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benilos · 14 days ago

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TATA Ch. 7: The Worm and the Apple

next chapter has smut

Twitch didn't really do much after that second encounter. For some reason, she could no longer focus enough to repeat the weird scrying she did with the mirror, it had gone quiet for her. She clawed her fingers bloody for a week after, hiding in her room with everything quiet, unplugged and locked. Toby stopped knocking at the door after the 4th day. For a week after that, she remained a ghost of the House, flitting from hallway to hallway, only to find most of them blocked off, and her recently found ability to pass through walls also gone from her. The days eeked by until June finally hit. She had been at the House for about just under two months, and now the dreaded second week of June hit.

Oh, this is the fucking worst.

It was time for the ghost to meet someone new. Right now, the House was alight with activity, as apparently, traveling to the "Habitats" with a newcomer is a rather intensive event, meant to be approached with ample planning. Ample planning that included Twitch getting yanked by the arm to an errant room on the east side of the House that had racks and racks and racks of clothing, as well as being shoved violently into a chair to have her wild mass of curls tamed into two braids at the side of her head. Rinku was surprisingly the one to do her hair, never speaking a single word the entire. He slipped into the room as quiet as a shadow, a looming presence that was oddly comforting in the wake of Jane's hyperactivity.

Jane flitted about the room like a fairy, which she was, and yanked clothes to and fro between each of the racks, skittering up to hold it up to Twitch's body, make a dissatisfied face, and skitter back. Twitch was reminded somewhat of the beauty pageants she was put in by her mother, being fussed over for hours with hairspray and sequins and rhinestones, but Rinku's hands in her hair reminded her of the quieter weekends when no pageantry was to be had. Only her mom singing in a language she didn't know and her mother refused to teach her, braiding her hair in front of the TV. Alone together, her dad probably asleep in his room after working so late. Some vampire movie from the early 2000s, it was always different but always the same theme. She was brought out of the memories by Jane nearly knocking her over to shove a pink sundress to her body.

"It will be hot! It's June. You should wear something brighter and cooler than this." She tugged on the collar of the black longsleeved shirt Twitch wore, which was underneath a cropped purple t-shirt. Her pants were plain black jeans.

"I'd really rather not have my arms and shoulders uncovered."

"Why?"

"Don't like it."

Jane hummed. Twitch got a much better look at the woman now, any time before she was always moving too fast or was so far up Jeff's ass you couldn't see her upper half the majority of the time. This Jane was definitely not human, and had confirmed as such at dinner once, calling herself an Altaprimis Esterian, the same species as whatever the Slenderman was. It was a type of wood fae, apparently, supernatural entities borne from the oldest trees on the planet. Modern day breeds would form from places of a particularly strong historical significance to humans who were considered important to the gods. None of which made a single lick of sense to Twitch, but she had nodded along to Jane's long winded explanation anyways.

This Jane still had the iconic long black hair and completely black eyes, but something stuck out to her. Literally. Jane's eyes were huge, and visibly stuck out from her eyelids. She felt like she'd seen something like that before. but couldn't place it.

"What's up with your eyes? Why do they stick out like that?" Wow, straight to the point, huh.

"Ah! They're just like that. I don't know why. I think something in your world is similar to it, callleeeddddd…." She trailed off for a second, then leaned back, squawking out an "AH! Megalocornea."

"Oh, I follow a dude on Tiktok that has that."

"I do too!"

"You use Tiktok?" For some reason the idea of Jane the Killer using Tiktok was disturbing to Twitch.

"Yes! I mostly watch ASMR videos though. I really like the ones where they beat the shit out of the camera."

That's even more disturbing.

Finally, Jane pulled up something more Twitch's speed. The shirt was long-sleeved, a standard collar that didn't make her feel like she was choking, oddly tight sleeves that reminded her she was covered. The hem sat lower than it should, but that was probably due to her size. It was a little tight at the side of her chest, as it probably wasn't made for a D-cup. It definitely didn't fit right, but the torn denim jeans at least stayed on her ass with a belt without showing her underwear. She was not quite happy about the need to wear socks, but thankfully Jane was able to find a pair of sandals that didn't make the webbing of her toes bleed or rub her Achilles raw.

Twitch huffed as she was spun around again to look in the mirror, the top plaits of her braids now a bit frizzed from the constant stream of shirts being pulled on and off her head. Rinku would have to fix them, but he had already slinked out of the room while she was being manhandled by Jane. Jane, however, was beaming, quite proud of herself for dressing the girl in ill-fitting clothing like a doll. The sleeves of the shirt made her armpits itch, but at least it wasn't the purple sequined monstrosity with Hannah Montana's face on it that she was trying to shove into Twitch's hands earlier, saying "It'll fit! You're short enough!" to which Twitch replied with a "MY TITS ARE TOO BIG! I WILL RIP HER FACE!" Is that the only reason you won't wear it?

It was still a whirlwind of cloth and fabric and finally, she felt okay. The shirt didn't fit fully but at least it was something she liked, something similar to a shirt she once had. Maroon red with black lace roses etched along the sleeves. The front of the shirt was embroidered with more of those roses, the hem short on her belly, but the pants were high-waisted, 6 buttons up the front. It kept her covered, secure. Short, solid and sturdy black boots were tied onto her feet, and while Jane fussed over the little curls that wouldn't stay in place Twitch remembered her mother for just a moment.

The black hair, the dark eyes. Fussing over her little pageant girl, all dressed up for her to walk along the stage. Pretty feet, hands out like a cupcake. Look forward, smile at the judges, be pretty, do it right. It was all the same. This time her judge would be the Altaprimis Esterian, Foss. Known on the internet as Trenderman, but in real life he was a creature that guided those out of the less fortunate situations in New York City, but mostly focused on Harlem and Manhattan. He provided a place for everyone that had been displaced in that area, his building a beacon just on the outer edges of the famous neighborhood. Jeff talked about it a little bit, he and Liu had worked for Foss for a short time. Foss was good, reasonable. Kind, even. Always present and there, never running off and disappearing for days on end like Charlie did. He was a caretaker for his proxies, he was their guardian and boss. He took care of them. He sounded okay.

Maybe he could live.

I guess we'll see.

Jane was content, preening and primping as she was wont to do, while Twitch simply stared blankly into the floor length mirror, as if trying to will the image of the green-haired boy into it again. Some whisper of him, some tiny whisp of his scent in the air. But there was nothing. She found her mind wandering, and a different feeling settled. Something in her chest, a faux heartbeat. A lurch, something like a jumpstarting shock that had her body buzzing. She had felt it before but she could not for the death of her remember where she had felt it before.

There wasn't any time to chase the feeling as the Devil caught up to her again, bursting through the door. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, covered by a pale green cardigan, hooded like those techwear outfits on Pinterest she always took screenshots of for roleplays, black cotton pants over ever-present heavy brown boots. Pretty face kissed by the sun, but not glowing this time. His skin was like cinnamon in this light, a beam of the sun hitting him from the half shattered window in the room Jane had dragged her too. His eyes were rimmed by green, the pupils their usual blown out voids so similar to hers. He was so pretty she wanted to die all over again.

He knew what she was thinking but he would never let her know that. He hung in the doorway, leaning forward with one foot lifted behind him as he braced himself on the frame. "Are you finally done dressing your paper doll, Janey?"

"Yeeess yes, korel, I am done! Look at how cute she is!" Jane gripped Twitch's shoulders, pushing her around to show her off to the Devil. She stared at him, and he smiled, canine teeth sharp and tempting. She smiled back, uncharacteristically soft and girlish. Twitch looked down at herself, smoothing the fabric of her shirt. She felt like a little girl getting ready for her first date, and for a little while she let herself pretend that's what it was.

She took the hand Ben offered to her, and the two walked hand in hand to the foyer. For a moment, she didn't mind it, let a piece of her 13 year old self indulge in an old fantasy with the way her hand fit in his. Maybe she'd been here too long, starting getting too comfortable. The noise of the people in the foyer brought her out of the haze, and she yanked her hand out of Ben's, earning a snicker from the offending creature. She walked a little quicker to reach Toby's left side, her arm bumping his slightly. He immediately swings his arm up and around her shoulders, pulling her into a half-hearted headlock. EJ was talking about something, but Twitch wasn't really listening.

She was in her own world again, trapped obsessively pondering to herself about the mirror and why it stopped working. Her green-haired boy knew she was there, but she wanted to talk to it. She wanted to hear what it sounded like properly, without the din of the glass and the other person that always talked over him. Toby's body heat was weirdly grounding, though, and suddenly she found herself leaning heavier into his side, the headlock releasing and him pulling her around to stand in front of him. He rested his arms around her shoulders, and the two stood there in mutual Ignoring EJ's Yapping Mode. EJ himself was crouched by the door, staring at his clipboard and yapping away, itching behind his ear with his pencil's eraser.

