Previously

PJ's POV

Knowing that it's cold outside, I take off my jacket, trying to move as little as possible, and wrap it around (Y/N)'s shoulders.

I stand up and pick her up bridal style, grabbing the whiteboard with me too.

I walk downstairs to the first floor and return the whiteboard to the receptionist, in addition to thanking her.

As I step outside, large gusts of wind blow past us.

I begin the long way home with (Y/N) sleeping peacefully in my arms.

Now

(Y/N)'s POV

I wake up in the middle of the night on my bed, still wearing my clothes but my jacket and scarf are taken off.

"Why am I here?" I whisper to myself in the almost pitch black room if not for the moonlight shining through the window and a small electric clock.

2:37 am?

I recount the events of yesterday in my head.

'First, we went to the hospital.

Then, I had a complete meltdown there.

Did I fall asleep?

How'd I get home...?

Did PJ bring me here?"

Questions flood my mind as I get up just to change into my pajamas.

It was getting a bit uncomfortable in those tight-fitting clothes.

I quickly go into my closet and find a black t-shirt with an iceberg rose design on it and red plaid pajama pants.

After changing, I grab a smaller blanket from my closet and pull up a chair from my desk, placing it in front of the window.

I sit down on it and wrap the blanket around my shoulder, getting myself comfortable.

The dark abyss of a night sky illuminates with the most brilliant lights, stars. Although tiny and only as big as a speck of dust from my distance, they shine like microscopic diamonds. Twinkling like little beacons of hope, guiding lost souls and lighting their paths.

Tears well up in my eyes as I think about it.

'I'm lost even with the stars above me.'

'Aren't you always?'

'I'm not in the mood for your petty little games...'

The voice chuckles as I try to ignore them.

I continue watching the stars, some shooting stars appearing every fifteen minutes or so. As I put my arms on the ledge of the window and lay my head down, my eyes threaten to close from my drowsiness.

"I wish I won't have to be so alone anymore..." I whisper softly before passing out and entering the dream world.

It's dark again.

Just pitch black.

"Nothing to see here~" a female voice speaks from the darkness behind me.

I quickly turn around in alarm.

...But there was no one there...?

I take a step forward but feel a force keeping me from moving forward.

Ball and chain...

"Not again..." I mutter to myself.

The creepy voice giggles, clearly amused by my suffering.

I scan the areas around me the best I could but still, there is no one.

My breathing quickens and my heart thumps loudly. Beads of sweat slide down my forehead and form in the palms of my hands.

As I determine my next actions, a chilling hand rests on my right shoulder.

My blood runs cold as I slowly turn around, my body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Behind me, I see a girl who looks just like me with a sadist smile.

She's wearing the same outfit as I am currently wearing. But my black shirt with a white rose turned into a white shirt with a black rose and my red plaid pajama pants turned into a cyan color.

Now that I think about it, she looks EXACTLY like me from her hair, face, and height but just with negative colors.

"Hello, (Y/N)," she says in a low tone, making me rub the goosebumps that just formed on my arms.

"Scared already?" She smirks like she is entertained by my fear.

"Who, who are you?" I put on a brave face, trying not to stutter, but of course, failing.

"Simple, I am you," she declares matter-of-factly.

"No...you're not," I retort.

"Let me rephrase that," her voice echoes through the black abyss of my dream, "I am you because I am the voice in your head."

"What...?"

"Yeah."

Out of nowhere, an alarm clock rings but I know that I didn't set an alarm. It's Sunday!

"Oh! Your time is up, (Y/N)!" she says in an unusually cheerful tone.

"What ti-"

"It's my turn now!" A random force starts making me move against my will.

"What are you doing!?" I scream in surprise.

"Taking control! And you can't stop me!"

The surroundings around me change.

I'm in...

Mr. Ink and Mr. Error's house?

And it's morning.

I see a girl on the bed.

'But that girl is me...

Then how am I here and her over there!?'

I hold my hand up to my face which is now ghostly and see-through!?

