Disclaimer: I don't own Andy's Apple Farm (Video Game). I don't own the picture (cover). Or the song.

(qwertuno and SilentReadersMatter)

(Inspired by _KaiTheLateFriend_ book called 'Evil Always Wins.' (Mainly chapter 1 and 2.) Check it out, it's amazing!)

(Wanting: talks of depression and implied self-harm. Don't read if triggered.)

(Hope you enjoy.)

Ever felt depression? The emotion feeding off your anger, sadness, rage as it feasts from years or decades of abuse, whether unintentionally or intentional? There's a method people use called hiding behind masks.

Covering their emotions, refusing to let the outside world see underneath the exterior they've managed to create. A concrete faker compared to the original.

I'm fine.

There's a method people use. It's called hiding behind masks. Placing on an external exterior to cover the internal's desperation. It wanting to be led to the surface, but the subconscious blocked it's efforts of letting the host of the body expressing their felt emotions in the situation which regarded its attention.

"Your fine." Andy looked in the mirror, best smile placed on his mouth. "Your fine. They won't know. Your supposed to be happy. Cheerful. Don't let the infection ruin your day."

His mind called the recent experience the infection because he hadn't dealt with emotions like these before, so he had idea how and when to express his hidden desires.

"Your fine."

His eye twitched, but he ignored the obvious sign and continued his performance. He needed to practice the smile and the emotions his mind allowed to be expressed if his friends weren't to see through the exterior it showed him how to put on each and every day.

Your not fine.
You are an infection.
Place on the smile.
And they won't know your pathetic.

The voices, their voices, all (his?) voices echoed through his mind, coming everywhere and nowhere at once. His eyes twitched again.

Ignore it!

He flinched at that particular voice. It's one he'd seen, he's sure of this knowledge. The masculinity and the grief are just two things he detected in every sentence it uttered.

Just...go to your friends.

Andy looked in the mirror at his pathetic reflection. Hands clenching the sink, he laughed at the internal jokes the voices told. His laugh came out hollow and empty, and he lost himself to the incoming breakdown.

Hollow and empty became full on maniacal. His eyes unwittingly turned to see the knife resting on the bathroom shelf. Through his eyes, as if another person is making the decisions for their body, his hands reach and he stared at the object that brought him peace before.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

Andy stared at it a full minute before before deciding the questions weren't worth the incoming relief it would bring.

He placed the knife back on its resting place.

***

Andy's friends were idiots. Playfully hilarious, but some of the idiotic people he'd ever known in his not known years on the farm. As the owner, he ensured everything was in its natural place.

"Heya, Andy~" Felix sing-songed, sending a chill dole Andy's spine. "Where ya keys at?~"

Andy hummed in confusion. Reaching for his keys, he pulled out nothing from his pockets. Bullets of sweat dripped down his face as he realised the most important object for not getting robbed had been stolen.

"Felix." He hissed. "Where are they?"

"In the barn." Melody smiled smugly. "Play our little games, Andy. And you shall receive your keys. You know the rules, go in the barn."

The apple man seethed at his friends. Not believing they could be so stupid as to steal an object which was essential in his everyday routine if he wanted safety in his own home.

They had to be.

"Guys..." Andy pressed carefully, fiddling with his hands nervously. "Please, give me the keys..."

I can't go through the cycle.

Trembling hands reached for keys not within reaching status. The friends exchanged confused glances before focusing their attention on the outwardly shaking Andy. His voices were acting up without them knowing.

They won't give the keys.
You deserve everything taken.

They wouldn't shut up. Andy tried quieting them to listen to the group's voices, but the internal ones his attention be focused on them and them only. They weren't liking his attempts at resisting their call for him to be trapped within their echoes.

Worthless scum walking the planet.
Ignoring the ones who listen.
Pitiful at best, can be blamed at worse.

They'd only quietened when someone literally slapped his face. Cheeks stinging from the impact, Andy's hand tenderly stroked the red mark absorbed by the impact of the practically asked for assault. His eyes hardened and his face morphed into a sharp glare.

"What was that for?"

"You wouldn't listen." Margret replied. "Felix's idea. Blame him if anything."

