Jackie's POV
"Was I the only one who found that kinda hot?" I asked everyone as we all looked at (Y/N) walk away, his stomach pouring out with blood and leaving a dark red trail behind him.
"Nope" I heard the majority respond as I licked my lips a little.
"Nice" I mumbled, hearing (Y/N) distantly speak to someone out in the hall.
"Who's he talking to?" Benny asked. "We're all here, right?" she added, doing a headcount.
"I'm... not sure" Slenda responded, a finger on her chin as she copied Benny.
"I'll go find out" I said, as I got out of my seat and followed his trail.
"I'll go too!" Benny added, following close behind.
We made sure to walk fast to catch up to (Y/N), but we still did our best to stay as quiet as possible. From around a corner we could hear him at the top of the stairs, talking to someone again. I looked back at Benny only for her to shrug and show the same amount of confusion as I felt, after that she put a finger to her lips and cupped her hand behind her ear. Understanding what her silent instructions meant, I nodded and put my focus back on (Y/N). "Oh yeah, fire and stuff" he said, followed by the noise of what sounded like someone striking a match. "So I guess I get to keep this power now?" he grunted to himself, a faint sizzle in the background.
Moving my mask so my mouth could be seen I looked at Benny and mouthed: "Did he not have fire before?"
"I guess not" she mouthed back with a shrug. As the faint smell of burning flesh and the quiet sizzling sound went away, (Y/N) asked another question.
"Oh? Anymore powers I can take?" he asked. No response. "Glitch?" he continued, the creaking sound of the top step followed by the rhythmic knocking of him walking away. I turned to Benny and motioned for her to follow, she nodded in response and pretty much copied what I did. "Yes, I know what glitching is when it comes to video games. But this is real life, so how in the ever-loving fuck did I glitch?" (Y/N) asked, getting to his door. Opening it, he followed up by asking something else as he entered. "How can I 'get lucky' when stea-" he was cut off when he shut his door. But as his voice got cut off, an idea came to my head.
"Hey, Benny?" I asked, turning to see her rubbing her chin as she was in thought.
"What's up?" she responded, snapping out if the trance she seemed to be in.
"You can jump through TVs and stuff, right?" I asked.
"Yeah... where are you going with this?" she questioned.
"Can you take other people with you?" I quizzed, a semi-logical plan forming in my head.
"I think so, but why do you wanna kno- oooooooooooooh, I see where this is going" she said, walking to her room with me in tow. "Alright, worst comes to worst, you lose a limb" she said as she ran at full speed and dived into her TV, pulling me along with her.
"Wait, what wa-" was all I could get out before I was pulled into the TV with Benny.
Benny's POV
I could still feel that I had a hold on Jackie's wrist, and had hoped that it was still attached to her body. Turning my head slowly, I was relieved to see that the rest of her body was there as well. I let out a sigh of relief as I let go of her wrist, allowing her to look around at the field we were stood on. "This is what the inside of a TV looks like? An 8-bit grassland?" she asked, seemingly a little disappointed.
"I was playing video games earlier, I got to this area before everyone went downstairs" I said with a shrug. "Anyway, what're we meant to do from here?" I asked, wondering what the next part of her plan was.
"You know that really annoying thing that you do where you spy on people through their screens?" she asked, a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.
"I'm sorry that there was one time that I caught you masturba-" I began.
"Well what if we did that through (Y/N)'s phone?" she asked, cutting me off before I could finish.
"That'd work, but it'll depend if he's got it on him" I explained with a shrug. "It should be through..." I began, looking around for a few seconds. "That one" I finished, pointing to one of a few doors that had just risen from the ground.
We walked towards it and before we opened it, I held a finger to my lips and shushed Jackie. She nodded and I quietly opened the door and put my ear to the wall of static that was behind it. Silence. I turned to Jackie who, despite having a mask on, was showing the same amount of confusion that I did. We looked at each other and both shrugged, unsure if (Y/N) was done talking or if he just didn't have his phone on him. Nothing but sile- "FUUUUUUUCK!!!" (Y/N) screamed, startling Jackie and I and causing us to fall over. As we both got up from the floor, (Y/N) let out a pained groan before speaking again.