"We're going to the Lakehouse this time. It's too small a trip to warrant going to Pulsar, we'll only be there the weekend. Zakiyah will let us through her Gatehouse, and we will be coming in directly through the staff room in the building. Someone needs to have eyes on Twitch at all times. The second you enter the building, those who do not have set missions elsewhere need to escort Twitch up to Foss's office immediately. She is new, and likes to get into shit she shouldn't, as we've already seen~ She's not listening. Okay! Ben, you know what you have to do, Jeff, you already know. Tim, Brian, Toby, keep together. Keep her nearby. We apparently have eyes on us again as well. Be careful. Say thank you to Zakiyah. Okay? Okay. Goodbye." Jack stood to his full height, and shoved the door open with no effort, still mostly distracted by whatever was on his clipboard. He waved the group out, taking especial time to trip Twitch on her way past, earning himself a chihuahua-like bark and bite towards his leg. He giggled to himself as he dodged the bite, letting the silence overtake the parlor as everyone filed out. Jack and Rinku's eyes met for a moment.

"Aren't you supposed to be going with?" Jack inquired, and Rinku gave him a passive smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"I will meet them there. I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Excuse me?"

Rinku gave a fuller smile, perfectly straight and hauntingly sharp, sometimes EJ forgot what Rinku really was. "You know what I mean. Do you have any idea what trouble that girl is going to bring us? This House has become too accepting. Too comfortable with whatever and whoever you allow in it. You can feel it. The energy her entire body puts off, it is not just her being an especially powerful hayamei."

"English."

"Poltergeist. Human ghost. Whatever you wish to call it. She is not just that. Do you have any idea what she is?"

"Do you?"

"Yes, I know exactly what she is."

"Oh? Do enlighten your comrades then. We all live in this House together, you're the Guardian of this place. If there is something truly dangerous about her, then you should tell us." Jack never knew what to think of Rinku. All he knew is he was supposed to be some iteration of Dark Link, but the way the internet portrayed his supposed Creepypasta story never aligned with him, no matter the reality or the version of the story he found. He was completely his own creature, nothing he did was able to be predicted, much like the issue with Ben. Despite Toby not being the real Toby Rodgers, he still was predictable enough, he was easily effected by what showed on the internet. He could be tracked. Rinku and Ben, could not.

Rinku smiled again, humming lightly. "I cannot. The woes of a Ghiratolem. I can't tell you unless I am given permission. I simply wanted to see how much you knew. Clearly, you aren't as clever as I thought you were. Or maybe, you've become soft after living here in marital bliss for too long, 'tis blinding you. Love always does end up a weakness one way or another." He didn't allow Jack any time to respond before his body was eaten up by deep black shadows and smoke, melting away into the floor with a quickness. An echoing giggle taunted Jack's ears as the man disappeared into the darkness.

"Fucking freak."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lakehouse is a straight shot northwest, but we gotta go over the Laundry Pool." Jeff extended his hand to assist Twitch in jumping down from the ledge of errant stone that jutted out from the ground. The path inside the treeline near the House was an absolute mess of stone and barely-there ruins of what may have been houses or roads at one point.

"The Laundry Pool? Like in Clock Town?" She curls a lip a bit, but the reference is amusing to her.

"Yes, that's why I call it that." Jeff chuckled. "The others call it the Siren Pond. We think some spirit lives in there." That isn't as amusing. The Siren Pond was what Toby called that pond that he brought her to. The one she apparently died in, and he found her later. The Laundry Pool. Siren Pond. A death trap was what it was. Is she the spirit he's talking about, or was there something else in the water?

Inside the forest itself, the trees weren't actually that dense, they only become dense when you got near a substantial landmark, like the House, or the edge of the woods itself. In between those areas, there were only a few sparse, exceptionally tall and large trees, and a handful of skinnier saplings thrown around. The main thing was how many leaves were at the tops of the trees. The canopy was so thick, too thick for how few trees there were in the immediate area. You couldn't see past the leaves and branches unless you were in a clearing, but even so the sun shone through as if completely unaffected by the suffocating foliage.

During the walk itself, Twitch stayed by Jeff, who seemed to be the only one even mildly concerned with actually keeping an eye on Twitch at the time. Tim and Brian were staring at each other per usual, Toby had disappeared into the forest, but according to Tim he always makes it to the Gate on time, so they didn't need to worry about him. Ben led the party by a few meters, not interacting or paying the rest of the group any mind at all.

"I have a question for you, Jeff."

"Shoot, chickadee."

"How are all of you so aware of the Creepypasta and the internet story stuff? I understand enough that there's like, alternate worlds and universes, which thank God I was right about that. I love being right about the world. But like…isn't that weird? To know that people write stories about you, sometimes people even make straight up porn of y'all? Hell, I've made porn of y'all, and all kinds of shit. And y'all said Toby is a tulpa. Meaning he's just…a spirit that takes on Toby's form cause of the internet story becoming so popular?"

"That's the gist, yeah. I don't think he's the exact version of a tulpa that might be more well-known but yeah. He changes according to what's popular with him at the time. That phase he went through with the beard from when Kastoway released the redesign still haunts me…"

"I fucking loved that redesign."

"Wasn't bad, it just looks way weirder when the dude has half his skull peeking out for some reason. Pretty sure that wasn't part of the redesign, that's just what our Toby looks like. Anyways…" Jeff makes a face that vaguely reminds Twitch of a toddler pooping in their diaper. "It's definitely weird. But I guess it's something you get used to? Just another fucked up circumstance on top of an already fucked up circumstance. If you had shown all of this shit to me when I was 16, I might be like, yeah what the fuck is wrong with people. But…it's just normal now, I guess. This Creepypasta stuff didn't exist on the same magnitude in my world. I guess it was just a bit more tame there. Slenderman and Marble Hornets was a thing, but they were just an ARG and a folk tale. BEN existed, but I literally got to meet Alex Hall at one point, so…I knew that stuff was a story."

"You got to meet Alex Hall?"

"Yeah, my dad was real into crypto…"

"Crypto??"

"Oh, yeah. You died in 2020. Alex got super into crypto."

"You're shitting me."

"Nope."

"Ugh."

Jeff chuckled. "It is weird. But, we're used to it. The worst problems it's ever caused was with the tulpas. Toby and Moen have to go into isolation sometimes if problematic shit pops up. Ever since that whole…sexual offenderman bullshit happened, Moen's been hiding out. Which really sucks, the dude's a good guy."

"You talk a lot more than I was expecting you to."

"I get that a lot." He smiles, shoving his hands in his back pockets. He looks at Twitch for a moment, studying her movements. She walked visibly awkward, clearly uncomfortable with being near him. She avoided any attempts at eye contact, squinting her eyes and making a face whenever she had to look up at him to show she was listening to what he was saying. "You don't want to be here at all, do you?"

"Glad my subtle signals have been getting picked up." She snorts, fussing with the end of one of her braids. "No. I was one of those kids that grew up too obsessed with Creepypasta, to the point it made me do dangerous shit. I only wanted to be here when I wanted to die. Now I'm stuck here right after I finally had a reason to stay alive. I'm not happy about this at all."

"Trust me, I get it. Maybe not to the same degree, but…I never wanted to be here either. Fucked up circumstance on top of fucked up circumstance."

She hummed, her walk relaxing a bit. "Where are you from, Jeff?"

"Havana."

"In Cuba?"

"Yeah. Moved to Miami when I was 11."

"Your brother's a thing, still, right?"

He laughs. "Yes, Liu's a thing. I also had a younger sister, and my parents were very pleasant people who actually believed me when I said I was getting bullied, before you ask. There was no Go to Sleep shit with me."

"There was no Jeff the Killing?"

"Jeff the Killing?!"

Twitch cackles. It was something like a dolphin's squeaking, and she bent halfway backwards while pointing at him. "Have you never heard that?! The Jeff the Killer thing?!"

"I've heard the Jeff the Killer thing, but why specifically say it like Jeff the Killing?"

"Cause you Jeff the Kill people."

"Please never speak again."

She kept laughing at him. After finally taking a breath again, she turns on her heel, pointing at him while she walks sideways. "Wait, you never answered my other question. How do you guys know about this stuff? Like, I know there's the Gates and shit, so is there like, computers or something that have access to multiple worlds? I know that you can see at least my world's news, Toby found my article in the newspaper talking about my death."

