── 𝟏𝟕 . * .°・( 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 )
❝︎ 𝖻𝖾𝗇 𝖽𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 ❞︎
──
Aurora Park's fingers drummed against her windowsill, eyes tracing the small droplets of water as they raced down the window pane of her lonesome apartment. It was just a few minutes past 11 o'clock, Rory having just finished a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Only a day had gone by since her debacle with Val, the two seeming to agree on cutting off all forms of communication.
Of course, Rory wanted her best friend back, but was it worth it to lose herself in the process?
Val made her feel like shit; saying she was a horrible friend? Even Rory knew that wasn't true.
Still, the very concept of losing her best friend weighed heavy on her frail shoulders. It seemed as if as every moment passed she was slipping further and further from sanity. It wasn't smart to depend on one person, but Rory couldn't help but long for Val in that moment. She wanted nothing more than to stock up on all kinds of junk food and watch a scary movie whilst cursing at the idiotic characters.
But she couldn't.
Her eyes momentarily slid to her phone, Rae's contact pulled up on the screen. Rory needed to tell someone about her conversation with Val, but was Rae the best person to vent to? She wouldn't let herself ruin their relationship—one that had just barely begun.
"Ah, fuck." She mumbled under her shaky breath as the phone turned off.
She ran a hand through her tangled hair and resumed her gaze out the window, watching as people ran across the street in search of shelter from the rain. With one swift motion, she tossed her phone across the room without sparing it a single glance. The girl opened the window, sighing as the echoes of rainfall grew louder. Sticking a hand out, the water gathered into a single puddle in her palm; Rory only watched.
She sniffled, the motion racking her shoulders ever so slightly. A sole tear dripped down her pale cheek, mirroring the small droplets dancing down from the clouds. She was quick to wipe it away with her dry hand, cursing at herself for overreacting.
Her phone rang.
Rory's eyed widened as far as they could, her head whipping around in search of the black device. Her arm darted back into the room, the rainwater from her hand splashing onto the rug. She scrambled across the living room to reach the couch, grabbing the phone; eager to read the caller ID, she panted.
CORPSE
Oh.
Honestly, she had been expecting Val.
But this? This... was slightly better.
She answered the call, completely forgetting about anything and everything that had just happened.
Silence.
"Ror?"
Her mouth opened to form a reply, but nothing came out. He'd know immediately that she had been crying.
"Rory, are you okay?" His deep voice traveled through her speaker.
Deciding to bite the bullet, she answered. "Yeah, I'm fine."
On the other end of the phone call, Corpse's brows knitted. He had been sitting at his dining room table, spoon forgotten in a now abandoned bowl of cereal. Clearly, this phone call was more important.
"Are you crying?"
Rory mouthed "FUCK!" to herself in the mirror before taking a deep breath. "No."
"Aurora."
"Corpse."
"Tell me the truth."
The girl chucked a pillow across the room out of pure embarrassment. "Yeah, okay."
"Are you crying?"
"Maybe."
"Fuck, Rory." He muttered. "What's going on?"
"It's stupid." She dismissed him entirely. "Anyways, why were you calling?"
Corpse pushed away the bowl, standing from his seat to approach the window and watch as the rain fell from outside. He loved the rain...
"It was just about tonight's stream, but forget about it..." He trailed off, not entirely sure how to approach this.
"We're still on for Phasmophobia, right?" She questioned, trying to trick both herself and Corpse into changing the topic.
"Well, yeah. But—"
"Okay, cool."
"Rory." Repeated Corpse sternly. "Tell me what's going on."
At her silence, he panicked.
"I mean... If... If you're comfortable with that."
Rory sighed, twirling a single strand of her brown locks. "I don't want to burden you..."
"Rory, you know you could never burden me, right?" He spoke softly into the phone. "I mean it. Your problems are my problems."
Fighting the sudden wave of warmth coating her cheeks, the Park girl burrowed her face into her knees. "That's unfair to you, though."
"It's not." He simply replied.
She paused. Was she really going to do this? "Val and I are fighting and I'm questioning my entire purpose on this earth."
"Rors..."
"Look, I know it's stupid, alright?" Rory reasoned. "She's just... my person. I don't know how to explain it. She helped me get through a lot of shit with my parents and I need her. She's always been here to calm me down whenever I have my panic attacks and shit, but she's not here. She's in London making new friends and forgetting about me."
"Have you been having panic attacks since she left?"
Rory hesitated, head raising so that her eyes could meet the opened window, spotting the rain dripping onto her floor. "Everyday."
