Day 7, Part 12

Ink stared at pangolin’s body. “Nice work,” it told the murderer.

 

The murderer looked up at it with fearful eyes.

 

“Oh, I know,” Ink said. “It hurts, doesn’t it?”

 

The murderer nodded. 

 

“Get used to it,” Ink sighed. “In our world, everything hurts.” It took the murderer’s hand. “Monsters stick together.” 

 

“Monsters stick together,” the murderer repeated. 

 

“Yes, good.” Ink gave a grin, wild, mad. “And don’t you know that deep down, everyone’s a monster.” 

 

They stared at each other for a long while. “Do you wish to forget, or to remember?” Ink asked.

 

“I will not be a coward anymore. I will remember,” the murderer decided. 

 

Ink’s grin widened. “A good choice,” it said. “I’m thinking that these funerals are getting inconvenient. From now on, we’ll clean up right after a kill.”

 

“Can the girl handle it?” The murderer asked, skeptical. 

 

“She’ll live. I have a stabilizer in order. Now go on,” Ink said. “You don’t want the others getting suspicious."

 

The murderer ran off, and Ink entered the Mind, ready to use Layla’s powers. It smiled to itself. This was only getting easier. And when it was done, nobody was going to know what hit them. 

 

Next morning

 

Sonder woke up early and gave a dramatic sigh, which was very out of character for him. Mostly he was sighing dramatically because everyone was freaking out into the transmitter and it was giving him a migraine. 

 

It’s only been a few days since Ink—

DON’T SAY IT. I read that hearing the name triggers more nightmares.

That’s stupid.

I could take his place.

No, that’s too risky. I don’t even know if we can do it.

 

Well, maybe we could just—

 

“WOULD YOU ALL BE QUIET FOR A MINUTE?!” Sonder shrieked. Shrieking. Again, very out of character. But then he got up and tried to give a motivational speech, and everything seemed relatively normal again. 

 

“Guys, I’ll be fine. So a nightmare monster that isn’t supposed to exist attacked me, severely damaged my self-esteem, and likely traumatized me for life? We’re used to this sort of thing.” 

 

Okay, Sonder, I’m gonna give you a minute to replay that in your head, Syne said patiently. 

 

“Hmm, that wasn’t my best pep talk, huh?” 

 

You’re no Steve Rogers, Metanoia agreed. 

 

Sonder sighed and headed downstairs, where Atom was eating breakfast. 

 

“Hey, Atom,” Sonder said, tired. 

 

Atom paused. He’d gotten much better at recognizing each alter, now that they had much more respect for them—in fact, he didn’t even really call them alters anymore. They looked the person before them up and down—the posture wasn’t great, so not Aesthete, but it was too good to be Metanoia’s. The voice wasn’t British, so it wasn’t Syne. So that meant this was… Sonder?

 

Wait, wait, no. Sonder had a more confident posture than that. And his eyes were usually brighter, and he was more energetic—

 

“It’s Sonder,” Sonder clarified. 

 

“What happened?” Atom asked. 

 

Sonder raised an eyebrow. “I’m okay,” he said. “Wasn’t a big deal.” 

 

“Do you want some peanut butter—”

 

“Let’s go outside,” Sonder said out of the blue. 

 

Atom bit their lip. They always waited for Rose before going outside. But Sonder was here, and he just knew something was wrong, and Sonder was here! 

 

“Okay,” they decided. 

 

They ventured out the doors together. 

 

It looked like a normal field, for the most part. Tall green grass, trees here and there, blue morning sky. 

 

Sonder! said Layla. Look, those tiles. They play music! 

 

Tiles? 

 

Oh. 

 

So, apparently, there were big white tiles on the ground. Because obviously. 

 

“They play what?” Sonder said aloud, getting a funny look from Atom.

 

Music. I think it’s music about you. Like, um, what’s that word, Sonder? Prescribe? 

 

“Describe?” 

 

Yeah, that’s it. Describes you. 

 

“How do you know this stuff?” 

 

I don’t know. It’s like I just… Feel it. I feel it all over.

 

“Feel it?” 

