Faltering Fantasies (Wally Darling x Reader)

12. Rewinding the Tape

He'd just finished a long, winded chat with Barnaby. Sure, he thoroughly enjoyed their usual conversations, but when half of it was just staring at the ground clawing at the chance to takeover control of, mind you, his own mind once again, well, it lead to some very long sentences.

Shaking his head, he looked up to the clouds for a distraction from his longing. While the idea was absurd, he did find the sun far to the west. Deciding it was late enough to check on y/n, he diverted back on the path to Home.

In short; he couldn't find her anywhere. Not in the living room or kitchen. The bathroom and his bedroom were both empty. He even checked his makeshift office and the entrance to ţ̷̡̞̗̍̓̊h̶̡̝͙͖͔̻̉͊̈̀̒ԍ̶̛̰ ̴̮̗͇̍ɑ̵̧͈̇͒͛b̸̦͔̣̤̩̹͂̀̈́̄͑͠λ̸̙̺͚̩̺̒̈́͆͊̚͝ͅƨ̵̧͖͇̠̯̙̂͌̎̇̆s̶̛̯̜̯̤̼͛͝͝. Nothing. Not one trace of y/n.

Before getting worried, he sat down and thought. He found that the majority of the time, thinking tended to lead to rational conclusions. And a rational conclusion would definitely help when he usually just let them take over.

Alright, y/n, y/n, y/n... All he could tell was that she was surrounded by nostalgic comfort and, oddly enough, pain. It was less of a physical pain and more of a intense need for violence. If he hadn't been who he was, he would've almost been concerned. But then again, he was who he was, and immediately knew she was practicing some sort of destructive coping mechanism.

What he also knew was that she was in the woods. Deep in the woods. How he came to such an accurate deduction without even knowing her surroundings, was a skill that came with the trade of mind reading. Humans associated certain traits and feelings to locations so, he learned to do the same.

How she always managed to be in the least suspected place in Welcome Home every time time he looked for her though, well, that would stay a mystery. She was different from the others. Maybe it had to do with her cloudy and somewhat mysterious past. Yet she continued to keep a calm demeanor and cheerful facade flawlessly. She might as well do his job for him! At this point, it seemed she was better at deceiving people than he was!

'No wonder'

And that's why he loved her. She was like himself, except she managed to do it better.

Obviously, he'd spent enough time thinking to reach his rational conclusion. So, he packed a few things—most of which being art supplies—and headed out.

It had been a while since he entered the forest. To be fair, it had also been a long while since he brought a human into the world. He guessed that the neighbors were on their best behavior to keep y/n here. He didn't blame them. He didn't blame them for anything when they somehow coped with reliving the same days over and over into insanity. She was unique compared to them. Her reactions were so much more interesting, confusing, human, compared to them. So refreshingly realistic compared to the neighbors' constant cheerful disposition.

How he wished to break them from the cycle of torment. But, then again, death was the end of torture. Not like he could even attempt something of the sort with—

'Did you forget I'm still here? If you're going to plot, you might as well try to hide it'

'You don't exactly make yourself as apparent as before'

'Do you want me to?'

He collapsed to the ground, trying and failing to release the ear piercing shriek he so desperately needed. But, he couldn't. He couldn't reveal his location to the neighbors. He couldn't tell y/n about the agony of free will. All he could do was lie to them. And for now, lay on the ground with a twisted smile on. Struggling to do something as simple as keeping his eyes open.