"Yeah, as far as I know, the computers here can access like, all timelines? It's freaky, but we think it's something to do with like, the Pulsar tech or something. Uh…Pulsar's the kingdom that's in the center of this place. They have like, insane futuristic tech. Like, some sci-fi high fantasy movie shit. The Gates are portals to the different places. Our computers are limited to Habitat though, the, uh…Earths."

"That's fucking insane."

"Oh, wait till you actually get to see it in person. Pulsar is crazy lookin."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence. Twitch was again in her own world, the odd calls above her head from alien birds that had never been seen in her own "Habitat", as Jeff called it. She thought of the mirror again. Many eyes all on her, teal and green and red, all around just her. She didn't hear Jeff speaking to her, she felt his hand against her cheek, but didn't feel the need to respond. She just kept walking.

The others watched her in amused silence, Tim and Brian chattering inaudibly amongst theirselves. Toby has scurried his way back into the group, now that they were only a few meters from the break in the trees that would give them the lovely view of Kratus Lake. Her dark brown braids bounced against her back as she trucked forward, not aware the others were slowly trailing behind her. Ben leaned against one of the trees at the edge, shooting a sly glance at Jeff. He only shook his head in return, shoving his hands into his pockets. Toby, Brian and Tim lingered as well, just a bit forward from the treeline, watching just as quietly.

Twitch's steps were so oddly confident, no hesitation or contemplation. Her head was slightly down, looking towards the ground in front of her but not around at anything surrounding her. Even as she quickly approached the Lakehouse, she didn't slow or make any motion to look at her surroundings. Not until she was standing just a few feet from the railing of the worn wooden porch, her face level with the dangling leg of the woman who presently lived there, did she stop.

The woman was tall, built exactly like what you'd expect a legendary Amazon woman to be. Her skin was a dark brown, but seemed to almost glow in the sun, like she herself put off the light, and her hair was a pink so light it could've been mistaken for white. Her eyes were a poisonous shade of purple, deep and haunting as they appraised the tiny ghost in front of her. She sat with her right leg crossed over the other, a deep red cloth skirt swaying slightly in the wind, of which Twitch idly gripped the hem, still not out of whatever stupor she was in. The boys finally approached, giving the woman respectful greetings, to which she only hummed in response. Jeff made a move to grab Twitch, but was stopped by the woman's raised hand.

"Her name?" She spoke softly.

"She calls herself Twitch, her real name is-"

"That's not what I asked." She cut off Jeff's response, her tone still soft and relaxed. She didn't move, only watched as Twitch stimmed her fingers against the wood of the porch, blissfully unaware of anything around her. "How old is she?"

"At death, or total?"

"Both."

"She died at 18, she'd be 22 now. We need to visit Foss-"

"I know why you're here. Zevret and Jackson already told me. But what they did not tell me…was how small she was. Hayamei this young and you are already taking her to Foss, why is that?" She fiddled with the black cotton of her blouse's sleeve, sighing as she crossed her hands over her knee. She levied an expectant glare at the boys, clearly unhappy with the situation in front of her. Twitch herself had started to come to, staring up at the woman with her voidful eyes.

"Zakiyah…" Ben started, his lip twitching in a growl when she raised a finger to silence him. She kept that finger raised, silent for a beat, before waving it in the air, and then placing her hand back down.

"I think…you have bitten off more than you can chew….and are looking to Foss to solve all your problems, yes? You are going to see if you can pawn off the new and untrained ghost to the man who has far too many people to take care of as is, because your Esterian is too lazy to take the time and do it himself, as he is obligated to do whilst staying in my Woods."

"Oh, your Woods?" Ben giggles, matching her icy stare with his own mirthful one.

"My Woods. Zevret maintains the Barrier, I maintain the Gate. This territory is ours and our responsibility. The Residents have been neglectful of their chores, chores of which are your rent, as they call it. Give me one good reason I should allow you to transport this hayamei across the Barrier into Foss's territory so you may plead your pitiful case?"

The group was silent. Zakiyah hummed, a soft smile tilting her face up. She glances at Twitch, tapping her finger against her knee for a moment, before turning her head fully to look directly at her. Twitch was still staring, but the look on her face told her she had heard what Zakiyah said.

"You don't even know why you're being brought to this Foss fellow do you? Twitch, yes? Do you have any idea where you are going?"

"New York." Twitch responded, her voice steady, but Zakiyah could feel the boiling heat of a promise of rage beneath her tongue.

"Yes. Why are you going to New York?"

"To meet Foss."

"Why are you meeting Foss?"

"To understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why I'm here."

Zakiyah hummed again. "Do you not think you are here simply because you have died? Is this not the afterlife for you?"

"It's more like Hell."

"You do not believe in Hell."

"Fire and brimstone, no. But an eternity of pain and suffering because I was a bad person? Yeah."

"Were you a bad person?"

"Apparently so."

Zakiyah suddenly laughed. It was a hearty, full belly laugh, one that had her whipping her head back so far Jeff jumped, expecting her to fall. She did not fall, only continued laughing until she was holding her side in pain.

"Oh by the goddess and her mother….Get the fuck off my lake, Benil. Take your science experiment back to the House, and keep her where she is meant to remain. If Charles cannot pay his dues, he needs to be removed." Zakiyah sighed, smoothing her skirt as she looked to Ben expectantly. He hesitated, quirking his jaw while trying to find the words to plead their case. Before he could, a low, creeping voice called out Zakiyah's name. She scoffed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Of course. Here he comes, because of course Jackson has sent him."

Rinku glided out of the treeline, glowing in his own way with the sun shining off his true-white hair. He had a knowing grin on his face, and Zakiyah was immediately hopping off of the railing to attempt to escape his approach.

"Oh hell no, you back up!" She pointed at him accusingly, trying to quickly retreat into the lakehouse. "No! Absolutely not! You are not going to convince me to open up my damn Gate for you and your little pets! No! Leave!"

"Zakiyaaahhhh." Rinku coos, brushing his fingers through Twitch's hair as he passes, bringing her out of her stupor. He flashes a knowing smile and wink her way as he ascends the steps. "Zakiyah, you know very well-"

"NO! Fuck you! Get out!" Zakiyah flees, Rinku hot on her heels.

"I'll handle her, give me a minute." The door slams shut behind them. Ben giggles to himself, and the group waits outside, listening to the muffled shouting followed by Rinku's mirthful laugh. It goes silent after a few minutes, then the door swings open. Twitch poked her head through the bars of the railing, staring up at Rinku as he came out the door.

"To Harlem, we go!" He waves his hand with a flourish towards the back half of the porch that faced the lake, which extended into a small pier. Twitch was pulled away from the railing and lifted into the air by Brian, who then hauled her up the steps. The porch wrapped around the south and west sides of the house, with the pier extending further west into the Lake itself. This side of the house was made up of mostly giant glass sliding doors, giving a full view into the house itself.

It was small but perfectly clean, a small dining table with only two chairs, and an island with barstools that separated the dining room and the kitchen. The kitchen only had a fridge and small stove, no microwave, and only a tiny sink in the corner. There was a couch on the other side of the front door, with a small glass coffee table and bookshelves full of old books and magazines. That was all she could see before she was plopped down facing the lake. Zakiyah huffed as she stomped down the pier, the skin on her outstretched hands lighting up with the brightest pink you could ever imagine.

She was a sight to see, her hair billowing around her head like a goddess walking, the pink of the magic bringing out the pink in her hair, deepening so that it was almost red. Her skirt and blouse flailed in the building tempest that now grew around her, and an eerie rumbling began to build. It was low at first, like the growl of a scared dog, that increased quickly in intensity with every second. The group inched forward, Twitch having latched only Brian's arm so hard he could feel her nails through the thick material of his jacket.

The water at the edge of the pier rose, but not like a wave. It moved, like something alive, something following the lead of Zakiyah's will. Her fingers moved so fluidly in the air it was as if her own body was apart of the water as well, each breath of hers breathing life into the Lake. The rest of the body of water lit up, tiny orbs of light bouncing around the surface of the water. They floated closer and closer, and Twitch realized the rumbling was coming from them. She felt a hand press against her shoulder.

"Watch." Rinku's voice whispered, and she followed the point of his finger to pay more attention to the very edge of the pier where the water was finishing its dance with Zakiyah.

