You Don't Have To Tell Me Twice

Chapter 7

I stride confidently around the corner. Just act like you know what you're doing and no one will question you.
   
I hope.

The stupid pink dress Dream forced onto me swishes around my bare feet. Guess he didn't think I'd be doing any extensive walking.
  
This castle is like a maze, designed to confuse and perplex anyone who isn't meant to be in it.
   
The tall stone walls, the dark wooden floors blanketed in lime colored carpets all seem identical to the last. I feel like a needle in a haystack, wandering in circles.
   
I turn another corner, keeping my head down and staring at the carpet.
   
"Ah!" I yelp, jumping back from the person I ran into. "Sorry, sorry, my bad- you." My sentence ends in snarl, as I step towards the traitor.
   
"Y/n-" Eret begins confusedly, but I cut him off.
   
"You disgusting, traitorous little rat!" I shout, marching towards Eret and pressing him against the wall. "How dare you!"

"Y/n, oh thank god, you're alive-" Eret breathed, trying to wrap his arms around me. I shove his arms away, glaring at him with enough force to explode a sun.
   
"Don't you dare." I snarl, stepping back. "You don't get to say my name. Not after you sold us out."
   
"Y/n, L'manburg was doomed to fail. I was simply taking the route that ensured I would come out on top." Eret said, impatient.
   
"Or the route that would get you power?" I snap, tugging the pink dress back and starting to walk away.

"Y/n, please don't be mad at me. I tried to save you! I never wanted you to be a part of this." Eret pleaded, jogging after me.
   
"Oh, it only matters that I got hurt? Not that you nearly killed my family?" I spit, stopping dead in my tracks and staring Eret in the eyes.
   
Eret paused, uncomfortable.
   
"Yeah." I scoff, continuing on. "I thought so. You only care about power, Eret. I hope you're happy."
   
"No, Y/n, please, stay with me." Eret replied, leaping forward and grabbing my arm.
   
"Sorry, I'm a bit busy with trying to get back to my family to play 'best friends' with you." I snarl, pulling away.
   
"Why are you here, anyways?" Eret realized, standing still even when I continue forward down the hallway.
   
"Dream brought me here." I reply, regretting it an instant later. Why was I interacting with them? I should hate them, should leave them to rot in their non-existent guilt.
   
Because I still care for them. Because when I look at their face, I still see the face of my friend. But I can't anymore. I have to put walls up if I want to make it out of this alive.
   
"Dream?" Eret repeated. This time, I don't respond, just marching down the hallway. I make another turn, then another, then another. Eret doesn't move to follow me.
   
Is it bad I wish they do?
   
Maybe I just want a familiar face in this castle of horror.
   
But I can't. I have to be strong, only rely on myself.
   
I turn another corner and come face to face with a large wooden door. I stare at it for a second, considering it.
   
It was maybe three feet taller then me, and carved out of smooth dark oak wood. Stepping gently up to it, I press my ear against the cool wood.
   
"...on the run."
   
Sapnaps faint voice said from the hidden room.
   
"Eret still refuses to tell us where they're hiding." Punz's voice replied.
   
"Is it possible they doesn't know?" George's voice suggested.
   
"Not likely." Sapnap snorted. "Those fools don't know how to keep a secret."
   
"And if they doesn't know where they are, then they've served their last purpose." Dream's voice contemplated.
   
"What are you suggesting?" George asked slowly.
   
"They executed the final control room. Not well, since the others got away. And they don't know where the others are hiding. They're useless." Sapnap said slowly, understanding as I did.

"Exactly." Dream agreed.
   
"I say we kill them." Punz shouted in. "Saves us the cost of having to feed them."
   
I wait for someone to disagree, to say that they betrayed their friends for this cause, so we can surely find some other use for them.
   
But no other words reach my ears.
   
"So, what, just stab them in the middle of the hallway?" George asked, laughing tentatively.
   
"Why not?" Punz laughed.
   
"I've got to help Karl restock the library tonight. But I could do it tomorrow." Sapnap said.
   
"I'll do it today. My axe needed to be sharpened anyways." Punz replied finally.
   
I stumble away from the door, shocked.
   
No matter how much I hate Eret, I'm not going to stand by and let someone die pointlessly.
   
I bolt down the hall, bunching the dress up in my fists so I don't trip. My bare feet slap against the carpeted floors as I hunt for the one person I never wanted to see again. But, desperate times, desperate measures.
   
I spin around a corner, nearly slamming into a wall.
   
Eret stands in the corridor, facing me.
    "Eret," I breathe. "You need to get out of here." I run up to them and start pushing, trying to force them to the front door.
   
