[TW] Pyrophobia

Chapter Eighteen | "SCOPOPHOBIA"

LULU

Lulu had woken up to a bright sunny morning, clear skies, and a relieving feeling on her face. She rose from her bed and let out a little squeak of a yawn before putting on her mask as usual. She started to get used to putting it on by herself. She loved her mask, she adored it.

Once she had it on, she hopped out of bed and went downstairs. "Duh? Doc?"

The house was... strangely silent. She didn't know how to react to that, it was unsettling but a lot of things were. Instead, she grabbed the house phone, she was sure Duh wouldn't mind if she called Henry for a bit, if he was even up.

As she looked for his contact and wandered the house for a bit, she noticed something odd. Grandpa Mateo wasn't home, either... normally, he stayed home and helped her with any homework, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

I hope he comes home soon! I really want to see him again!

She eventually found Henry's contact and went to call him, which Henry's parents called. "Hello?"

"Hi!" Lulu excitedly squealed. "It's Lulu, can I talk to Henry?"

"Lulu?" Henry's father spoke, sounding concerned. "Didn't your dad— err, one of them— tell you?"

Lulu blinked. "Tell me what?"

"They're off to go see RED, whoever that is, and said it's super risky and you might be alone for the day. Why are you acting so cheery?"

Lulu froze. "...The... scary red guy?"

"...Uhh, yes. If that's what you mean."

Lulu immediately hung up. Her memory flashed back to when she was littler, watching as Scope tackled Duh against the wall, infecting his arms with the Spreading. To Scope shooting the Spreading straight at her face. And RED laughing, being behind it all.

And they were going to fight him?

Lulu took her mask off and whimpered, looking out the window. She hoped Duh, Doc, and Mateo were okay, she really did...

Lulu decided to go brush her hair. It was probably a mess, and she started brushing it on her own. However, as she got there, she noticed something... off.

Her hair was a curly, beautiful blonde. A color she hadn't seen on herself in a long time. As she grabbed her brush and raised it to her blonde hair, she saw skin. Not the Spreading. She shook her head. She was dreaming, just dreaming.

She deactivated her mask and slowly clicked the button, releasing it from her head, lifting it away from her face. The sight startled her. She saw a person. She saw... herself. A young girl with freckles and white skin, with curly blonde hair, with a kind, gentle gaze of...

...white eyes?

She tilted her head. Weren't my eyes blue?

Why did it feel like someone was watching her?

—

As Duh and Doc came home, Lulu rushed over to them, hugging them. She put her mask back on, feeling more comfortable.

"Oh! Lulu—!" Duh sighed and smiled. Doc said nothing.

"Hi, Duh!" Lulu smiled. "Where's Mateo?"

Duh seemed to flinch. "He's... not here right now. But there's a good thing. The Spreading—"

"It's gone. I know." Lulu nodded. Duh slowly placed her down. "Did you take care of RED?"

"Yes, we did. Look, Doc and I are very tired. Could you let us rest for a bit?"

"Yeah." Lulu watched them leave to their bedroom.

She kept mostly quiet. She didn't want to tell them. She didn't want to tell them about the black figure watching her. She didn't want to tell them about the white eyes.