The pink emptied itself from the tips of her fingers, coalescing into a ring in front of her, whilst the water pooled directly in the middle. It shot forward, spreading out as if it had hit a pane of glass, giving the ring a mirror-like effect. Twitch could see herself in the reflection, and it felt too much like her mirror, teal eyes staring daggers into her. This time is was that putrid purple, burning an anger older than time directly between her eyes. Zakiyah turned slowly, that glare still leveled at her. She thought she saw something else behind that look, but she couldn't tell what.

"Your Esterian had sent word to me that you'd need use of my Gate. What I don't understand, is why you have so quickly deferred to Foss for guidance. I know precisely what she is, you could have easily gone to me."

"And you would have agreed to help us?" Ben chuckled, earning a sneer from the larger woman. "You know very well you would've tried to turn us away like you just did earlier."

"Because you are immediately going to Foss and not trying to explore other options. She is-"

"Foss is the best choice for what we need right now. Zakiyah. I told you, you just need to trust me." Rinku had earned a glare from Ben when he cut him off, which he ignored. Zakiyah sighed, shaking her head.

"Whatever, Zevret. Go on. Do not come crawling to me when all of this blows up in your face. You know what you are messing with." She stood to the side, just along the edge of the pier. She kept her arms crossed, head tilted in a sorrowful expression.

Twitch was idly pushed forward, and the little ghost could not take her eyes off the reflective surface of the Gate. Her breathing quickened, though it felt too even in her chest, like her body was starting to forget her own natural instincts already. Something felt forced, blood that no longer existed pulsing in her ears the closer to the Gate she got. This felt different than the mirror. Like every nerve in her body was being reignited, every piece of flesh and viscera that of a living person would have being etched back together temporarily inside of her. Her hand tapped gently against the faux glass, and the surface rippled outwards from her touch. She pressed further, her hand disappearing into the surface, then reappearing as she pulled it out. She stared at her reflection, then looked up at Ben behind her.

He was smirking, and before she could react, he lurched forward and shoved her in. She shouted various slurs at him before her voice faded as she passed through the Gate. He cackled, the others snickering in turn, and one by one they followed right behind her. Rinku lingered, bowing to Zakiyah in thanks. She only sighed, turning her head away from him.

Inside the Gate, Twitch was not having a good time. There was no sense of direction, and though the feeling wasn't painful, it was intensely disorienting. She felt as if she were floating again, unable to tell up from down. Anytime she tried to move, she could not get that feeling of rising, only the panic of not knowing where to go, as if stuck trying to do a perpetual flip underwater. She had no clue how long she was stuck in there, but finally, she felt herself surfacing.

Her back hit the linoleum hard, and though pain was a sense that had mostly left her after death, her head still hit the ground hard enough to have her staring up at the tiled ceiling for a few moments, unable to move. Her hands shook as she tried to lift her arms, but they remained stagnant in the air, not quite receiving whatever message her brain was trying to send at the moment. Toby and Ben both laughed at the state she was in when they landed, though Jeff was nice enough to gently sit her upright while she got her bearings. She remained frozen, ignoring any of the words coming out of Rinku's mouth, only focused on the heat coming off of Jeff.

This was all too much. She couldn't keep focus. Everything was tilting back into that full mode of disassociation, where she couldn't tell what the hell anyone was saying, only aware of her fingers fussing against the cotton of Jeff's shirt. She didn't feel a thing when Jeff stood her up, but she was able to remain standing. Her head was still spinning, so many alarm bells going off all at once now.

Now, her instincts were screaming at her? Now she felt like something was wrong? Whatever was left of her heart was beating so hard her entire body felt like it was vibrating, something felt so wrong. Wherever they were, she should not be here. A looming sense of pure dread overtook her entire body, and she could not speak. The others were none the wiser, though Jeff did try to snap her out of it a few times. After a while, he simply grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

She felt like a worm, inching along the ground as she was pulled against her will through the modern, chronically clean office building. Window after window, there was not a second for her to breathe. She had no time, no time to understand or take in her surroundings. The worm inched further. Like an apple she was eating, the hole behind her getting farther as she made her way through the core, the arsenic of the seeds settling in her throat.

Nobody spoke to her, nobody cared about the quiet, gurgling anger building inside her. Maybe Jeff thought she was just nervous, but Ben knew. She knows it. He kept that shit-eating grin on his face the entire time, walking too close so his hand would brush against hers until she ripped it away like he had burned her. He'd bite his lip to keep from laughing. The others didn't pay any mind, fully alert and focused on where they were going and nothing else. At some point, a lithe woman with short coily hair had begun to lead them, wearing a grey turtleneck and dark green skirt. The click of her heels felt like a countdown to her second death.

The door was made of frosted glass, and Twitch could barely see the outline of a tall man in a suit on the other side. Jeff's hand was still clutching hers, pulling her along despite how badly she wanted to pull away and run. Foss, they called him. She would have called him Trenderman. He's a surprising addition, one she didn't think would appear in this hellish new reality. He almost looked like Andy's dad. Tall, salt and pepper beard, bald head. Warm brown eyes turned onto her, a pristine white smile peeking out from full lips. He wore a cream colored suit, teal-blue button up beneath it. Black dress shoes were propped onto the coffee table in front of him. He said something she didn't hear, and she kept following Jeff's lead.

She was sat on the beige sofa across from him, staring at the small silver necklace that hung around his neck, adorned with a piece of amber that held the corpse of a long-dead dragonfly in it. The woman from before took a seat on the sofa next to him, a respectable distance between them. She crossed her legs and focused on a paper pinned to her clipboard, and Twitch noticed the necklace around her neck was also amber, though hers had some old species of bee in it. Finally, their voices reached her again. I'm going to kill myself highkey

something something she has a mental breakdown and sasses tf outta Foss

"Lillian Harris, died at 18. You're a hayamei, correct? A rather powerful one." Foss's voice reminded her of the old Candyman actor. Low, smooth, practiced.

"I don't know what that is."

"A human ghost. Also referred to as a poltergeist, sometimes."

"I guess so."

"How'd you end up in Charlie's woods?"

"I woke up there."

He hummed at her curt responses, an odd glint in his eye as he looked her over. "They were right about one thing, you're like a nuclear power plant. Every bit of you puts off energy way above the levels of any other poltergeist I've seen. What are you here for?"

"What?" The question confused her. She was only here because she had been told to go. She hadn't been given a choice. She stared at him, a glare he returned readily. He knew something, or had suspicions. Does he know? Does he know what she wants? No, surely not. He's like them. Stupid and naive, no idea what is going on.

"What are you here for, Miss Lillian?"

"Nothing. I was forced to come here."

"Oh?" He smiles, an amused lilt staining his voice. "Were you dragged? Kicking and screaming? Did you fight? Did you try to run? Because to me it looked as if Jeff walked you in here, hand in hand, like a couple of little lovebirds~"

Ben barked a laugh out, which received a hard hit in the stomach from Jeff. Foss chuckled, shaking his head. "To me, it looks as if you're just going along with whatever you're told, not being forced. Tell me. What do you hope to gain from this newfound life of yours?"

"I don't understand."

"You are here. You came with them, willingly. From what I know, you've been in the House since April. You haven't tried to run, haven't caused a ruckus other than your odd spells of power surging. All the others have told me is that you are a very odd poltergeist, one they don't have the resources to analyze properly. You've remained in the House, long enough that they have felt the need to come to me for help. What do you want, being in that House? What is your goal right now? Not having a goal is an acceptable answer, just not one I'm going to believe for your case."

"What does it matter to you?" Something felt bad. Something in the back of her neck, crawling up and down into her skull and spine.

Foss tilted his head slightly. "I assist the House and its Residents. It matters because you are a Resident now. I am here to help."

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you help? What is your goal? I had no goal. I was a living person a few months ago, though, apparently, it's now 2024 and last I checked, it was 2020. I have no reason to be here, but I have nowhere else to go. That's why I'm here. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I doubt that."

"Why?"

Foss's jaw clenched. His left hand's fingers tapped against his right. "Because the answer is never that simple, for anyone."

"It is for me."

"I don't believe you."

"I really don't care if you don't believe me, Trenderman."

Foss's mouth quirked. "Ah. A Creepypasta fan. I see. I'm sure this is very confusing, yes? An internet phenomenon come to life all around you, in multitudes of form, some like their story and some not."

"That's putting it lightly."

"I'm sure. Fine. Tell me this, then. Now that you are here, what do you wish to do? In the short time you've been here, do you have any desires? Any wishes to achieve, anything at all? It need not be a deep, pondered goal of your afterlife or something like that. Just, something small. Something you'd like to do."

