Aubrey already hated this room. The noise of the phone ringing didn’t help with the disturbing imagery. The floor was covered in chalk marks, making tallies on the ground along with giant clocks that could be heard ticking. Omori walked over to the phone and picked it up, finally silencing the ringing.
“Sunny, we’re moving away.” his mother spoke on the other side.
The phone hung up.
Omori placed the phone down calmly and looked towards one of the beds. Stranger sat calmly, watching them walk forward.
“For so long, you kept the truth shut out. But something made it slip. The hole that it made...it won’t stop spreading until you find the root of it all. The one who has seen the truth is here. Watching. He wishes for it to be revealed but accepts that it would never happen. Why can’t you lead yourself to it?”
He disappeared.
A shiver grabbed a hold of Aubrey. She didn’t like what Stranger said at all. Basil doesn’t think the truth will ever be revealed and Sunny doesn’t know it. Every time she thinks about what it could be her mind draws to a blank. She wishes they could just find it already so Sunny and Basil didn’t have to suffer.
Omori grabbed the key and the red hands brought them back to Black Space.
“We’re almost finished! Just two more rooms left!” Kel pointed out.
He was right. Just two more rooms until this nightmare was over.
Just two more rooms...they could do this.
She took a deep breath and they walked to the next door. She gave up trying to mentally prepare herself for the rooms, they always break what she expects anyway.
She walked in and the smell of metal filled her nose. She looked around to see there were once again bodies clipped into the floor like a broken video game. Dead trees and plants surrounded the area and in walls were the dream world versions of themselves. On top of those walls were pools filled with blood that also had dream-world versions of themselves swimming endlessly back and forth.
Walking a bit around they also spotted little bits of black goop on the ground with a singular eye poking out. She felt her rage build but not enough to make her lash out. She hated this weird emotional thing…
She wondered if Basil felt any weird emotions as well. He probably did but he just couldn’t act on them. She finds it stupid that he can’t speak.
Oh well, if they manage to not find the truth after going through all of this then they could just ask Basil what it is in the morning. Sunny’s brain can’t control them in the real world.
...Or could he?
That’s a scary thought.
She shook the thought out of her head. Even if Sunny could, she doubts he would.
The key was grabbed and the hands appeared once again, teleporting them back to Black Space.
One door.
The last one.
She felt antsy. She just wanted to run through it and get the key and leave.
She knew better though.
Aubrey looked at the others whose faces were covered with determination. They were going to do this.
Omori opened the door.
They were back in the beginning room. The purple sky was shining brightly and the trees looked healthy. Everything looked fine.
That was...unusual. Perhaps they finally got out? That would make sense.
Walking a bit ahead they ran into Dream Basil again.
Aubrey bit her lip to prevent herself from letting out a groan. Whatever this truth was must have made Sunny hate Basil a lot. She couldn’t think about why else his brain would keep killing him. If only the deaths weren’t so brutal though.
“Oh, hey again! God, I must be really tired if I blacked out so many times, hehe!” He laughed nervously, “Well, let’s get going! I thought I heard noises up ahead and I want to check it out with you!”
Dream Basil walked over to Basil and held his hand, pulling him forward. The others followed close behind, mentally preparing themselves for what is up ahead. It only took a bit of walking for them to near a swing set that Dream Basil ran over to and jumped on. Omori walked forward as well and simply sat on the other swing as Dream Basil had fun.
It was a wholesome sight. Aubrey felt worse for what was in store.
They got off and continued walking, more trees appearing and blocking their way.
Up ahead was a shadowy figure that looked like Hero. He stood still before making a motion with his hands for them to follow them.
“Omori! Wasn’t that Hero!? He looked like he wanted us to follow him! Let’s go!” Dream Basil smiled as he ran forward in excitement.
Aubrey knew this was a bad thing and began preparing herself. The world seemed to slow down as they followed him.
The sky grew patches willed with static and random items were floating around. The trees seemed to glitch into each other and the sound of static filled the air. There was a huge patch in the ground where the shadow figure stood. The hands that normally teleported them to Black Space appeared and built a bridge for the figure to move across. Dream Basil walked ahead of them and the others ran after him.
Up ahead stood three shadow figures. They turned to look at Dream Basil and horrifying smiles covered their faces.
“H̶e̴l̵l̵o̸ ̷B̸a̴s̸i̸l̸,̶ ̶h̸o̴w̷ ̴h̷a̸v̶e̴ ̸y̶o̴u̵ ̷b̸e̵e̸n̸?̷” One figure spoke.
“I’ve been fine! A bit lost but I managed!” Dream Basil smiled.
