I wake up the next day, expecting yesterday to have been a dream, but I wake back up in the hut again. At least, I think it's the hut.
So I'm still in Shady Oaks.
I don't know if I'd rather be here or in Last Life.
I get up, using the wall to stabilise myself. I do not feel good today. I must have caught some kind of sickness, because I feel overly dizzy and my vision seems to be blurry. Resting against the wall lets it clear up, but I must've hit my head or something, because I still feel...off.
I don't know what to do. I don't know how long I can keep the lie up for, I don't know how long I'll be staying here. I don't know what's going to happen next.
I sigh and swing open the door, shielding myself from the sun as I start to walk outside. I'm not sure why it's so bright today, but it's hurting my eyes.
I just aimlessly walk for a bit, waiting for my eyes to subside and for something to happen.
And that something comes to me. When I get to the plaza again, something lands on my back and pushes me onto the ground. I hear another hiss and it jumps up and lets go.
I whip around onto my back, and Justin's dusting himself off, before holding out a hand to me. I notice that he has orange particles surrounding him.
"Just checking you slept last night. Looks like you did, though you might want to continue trying to get it."
"Uhm..okay?" I nervously laugh, and Justin laughs along. I rub my back, ouch, that hurt slightly. My chest hurts too, but that's because of the scar. I spot James flying over from behind him, looking mildly concerned.
"Justin, you can't just fly into him like that, geez!" James cries, patting my shoulder once he gets over. I flinch. "I get he hadn't slept, but-"
"I heard the ticking and had to check." Justin shrugs.
"What ticking?" I ask.
"Oh, right. Yeah, since I'm a phantom, every night someone hasn't slept, I hear this ticking coming from them. It gets louder and faster the longer it goes. And it's so annoying. Everyone has a specific..sound to theirs. That's how I knew you were spying on me and Tiff last night. Yours was so loud that I could barely focus. I have no idea how I held a conversation." Justin explains. I did notice he had issues focusing, but it still comes as a mild shock.
"Ah, alright."
"Speaking of last night-"
I cut him off by turning behind me and waving at Dan through his window. Nope, nope, we're not doing this today.
~~~
"She- she called me a traitor!"
"Why? You didn't do anything to her! I was the one who killed her..."
~~~
Dan comes out and waves at me back, and Squid follows him. Huh, I didn't see the guy. They must've been having a conversation.
"Sup, BigB!" He greets. I turn back to Justin, who is just staring back at me, clearly annoyed. He seems slightly amused, though, because he chuckles a bit before going back to being serious.
"I see you're trying to dodge the question, huh?"
"Uh-"
"Oooh, BigB screwed up?" Dan teases from behind me.
"Well, yes. Look, BigB, as I said earlier. You clearly weren't in a singleplayer world. What on earth were you doing when you were away?"
"How would you know that, Justin? God, why are admins so incredibly OP?" Squid jibes.
"No clue, Squid. And I'm not mad, honest. I just want to know."
All eyes are on me, as everyone waits for an explanation. What I lied about. Why do I constantly lie? It seems I'm prone to it, and it always makes things worse in the end. Now here I am, surrounded by those I want to call my friends, about to reveal some horrors.
~~~
"BigB, what did you do?!"
"I'm sorry, Lizzie. I feel terrible."
~~~
"I- okay. I was in this server- two servers, actually- one called 3rd Life and one called Last Life. In 3rd life you only have 3 lives. In Last Life you have two or more. If you are only on one life, you become hostile, and are allowed to kill other players and you die, you die permanently and there's this curse called the Boogeyman curse, and if you get that you get a scar and red-life style bloodlust, and you have to kill someone otherwise you turn into red immediately and I-"
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down, BigB, you look like you're panicking." Justin holds my shoulders, and I catch my breath back.
"Sorry, sorry- yeah, it was with some people from different servers, we all just randomly woke up there I don't know how but we all made friends, somehow I made it through 3rd life until the very end where I was killed and then immediately after we got sent to Last Life where the boogeyman curse exists and I thought I made an alliance but then I got cursed and I ended up killing my best friend and she betrayed us and now she wants to kill me and then the leader of the alliance became a red name and then she killed me and then I became a red name and now I'm just stuck without my friends again-"
Someone grabs my shoulders and shakes me. I blink out of my stupor to see Dan looking up at my face, concerned.
"That's...obviously affected you." He states, flatly, and for some reason, it gets on my nerves.
"Of course it did! I had to kill my best friend, I had to kill the person who had taken me in so kindly, and now she hates me!" I cry and I hear Squid chuckle from behind me.
"Just the one? Amateur. Get on my level, kill two of your best friends."
I glare at him in response. Hello? That doesn't help me whatsoever. Everyone just falls silent and Squid steps back from me, almost looking...fearful. I hope he's not scared of me. But he did just make that joke, so probably not.
"Squid! Read the room!" James yells.
"Sorry, sorry, I was trying to lighten up the mood."
"It's...alright. I didn't tell you because I was scared you'd hate me. Plus, I didn't want to relive it."
