Stampy moved through the crowds around him, tears blurred his vision as he sprinted down the streets trying to get home despite knowing the others would know where to find him.
The others followed, Tyler ahead of the group.
People turned to them in confusion.
Stampy slipped past people before finally reaching his house and tried to open the door, shaking.
"Stampy!" Sqaishey called after him.
He tried to get it open faster but since he was shaking it was harder.
Tyler caught up to him but stood a few feet away from him. "S-stampy..." He stammered, holding out a hand.
Stampy tensed and stopped trying to open the door but said nothing. Tears ran down his face but he kept his back to them as the others started to arrive.
"Stampy I'm fine..." Tyler assured him. "Listen, it wasn't your fault..."
Stampy kept his hand on the doorknob still shaking as he listened, not daring to argue. He knew it wasn't but at the same time it was. He may not have had control but it was his body that attacked...
Jason ran besides Tyler. "Stamps... you ok?"
Stampy froze completely at that name, becoming stiff before finally opening the door. He hesitated before stepping inside, leaving the door open for them to follow.
Jordan and Sqaishey caught up and looked at Jason and Tyler before stepping inside.
They followed, Jason tightly gripping onto Tyler's arm.
Stampy sat down in the living room, not looking at anyone who followed him inside.
Sqaishey hesitated before sitting beside him.
Jordan sat across from them on a bar stool.
Jason leaned against the wall while Tyler stood beside him.
Stampy took a shaky breath before speaking, still not looking up. "I... I'm so sorry... I never meant to hurt anyone..."
"Listen..." Tyler took a step forward. "I'm fine ok? I get that you didn't mean to scratch me."
"But it wasn't just you! I lunged at them!" Stampy argued, looking up for the first time, eyes red from crying. "I was trying to kill them!" He turned away taking another shaky breath.
Sqaishey stared at him and looked at the others, eyes asking for help.
Jordan frowned, unsure of what to say here other than, "Do... do you know why?"
Stampy didn't respond.
Jason thought to himself before his eyes lit up with an idea. "I feel like... this has to do with our disappearance."
Stampy tensed but slowly nodded. "It... It does..."
Jordan looked surprised. "You remember?"
Stampy hesitated. "I... I remembered something..." He replied quietly.
"You what?" Jason froze and looked at Stampy.
Tyler sighed. "I know it may be rough for you to talk about it but... could you tell us?"
Stampy took another shaky breath. "I... Were... were their eyes... normal?"
Jordan looked confused. "Y-Yes?" He looked at the others for confirmation.
"I'm uh... pretty sure." Tyler nodded. "Why would they not be?"
"They... their eyes would have been... r-red..." He took another shaky breath before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around himself starting to mutter something along the lines of, "They weren't real, they weren't real, they aren't real..."
"Stampy...?" Jason walked towards him. "A-are you okay?"
Sqaishey frowned deeply as Stampy was starting to shake a bit and just kept muttering. "Stampy?" she tried.
Jason tried to extend a hand out but pulled away.
Tyler looked over at Jordan in concern.
Jordan stepped forward. "Hey, Stamps, it's okay, no one is going to hurt you-" He placed a hand on Stampy's shoulder making him tense up but stop muttering.
"Th-They ar-aren't r-real..." He mumbled again making Jordan frown in confusion, lowing down to be in front of Stampy. "Who's not real, Stampy?"
He didn't respond and just kept shaking.
Jordan sighed. "Joseph, who isn't real?" He pressed again.
Stampy snapped his eyes open and stared at Jordan, still shaking but it slowed. "Th-"
"Names?" Jordan interrupted.
Stampy hesitated. "Th-The others... The two I-I attacked..." He couldn't bring himself to say their names.
Jordan looked even more confused and glanced at the others, keeping his hand on Stampy.
"You mean Mitch and Jerome?" Tyler asked. "But...?"
"Stampy... are you okay?" Jason added.
