I stood in the empty aisle, shivers going up and down my spine. I hugged my arms and my eyes darted around the aisle frantically, searching for any signs of the strange phantom-like thing that had grabbed me.

I sat down on one of the chairs on the side of the aisle and focused on calming down. Hysterics weren't going to get me anywhere.

"Hey, (Y/N), what do you think of these.... What's wrong?"

I looked up to see Riley's worried face as he stood at the end of the aisle, shiny, black dress shoes on his feet.

"Huh?" I asked, still dazed from my panic attack.

"You look rattled. Shaken," he said, sitting down in the chair next to me and wrapping an arm around me comfortingly.

"Oh, uh," I stuttered, not really knowing how exactly to explain it. "Someone... I thought someone grabbed me."

Riley was immediately on-edge. "Where did they go? What did they look like?"

"That's just it. I turned around to face them and saw a black and white-striped pant leg going around the corner into the next aisle, but when I followed, there was no one there."

Riley gave me a concerned look. "Maybe you just imagined it."

"Riley, I felt them. Their hands were on my shoulders. They were big, and as cold as ice."

"I don't know what to tell you, (Y/N)," Riley said, sighing and scratching his head.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

Maybe Riley was right. Maybe I was stressed out from moving to a new place, new surroundings, new job. And then those pictures. God, those pictures had been plaguing me night and day. I knew there was something going on at the Deetz house, but I had been unsuccessful in my investigation for the truth.

Maybe I really had simply imagined it. But it had felt so real.

I shook myself.

"Maybe I'm just tired," I told him, smiling weakly.

He returned my smile with a relieved one of his own. "Yeah, maybe."

Rita found us, three shoeboxes in her arms. "You guys ready?"

"Yes," I answered, a little too eagerly.

~

"Go, go, go, go!" I yelled at Yoshi, willing his kart to go faster as the red shell rapidly approached him from behind.

Yoshi didn't make it.

"Noooooo!!!" I yelled dramatically as Yoshi was hit and Bowser zoomed past the discombobulated lizard and across the finish line.

"Haha, take that, weakling!" Lydia gloated, standing on her bed and posing dramatically.

I groaned in mock disappointment. "Why are you so freaking good at Mario Kart?" I whined.

Lydia laughed. "I have a friend who helps keep my skills sharp. He's super good."

I arched an eyebrow at her. "Well, that was only my second race, and I haven't played in forever, so I have yet to prove myself!"

"Alright, boomer, you wanna go again?" Lydia challenged, grinning and sitting back down.

I rolled my eyes. "You of all people know I am not a boomer. But you're on, squirt!" I fired back.

We played a few more rounds, and by the time the both of us were tired of the game, I was doing much better and was actually winning a large percentage of the time.

"Wow, I stand corrected. You're actually really good," Lydia said, turning off her Nintendo Wii and putting the remotes on the charger.

"Don't sound so surprised," I replied playfully, changing the tv's input and clicking on Netflix. "What do you wanna watch?"

She shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You like the Office?"

"Heck yes, my dude," I replied, clicking on the show and selecting the episode where Dwight starts a fire in the office for a supposed "drill".

"So," I said, munching on some Doritos, "I was looking at those pictures in the hall, they're really cool," I began slowly and cautiously. Lydia's gaze never left the screen, she just nodded and thanked me.

"So, I was looking at that one with you, your dad, and Delia at Disney World. Except, there was this dude with you guys. He had green hair, a Nirvana shirt, sunglasses, flip-flops...."

Lydia's eyelids widened infinitesimally, and, for a brief second, I saw something close to panic in her eyes. She recovered quickly, however, because her face assumed its languid expression once more, while Angela attempted to throw her cat up into the ceiling in the background.

"Oh, that's my uncle, Larry."

I nodded, arching an eyebrow suspiciously. "Like your... you know.... green raccoon...?"

"We named the raccoon after him because they resembled each other," she explained matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I can see that, now."

All of a sudden, I felt movement on the floor beside me, and when I looked down, found Larry the raccoon rubbing up against my leg, almost like a house cat.

"Oh hey, there, big guy," I said, petting the surprisingly soft fur on his head.

I smiled and stroked his back, and he gave a little trill of satisfaction at my touch. Then, all of a sudden, he just crawled into my lap and curled up. I chuckled. Lydia, on the other hand, did't seem to find it as amusing.

"Nope, nuh-uh, I see what you're trying to do, mister," she said, coming to scoop him up and kick him out of her room.

"Oh, I really don't mind, Lydia," I interrupted, actually finding his presence comforting.

Lydia stopped in her tracks, shrugged, then climbed back onto her bed, mumbling a "suit yourself" under her breath.

And maybe my mind was playing more tricks on me, but I could've sworn Larry stuck his tongue out at her.