'What the heck!?'

I watch her as she gets up and rubs her eyes but her irises were a blood red.

'That can't be me!'

"Of course not, silly!" the girl looks over at me and smiles with ecstasy, "I'm the voice! And it feels so good to have a physical body again!"

"What, what are you planning to do!?" I ask with an angry tone.

"Oh, nothing really. I'm just gonna take away everyone you know and love."

I stay speechless, stunned at her words.

She exits the bedroom and immediately goes down to the kitchen.

When she gets down there, she grabs a kitchen knife from the knife block.

Thin and elegant, yet sharp and dangerous.

'Don't...don't do that...'

"And who are you to stop me?" She snaps back.

'...'

That moment, we hear the sound of shuffling come from the living room.

"Here comes my first victim," she grins viciously.

She changes her expression to tired and sits down at the breakfast table, holding the knife behind her back.

Mr. Ink walks into the kitchen, sleepy-eyed.

"Good morning, (Y/N)..." he yawns.

"M-Morning..." she says back, covering her eyes with her hair.

"Why you up so early?" He walks over to the counter to make some breakfast.

"I-I just needed t-to do s-something."

"And that is?"

She pauses.

"To end a few lives."

He freezes and his eyes widen in surprise at the sudden hostile statement. He slowly looks up at her direction and seems to be at a loss for words.

She glances at him with her blood-red eyes and stands up, reveals the knife in her hand.

"You're not (Y/N)...

She walks closer to Mr. Ink, who's backing up into a wall.

"Listen! We can talk this out. Just...drop the knife."

She corners him and raises her knife, ready to strike.

"I'm. Am. (Y/N)."

In a swift swipe, she beheads him.

Crack.

His skull lands on the floor with a thud as the rest of him dissolves into a pile of dust.

Crack.

"How...could you...?"

She puts her foot on his head, applying pressure. He starts to slowly crumble away as she puts force on his skull.

Crack.

Tears flow down my eyes as I look at his remains, helpless to the situation.

A sound of something charging up comes into earshot as it blasts some kind of large laser at her. She effortlessly steps aside as the beam misses her.

Behind her is Mr. Error, holding his hand out with an expression of a mix of fury and pain.

Besides him is a giant glitchy black skull that resembles the head of a dragon. Its eye sockets are red and its left eye is just like Mr. Error's, dark blue with a yellow ring around it.

She doesn't react to the blast but gives him a crazed smile as she flashes her knife.

"He trusted you, y' know...?

Loved you like his own."

Crack.

"He took you under his wing..."

Crack.

"And this is what he gets for helping your sorry excuse of a human!?"

Crack.

He blasts another laser at her to which she avoids it skillfully.

"You don't know how this feels..."

She takes a running start to slash him with her knife but he avoids the attack.

"To lose the one you love the most..."

Crack.

He teleports to another spot as she approaches him.

"To someone, you thought you could trust..."

Being distracted for one second led to his downfall.

She digs the knife in his ribcage, hitting a good portion of his soul.

After taking it out, he falls on one knee and holds his chest, desperately trying to keep his soul in one piece.

Crack.

Blood starts leaking out of his mouth and through the giant wound spread across his front.

"I'll..." He takes in an unsteady breath, "I'll see you on the other side, Ink..." he murmurs weakly while the top of his skull starts dissolving into dust.

She watches him with no remorse as he slowly disintegrates into nothingness.

While I, in my ghost form, am kneeling in front of his dust, mourning his death.

What he said is right.

I betrayed them...

Just as I wipe away my tears and stand back up again, I hear a scream of help behind me.

I quickly turn around to see that Cil has been cornered by her.

'Stop!' I cry out, my heart pounding fast.

Crack.

"Too late," she smiles sadistically.

In one quick action, she makes a huge slit across Cil.

Crack.

He drops to the ground, the hope and color draining out of his eyes.

After a minute of heavy breathing, his soul gives up on him as he fades into ivory white dust.

