I was just about to get relaxed and settled under the thick, warm, aqua-blue comforter of my bed. I turned to my right, the position I usually go to sleep in. A few minutes went by, with my conscious mind slowly ticking away from reality. The black that covered my eyes parted as I was jolted awake, figuratively and literally, by a creaking sound. It sounded like pressure on wooden floorboards that came from the doorway. Another sound, which sounded similar, followed. Instead of floor boards creaking, it sounded like a door handle screeching against the ring of brass holding it in place.

I shut my eyes in an instant as a useless attempt to shut out my sudden wave of terror. Everyone else was asleep, so I wasn't sure who or what it was. The surroundings of my room were dark, yet, there was a purplish light illuminating the corners. It felt like I was living in an ancient, inked, beat-up photo, splotches of light and dark covering my field of vision. Out of the darkness, at the foot of my bed, appeared two maroon dots sitting in the shadows, keeping still and flashing away every few moments. I panicked, and tried to jump up defensively, but I couldn't. I attempted to open my eyes again, but instead I noticed how I was watching the entire scene through my eyelids. I wanted to scream, but I felt my voice die in my chest. My whole body was paralyzed.

It all has to be some kind of nightmare.. this can't be real..

The red, glowing dots, still cowering in the shadows, then became lines. They got proportionally bigger over time, the glow becoming brighter and brighter, a red tint washing the room in blood-red. A silhouette formed from the darkness as the two lines, which now looked to be pupils, got closer.

The figure was revealed to be a person, but it looked deformed. Unnatural. I looked towards the creature, though I never physically moved. Its fingers were as sharp as a shark's teeth, with its skin being a revolting gray, olive green color. Sprouting from its back, limbs that seemed to be tentacles gracefully weaved through the air, occasionally crashing into each other, or even tangling and wrapping around each other. The thing walked until it was looming over me. It had a spark of malice and insanity in its eyes, seeming psychopathic and menacing. From the red, eerie light in its mouth, I could tell that it had rows of sharp knives for teeth, capable of ripping flesh right off a body. It had a crooked, deranged smile spread its face, one that you could only see in movies or in cartoon shows.

The entity rose one of its many tentacles above me, slowly creeping it around my chest twice as it squeezed me to get a good grip. The pure blue and white dyes of my bed were now stained with dull, dark, black streaks and smears where the tentacle came in contact with. I was lifted up and over the side of my bed, now facing the creature head on. Two more blood red, hollow circles appeared above the red, slit-pupils, which somehow made it more terrifying than it already was. I still couldn't move. I was still as frozen as dry ice in Antarctica at -1000 degrees. I was startled by a sudden voice. The voice boomed out in front of me,

"Let me help you resume your eternal rest.."

It chuckled, loud and deep enough that I felt my organs vibrate and dark enough to send shivers down my spine. I felt so disturbed and afraid I thought I was going to puke, not to mention the fact I was being squeezed so much I felt my ribs being constricted and pushed inward. It raised another tentacle above its head, facing it towards me ready to pierce through my skull, brain, and out the other side. The snake lounged towards my forehead, and that's when daylight struck my eyes.

I woke up. I checked the clock and it was 7:45 a.m. on the dot. Out the window to my right was nothing but trees as far as the eye could see. Sunlight shone though the blinds that spread over the glass, dancing over the floor, desk, and bed like ballerinas. I looked at myself, and my palms were visibly sweating and shaking from fear. I tentatively sat up and walked out of bed, stretched, and yawned. I walked to the opposite side of my room, groggily opening the blinds so that my bedroom was now flooded with the vibrant, bright colors of furniture. I looked around steadily once I got my eyes adjusted to the light, and finally spoke to myself.

"Holy crap... that was one heck of a nightmare.. that was one trip to hell I don't want to go back down.."
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-Tbh POV-
I still had questions about the night before, and I'll find the answers today. The person I wanted to question, was of course, Socks. I had slipped in my crab outfit and opened the right door in my room. My room was laid out weirdly.

There was the right corner, which in each wall had a door that either opened inward or outward, left or right. Before I stepped out of my room, I looked to my Axolotl, Hershey. She swam up to the left side of the tank and gave me the look "you can do this, Tb. Just don't die". I gave a warm smile back to the golden-brown axolotl and exited my room. I quietly shut my right door and walked across the hall to check on Socks' room.

Nothing.

He wasn't there.