Corpse cursed to himself from the other end, hand forming a sturdy fist. He hated to see her like this. He knew that she battled a lot of mental shit like he did, but he didn't know just how bad it was.
"I hate change." She continued. "I fucking hate it. And not having someone in your life anymore is fucking scary. I'm overreacting, and—fuck—do I know it. But I can feel her slipping away... She's like the only family I have left."
"No, Rors." Corpse shook his head. "You have Rae, and Sykkuno, and Poki, and Seán, and... you have me."
Breath caught in her throat, Rory's previously downturned brows relaxed.
"I don't know what went on with your parents, but Val isn't the only family you have anymore. We've got your back—I've got your back."
Her mouth curved into a small grin. "Thank you, Corpse. Maybe one day I can return the favor, hm?"
His clenched fist softened, hand raising to brush his curly hair out of his face. "Yeah..."
──
Aurora Park let out a laugh as Rae spoke anxiously about the horrifying night that was to come. Her stream had only started around seven minutes before, the streamer spending that time to engage with her viewers and act as if everything was fine. She couldn't let them know about anything regarding Val; it would be entirely too unprofessional of her to disclose it.
Rory entered the Phasmophobia lobby, eyes immediately darting to her friends' avatars, all of which looked really funny. They ran in circles around the room, waiting for Corpse to finally join.
After her conversation with him earlier, Rory had actually decided to get her act together and eat a proper meal. Corpse was like a breath of fresh air from her previously downtrodden episode by the windowsill of her gloomy apartment.
Her fingers lightly tapped on her fancy keyboard out of anxiety; streaming would always make her anxious. Nothing would ever change that.
A little noise echoed in Rory's old headphones and she immediately glanced over, smiling as Corpse's avatar appeared in the room.
"Corpse!" Rae and Sykkuno exclaimed.
"Hey, guys." He greeted.
Rory merely narrowed her eyes in mock annoyance. "You're late, Corpse Husband."
Rae and Sykkuno ooh-ed in the background.
"Sorry, Aurora Park. I was in another lobby, Aurora Park." He spoke in an almost robotic voice, mimicking that of a solider speaking to his commanding officer.
The trio gasped.
"Another lobby?!?!" Rae questioned in shock.
"Woah, woah, woah." Sykkuno interrupted. "Corpse has other friends?"
"Hey..." The man in question attempted to speak, but was immediately cut off.
"What—are we not good enough for you now, Mr. Corpse Husband?" Rory accused, wagging a finger at her monitor.
user1: oooooh dad's in trouble with mom
Her eyes caught sight of that comment, a huff passing her lips. "We're not married." She muttered.
"Who's not married?" Rae's face scrunched up in confusion.
"No one!"
Cue an awkward pause.
"Anyways, Rae, care to start the game?" Rory brushed the whole interaction off, nearing the whiteboard in-game.
"Uh, sure..."
The game loaded, Rory jumping in her seat as the face of Corpse's avatar loaded right in front of her.
"JESUS—"
"It's just me." Corpse chuckled.
"Shut it, pipsqueak."
"As you wish, princess."
Her jaw dropped, but she quickly covered it up as she was reminded of the hundreds of thousands of people watching her every move.
"Uh, anyways..." Sykkuno quickly changed the subject as he approached the whiteboard inside the truck.
"Okay, so..." Rae trailed off, reading the small paragraph at the bottom. "Looks like the Ghost's name is Ben Dover."
Rory choked. "His name is what now—???"
Corpse let out a loud laugh as Sykkuno chuckled calmly.
"Hey!" Rae scolded. "We're all adults here, right? Let's act like we're responsible for once, alright?"
The incessant laughing from Rory and Corpse said otherwise.
"Ahem." She continued. "This Ghost also seems to only respond to people who are alone."
"Well, great. There goes my lunch." Rory fake gagged, leaning off of her chair and out of the camera's field of vision.
"Shut up." Rae scoffed with an eye-roll. "You should be able to use its name to anger it and get some paranormal activity."
"I can't wait to scream bend over every three seconds in this guy's bedroom." Corpse cracked, grinning madly as he heard Rory's obnoxious snickering.
Everyone picked up a flashlight. Rory grabbed the Ghost Writing Book as Corpse grabbed the Spirit Box, Rae grabbed the camera, and Sykkyno grabbed the EMF Reader.
They regrouped in the center of the truck.
"Okay, so who wants to go in first?" Sykkuno voiced the very question they all had been too afraid to ask.
"Should we rock, paper, scissors it?" Rory offered.
Rae felt her brows knit. "Girl, how would that even work—?"