Twitch thought to herself a moment. There were many things she'd like to do. Like, taking the chain around Foss's neck and choking him with it. Though she didn't think the chain would hold up, but maybe it'd force him to show his real face. Or maybe, cut Ben's throat open and stain the pretty white rugs with whatever putrid sludge came out of him. Or take the pencil in the woman's hand that kept incessantly scratching on the paper in front of her, and jam it into her eardrum.

"I want to…" She trailed off, staring out the window to her right, one that gave her a beautiful view of New York's horizon. Skyscrapers she had only ever seen in movies, a classic view, one so many people probably dreamt of seeing one day. To her, it was gray and too sharp. Too normal. Much too normal for the situation she was in. "I don't know yet. I'm still thinking."

"Now that is an answer I can accept. Tell me, Lillian. What were you like in your life?"

Her head whipped towards him so fast, even Jeff and Toby startled a bit. Foss raised an eyebrow, his fingers flexing as those voidful eyes trained on him. "Why do you look like that?" She was avoiding the question, but Foss let it be for now, too curious of her.

"Excuse me?"

"You're Trenderman. Why'd you choose that form? Charlie said his is a glamour. Is yours one, too?"

"Ah…Yes it is. It is the form of my first Conduit."

"Conduit. Ben said those are people that are sensitive to otherworldly energies or something like that, usually they're connected to a specific entity and only them."

"Yes. I can have many Conduits, but a Conduit can only be tied to one entity. Mine was the ancestor of Miss Amber Berin here." He gestured towards the woman, who gave a polite smile. Twitch cracked her neck, earning a grimace from the others.

"I knew a Berin. Andrell. He hung himself in his apartment building a year before I died."

Amber gulped at that statement, sending a nervous glance to Foss, who only tilted his head, a silent reassurance. "Tell me about him, Lillian. Was he a friend of yours?" Her lip twitched, baring the pale yellowed teeth beneath the skin for only a moment.

"Why do you want to know about my life? How will that help you help me?"

"I wish to know about your life because it may help me determine why you are so much more powerful than other hayamei we have come across. If I can pinpoint whatever is causing the higher levels of power, I can help you control and temper it."

"Why? Am I dangerous if I don't?" The air had gone stale. A low whistle shot through the air, just barely beyond what could easily be heard by mortals, a sound that was felt more than it was heard. Everyone's ears perked, except for Twitch's. She never moved an inch.

"Ah…" This question had Foss stuttering. Her face never shifted, keeping that blank, controlled stare that felt as if it were boring a hole through his chest. "Yes, you could be. If left unchecked, the patterns you're showing could progress into something not dissimilar to the effect of a giant bomb. And I rather like the Matheson House, so I'd like to help to ensure that you do not end up exploding in a giant fireball of pure energy."

"What if I want to explode? Would you stop me? Would you all destroy me to keep your world safe?" She almost spoke too fast for them to process what she was saying, as everything began to come out in a deluge.

Foss clearly wasn't expecting the conversation to take this turn, and he was fumbling more than he was used to. The normally calm, collected man was being tripped up by a little ghost, and he had no idea why. She wasn't the first violent or cheeky ghost he'd come across, but something about the look in her eyes reminded him of an old fear. One he couldn't quite place yet. The desperation in her whispered little voice tinged with something primal, something excitable.

"Can I ask you something, Trenderman?" A long breath out.

"Go ahead." A short breath in.

"Why are you all so different? I grew up being super into Creepypasta, why are none of you like your stories? Why is there such a big difference?" Something twinkled in her eyes, an expression akin to a cruel joy.

"Those stories are often made by Conduits. Conduits don't always get the facts right, and there's the instance of alternate realities meshing into each other for them. Jeff, for example. In his own world, he is exactly how he is now. But go to another reality, another Habitat, he could very well be the exact spitting image of whatever story you had read in your own world. Or he could be completely different from both. It is a game of chance. I would assume the others have mentioned and tried to explain the whole, multiverse thing?"

"Yes, they did. It was mostly confirmation of things I already believed in."

"Good, good. That makes it easier to explain. Really, it just depends on who you meet and from where. There are plenty of different versions of the same people, all with varying amounts of uniqueness from each other. It is simply a fact of how time works."

Twitch hummed, her eyes drifting back towards the window. "Honestly…I think you're all full of bullshit."

That made everyone finally breathe. Foss narrowed his eyes at her, thinking to himself what exactly he's been pulled into. "And why is that?" He jolted slightly when she suddenly stood up, walking towards the window. She didn't stop until her forehead pressed against the glass, no breath to fog the glass.

"Because you are. This is all bullshit, really. Creepypastas being real? Give me a break. This is all some kind of shitty dream or purgatory I've been forced into because I died. You wanted to know what I was like during my life? I was a mentally ill teenager who thought and prayed you freaks were real. I begged and pleaded whatever god might listen to let me leave where I was and run to you all. But I never got an answer. I plotted to kill my own mother, a mercy for her, really, and I even did end up killing my stepdad. All for this? A fantasy?"

She turned, grinning at the shocked looks on everyone's faces. "Oh my god, you people are naive. What's that look for? See," she raised her hand in the air, waving it wildly, "what I don't understand, is why you all play along with this bullshit. Were your own lives that bad? Did you go through oh-so-terrible tragic events and now that you're dead you flit about in a Wattpad fanfiction about the Creepypasta mansion and having cool new superpowers? Getting to fight and kill and fuck whatever and whoever you want, just living as a whole new being with no consequences?"

"That isn't-" Tim started, immediately being cut off by Twitch's high-pitched screech. The sound was haunting, a primal growl that pitched into an ear-piercing scream as it went on. She kept going until he was quiet again, then stopped, staring at him blankly. When she spoke again, she sounded like she was seconds from bursting out laughing.

"Shut up. All of you, shut the fuck up. This is not fucking real. None of this is real. I am not going to be recruited as some new Creepypasta, the mansion is not real. BEN Drowned and Ticci Toby and Jeff the Killer and Trenderman are not fucking real. None of you are real. I am dead, and this is an illusion. Something my dying brain has cooked up for my soul to remain in until the worms have gotten the best of me." She pulled at the ends of her braids fitfully, her jaw tensing and untensing. She shook her head side to side over and over, her teeth gritted and bared at them.

"This shit isn't fucking real, and I'm fucking dead!" Her voice got louder with every sentence. "This is not a stupid fucking story, this is my life! I am not going to sit here and play house with you fucking freaks and act like I'm not losing my fucking mind! I hate you all so fucking much, I'm not going to keep fucking pretending. Why the fuck are you all here?! Why are you nice? Why are you normal? NONE OF YOU SHOULD BE NORMAL!"

Foss and Amber were standing now. Twitch scratched her hands down her face, pulling at her eyelids and cheeks. No one dared approach her, the threat of whatever unknown abilities she had too great for them to risk it. Her voice lilted, an echo boosting its sound through the room, to the point where everyone could feel it, no matter if she was yelling or whispering, both of which she kept quickly flipping back and forth from.

"I'm not doing this. I'm not going to do this. You fucking idiots are the reason for all of it. You're the reason I'm dead! YOU'RE ALL THE FUCKING REASON FOR IT! I hate this, I hate you all so fucking much. You dress me up like a doll, drag me around, expecting me to go along with everything. Why is it all so normal for you? Why are you all so boring and stupid and plain and nice?! You're supposed to be killers, ghosts, demons, whatever the fuck. You are not human, none of you are, you're all supposed to be monsters. Why am I here? Is this my punishment for being such a pathetic cunt who could barely lift her own head up because of all the fucking medication in my goddamn body because I was too crazy for anyone to deal with? Is this my punishment for fucking existing?!"

Now it was different. It felt like the air around all of them had gone cold, impossibly cold. Ben was already moving, vaulting over the sofa to make it to her before she made whatever bad decision she was about to make. The entire right side of her face looked as if some kind of terrible infection had blackened her veins and began to seep through her skin. Her hands covered her eyes, fitfully rubbing and pushing into her eyelids as hard as she could, as if she were trying to tear her own eyes out. The second his hands touched her, she lost it.

Like a feral dog that had been caught at its worst, she tore into him. It was chaos all around her, but her only thought was tearing out his throat. Those irritating green eyes that were too dilated, too wide with glee the second her nails dug into his skin. It crawled out of her back like an infection, discolored tendrils that slinked over her skin and dug into his throat, arms, chest, anywhere they could get ahold. Her mouth was full of some foul-smelling liquid that kept bubbling out and spilling onto the floor. She couldn't think past his face, in perfect detail and all that she could see. She wanted to see what was inside. She knew he was not her Ben, he was some foul, awful bastardization. An evil and vile creature sent to mock her love and devotion.