 

No response.

 

Stupid, unreliable attention spans. Layla must’ve wandered off. 

 

“So, I think these tiles play music,” Sonder said, stepping on one (though it took him a minute to find, because the tiles were partially hidden by the grass). “They’re supposed to describe people, or their feelings, or something.”

 

“Sonder Dusk,” a robotic voice said. Sonder paused. That was only his first name and his middle name. What about his last? 

 

Sonder didn’t really remember his last name very well. Apparently, this machine didn’t either.

 

“Zero, by Imagine Dragons,” the voice said in an almost decisive manner. 

 

A song turned on. It had a nice beginning, and a good beat. But as he started to listen to the lyrics more, Sonder sighed. 

 

“Hello, hello, let me tell you what it’s like to be a zero, zero,” the song went. “Let me show you what it’s like to always feel, feel, like I’m empty and there’s nothing really real, real.” 

 

Atom paid close attention to the music. Was that really how Sonder felt about himself? They walked over to the tile and stepped on it, taking Sonder’s hand. The minute Sonder felt Atom’s hand in his, the song stopped. 

 

“Atom Selenophile,” the machine said. Again, no last name. 

 

“Atom and Sonder,” the machine decided, after a moment of confusion. “Treehouse, Alex G.” 

 

A new song came on. “Do not enter’s written on the doorway, why can’t everyone just go away?”

 

Sonder and Atom gasped at the same time.

 

“What do you think of my treehouse, it’s where I sit and talk really loud, usually I’m all by myself…”

 

Both of them were so stunned they struggled to keep up with the lyrics, but Sonder was pretty sure it was his point of view on Atom. That made sense—he had a treehouse, Atom didn’t. And every word seemed to be saying exactly what he thought…

 

“… I don’t think I’m ever gonna let you leave.” 

 

The song was over. Sonder and Atom kept holding hands. “Um, sorry,” Atom said.

 

Sonder just stared at him. “I really missed you,” he said. “I’m really glad I’m back.” 

 

Atom’s face was so hot you could fry an egg on it. 

 

“I missed you too,” he said. 

 

Then the moment was over and they went inside. 

 

***

Hey there! It's been a while, sorry. Atom and Sonder will be getting more songs in the future, FYI. Also, Atom's middle name, Selenophile, is what you call someone who loves the moon. An odd middle name, yes, but I feel like it makes him more endearing for some reason? Anyways, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :D

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Day 7, Part 13

Sometimes, things are just different. That was how it was after Sonder and Atom came inside. There was an understanding that there hadn’t been before, an ease that replaced the awkwardness they’d grown so used to. They were still holding hands and by now were well aware of it, but neither seemed willing to let go. 

 

Deep inside Sonder’s mind, Ink was furious. But Sonder didn’t notice. He and Atom went down to the basement to watch Marvel movies and did not come back up when the guests woke up and Rose cooked breakfast, or when everyone gathered in the lobby for attendance. Rose saw the peanut butter Cheez-Its on the counter, made the connection, and decided to let them slide. 

 

“Okay everyone, let’s go!”

 

She brought the guests into the field of tiles. Darkvine walked onto one and it immediately started playing Imagine Dragons. Writing got a playlist chock full of show tunes and indie music. Darkling got random songs with lyrics nobody understood and some weirdly aggressive classical music thrown in. 

 

“This is pretty cool,” said Rose. “It seems like the music the tiles play is specific to the person who stands on it.” 

 

Everyone had a good time walking around, trying out tiles. Rose wandered off in the distance. She’d already tried a tile, and knew it played a lot of songs from musicals she liked. She wondered if Atom and Sonder had already come out here and gotten a song? And if so, what was it? She’d have to interrogate Aton later. Oh, how she loved a good romance. 

 

After a while, everyone already had a song and became bored and hungry so they went back inside, where Rose cooked lunch. Then they played board games and a few games of hide-and-seek, which proved to be less than safe after Darkling disappeared for an hour and then returned with no memory of where they’d been. Of course, this didn’t stop anyone from wanting to play, and Darkling was fine (“I have less scars than I usually have after mysteriously disappearing!”). It was all going great. 