(Y/N)'s POV
"FUUUUUUCK!!!" I yelled, feeling nothing but burning pain as the liquid seeped into my gut wound. It felt like someone was pouring lava into me, and all I could do was scream out in pain. Throughout the entire process Nightmare couldn't hold his laughter in, while I struggled to keep myself propped against the counter. Through sharp breaths through gritted teeth, however, I managed to keep myself up. With a final groan I pushed against the counter and stood upright to look at myself in the mirror, clutching the hole in my stomach. As my gaze drifted away from my wound, my eyes widened as I saw a figure behind me begin to form out of a shadow. Whipping around to see what it was, I was confused to see that nothing was there. After blinking a few times in confusion, I turned back around to the mirror. "What in the fuck was that?" I whispered to myself, rubbing my eyes a little. But to my surprise, as I opened my eyes I saw a suspicious, small, circular shadow began to bubble aggressively. Turning back to where it was, I was once again met with the rest of my bathroom, and with nothing out of place. "Alright what the fuck are you doing now?" I asked as I turned back and splashed some water on my face, only to be met with silence. "Nightmare! I asked you a question. What the fuck are you doing now?" I asked again.
"I think it'd be nice if we could talk face to face, is that so wrong?" He responded.
"What the fuck's that suppose to me-" I began, looking back into the mirror to be met with a figure crawling out of where the puddle was. 'Ah shit, here we go again' I thought, readying myself to turn around and kick his ass. But as I was about to turn, a head and then a full body emerged from the hole and began to stretch.
"Ahhhh, feels good to get out once and a while" it said.
"Nightmare?" I asked, turning to see- nothing again. "Am I hallucinati- the fuck!?" I yelled, turning back to the mirror to see him stood there once again, a smug smile plastered into his face.
"Confused?" He asked. "You should be, dumbass" he walked towards and leaned on my right shoulder with his forearm. He was pretty light, which made sense considering he wasn't physically there, but it was weird that I could still feel his weight.
"Explanation. Preferably now" I said coldly, my eyes flicking back and forth between my physical shoulder and the one in the mirror.
"Let's just call it magic" he said, jumping back and doing some jazz hands with some shadow confetti raining down above him.
"Magic is just sci-"
"Science that we can't explain blah blah blah, oh shut up" he said, in a slightly aggravated tone. "If that were really the case then how do you explain the fire hands? Shadow powers? Telepathy? Or even that pale MILFs ability to MAKE *clap* FUCKING *clap* ROOMS *clap*!?" He yelled, reminding me of a certain angry and loud British chef.
"Fair point. But don't call Slenda a MILF, that's just weird, man" I said, shaking my head a little.
"Why not? She's like... 37? Yeah, somewhere around that" he said with a shrug.
"Just... don't" I said simply. "Now back to the rea-"
"Why're you still doing the voice?" He asked, cutting me off. "It's just us here. Nobody's gonna hear you, Mr. Self-Conscious" he added. "Even if that chick in the green was listening in she knows your real voice anyway so-"
"Alright, alright. You've made your point" I said, cutting him off and changing my voice back. "Now... Why. Are. You. Here?" I asked, my patience wearing thin.
"First off: you're welcome for the power b-t-dubs. It's cuz of me that you haven't been found out yet. And second: I'm here because we need to talk, for realsies this time" he explained.
"Alright, what is it?" I asked, with a slightly annoyed sigh.
"I'm glad you asked! You see, at the rate you're going, we're gonna fucking die. While you still piss me off to unimaginable levels, I need your body to live and unlike you, I'm not the type to keep a pre-made noose around if you catch my drift" he explained.
"Where are you going with this?" I asked, my curiosity growing stronger and stronger.
"Well..." he began, jumping and sitting on the counter next to the sink. "Since you can hear me now, we can chat. And that's whether you can see my form or not. And so, I have a proposal for you. Let me teach you how to use the powers that you have now... but in turn, we fight whenever I say. You can probably get powers this way if you do the whole 'I won't kill you' thing. But... I wIlL rIp yOuR oRgAns oUtTa yOuR aSs aNd maKe yoU eAt TheM" he explained, his voice becoming distorted with a psychotic tone.