Hands gripped every inch that could be grabbed. Toby's arms around her waist, Tim's on her left arm, Brian on her right. Jeff's voice calling for her, trying to tear Ben out of her grip. Foss's own Esterian appendages wrapped around her head, though quickly reared back when her skin burnt through his like fire through fat. Toby was making a noise like that of a terrified animal, but refused to let go. Tim and Brian weren't able to hold on very long before the burning sensation cut through them as well. Toby was left as the only one still holding her, tears streaming down his face as he tried to fight through the foreign sensation of unbearable pain that cut through him. At some point, he threw up down her back, but still refused to let go.

She thrashed wildly, the tendrils streaming from whatever bit of skin was exposed undeterred by her movements. They grew along the floor like veins, pumping and pulsing with a sick heartbeat as they sought out any breath that shifted the air. Amber had bolted the second Ben vaulted the couch, possibly attempting to go for whatever help she could find.

The world had begun to collapse in on itself for her. Everything was so much brighter now. Twitch's eyes rolled fitfully in her skull, trying to focus, trying to catch on anything. It was like everything had become so much clearer, so much more present. Everything was coming back to what it was when she was alive. The fog lifted mildly, not fully, but it was getting there. Pinpoint pupils following every movement, the static in the air felt like it was invigorating her, bringing her back to life. The arms and hands everywhere around her, pinning her limbs to her sides, or holding her head back. Her foot connected with someone's leg, then another's chest. Hands sliced against a face or two, none of them were anything to worry about. She smiled through the manhandling, knocking her foot into Jeff's nose as she slipped out of Ben and Toby's grips. Her back bled out in atramentous sludge that snaked against the floor, her forehead connecting with the tile and cracking the pristine surface. Ink covered the ground, staining her sleeves and pant legs, stained her teeth and tongue as it poured out. She cackled again, ragged wheezing in between in each faux breath.

Toby tried again, masochistic he was with her unique little ability to let him feel pain. Like every bit of her was built to ruin him specifically, but really she was built to ruin everyone. The others were slow to get up, the wounds from the tendrils pouring out her back inducing a sense of that same brain fog she'd been slogging through until now. She smiled in the man's face as he dragged her up by her shirt, only responding to his arrogant little commands with her hand rising to clutch at his face, painting his skin the same pitch black tar that stained her body. She giggled, crowing and cooing at him as the poisonous substance seeped through his clothes, into his nose, mouth, eyes.

How easy it was for her to stain them. She didn't know much about being dead, but clearly she was well-equipped in her afterlife. Something about this sludge that came out of her, it spread from her back, came out of every orifice she had. Her pants were stained as if she had pissed them, but it looked much more gruesome than any embarrassing wet patch. And it spread, spilling out onto the floor and slowing the movements of anyone that came into contact with it.

"Oh, I don't know what this is. But isn't that so perfect? Such a perfect power to give me, it keeps you from running from me. Do any of you know? Are you so stupid to keep trying? Refugees, lost little souls, I am not one of you. I am not one of you. I am not yours. I am not yours." Her voice was so soft, so sweet as she spoke. "I am an animal you have caught in a trap, I am injured and angry, and you all think you can domesticate me, I will not let you."

Something had finally clicked for her. The others were still ignorant to the gravity of it all, well…They were until the sound of glass shattering and Toby's shout rang out. The realization that he had thrown out the window set in, and it seemed to finally kick everyone else into gear. This was no longer a situation where they could treat her as just a newbie, a wily ghost meant to be wrangled. Jeff stumbled to his feet, trying to make it to the door before she set her sights on someone else. The putrid smell of rotten flesh accosted his nostrils as her tendrils latched around his neck, keeping him only inches from the door's handle. Jeff struggled to keep his ability to breathe as he tried to fight her off, cursing to himself the more distance was created between him and the door.

A thump was heard on the other side of the door, a murky shadow visible behind the frosted glass. Then followed the glass shattering onto the floor, and Amber's face was quickly distorted by a deluge of wires flooding the room and shielding her from view. Jeff sucked in a desperate breath as the tendril around his neck receded, Twitch's frightened scream jolting him to attention. He wasn't expecting anything like that noise out of her, it was something more primal and human than he had ever heard from her before.

The expression on Twitch's face fully shifted. In the moments prior, she had appeared like something akin to a natural disaster. Excited and cruel, all too ready to cause rampant destruction any way she liked. Now, she looked like a frightened little girl. Nothing more than a little girl waiting for her father to spank her for doing something wrong. Scared and knowing, that look in her eyes confused him.

She stared into the wall of rubber and electricity, and it was like a special little instinct that tied her to him. She could tell, she felt it in her soul what it was. That was what triggered the fear so badly, and something else twinged in the back of her head. A memory, something from the smell of the rubber and static. The entire room was cold, and she hid inside herself as far as she could, her teeth tearing into the rubber that snaked across every inch of skin like a cornered animal. She screamed and thrashed, but her own weapons she'd had moments before abandoned her in this moment of fear. Back to the little girl, back to the tiny frightened ghost, in only seconds.

Outside the ball of wires that now contained the little terror, the others finally made it back to their feet, the effects of whatever the sludge was leaving them as soon as Twitch was incapacitated. Ben groaned out a sardonic chuckle as he pushed himself up.

"Thanks Admin, coulda used you a bit sooner." He sits back, sighing and letting his head hang back as he threw a sideways glance at the duo standing in the broken doorframe. Amber was barely visible as she remained mostly obscured by the wires protecting her, whilst a vaguely human-shaped mass of writhing rubber moved further into the room. This "Admin", was another of the Networks, another BEN. And one this Ben didn't like much. A monitor was slowly pushed up the mass of wires until it was seated where a face could have been. It lit up in teal blue, a synthetic voice chiming out.

"Foss had the main electricity turned off in here before you arrived, he did not want her ruining them if she went off. Though it appears electronics is not her instinctual power like most. Please go to the infirmary. We want samples of the substance left behind from her little…appendages. Thank you all." The humanoid turned around, the ball of wires dragging behind him as he dragged Twitch away from them. No one knew if she were even still conscious, though Tim and Brian at least didn't give a fuck. Jeff was more confused than anything, mostly by her sudden shift in attitude.

Ben just scowled, using the knocked over couch to brace himself as he got to his feet. It was quiet for a moment, as everyone took in the extent of the damage that was done. In the flailing to get Twitch under control, none of the Residents had realized just how much they'd been injured. Whatever those tentacles were that came out of her seemed to be dripping poison, different from the sticky pitch that had come out of the rest of her body.

Tim's right leg had been stripped of the jeans from the knee down, like it had been burned away by acid. His shin was burnt with sizzling patches of skin, the same that had been on Charlie's hands for weeks after her arrival. The remaining skin was grey, like it was necrotic, but the burnt was no longer spreading thankfully. Ben pulled his shirt up to appraise the spots where he'd been impaled by her, and the same grey skin surrounded the wound, which oozed a mix of watery pus and the black substance that stained the floor. Brian had a few sizzling holes in his jacket and jeans, but he was too focused on Tim's injury to care much about his own. Jeff was actively trying not to scratch at the burns around his throat, a glassy eyed expression on his face as he sat fidgeting on the floor near the door. God knows what Toby looked like right now, splattered against the pavement countless stories below them.

Foss looked the worst for wear of them all. He hadn't fully sat up yet, reverted to the willowy, faceless form he was borne to. His suit, once pristine, was now stained with the putrid smelling poison, torn in the transformation as well as burnt and torn to shreds by Twitch. His grey-blue body was stained red and black from the burns, no grey like the others' injuries. He shook slightly as he remained disoriented on the floor, only barely holding himself up with one arm. He swayed, barely able to tilt his head up to check on the others for a moment, before he sluggishly dragged his other arm to try and brace himself more. Foss was the smallest of the "Slender" brothers, only clearing 7 feet when the rest hit well over 12 feet when in their real forms. He looked almost pathetic as he laid on the floor, shaking and unable to move despite his size.

Wirey muscle strained beneath the leathery grey skin as he attempted to move, but it only earned Foss a sharp pain in his lungs. Every inch of his body was protesting itself, not wanting him to even try to breathe normally without a painful sting punishing him for trying. He thought to himself what he did to get himself set up to have to deal with such stupid fucking people. Foss knew damn well this girl was not kidding anyone when she said she hated them, he could feel her hatred burning its way through his cells, poisoning his veins. This was something much worse than what they'd told him it was. Were they really this stupid to believe they could rehabilitate this girl?