“N̶o̷.̶ ̸N̴o̴t̸ ̶y̸o̶u̵.̵” The figure spoke again, “T̶h̷e̷ ̶r̴e̶a̴l̶ ̷B̶a̶s̸i̵l̴ ̴i̴s̵ ̶t̸h̵e̴ ̷o̴n̷e̵ ̸I̷ ̵w̷i̶s̷h̵ ̴t̸o̶ ̵s̵p̴e̴a̴k̵ ̷t̶o̸.̴”
Dream Basil froze, his eyes widening before he collapsed on the ground.
The figures then turned to the rest of the group.
“P̶u̵t̸ ̵o̸n̶ ̵t̷h̴e̵ ̴m̶a̴s̷k̵s̶.̷” The figures commanded, “Y̵o̶u̷ ̶k̷n̸o̷w̴ ̴w̴h̴i̵c̷h̷ ̶o̶n̴e̶s̵ ̷b̴e̶l̸o̸n̸g̸ ̴t̸o̴ ̵y̶o̷u̷.̵”
The figures disappeared, leaving only an afraid mask behind.
Aubrey’s mind immediately flashed to the mirror and the way the masks had become their faces. The way Sunny’s face was covered in blood.
The masks suddenly appeared in their hands. The angry one staring right at her, almost like it was begging to be put on. She saw fear on everyone else’s face as Basil walked forward and picked up the afraid one.
Kel held the happy one while Hero held the sad one.
Hesitantly, they put the masks on, not knowing what to expect.
…
Nothing happened. No feeling of the mask morphing in with her skin, no screaming or crying, nothing at all. Just the weight of the mask on their faces.
A key appeared behind them and Omori moved forward, picking it up and summoning the hands.
The hands grabbed them.
...Aubrey wasn’t in Black Space. She was in a room, holding her baseball bat. The room was filled with glass items and photos of the past that she wishes she could forget.
Seeing Mari hanging in the tree. The others were crying and looking on in shock. The way she felt when nobody comforted her. She felt the anger in her boil but she tried to smother it. More images flashed with her father leaving and her mother drinking her third bottle of alcohol in a row. She felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes as the rage grew.
Then she saw Sunny who looked down at the floor with dead eyes. His skin was pale and his arms covered in cuts. The blood pooled on the floor but he didn’t care at all. His eyes were only on her. She tried to move to him, to call out to him but she couldn’t speak and the glass blocked her way.
He looked up and spoke to her.
She didn’t hear anything he said. Not a word reached her ear.
Yet, the rage it sparked was bigger than what she could control.
She began to swing her bat rapidly, breaking all the glass in the room as Sunny watched with his blank eyes. Eventually, she reached him.
His eyes quickly became filled with terror as she swung her bat down on him.
She opened her eyes to find she was in Black Space, laying on the floor with the others.
“What...What just happened?” She asked.
“I...I don’t…” Kel’s voice was dry and hoarse.
Basil looked absolutely terrified while Hero was shaking aggressively.
Did they all see that as well? They all probably had different visions based on the masks…
God, she can almost feel the rage she did back in that room. It was terrifying to think that her anger could raise that high. That it could destroy so many things.
What was the worst part was the fact that Sunny’s arms were...and then she…
She shivered.
There was a door that wasn’t there before. It glowed red underneath the frame and she could hear scratching noises inside.
She wasn’t ready. Neither was anyone else.
Omori sat in a corner, messing around with his knife. Aubrey slowly made her way over to him before wrapping him in a tight hug. He didn’t even move, continuing to twirl the knife in his hand.
He broke away from her and got up, walking towards the door. The others got up as well and reluctantly walked over.
He opened the door and Aubrey prepared for the worst.
The cold was the first thing she felt, wrapping around her like a hug from a spirit. She began wishing that she didn’t rip up her jacket as she wrapped her arms around herself.
It was snowing, the winds were soft and the trees nearby stood tall. Despite the loud clawing they heard in Black Space the area was actually really peaceful.
They walked forward to find a cold hard stake on the ground. Omori wanted to go eat it but Hero grabbed his hand and pulled him forward away from the stake. He didn’t look happy about that but he didn’t say anything.
It took a bit, the cold air stinging their bodies but they found the key next to another picnic basket. Omori grabbed it yet no hands appeared. Aubrey inhaled and proceeded to watch Omori. She couldn’t help it, especially since he stabbed himself in the room with Mewo.
There was a staircase that led upward to a church, surrounded by religious statues.
Opening the doors, they slowly stepped inside to see shadow-like figures mumbling and whispering to each other. In front of them was a black mass, pulsating and surrounding Dream Basil who looked just as terrified as them.
Behind them, Stranger stood.
“Sunny, the truth is here. You’ve been running from this for so long. This time, you have your friends. We can face it...together.”
Stranger walked through them and made his way to Dream Basil.
There was nothing for them to do but walk forward. The doors locked behind them the moment they walked in.
They made their way to Dream Basil who opened his eyes, staring directly at Omori.
“Sunny...why did it end up like this?” he asked, his voice sounding like he was in pain.