Crack.

'What did he ever do to you!?' I yell at her, teary-eyed.

"He's. In. My. Way!"

'You are a cold and heartless creature!'

"Don't forget, (Y/N)~

I am you."

'No, you're not! I would never do anything like that!'

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Sounds of footsteps interrupt our conversation.

"PJ!" She exclaims enthusiastically.

PJ's eyes widen as he looks at the scene in front of him. Dust scatters the room and one girl is in the middle of it, with blood-stained clothes and holding a blood-covered knife.

A single drop of sweat runs down the side of his face.

"You're...you're not (Y/N)..."

'RUN!' I try to scream but PJ doesn't react.

"Of course, I'm (Y/N)."

"...She wouldn't do something like this..." PJ responds, hesitating with a hint of doubt in his voice.

Crack.

"Well, maybe you just don't know her. Now...play time's over."

She starts stepping closer but PJ doesn't move an inch. Not even flinching.

Once she's a foot away from him, he holds up his hand in a snapping position.

"Let's take this somewhere else."

He snaps his fingers and we suddenly appear in a white space.

The atmosphere gives off an ominous feeling with the emptiness of it all. It's just so blank and empty...

...As if you would be forgotten if you got stuck there.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

The empty white space flickers a few times before completely turning black. White walls form around my soul which is in front of me as if it is imprisoned.

"Wow, you don't look scared at all.

Well then...allow me to show you what I can do."

He snaps and three black skull things appear. They start moving at rapid speeds and shoot giant lasers towards my soul.

She dodges the attacks flawlessly and without a second thought.

"You may have been able to avoid that, but I'll show you how I eliminate dirty glitches like you."

"Your turn, (Y/N)~"

My perspective changes abruptly.

"I'm in control again!"

Four buttons are in front of me along with my HP and LV.

*Sparing PJ is pointless

(Y/N) LV 1 HP ⬛⬛⬛⬛ 100/100

[Fight] [Act] [Item] [Mercy]

I ignore the text and throw away the knife so that it is far out of my reach. I smack my hand on the mercy button and look up at PJ, hopeful.

"You really think I'm that big of an idiot?" he scoffs.

He snaps his fingers and turns my soul dark blue, slamming me into a wall. As I am stuck on it, the wall starts cracking.

I jump against the gravity of my soul and just barely avoid the attack.

My soul goes flying again, this time, to another wall. I basically face plant the wall as bones shoot up again.

We repeat his process two more times. But something happened...

As I am getting up from the fourth slam, the bones shoot up quicker than I anticipated.

One of them shoots through my left arm and the other one brushes the side of my soul making a tiny cut in it.

PJ lets go of my soul as I hold on to it, hoping that it doesn't crack more than it already has.

*Told ya

(Y/N) LV 1 HP ⬛⬛⬛⬜ 75/100

[Fight] [Act] [Item] [Mercy]

I get up, holding my bleeding arm as I try to stop the excessive blood flow.

I press the act button in curiosity.

*Check *Magic
*Flirt *Apologize

I shakily click check.

PJ Ư̢̡̛͟͢ń̶͜͜͢͠҉̴̷̛͢k̷̀͝҉̸̶̨̢̛̛͟͠͡͝ǹ̷̸̸̸̵̴̷͢͜͡͠҉̡͟ớ̸̷̷̴̴̸̡̢̕͘͟͡w̵̴̡̢͜͠͞͠҉͟͠n̸҉̸͘҉̷ ATK Ư̢̡̛͟͢ń̶͜͜͢͠҉̴̷̛͢k̷̀͝҉̸̶̨̢̛̛͟͠͡͝ǹ̷̸̸̸̵̴̷͢͜͡͠҉̡͟ớ̸̷̷̴̴̸̡̢̕͘͟͡w̵̴̡̢͜͠͞͠҉͟͠n̸҉̸͘҉̷ DEF

*Don't underestimate the son of a destroyer

"You killed everyone in cold blood. Now it's my turn."