Not that I know where the front door is. But Eret probably does.
   
"Y/n, whats going on?" They asked confusedly
   
"They're going to kill you." I explain. "You're not useful to them anymore and you need to leave."
    "They're going to kill me? They wouldn't do that. We're allies." Eret said, wrapping their hands around my shoulders and pushing me back.
   
"No, listen, Eret, you need to leave. They will kill you." I reply, begging they believe me.
   
Eret examined my face for a second. "They. . . what? But. . . I helped them."
  
"Yeah, well, apparently you mean as much to them as we did to you." I snap, grabbing his hand and tugging him down the hallway.
   
"Wait, if I'm leaving you're coming too." Eret said, picking up the pace so he was walking next to me.
   
"Nice try. Just because I don't want you to die doesn't mean I want to spend time with you." I scoff, trying to change my stride so we're not in sync.
   
"I'm not leaving you here alone." Eret insisted, taking a left turn. This time, he was the one dragging me down the hall, fingers wrapped around my forearm.
   
"Where are you going?" I pant, trying to keep up. Eret had unfairly long legs.
   
"To get us out. There's a back door in the kitchens without any guards." Eret said, not even bothering to look down at me.
   
I nod, picking up the pace so I'm walking alongside him.
   
We walk through the large, empty hallways, Eret following a map only he could see. We start down some stairs, all natural sunlight fading. The only light we could see was the glow of the torches pinned to the walls. Eret marched us down into a basement, and into a room that smelled like all the best foods in the world. It was long, covered wall to wall in ovens and cabinets. Tables fleck the room, weighted down with delicious looking food.
   
"C'mon, Y/n, we don't have much time." Eret said impatiently when I stopped to sniff the air.
   
"It's fine. The others have no idea where we are. And I didn't have breakfast." I reply, walking over to a table and picking up a bun.
   
"We have to be careful, Y/n." Eret insisted, walking over and tugging me towards a door on the far side of the wall. I roll my eyes, shoving the bun in my mouth.
   
"I'm coming." I garble behind the sticky pastry.
   
Eret opens the door, and I step out, licking glaze off my fingers. I freeze midstep.
   
"Hello, love. Going somewhere?"
   
Dream was standing right in front of me, leaning on a deadly looking axe. His mask rested on his face, blonde curls hanging over the edge of the mask.
   
"You-I-" I stammer, stepping back. I wave my hand furiously, trying to signal to Eret to stay back.
   
"I thought I told you to stay in the castle?" Dream cooed, tilting his head.
   
"I- um- you didn't actually. Nope. Definitely not specified." I ramble, praying Eret stays in the kitchen.
   
"Well, I'm saying it now. I don't want you running too far, bunny." Dream took a step forward, moving his axe to be resting over his shoulders.
   
I swallow drily. "Wouldn't dream of it."
   
"Dream."
   
Eret's voice comes from behind me. I groan, closing my eyes. Why couldn't Eret just stay hidden?
   
"Eret." Dream sounded lightly amused, which was more then a little unnerving.
  
"Let her go."
   
"And why should I?" Dream pondered, tilting his head slightly.
   
"Because. . . because. . ." Eret trailed off. I turn around, recognizing their tone. They were terrible at stalling for something. Never knew what to say, how to convince the person otherwise.
   
I turn around slowly, not wanting to put my back to Dream but wanting to see what Eret was doing.
   
His eyes were trained on Dream, black glasses masking his eyes. A small white glow was emanating out of the side of the glasses. I squint, trying to figure out what he was doing.
   
My brain is whirring, trying to figure out what is happening. The glow around Eret's black glasses gets a little brighter.
   
Then my brain goes blank. It's like a blanket was laid over my brain, soothing every thought and making me want to go to sleep.
   
A small voice at the back of my head is screaming, telling me that something is not right, but I can barely hear it.
   
I can barely hear anything, actually.
   
I blink, stumbling backward and rubbing my temples.
   
Faintly, as though they were far, far away, I can hear Erets voice murmuring, "Y/n? Oh, shit. Not- Y/n, we really don't have time!"
   
I try to ask what's going on, but all I can manage is "Mrgh."
   
Faintly, I register strong arms wrapping around me, and something in my mind tells me that they're Erets. My head lolls back weakly, like my spine turned to mush in my body. My eyes hang wide open, my eyelids simply too heavy to close.
   
The last thing I'm aware of is the door getting steadily closer, then opening and bathing me in soft, white light. 

~~~
that's right bitches.
she's back.
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until next update,
E.