The Perfect World

Chapter 10

He blinks a few times, before letting out a nervous laugh and pushing your hand to the side. "Eheh... Yeah, uh... I don't think I need the doll that badly. So, I'm gonna go..."

He starts, walking away. You immediately panic and grab his arm. "No! Wait, you gotta believe me! Why aren't you listening to me?!"

"Because.... you're crazy!" He says, before turning and sprinting off. You immediately chase after him, running outside through the fog.

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!" You scream after him.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" He screams back.

"Crazy?!" You yell. "YOU'RE THE JERK WHO GAVE ME THE DOLL!"

"Leave me alone!" He yells, disappearing into the fog. You're not nearly fast enough to keep up with him, so he gets away. Once he's out of sight you slowly look down.

"Still never listens..." You mutter, before turning back to the cave. "Some things never change."

But then you see something shining on the ground. You cock your head to the side, before kneeling down to pick it up.

It's Blumiere's monocle. Mr. L must have dropped it while running away from you. You sigh, remembering what happened to Blumiere, and pocket it next to the key.

Once you're back in the cave, you take a small black chain that you've found on the ground and hook the monocle onto it, along with the key, making a small necklace with the two items attached. That way the key could never fall into another person's hands. You don't know why you want to keep the monocle, but you do.

Seeing Blumiere all broken and empty in there really changed your perception of him. You wonder what he and that Pixl, Tippi you think her name was, were offered. You're almost absolutely certain that those two ghost Pixls were them.

Actually, you don't have to wonder. You are almost sure you know what Blumiere was offered. A lifetime of happiness with her. With that human girl, he was willing to destroy all worlds for, no doubt. Perhaps she was offered the same thing. They were offered a lifetime together, and they fell right into its trap.

And now they were stuck. Stuck until someone could find their eyes and free them.

You really wish you could help them. But you can't go back to that place. If you go back, you'd be walking right into his trap. He'd never let you leave. He'd eat up your soul, your memory, everything about you until you become an empty shell just like them. You couldn't put your own after game on the line for them. You just couldn't.

You sigh, when your mind goes back to the alternate L. The image of that stitched-on smile flashes through your mind, and your shutter, closing your eyes and looking down to the side. 

You feel lonely again. You feel like no one listens to you. 

"He always listened," You tell yourself with a soft laugh. "Maybe because he had to, but he always listened."

Then, you remember the note. Your eyes go wide and you quickly pull it out, hands shaking. It's crumpled, and the handwriting is sloppy.

It's interesting to find a flaw about him, but it doesn't make you like him any less. In fact, you think you like the sloppy handwriting. You wonder if the real Mr. L has the same handwritting.

You take a deep breath and softly read aloud. 

"Dimentio,

Listen carefully. This world, this place, none of it's real. Nothing at all. It's all a trap. Made by the Manguer, or as he's calling himself, Bleck. You have to get out of here. Leave, and never come back! Please!

You may ask why I'm telling you this? To answer, I don't know. I know that the Manguer will surely have my head if he finds out I told you, but I don't care. You need to leave. Take the key, and get out. Never let anyone return. Never come back.

And about what you said on the roof, I want you to know that there's nothing I want more than to spend every day with you. I want to see the stars with you, I want to laugh and talk with you, I want to listen with you, I want to be real with you.

But, I'm not.

Even if I feel things, I'm not real. It kills me that I'm not real, because these feelings I feel, they feel real. But, I'm not real. No matter how real I feel, nothing can change it.

Please never come back. As much as it hurts me to know I'll never see you again, you can't return. He'll devour you until nothing is left. I've seen it happen before, I can't let it happen again. Not to you. You've made me feel things I was never meant to feel. I can't let the person who gave me a glimpse of what being real was like become trapped in a false world forever. I can't give my fate to you. So please, go.

There's so much I want to say to you, but I don't have the time. He's-"

You quickly turn the note to the back to see if there's more, but there isn't. You shake your head, tears welling up in your eyes. You try blinking them away, but that only causes them to fall down faster.

"N-no..." You whisper.  "He didn't finish! What was he going to say?!"

You tremble, and hug the note to your chest, lying down and hugging it tightly. 

You remember the banging and screaming your heard as soon as he shut that door. He got hurt, no doubt. You don't want to imagine the horrors he's encountering right now. If that smile was stitched onto his face already, who knew what else the Alternate Bleck would do.

He was the only one who listened. Probably the only one who could ever love someone like you. 

You don't deserve him. You don't deserve anything. You know that now. It should be you who's trapped in that world, not him. 

It shouldn't be him...

It shouldn't be him.

IT SHOULDN'T BE HIM!!!

You force yourself awake to see the little doll, staring up at you. You quickly scramble up, pocketing the note, and grab the door,  pulling it by the arms and tearing it apart. You watch as the cotton falls to the floor, then you proceed to rip its eyes out. "QUIT WATCHING ME!" You scream. "QUIT SPYING ON ME!"

Once the doll is torn to shreds, you look back outside. Then, with a determined look on your masked face, you leave.

You head for the door.

You're going to return the favor. You're going to save him. And the ghosts.

You're going to do something worthwhile with your afterlife. You're going to make sure that the Manguer never hurts another being EVER. AGAIN.