Enjoy this chapter that is like 11, 12 pages long in google docs- I felt bad for not updating so here is a super long chapter! Hope you enjoy! :3
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-Sub. Socks POV-

Ever since Laff got infected and Ryzo came along, I've been hearing his voice in here almost every couple hours. Gulvic says it's supposed to be private, yet I can hear those two almost every time. I think telepathy is meant for one person in one mind, and obviously that's not the case here. Though I have no idea how telepathy would be possible, crazy things have been happening left and right anyway, so there's no surprise there. I started trying to listen in on the two as they suck with keeping things secret and being quiet.

"So? Kill anyone during this.. uh.. power outage they call it?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, I have."

"Wait, really? Who?"

"I think they called him.. woof? Volf? Whatever it was, the Wolf guy. The furry."

I turned around super quickly to face them and gave both Gulvic and Ryzo a death glare.

"Nice! A valuable person on the team. . . What'd you use?"

"Normal pistol, wasn't too fancy. I mean, when is a kill fancy? Am I right?"

The two chuckled a bit at the sick excuse for a joke.

"Pretty good, pretty good. You know what I would've done? Choked him with his own tail, pin him against the wall, and pierce him with one of my tentacles.. that would be good one.. lots of blood splatter."

That sentence made me sick. The fact that that's what he would do, and the enthusiasm he put into it. My stomach started to turn as I dwelled on it. I started to tear up as well at the fact that Woolf had now been killed by Ryzo.

"Sounds similar to the kill for the blue guy.. tihe or whatever it was.. I suck with names."

"I mean, since when should we care about their names.. we'll kill them all anyways. Pick 'em off one by one."

"Yeah. Hey, I'm just curious.. What was your name during the war?"

"Me? Oh, my name was.. erm... ugh, it was so long ago.."

I could tell Gulvic simply just didn't want to answer, and that he actually did remember, as he was darting his eyes everywhere he could. He then glanced at me, and seeing me watching them he stormed over to me and turned me around facing the other way. He looked like he was about to scream at me, but started walking away.

"You realize I can still hear right?"

He then turned around, and screamed,

"Not anymore you won't!"

I then braced for a screech, and thank goodness I did. It lasted about what seemed like 6 seconds. It may not seem long, but when you need to listen to a ridiculously loud noise for that long, it seems like 6 hours. I glanced back at Gulvic to see that he was breathing heavily, red in the face, and his pupils were dark red hollow circles. He then finally walked back over to where Ryzo's voice seemed to be coming from. I did notice one more thing though, and that was that his tentacles seemed wetter than usual. I have no idea how I noticed, but I did! They were actually dripping black, not just coated. About halfway back, he had let his tentacles drag behind him, making black streaks on the floor.

I didn't pay any more attention to their conversations until I heard this one part.

"I think someone is eavesdropping on us.."

I could tell he wasn't talking about me, but I then felt a weird feeling go through my body, almost as if something was taken out. It felt like pins and needles when your foot falls asleep and loses circulation. Except it was throughout my whole body. First through the front of my body and it made its way to my back. It felt like something ripped a part of my spirit out of me. As I was thinking, I felt something bump me to the side. Of course, it was Gulvic.

"What the heck are you doing?! I thought you were talking to Ryzo!"

"Teasiae yean ligtai.. lemme do something.."

"Wha- what?"

"I said.. shut up.. let me do something"

He then made my physical body look up to the side almost as if he saw something. He then made it look back to where it was looking, and he left again.

What was that about?
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-Socks POV-

Everyone was in a small circle, and the first thing I saw when I gained control again, was everyone had a scared or sorrowful face.

"What is.. going on..?"

"...we think.. Ryzo killed.. Woolf..."

"BECAUSE HE DID! I WATCHED RYZO SHOOT WOOLF WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!!"

Nadwe was in tears at this point, as he had just watched one of his friends get killed. This kid is 15, and will now be scarred for life. He's already had one of his best friends get eaten alive, and even if he could see the ghosts, it obviously wasn't enough. Laff then yelled,

"I DID WHAT?!?"

