Coming Back To Haunt You

Same Friend, New Clothes

"Oh! Why yes, I've become quite the personality, I do interviews!" he gives his eyes one more good wipe, an old smile graces his lips. You smile too, "Interviewing, like for the newspapers?" That thought seems to make him happy, "Kind of! They film them for television now, people even watch me live, i've met all kinds of celebrities!" "Fascinating! Is that what you do at the TV Tower?" He nods, "Yep! Got my own set and everything" "Wow! And how long have you been doing that for?" "Well, lets see.." He looks up to the ceiling in thought, counting his fingers, "It was right after Abe and I-." He stops and looks back down at you "Hey! Have you seen Abe yet?? He'd be so relieved to know you're up and kicking!" "Abe?" you don't remember the name, though Wilford seems delighted to have remembered. "Abe! The detective, don't you remember?" "The detective?" You're taken aback. Last you remember of the detective, he was shot right before you were. "Wait, but I thought he'd-" "Yes! Yes, we must go see him!" Wilford jumps up from the couch, grabbing your hand and hoisting you up with him. "Wh- right now?? But Willford, the party-" "It'll only take a minute, don't worry! Come on!" He's determined, grinning from ear to ear.

He puts a leg in the air, as if taking one giant step, and as he places it down its as if the whole world does a backflip, and just as quickly as it started its over, and you find yourself in complete darkness. You panic for a second, between the silence and the lack of view you feel like you're back in the void, the only thing grounding you being Wilfords rough hand in yours. Your breathing picks up pace a bit, and you anxiously call out "Wilford??" "Yes?" "Where are we? Why cant i see?" "The lights are off" he says matter-o-factly. ",, Can, you turn them on??" "He will in just a second!" Before you can get a full sentence out, a door opens. A silhouette throws keys into a bowl on a little door-side table, kicks their shoes off, and flicks a lightswitch, illuminating what you can now see is an apartment living room. The detectives' eyes widen and shoot over to William, and he sighs "God, Will, you scared me! What did i tell you about-" He does a double take when he sees you. His eyes fill with a range of emotions hard to translate into words. Shock? Worriment? Relief? All of the above and more? Tears well up in his eyes and he gasps out a small, "partner?"

You'd been near frozen, taking in every piece of him. He's wearing more modern clothing, which you hadn't expected. Somehow you'd thought he'd walk in still wearing his trenchcoat and deerstalker cap, as if he'd been frozen in time since the moment you left. Hearing his voice, especially so tenderly using the nickname he'd assigned you, you cant help but tear up too. The first person to instantly recognize you. "Detective" you smile sadly, breathlessly laughing as you step towards him. "Oh my God" he quickly crosses the room and hugs you tightly, you in turn wrap your arms around his neck, "You remember me!" "Of course I remember you!" He pulls back and his eyes wander your face, as if trying to find any flaw or hint that this may not be real. "You're alive!" He exclaims, "You're alive!" you counter. "I saw him shoot you, and when you never showed up in the mirror, id assumed- i thought maybe," your eyes were looking into his, but they fall as you speak, "I'd hoped you'd at least gone to heaven." The detective looks over to make eye contact with William, who looks just as confused as he is.

The detective sits you down on the couch and sits in a chair close to you, as William walks over to a booze cabinet and pours himself a large glass of whatever's in the crystal bottle. "Lets start with, where have you been? I'd thought you'd died, I think we both did. " he watches Wilford who sits beside you comfortably. "I did, I think. And then I showed up in the mirror, the one right at the bottom of that stairwell. The wooden one, that had that sideboard under it," you look over to William "Right where you placed Damiens cane." "The big one?" he asks, seemingly recognizing what you're talking about. "I think so. And- and Damien and Celine were in there, remember how they disappeared? And they said they could fix it, that they could fix me, that i just had to trust them. And I did." The detective looks back and forth between you and William, "and then what happened?" You look him in the eyes, and in them, for a moment, he sees what you'd lost that night. "They left me there." Your voice is small, and your arms hug your stomach, "I stayed there until just recently, when I finally was able to concentrate just enough that I escaped." "Wait-," he looks a bit boggled, "How long were you there??" "I got out around three weeks ago." "Three weeks?? I thought-,, so thats where you'd been this whole time?" "Alone in the manor, waiting for someone to come back." The detective sighs a little, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm real sorry, partner. I avoided that place like it was the plague, I hadn't thought- I mean, if I-,, I just-.. I'm sorry." He stutters and trips over his words, giving up in the end. "Yeah, It's alright. It's not your fault." you sigh.