"Well, we would all say what we got— okay, yeah nevermind." She nodded. "Dumb idea."
"Hey!" Corpse exclaimed. "There are no dumb ideas, Rors."
"Pfft, yes there are!" Rae opposed with a scoff. "I vote that Rory goes first because she's stupid."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"Yeah, I can't defend you on this one. Sorry, Rory." Sykkuno only shrugged.
"You guys suck!" She sulked out of the back of the truck, slowly trekking to the front porch of the house. "Where should I go first?"
"Go to the basement." Corpse told her. "They're always in the basement."
"Oh, is that what your other friends told you, Corpse?" Rae accused.
"What?? How is that even..."
Their voices faded away as Rory got deeper into the house. She neared the door to the basement and shuddered.
"All I have is a stupid fucking book. What the fuck is that gonna do?" She cursed under her breath.
She slowly opened the door and just stared into the dark abyss. "Hello??"
When no one responded, she let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, here we go..."
Rory slowly descended the staircase, flashlight illuminating only a small portion of the creepy room. She flicked on the light switch, a row of metal shelves greeting her. She jumped at the sight.
"Fuck." She heaved.
"Hey, Rory." Rae's voice came over the radio, Rory jumping at the unexpected sound. "How's it goin'?"
Rory pressed down on the walkie talkie key, "I'm in the basement, no sign of fuckface."
She heard distant laughing.
"Did you put the book down?"
"No, not y—AH, OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!!"
"RORY?!" Corpse called out. "ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"THE FUCKING LIGHTS TURNED OFF."
Her avatar ran up the steps and into the 'safety' of the kitchen.
There were remnants of small laughter before Corpse spoke. "You've gotta put the book down."
"How the hell am I supposed to put the book down if I'm DEAD?!"
"So dramatic." Rae pouted. "Just do it."
"You're not gonna be so fuckin' easygoing when your ass is in here all alone, Rachel."
"Ooh, not the full name!" Sykkuno giggled.
"I'm going back down." Rory announced, slowly returning to the creepy basement.
The Ghost was definitely down there, she could feel it...
She walked to the middle of the room and dropped the book on the floor, quickly turning around and darting to the steps. With a quick glance, she saw something chasing her out of the corner of her eye.
"AH, OH MY GOD!" She screamed, rushing up the steps as fast as she could. "WHY IS THIS BITCH SO FUCKING SLOW???? BITCH RUN!!!!"
She somehow made it back to the truck, panting as if she had actually ran there.
"What the hell happened?" Rae questioned.
"Give me—give me a second... to recover." Rory pleaded. "I'm traumatized."
"Did you put the book down?"
She froze, looking up at Rae's avatar. "Is that all you fucking care about? Your best friend almost just got murdered and you're asking me about the book?!"
"Well, did you put it down?"
Pause. "Yeah, I put it down."
"Great!"
Rory only sighed.
"Now, go check it."
She let out an ungodly screech. "WHAT?!"
"Go check the book."
"You want me to go back?!"
"Yes."
Rory's mouth was open, eyes wide in a fresh wave of pain.
"Top ten worst anime betrayals." She muttered, retreating to the house once more.
The trio laughed behind her, the sound muffling as she made her way inside.
"I could die right now and they would laugh." Rory jutted out her lip in a cute little pout.
She hesitated at the top of the stairs. "Here we go, Benny boy."
Walking down, she aimed the flashlight all over the basement. Her breath hitched as she approached the book, picking it back up.
She pressed to talk on the walkie talkie. "Uh, guys. We've made contact."
"What's it say?" Sykkuno questioned.
LEAVE NOW
OR DIE.
"It's actually kinda cute." Rory teased. "I feel like we have a secret admirer on our hands."
She turned around to approach the steps, but she came face-to-face with the Ghost.
Rory's screams echoed through her streaming room, her frail body falling out of her chair and onto the floor.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?"
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author's ramblings !
hey! here's a longer chapter for y'all because you deserve it! <3
this might actually be my favorite chapter so far :))
can you all please start voting on these chapters? there are so many of you who add ugh to your reading lists, but refuse to actually support the book... it's actually kinda hurtful lol
some of you might think that voting on chapters might annoy the author, but it's actually the opposite!!! seeing you all vote on this book gives me more motivation to write, and isn't that what we all want? :))
anyways, CORPSE AND SYKKUNO MET. LET'S TALK ABOUT IT.
thank you guys for 34k views... that's crazy and i appreciate it!!!! i love y'all! <3
please stay safe and mask up!
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