The past always catches up. It always finds you. You can never hide. You may wear a mask. You may be able to hide from everyone else. But you can never hide from us. We search, we hunt, and we punish. We let you run, but now you cannot. Now...
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Third POV:
"BRYAN, BRYAN! Come on. I can't wait for you to meet them. They're so nice and fun." "Steve, slow down. I'm coming. Jeez." Steve ran into the restaurant with Bryan behind him. Before walking in, Bryan looked up at the sign and read the words out loud. "Candy's Burgers and Fries. Interesting." But unknown to him, something decided to scurry behind him. Bryan looked around and his eyes fell on someone he hadn't seen since they first started their restaurant. Bryan almost didn't recognize the person, but he could tell it was him. "D-Dylan?" Dylan was equally shocked, "Bryan?! I thought you died." "Um, well-" "VINNIE!" Yelled Steve, interrupting Bryan. Steve ran up to a tall puppet and hugged it. The puppet who Bryan assumed was who Steve called Vinnie whispered, "Hi Steve." While Steve was mingling with everyone, Bryan was having a slight panic attack inside his head. (Why the fuck is there a puppet that has the same name, look, and voice as Vinnie? God it even whispers like it, it's just not distorted. And instead of claws, sharp teeth, and being partially ripped up. Dulled-out paint is its only problem.) Vinnie looked at Bryan and whispered, "Hello." Bryan strained a smile and gave a small wave. Dylan walked up and quickly scanned Bryan. And to Bryan, Dylan got taller, a lot, taller. "Hey Dylan, did you get a growth spurt?" Dylan nodded, "Yeah, and it's been a couple of years since you last saw me. Where did the scars come from? I don't remember them from last time. Then again, everything at that time was a little iffy or a blur. Your hair's almost as long as mine now." Dylan pointed at Bryan's hair and he nervously laughed. "Heh, yeah that was an after-effect. And the scars were during my, 'Hiatus'." Bryan made air quotations which Dylan, unfortunately, knew what he meant. A pink cat walked up and stood next to Dylan, they said, "Hey boss man. Who's that?" She pointed at Bryan in a shy curiosity. "That Cindy is Bryan. You remember I mentioned him." She nodded. Something came in behind Bryan, and rest its claws on Bryan's left shoulder. Bryan tensed up but relaxed once he knew who it was. It was Rat. Rat stared at "Vinnie." It was suspicious of the puppet, knowing it shouldn't be walking around. Rat spoke, and like the other two, its voice was distorted. But it glitched out from time to time, unlike the others. "Who is (*&$? Why is there a *&^!@# version of \/!nE?" Bryan didn't answer, he knew he couldn't. Especially in front of everyone here, they couldn't see Rat, Bryan could tell. Bryan originally hoped Dylan would see it because he heard of his interaction with the portal. But Dylan didn't show any signs of being able to see the rat either. (Who knows? Maybe he can see Rat, he's just not mentioning it because everyone's here.) Dylan spoke again, "Hey Bryan. Do you want a tour and stop to talk in my office, or do you just want to talk out here?" Bryan looked around, Steve was talking with an animatronic that looked like Dylan. And a penguin stood next to "Vinnie," while holding a bat. Bryan responded, "I think I'd like a tour. Steve can stay here with the others." Dylan nodded and pointed at "Vinnie," "VINNIE! You're in charge." The tall puppet silently nodded. It felt more unnerving than the Vinnie he knew. (How is the ripped-up, sharp, toothy one less scary than the more normal security puppet-like one?) Thought Bryan, he was glad Dylan gave him the option for the tour. Rat stayed where it stood, feeling vulnerable even though no one knew it was there. The place felt off, Cindy felt off, the "real" version of Vinnie felt off, Dylan felt off and familiar, this whole place felt off. Rat walked away from the group that was now playing go-fish. It walked down a hallway and entered what looked like a parts and service room. It was similar to the one at the pizzaplex, just didn't have the computer and tube. But it did have a lot more tables and blueprints. To the left of the room were two doors, one caught the Rat's eye. It felt off, and Rat knew that perhaps he could get to the bottom of this place once he figured out what was there. Rat opened the doors, it was going to make sure they were shut once it was done. But what Rat saw next shocked it more than the portal. Two suits were sitting against walls on the ground. Both were fixed, and one was a cat, while the other was a rat. Rat's tail flicked back and forth, it felt angry. "Why are these things here?" It stared at the rat suit on the ground, its eyes were pitch-black voids. And Rat realized what it felt, why that puppet was walking around, and it remembered and realized why Dylan was here. Its anger subsided, and now only guilt and grief filled that space. Rat spoke soberly, being here made it remember how it started. "Hey me. How's being dead?" No answer came from the empty suit. Rat had hoped that maybe the spirit would respond, but unfortunately, it didn't. Rat looked at the cat and back at the rat before it walked into the room and sat down between the two. It continued speaking, "I don't know how Adrien is. I can see Dylan's here, and not exactly in a good state. Bryan's fine." Rat paused and thought about what it said before continuing, "Nevermind, fine's an overstatement. But he's alive. And I've been helping him, along with Cat and Vinnie. NOT VINCENT! Since he's here, but y-yeah." Rat stopped again. It couldn't think of what to say next. Not till it stared at its hands and whimpered slightly. The only thing Rat could think of was to apologize, "I'm sorry we hurt him. I'm sorry we couldn't stop his death. It's been so hard having to watch him...and we're the only ones that know he's not alright, yet we can't stop this game. We have to wait for someone to notice. And even then, they can't stop it. I don't think Bryan can even stop the game at this point. Even though he's the one that started it." Tears dripped from Rat's eyes. They were black like ink, but not oil. It was angry, yet it couldn't process its rage. So, it instead laid down and curled itself up, wrapping its tail around. (I just want him to talk to me like he did you. I just want to love the three of them like you did. Why are you two here, when you'll never speak? And why is he here when he doesn't deserve it? I don't want this anymore, I don't want your memories.) "Why am I stuck with your suffering? While you sit in slumber." Rat looked up at a picture on the right side of the room. It was the one picture of Matthew, Valerie, and Dylan. Memories of Adrien's smile went through Rat's head, memories of Bryan and Dylan. It couldn't understand why it felt like this. It was created from Bryan's memories of Marcus, right? Rat watched as Cat suffered with the memories of Matthew, the pain of wanting to call Bryan its son. Rat watched Vinnie suffer with Vincent's memories. How Vincent acted so cowardly, and how Vinnie hated it was once the same thing. How it started, they all represented the three in their final moments. Rage, fear, and guilt. Yet none of them can tell what they're supposed to represent now. Rat rested a hand on the floor, and angrily, it dragged its claws through the floor. Creating a horrible sound. It was too bad no one would see or hear. No one can tell they existed anyway. The real question was, were Rat, Cat, and Vinnie, even supposed to be here in the first place? And why was Bryan their victim, when Vincent should have suffered the same?
