PAINT CANS. [II AU]

16: be still

Paintbrush fought with themself mentally, deciding and bickering with themself.

Paintbrush knew they would get caught sooner or later if they didn't make someone shut their mouth, they were a sort of a witness to Fan's murder. Paintbrush didn't know what to do, was it really worth it to kill another person and risk being caught, or risk being caught because of a witness?

Rage ate at them increasingly over time like a gluttonous body. Refusing to take medication and drinking because of it. This caused them to have delusions, being wary of the people around them.

Paintbrush was scared, they were paranoid even. Fear was another thing that manipulated their psyche, it was drilled into their head. Paintbrush, being very mentally sick, hated themself. Paintbrush wanted to relieve themself, their head being so clustered with thoughts made them want to hurt themself like smacking someone so it would stop. Paintbrush stood up weakly from their bed, almost falling over. The artist felt nauseated, they had a splitting headache as well.

Paintbrush walked inside their room's restroom, gripping the sides of the sink and staring into the mirror. Paintbrush didn't have a single thought in their eyes. They felt hurt all over their body, it was like their head was being crushed like Test Tube's, pain dripping everywhere onto them physically and mentally. Paintbrush groaned in agony before gagging and spewing vomit into the sink. Paintbrush's eyes watered as if they were about to start crying, and their throat felt like hot sandpaper.

A little afterward they hung their head down and puked again. The artist was on the verge of tears and trying to hold them back. Paintbrush felt empty. The painter swallowed but their throat felt like it was ignited. The artist wiped their mouth with their sleeve and turned on the tap, watching their stomach fluids run down the drain. Paintbrush walked out lightheaded, stumbling a little before catching themself.

The artist finally decided as they relaxed their eyelids with malice. Their head felt like a screaming match with themself.

Paintbrush left their room, walking quietly towards Apple's room like a stealthy cat. Paintbrush peeked in the crack of the door to see Apple and Mashmallow talking together. They couldn't pick up on what the conversation was about but they heard the words purgatory and ghost. Trying to decipher their conversation was the least of their worries, they just needed to take care of Apple.

Paintbrush noticed Mashmallow getting up. They ducked behind the door hoping Mashmallow wouldn't notice them. Paintbrush covered their mouth trying to be as silent as a mouse. Marshmallow walked away, not noticing Paintbrush. Paintbrush sweated bullets waiting for Mashmallow to be completely gone. Once the coast was clear, Paintbrush stood up and peeked inside the room seeing apple all by herself; this was the perfect time to pounce.

Paintbrush creaked the door open and Apple shot up to notice them. Apple was unaware of Paintbrush's motive and gave them a friendly wave. Paintbrush closed the door behind them silently and closed it, making Apple confused.

"Paintbrush? Is something wrong?" Apple softly spoke. Paintbrush slowly turned their head toward's Apple, giving Apple a concerned gut feeling.

Paintbrush jumped onto Apple, giving her no time to react. Paintbrush whipped their hands around Apple's neck and strangled her with a strong force; Apple tried to make noise but her cries were just gagging and her fighting for air. Apple wriggled underneath the violent being. Her eyes cried but her throat said nothing. Apple's fights weakened over time, causing her to faint.

Paintbrush rose their body up and looked down at their victim coldly, not saying a word.

Paintbrush's ears perked up, they heard walking outside of the door. Paintbrush feared the worse, they needed to hide Apple's body quickly. Hiding her under the bed would take up space that Paintbrush needed to hide there, throwing her out the window was their only choice.

Apple was heavier than Paintbrush since they were lankier. Paintbrush picked up Apple with struggle and opened the window. Paintbrush dragged Apple and hung her over the window, they pushed her body so it would go out.

Apple's unconscious body slipped and fell down out of the window, causing her to drop from a pretty tall height. Paintbrush looked out of the window and saw her falling.

*SNAP*.

Paintbrush flinched at the noise, the noise reminded them of when they crushed Fan's skull, their head was flooded with the horrible memory. Paintbrush looked down to see Apple, who was slightly contorted and bleeding from her mouth. Apple was internally bleeding. Paintbrush whipped their head around to see the knob jiggle, the artist quickly closed off the window and hid it with the curtains. Paintbrush fell onto the floor and squeezed their body to crawl under the bed.

When Marshmallow finally opened the door, she saw an absent, quiet room.

"Apple?" Marshmallow called out.

Paintbrush tried to control their breathing. They sweated watching Marshmallow walk through the room from under the bed. It felt like forever waiting for Marshmallow to leave the room. Marshmallow walked out and closed the door behind her, she didn't see Apple anywhere and was becoming concerned.

Paintbrush deeply exhaled. They crawled out from under the bed and wiped the sweat off their forehead.

They dodged a bullet.

Paintbrush peeked outside of the door to see an empty and dead silent hallway. They emerged from the room and walked outside to the side of the hotel.

Paintbrush towered over Apple's body. She looked worse than the last sight they saw of her. She had blood flooding her mouth and it looked like her ribcage was sunken in. Paintbrush didn't want to deal with this, especially with how they felt, but it was a need, they knew this job was going to be sloppy and difficult to manage.

Paintbrush looked up to see a dark cloudy sky. They put their hand up and felt a light sprinkle. Paintbrush didn't know if the rain would help or not. Paintbrush grabbed Apple's leg and started to drag her to their truck.

Paintbrush threw her corpse into the back of their car and drove off.