 

And then something… Unexpected happened.

 

Darkvine was standing next to Writing. The two were working together as the seekers for this round of hide-and-seek.

 

The wind blew through a window, tousling Darkvine’s hair. Her eyes grew dark and gooey. She fell to her knees, arms spread out. 

 

“Um… Darkvine? You good?” Writing asked. 

 

No response. 

 

“I’m all alone,” said Darkvine. “I don’t belong here. I’m not good enough.” 

 

“W-what?” 

 

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” 

 

“Darkvine, you’re scaring me.” 

 

For the first time, Darkvine looked Writing in the eyes. “Don’t be scared,” she said, her voice different. She gave a cold, unnatural laugh, and stood back up. “Oh, but that’s a silly thing to say, isn’t it? You’re always scared.” 

 

Before Writing had a chance to react, Darkvine grabbed xyr hand. Writing’s eyes became as black as Darkvine’s, and xe saw things they hadn’t seen before. 

 

“Oh my gosh,” Writing said. “This is… This is terrible. This is cruel. Why are you showing me this?” 

 

“Because you like it,” said Darkvine. “You know it’s wrong, but it’s still beautiful. Destiny is destiny.” Her hand was crawling up Writing’s arm now, fingers tracing themselves along xyr neck. 

 

“No,” Writing said. “Of course I don’t want this.” 

 

“Everyone does, eventually. You’ll learn. This may be evil, but evil is free.” 

 

Darkvine’s hand was on Writing’s forehead now. She pressed the heel of her palm hard, and Writing cried out in pain. 

 

“Stop!” 

 

Writing’s wings fluttered, and their arms twisted. Was this it? Were they being murdered? 

 

No. They weren’t being murdered. They were being… Changed? But why? How? 

 

A voice came into xyr head. It belonged to a little girl. 

 

Oh no, what’s it doing to you? Oh, this is scary. I don’t like it…

 

The dark storm that clouded Writing’s vision began to clear. 

 

“What?” Darkvine said. “How?” 

 

Writing rose off the ground, wings spread powerfully, and thought they must’ve looked pretty heroic. “Get out of my head,” xe said. “And Darkvine’s, too.” Writing looked Darkvine carefully in the eye, past the emptiness, through the storms. She gasped, and fell to the floor, unconscious. Writing hit the ground a moment after her, eyes shut. Blood dripped from one small scrape on xyr cheek.

 

***

 

Darkvine groaned as her eyes opened, and the world around her came into focus. She was in the lobby. She was supposed to be counting, but she had fainted because she… Hadn’t eaten enough. Yes, that was right. She hadn’t had enough to eat at lunch, so she’d fainted. And Writing, who stood above her, had a scar on their cheek because they’d fallen outside and gotten hurt. And everyone was standing in the lobby because they were worried about her. Rose held a cup of tea in her hands, and handed it to Darkvine. 

 

“We’re so glad you’re okay,” she said. “We were really worried about you.” 

 

“Thanks,” said Darkvine, not knowing what else to say. 

 

They helped Darkvine up the stairs, to her room, which had “don’t know?” On the door where the other guests’ doors had numbers (except for Tsuki’s, which didn’t have a number because she hated them). Everyone seemed to feel a need to keep an eye on Darkvine, even though she felt fine. They took care of her the rest of the night, bringing her dinner and having a movie marathon in her room (they even let her pick the movies, much to her delight). She was grateful that they cared about her and wondered if she really deserved it. 

 

While doing the dishes, Rose glanced out the window and did a double take. Someone was out there. She looked closer and gasped. It was Atom and Sonder.

 

Atom and Sonder were dancing. 

 

A slow, gentle song was playing, and they were dancing. Awkwardly, and not with a particular amount of skill, but it counted. Sonder led the dance, and the two were in sync. 

 

Rose giggled with delight. “Called it,” she said, smiling as she rinsed the last plate.

 

~~

 

This one's a little dull and confusing, in my opinion, but don't worry--things will make more sense soon. Thank you all for reading, hope you're having a great day :)