By the time Joshua noticed that his head was pounding and his vision was swimming, it was already too late. The figure had walked back with him to the manner, then promptly disappeared the moment they stepped inside. Joshua had been feeling increasingly spacey, finding it incredibly hard to focus on anything in particular.

He wasn't quite sure how he got there, but he did know that he was in too much pain to care what others thought when they saw him curled up on the couch with his head between his knees.

It was starting to feel like Gerard was his designated nanny.

He was minimally aware when he came into the room, but very incredibly aware when he felt him place a gentle hand on his back. "There, there," He soothed, though Joshua found it to be quite the opposite. "It's alright. Everyone finds their first turning to be the most dramatic."

From the snippets of understanding that he did catch, he was able to piece together, well, absolutely nothing. Joshua mumbled incoherently.

Gerard nodded sympathetically, before standing up again and saying, "Come on, now, let's get you up to your room." He carefully hooked one arm under his knees, and the other behind his head. He gently lifted him up, and took him upstairs to his room. Joshua would have protested, hadn't his head been on fire and his mouth filled with pointy marbles.

He was vaguely aware when Gerard entered his room, tucked him in, and kissed his forehead, before falling into a fitful sleep.

As he slept, he had nasty dreams of shapeless monsters gnawing on his bones, of insects drilling into his brain, of delicious, delicious toast, and of crocodiles snapping at his feet as he crossed a thousand-foot gorge on a tightrope. He awoke in a cold sweat, just as his foot slipped.

He heard a noise right next to him. Snapping his head around, he watched in silent horror as the man he had previously seen, wearing what he now realized to be a milkman uniform, quietly placed a bottle of milk on his bedside table, and crept back around to the door. To his dismay, before leaving, the man turned around and locked eyes with Joshy. He put a finger to his lips and "shh"-ed him, before scuttling out of the room.

From just outside his door, he heard a male voice speaking to who he could only assume was the weird milkman: "Well done, baby. You're really making him feel welcome. Though, for next time, I think he might be more of a two-percent kind of person." There was some more soft muttering as the two continued on their way. Still wracking his brain to place the voice, he realized it was the butler, Brendon. He shuddered.

—

After a couple more minutes, he decided he ought to get up again. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, groaning and holding his head. He stood, and,  still grumbling to himself, slipped his shoes on and walked to the door. On the way there, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on the mantle. Horrified, he scrubbed at the bright red lipstick marks on his forehead till there was nothing but a trace left. He also took this opportunity to straighten his rumpled coat, and comb his fingers through his hair in a feeble attempt to curb its unruliness. Deeming himself presentable enough, he cautiously made his way back downstairs. It was starting to become a bit of a habit now, it seemed.

He didn't encounter anyone on his way down the steps, for which he was thankful. His psyche was still incredibly fragile.

From outside the big, beautifully decorated doors of the parlor, happy voices could be heard from inside, laughing and chattering exuberantly. Remembering his manners, and the disaster that happened last time, he knocked before entering.

He heard the room go quite. Then a small laugh and a "Come in!" From someone that was punch drunk or possibly just drunk drunk.

He timidly opened the door, and peaked his head in. His eyes felt like the inside a kaleidoscope. There was a burning, searing light seen only to him, that caused the image inside to wibble and wobble and maybe that was a good thing because oh lord he would not want to see that image in a way that suggested any type of reality.

//Happy 2020! I have finally passed 300 reads on this book! Yippee! Thank you, everyone, and I'll see you soon! You won't want to miss the next chapter, things finally start to really get going.//

Published January 7, 2020