Consuming Darkness, Arising Light

Chapter 7: Unusual Things Are Happening

Craig

Craig is lying in bed that Sunday afternoon, feeling very bored. He is still in his pajamas - a dark blue two-piece with small red race cars on both the shirt and pants, having long since done his morning routine, but didn't bother to put on any casual clothes. His amber eyes have been transfixed on his ceiling for at least an hour now, his hands are behind his head of black hair, and his right leg is crossed over his other leg.

"Wish I had a t.v in here," he thinks with a sigh. He turns over on his left side. On top of his nightstand are an animal cage, a lamp, an alarm clock, and the Play-doh figurine him and Tweek made of his pet guinea pig. A squeak comes from within the plastic cage, making Craig smile when he sees a brown and white guinea pig scurry towards him. "Hey, Stripe. I see you're done running on the wheel," he comments mirthfully. Stripe responds by wiggling its little pink nose against the see-through wall. Chuckling, Craig sits up, scoots towards the edge of his bed, and reaches into his best friend's cage. Gently with both hands, he takes Stripe out of it. The little animal starts squeaking as if it's happy to finally be out of its cage. Craig brings Stripe up to his cheek, its whiskers tickling him and making him laugh. He lightly nuzzles against Stripe's soft pelage. "At least you had something to do, leaving me to almost die of boredom," he says with a pout. He lowers Stripe onto his lap and starts caressing its back. The silence that permeates the room is comfortable, sometimes being broken by Stripe's purring, enjoying Craig stroking its back.

Craig's parents bought Stripe for him on his fourth birthday. The cute guinea pig was an amazing gift. Whenever he didn't or couldn't go over a friend's house, Stripe would always be there to keep him company, and as a result, he endowed his pet the title of being his best friend. It wasn't too hard to take care of Stripe, his parents purchased the animal supplies while Craig singlehandedly took the role of looking after it.

The young noirette stares dully across his room, really wishing he had a television in here instead of just a dresser and a few board games. "Oh, maybe I can go over a friend's house." Craig stops petting Stripe and looks down at it. "Whose house do you wanna go over, Clyde's or Tweek's?" Stripe doesn't respond. Craig picks his little best friend up to look it in its beady black eyes. Neither blink nor make a sound, it's as if they suddenly started to communicate by looking into each other's eyes. Craig can't help but begin to notice that there's something...odd about Stripe's eyes, however he can't describe it. What's even weirder is that this isn't the first time he's stared directly into Stripe's eyes, even then, he never acquired this strange feeling before. Abruptly, Stripe squeaks, startling Craig back to his senses. He finally blinks, confused for a moment until he registers what had just happened. "Am...I that bored that I'm starting to see things now?" He questions himself. "Well, whatever," he thinks shrugging off his bewilderment. He lowers Stripe from eye level. "I guess I'll go over to Clyde's house since he lives the closest." He leans and reaches over towards the guinea pig's cage, carefully setting Stripe back down onto a white bedding made of soft paper fiber. "Sorry for spacing out all of sudden," he apologizes to his animal friend. "I'm gonna ask one of my parents to take me over to Clyde's house. You wanna come with me?" Stripe merely twitches its nose and scampers back to its running wheel. Craig playfully rolls his eyes. "I guess that's a no then." He looks into Stripe's cage; since his furry friend loves to occupy itself on the running wheel, he assumes its water and food bowls are empty. However, he's only partially correct. Only Stripe's blue water bowl is empty while its red food bowl appears untouched. He gets out of bed, standing on his tiptoes to grab the blue bowl from out of the cage. "I'll get you some more water."

The little noirette leaves his room and goes downstairs. He sees his mother and 3 year old sister, Tricia, occupying the middle of the sofa in the living room, his mother watching t.v while his baby sister is fast asleep on her lap. He waits until he's in the living room to quietly ask, "Mom, is it okay if I can over Clyde's house?"