[TW] Pyrophobia

Chapter Ten | "Ecstasy"

DOC

Doc had just been staring out the window wordlessly. He felt so tired, he almost fell asleep a couple of times... he managed to stay awake, somehow, instead just watching all the buildings flash by as the car drove down the street.

Every now and again he'd hear Duh's voice break the near silence as he just said a single thing.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." Doc mumbled, continuing to look out the window each time he said that.

Duh never pushed him further. Instead, he stayed quiet and continued driving, although Doc could tell that he was worried by the occasional small glances he would give when he could.

Eventually, the two of them would arrive at a small house in a field. A spotted black-and-white dog barked at their car as Duh stepped out, then Doc, from the field. So this is it, huh? Such a small house. I guess it is only two people. And... a dog.

"They're here!" An excited squeal sounded from the backyard. The gate opened and the dog leapt out, running over. Doc flinched and shuffled over to Duh, letting the dog sniff him and sit beside him, wagging its tail at him. He looked up to see a moderately tall blonde female step out from the gate, followed by a much taller male figure.

Both struck as familiar to him.

"Sebastian! Lorelei!" Duh's eyes lit up. He ran over and gave Lorelei a hug. "How've you been, Lorelei?"

"It's been great!" Lorelei replied, hugging Duh tightly to the point where Duh practically had to pull away from her in order to breathe.

"Otis really likes you, Doc." Sebastian commented, causing Doc to slightly grow embarrassed. He looked away, glancing down at the dog, who circled him once.

"DOC'S HERE?!" Lorelei squealed. She hurried over to him and hugged him tightly as well.

"EHP— CAN'T BREATHE—" Doc struggled in her grasp, trying to pull away. Otis only let out excited barks.

"OHMYGOSH. Wait, wait, wait. So, does this mean—" Lorelei glanced at Duh, then Doc, letting out an eager grin.

Doc let out an unamused and flustered snort. "I-I—"

"Uhh— yeah. Pretty much." Duh shrugged.

"YES!" Lorelei clapped to herself, then noticed Doc's shyness. "What's wrong now?"

"A... lot has happened. I'd rather explain it inside, I don't want to risk a stranger overhearing." Duh's sighed.

Doc frowned. "Y-Yeah..." He looked down at Otis who licked his hand, and slightly smiled, petting the black-and-white spotted dog gently. In return, Otis pressed his nose against Doc's hand.

Eh. Cold, wet nose. He wasn't much of a dog person... eh. But Otis was cute. He pet Otis once more before Sebastian signaled them all to follow him into the backyard, letting them all follow him in before closing the gate and then climbing his small staircase into his house.

"What's up?" Sebastian asked again as they walked inside. Doc didn't feel like talking, so he only glanced up at Duh.

"So... you know Thomas... right?" Duh spoke slowly and almost hesitantly, nudging Doc's shoulder. He seemed... unsure. Doc only let out a sigh. I suppose I do have to help him out a bit... but don't start off with that!

"Uhh... yeah?" Sebastian frowned. "Did something happen?"

"He's... not exactly Thomas anymore...?" Duh shrugged.

"Scope killed him." Doc muttered.

The room fell silent for only a moment before it was broken by Lorelei's hateful gasp. "That spiteful little bitch!"

"Yeah... and Thomas thought it was a good idea to possess a television. Scope used some kind of experiment and now RED is able to bend it at his own will. He tried killing us a couple times. He possessed Scope to try to do the same. That's what happened to Duh's arms."

"What happened to your arms?" Sebastian blinked, looking over to Duh.

"Oh, yeah." Duh nervously pulled his gloves off of his hands, rolling up his sleeves. "This happened to my arms."

"What the Hell—" Lorelei murmured, before being sharply nudged by Sebastian. "Sorry. I mean— does it hurt?"

"It did, when I got it. Now it just feels like I have solid but... at the same time, wet clay permanently stuck on me. It's... uncomfortable...?"

"That's an uncomfortable way to describe it." Sebastian snorted.

"Yeah. A recent possession happened as well. Remember that 'accident' I mentioned, Sebastian?" Duh raised his head, looking over to his friend, who only nodded. "Yeah, well... Scope attacked Doc, too... and..."

"It's strange." Doc let out a sigh. "She... blinded me." He slightly brushed his hair out of his eye to show his injury, albeit it was still bandaged. "But I'm either hallucinating, or I'm seeing ghosts. I saw Walton and Justin earlier."

"Walton and Justin?" Lorelei gasped, shivering slightly as Otis rested his head on her leg. "But they—" She shook her head. "They're dead—"

"That's what I'm saying." Doc paused and grabbed his phone as it began vibrating in his pocket. "Hold on. I'm... getting a call. Give me a second, I'll be back." He stood up from where he and the others were sitting on the sofa and walked into a different room. "Hello?"

Static...?

"Run while you can."

"What?" Doc coughed once. "Sorry, I-I think you have the wrong number...? Is this some kind of prank?"

"Oh, no, it never would be, Doc. He is going. Down."

"What? Who?" Doc flinched. "Who's going down? Who are you?"

"Once we're gone, you're next. I'll haunt you forever and ever, I'll haunt you forever until you can't handle it. I'll haunt you forever until your life becomes as fucked as mine."

Doc's eye twitched. "I-I..."

"Watch your back, Doc. I'm coming. I'm fucking. Comi—"

Doc hung up, panic shooting through his veins. I'm not going to die, am I? He took a deep breath and sighed. No. I'll be fine. He turned away and walked back to the others, where Duh continued explaining the whole situation.

"So, what you're telling me," Lorelei tilted her head, "is that Thomas—or, RED,—became evil and tried to kill you guys a couple hundred times through possession, some goo stuff called the Spreading... Scope killed him, Doc's able to see ghosts, you two got together and adopted a child... damn, a lot really has happened, huh?"

"Pretty much." Duh looked behind him. "Oh, Doc. You okay?"

Doc hesitated to answer for a moment, but then nodded. "...Yeah. I'm fine."