I finally jerked my gaze away from the empty room and turned to the right. I was surprised that he was up an hour earlier than usual. He usually wakes up around nine. I passed the basement door and entered the room next to the stairs. As I winced from the light hitting my retinas, I noticed he wasn't there either. I turned another corner and saw Socks sorting through the cabinets in the kitchen. He hadn't noticed me yet. I took a few steps forward before greeting,

"Hello, Socks! I guess you woke up early.."

He visibly jumped, along with a tentacle escaping from his back out of surprise. He breathed out,

"Oh, hey Tb-"

He paused what he was doing to shove the tentacle back in, knocking a box of cereal off the counter in the process. I picked it up and handed it back to Socks, which he stuffed back in the cupboard where he thought it belonged. He continued,

"Thanks. But yeah, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep because of psychopath up there,"

Socks poked his own head as he explained his situation.

"So I just decided to get up."

"Cool. Well actually, I wanted to ask you a couple things,"

Socks shut the cabinet and turned around, staying silent and allowing me to continue.

"Have you looked around your bedroom for anything.. suspicious?"

After I finished that sentence, Socks gave me a confounded look. A look that said, 'What do you mean by that?'. He followed the look by asking,

"What do you mean?"

"Well,"

I wasn't sure how to explain it, so I continued,

"You know what? Come with me."

I grabbed Socks by the wrist and started to turn around to go to his room, though he slightly gasped in pain once I did. Looking back at him once again and allowing him to yank his hand out of my grasp, I asked,

"Are you ok?"

Gently rubbing his wrist, he breathed out,

"It just felt like my wrist was stabbed with a nail-"

"Is it okay now?"

"Pretty much- just don't grab my wrist again, I guess."

I nodded and started walking to Socks' room once again. The infected followed, holding his wrist as he trudged behind. With the two of us entering the room, I flicked on the light switch. Both of us flinched at the sudden blinding light from both the lamp and the window-booth.

Taking in what I could, I walked over and sat on his bed, on which the covers were not made and instead scrunched and pushed towards the end of the bed. I spotted a small splotch of black that had soaked into the comforter, and another in the carpet. I then looked at Socks, and urged,

"Look under the bed and you'll see what I mean."

Socks' confused expression became a facetious one, as he jokingly remarked,

"Is this a prank or something? Is someone gonna jump-scare me? Because if it is, you know it won't work. Grade-A acting right there though."

"No, this isn't a prank, Socks. Just look under the bed."

"Okay, okay. But don't be surprised if I don't get scared."

Socks then looked under the bed as I had said to. His face then returned to being confused and concerned. Socks pulled out from under the bed an empty water bottle covered in black sludge.
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-Socks POV-
I had been confused this whole time, but now I'm absolutely dumbfounded. I sat up and stared at the water bottle, more confused than angry at this mental parasite. I tried to throw in some humor to lighten the situation by saying,

"So this is where the drinks have been going.. huh?"

I heard the little voice in my head say:

"That would be me."

Tbh responded,

"I assume so. Speaking of which, I actually caught you red-handed last night. You drank at least a quarter of a twenty-four pack!"

I quickly calculated the ounces, and blurted out,

"That's six times sixteen ounces of water. Ninety-six ounces. Is that okay?!"

"Don't know. Another thing- you weren't doing it in your sleep, it was your evil side. So it's definitely not gone."

Tbh's voice wasn't as serious anymore, but instead had a hint of concern. I stuttered,

"I-I don't know what to think. Why is he doing this? How is he doing this? How am I not dead? Are there any side effects from drinking this much? How is everyone still alive?!"

Tbh interrupted my thoughts and questioned,

"He-? What, does it have a name now too?"

"No, I can just tell it's a male entity from the voice."

I then felt a tentacle creep out of my back and lay on the floor. The tip stayed pointing upward, swaying back and forth like a content cat's tail. Tbh stared at it, struggling to rip his gaze away from it and focus on my face. He weakly inquired,

"What do you mean- voice-"

Seeing his fear, I placed my hand on the tentacle, trying to hide it the best I could. I explained,

"He talks to me, all the time. Do you not remember the episode three days ago?"

"W-well of course I do. I'm sorry and no offense, but that was terrifying."

"None taken."

Tbh finally snapped his gaze back to me, and switched back to the original topic.

"Anyways, do you remember anything at all from last night?"

I thought back, and concluded,

"Nope. I don't remember anything. I don't even recall waking up."

