Macaroni Macaroni 2: It's All in the Pasta Now

Chapter 2

With how long youd been in your office and how worn out your body grew with the seconds that passed like hours, you assumed you would begin to see sunrise very soon. But it seemed as if the very sun itself was refusing to rise. That's fine, you would stay in this office for as long as it took to get some kind of lead out of the evidence laid out before you. You looked into the macaroni brands to see if there was anything in the ingredients that stood out but no, it was just macaroni. And in your search, you came to the realization that you hadn't eaten since lunchtime. No wonder you had been feeling so weak, not including the avoiding sleep thing. Surely you could leave for a few minutes to throw something together that would stop you from further falling apart. You pushed away from your desk and got up to your feet. You made your way to your kitchen and had a look around. You hadn't eaten a proper meal since..for a long time. Your recent meals consisted of bags of chips, crackers, juice, wine, dino nuggets, and other things of that such. Stuff you didnt have to put any effort into.

Youd long since run out of the easy stuff, delving so far into your investigation that you forgot to go shopping. Your fridge was empty and your cabinets were cleared, all except one thing. You desperately opened one cabinet and there sitting alone on a shelf was a recognizable box. You pulled it out and gave it a grim look. Macaroni. You couldnt remember the last time you bought macaroni but after looking around one more time, you realized your options were quite limited. Is it disrespectful to be eating macaroni while looking into macaroni related disappearances? Prolly not.

You shrug and set the box back down as you turn to get the things you would need for the macaroni. You pulled out a pot, filled it with water, and set it on the stove. Unsure of what else to do, you stand and watch bubbles slowly appear on the water indicating the boiling to be a success. When you turn for the box of macaroni, you find it missing. You look around the kitchen, certain youd left the box on the counter right beside the stove. It was just out of your vision. And that's when you see it. Stray macaroni in an obvious trail leading out of the kitchen and to god knows where.

You swallow the saliva that collected in your mouth and hesitantly followed the trail. Had one of the macaroni maniacs broken into your house? Was it because of the macaroni? How would anyone have known you were making it? As you followed the trail, you couldn't ignore your common sense screaming in your ear to get your American Pistol. But there was a louder voice in your head, one that was singing to you. You couldnt make out what it was saying and yet you understood it perfectly. You managed to convince yourself that nothing could go wrong and made it to the end of the trail.

You stood frozen at the scene before you. As your special someone was in the center of the room holding the box of macaroni.
"Looking for something?" Your mouth fell agape. "Looking for something? I was looking for you!" Before you could rush over to them and hold them in your arms or tell them how much you missed them, they took a step back and shook their head. "You werent looking for me. You were looking for this." They held up that dreaded box of macaroni yet again and you felt deeply confused. "I've been looking for you since the day you left." You took a step forward and they took one back. "If you were looking for me, you would have found me." Those words struck you deep. You wanted to tell them how much time and effort you had put into searching for them. How many opportunities to life you had given up. But there were no words you could speak and you instead opted to step over to them. If you couldnt say it, you would show it.

They stepped back so much they eventually hit the wall and before you knew it you had them in your arms. Except something wasnt right, it didnt feel right. You let go of them and stepped back. You gasped as you looked them over and the spots you made contact with on their skin was something else. Yellow, gooey, sticky, wet. Macaroni. They smiled and it unnerved you. "You ruined the surprise." They stepped forward and you stepped back. "Come on..you dont love me anymore?" Their movements were stiff, like a puppet. "You said you spent all that time looking for me and now that I'm here, you dont want to partake?" You felt like running but you couldnt. They lunged and you werent fast enough. They wrapped their arms around your waist and held you tight. "You're going to make the perfect vessel." You felt something inside of you lurch up and it made you feel deeply nauseous. You black out.