Andy turned his attention to Felix, the fish boy at least having the nerve to appear shameful. Lowering his head and casting his eyes to the nearby shade. One person didn't look as sorry.

Bad friend.
No guilt.
Remorseless.

Claus the clock.

"All your have to do is win our challenges." His breath suddenly became warm, grazing the the shell of Andy's non-existent ears. "Win them, and you get your keys back. Not that hard, hm?"

"Why do I need to do these challenges?" Andy tilted his head questioning their sanity. "I want my keys, which are essential to my house. Do I really need to spell it out. Just. Give them. Back."

Why were his friends acting like jerks? It wasn't like them to be this way. Petty high schools bullies pulling a teenage prank which would turn out to be pathetic and have no point in the end.

His hand stayed on Andy's shoulder. Uncertain of his decision, he decided it'd be better to just let them have their fun than try and win a useless arguments. He never win them anyway. Always one against multiple. The odds were stacked against him, whether he liked it or not. And he definitely did not like those chances.

"...where are my keys?" He grabbed Claus' hand, basically throwing it off his shoulder. "You shouldn't have taken them!-"

Multiple sets of hands grabbed his shoulders. All of a sudden Andy found himself shoved in the barn they were conveniently standing a couple feet next to a few minutes prior to their little argument. Getting up on his feet again, the apple man shoved and pushed against the door, even banging the hinges in hopes of a way out possibly opening.

Nothing happened.

Hopeless.
Loser.
Weak.

The voices started up as some he landed in the damn hay. Groaning lightly, Andy's head throbbed from the slap and the landing of the push Felix went a bit too hard into having effort to prove he'd been working out these past complete of months.

Looking around the barn, his mind faintly told him he had been here before. Deja vi creeped in immediately. Andy trudged forward despite the obvious warning signs of danger ahead.

Literally, there were signs everywhere.

***

Danger! It will hunt.
Don't come in!
Keep out! Stay away!

He meant literally. Posted in every direction, signs hanging left and right as Andy walked in their directions and against the warnings in here put by someone experiencing these horrors.

Why does this feel...familiar?

The sense of deja by crept in. His surroundings morphed into a mental picture Andy had no control of forming like a daydream in class when you were bored by the teacher. Images appeared in his mind briefly, feeling as through they were blurry pictures above a sea lake.

What's going on?

The sensation of being underwater abided the deja vu. Accompanying the others, the pictures becoming more clear than before he's allowed the dreams to fester into whatever they might have been before and in the present.

"Dad? Why are you crying?"

A man sat on his chair, hands supporting his cheeks as the tears trekked his cheeks. Having no control over his actions, his eyes turned dark as he eyed the little one responsible for his death.

"You little shit."

He stood off the furniture. The girl screamed, knowing what was about to come next. It didn't stop the man grabbing her hair and dragging her along the floors. She kicked, screamed, pleaded.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

They made eye contact. Something on his heart softened at the sight of his daughter afraid I've her own father. Someone in his mind edged in a word otherwise. She was a killer.

"You are not my child."

A murderer in the making.

Andy yelped as something tugged his wrist. He jerked forward, landing on the sharp hay and flushing when someone offered a hand.

"Need help, partner?"

Not seeing exactly who stood above him, Andy accepted the offering. Pulling himself up with the help of this mysterious stranger. He lifted his head so he could see who stood in front of him.

A literal pumpkin man stood in the darkness. A pumpkin for a head, looking as young as he appeared to be. In his early twenties, green eyes like emerald, wearing green overalls along with a white shirt supporting the straps for the item of clothing.

A confused tilt of his head made him look...

Kind of cute?

"Who are you?" Andy asked shyly. "Sorry, just confused. I didn't think anyone lived here."

"I didn't think anyone would trespass on my property." The stranger spoke with a slight southern accent, though still understand enough to be heard. "We all encounter strange things. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Taking a deep breath, Andy's cheek flushed in embarrassment. Shifting one foot to the other, his arms folded as he faced the other direction, mumbling a few unintelligible phrases. Peter laughed gently at the Apple's clear exasperation of the situation of the they were both facing in clear surprise.

He was shocked into smiling silence.

How do I plan this out?