"They aren't real!" He snapped again shaking, looking up at Jason. "They aren't your friends, Jason!"
Jordan pulled back a little as Stampy moved and turned to Jason, a strange look in his eyes.
"What do you mean? I've known them for years!" Jason's voice rose.
"They aren't real!" He repeated. "They tried to kill us! What kind of friends try to kill your other friends?!"
Jordan stared in shock and looked at the others, getting more concerned by the minute.
"What are you talking about?! They just came up to say hello!"
"No! Not just now! They all attacked us! All of them! Don't you remember?! They were going to kill me! Sky held you at sword point Jason! He hurt you!" Stampy yelled, getting more and more frustrated and stressed out.
Jordan froze. What? 'All of them?' 'Sky?' Did... did he mean all of team crafted? But... That couldn't be right... could it?
Jason froze, his hand shooting up to his throat. He... remembered. His hand trailed to his face, which had begun to sting again. The arrow... Mitch... Sky... Team Crafted. Jason began to shake.
"Jason?" Tyler noticed his silence.
Stampy looked away also shaking. "You... You do remember... don't you...?"
Jordan looked between the two. This didn't make any sense! Jerome and Mitch haven't gone missing so how could they have done anything to them?
"Y...yeah. He almost shot you but..." Jason swallowed. "It hit me and-" Everything still felt fuzzy in his head.
Jordan frowned. "What are you guys talking about? Mitch and Jerome have been here the whole time! Sure Sky disappeared for a time but not at the same time!"
Tyler nodded. "Yeah, I see them almost daily. They've never disappeared."
Stampy didn't look up. "They... They weren't real." He repeated again.
This just confused them all more.
He sighed. "They were... like... shadows... demons that looked like them and tried to act like them but... but weren't them."
"Shadows? Demons?" Tyler looked over at Jordan and Sqaishey. "Demons don't exist..."
Stampy shook his head. "Then I don't know what they were but they were not human." He explained firmly. "They were going to kill us... They wanted Jason to join them but they wanted me dead..."
Jason slowly nodded, it all coming back to him.
Tyler frowned. "Wh-"
Jordan sat back and crossed his arms. "Is... Is that all you remember?"
Stampy hesitated. "It feels like there's more... A lot more... but I-I just can't r-right now..."
Jordan slowly nodded. "It's alright. We understand."
Tyler pat Jason on the back. "Look no matter what happened, it sounds like it was horrible. I wonder if the whole place is like that..."
Stampy looked up and tensed seeing the blood stained bandages on Tyler along with the stains on his cloths and suddenly felt sick to his stomach and his face flushed and quickly stood up but almost fell over.
Jordan quickly stood up and caught him. "Woah! Hey, what is it? What's wrong?"
Stampy was starting to really shake and looked like he was about to pass out.
Sqaishey stood. "Bring him to our room," She instructed and quickly led the way.
Jason ran over to Stampy and helped Jordan carry him. Tyler walked behind them, confused with what he did to cause that reaction.
Stampy leaned on them as they got him in the room and onto the bed. He was shaking and pale. He couldn't bring himself to look up at Tyler at all without feeling even sicker. He was really starting to panic.
"Captain," Stella spoke. "It appears Stampy is starting to go into a panic attack."
Jordan glanced at Jason's collar muttering something along the lines of, "you don't say?!"
Sqaishey hesitated but laid him back and just tried to reassure him but it seemed like her voice only made him panic more, same with being surrounded by them all and in a smaller space.
"Stamps?" Jason sat on the side of the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen... It's okay buddy, that's done and over..." His hand moved up to his hair and he began to pet him.
Stampy gasped at the touch but slowly relaxed and leaned into it, still shaking but the faint purrs told Sqaishey he was starting to calm.
She gave a sigh of relief and let Jason comfort him. "Lets leave them be for a moment..." She told the others.
Tyler nodded and grabbed Jordan's arm, leading him out of the room.
Jordan followed them out, hesitating before shutting the door.