The tentacle suddenly slipped back into my body just before someone opened the door and walked in. Meme exclaimed,

"Hey, guys! What's going on in here?"

I could tell the nineteen year old man in a Cookie Monster onesie had tensed after spotting me in the room, and I couldn't blame him. He almost died the other day. Meanwhile, I was stunned, not sure what to say or what to do. Tbh quickly covered,

"Nothing! We were just checking something out in here."

Meme's cheerful face became an unimpressed one upon hearing that response. Seeing me sitting on the floor holding a bottle covered in black, and seeing the nervous look plastered on Tb's face, he obviously wasn't convinced.

"Uh, Socks? Why are you on the floor? And why's that water bottle covered in the black stuff?"

"I was getting a drink and decided to sit on the floor! The black is what we were c-checking out, actually-"

"But your bed is right behind you. You could just sit on that. Either way, I know something's up, and I'm not going to act dumb. Just tell me."

I gave Tbh a look that said, 'Should we tell him?', and Tbh responded with a concurring look. He then explained what we knew.
____________________

The first responses to Tbh's explanation was the devil in my head carelessly commenting things along the lines of, "No way.", "What are you thinking?!", "False, how stupid can you be?". Meme reasoned,

"So that's why you haven't been thirsty at all.."

I responded,

"Yeah, I guess this has been happening ever since I've gotten possessed. It's probably the reason why the base is running out of drinks so quick."

"But the real question is why."

Tbh piped up, which came as a surprise as neither me or Meme were expecting the man in a crab outfit to have a theory.

"Well, last night, when I saw him drinking the bottles, his tentacles got longer every time he finished one."

The voice snapped with an attitude,

"Wow, didn't know he could see."

I ignored him, and with a distressed tone exclaimed,

"How does that even work? Does water have a molecule in it that makes his tentacles grow or something?!"

Meme asked, repeating Tbh,

"Since when are we getting attached to this tormenting-squid-thing? It's a he now?"

I explained again,

"I'm not getting attached. It's a male voice in my head, that's all."

"Voice-?"

"I'm not explaining all of this again."

Tbh got back on track,

"Well no, how would the water do something that quick. Can he direct the water? No- that wouldn't make sense."

I interrupted Tbh, blankly stating,

"Nothing has been making sense after I had that medicine Tb."

"Right."

Meme then stepped in once again, thinking out loud.

"Well, if all logic is thrown out the window, the water could be fine. Maybe something with your cells happens when you drink it?"

Tired of coming up with theories as quick as a physicist, he paused before saying,

"One thing that biology didn't need to teach me is that I need breakfast to survive. Goodbye."

Meme left the room immediately after saying that. Tbh and I both looked at each other, implicitly asking whether or not to follow the blue man. He shrugged, I shrugged back, and muffin-brain shrugged with his tentacles.
________________

Swallowing a mouthful of Cheerios, Meme brought up,

"I had the creepiest dream last night.."

Tbh, trying to lighten the mood a bit, exclaimed,

"Really? Maybe it was from Socks getting jumpscared by me saying good morning."

I scoffed, and shot back,

"Honestly you're lucky the evil man didn't stab you or something. But yeah, I don't know why I got scared so easily."

I heard my mind say,

"Ha! You got that right there, Socks."

A shiver went down my spine, thinking about it. I glanced down at my wrist, which vibrated with a pinch of pain the more I paid attention to it. Tbh looked to Meme and said,

"Anyways.. what's up with this dream?"

"So, I was in my bed. Everything looked kinda purple, actually. I heard noises from the door, something came in, and I only saw two red dots floating in the shadows. It got closer, and I could tell they were eyes. I could tell that it was a person, and it had things coming from it's back and shoulders. I tried to scream, move, open my eyes, and I just couldn't. It lifted me up, said something along the lines of, 'Let me resume your sleep', and it almost stabbed me."

I stared at Meme, processing what the dream could've looked like. I was about to reach for an apple to crunch on when a tentacle did it for me.

It grabbed an apple, threw it in the air, and stabbed through the core in under three seconds. The core flew across the kitchen, slamming on the countertop. The three of us stared at the core, then at the tentacle, which still had the rest of the apple skewered on it. The tentacle set the apple on the table, and then slithered into my back once again.

Tbh, still stunned, attempted continuing the conversation.

"Uh- I personally think that you, my friend, had a sleep paralysis demon."

Meme stuttered,

"T-the heck's is that?"

