The Tale of Horrible Harry

-- 2 --

"You guys don't think Trophy was telling the truth, do you?" Tissues asked as his friend, Yin Yang, searched the dresser's drawers for a flashlight. "About Horrible Harry and all..."

"Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't," Yang said, tossing aside a rather torn up tie. "But in case he was, just know that if Harry comes after us I'm ditching you." Yin glared at Yang for a second as Tissues nervously fiddled with his hands. Yin turned his head back towards Tissues.

"Oh, of course not! I'll make sure Yang doesn't leave you behind if Harry does come though, not that he would," Yin said reassuringly. They pulled the small light out of the drawer they were searching through and flicked the switch, only for it to die out. "I thought I replaced the batteries yesterday..." Yin said to himself, focusing back onto the flashlight. Tissues sniffled as he laid back on the bed.

"If you say so..." Tissues mumbled. He sneezed rather loudly, startling his friend a bit. Yin Yang shook the flashlight, causing it to flicker. They gently smacked the flashlight in their hand, making it finally flicker on.

"There we go! Now we can see where we're going," Yin said, rather pleased with himself.

"Even though I'm perfectly capable of seeing in the dark," Yang added. Yin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, you can see in the dark as well as a deep sea fish in the light!" Yin grumbled. "Besides, as if I would actually trust you to tell me where to go! You'd probably make us run straight into the wall just to get your kicks!"

"Says you! You're the one who walked straight into a door yesterday!"

"I was too busy arguing with you to focus properly!"

"Excuses, excu-" A clap of thunder interrupted their argument, and a flash of light filled the room, creating harsh shadows that contrasted against the bright white light. For a moment, the shadows created a peculiar shape on the bare wall near the door. However, it was gone as soon as it had come, but it spooked them nonetheless.

"W-Whatever, let's just see if we can find the others and see if we can turn the power back on." Yin stuttered as he hurried towards the door. Tissues sluggishly got off of the bed and followed behind. However, Yin Yang was moving oddly quick, as if he was trying to avoid spending too much time in the dark.

"Are you okay?" Tissues asked, trying to keep up.

"Duh! Of course I'm okay!" Yang hissed.

"You just seem...scared..."

"Scared?" Yang laughed, albeit with a hint of nervousness. "Ha! It's just Yin. I don't get scared."

"You don't get scared? What about that time you freaked out because you thought you went blind after the last time the power went out?" Yin asked, raising an eyebrow. Yang growled in response.

"Shut up!" he hissed. Thunder rumbled again, and another flash filled the hallway. "Just...Just come on."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Looking back, the story was a little suspicious..." Balloon said to himself as he fiddled with a small lantern in his room. "I mean, how do you even turn blood into wine, and how did nobody notice it?" He clicked the knob on the lantern, creating an area of radiant light around him. He left his room to find Nickel sitting right outside. Balloon jumped when he saw Nickel. He wasn't exactly expecting anyone, especially not Nickel. "O-Oh! Nickel!" Balloon said, stumbling a bit on his words. "Wasn't expecting you here." Nickel looked over at Ballon with a glare that hardened in the light cast by the lantern. Balloon smiled to hopefully ease the tension between the two, but it only made the air around them more uncomfortable. Finally, Nickel spoke.

"Y'know I couldn't help but overhear how you were talking to yourself just now." Nickel said, moving his gaze from Balloon to the dark hallway. "About the whole 'people noticing blood in wine' thing." Ballon was slightly disturbed that Nickel had apparently been listening to him, but said nothing in reply. "Not gonna lie, as much as I hate your presence..." Nickel spoke through his teeth as his eyebrows furrowed together. "I can actually see your point, not that I was convinced by Trophy's hogwash." Nickel relaxed a bit, and for a moment, the hall was silent again. Not knowing what to say, Balloon continued down the hall a little ways, but he was stopped by Nickel speaking again. "Just to be sure though, ya' might wanna be careful..." Balloon heard Nickel's footsteps grow closer behind him, but was hesitant to turn around to face Nickel. "He may not actually be entirely wrong. If you think about it, there's actually a lot of stories that end up being real..." Nickel brushed up against Ballon, scaring him for a split second. "Now come on, everyone else is waiting downstairs, and I can't find any lights that work in my room. Nickel walked nonchalantly in front of Balloon, and Balloon followed in a spooked state.