It'd been a long time since he received visitors.

"Peter. Who are you?"

A wave of compulsion coursed through Andy's mind. An emotion of...pleasure tingled as he obeyed the unconscious spoken order by the stranger looking rather neutral.

"The owner of this farm."

Peter's hand titled Andy's chin, moving his head in the process. Trapped inside his own body, he only watched through his eyes from a faraway location in his mind as the pumpkin man smiled like the idea of the century suddenly hit.

"Your the true owner." He hummed, hands steadying Andy's shoulders. "I know they threw your keys in here. Cruel, so, so, cruel."

"Yea-yeah, I guess. Cruel." Andy mumbled, eyes glazed, looking far away. "People are cruel."

"Throwing your keys." Peter tutted, burying his face into the crook of Andy's neck. "Giving you to me. I could kill you right now. Your so weak with me. Unmoved. Frozen in the spot."

A sudden jingle snapped Andy out of his light trance. Shaking his head, he suddenly found himself pinned to a wall a few feet in the darkness behind all the pillars.

Not Cute.
Think your curable?
No cure for the insane.

Peter's hand jingled his keys. Andy tried reaching for it, but Peter merely dangled his arm further out his range within height. Moving it from Andy's eye sight, he smiled a way that forced his heart fluttering in his chest.

It wasn't natural. The action felt forced.

"I'll give your keys, make this process easier on the both of us." Peter growled possessively, placing a hand on Andy's neck as his frozen body refused his internal commands. "I'll give the house keys if you promise a second meeting."

That was an easy deal. As the owner of the farm, Andy has negotiated plenty in the past with people wanting his farm for other purposes rather than actual crops and food for the winter.

"Give me them first."

Chink.

They clinched as Peter shivered the now useless object in the apple farm owner's palm. He had the advantage of the situation. Andy's keys laid there safe and sound. They weren't stolen. Just borrowed for a higher purpose.

"Thanks, little apple. We'll meet soon."

Before the darkness consumed his vision, Peter momentarily transformed into his true body instead of the host he infested. Eyes changing from the white pupils to an endless seal of black and more black, green irises shrinking to a sharp cat eye sensed shape ones.

Tentacles spurred behind his back. A black, inky mass travelling them like eternal internet glitched. His smile was sinister with an understanding that the silence spoke for him.

He could've killed Andy the moment they met.

What the hell?

Two fingers gently closed his eyelids. Sleep eluded the apple man's mind, though a sense of drowsiness overwhelmed his senses. He gave into the sensation with a horrible realisation.

His friends had left him to a demon.

***

Andy woke up with betrayal in his veins. Coursing through his mind, the thoughts of abandonmentlossbetrayalneverendingpain-

The feeling of someone leaving you to your doom? They've left out in your darkest moments. Choosing to abandon your the moment you needed them most.

"ANDY!"

"We aren't letting you out until you agree~"

Until the other timelines, this version remembered his encounter with the pumpkin demons, fully remembering the way the shadows welcomed him in as one of their own.

As if he belonged with them.

Felt nice to belong somewhere.

Not stuck running the same shtick. Repeating the same routine and expecting the same results. He knew the outcome and the consequences that would followed after. It became tiring.

"Hey, guys.." Andy greeted emotionlessly. "How ya'll doing? Got the keys back."

His friends turned their backs, now facing the apple man in shock. Not expecting him to get out then holding they'd intentionally trapped him inside with a killer. A demon. Corrupted person.

Peter the pumpkin. An old friend.

"Andy?!" Claus replied in shock. "How—when did you get out?"

"Just now."

Why was his mind so...hollow? Emotions coming from nowhere. No source to allow his heart and face to express the things his soul wished he'd eternally expressing on the daily.

"Andy...are you okay?" Margret asked rather apologetically. "We went too far. I should have know better."

"Yeah, man." Felix sighed. "A prank that could have ended in disaster and-"

Would've ended if he killed me already.

Peter left him alive for a reason. Just thinking about the stranger caused his heart to start beating faster than the average rate. Sparks of blood flowed through his chest, causing a more reddish colour to his already darkened face.