"Well you couldn't move in your dream, so that's known as sleep paralysis. Obviously, as you saw it's a kind of nightmare. Some people have 'demons' that haunt that too, and that seems to match up with your case."

"Oh, fun."

I was about to walk over and grab the apple core, but Blaza and Laff sleepily walked in. I greeted,

"Oh, hey guys."

Blaza sleepily waved, and yawned,

"Sup. Hey, did anyone else hear noises at like, three in the morning?"

Laff also agreed with him. I let out a nervous laugh and looked to Tbh, who replied,

"That's what I wanted to say, but obviously you both heard it."

Laff eagerly asked,

"Well, do you know what it was?"

I quickly interjected before Tbh could answer,

"It was me, apparently drinking six bottles of water."

Blaza raised an eyebrow, and asked,

"What are you doing up at three drinking a bunch of water?"

I rephrased,

"Okay, my evil side was up at three drinking a quarter of a pack of water bottles."

He continued,

"Okay, so what is your evil side-"

He stared behind me, as a tentacle was slowly creeping towards the trash can, the apple core in its grip. Blaza ignored it, continuing,

"Since when does drinking water sound like scratching and bumping?"

Tbh piped up, quickly spitting out,

"What do you mean? What scratching and bumping?"

Laff, still staring at the tentacle, faded in saying,

"What are you all talking about? I heard metal screechin' like someone was shapen'in a knife."

I heard Meme breath out,

"What the.."

"Looks like he's doing more than getting hydrated.."

The voice in my head laughed, then yelled,

"Yhenjes I'm just getting started. Get used to it."

Desperately trying to ignore him, I instead heard Tbh agree with me. Everyone, including my mind, paused for a moment. I heard,

"Maybe you guys should gimme a name instead of calling me muffin-brain. It's getting annoying."

I mentally replied, annoyed.

"Do you not have a name already?"

He immediately shouted,

"Nope!"

As the tentacle got sucked back into my back, I sighed and suggested aloud,

"He's saying to give him a name because it's getting annoying to be called 'the evil side'."

Meme spat, obviously annoyed with the thing,

"I don't know what he's expecting after he murdered a friend of ours."

The voice growled,

"I'm expecting you to be terrified."

Instead of an adult voice, a youthful voice recommended,

"What about Gulvic?"

I jumped, looking at the bat that turned the corner. The bat that morphed into the vampire we know as Nadwe. As soon as he stood, I suddenly went unconscious.
___________________
-Meme POV-

The fifteen year old then smiled and waved. Tbh asked,

"What was your idea again?"

Nadwe repeated,

"Gulvic. It has the beginning of the word gulag."

A familiar demonic voice suddenly piped up,

"You know, you could just ask me.."

I shot my head to face Socks, who's eyes were black with a red slit for a pupil. Letting all four of his tentacles free from his back, he continued,

"My real name is Socks, I'm just the other side of him. But it would be nice to have a distinction."

Using a tentacle, he grabbed the leftover apple and threw it into the mouth that had formed in his chest. As he quickly chewed the entire core-less apple with seemingly no effort whatsoever, he admitted,

"Say, I like the 10 year old's idea.."

Nadwe breathed in to speak, but Blaza covered his mouth. Gulvic smiled at the pure fear Blaza shared with the rest of us. I felt paralyzed once again. Tbh weakly confirmed,

"S-so you like the name Gulvic?"

"Sure, not like you all will use it much through the rest of your lives, with how short they'll be."

He said this grimly, yet had a bit of eagerness in his voice. I could tell that everyone was frozen at this point. I wanted to run, but I couldn't. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. Gulvic continued, turning towards me.

"And someone won't even get to say my name once."

He had the smile of someone who's planned how to win a game of chess, and just gotten checkmate against their opponent. He took only a step forward before his left iris became a white oval. An expression of shock seeped across his face, like he'd been stabbed through the chest. He seemed to become exhausted out of absolutely nowhere.

Their eyes switched back to Socks' brown eyes and white sclera before fainting and falling forward. I jumped out of my chair, letting out an anxious breath of air as Laff, Blaza and Nadwe all caught him.

Laff and Blaza lifted Socks over to the couch in the room next door, which was dubbed 'the room next to the stairs'. I got up and walked to Socks just to see if either of the two were in control once again. Neither were in control. Socks' breath was hot, maybe even a bit too hot. I whispered to myself,

"So it isn't gone after all.."
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