"Nah, we get that." Justin nods. "Murder ain't too uncommon here, but thankfully it has no serious consequences."
I just nod.
~~~
"BigB, we know how this curse affects you. We understand why you had to do what you had to do. So we're looking after you." Lizzie said, smiling.
"Of course we'd do that for you, man! Gotta stay safe from Cleo, after all, seeing as she's a red name..." Ren added.
"Thanks, guys."
~~~
"Well, no serious consequences other than scandal, of course." James quips.
"Scandal can be annoying when you've got multiple targets on your back, though." I say, and Squid nods in agreement.
"Either way, BigB, if something happens, call on us. We're happy to help you."
I just nod and pull away from the others. Dan and Squid wave, before running off to somewhere. I turn back to the other two and as I do, Justin suddenly starts shrieking and panics a bit.
"JAMES- WATER-"
James proceeds to nudge Justin closer to the fountain next to us, which upon noticing it Justin topples into. I step away from the splash. He doesn't seem nearly as annoyed as I would've expected, instead just laying there face flat for a few seconds before looking up at us.
"I forgot my fire resistance potion was about to run out. I have another one, don't worry. But just the one, so I should probably head home." He pulls out an flask and downs the orange liquid inside. He makes a bit of a disgusted face after he's swallowed. "Tangy." Ah, so that was the orange particles, the fire resistance potion.
Justin climbs out the fountain and shakes his wings a bit, getting water everywhere. James and I just look at each other, for we both got slightly sprayed. Justin laughs a bit at us, before pulling out a firework rocket.
Wait, a firework?!
"My wings are a bit wet, so I'm going to have to use a rocket like a damn elytra. Apologies, guys!"
He gives James a wink before blasting off. I run as far as I can from the explosion.
~~~
"So let me ask you this, BigB. Would you like to go out with a bang?" Lizzie asked, eyes glowing red and wings torn, looking me dead in the eye. I slowly began to back away, knowing what was about to happen.
"Lizzie...are you going to kill me?"
She smiled wildly, and pulled out a crossbow with a firework strapped in it, pointed directly at my head.
"Yes."
BANG!
~~~
I must've instinctively freaked out, because I blink and James is holding my shoulder to comfort me.
"Are you alright, BigB? You look scared."
"Yeah, no no no, it's nothing. Honest." I say, nodding and going to swiftly make my exit. I know they just brushed it off, saying it's nothing, but really, it is. I don't think they quite get it, though I thank them for their kindness, it just doesn't feel..right.
"Well, I thought you ought to know that your eyes have a little red in them. That's all." James gives me a nod and flies off, I can't catch up with him.
Wait, what does he mean I have red in my eyes?! I know I became a red life, but surely...I thought it was a trick of the light, but maybe it wasn't.
I start to walk away, mind racing with questions, when I notice the throbbing pain in my spine. I do my best to ignore it, promising myself a lie down later.
~~~
"And you're a red name now, BigB."
"Yeah, yeah I am. Thanks to you."
"Ren won't accept you now."
"...I know."
~~~
I go off and try to do something else, but my mind and racing thoughts refuse to let me focus. I try to do chores, setting up farms, gathering resources, but I can barely focus on the items when the light is annoying me so, and so is my back.
So, instead, I sit down and pull out my communicator, reading through chat.
They seem to be talking about their server curse.
<iBallistiicSquid> So you guys are aware, Kindness is glowing black and red
<ThnxCya> uh oh
<Thinknoodles> How long has she been glowing for?
<iBalliisticSquid> IDK man I just noticed now
<Thinknoodles> Bruh
<iHasCupquake> Has anyone had any symptoms, then? :0
<DanTDM> Not that I'm aware...
Are my red eyes symptoms? I wouldn't think so, I think - I hope - it's just a residue from Last Life.
James disagrees, apparently, because he calls me out.
<ThnxCya> uh bigb has red eyes that's it
<BigBSt4tz2> That's a residue from my old server, it'll be fine
<iHasCupquake> Didn't you say you were in a personal world?
<BigBSt4tz2> i lied
<iHasCupquake> o-o
<Thinknoodles> Best keep an eye on yourself just in case
<BigBSt4tz2> Okay
Is my back hurting relevant? Possibly, but I don't really care.
I realise how tired I am. Maybe Justin was right, the days without properly sleeping were getting to me. Even with my sleep last night, it didn't really help.
So, I jump into my bed, and I lay back to rest.
~~~
I wake up. What time is it? I can't tell, but as I look outside, it's dark so it must be night. I'm not tired anymore, and I can't get back to sleep, so I stand up and start walking around. Things are still quite blurry, that's probably because it's dark.
Something catches my eye. By my door, I notice a gift. A diamond sword with a little bow on the end.
"So you can sleep at night" reads the tag. No name attached. The handwriting is impeccably neat.
Aww, that's sweet of them! It looks to be enchanted, too. I take a look at the enchantments. Bane Of Arthropods and Unbreaking. Well, the unbreaking's useful, I guess.
I reach out for the hilt.
And the next thing I know, I'm screaming in pain.
It burns.