The Sixth Sense but it's Karlnap

Ghosty

cw panic attack? + will

Sapnap had been wondering desolate halls for a while and he couldn't find a soul, no one walked around the corners and no one opened a door. All he could hear was the rhythmic sound of his shoes on the polished wooden floor. The building seemed deserted, outside he'd heard laughter and talking, but the moment he started weaving through the halls, silence.

This was Karl's school, he hadn't heard much about it from the boy, only that he never wanted to go. Now he wondered if the building's lack of life played a part in that. He'd come here today for only one reason, to observe Karl in the environment, he thought maybe it would help him in understanding Karl's mental state, his 'hallucinations'. That was the medical term he'd settled on, given that only he saw these 'ghosts' or whatever. He wanted to believe him but the concept was so difficult to understand it just didn't seem plausible; dead people that walk around, going about their lives - well, deaths - while not knowing they weren't actually alive. Karl said they hurt him, that they give him the scars and bruises all over his body, but if they saw living people in their world, why not hurt them as well?

"Alright ghosty." a sly voice sniggered, echoing around the corner at the end of the hall. Finally, someone to ask for directions. He sped up, his shoes now tapping twice as fast in the otherwise silent hall, "bet you enjoyed my birthday?"

There wasn't a reply from this so called 'ghosty', only laughter from what he assumed was two people and the clicking of soles agaist floor. As he neared the end of the hall, there was a light thud followed by more sniggers and mindless taunts, but when he turned the corner, he was surprised to be met with that familliar soft, brown hair and woollen jumper, a brown backpack slug over his shoulders with his hands gripping tightly around the straps.

"Karl!" He called brightly, the boy's head snapping in his direction, those beautiful, timid, grey eyes locking with his own. Two boys stood over him, the taller with a curled, white streak in his overgrown hair and a penetrating gaze from his clouded eyes. Something about him seemed evil, psychotic even, but who was Sapnap to judge by only his features? The other boy looked more friendly, but a sense of unease lingered even from the distance Sapnap stood, he wasn't smiling like the other, it was hard to read his face, half the struggle being the scar which stretched the whole length of his face, from the right eyebrow to just above his lip; well at least he assumed from the eyebrow as a blue beanie covered his eyebrows and most of his black hair.

"Hey who's that ghosty?" The tall boy taunted, pressing his face close to Karl, his arm pointing down the hall to Sapnap, "Not Dr.Crowe is it?" He laughed again, evoking a small sneer from the beanie boy.

Karl looked over to Sapnap again, who was now walking towards them with a welcoming smile aimed at him. He shook his head, looking to the floor with a glum stare. He saw Sapnap's shoes stop beside him and fought the urge to look up into his kind eyes, already hearing the mockery that would be hurtling his way from Wilbur. Instead, he kept his head down and refrained from greeting Sapnap, be it asking for help or a simple hello, he forced himself to stay quiet.

Wilbur and Quackity were enough stress on the daily, but with Sapnap thrown into the mix he felt smaller than ever. He knew Sapnap wouldn't hurt him in the same way Will did, but there were other's he could. The endless questoins, for a start, prying into his brain like a psycotic surgeon; it wasn't deliberate, that was obvious, Sapnap just wanted to help him. But Karl was far from an open book. He was locked deep in a box at the back of the cupboard, hidden by fake smiles and false happiness, sometimes he wanted to lift that dusty book cover, but a tight knot bound him together and he was yet to figure out how to untie it. Having Sapnap unveil the truth like this was not how he wanted it to go, he hardly wanted him to find out anyway; he could deal with it himself.

"Come on Karl, stop being such a freak," Will lifted his chin up, glaring into his eyes with that deceitful smile, "I would hate for you to spend lunch all sad."

Quackity grinned from behind Will, his scar adding to that cruel face. Karl remembered when he got that, it wasn't too long ago. They were still friends then. He'd fallen off his bike and scraped his face on a fence, the old woman next door helped and Quackity was lucky to still have an eye. He'd never been on a bike since, no matter how hard Karl pleaded to got out on them again, he always said no. But that was before. Now his only friend despised him, his eyes gleaming with hate every time Karl even breathed.

"Earth to ghosty! Heloo" Will lightly slapped Karl's face - lighter than he wanted to anyway - bringing him back from his brief hypnosis with the stinging pain. Karl didn't respond, he only nervously adjusted his grip on the backpack straps, his eyes glancing towards Sapnap's confused expression. He could feel his palms becoming clammy more and more every second, a similar heat radiating from his red cheeks.

"Come on Karl, stop sulking." Will's smirk was patronising, his sarcasm clawing at Karl's already fragile mind. The tips of his fingers hurt, their colour fading to ivory white as he gripped harder to his straps.

Sapnap watched him scrunch his eyes painfully tight, his backpack twisting rigidly in his hands. His shoulders were tight against his sides, his whole body tense. He did that when he was scared; go all tense and unresponsive. He remembered it happened the first time they met, in his room and the café - he was seconds away from breaking down completely.

"Karl. Breathe, please." Sapnap said with a flat tone, refraining from reaching out to the boy, remembering how touch could make him worse.

"Are you scared, ghosty?" A laugh slipped from Will's lips, his fingers still holding tightly to Karl's chin, "Quack, look, he's afraid..."

The boy's words made Karl's limbs tense more, his chest squeezed as if walls were closing in on him, air forced from his lungs as they were pushed tighter, and tighter. Will's lips were moving, but he heard nothing. His senses failed more every second - each second dragging for years, like time had simply stopped around him.

"Karl. Look at me please." Everything was so loud, too loud, way too loud. Sapnap's words barely made it to Karl's ears, practically swallowed by the endless fuzzing around him. Without thought, he shook his head, forcing Will's fingers from under his chin and pushed him harshly back. Normally, he knew better than to retaliate but he wasn't reallly in the state to care, instead taking the boys moment of bewilderment to force his tight limbs into movement and quickly disappear down the hall.

He couldn't be around them, not now, not even Sapnap. He felt chocked by even his presence lately - he was beginning to think Sapnap wasn't the help he needed. Maybe not. Maybe.

_______________

uhhhh so hi 🤓

serious note: idk if i rly want to write abt Will in my writing anymore cuz obviously.. yk. I'm thinking of changing him to a different character or writing him out idk lmk what u think. I don't want anyone reading this to feel uncomfortable so it's probably best to do one of those things. sry for serious stuff but it obviously needs to be said love u guys :]

ok so happy news now!!

started planning my next story YIPEEE 😻

its not dtqk/dsmp or whatever cuz i wanna write abt one of my other hyperfixations dont come for me 🙀 it's gonna be bbc ghosts so start watching if u haven't cuz theyre spoilers and its also the best show ever like go watch rn ‼️‼️

and ofc its gonna b a relatively sad story(or supposed to be) again cuz why not

ANYWAY enough waffle hope u enjoyed, next pointless futality edit coming soon its been a tough bit to edit cuz it was so cringe 😭

bye bye stay safe guys 😍😍