"YOU SHOOT WOOLF!!"

"Hey, Nadwe, it wasn't his fault! It was Ryzo's-"

Nadwe then hissed at me again, just like a couple days before and kept on freaking out. I totally understood why he was so distressed and upset, but he couldn't just blame Laff either. That would just make the situation even worse.

"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?! THIS IS THE THIRD DEATH FROM THOSE MURDEROUS PARASITES, NOT TO MENTION ALL THREE OF THOSE DEATHS WERE THREE OF OUR CLOSEST FRIENDS!! ARENT'T YOU GUYS CONCERNED AT ALL ABOUT WHAT'S TO COME?!?"

He was right. This is the third murder, and who knows what will come. I then started hearing sobbing coming from the corner of the room. It sounded like Blaza again, so I started taking a step. When I laid my foot back on the ground though, it felt as if it turned into quicksand. It felt like I had just free fallen from a building. I felt that weird feeling you get in your chest when you go on a roller coaster. I looked behind me to turn back, but- it was pitch black behind me. No flashlight, no voices, just black.

I then saw a weird figure. It looked like it was sobbing, curled up in a ball. From what I could see, it looked like it had scaly skin, and it had two tails that either ended in black or in white. The rest of its body looked like a fire orange, with three crimson horns on top of it's head. A couple seconds after I started studying the creature, two more creatures that were laying flat on their backs were brought to light. I glanced behind me to see where the light might be coming from, but there was no source. I then turned back to take a look at the two new creatures. They looked more mature than the first, as they had longer limbs and just seemed older. The one on the left seemed to be female, (for obvious reasons-) and the one on the right seemed to be male. The two had a spear through their chests, and were obviously dead.

Must be the first creature's parents.. poor thing..

I was about to look more when the orange creature in the middle lifted its head. It looked like it was drained, yet looked like it wanted to get revenge on someone. I was about to take another step forward when I was snapped to reality quite literally. The first thing I see is Dino snapping in my face, I assume to get me out of- wherever I just was.

"Hey, are you okay? You've just been standing here, not moving, for like- 3 minutes now."

"Ye- yeah! I'm fine! It's just- I'm not sure where I just was.."

"What do you mean? You were standing right here.. were you hallucinating? Because I don't think that would be- good.."

"I might have been.. but I don't think hallucinations make you feel like you just jumped off a building.."

"What do you mean by that- does something hurt?"

"No! I mean, the feeling of jumping off a building. You know, that's not the best analogy. I mean the feeling in your chest as if you're on a roller coaster."

"Oh, yeah- Hallucinations shouldn't do that. They shouldn't make you feel pain either anyway."

He paused for a moment, and then continued.

"Well, what did you see?"

I didn't know how to answer this question at first, as I didn't know how to start out.

"Well, first I started in an all black room. Nothing behind me, no sound, no light at all. A weird, orange creature then came into my view. About a minute later two more came, and seemed to be its parents, or something along those lines. They had spears protruding through their chests, and were dead."

After I finished, I felt a weird feeling go through my head, almost as if a ton of water just washed through my brain. I really didn't like that feeling, and it made me a bit queasy. Out of surprise of this weird, new feeling, I said,

"Woah. I don't know what just happened in my head but I know I don't like it."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit queasy now. It felt as if someone just dumped a bunch of syrup into my brain-"

"Maybe it has something to do with- uh.. you know who-"

"It's not Voldemort- you can just say Gulvic."

"I know, I just don't really like saying his name.. reminds me of stuff."

"Oh, well it's fine! It's not like I'm forcing you to say it."

Dino then replied with a nervous chuckle, and then turned his head so fast I thought he broke his neck. Why he did was because Laff dashed towards the stairs with Blaza, Tb and Oompa close behind. Nadwe decided to stay up here apparently, I assumed because he had enough for the night. And then, there we were. Alone in the dark, as there were no flashlights illuminating the ceiling and surrounding walls. Nadwe could see fine, but that didn't help me and Dino! He made his way over to us, and I could tell he then turned into a bat and started flying around. I felt the swishes of air from his tiny little wings.