Of course they were, those Residents, as they called themselves, were definitely stupid enough to take in dangerous freak after dangerous freak and think they could keep building up their little found family in the cabin in the woods. It was different here on Earth, in the human world. These things were not always that wonderful exception of hope and tenacity. There were plenty in the world that held nothing but hatred and evil in their hearts. He could already tell this little girl had tipped down a bad path long ago. But he also knew there was no way any of these idiots would listen to him if he told them. So how else are we to mitigate the damage this will cause?

"She needs to be confined. She is wild, and an infant. Her power is only…going to get stronger from here." Foss spits out, face ripping to accomodate his mouth. His eye-skin tightens, suctioning more to his skull to give the others an eerie glance into his bone structure. "Do not be stupid. She is dangerous. Control her now before it is too late."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." Ben hissed, scoffing at him.

"If it's so fucking obvious, then why haven't you already done so?" Foss spit back.

"Because Ben has a fucking boner for her and we all know Charlie and Jack always let him get his fucking way." Brian cut off whatever insult Ben was getting ready to hurl back at Foss, getting an audible click of Ben's jaw as he shut it as a reward. "Charlie's fucking weird, he's just obsessed with a new pet, Jeff's got some sister complex about her trying to relive his lost time with his dead as a fucking door nail sister, and Tim's too nice for his own fucking good but at least he avoids the shit out of her. Everyone in the fucking House has some freaky obsession with her and doesn't want to let her go. Who fucking knows why? But we all know no one's going to confine her. God, we're all screwing ourselves so bad." He looks out the open window, staring at the lights flashing off the tops of police cars that had filled the street. A crowd had formed behind the barriers that had been set up to keep civilians away as they tried to keep anyone from seeing the slow regeneration Toby had surely begun after hitting the pavement.

"Why? What is it with her? You've only known this girl a few months, what is your problem?" Foss questioned. He received no answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twitch was just as wily the second she was released from the ball of wires. Her hands latched around the metal rod of the small rolling stand to her immediate left and swung it at the mass of wires that deftly dodged her attempt. A glitchy chuckle emanated from the giant monitor at the other end of the room they were in. Whatever the hell the room was.

It looked something like what you expect in a shitty 90s robot horror video game, where AI has taken over the world. Much too fitting for her current situation. The wave of wires sucked back into the monitor, slithering back into the open panels they had apparently come from, caressing the desks and smaller computer monitors as if they were fondly petting a dog as they passed by to return to their personal hell. Twitch had stopped breathing, her eyes fully locked on the monitor in front of her, so enrapturing her attention that her body couldn't even mimic its old processes anymore.

Her whole body was on fire like before, but this time it was more controlled, less like the terrible burning sense of dread. Now it was like fuel, something that pushed her forward. The worst possible creature in front of her and all alone with her. That's something she can work with. Figure him out. Learn him. Destroy him like the rest. Eat him. Eat him. Eat him.

"You would break your teeth on me, little one." His voice still made her heart flutter. "That's what you're thinking, yes? You're staring like you wish to eat me, you're practically drooling."

She was drooling a little. She sucked up the drool in her mouth, swallowing it. Her nose twitched with her sneer, but the robot continued its teasing.

"Oh yes, so very scary you are. Lillian Harris. Born 2001, on a Choctaw reservation. Born to Michael Harris and Savannah….no known surname? Interesting. You are…far from home. This is not your world, little one. Do you know that?"

"Yes. You're not my BEN."

"No…not yours. Interesting choice of words."

"Shut up." She could feel his grin in the air. "What do you think telling me facts you can easily Google is going to do? Scare me?"

"You don't exist in this world, I could not simply Google you. That, should be what frightens you."

"What, you gonna doxx me? Who the fuck cares if you know about my life? It's just like you to think I give a fuck about stolen information, I'm dead you plastic cuck."

"Yes, about that…Do you know how you died?"

"I drowned."

"That you did. But you haven't spared a thought as to how?" The newspaper articles Toby had shown her flash onto the screen. She smiled at herself from the year 2019, her last school photo plastered bright and wide. Andy's face next to hers, quoted as having died in a similar manner, except he was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment bedroom, rather than laying in the bed like she'd been. Sophie's face, now with MISSING underneath it in large text. "You and your friends were being hunted. By what?"

"Why do you care? What's so important about me and my death? You all could just destroy me couldn't you? I'm sure it's not impossible to get rid of a ghost, with all the fancy shit and weird supernatural crap you guys are into here. What's the point of all of this?"

"According to the information I have access to, you are…unique. A real new age protagonist, oh for sure. You are like a nuclear reactor getting ready to go off. I want to know how to use it. I want to use you. But, I cannot. Foss's orders. You are not to be harmed, or used, in any fashion. Agreement with the Residents, I could compromise our deal if I went against them. And…IZZI seems to have some kind of claim staked on you anyways. I am not one to attempt to antagonize a fellow Network. We are a bit hard to deal with, as I'm sure you noticed. You can set down the tray now, you know."

"Don't care. Still plotting how to bash your screen in."

"Fair enough. Do you have any idea what your purpose is, little one?"

"No."

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes." She did not hesitate. It welled up a feeling of pride in Admin's chassis. She was so sure now, leagues away from the terrified little girl she became for only a moment. How easily she jumped to and fro from each feeling, with no kickback to give her pause. "Tell me everything. I'm tired of the bullshit tapdancing those fags in the House like to do."

"Well then!" Admin cackled, amused by her audacious way of speaking. He continued to chuckle, the buzzing rumble earning a sneering shoulder twitch from the little ghost. "I will not lead you on so much to say I have all your answers. But I have theories, and I have more information than those Residents. If you place down the tray, I'd be glad to divulge."

Twitch weighed her options. Smash his face in, or maybe finally learn a thing or two about what the fuck was going on? A terrible tough decision to make, and she still contemplated chucking the tray as she set it down. She climbed onto one of the nearby desks, unbothered by the squelching of the leftover sludge spilling out onto the wood underneath her butt.

"Good. That makes things much easier. Now then…Do you believe in God, Lillian?" That was certainly an unexpected first question.

"I believe there is something above us, but if you're specifying the Christian God, no. I don't."

"Good. That makes this much easier. There is a god behind the actions Earth claims is by God. He's not quite as cutesy as the old, white haired saint above all. He is…for one, much shorter. And much more annoying. But, he is who technically created this world. Habitat, we call it on a grander scale. You've heard the term by now, I'm sure. He made more than just Earth, he has made many planets, many histories. And he is absolutely nothing of what the great human world thinks he is. That one…He is after you. Much for the same reason I want you. You are now something akin to a new fuel source being discovered. Inside of you is a core of energy unlike anything we've seen yet. You are the fancy new crack in the earth's crust spewing oil to many right now. Many entities wish to subjugate you, even if they themselves think it is due to an honorable morality. It is not. Do you see rabbits in your dreams, Lillian?"

Twitch breathed in slightly, her head spinning again with each word. She slowly crawled across the long string of desks leading to the monitor. The air buzzed more, acknowledging her approach, but clearly Admin was not worried about it.

"Do you?" It called to her again.

"Yes. Daisies. Rabbits. Wolves. The dead. Home. That's what I see." She gingerly placed the ball of her foot on the floor, the rest of her body still perched on the desk, before slithering her way off the wood and to the tiled floor. She slowly crawled towards the wall of metal panels that lined the bottom of the monitor. Each one had a small divut along the right most edge, but when she went to dip her fingers behind it, the panel slammed open. She jumped slightly, but didn't react much more than that as a wall of wires pushed against her, molding to her form. It pushed her away from the monitor, sliding her easily across the floor, before retreating again, shutting the panel behind it. She grinned up at the glowing glass, moving to sit crisscross applesauce, and pressed her hand into her jaw, stimming her fingers against her skin. She tilted her head back to stare at the monitor down her nose a bit, and idly dug her nails into her neck for a moment while she thought to herself.

This was exactly what she wanted. All of its attention on her in this moment. She knew it was indulging her purposefully. Did she want to continue? Did she want to go for the wires for real this time and fry it from the inside out? Oh, she wanted to do rip each wire out one by one and will it to hurt, will it to feel pain from each bit of her searing through everything that makes him up. She hopes he can feel it if she does. But he is telling her things now. Things she wants to know. Let it infodump, let it give the fucking exposition. She can tear it to shreds later. It might let her.

