to do what I needed to do. I drank health potions when I was close to death, used my shield to defend myself, and attacked at the Boss's weak spots.

Suddenly, the Boss blinked a ton and triumphant music played softly. I stared wide-eyed at the screen as Hunter hugged me and cheered, "You did it! You defeated your first Boss!"

"I did it...," I murmured happily.

I did it. I defeated the bad guy, like Hunter does...!

"It's your turn," I said, handing him the controller. He smiled and grabbed it from my hands.

He and I sat on the floor, watching the small TV screen intently. Finally, my eyes grew heavy and I began nodding off. Hunter kept me from sleeping on the floor and told me to take his bed. While I laid on the bed, he leaned against it and kept playing the video game. As I fell asleep, I watched the green-clothed character brandish his sword and beat all of the evil creatures that blocked his path to victory. And it was then that I began to wonder if I could ever become a hero like him, helping others and defeating the bad people who hurt them. Like how Dad hurts Mom. Like how he hurts me, and Hunter.

I want to be strong like that character, and I want to be strong like Hunter. Someday I want to show him that I can protect him like he protects me. Someday, I'll be my own hero.

...

The next day, I woke up at around 8am to head straight for Hunter's room with the new game cartridge in hand. I knocked a few times before turning the doorknob and barging in.

"My dude, wake up," I said, smacking Hunter's bare back. He groaned and moved as slow as a sloth to sit up in his bed.

"Yo," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes, "watch out, I could've been sleeping naked." (All he wore was basketball shorts.)

"Bruh, I don't care if your dick is whipped out right in front of me, I'm playing this game," I said, lifting the cartridge for him to see.

He mustered up a sleepy smile and said, "Go ahead and set up the sixty-four."

I grinned excitedly and dropped to my knees in front of the shelf were his consoles were. There was an assortment: the Atari, GameCube, PlayStation 1 and 2, our old NES, and, of course, the N64 (that was actually a gift from one of Hunter's favorite teachers back in middle school. That guy was rad). All of the oldies were in Hunter's room, while anything recent was in the living room.

I spotted the N64 and hooked it up to the TV while Hunter went ahead and put a shirt on behind me. When everything was connected, I turned on the TV. My joyful anticipation was so intense that I ended up bouncing in my spot on the floor. Hunter sat down on the floor with me and it suddenly felt like old times again. It's not that we don't play video games anymore, it's just that we've been playing the same games over and over again that nothing feels fresh and exciting.

"Ready for the moment of truth?" I questioned dramatically as I hovered the cartridge over the slot on the console.

Hunter grinned and replied, "My body is extremely ready."

I placed the cartridge into the slot and pressed the N64's power-button. From a blank screen that said 'No Signal', the TV revealed the opening cutscene for the Majora's Mask title screen. Immediately, Hunter made a somewhat sexual moan/howl of victory and I laughed aloud. I picked up one of the controllers and pressed Start to be greeted by the familiar brrrring! sound that always excited me. The magical 'Great Fairy's Fountain' theme started playing on the game files screen and Hunter and I practically squealed. But our fanboying ceased when we both noticed an already existing game file.

"Ben?" I read aloud. I glanced at Hunter and he answered, "It's a pre-owned cartridge. Could've sworn the seller's name was Brian, though..."

"Whatever," I said, "we can always delete it, anyway. What should our name be?"

Hunter thought about it for a bit before snapping his fingers and saying, "How about Smeffle?"

"Smeffle?" I chuckled. "Shit, alright. Smeffle it is."

I put in the letters to create the weird name, then began a new game. To say I was overjoyed was an understatement. Even though it was just the old N64 version, I got excited seeing the opening text followed by a cutscene of a foggy forest with our hero and his steed strolling through. It isn't next-gen graphics, but playing the old games gets me hyped up like it's next-gen. My childhood is in these old-ass polygonal or pixelated graphics.

"Gah, this is amazing," I said in awe, never taking my eyes away from Hunter's TV screen. He relaxed on the floor and watched in silence. Eventually, I looked back at him when the cutscenes ended and found that he fell asleep. I smacked his stomach and said, "Dude, wake up, you're missing out on awesomeness." He snorted and flinched awake, murmuring an apology as he rubbed his eyes. He sat up to avoid falling asleep and the both of us kept our attention on the TV screen.

The game ran smooth, despite that the cartridge looked worn and old. N64 controls are always a little wonky but it was still enjoyable. I ended up beating Woodfall Temple in one sitting, and that's when Hunter and I called it quits for today. When we walked out of his room, we found Mom in the kitchen making something.

"What's for breakfast?" Hunter asked, stretching his arms over his head.

Mom laughed and replied, "Breakfast? You missed out on that. I'm making lunch now."

Hunter and I looked at each other and chuckled awkwardly. I guess we played for longer than we thought.

...

Ben's POV

It's night. Everyone is pretty much asleep, except for me. I've tried closing my eyes to sleep, but nothing happens. It sucks sitting alone in your room, with nothing to do or get your mind off of things.

Well, that's not true. I have a few video games I can play, but that's not something I want to do. It doesn't feel like the right thing to pass the time because I'll still be stuck here in my room. So, instead, I start to change into some other clothes and stick my cloaking chip on the back of my neck. When I look in the mirror, I see a normal-looking person instead of the wraith that can't seem to sleep. Blue irises instead of red; white sclera instead of black, fair-toned skin instead of pale, normal ears instead of elfin ones. That's one thing I really like about my chip: having normal fuckin' ears...

I can't stand to breathe the same air that I've been slowly suffocating in for the past year. I want to get out and finally breathe, and not think about how crappy I've been feeling. Helpless, trapped, and going insane. I'm being selfish, I know I am, but if I don't try and reach for some outlet of freedom, I'll be miserable.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and teleported to somewhere else, anywhere else that isn't the mansion. A place where I can be myself, or no one at all. A place where I can let go of everything and not think or feel. And that's just about any place in the world. As long as I'm traveling, I feel much better.

Though I wouldn't mind a smoke.

...

I made it back to the mansion in time before everyone woke up. I stumbled onto the floor and fell on my bed. My body felt numb and loose, and it's just how I wanted it to feel. I giggled for a moment, before closing my eyes and relaxing into my mattress.

A knock came at my door and it opened slowly. I lifted my heavy head and saw Ao standing by the doorway. "Hey, Sheba," I drawled.

She smiled and walked in. "Good morning, Ben. I wanted to talk to you for a little bit, if that's okay."

"Sure," I said, turning onto my side. With a welcome nature, I patted a spot on my bed for her to sit on. She gladly took a seat and faced me.

Just when she was opening her mouth to speak, she stopped and sniffed the air. "It smells like...," --another sniff--, "Were you smoking again?"

I giggled and murmured, "No... Okay, yeah, but don't tell mom."

She laughed and said, "I don't mind it. Anyway, I just came to tell you that I think you deserve to relax for today."

I blinked. "What?"

"You don't have to help with Jeff, or anything else," she stated. "I know you've been working hard and you should get a reward for it. So today--chill out; do what you want."

I stared at her for a moment and then turned my eyes down at my bed. "Th...Thanks, Sheba..."

She flashed me a kind smile and replied, "No problem. Our talk yesterday made me realize a few things, so I should be thanking you, too."

"That's great," I slurred lightly, "really, really great... Really, really, super, duper, great..."

I ended up passing out on my bed.

...

Later on during the day, I just spent my time relaxing like Ao said. Although it's a weird conundrum to relax when someone tells you to, because then you can't actually relax. But that's not what has been bothering me non-stop.

I've been feeling an unnatural pull.

Like something is trying to call me back.