"So, you'll train me to be less stupid, but at random intervals you'll be trying to kill me? Not a bad dea-"
"NO WAY!" I heard two voices yell from my phone.
"The fuck!?" Nightmare and I both yelled in surprise.
"Uhh, whoops?" A familiar voice said from my phone with a hint of shame.
"We messed up..." Another familiar voice said in the same tone.
"Spying on me, ladies? How kind of you" I said with sarcasm. "Nightmare, I'll talk to you later" I said as grabbed my phone, after I turned away and walked into my room Nightmare simply melted away into the shadows. "Girls, please come talk to me normally. Both of you being in my phone makes me feel... uneasy" I said, sitting on my bed.
"Why? Scared we'll look at your search history?" Benny teasingly asked.
"What kind of idiot do you take me for?" I asked. "I use incognito mode whenever I..." I trailed off at the end as Benny and Jackie struggled to climb out of my phone.
"Whenever you what?" Jackie asked innocently.
"Whenever I, uhhh..." I was trying to say it in the most polite way possible, but I couldn't find the words. "Help me out here?" I asked, looking at Benny for help. As Jackie turned to her in confusion, Benny just face-palmed before making a circle with her fingers on one hand and slowly putting the pointer finger from her other into it as she stared at me, grinning the entire time. Any part of Jackie's face that peeked out from her mask was now as red as a tomato at the realisation of what Benny meant.
"O-oh... that" Jackie said sheepishly.
"Yeah~" Benny said in response, licking her lips a little.
"Benny, please tone down the thirst for one day at least" I requested, chuckling a bit while a little red myself.
"But-"
"Nope. Now back to the matter at hand" I said, cutting her off and desperately wanting to change the subject. "Why were you two in my phone, and for how long?" I asked, crossing my legs.
"Who's Nightma-"
"Why were you two in my phone? And for how long?" I repeated, my tone becoming more serious.
"W-well..." Jackie began, but neither of the pair continued.
'Nightmare, how do I make my eyes change? Maybe a little intimidation will make them answer me straight" I thought, hoping he'd be helpful.
"Ooooo, nice plan" he said, slightly happy at the idea. "Just blink or close your eyes and think of the colour you want your pupils to be" he explained. "Your eye whites default to black, but someday you'll figure out how to change those too" he noted casually.
"We were just... well..." Benny attempted, but to no avail.
"I'm only gonna ask one more time" I said, closing my eyes and thought about making my eyes go fiery orange with dark gray smoke.
Opening my eyes, I focused on the pair in front of me again. "Why were you in my phone? And for how long?" I asked, sounding slightly agitated.
"We were spying on you!" Jackie blurted out. "We've been following you since you left the gym and we went into your phone after you shut your door" she explained.
"Why?" I asked, not getting the full picture.
"Well you started talking to someone out in the hall and we didn't know who it was, so naturally we got curious and followed" Benny explained nonchalantly. "Now I have a question for you. Who's Nightmare?" She asked, sitting beside me. "And what was that 'deal' that you two were talking about?" She added.
"He's... someone from my past. An old acquaintance if you will. And he's offered to be my 'teacher'... for a price anyway" I explained with a shrug.
"The price being: a chance of a being killed whenever he chooses?" Jackie asked, definitely cocking an eyebrow behind her mask.
"...Yeah" I said sheepishly.
"No way! I won't let you!" Jackie yelled, her voice breaking slightly.
"It's fine though, it's not like he's gonna actually agree with that" Benny said confidently, turning to Jackie. "Right, (Y/N)?" she asked, turning back to me. I didn't respond.
"(Y/N)?" she repeated, waving a hand in front of my face. I stayed quiet. "Um... (Y-Y/N)?" she asked, her confidence fading. Still quiet.
"Don't tell me..." Jackie began, her concern clear as day in her voice.
"I'm... okay with his deal" I admitted quietly, Nightmare's maniacal cackles now echoing in my mind.
"NO WAY!!!" the pair yelled at me.
"There's no way I'm letting you do that!" Benny screamed, she looked as if she was on the verge of crying.
"Me neither! And what do you think everyone else will say about this!? There's no way they'll be on board!" Jackie added, some tears dripping out from under her mask.
