Camp Murder (Inanimate Insanity)

Chapter 25: Sprinklers

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound of Fan's heartbeat was overwhelming. It hung in his ear like a parasite. The silence surrounding him was toxic and uneasy.

"Ugh." He groaned, bouncing his leg nervously. He swiped his phone from his hoodie pocket and checked the time; 3am. They had been gone for an hour.
"An hour is way too long," Fan spoke aloud to himself. "...Right? I should check on them. Yeah."

Although it was true that Fan wanted to check on the lab, there was something else he had a bad feeling about. The fanboy snuck out into the biting cold of the night. The churning in his stomach and tremble in his legs made it almost impossible to walk, yet he persisted as silent as possible. The last thing he needed was an angry, broke MePhone.

Eventually, Fan's legs took him somewhere that he hadn't even realised he wanted to go. Just the slight poke of tall grass on his ankle was enough to send a wave of panic through his spine. He hated being here. He hated being in the shrubbery.

With hitched breath, Fan approached the bush that he had not dared to visit since the last death.
What was it that brought him there? He had no idea, but a certain fear lingered in the back of his mind.

Carefully, Fan peeled the leaves of the 'body bush' backwards. Though the stench remained, it was as he feared:

The bodies were gone.

Turning on his heel, Fan broke into a sprint faster than he had ever ran before (which isn't all that fast). He needed to get to the lab.

-

"Paintbrush, golly, you're so red! You must be getting worked up, um, do you want a drink? All I have is hydrochloric acid and- Oh. I suppose that makes me sound even more murder-y."
Test Tube chuckled nervously and reached a hand out to Paintbrush, who flinched backwards in return. "Oh, come on, Paintbrush. That's just- That's outlandish!"

The taller gripped the countertop so hard that their fingertips grew red. "What did you do to Lightbulb." they demanded.
"Hm? I'm sorry, I didn't he-"
"WHAT-" Paintbrush lunged forward and slammed their foot on the ground, the sound bouncing off the walls and shocking Test Tube. "-DID YOU DO TO LIGHTBULB?"

The scientist scoffed, "WHA- You're crazy!" Quickly regaining her composure, she spoke again, "I loved Lightbulb as much as you did! What would she think about you making such bold accusations?"

Ouch.

Unwanted tears stung in Paintbrush's eyes. Their face creased up, red as a tomato, embarrassment flooding their body. "Oh... I didn't mean to do anything like that-"
"Golly! Don't cry, Paintbrush. Here."

Test Tube slid up to them like a snake, arms outspread. She coiled herself around Paintbrush in a tight hug. They hung their head in shame over her shoulder.

The green-haired girl's voice was soft and comforting. "...Good, good. I'm in this with you, you know that? I'd never hurt Lightbulb, you silly goose."
There was a hollow warmth in her voice that Paintbrush could not understand. Although she stood still, they could feel her shaking softly against their chest.

But she was so warm; warm and comforting.
They felt ridiculous for even doubting her in the first place. Paintbrush nuzzled their head into the nape of her neck, when-

"STOP! GET AWAY FROM- Oh."

Fan toppled out of the tube, a large stick in his hand. With one red eyebrow twitched up, he surveyed the scene. He noticed the scribbles, the mess, the hug, and most importantly; Test Tube's lack of eye-contact. She didn't even flinch when he crashed in, as if he were invisible.

Something heavy fell in Fan's stomach. Something heavy and sickening. He was so taken aback that he hadn't realised his hand shakily reaching for the cupboard door beside him.

"OH, NO! FAN! THAT'S PRIVA-"

The door swung open and the cupboard's contents fell out with a series of hollow thuds.

Both Fan and Paintbrush screamed, the latter shoving Test Tube away with such force that she crashed into the counter and fell to the floor. Her glasses slid across the scrubbed tiles to Fans feet and he snagged them without a second thought.

"Fan. Give me the glasses."
Thick, crimson blood streamed down Test Tube's forehead and dribbled off her chin. She knelt on the floor, shaking noticeably and shocked to stillness.

Ignoring her demand, Fan cried, "W-what the hell? What the hell? WHAT THE HELL? WHAT THE HELL?"
At his feet laid 3 bodies: Apple, the Cherries and Tissues. Although he had fully expected this, it still punched him in the stomach like a giant, rotten fist.

The redhead lurched, insides burning oh-so-familiarly, and vomited.

After raising his head, Fan's adrenaline kicked in through his body at the sight. Test Tube had pulled herself up with her shaking, skinny limbs and hobbled over to Paintbrush. She had a stray shard of glass held to their neck and an expression of pure desperation and panic.

"Give me the f****ng glasses, Fan, or I'll slit their throat! I'll do it right in front of you!"
"Heheh." A nervous giggle erupted from Fan, both at hearing Test Tube swear and as an instinct of adrenaline.

Slowly. Fan approached the scientist with great caution. He held out a hand to her, glasses in clutch. "L-let go of Paintbrush and you can have them."

'Woah,' he thought. 'I sound heroic as hell right now.'

With hesitance, Test Tube complied and unhooked her arm from Paintbrush's neck. They gasped violently, wiping the shock tears off their cheek and stumbling over to Fan.

Just a little further... their hands were almost touching. Long, pale fingers curled around the glasses.

A fair trade.

Or was it?

Fan swung under Test Tube's arm in a heartbeat and elbowed her square in the jaw. The scientist stumbled back due to the sheer force of it. Her guard was down! The nerd delivered a kick square to her gut, causing her to fly backwards into a cabinet of glass beakers with a cry.

"Now!" Fan cried, voice straining. "Get out!"

The pair rushed for the exit, Paintbrush slamming on the fire alarm as they passed it. Sprinklers jumped into action and released showers upon the lab. This, in turn, reacted with solutions, which caused a thick smog to peel into the room.

Although now blinded by the fog, the duo felt their way to the exit. With a reassuring nod to Fan, the tallest swung up the tube.

The fanboy began to follow suit - until a voice echoed from the back of the room amongst a fit of coughs.

"F... Ffff.... FAN! PLEASE! I JUST- I just- *cough* Please!

Let me explain!"

-

Wowo. Long chapter. We're on the final home run now lads. All will be revealed in due time u.u