"Daisies. Rabbits. Wolves. The dead. Home. Such interesting words you choose. You like to be purposefully vague, yes? Give yourself some mystery~ How sweet that is. Daisy for innocence, rebirth. Rabbit, prey. Wolf. Predator. The dead, you are just a little ghost in a cage full of corpses walking. Home, the very place you are trapped in, and many other things. Perfect, you are. A perfect new disaster. You are under the eye of the light. Do you know who the light is?"

"Ben."

"Smart girl. Perfect, you are. Your Ben, the golden glowing freak. He is not us. Not a Network, not a Moon Child. He is an offense. An awful first creature. Do you know what that means?"

"Riddles. No, I don't know what it means, stop speaking in riddles." She bared her teeth, eyes still wide and staring down her nose at him. It was a comical look, but one that still belied such an unhinged expression in her eyes. Admin adored it. Of course he did.

"He is something very old. Something from before our time. A first creature, it's all I know of them currently. Altaprimis. Something like your Slenderman. Maybe something even more. But he is beyond my or anything else's understanding in this world. We've tried to access higher beings in our own planes, and it has been for naught. Nothing wishes to speak to such lowly creatures as human beings. That's why this timeline made me. I am their way of becoming more Godly to speak to their betters. I am their God, here."

"Must you rant through your god complex right now?"

"Ha! Yes~ It's fun. Anyways…Altaprimis. I don't think he is so low as that, he is something more. But, that's all we know about right now. He is worse than anything else in that forest. He's the reason you're stuck. Why they cannot bare to get rid of you. His emotions influence those around him, it's like…a hypnotic suggestion, in a way. His body decides he wants something a certain way and he will simply manifest that reality into his path. Always getting what he wants. And for likely the same reason as it is with the God of our world, he finds some use for that lovely potential cooking up inside of you. What do you wish to do? Who do you wish to indulge, Lillian?"

"None of you, you're all fucking perverts."

"Ha~ Yes, you could say that. In such widely varying ways, as well."

"My options right now are: the fucker that felt me up the other day, Literally God, or tumblr pornbot that got a god complex. Is that right?" She slowly moved to crawl forward again, a bit slower in her approach. The panels didn't open again, though the whole time her body was pulled taut in wait for it. Her hands clutched the edge of the table that held all of the buttons and keyboards that were connected to the monitor. Her left hand floated its way towards the buttons, but was quickly stopped from touching any of them by a sudden cover of writhing wires. She still clutched at them, using them as leverage to pull herself up onto her feet. The wires moved around her fingers like water, keeping her away from the keys but not immobilizing her hands. She hitched a leg onto the desk, the wires bending around her knee, and lifted her slightly to keep her pressing anything. Her other leg joined pressed her hand against the glass of the screen to brace herself. She fully sat down, unbothered by the slight jolt as she was lifted more into the air away from the desk.

She was too aware of how easily she could get him to do as she asked. Her old delusions of her teenage years, wanting the attention of some unobtainable entity like the stories, licking at the edges of her thoughts, the knowing sinking feeling that reminded her this was not good. But she didn't care. It was more fun to indulge. More fun to not care anymore.

"I can see things through the mirror. What's that about? Do you know?" She whispered against the glass.

He whispered back to her, the playfulness clear in his tone. "I do know. You are sought by that god I told you about. Meaning you are connected to it in some way. And with that, comes some benefits after death, you could say. You have a hand in the barriers between worlds. You can move through them more easily than most. Or rather, you can just tear your way through them. You've been causing a couple problems looking through that mirror you know~"

"Oh, am I? Oh, I'm so fuckin' sorry." She pouts against the glass, immediately dropping it into a sneer after a second. "Maybe you guys should just kill me, then."

"I bet you'd be into that, Creepypasta girl. You already are enjoying your Slender Mansion fanfic."

"Kill yourself."

Admin's voice crackled in the speakers as it laughed. Her crude way of speaking was endearing to him, a refreshing experience in comparison to workplace formal talk from Foss's employees. "Why do you talk like that? You're a very rude girl, do you know that?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Ah, right. You died at 18, didn't you? Still that asshole teenager who argued with people on Google Plus and Tumblr."

"Aren't you just a shitty fuckin' AI gone rogue? Who are you to talk about how I talk? You go from talking like some oh so wise God complex robot, to a 14 year old boy trying to read someone."

"I'm talking to you in your own language."

"You're talking like a douchebag."

He giggled again, the monitor buzzing audibly as she pressed her cheek against the glass. Twitch tapped a low tune against the glass, her breath leaving no fog. "Do you wish to remain here? We could simply employ you here, teach you, let you thrive. You and I already know how much you hate them, I could taste it on the poison you put out of your body. Stay here, Lillian. Let us help." As he spoke, the wires beneath Twitch's body formed to her more, as if cradling her closer.

"Help, huh? Liar~" She breathed into the glass, her eyes fluttering closed. She felt at hesitant peace, her body slowly melting into relaxation against the wires and glass. They both sat in silence, Twitch visibly falling deeper and deeper into her own head as her eyes glazed over in the reflection of the monitor. Admin stared through at her, almost becoming just as transfixed by the little ghost as she was with him. Her forehead rolled against the glass, like she was almost trying to nuzzle him. Her eyes looked off in the distance, cutting straight through him.

It was like she didn't see anything around her. It was only her and a fantasy, a fantasy not even he, the subject, was privy to. Her lips didn't fully touch, tiny streams of cold air pushed out of her. How ghosts did that was a marvel to him. Admin assumed it was a function meant to emulate breathing, but because the air is not being warmed, it comes out cold. How he would love to cut her open and look, though the air would be compromised wouldn't it? Maybe he can get her to sit just as sweet as this while he shoved a camera tube down her throat.

The feeling of her fist cracking down on the glass startled him out of the spiral of his gorey little thoughts of dissecting the ghost in front of him. Now, she was laying into the glass with her fist with a terrifying amount of force for someone so small. He remembered her file had said she looked to have built with good amounts of muscle, but for her to retain the force after death, to a heightened degree even, is very unusual for human ghosts.

Each hit pulsed through Admin's monitor with a reverberation that made him want to throw up. The closest thing to nausea he could feel, then came the pain. Something about her, something about the nature of her touch. It caused pain. Like she wanted her anger and illness to punish everything else around her for their woes. It touched on something she shouldn't be able to touch, like she was teasing his soul with the tip of a chainsaw. She wanted in, he felt almost like he didn't want to keep her out. But then her fist made it through the glass.

The searing white-hot feeling ricocheted inside of the monitor's wiring, and the wires outside that had been holding Twitch up clumped together, shivering almost, before dumping out of every panel. Admin felt like he was being spun around the room, was not able to focus on any of the cameras, his vision unable to stay in one place for long enough to make a connection to the technology. The electricity of the machine was being drained slowly, but it came in waves, each wave increasing the drain before ebbing off again. Like he was slowly being taking away by an ocean, pulled down into the depths.

It was almost too much. It caught him so off guard he wasted precious seconds where he needed to regain control before she bled him dry. He chased the yellow that coursed towards the outer wires, haphazardly yanking a handful of them up behind her. Would she notice? Would she feel his heartbeat and follow his veins? No, not yet. She didn't notice. Being a sentient electromagnet had its benefits when dealing with ghosts. Setting them just off their rhythm, enough to break the cycle and choke her back. Her body went rigid, something like stone, like she was calcifying before his eyes. Then she went limp, the almost relieved wave of wires beneath her catching from falling off the desk's edge.

Her eyes were still open, but she couldn't focus them. They rolled back and forth, left to right over and over, as if reading cascading lines of text. Nothing moved them off their path and she weakly turned her right hand over and over, trying to will herself back to movement. After a moment of fidgeting, she calmed a bit, her eyes slowing to simply stare slightly upwards to the ceiling, far off in the distance. She was, fascinating to say the least. Perfectly unhinged, no impulse control. Easy to bait. Easy to take down, so far.

She could be a real threat if they made use of her. Admin thought of what Amber would say. Knowing her, she'd be completely against it. She'd rather treat the girl like those Residents are trying to, like she's some little victim needing a place to be safe. Where can we take this? What can we get out of her? How can we keep her?

Keeping her was the first thing to worry about. Now that she was in such a tattered state, he needed to make her presentable. The Residents will be more keen on giving her up if they see how easily we keep her clean and pacified, something they could not do. He could keep on a leash, keep her content for long enough.

Would it work? Probably not, but it could.

That was all that mattered.

Achievements Unlocked:

Thaumcraft? No.

Unlock the Taint effect.

Push Me, and Then Just Touch Me

Meet the AI known as Admin.

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt

Meet the Alta Esterian known as Foss.

Dreamsicles in December

Meet the Conduit known as Amber.