Time to Fall

Chapter Nine: The Winner Takes It All

"Tommy?" Connie blinked, opening her eyes.

Where in the fresh fuck was she? Everything around her was gold. She had a killer headache, but... she also felt funny. Like she had no weight at all and yet held the weight of the world. Then there was the ticking. The ticking was kinda terrifying to her. It seemed to just keep ringing too, like they were in some big hall. But there was nothing. No clear walls. Just... gold.

Gold and a massive clock hovering in front of her. When the fuck had that gotten there? She scampered back, bumping into something- no, someone. She bumped into someone. Tom. He grumbled, blinking awake with her, looking around equally as frantically. It was becoming clearer and clearer in whose domain they were in, and it wasn't theirs anymore. This was Tinky's place. How had they managed to get there?

Tom was kicking himself. Damn it, he shouldn't have tried anything. He should've waited for Connie to wake up and done things right. This is what he got. They were in some weird place neither of them knew. An unsettling place. He'd never found gold to be this unsettling before. Lavish, sure, and sometimes that made him uncomfortable, but... there was something plain wrong about this place. He subconsciously wrapped an arm around Connie. He didn't like that either of them were here, but especially not her.

She'd been through enough, he thought. She had dealt with more than a few of his fuck-ups. Why was it always her who had to pay for his mistakes? I mean, it's not like she made any of her own. Maybe the affair, but everyone's allowed one freebie. Other than that... Connie was a saint. Maybe it was because this sick time bastard realized that the real way to punish Tom was to hurt his sister. That prick! Tom ran a hand through her hair before even realizing she was in his arms. And her hair was down. That was different. He was already hushing her, soothing her, because... she was shaking. God, she was shaking. What had he done?

Everything seemed to glow for a second. Things got very warm, and suddenly the room felt a lot more... full. There was a sense of dread that seemed to blanket them, pressing down like a ton of bricks. Or maybe it wasn't dread. Maybe it was fear. It sunk in, and both of them could feel it deep in their bones. Connie already had, actually. That's mostly why she was shaking. That and... well, she'd been on meds in the time they came from. She was still adjusting.

More than that... the room, or place, or wherever they were... it seemed to become a breathing, living thing. You could almost feel the pulse of a heartbeat. And the heartbeat was slow and steady- a stark contrast to that of both Connie and Tom's. Their hearts were racing, and... if they were being entirely honest, they were barely getting any breath. Connie was starting to feel woozy from it, and she was trying to control herself so that she didn't accidentally trigger another seizure.

Of course both of them knew what the presence was, or what was going on. They may not be the brightest, but they weren't idiots. This was Tinky. Tinky was among them. They were finally seeing him face to face... or as close to face to face as you could probably get with him. What they were feeling... it was him. Or at least they thought it was. Then, something in a large, matted, baggy fuzzy and seriously creepy goat costume sauntered in, giggling a deranged, hokey laugh. It stunk. The stench was thick. The tongue... it lolled and flopped with every laugh between crooked, yellow teeth. But what most disturbed Connie were the eyes. There was... nothing there. They were... dead. Absolutely lifeless. She shuddered. This was what nightmares were made of, Connie was certain of it.

"Wakey wakey, kids!" Tinky enthused.

"We're awake, you bastard." Connie muttered. "Where are we?"

"Tinky made you a new home." Tinky seemed to smirk. God, the mask moving was even creepier than the mask remaining stationary. "D'ya like it?"

"This is not our home." Tom growled.