Restless Nightmare- a Hermitcraft Murder Mystery

Chapter 40

This wasn't a joke anymore. If the camping trip was actually real and just a prank, then why would they do it? It had to be fake, right?

It had to be a dream.

Yet, that was crossed out as well. Such a realistic dream that Stress remembered every detail of.

Whatever it was, she was certain Bdubs was evil. A dream? What if it came true? A prank? But why would he even do such a prank?

Stress then felt something. A tap on her shoulder.

She flashed backwards only to see Bdubs standing there, visibly worried about his friend. Stress wasn't getting fooled again from his acting.

"Stress, what's going on? Are you okay?" He simply asked, his voice softer than his usual passive aggressive tone. "Is there something wrong?"

"Uhm- yeah, I have to go now-"

Stress let out a nervous laugh, stumbling backwards before speed walking away. After a minute or two, she stopped to rest. She let out a sigh of relief a bit too early, because Bdubs had already caught up with her.

"Like what do you want from me?!"

Stress didn't realize what she said until she said it.

Bdubs was silent, a bit shocked.

"I... was just worried about you..." He muttered. He glanced at Stress, guilt tripping her.

"Yeah, worried, after what you've done." Stress quietly laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing, I'm gonna go now."

"No wait-"

"Bdubs, please just leave me alone."

And with that, Stress grabbed a rocket and flew away. Bdubs stood there, baffled.

She kept flying, glancing backwards every once in a while just in case Bdubs decided to follow her again. She finally landed on a small hill.

Stress made her way down the hill and settled down on a large rock.

"Was I too harsh on him?"

"No. He's evil."

"But how do I even know that?!"

A thought suddenly popped up in Stress' mind.

What if the dream was gonna come true, what if Bdubs and False would plan a camping trip in the future? And the same events would happen there?

That was the only theory that made sense.

The hermits seemed to be clueless to what happened, meaning it probably wasn't a prank. It had to be a dream, yet it didn't feel like one.

Whatever it was, it had to be a warning, right? All Stress could do now was wait, and wonder.

Before she knew it, the sun had set. The sky was a light indigo, fading into a navy blue. There were no people in sight. Shops were closing, doors were being shut, the area was silent.

Stress approached the seashore. The ocean water was cold, along with the light winds. She sat down on the sand beside the water, processing the events of the previous hours.

Just when the day couldn't get any worse, it began to rain. Light rain, luckily. Stress sighed, settling down on the tough sand. Getting sick from sitting in the rain was the least of her problems right now.

Even if she did get sick again, it would be better, honestly. Better than stressing out over what the hell was going on.

A rocket firing off in the distance startled Stress. She stumbled off the sand to see who was up at this hour, she was not about to have a conversation. She just wanted to be alone.

The figure landed behind a tree. Stress recognized their long, ginger hair, leaves sticking out of it.

"Great."

Stress thought, biting her lip. She scrambled away behind a small shack.

"Helloooo? Anyone there?"

Stress held her breath as Cleo approached the shack she was hiding behind. She opened the cracked door, scanned the shack, then sighed. Cleo flew away without another word.

"Phew, that was a close one."

Knowing Cleo, she wouldn't leave Stress alone until she finally came clean to was on her mind. Why she was stressing out, confused about, why she was acting off.

The sky was now pitch black, all lights were off, the only light source being from the flickering light posts. Stress' footsteps on the sand were quite loud, being the only sound aside from the crickets and ocean waves. A splash of water sounded like firework explosions in this silence. Even the rain seemed to have faded away by this point.

Stress sat on the sand floor, hair flowing lightly from the breeze. She shuddered even though the weather was perfect. Maybe even too perfect. A day of unfortunate events ending in a calm, peaceful night by the seashore. Too good to be true.

Stress zoned out, her mind focused back on the question that wouldn't leave her alone, the problem that shouldn't have been a problem in the first place.

"It was just a stupid dream, what could it possibly mean?"

...

The sudden thought drifted away, as Stress forgot about it all together, being distracted by the cold ocean water splashing onto her.

She let out a final sigh before closing her eyes.