A couple minutes went by, and a huge boom of thunder followed by a crack of lightning struck the ground. This scared all three of us, as we weren't expecting it at all. Another fork of thunder shook the ground, and I whipped my head towards Dino and Nadwe. They looked terrified because of the storm, but I wanted to make sure. I then checked behind me to make sure my tentacles weren't ready to kill someone, and they weren't even there. I then got that weird feeling again in my head, except it also felt like it was in my eyes. I felt the black liquid from my eyes as what would usually happen, except it felt like it was more than usual. I then heard Dino say under his breath,

"What the heck-"

"Don't. Worry. I'm still here.. not Gulvic."

That'll be hard to believe.. my voice sounds like it's glitched between both my own and Gulvic's voice..

"Well, then this is something new. Because your left eye is a white X.. and your right is a red scribble."

"What the.. that is ne-"

But before I could finish, black liquid started pouring out of my eyes like waterfalls. And I'm not exaggerating. Within seconds, I felt a pool form at my feet, and I could tell because my socks got soaked. I then started to feel my hands getting a bit swollen and tense, and then the feeling went away. I then glanced down at them, and they were covered in the same black liquid. They weren't just covered either. They were oozing, and soaked in it. Nadwe apparently went to tell everyone what was happening, since Dino was the only one still there. From what I could see, he looked incredibly concerned, stressed, and tense.

The liquid from my eyes then stopped pouring out, and I could see clearly again. I thought whatever just happened was done, and I started wondering what was causing it. I then felt the sensation in my head for the third time, and it was incredibly painful. It just came out of nowhere, and in response I gripped my head as if it were about to fall off. Something then clicked inside my head, and I just started crying. It wasn't from the pain though. I guess there was finally a calmish time and everything settled in. It surprisingly felt good to cry, but then of course more black came bursting out my face. I then felt a hand on my back, and it was Dino's. I could tell because it wasn't just any human hand. I then calmed down enough to speak.

"Thanks for sticking around Dino.. especially since I almost killed you in the beginning.."

"Anytime! Friends stick together, even if it is life or death. I might be a huge scaredy-cat, but I won't leave friends behind."

I paused for a moment, and then admitted,

"I'm scared Dino.. I'm scared about what will come. About what has happened, and.. I'm afraid I'm becoming Gulvic, or if there is some connection between us, or if-"

"Socks, there's no possible way you're related, turning into, or surrendering to Gulvic. You and him are complete opposites, and even if you were related, you can't let that make you think you're a monster. And we'll be fighting to the end with you. You won't give up, and we won't give up."

"Yeah, but.. what if I do turn into a monster.."

"You won't. You and him are two different people. I doubt that'll happen."

'Doubt' isn't a confident answer-
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-Laff POV-

Once the four of them explained what had happened, I burst out of our little huddle and down the stairs. I could tell they all followed, but I didn't care. Everything was just a blur. The fact I killed someone made my heart drop. I went to the room where the breaker and generator were located, and I saw him. Woolf really was dead.

..and it's all your fault..

This thought made me start to tear up, not to mention the sight that I saw. The pistol from the weaponry was on the ground, and three bullets were scattered around as well. The generator seemed to be fine, though there was a dent in the side, I assumed from Ryzo. I slowly walked over to where Woolf was killed, and it was horrific. His blood was splattered all over the wall, on the ground, and there was a big puddle underneath him as well. There were two gun wounds, one to the head, and one to the heart. This obviously killed him right away. I picked up the flashlight so I could check if there was any more damage to the room or to Woolf, and that's when the rest walked in. Though they could barely see, they could smell the blood and gunpowder. I could tell, because their faces were overflowing with fear and disgust. If the scattering of a mouse was heard, they would've thought they were going to die. I then ran into the closest, and it was none other than Blaza. This made me drop the flashlight, effectively breaking it. I then gave him a huge hug and started sobbing. I could tell he wasn't ready for it, as he jumped when I first touched him. I also think the sudden crash of the flashlight hitting the gray, blood stained concrete startled him. He then hugged me back. I could tell he also started crying, though he was trying very hard not to. His breathing was ragged, giving it away.