"Well, Jess and Angel might, maybe Ann, Jax and Jill too. But everyone else would be against it for certain" a voice said from behind me. Turning around, there was no surprise to see that it was Slenda who was stood behind me. "Girls, please leave me and (Y/N) alone for a bit. I would like to have a private chat with him" she explained. Both Jackie and Benny hesitantly agreed before leaving the room, with Jackie wiping her eyes before closing the door behind her.
"'Sup?" I asked, laying on my back and staring at the ceiling.
"You know what's 'Sup', (Y/N)" Slenda said, sitting beside me.
"Ooooo, MILF time" Nightmare said, in a... weird tone.
"Dude, stop" I whispered harshly.
"What was that?" Slenda asked in a stern tone.
"Oh, n-nothing, Slenda" I said, feeling her gaze burning a hole in my head.
"That's what I thought" she huffed. "Now, back to the matter at hand" she continued. "I heard your side of the conversation that you and this 'Nightmare' had. I'd like to know who he is and what he said" she added. "So please, do tell" she finished, leaning back a little.
"Alright. Well my first interaction with Nightmare was when I was five" I began, holding up my hand with my fingers spread. "Dear old dad dragged me down to the basement and performed some sort of ritual. And like every fun ritual, you need a sacrifice... and in this case that sacrifice was me. I was sick for... I think the whole of the next week and a half, and my dad's constant verbal and physical abuse during that time didn't help my recovery. At all" I added, my hand finally dropping back down next to me.
"Oh, (Y/N)" Slenda mumbled, shuffling closer and propping my head up on her lap. "That's terrible. But look on the bright side, you haven't had to deal with him again until now, right?" she asked reassuringly, running a hand through my hair. I didn't respond aloud, I just sat back up and swung my legs off of my bed. "Judging by that reaction, I presume that I was wrong?" Slenda asked, a sad tone in her voice.
"Yeah..." I sighed. "My next 'encounter' with him was when I was ten. As I'm sure you're aware, everyone has a breaking point. But when it comes to mine, he takes over, and apparently that's Dad's fault" I explained. "When I was ten, I was getting picked on again in the schoolyard. There was a point where I was on the floor and I was getting punched and kicked and then..." I snapped my fingers. "I woke up in the basement" I added.
"But... what happened in between?" Slenda asked, both her concern and intrigue growing with every word.
"Well, when I came too, I saw my dad leaning against the doorframe holding some things. A bottle of whiskey, his belt that he began to take off and... his knife. I remember it like it was yesterday. After he finished his whiskey, he threw the bottle straight at me and it shattered against the wall above to me. I got covered in glass. I tried to get up and try to run away but I was tied up, and being a scrawny little ten year old I couldn't bust out of duct tape. Before I knew it my dad was already beating me 'accordingly'" I explained, with air quotes at the end. "With every hit he explained what I did. I found out that I broke two kids noses and another three's arms, they all spend about 2 months in hospital and I never saw them again. That's why the bullying got to where it is now..." I finished, my voice breaking slightly. "But yeah, that's my experience with Nightmare" I added, clearing my throat and turning to face Slenda.
"Oh... my god" was all Slenda could get out before lunging towards me and hugging me with enough force to snap a concrete pillar.
"Too... tight..." I croaked as I felt my spine click.
"Oh shit! Sorry!" Slenda exclaimed, letting me go.
"Language" I said, laughing a little and stretching out. "Now, about what Nightmare said..." I began.
"No need to explain" Slenda said, holding a hand up to stop me. "I just checked Benny's memories and listened to your entire explanation. I get what happened now" she explained.
"Well... he did say some other stuff..." I said sheepishly.
"Oh? Like what?" she asked.
"Uh... Umm..." I was thinking how to phrase it.
"(Y/N). What else did he say?" she asked, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently.
"Well... he, uh, well for one said at the rate I'm going, I'll die relatively soon" I began.
"I feel like the next part's going to be worse..." she muttered, bracing for impact.
"He... called you a... a MILF..." I mumbled, backing up to my door slowly as I spoke.
"Called me a what?" Slenda asked, three tentacles rearing up behind her and readying to strike.
"HecalledyouaMILFokaybyebyeSlenda" I said as I flung open my door and sprinted away.
'Did I really have to tell her everything?'
"This is entirely on you"