Hide-and-Seek

Chapter 8 : A Long-Waited Vent

5-7-22

Third POV:

"Rat, you've been odd for the past month. Please, talk with us." Rat was sitting on Bryan's bed while Cat was begging it to say what was wrong. Vinnie stood in the doorway while watching. Ever since it followed Bryan out to work a couple of months ago, it had been acting odd. No, Rat had been strange since they got stuck in that void. Empty space with nothing but the sound of deafening silence. They were there for a year and close to four months. Cat lost its left arm, Vinnie got even more ripped up, lost an eye, and the only thing holding its right arm together was stitched string. And Rat had the same stitch situation with its tail and both its legs. Vinnie looked out the hallway, it had been years since the three nightmares were in the mansion. They didn't like it as a home. The only ones living there were Anna and Bryan till Amiri came into the picture. But it still felt too big. Mainly for Rat, but still. Vinnie after thinking for a long bit finally asked, "What happened when you went out with Bryan that day? That's when it started, was it not?" Rat stayed silent. It didn't move for a few seconds till it then nodded. "What happened then?" Rat's tail rattled as it flicked back and forth. Its eyes dimmed as it whispered, "They're there. All thr33 of the%. All 0f their sp!r!ts live 0n. Even !f 0ne !s m0re talkat!ve and has m0re m0vement than &H3 0thers." Cat and Vinnie looked at each other. The two couldn't tell who Rat was talking about. Rat noticed their confusion and cursed under its breath. It then raised its voice and said, "M@TTH3W, M@r<u$, @nc| \/!n<3nt G0D D@mm!t!" Vinnie and Cat jumped back in shock. Rat had a short temper normally, but it wasn't like this. Rat growled and lay down, facing the wall away from the two. It curled up and Cat walked around the bed to look at Rat. It then sat down on the bed with it. "Rat, I will admit. I wasn't expecting to hear those three are still around. But please, try to keep your temper off the short fuse. We can't do anything if we can't get along." Rat's eyes narrowed. It then made a quiet whimper. "I w@nt t0 t3|| him." Vinnie jumped in, "We can't though. And you know why." Rat's anger returned as it growled and sat back up. It yelled, "3V3|\| TH0UG|-| !T T0RTUR3S U$ 3\/3RYD@Y !F \/\/3 D0N'T! H3'|| F!ND 0UT S0|\/|3H0\/\/!" It paused and its rage disappeared. Rat's voice became quiet and calm, and because of that. Its voice was clear instead of glitched and distorted. "Dylan's the one running the location. And if the suits Marcus and Matthew possessed get their room in the back while Vincent is walking around as Vinnie the puppet. It's clear he knows they're all still on this plane. And even though Bryan's forgotten everything, being at that restaurant could trigger anything. And it's either he finds out the hard way and hates us because we never told him, or we tell him. Bryan'll get mad, but if we tell him ourselves, we can explain why we kept this from him. And we'll at least keep his trust." Vinnie stared at the ground before looking at its right hand. Flashbacks of the past went through its head. (Don't kill me tonight, don't kill me tonight, please. I just wanna sleep. PLEASE STOP! I'M SCARED! Don't you think they were scared, you could have stopped it. You could have intervened, yet you hid and watched.) Vinnie shook its head. Rat stared at Vinnie with a begging expression. "Vin, Please. I can't do this anymore." Cat's ears tilted downward. It also looked to Vinnie for an answer. The only thing Vinnie could do was give Rat and Cat a guilted glance before looking at Bryan's desk. On the desk was a picture of Bryan, Lefty, Helpy, and Molten. It was the only photo Bryan kept or was even framed that had people from his job. Everything else was in a scrapbook or burned. Those three were the only ones that made Bryan feel like he belonged somewhere. Not every event was his fault and his fault only. Vinnie didn't want Bryan to continue feeling that guilt. It wouldn't be able to stand another thing hurting Bryan's conscience. But it also didn't want to continue hiding the truth from him. It finally answered. Though its tone was tired and defeated, "I want to tell him. But I don't want him to suffer anymore because of the past. We came into existence with a purpose. And that purpose was to make sure he remembered it was his fault it happened. That our existence was to only punish him. But now, I can't do that. None of us can do that. We've watched him grow up in silence and not do anything to stop his pain." Vinnie paused, its face no longer showing guilt, but rage, and hatred. "We sat back and WATCHED! As he was tortured and murdered. Then tortured again by being trapped in his own mind for MORE THAN A YEAR!" Rat and Cat didn't do anything except glance at each other and stare at Vinnie in shock. Neither of them had ever seen Vinnie this angry. Vinnie heavily breathed and took a few deep breaths before continuing to speak in a passive, yet still aggressive voice, "I...am...NEVER! Going to watch that man suffer again. I don't care if he hates me for not saying anything. I'm not going to watch him take the blame for three deaths when he was nothing but a scared child. I would be happy for him to at least remember the happy times he had with Marcus, Matthew, and even Vincent. Along with Dylan and Adrien, and the times he and Anna were truly happy together. But I just want him to never remember being in that room. I never want him to remember watching Marcus's neck snap and bleed, nor do I want him to remember watching Matthew fall to the ground, as his ALWAYS GLEAMING EYES!" Vinnie was now crying white tears. It gripped what was left of its bow and shook in pain as it remembered the feeling of pushing Marcus across the room. And how Matthew was so calm and forgiving, yet his life was drained and taken away. Just... Like... That. Vinnie took one more breath before saying his final words. Tears now pouring out its eyes. "I hope he doesn't remember being there as Marcus's and Matthew's eyes finally dull out. Till they're both dead. And I hope he doesn't remember Dylan's quiet, and shocked tears as he's carried away. Nor does he remember having Adrien pulled and ripped away from his arms, crying to stay. So I don't care if Bryan hates me, I will never tell him this truth. Because he doesn't deserve it." Vinnie's bright pupils dimmed and dimmed, till there was nothing but pitch-black darkness, and the tall puppet fell forward. The same white liquid that Vinnie was crying fell from Cat's eyes. Cat raised its right hand to its face and wiped a tear once with one of its claws. Rat stood up from the bed and sat on the ground next to Vinnie. It then brought one hand behind the puppet's back and the other rested on the back of Vinnie's head. Rat hugged the lifeless puppet as it began sobbing uncontrollably. Neither of the two could believe what they saw. What they heard. Vinne was right, if they told Bryan, there's a chance he would remember that day. But if they didn't, it would be one less burden on his shoulders, yet he would never be able to look back on parts of the past that made him smile. What was the right choice? The only one that could see them other than Bryan was Molten. But none of them saw him anymore, nor could they speak to Molten about it without Bryan getting suspicious and asking questions. Especially if Molten agreed with Vinnie and said they shouldn't say a word. "Cat, are you also scared?" Asked Rat in a quiet whimper. It looked up at Cat, who was still sitting on the bed. Cat shook its head no. But before Rat could speak again, Cat said, "I'm not scared. I'm terrified. For everything."