How Did We Get Here?

Chapter 1

Anti fell forward, overwhelmed by everything, curling into a ball, his body shaking from the repressed sobs.

Jackie was right. He was the worst. He tried to hurt or kill everyone he had dared to like, and now they all hated him. They all hated him. And he hated them.

"S̴̊̈́̇̀͂͜t̴̮̥̣̰̼͋̀͂̿͝ó̶͕́̇̅p̷̼̯̣̽̈́.̶̨̲̬͊̉.̷͇͇͕̩̒͗.̴̰͎̤̟̗͑̄̏͗̕" He whispered, not knowing who he was talking to, "P̴̺͉̐͆l̸̛̖͎̼̮ḛ̷̢̋ȧ̵̖̰s̷͚͇͈͂͗̏̋̚e̵͍̝͑.̵̻̺͂͂.̴̜̬̠̯̠͆̋̈́̽.̸̢̲͉́̒"

But nothing did. The negative thoughts continued to flood into his head, accompanied by Jackie's voice as he was choked by his glitches.

He didn't care anymore. Nothing mattered. Everyone hates me.

***

"Hey, has anyone seen Anti?" Chase asked, walking into the living room. He hadn't seen the demon since morning, and he was starting to get worried. Not that he'd admit it to anyone.

"Oh, he's probably off plotting someone's murder again," Jackie said, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

"Marv?" Chase turned to the magic ego.

Marvin shrugged, "Last I saw of him was when he and Jackie had a fight."

Chase sighed, "Jackie, could you not?"

Jackie finally looked up, "Seriously? He's the one that started it again."

Chase sighed again, "Alright, whatever..."

He left the living room, deciding to check Anti's room. He had looked everywhere else anyway, and even though he knew Anti would probably murder him for even touching the door, he had to make sure. And if Anti wasn't in there, he would never have to know that Chase had even been in there in the first place.

Chase made his way up the stairs, stopping at the first door on the right. The door to Anti's room was mostly like the others, other than the messily painted sign that read "Go away!". Chase was slightly embarrassed to admit that he had never actually seen the interior of Anti's room, mostly credited to his slight fear of the demon.

There was a faint sound coming from the inside of the room, and Chase stopped just before he was about to open the door, instead pressing his ear to the cool wood. He wasn't sure what he was hearing, but it sounded like Anti was talking to himself, his voice choked out by glitches and static so thick he was hardly audible. He kind of sounded like one of those old tv's with the "no signal" static, with a voice layered underneath.

Chase stood back and gently knocked on the door, "Uh- Anti? You ok?"

"G̵̖̹̊-̶̪̠̍ ̶͇͝g̴͕̀̎ǒ̷̧̯̍-̴̠͔͐͗o̸̤͛͌ ̵̤́å̸͍-̷͇̯̋ ̴̹͋̋a̷̦̕͠w̴̯̙̿ḁ̷̺̆y̴͚̌͝-̸͈̗̔͐a̵̪͗y̶̳̝͐̄!̶̱̌̚" Anti yelled, his glitches so out of control it was hard for him to form a sentence.

"I-" Chase hesitated, if Anti was mad, going in there was dangerous and practically a death wish. No, that was what Jackie would say, don't be like Jackie-

"I'm gonna come in, ok?" Chase said gently, starting to turn the door knob.

"D̸͙̒-̸͍̠̑ ̸̞̈́ͅd̴̛͈̤̄o̷̼̐́n̵̼̹̔'̸͖̼͊̆t̵̪̀̊!̴̳́ ̸̰͙̉̅Ḭ̷́͌ ̶̜͎̈s̸̤̗̎̍-̶̱̎̃ ̸̀ͅs̴̊͊ͅa̵̤͚͝i̵͎͐̒d̸̺͘͝ ̶͉̈́ģ̵̫͆͘-̸͎̝̅̔ ̸̙̗͘ģ̶̛̜ǫ̴̯̌ ̴̺̻́a̷̳̔-̴̠̅̕ ̵̲̳̍a̸̩͎͐̀ẇ̸͕͓a̶̹͊̓ÿ̵̟́̑!̸̭̈́" Anti said, his volume a bit lower than before.

Chase took a deep breath and pushed open the door. It took him a second to realize what was happening, because it definitely wasn't what he was expecting. Anti was curled up in a ball a few feet from the door, so many glitches surrounding him that it was hard to see him. He had resumed his muttering, and although despite being on the other side of the door, Chase still couldn't understand what he was saying.