Hide-and-Seek

Chapter 1 : An Unexpected Talk

1-5-2019

Third POV:

As Bryan walked home from the pizzeria, he processed and slowly recovered from the most recent incident with the portal. (I can't believe we switched bodies. And I was Molten? While he was me. Oh gosh, that was so weird) Bryan entered his apartment and laid down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling and sighed. "How was hide and seek today?" Said a deep distorted voice. Bryan sat up with a jolt and looked around the room before his eyes fell on something in front of him. At the end of his bed sat a broken and humanoid cat animatronic. It had sharp teeth and claws on both its hands and feet. While its eyes glowed red, it wore a wide grin as its tail flicked back and forth. Bryan's surprise subsided as he took a couple of breaths and shook his head. "You scared me, jerk. It's not even the start of the week and you're already trying to kill me? I thought we had rules." The cat-like animatronic's grin disappeared and now it only stared at the man. Its eyes dimmed as it said. "I only wished to say hello. We aren't as aggressive during the day. At least Vin and I aren't." The animatronic paused and stared down at the bed before continuing, "We only attack twelve to six. You already know that. But we can and will show up during the day if we like." Bryan raised a brow and curiously asked, "So why haven't you shown up during the day, Cat? Ever since the three of you showed up, you only show up during the night, and it's only on the weekends that you don't attack me." Cat shrugged, "Didn't find a need to show up before. Besides, we would have been more of a nuisance then than now. Though once again." Cat's grin came back, and it got off the bed. It then walked over to a desk in Bryan's bedroom and sat on the chair. "How was hide-and-seek?" Bryan stared at Cat in confusion before his eyes widened slightly, and he walked out of the room in frustration. Cat followed Bryan to the kitchen and watched as he washed the dishes. "You almost lost today, didn't you?" Bryan turned off the faucet and leaned against the sink. After a few moments of silence, Bryan said, "I'm going to ask this question, and god, please answer. Or at least say something that isn't vague" Cat shook its head and said, "You won't get an answer for that one in specific." Bryan looked over at Cat and asked, "How do you know what I'm going to ask? I haven't even said anything yet." Cat shrugged, "You were probably going to ask what Vinnie, Rat, and I are again. You were also going to ask why we're here. I'm not wrong, am I?" Bryan glared at Cat before returning to washing the dishes he hadn't finished. He aggressively scrubbed a plate as Cat asked again. "You almost lost today, didn't you?" Bryan responded, "No, I didn't. It was fine. Molten didn't get that far into my memories. I also don't think he got far enough to know the three of you exist. If he did get anywhere near you, he probably thought I just had some vivid dreams." "Memories? How could he have gotten into your memories? And are you alright? You aren't normally this......Aggressive." Bryan began putting dishes away into cupboards and Cat eyed him, waiting for an answer. Bryan walked past Cat and back to his room, sitting at his desk. Looking at the number of bills for the day he groaned in disappointment. Cat stood in his doorway silently waiting until Bryan looked over and sighed, "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, are you?" Cat shook its head. Bryan groaned and said, "Alright, fine. As long as you try to go easy on me Sunday night." Cat only shrugged, "I can make no promises on the other two. But I won't be the one that kills you that night if you don't survive it." Bryan exhaled in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. That'll make my job a lot easier. But since you've been insisting so much......The portal switched our bodies. I got stuck in Molten and Molten got stuck in me. We also, sort of, started getting each other's memories and personalities. It was weird." Cat's eyes slightly widened, and it then nodded. "That explains the aggressiveness. There must still be some after-effects." Bryan looked down at his computer screen and said, "I guess." Bryan began typing and Cat walked over. Cat began to mess with Bryan's hair and smooth out the ruffles that accumulated over the day. "I still find it surprising that you're the one who does this instead of Vinnie. You're like a parent." Cat stayed silent at that comment and continued fixing Bryan's hair. Cat could only think to itself as it finished smoothing the ruffles and only ran its claws through Bryan's hair. (If only you remembered what we were supposed to represent. But I guess with time, we are now complete clones of the originals. The only differences are we aren't real, nor are we alive or human.  Though I wish you remembered, and do I wish we were.)