Friend or Foe?

Chapter 3 - One Day

"Why can nobody see it?"

DJ gave a sigh of desperation.

"See what?" Willow was confused, but wanted to know what was going on.

"It's, it's like a monster, straight from an old horror movie." DJ felt himself start to calm down, now that there was a real human being with him.

"Just take a few deep breaths, I know something that might help. Wait here, I'll be right back." Willow walked out to their room.

"Oh, uhm, okay." DJ hadn't a single idea as to what Willow was planning. After all, nobody knew what he was going through.

DJ could hear drawers being opened and shut from Willow's room. What could they possibly be looking for?

A moment later, Willow returned, carrying... art supplies? That can't be right, how would art supplies help him with this, seemingly invisible monster that was haunting him?

"What's all this for?" DJ pointed at the paper and paints that Willow had just placed on the table in front of him.

"Well, if I'm going to help you, and I can't see this thing that you're on about, then you're going to have to show me, through art. Can you do that?"
Willow laid a sheet out in front of DJ, "It's not a lot I know, but it's a start."

DJ was extremely confused but did what was asked of him. "Can I ask, why was this your first idea?"

"Well, I like to express myself and issues I have through art. The bar I've opened is its own art piece in a way. The outside of it is meant to contrast the inside as much as possible. Not the point of this, anyway, I just find art to be a great medium to understand people." Willow sounded a bit unsure with what they were saying, but DJ didn't seem to notice. He was too busy getting to work at his sketch of "The Monster", as he was now calling it.

Once DJ had finished documenting The Monster, Willow inspected the drawing. Their facial expressions didn't bode as good news for DJ.

"Hm... one more question, does your fo- sorry, 'The Monster', cause any strong feelings in your body or any strong thoughts?"

What a strangely specific question, Willow was on the spot with this question. DJ started to feel like he knew less about his own situation than Willow, but lying was pointless.

"Yeah, my breathing goes weird, my chest feels like it's being pushed in on itself and I feel unsafe."

Willow replied under their breath "That's what I thought..."

"Huh? I didn't catch that." DJ wanted to know what was going on, he needed answers. Fast.

"I think I know what's going on. I might have something here with more information on it but I'll have to find it for you. It's probably at the bottom of a cupboard or something."

"How long do you think it'll take to find?" Was he finally going to get answers to his situation?

"I'd say give me a few days, maybe." Willow seemed unsure, "It all depends on where it is really."

"Great, lets get lookin-" DJ was cut off by Willow, "Not you, I'll look for it, you need to get used to 'The Monster' before you do anything else."

"Oh, okay, sure that works."

What does that mean, 'Get used to'? Would he be stuck with this creature for the rest of his life?

"How exactly do I deal with The Monster?"

Willow didn't speak for a moment.

"That... there's no specific way for you to do that, you just need to figure out what works and what doesn't... from what I've heard anyway."

DJ felt like there was information being withheld from him, judging by the way Willow spoke.

"So you're telling me that other people who also know about this sort of thing?"

DJ needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Yes, there are people who do know what you're going through right now. They are a lot less common that you'd like to think to be honest with you. You won't find many, if any at all, in person or online for that matter, there aren't that many."

Willow looked disappointed after they finished talking, as if they didn't like their own answer. They sighed, "Anyway, I'm going to go look for that thing for you. I'll let you know when I find it. For now though, you need to drink some water and sleep. Your mind is probably wrecked from everything you went through today, it'll also help with mending that wound on your arm."

"S'pose you're right, maybe this ring that Nyx gave me will help with the arm." DJ raised his arm to show off the ring.

Willow tried to hide a shocked reaction to the ring from DJ, he didn't notice, thankfully.

"Yeah.. maybe." Willow's voice was a dead giveaway to something.

"What? Do you not like the ring?" DJ chuckled a bit, seemingly not noticing the weird tone Willow had in their voice.

Willow realised this and played into DJ's ignorance, "Ehh, I'd have gone with something less... regal." Willow raised their arm, revealing a full hand covered in sleek rings, like someone who had won every Super Bowl in existence.

"Dayum, I didn't know you liked rings that much! I'll have to steal some of your sometime." DJ stared at the rings in awe.

"Sure, they're always in the box on my desk, have at them." Willow was relieved.

"Now, DJ, you need to go rest. Your mind is wrecked and you need to relax after what happened, I'll start looking for the thing now."

DJ sighed, "Fine, fine, I'll go rest. Call mewhen someone makes food." And with that, DJ was off to his room. "Hopefully youfind that thing or whatever soon."