Little Dreams and Hollow Nightmares

Ph3 Ch22: Hunger Strikes

Mono shook himself out of his thoughts, and moved into the vent, making room for Six, and the knight. Once they all got in, everyone took a few minutes to recover from their experience with the guest hives.

"Thank you," Six said all if a sudden.

Mono wondered why she said that. He looked at her, and then he saw she was talking to the knight. The sight made Mono smile under his bag. To see his two friends working together and talking with each other made him the happiest boy left in the world. He saw the knight nod, saying, "you're welcome", and for the first time, he saw Six smile at the knight. It was a faint smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. Once they had finished talking, Mono let Six take the lead.

He and the knight followed her out of the vent, and into a large, open shaft. Out of curiosity, Mono looked down. He saw the most peculiar sight at the end of the shaft. Far down below, there was a field. And there were bug-like creatures in the field that he could just barely make out. Three of which, seemed huge. Mono stared at the sight for a while, unsure of what it meant. Was it an oasis? A sanctuary? A place to escape the influence of the Maw? Or something else?

Mono noticed the knight was also there, staring at the field below in curiosity. Did the knight know what the place was? Mono thought he should ask, but the curiosity in the knight's eyes said everything. It had never seen this place before. But why was it staring? Did the place look familiar? If so, why didn't the knight recognize it?

"Hey!" Six yelled. "Are you two coming or not?"

Mono pushed away his questions, and followed Six. She was near a large chain that linked to the other side of the shaft. Looks like that was their way across. Mono pulled himself onto the large chain, and the knight flew on with its wings. Six started to crawl across the chain, and Mono followed. As Mono crawled, he couldn't help but look down at the field far below them.

But what he saw wasn't a field. When he looked down, he saw the fleshy floor of the Signal Tower. The sight made Mono freeze in place. He used all of his strength to look away from the pit, and look ahead. But once he looked ahead, he saw the static door that lead out of the tower. He suddenly heard something behind him.

He looked back, and saw the large flesh beast glaring at him. Mono yelped, and flinched, almost falling off. Back into the Tower. Back into the room. Back into the cycle.

"Mono!" Six's voice said. "Are you okay?"

Mono tried to speak, but his tongue felt like sandpaper. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't saw a word. He felt something grip his hand. He looked back, and saw Six holding it. For a brief moment he smiled, but then remembered. He remembered the trauma. He remembered the betrayal. He remembered the drop. He grabbed onto Six's hand, squeezing it tightly. Using all of his power he managed to squeeze out four words.

"Please... don't... drop... me..."

Six smiled.

"I won't drop you ever again," she said.

Mono held on tightly as he crossed over the pit with Six, doing his best to not look down. His heart raced as he crawled across.

"This isn't the Signal Tower," he heard Six say. "There is nothing chasing you. There's nothing to jump for. There's nothing to be afraid of." Mono listened to her voice, and pushed all of his bad memories away. Suddenly, he felt his hand jerk forward, and his feet touch solid ground.

Mono opened his eyes, and saw that everything was back to normal. Even the knight was back at his side. As soon as he saw Six, he hugged her as hard as he could.

"Thank... you..," he said weakly.

Six hugged him back, and Mono felt his bravery return. He let go, and stood strong, ready to continue. Six smiled, and continued on. They made their way to another vent, and the knight boosted everyone in. As they made their way through, Six walked over a loose vent tile, leading to another room.

"Be careful, this tile is loose," she warned.

She crawled across, and then Mono crawled next. Just as he was about to cross to the other side, he felt one corner of the vent cover break off. A second corner broke, and Mono suddenly felt his body being pushed to the other side. He tumbled into Six, just as the vent cover broke off. Mono looked back, and saw that the knight was no longer behind him. He looked down, and saw it at the bottom of a very tall room.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Mono yelled down.

The knight waved its nail.

"Hold on! We're coming!"

The knight suddenly screamed using an abyss shriek. Mono wasn't completely certain, but it seemed like the knight didn't want him or Six coming down there.

"Ok! We'll wait up here!" He yelled.

Suddenly, he heard a loud growl. He looked behind him, and saw Six was hunched over in pain.

Change of plans. Mono needed to get him and Six out of here. She needed to eat something. Mono crawled ahead of her, and dragged her body with him. Fortunately, the end of the vent was just ahead. Mono forced the vent cover open, then dragged Six out of the vent.

"Six! Are you alright?" He asked.

Six's stomach growled louder.

"Mon... no... " she said. "Get... away... "

"Hold on! I'm going to find food!"

Mono ran off, looking for something edible. Above him, he heard chewing, and plates clinking. He must've been under another guest hall. And where there were guests, there was food. Maybe some of the scraps fell down here? Mono desperately searched as he heard Six's stomach growling louder. She needed him. He couldn't let her down now! She said she wouldn't drop him, so he wasn't going to let her starve!

Suddenly, a sausage dropped from the room above onto his head. A guest must've just dropped it. Perfect! Mono ran back, and saw Six in more pain than ever.

"Six! I got food!" He said.

Six looked up at him, her eyes full of hunger.

"Mon... no..." she said, weakly.

Mono walked closer, holding the sausage out to her. She walked closer, and closer, reaching her hands up to the sausage...

Then slapped it away, and forced Mono onto the ground.

"SIX! WHAT ARE YOU-"

Mono never got to finish his sentence. At that very moment, Six dug her mouth into his chest. Mono flailed about, trying to stop her. He screamed as Six ripped his flesh from his body, eating it up.

"Six..." he tried to say.

Six dug her teeth into his throat chewing it up. Mono's vision started going black. His body felt weaker. His breathing getting slower.

Six... He thought.

I'm so sorry Six.

I couldn't save you.

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After a chapter like this, what can I possibly say other than,

I'm sorry.

I guess I'll see you in the next chapter.