I Care {Darkiplier}

(Chapter 22)

You are both just breathing, trying to wrap your minds around...all of this.

How did any of this happen? The what, the where, the why of it all. There's nothing beautiful about it. You're still as tense as before, even with no further signs of anything around you both. You're not sure how to feel. How long has this... entity been around? Does it influence the creation of Dark, the prior events, anything at all? Was this all some sick joke?

You felt like you wanted to ask, however (BF/N) look as startled as you...

They beat you to the punch.

Your friend speaks, their voice quiet as if the walls had ears.

"I'll...I'll be right back, I'm...I'm gonna move the board out."

You nodded back wordless. You couldn't say anything yourself after the way they sounded. You watch as your friend leaves the foyer, making sure to keep the front door open, whilst doing so. You look around again, unsettled by the thought...that there could be a third-person here, even if not human. You were not sure of whoever's intentions...which really added to your fear. You slowly move away from the sleeping bag, grasping onto your flashlight ready to use it if necessary, And you look over to the front and side of you. You click on your flashlight, lighting down a part of the rest of the house for you.

There was nothing but the rest of the living room. There were multiple couches, all of them in different lengths spread out around the area. Tarnished rugs layout under all the furniture. There's an old fireplace that is centered on the right of the room. A bit further near the back of the room, is a piano, dark as the night, that looks like it is on its last legs. The piano is set a tad above the living room ground, so there is a small step up to it. It is all not just the living room, however, as there is a wide hallway that stretches to another part of the manor. You turn it off as soon as your friend walks back in, with an extra blanket this time. They drop it onto their bed.

You look at the item, then back at them, a slight look of disbelief, you mean, after what just happened?! "You're gonna sleep here tonight?!" A dumb assumption, probably.

"Maybe? I'm not sure, to be honest, but we have a place to hang out for a bit at least?"

"Maybe." You don't keep your gaze on theirs for long, moving your eyes to more inky black that covers the rest of the place, back to the living room, still on alert. "I'll...I'll be right back. I think...I'm gonna go and explore a bit more?" You sound like you're asking a question near the end of your decision, slightly considering it. With a final nod to yourself, mainly, "Yeah, I'll be right back. Will you be okay? I don't think I'll be going upstairs anytime soon, so I'll be kind of near."

"If you want, go for it. Just...Please be careful." Their voice sounded as serious as it was when explaining the rules earlier.

"I'll try my best." You tried to reassure.

You take a short moment to decide where to venture to on the first floor. You choose to leave the common room/front room, choosing to go to the next room you saw out of curiosity. You flick on your light before stepping over and into the next living space. There's a grand table, perhaps made of the same material as the one upstairs, that is crafted to have a circular edge to it. Instead of what you may have expected, a long square one, sat a larger-looking circle table, like again, the one from that person's room. It was made for multiple people, with the plush chairs, being pushed against it. Some of the stitching was torn and was in not the best shape. Against the wall was a side table, near the same length as the main dining table. There was a vase, which once held flourishing flowers, that were dead, the petals practically were dust, and the stems were buried within the ancient glass. On the same wall as the sideboard, was the corridor to what you could only imagine was a kitchen.

What caught your eye in that alleged kitchen was something standing on one of the counters, what looked to be a chef, more specifically, a statue of one. It had hair that dangled neatly over to the side and draped down its shoulder. It was cracked and faded of its paint. It felt as if it were watching you. Perhaps it was your nerves getting to you, you did not immediately get over what just occurred minutes beforehand.

The word E V E R Y W H E R E... crept into your mind. You shudder and force yourself to break eye contact with it and look forward. In front of the table was yet another winding staircase, granted there was less curve to the other one, still, it was

Another

Staircase.

But this one...

This...

Made you flinch. There was not anything off about it, of course, there wasn't but it still made you feel more...

Afraid?

There was a part of you that wanted to go up to them, see where it leads, but at the same time, you did not want to step a single foot in that room.

Yes, of course, there is still so much to explore...but there is something holding you back this time. Maybe you should go to it later...if you can even gather the courage too. Right now though, you were too unsettled, you did not think you could will yourself to face the music.

You go back to the camping area, to tell your friend about what you have just seen, and make sure to leave out the weird emotional feelings. You discover them to have moved from the sleeping bag to one of the couches that were made for one, the lantern with them, helping you spot them with ease almost immediately. You sit down on one of the other couches by them, this one was a love seat made for two.

They jump at your movement, a short cry leaving their throat as they stare at you, eyes wide, with their breathing a bit shorter than how it was. They were apparently too engrossed by one of the books they found, on one of the shelves from a bookshelf that laid against the wall a ways away, tucked away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" You immediately feel bad, especially from the look of terror they had on their face.

They took a moment to stabilize themselves, before replying, "You're...you're fine. Just caught me off guard there." They tried to laugh it off, but you could see they were still trying to compose themselves a bit more.

They were probably affected by everything more than you thought.

Seeing as apologizing will be futile, considering they brushed past it, you say, "I'll try to warn you when I enter the room next time."

"That's all I ask...Anyways what's up?"

You share with them the rooms you saw, leaving out your discomfort, they did not need to know that. You explain the other staircase, and strange statue, which gets a small chuckle of disbelief, a mini chef statue? It is indeed quite a sight to behold, truly it is. After that you ask about the book they found, since the name of the book that was scribed onto it was a bit faded, they decided to read through it to see if they could find anything out, flipping onto random pages. They said they couldn't find anything too interesting, it was only an encyclopedia, even if it was from the past. Though they did find a sticky note on page 873, which is nearly illegible to read, from what you could decipher from the scrawled ink on it, it did mention something about color and if we should be drinking it. Maybe a drink of sorts.

It seemed to be just some random note, there was no meaning to it, you guessed, which your friend agreed to disagree on, believing it could be anything else, but then again could be an easter egg. Who knows?

After catching up with each other after the brief departure, you took a few moments to collect your thoughts, and where you should go next, and if you should, go into that room...

Would it be worth it?