STAY PERFECTLY STILL ==>

You stand perfectly still.  The thing, "Lillie", is leaning down toward you. It makes these odd panting noises...

Lillie(?): hhhhhhh.....wwwwhhhherreessssss....llllliiiiiillllliiiieeeeee?

Okay... So it's looking for someone named Lillie? Huh. You still don't have anything better to call it. So "Lillie" is looking at you... Looking? It doesn't have eyes, so it's hard to tell what t's doing. You start to wonder about how it works, biologically. No eyes, ventilation in the face that is ostensibly for breathing purposes, and some form of vocal chords, because it can speak, or at least make noises adjacent to speech.

You've gotten off track again. You need to pay better attention to the actual things happening.

THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS==>

You try to keep your mind on positive things in case "Lillie" can read your thoughts or whatever. This is a little more difficult than it might have been, since one of the most positive things in your life is standing next to you, and you're uncertain as to whether you could save her if it came down to that. No. That's a bad direction to go down. Think about something else. Think about...

Alex! And the random college student you left him with. What are they doing right now? Are there... things near them too?  The person who leapt down a cliff... what did they say their name was?

Lillie(?): ttttttteeeeennnnnnnnn.......hssssssss....

Ten. That was it.

Lillie(?): knnnnnoooowwwwsssss....wh......where.....lllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee.....

Lillie(?): hhhhhhhh..... YOU WILL TAKE US.

What do you do next? 

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sorry for not posting in a while, i'm working on several projects at the moment, and i had to pick which ones to contiue working on. it's genuinely difficult to make descisions like this, my stories ar every dear to me, but this story is on hiatus FOR NOW. hopefully, there'll be a new part out not to long from now.

okay, we're so back

~~

You desperately search your increasingly manic thoughts for some solution to your problem. One possibility shines through. It feels natural, and you barely realize just how irrational it is. 

DANCE LIKE NEVER BEFORE==>

You run toward the abomination, at full speed. Wren lunges forward to stop you, and you grab her. You hold her close to you and start doing a frantic, clumsy approximation of an irish jig. 

Wren: DEEN! What are you DOING?!

YOU: I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!!!!

You don't have any idea what you're doing. Because it isn't you doing it. You're aware suddenly of what is happening to you. These aren't your ideas. Something is putting them in your head. The noise, the noise in your head. Telling you to splash a stranger with polluted water, or to burn down your best friends house, or dance with some random monster in the woods. 

It's absurd. It's all so absurd. 

You laugh and laugh until tears start to pour down your face. 

Wren: Deen! Deen, are you all right?

You smile at her.

YOU: No!

Wren: Please stop Deen. You.. You're scaring me.

You stop dancing immediately, but it takes a little longer to stop laughing.

Wren: What were you doing, Deen?!

YOU: I... I do not know. Dancing, I suppose.

Wren: But why? 

YOU: More brain manipulation nonsense, I believe. 

Wren: Do you think the Alien is doing this?

YOU: No. He does not seem to be the type to do something without directly bragging about it. Besides, it feels like several beings that are causing me to make... Strange decisions. And... Oh.

Wren: What is it?

You're starting to feel inordinately tired again. 

...

You awaken, strapped to that table again.

The alien isn't here. What do you do? 

OBSERVE ROOM CLOSELY==>

You take a better look at the room you're confined to. The walls are bare and white, beyond a poster of a kitten hanging from a branch. There's a caption on it that says "HUMAN INSPIRATIONAL SAYING," in bold red letters. A machine to your right is contracting and expanding like a slinky. The door remains closed, and sealed. Your arms and legs remain bound. You see what might be a camera on the ceiling. The door slowly begins to creak open.

The Alien: Hello, sunhine! Nice to see you awake... Or, asleep I guess.

YOU: Did you make me pass out again?!

The Alien: Maybe!

YOU: Wha- Maybe?! You have me ted up, what use is it being coy? 

The Alien: I enjoy it!

YOU: Look, I don't even know your name. You are an alien, and you're a weirdo creep who steals my organs and my memories, I assume. That is all I know. 

The Alien: Yeah, that's pretty accurate. Anyway, I doubt I'll be giving you my name anytime soon. Names have power, y'know. But, ah, you can call me Hastur, if you like.

YOU: Okay, Hastur... Why did you make me fall asleep? I was in a potentially dangerous situation. And now I cannot assist Wren! 

Hastur: Ah, I'm certain she'll be okay. Anyway, I called you here because, I realized the power disparity between us was making me uncomfortable, and I wanted to give you the chance to ask me annnyyyy question you wanted. Maybe two questions if ya play your cards right.

He pauses. What do you ask? 

ASK: WHO IS LILLIE==>

You turn to... Hastur, you suppose.

YOU: There is this creature in the forest. Right now, I suppose. Posibly putting the person closest to me in serious danger.

Hastur: Cool!

You frown. 

YOU: Yes, well, I call this creature Lillie. Because, see, it was continually requesting that I assist it in finding a person named Lillie, and I initially misunderstood its meaning.

Hastur: Very interesting. Creatures. I like that.

YOU: So, who is Lillie?

Hastur:... Clever. You could either be talking about the creature or the person, and so I have to answer both. Tricky! I will answer both, because I like talking. Okay. So. The creature is likely a Woodsman. They're supposed to be human beings banished into the forests for performing "Obscene Rites, blah blah blah, etc." They became weird inhuman creatures, and it's very easy for higher powers to control them. 

YOU: Higher powers... Like you?

Hastur: Hahaha!  Sure, If I wanted to! But I would never sully my hands by associating with a Woodsman. So yes, something definitely told those creatures to look for Lillie. Now, as for Lillie herself... I don't know! There's a lot of folks named Lillie. 

YOU: ..oh. Yeah, I should have seen that coming.

Hastur: Buuuuut.... There is an abductee of mine named Lillie... I did with her basically what I do to you. Y'know. Organ harvesting, brain tampering, dream invasions... She lived around here for a while, but I guess she moved away. Out of my range, y'know. 

YOU: You have a range on your powers?

Hastur: yeh. 

(second part will be posted tomorrow, no command necessary.)