"I didn't mean it, I didn't want this to happen, I'm so sorry.. I-"

You did all of this- look what you did to one of your greatest friends..

"I know it wasn't your fault Laff- you didn't want to do this."

"I just wish everything would go back to normal.. none of this would've happened if Tbh and Socks never went mob hunting.. or if Meme never tried to prove his medical degree was real. I miss them. I miss the normal days when we were all just friends, I miss Meme, Muffin, Woolf, and just normal Socks. I just wish we knew how to get rid of.. them."

"I do too Laff.. I do too.."

Blaza then just started crying with me. I could tell he needed the stress relief just as much as me. After a couple more seconds we released each other from the hug, and calmed down. Tbh and Oompa let us have our moment, and came over once we were calm.
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-Tbh POV-

Blaza and Laff seemed to be grieving our friend, so I told Oompa we should let them. It's better to get it all out of your system then keep it to yourself. I tried to start walking over, but the thing is I could barely see where I was going, let alone my own hands. They looked like a really, really dark crimson, and even then I could barely tell. They almost looked like they were covered in blood because of the lack of light. They obviously weren't, but it still freaked me out a bit. I eventually made it over to Laff and Blaza, and so did Oompa. I glanced to where the smell of blood was coming from, and it was right below me.

Great. First I think I have blood on my hands, and now there is actual, fresh blood all over my feet. Like this doesn't make me feel like a murderer.

I walked forward to try to get out of the liquid, but that's when my foot bumped into something. It felt like.. a leg. I let out a surprised and terrified yelp, as I was not at all expecting to bump into Woolf's leg.

"What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing. Nothing except bumping into Woolf's leg-"

"I see now- must've been a surprise.."

"Yeah and not the best one-"

All of us then heard what sounded like water being dumped onto the ground coming from upstairs. It must've been with a lot of force too because I felt something drip onto my arm from the ceiling.

"How does that happen?"

"How does what happen?"

"Whatever was just poured on the floor upstairs just dripped onto my arm.. from the ceiling.."

"But that's impossible- how would-"

That's when Oompa stopped talking. I turned to where I started hearing little gushes of air being swished around. I then heard a familiar voice. Specifically, a young voice.

"Uhm, you guys might want to come upstairs- something weird is happening- with Socks, again.."

I could tell he really didn't want to be down here, with the tone he used. It sounded like a mix between annoyed, anxious, depressed and exhausted. That poor kid.

"Uh- we can't really see can we.."

"Just hold each other's hands and you should be fine.."

I then felt an uneasy feeling wash over the room.

Just hold each other's hands.. shake my hand to finish the deal..

Those words echoed in my mind as if I were in a canyon. I wonder what those words meant to Laff. He's the one that got infected by hands. Holding hands was supposed to be a good thing, not a murderous, infectious thing. Despite what I thought, Laff got up to the front, and told us to try and make a line. I thought he would be at least a bit nervous to hold hands again, but no! It's kinda cool that he's okay with it. I then grabbed a hold of the two closest hands that were near me, and questioned,

"Who's hands am I holding?"

One seemed pretty cold, just a bit warmer than ice while the other was a bit warmer than mine. A normal temperature.

A hand shouldn't- should never be that cold..

"Uh.. you're holding Blaza's and Laff's."

I could tell my right hand was holding Laff's hand and my left was holding Blaza's. The cold hand thing made sense now. Ever since Socks took the pill, his hands have been super cold. Even with his gloves on they were frigid. I still remember the exact moment he gave the container of failure 14 to me. The pill container was weirdly cold. It's weird that seconds after taking just one of the pills, its effects started kicking in. There has to be more to that story.. but what? Before I started diving in even more into my own thoughts, I heard Laff say to me,

"Hey, do you mind holding my wrist instead? I'm still not too comfortable with you touching my palm.. as this hand was the one that got me infected.."

"Oh, uh, sure!"

"Thanks. I just don't want you to get infected.. We still have no idea if we were correct about how people can get infected."

