The Hedgehunter: A TAWOG Fanfic

Chapter 2: Jumping at Shadows

Darkness, the smell of toast, and the muffled sound of footsteps. Carrie's eyelids slowly creeped open and her arms stretched out before her, a strained yawn coming from her mouth, rubbing her small ghostly hands over her tired eyes and looking around. Somehow, she had found herself in the kitchen, light shining in through the window, gazing up at a toaster. It took her a moment to realize that she was still resting on top of Darwin's head from last night.

                "Mm...morning." She said wearily, lazily floating up off of Darwin's head and cracking her joints.

                "Oh, morning Carrie! Sorry to wake you up." Darwin chimed, the toaster dinging and two nicely browned pieces of toast popping up. "Just had to make myself some breakfast. Honestly, I'm surprised you were asleep that long."

                Gumball sat at the kitchen table dressed for the day, pouring dry, chocolatey cereal into his mouth straight from the box. "Y'know we had a spare bunk Carrie." He remarked to her. "But hey, I won't tell you how to live your life...or afterlife."

                Carrie yawned and rubbed the sleep from the corners of her eyes again. "Yeah uh...guess I was just tired. Didn't notice. Sorry." She replied. That a total lie. She knew exactly what she did.

                "Don't worry about it. If anything, you kept me nice and cool for the night." Darwin charmingly reassured her as he spread jam all over his fresh toast, taking a bite and leaving a few smears on his lips.

                "So anyways, Carrie..." Darwin said through a mouthful of cereal, washing it down with a glass of milk. "What'd you think of Hedgehunter last night?"

                Carrie froze for a moment, recollecting the bizarre assortment of clips that made up the film. She panned her head over to the DVD case that still sat on the living room table and stared at it for a few seconds. "Honestly, I'm...kinda of the same opinion as you. I'm really not sure what to make of it." She responded simply. This was hardly the whole truth, but she wasn't ready to divulge what truly she felt at that time. The truth was the brief film made her uncomfortable, and not in the way a normal horror movie does. There was a wrongness to it that she couldn't place, and Gumball and Darwin seemed totally oblivious to it.

                "Eh, in hindsight, it was honestly kinda dumb." Gumball stated. "Most pretentious arthouse flicks like that at least give you something to work with."

                "Yeah, sorry if the movie was a disappointment. I know you were really excited for it." Darwin said on behalf of the film, popping the last remaining bit of toast into his mouth and heading to the door to wait for the bus, Gumball following behind. Carrie drifted behind them both and the two stepped out onto the front walkway and into the sunlight to wait for the bus to come to bring them to school.

                "You okay Carrie?" Gumball inquired. "You seem a little moody. Moreso than usual."

                "What? No, I'm fine." She dismissed. "Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

                "Well, I can't imagine Darwin's head was very comfortable."

                "Don't worry Gumball. It's hardly the first time she's fallen asleep on my head like that." Darwin assured him with a wave of his fin, prompting another faint blush from Carrie.

                "Wait..." Gumball raised a finger, glancing up at Carrie. It wasn't long before a smug smile graced his face and both hands rested on his hips. "Did Hedgehunter scare you?" He asked, leaning forward as he did so.

                "W-What? No, of course not!" Carrie retorted defensively, crossing her arms and looking away.

                "Come on Carrie, I know what denial looks like." Gumball snidely remarked. "You don't want to admit it, but I can tell. Hedgehunter ACTUALLY scared you."