The darkness began to cover him slowly, “Sunny…”
It consumed him more, “I’m so sorry…”
And more, “Will you forgive me? My best friend?”
He was fully consumed but a red light lingered in the mass. They all reached forward at the same time, grasping it in their hands letting a bright light fill the room.
They were now in a room with only a red light shining through the glass door. Dream Basil stood in front of it, staring outside.
“There is something out there...something calling us. L-let's go together…” He turned to face them.
The door opened by itself and blood came rushing in.
Dream Basil turned around, noticing the door was open and he began backing away in fear.
Sudden hands reached out of the red light and grabbed him, pulling him out as he screamed for Sunny.
Everyone stood frozen at the sight.
Do you want to save Basil?
Aubrey felt a flame inside her grow. Not one of rage but one of fear. She ignored it. She had to. They needed to help Sunny and Basil, and she would do whatever it took. Looking at the others, she could tell they felt the same way.
They stepped outside and were greeted to a world of red and black. A trail of blood was the only thing they had to follow though that wasn’t the most disturbing part. The worst parts were the blood-red hands in the sky and the fingers on the ground.
Dream Basil was ahead, being held up by the hands that teleported them to Black Space. His eyes were red and filled with stress and the feeling of being watched was strong. He struggled against the hands, his eyes filled with tears.
“I’m...I’m so sorry….Will you forgive me? My friend?” He struggled more but that only made the hands hold on to him tighter.
Hero rushed forward, grabbing one of the hands and trying to pull them off Dream Basil.
Dream Basil winced in pain as Kel went to the other side of him, copying the same motion as Hero.
“Please..it hurts…” Dream Basil had tears streaming down his face.
Aubrey moved forward as well, grabbing one of the hands on Dream Basil’s leg. Basil went to the other leg and did the same.
“Please, tell them to let go!” Dream Basil pled with Omori who watched on in silence.
The hands only became tighter and tighter, yet the others pulled harder and harder.
“WAIT. NO WAIT STOP PULLING! STOP-”
…
The hands disappeared as Dream Basil’s body split in half. It fell to the ground with a thud and the others backed away in pure fear. Omori grabbed his knife that was in his pocket and pulled it out.
The others were too busy screaming to notice.
He stabbed Basil first.
An easy kill, no one even noticed his body turning to ash. Probably because he made no sound.
He stood behind Aubrey, Kel, and Hero and opened his mouth.
“G̷o̶o̸d̴ ̵r̵i̸d̸d̷a̶n̵c̵e̴.̸ ̴”
They all stopped, frozen at the sound of Omori’s voice.
He grinned, “F̷u̵n̸ ̴f̷a̸c̴t̷.̶ ̷B̷e̴c̵a̴u̴s̸e̵ ̸w̴e̴ ̷l̷o̶o̴k̸ ̶a̸l̸i̴k̶e̷ ̸a̵n̶d̷ ̷t̵a̶l̸k̸ ̷a̴l̷i̸k̶e̸ ̴d̷o̴e̷s̴n̴'̷t̶ ̸m̶e̵a̷n̷ ̶w̵e̵'̶r̶e̶ ̵t̶h̷e̵ ̷s̴a̵m̷e̵ ̴p̷e̶r̴s̶o̴n̶.̷ ̶Y̸o̷u̷ ̶s̶h̵o̸u̵l̵d̴n̵'̴t̸ ̷c̴o̴m̴p̵a̴r̶e̵ ̶m̶e̵ ̴t̷o̵ ̷s̸o̶m̴e̸o̵n̵e̸.̷.̵.̶l̴i̶k̴e̴ ̷h̴i̵m̵.̴”
They turned around to look at Omori, holding his knife that was covered in ash.
“Sunny?” Hero muttered.
“W̴r̶o̵n̴g̷.̵ ̵M̴y̸ ̷n̵a̵m̸e̶ ̸i̴s̸.̴.̵.̸”
A quick slash was all it took to hit all three at the same time.
“Omori.”
Aubrey’s face became filled with rage.
Kel’s began to have tears come out.
Hero’s face became covered in fear.
They collapsed one by one on the ground yet they weren’t dead. He couldn’t bring himself to kill them. They did no wrongs.
Though their injuries refused to let them move.
He walked away and headed up a giant set of stairs. Any broken pieces of the stairs were covered up by the hands as he made it to his throne of lies.
He felt nothing as he sat down and twirled his knife, looking forward to the dreamer who was staring at him. His eyes were filled with fear.
Good.
Perhaps this will prevent him from talking in the morning. Maybe this will convince him to stay asleep where he is safe. He doubts it though.
Oh well, not like he and Basil had long to live anyway.
The truth will go down with them.
He pointed the knife to his stomach with Kel, Hero, and Aubrey still watching.
He stabbed himself.
Then they woke up.