-The Loophole-

The Becoming: Part 2

I was pumping gas into my car when I suddenly felt like someone was watching me. I shook the last of the gas out of the pump before returning it to the nozzle holder, twisting the fuel filler cap on, and shutting the small door. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I didn't like the feeling. After getting in my car and locking the doors, I video chatted Inza.

"Hello..?" Her groggy voice answered as a dark screen opened.

"Did I wake you up?" I asked.

"It's one in the mornin', Via. I was totally awake before." I rolled my eyes.

"Look, can you just.. stay on the line?" I asked, looking around, mostly in the direction where I felt the supposed pair of eyes. I saw nothing, but that only made my blood run cold.

"Somethin' wrong, Via?" Her southern accent got a bit heavier.

"I feel like I'm being watched, so just.. keep talking to me? Please?" I pulled out of the gas station as I was asking her this.

"Can't promise I'm gonna stay awake, Via.." she was already falling back asleep. "Look, I can see that you're in your car, and your doors are obviously locked, and now you're drivin'. You're fine. Just.. watch out for suspicious cars behind you." She yawned loudly. "I can't stay awake.. Toby's probably.." another yawn came over her, "gamin', anyways. Call him 'cause I'm passin' out."

"Okay.." I took a deep breath, but it didn't calm me at all.

"G'night, Via."

"Night, Inz." She ended the call. "Gods.. please be awake..." I rang Toby. He answered right away.

"If you tell me more troll stuff, I'm going to explode," he spoke first.

"W-what?" I asked confusedly, flipping my signal on and turning a corner.

"No because the magical earthquake is putting my brain on overload," he complained. I giggled a bit.

"Well, I don't think this is troll stuff," I replied nervously. "Tobes, I'm actually kind of s- kind of scared right now." I didn't even bother beating myself up about my stutter.

"Chillax," the boy stated calmly. "What's going on?"

"I seriously can't shake the feeling that someone's watching me. Like, even still as I'm driving. I don't like it. I've never felt anything like this before."

"Probably just this weird, new troll stuff, V," Toby replied. "But seriously, I'm going crazy over this shit now that I'm thinking about it. That Blinky dude wants to take us to Trollmarket ASAP, and we still haven't told the other half of our friend group." Somehow, this conversation was starting to make me feel better.

"Y-yeah, well, Inza's asleep, and Jim's probably asleep too, I think." I pulled into the driveway, seeing that my brother's light was off. I then turned off my car, getting out. The intense presence I felt seemed to double as I stood. "T-Tobes..?"

"What's up?" He asked slowly.

"Someone followed me," I stated, running to the front door and shutting it behind me as quick as I could.

"Was it Blinky?" He asked playfully, chuckling as I locked the door.

"Not the time for jokes! Someone actually followed me, I can feel them! This presence is way more sinister than Blinky's."

"We can think about it tomorrow, V. Look, you're safe inside your house." I nodded, taking a deep breath and walking to the back door to lock it before heading towards the basement to latch the chain lock. I headed back to the kitchen to find something to snack on until my nerves calmed down. "I gotta go, V. I have a dentist appointment in the morning."