I didn't say anything after that, as we then started moving. I then started to think again. What really is Gulvic? How did he get to the medicine in the first place? Why does he want to kill us? Did something happen before to make him want to kill us? Why did he infect Laff? Who really is Ryzo? What would they look like without possessing Socks and Laff? As I was thinking, I started looking at the holes in the walls that were forcefully put there by Ryzo. Even with no light, I could still tell that they were there. They were probably about the size of a tennis ball. Maybe bigger! When I was done thinking, no one was at the top of the stairs or in the room next to the stairs. I didn't even know what to call it. We all hung out there, so I just called it the room next to the stairs. Yeah, I know.. uncreative, but I think it's kinda funny.

"What the- they were just here! Where did they go?"

Nadwe then turned back into a bat again, and flew down the hall as fast as he could towards the direction of Socks' room.
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-Nadwe POV-

They were literally right here. What the heck. Socks' eyes started pouring black liquid and now they just disappear? Wait- they both disappeared.

I started to freak out as they both weren't here, and something that has to do with Gulvic was just happening. I then transformed into a bat and started flying down the corridor. I was just about to turn the corner to enter Socks' room when Meme flew in front of me.

"Uh.. what's going on?"

"What's going on is that I left Socks and Dino alone up here, and now they are gone. So I am having a panic attack, thinking that Gulvic did something really bad, and killed Dino."

"Well, you can stop freaking out, because Socks is asleep in his bed right now-"

"What? He is? He was just wide awake.."

"Yeah, well after that stuff happened with his eyes and hands, he kinda just got super tired and fell asleep super quickly."

"Oh, uh, okay then! Did they clean up the black stuff? Because I have weird feeling that it might be either good or bad in some way."

"Uh, I'm actually not sure if they did. I can check though!"

Ghost Meme then went to, I assume, check. I entered Socks' room (just barely) just because I was curious, and I was met with black puddle right inside the door.

Wonder what happened there..

I then glanced to the bed, where he was just sleeping like a normal human being. Just like before all of this. No tentacles and no signs of Gulvic either. Though there was still some black on his face from before, he was fine. He did seem to be having a nightmare though. He was tossing and turning a lot. He then woke up a couple seconds later, and I assume it was because of that. I dashed behind the doorframe, just so he wouldn't see me. He then glanced around the room and it actually turned out that it was Gulvic! I then heard him whisper to himself,

"Okay.. it was just a nightmare. It's all in the past now.."

He then got even quieter and whispered something else, but even I couldn't hear it. I then saw black drip down his face. It was like earlier. He then rubbed it off and said to himself,

"No, you can't have a weak spot now. You and Ryzo are just beginning."

Beginning what? Killing us?

He then paused a couple more seconds as he was thinking to himself. He then was whispering to himself, just load enough so my little bat ears could hear.

"I can't just trust them either.. We've already killed three. It's not like they'll just change their minds. I need to stay strong. I need to finish what I started. They don't even know what's truth and what's lie anymore. I can't let them break me, not like last time.. I won't let my heart get broken again. They're friendship needs to be broken."

He then glanced across the room, and slowly got out of the bed. I darted behind the door just in case, and then started watching again. He then walked over to our group picture that we took around Socks' birthday last year, just on the 14th. I still remember it; It was a pretty fun day. Gulvic then picked it up with both hands and just stared at it. It looked as if he were deciding if he should start a war or not. I then saw black drop onto it, and he gripped it tighter. He then chuckled to himself, and it was one of the creepiest things I'd ever heard. I then heard him say under his breath again,

"Look at you guys and your friendship. You know it won't last forever, and I certainly won't let it. You're all the same as this picture frame. Easy to brake."

He then proceeded to smash it against the floor and it shattered almost everywhere I could see. Hundreds of little sparkles could be seen because of the light from his eyes, and it was bright. It was like someone was shining their phone into the room, except it was bright red. The light then changed to a pink. He then turned around, and faced the doorway. His one eye had turned into a white X like before. I hid behind the doorway once again because of this. I was so grateful to hear all of that. At least it's some explanation. I was just about to look around again when I was snatched from behind.

