Learn To Lie (BOOK TWO)

CHAPTER EIGHT- Bitterly Cold "Snowflakes" (TACO'S PERSPECTIVE)

<GORE IN THIS CHAPTER !!>

I dove into the freezing water, and what little warmth I had vanished. It was replaced by bitter cold, soaking into my clothes.
I burst up from the water that was slowly giving me frostbite and took a breather.
Why did I do that? I asked myself angrily. Now there's no way I'll win that bet!
I sighed, frustrated, and continued my way to my spot.
After loads of walking, I finally made it—
I was in my old living area.
I wandered around the now broken-down house, wondering how I lived there in the first place. I saw a heater and knew now why I'd jumped into the lake.
I looked on the back of the heater and there were fresh, clean clothes that hadn't been touched (spare the few holes that were torn by moths.)
I picked up a white hoodie, a white shirt, black wool leggings, and white sweatpants to wear over the leggings.
Relieved, I shed the wet clothes and changed into new ones. While I turned on the heater, I was drying the scarf I wore because I didn't have one on hand at the house.
"Oh, thank God," I said softly as the heater warmed me up. The fact that this thing worked alone was surprising to me, as it'd been unused for years.
I sighed and stood, ready to find Mic again. I cautiously wandered out, blending into the snow as I walked.
As I crept around the snowy landscape, I saw a splatter of blackish gray I concluded was Mic. I was behind her so I came up with a plan to surprise her.
I ran like a bullet, speeding across the snow silently. I got to Mic and jumped on her back, yelling "Gotcha!" as I did so. She screamed and almost knocked me off, but she realized it was me and relaxed.
"Jeezus, Taco.." she murmured, breathing out as if she had had a heart attack. I giggled and jumped off her back, smiling at her. Our eyes locked, filled with amusement and love as we stared at each other.
I smiled again and reached up to kiss her.
Our faces were about an inch apart when someone shouted, "What're you two doing out here? It's freezing!"
Paper was standing there, shivering. I jolted and quickly looked over at him.
"Way to ruin the moment.." I muttered bitterly. I smiled and waved at him.
He called again, "Come inside!"
I glanced at Mic, who seemed just as mad that the moment was ruined.  I smiled and shrugged it off. I grabbed her hand and we walked inside together.
Most of the hotel was gathered in the lobby, crowded around the TV. They were all murmuring about something, so I went up closer and peeked at what was on.
Turns out, they were arguing about what movie to watch. The theme looked to be Christmas-y. Knife wanted to watch Elf, while Baseball wanted to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Both were good movies.
I watched the debate intently. Soon enough, an idea struck me. "Why don't we vote on it?"
Everyone turned to stare at me. I shrunk back and Mic took over.
"Yeah, we can just vote on what movie we want to watch. Plus, if you don't like it, just go to your apartments."
Paper nodded. "Smart. Yeah, we can do that!"
He went to the front desk and got out a notecard and pencil. He brought the notecard around, getting tallies for the movies. When the notecard got passed to me and Mic, we chose The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was what ended up winning.
It was nice. Soap made cookies while Cheesy and Trophy got blankets from their room.
It was a nice bonding time. Halfway through the movie, my eyelids started to droop again and I got a pit in my stomach.
I slowly started to fall asleep.

I jerked awake, or at least I thought I was awake. I was in a pit of darkness, barely being able to see even my own hands. Out of nowhere, mist started to engulf me, but I was smarter than that. I ran from it. I heard whispering around me. I started to tear up and I tried to tune it out. Soon enough, I could hear what the whispers wanted to tell me.
"Run as you might, I'll never stop chasing you. I've escaped. Nowhere is safe."
I started crying, screaming. "Shut up! You're gone!"
The whisper laughed maliciously. "Keep telling yourself that."
My legs were getting tired, and I slowed down. I just lowered myself and curled into a ball, crying into my legs.
My heart seemed to stop when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't threatening, more of a comforting hand. I looked up.
Mic was standing there, leaning against me. Her face was horribly contorted to a bloody mess, it looked like her face was completely ungloved. I stared in shock as the blood made a quiet dripping sound on what sounded like a marble floor. She smiled at me, comfortingly, but the way she smiled seemed oddly creepy. I backed away, shaking my head softly.
"This isn't real," I managed to utter, reaching for my ray gun. It wasn't where I usually kept it, and I panicked.
Mic reached for me.

Drenched in sweat, I woke up.