PJ raises his hand and blue strings pop out of his fingers. Each one of them tries to grab my soul but I move away, quick on my feet.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

Fi-

His fifth string successfully grabs me, lifting me from the ground and tightening his grip. Physically, it feels like he's choking me.

I gasp for air as he continues to stay in that position, not phased by the fact that he's strangling me to death.

He finally lets go and drops me on the ground with a loud thud as I try to catch my breath.

*You'll die if you keep sparing

(Y/N) LV 1 HP ⬛⬛⬜⬜ 50/100

[Fight] [Act] [Item] [Mercy]

I lift myself off the ground, staggering, my body trembling and my arms about to give up on me.

I press the mercy button again, refusing to fight him no matter what the text box says.

"..." He doesn't say anything but glare at me with uncertainty.

He spawns another skull thing and this time, I could get a good look at it.

It's the same as Mr. Error's except it has paint splatters of pink, yellow, and blue.

It charges up a glitchy white laser in its mouth as it aims straight at me.

It blasts and I move aside, avoiding it.

But what I didn't see was another one behind me, about to fire.

I quickly turn around to see it and it attacks.

With my quick reflexes, I move to the side but, of course, my clumsy self trips over a jutted out bone.

As I am on the ground, bones start flying at me from various directions.

I roll out of the way hastily but one of them gets me in the stomach.

I grunt in pain as he picks up my soul one more time and throws me to the opposite wall as I land on the floor.

I don't make any other movement except looking up to see PJ right in front of me with his giant skull next to him.

He stares at me, not saying a word. He snaps his fingers and the skull starts charging up.

'Get up, stupid!' She yells at me but I stay down.

At the last second, she takes control again and gets blasted which still leaves me in control.

(Y/N) LV 1 HP ⬛⬜⬜⬜ 1/100

[Fight] [Act] [Item] [Mercy]

I slowly get up, my body and soul aching in pain after that last attack, but nevertheless, get up.

After I bring myself up to the steadiest stance I can manage, I press the mercy button.

"Even after all that and having 1 HP, you still decide to spare me?

...Then deep down, you know how to do the right thing.

So...will you...?

I know you can bring them back."

*PJ is sparing you

I click mercy without hesitation as the battle ends just like that.

"Heh...come here."

He opens his arms to signify a hug.

With all of my strength, I take the first step before falling down due to my knees giving out.

PJ rushes over in surprise to catch my fall.

"Are you okay?"

'Don't trust him! It's a trick!'

I quickly nod, not wanting to worry him more.

"W-What about you?"

"I'll be fine when you're fine."

He helps me back up to a standing position and opens his arms again.

I gladly hug him with a sigh of relief which quickly turns into quiet sobs.

While I cry into his chest, he pats my back, whispering reassuring words into my ear.

"Let it all out, (Y/N). You'll be okay because...

A breaking sound comes from the ground below me.

"P-PJ...? W-What is-"

"You'll finally be at rest."

Before I can say anything else, an unbearable pain strikes through my chest and hits me in the middle of my soul.

I cough up huge amounts of blood as I feel more of it drip from my chest and onto the floor of the white abyss.

I open my eyes to see that I am lifted in the air by three glitchy black bones.

(Y/N) LV 1 HP ⬜⬜⬜⬜ 0/100

"P-PJ-" I whisper my last words before being interrupted.

"Did you really think I would spare you after all you've done?"

~A/N~

I SWEAR I AM NOT DEAD!

I am SO sorry that I let you guys hanging last time!

A lot is happening at once from the homework that's now being loaded on me to actual school drama (like racial slurs on the bathroom walls :/)

I'm just so busy all the time!

But that does not mean I'm losing motivation for this book.

I am determined to finish it and I will!

But it'll just have slower updates (but probably longer chapters)

I wish I could do more but with the schedule I currently have, it's pretty difficult to manage.

Again, I'm sorry for the late chapter...

Word count: 3083 words (including A/N)

*nopes out*