"Oh, lookie here.. an eavesdropper.."

He then let out a growl of anger and frustration. I caught a glimpse of his eyes and they were back to regular red slits. I tried to get out of the tentacles, but as I was still a bat, it didn't do much.

Just one tentacle could wrap around my whole body, and all four being wrapped around me was just a lost cause. I half lied,

"Look, I was just going down the hall and I saw that you were up and moving. I didn't hear anything you said! Okay?!"

"You know that will never work on me you little bint.."

I knew he was prone to saying things he probably shouldn't say when he's angry, so I wanted to try it.

"What does Bint mean?"

"IT'S HYBRODEIC YOU CRINDNI!"

"What does crindni mean? And what is Hybrodeic?"

"Crindni means Idiot- and Hybrodeic was the language I used to- JUST TEASIAE YEAN ALREADY!"

I could tell he was getting angrier and angrier by the second, but I kinda wanted to see what would happen. I kept pushing. I mean, what do you expect from a fifteen year old?

"What does that mean?"

"My god.. is this what I was like when I was fourteen?"

"How old are you now?"

"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS-"

"Want me to guess?"

He then squeezed me even harder than he already was, which started to hurt a bit. But it wasn't too bad. He then continued in a dangerous tone,

"Listen, this isn't some fun little scenario that you have in your classroom okay? This is real. I could crush your little bat body with one more squeeze, and I won't hesitate to do it. Now enough with your questions.. How much did you hear of me.."

"Uhm.. well.. I would say around.. uh.."

I really didn't want to tell him the truth, but I didn't want to lie either as he would probably be able to tell somehow. I made the choice.

"Maybe.. 99.69 percent?"

His face went from anger, to shock, to over-the-top rage. I was expecting to be deafened with screaming, but instead he just stared. He started to tense up a bit too, and it looked like he was ready to go on a killing spree. Black started to coat his hands and forearms, and more came from his eyes. I then started to get a bit wet myself, as some of the black started to coat his tentacles as well. Before anything else happened, he took a sharp breath in, and he simply just let me go and said,

"It was nice seeing you Nadwe."

What the-

"Wha- what?"

"I said, it was nice seeing you Nadwe. Have a good rest of your night.."

"Are you okay? This is not like the Gulvic I know whatsoever."

"Yep! I'm totally fine!"

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. But he seemed to give a genuine smile, which was very odd.

"Well, uhm, in that case, goodnight!"

"Night, Nadwe!"

I then left the room, and he shut the door behind me.

What the heck was that- did I do something?

I then put my ear against the door, and I thought my ears suffered enough for the night. Apparently the universe thought they didn't suffer enough because Gulvic then just started screeching his head off. I ripped my face from the door and I could still hear it very clearly. I then heard footsteps coming from the left of me, and it was Tbh, Laff, and Oompa. They were all covering their ears, and obviously wondering what just happened. I then became a human again, and gestured to move the way that they had just come.

"Yeah.. uh.. that was because of me pushing Gulvic too close to his anger limit- heh.."

"You're lucky you're still alive.."

We all paused to hear faint shrieking and screeching.

"Is he seriously still going off?"

"Yep.."

"Well, I guess we should get Woolf up here.."

"Already done.."

We all glanced over to see Blaza carrying Woolf on his shoulders, ready to throw him onto the ground. Oompa then ran over to help out.

"What are we doing with him?"

"Uh- we can put him near the gate and then get to it in the morning.."

"Alright-"
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As I was laying in my bed, I couldn't get to sleep. The fact I had witnessed a murder, the fact I was almost murdered two times tonight, and the fact there were so many unanswered questions. Half of it didn't make sense. I then glanced over at my top hat, which was laying on my dresser. It still had the hole in it from the jail scenario. That thought then brought me back to when Blaza and Dino first told us that Muffin was eaten alive. It had been so lonely ever since then. I felt like part of me was ripped apart, and that I'll never get it back. I then started to try to get to sleep. I was just about to doze off when I saw Muffin in front of me.

"Heh, hey Muffin."

"Hey Nadwe.."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too.. buddy."
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