"Andy. Talk to us." Melody tried getting him to confide in them. "We're your friends. You should trust us."

"Can't trust people who try to kill you."

Andy wasn't in the mood to deal with them. He clutched his keys tight and headed toward his house, holding a good nights sleep would clear his head. A new decision haunted him.

What would he need to let go?

Can't trust attempted murderers.
Left us in a burning building.
Bullies and narcissistic.

The voices were actually right this time.

***

Sitting alone is a weird experience. Your either grow to hate the loneliness. Appreciate the silence and serenity that applied when becoming a loner or introvert in most cases.

There's a peace, yet I want it to leave.

Andy was the second.

He hated being alone. Always used to someone or something lighting his day and keeping the thoughts of rather harmful actions at bay. Deep in the recesses of his mind never meant to reach the surface.

Andy eyes the sunset, a feeling of a peace spreading throughout his body and mind as the sky replaced the clouds with the stars representing his favourite time of day. The night sky. A time where he could sleep and simply not worrying about waking in the real world.

Until he had to (of course).

"No. He wouldn't agree."

Andy's head perked up. Tilting his head out of habit, he crawled closer to the source of the newfound voice. Much deeper, smoother, darker sounding than his own childlike innocence.

"His name's Andy. What does he even-"

"Peter?"

Everything froze in a few seconds. Peter, the environment, the shadows, even himself as an unseen energy observed the best course of actions. His eyes flickered due to lack of concentration before returning to his normal colours Andy associated with the pumpkin man.

"Andy." His voice glitched, clearing his throat before turning to normal. "What are you doing in my place? Again."

"I promised you a second visit."

A sudden spark ignited in Peter's eyes. They changed instantly, a whole knew showing its confidence at the front seat. He already felt the comforting hand gripping his shoulder like last time before everything went to up in flames.

"You came back." The creature crooned. "They usually don't keep their promises. How was the confrontation?"

He knows.

Of course he'd know. Demons probably watched with some supernatural way of showing outside Andy's line of vision.

"Bad."

Peter hummed in reply, gaze focusing somewhere else. His eyes communicated with another entity, glowing slightly in the darkness around them as the shadows slowly closed the barn doors. Peter sent them a mental thank you note.

They swirled around them preening in delight.

Master!
Master!
Masters!

They drowned his own threatening voices. Total silence reigned his mind. Andy had his own thoughts and his mind (somewhat) belonged to him and not another claiming it as their own.

"...Join me, Andy."

Andy flinched in his ears. Peter kept a steady grip just incase something were to grow wrong. A situation out of hand where he'd need the help.

Andy thought about the offer. Truly tempting, sounding better than everything they could ever offer to fill the void threatening to consume him.

"Your friends will receive their just rewards."

Did he have a purpose? Anyone have need of him? Or was Andy there to be tool to be used?

He couldn't let himself be hurt anymore.

"Alright, friend."

He swore warmth sparked in those usual cold, dead eyes of Peter's. The word friend placed a frozen, dead smile Andy had never seen.

"This will only hurt a second."

A secondary split pain caused a gasping Andy to cling his new friends as the pain settled. Twisting the burns in his body, damaging neves becoming different than previous. External changes necessary if they were to look friends.

"Good, good." Peter's hand stroked his cheek, thumb grazing an edge lip. "Better, better. You are so improved."

Still the same.

Except Andy and the rest were covered in blood stains. Hard to wash the things out. Trying to warm up the extra effort Peter put in.

His eyes were sunken just like Peter's. The same clothes and everything. A darker aura now shone around Andy. The same as Peter's as the shadows allowed him in their embrace. Permanent tear stains adorned his features, making him look like a real devil in disguise.

This wasn't a case of possession. He'd given himself willingly. Peter chuckled in amusement before placing an axe in Andy's hands.

"This is how they'll pay."

Tentacles rising, a huge smiling face appeared briefly during the victory. Peter's eyes blanked before giving himself to this best highest than himself in the glitching field. The entire had created him to serve a purpose.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel simply amazing."

By any means necessary. Andy loved these new feelings of becoming happy each second hanging with Peter and the others. This was the beginning of new feelings and even a new friendship.

A feeling he would gladly grow to learn.