[TW] Pyrophobia

Chapter Seven | "Necromancy"

DOC

Sunlight filtered from an open window, causing Doc to open his eyes... as panic immediately washed over him. Why couldn't he see? He couldn't see anything out of his right eye, everything was entirely black. That wasn't normal, that wasn't normal at all.

He was greeted by a piercing headache that caused him to wince, groaning as he grabbed a pillow and covered his face with it. This is all just a dream. Just open your eyes, and it'll all come back! He opened his eyes again, and the pillow was still there. He moved it, and the vision was still missing on the right of his eye.

He immediately began to fret, looking around until he spotted someone looking up at him, a small glowing light. He recognized that.

"Doc?" Lulu tilted her head before lifting a plate above her head, her emoticon mask expressing a polite joyful expression which also seemed slightly concerned. "Duh got breakfast."

"Duh..." Doc tried to remember, his head hurt a lot. The blood, Scope running off... piercing red eyes. Why were Duh's eyes red?

Why did that color haunt him forever?

"You want... breakfast...?" Lulu murmured.

"Oh... sorry." Doc muttered. He sighed and gently grabbed the plate before ruffling Lulu's hair. "Thanks, Lulu."

Lulu looked up at him and blinked once, twice, before trotting off.

Doc sighed and looked at the breakfast plate. It did look good. Sure, it was just a generic waffle with eggs, on a basic level, but it still looked appetizing. But he just didn't feel hungry. I'll eat it later.

He placed the plate on his desk, sighing as he rested his head on his pillow, staring at the wall dully. What's wrong with me...?

"He should eat that breakfast." A voice suddenly muttered. "You know what they always say: breakfast's the most important meal of the day."

Doc was startled by the voice and his eyes shot wide open, but he didn't move. Whoever spoke just now... they didn't sound familiar.

"He just got his eye shredded out," snapped another voice, "give him time. It's not like he needs to rush or anything."

Doc blinked and raised his head. "Who said that?"

"Said what?" The first voice spoke, sounding puzzled. "I didn't hear anything."

"Shut up, and maybe you will hear something!" The second voice snapped again.

"You. You two. Where are you?" Doc looked around tensely. "I hear you both!"

"What? Us?" The first voice asked. "Nah, he can't hear us, we're dead."

"What... no, you're not dead." Doc shook his head. "Where the Hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?"

"We are dead." The second voice insisted. "Justin, hurry up."

Justin? Doc tried to remember that name through his piercing headache. No, it couldn't have been...

As his memories shot through him two figures suddenly appeared from the door that led out of his room, and Doc panicked. One of them had frizzy dark brown hair with brown eyes and tan skin, wearing a white tank top and dark jean shorts. His mouth was dripping foam and his eyes seemed red while he seemed slightly faint. The latter was smaller with white skin and completely black hair and dark eyes that looked like a pair of obsidian. His gut seemed to be torn open by what seemed to be a stab wound, blood dripping onto the floor beneath him and immediately disappearing as it did.

"SWEET MOTHER OF JESUS—" Doc immediately covered his eyes with a blanket, looking away.

The one with the stab wound seemed to cackle. "Hahah! Remember us, Doc? Ehh... maybe not me. You didn't see my dead body. But you did see his." They paused and looked at the other ghost. "He saw your body, didn't he, Walton?"

The other ghost narrowed his eyes and snorted. "...Yes. Yes, he did."

Doc slowly looked up from the blanket. "How the Hell can I see you?"

"No idea!" Justin grinned. "It's great you can see us, buddy! Finally, someone to actually talk to besides just the two of us!"

"Two of you?" Doc frowned. "You mean like, you haven't seen Thomas anywhere? Or my aunt or uncle?"

"Oh, we see your aunt and uncle all the time. Don't worry, they're doing great." Walton spoke passionately, letting Doc sigh in relief. His next words caused a shiver to run down his spine. "Thomas, however, we haven't seen him yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we saw all the shit that happened back at the old OneLife center. Pretty damn cool, to be honest!" Justin grinned and yelped as Walton gave him a harsh nudge. He chuckled nervously and went on. "Uhh... after you guys blew up the television, we saw a huge lookin' ash come out of it. And we thought we heard Thomas say something, but we weren't sure what."

Walton nodded. "The fire was too loud, but I do know he said something... and that ash was definitely not normal."

"Are you saying... Thomas may not be with you guys?"

"I'm saying that Thomas' vengeance may not be over." Walton continued. "He's—"

"Vengeance?" Doc became puzzled. "What do you mean, 'vengeance?'"

"Did Duh never tell you?" Justin frowned. "About Thomas being RED?"

"Being?" Doc shook his head. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that..." Walton sighed, wiping his mouth nervously as he looked at his foam-covered hand as the foam disintegrated on it, reappearing on his mouth before he spoke again. Strangely, despite all the foam, he seemed to speak normally. "RED is Thomas. Scope... Scope killed Thomas, and he wanted to get his vengeance, so he possessed the television, and..."

Doc shook his head. He didn't want to hear anymore, and he tried to silence out the rest of Walton's words by refusing to listen. Thomas... tried to kill me? His own friend since... childhood. His own friend since his childhood had tried to kill him. And for what? What had he ever done to him? Was it because he didn't know he was Thomas, and he thought he could get away with it?

"Something must've took over him." Justin added once Walton was finished speaking, that finally snapped Doc out of it. "Thomas was always mischievous, but he wouldn't act like that. Scope, perhaps, but Thomas?"

"No." Doc hissed. "I refuse to believe that's Thomas." Without another word he got out of bed, closing his eyes for an instant. As he did, the words began to silence. The last few words he heard were Justin's little pleas.

"Wait! You forgot to eat your breakfa—"

It seemed to cut out for some reason as Doc reopened his eye he could see through, bearing the aching pain that came out of his blind eye. Ow, I need to try not to open that too much.

That didn't matter now. Duh was probably out somewhere getting something for him... but he needed to find him.