Assistant Meggy Puzzles

Another Sleepless Night

"I wouldn't have made it this far without your help, Leggy. Thank you...my friend."

Meggy gasped, waking up in a cold sweat for what felt like the thousandth time since Mr.Puzzles disappeared again. It was always the same words over and over, repeating in her mind like and endless spiral or a broken record. She looked over to her right, and took notice of the time: 3:18. Kinda early...oh well. I'll just go for a run real quick, she thought to herself as she got up and began to get dressed. She threw on her usual, brown shorts, a white shirt, her brown boots and her signature beanie. She looked at herself in the mirror before walking out, but instead of just giving herself a thumbs up and leaving like she normally does, she stopped in front of the mirror. It seemed...disoriented. No. She seemed disoriented. She turned her eyes downward and slowly raised her hand to the mirror and pressed it against the cold glass, her eyes never wandering until she felt it. Another hand met her own, but it wasn't hers. She looked up, trying to find her eyes only to be met with someone else's. Teal eyes peirce into her soul, and a large grin filled with malice met her own scared and confused face. "Hi, Meggy." Wren said, tilting his head to the left before his whole image was smashed. Meggy stepped back, confused as to what had broke the mirror until she felt the sting in her right hand. She looked at it, finally acknowledging the small cuts and blood coming out of her knuckles, the sharp glass on the floor. What...what happened? What was that? She tried to shake it off, but the memory of Wren...she shook her head. She couldn't think about that right now. Especially not so early in the morning. I need to run. To clear my head. She decided she'd clean the glass later, and finally walked out the door. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe in the fresh air, and it instantly made her feel better. Calmer, even. She opened her eyes, put her headphones on, hit 'shuffle' on her playlist, and began to jog. The city lights were still on, illuminating the street in an array of beautiful colors. Meggy couldn't help but be in awe of how it looked at night, despite having gone running multiple times in the early morning. She kept her pace, admiring the lights, enjoying the music she was listening to. She missed the moments like this, when it was just her and the world, co-existing in the beauty and serenity before anyone else could. She passed building after building, each one blurring and appearing, like an optical illusion, and picked up her pace. She didn't know how long she'd been gone, or how long until the rest of the world woke up to, but it didn't matter at the moment. As she kept running, she noticed something up ahead. It was a large, green trash bin, but it seemed to be moving. Always one for danger, she paused her music and took her headphones, then quietly approached the trash can. Its probably a rat, or a possum....or Red, trying to find some leftover spaghetti. She laughed silently at the last one, still creeping towards the bin. She was about to open the lid when something jumped out, scaring Meggy and making her jump back. She lost her balance and fell on her butt, as the shadow person ran off. "Hey, wait! Come back!" She scrambled back up and took off, trying to catch the mysterious figure. The figure dipped through alleys and zig-zagged across the street, hoping that Meggy would let up,but Meggy was still on its tail. Eventually, the figure turned into an alley, one Meggy knew was a dead end. She rounded the corner, yelling "Gotcha!" before noticing that the figure wasn't there anymore. She looked around, seeing if it was still on the run, but the street was empty. What the hell? Where did it go? I swear, this mornings starting off weird... Meggy thought as she walked out of the alley and back onto the street. She finally checked the time on her phone, only to realize it had only been about an hour and a half since she left. Oh well. Might as well head home. She put her headphones on and hit 'play' on her music, and began her long walk home. She wanted to question everything that had happened so far, but she knew she was never going to go back to sleep if she did. So she let the music distract her, drowning out her thoughts and feelings for a while. After about 30 minutes, she realied she was back home. Huh...that didn't take long. I guess chasing after whatever that thing was got me closer than I expected. She unlocked her door and went in, the glass still on the floor waiting for her to clean it up. She closed and locked the door behind her, then went to the kitchen and grabbed a broom. She went back to the front door, only to find that the glass was no longer there, a sticky note replacing it. She put the broom against the wall and picked up the sticky note. "You shouldn't leave glass on the floor, silly. Loaf could've hurt himself, you know-MP" She immediately went around, making sure everything was locked, then went to check on Loaf. Her pet cat was curled up, asleep in the cardboard house she and Tari had made for him a while back. She smiled, and went back to the front door, and picked up the sticky note. The "MP" was Mr. Puzzles, no doubt, but the question was how? and why? Meggy didn't recall Mr.Puzzles showing interest in anywhere but the showgrounds, so how did he know where she lived? And why would he clean up the glass? Maybe he was the reason I saw Wren in the reflection...but why would he do that? I thought he'd disappeared? Did he come back? Is he targeting me? All these questions were giving Meggy a headache, so she shook them off. I'll just talk to Tari about it later. Maybe she can help me out. She sighed, already not liking how her day was going, and walked back to her room. It was the same as she'd left it, and she smiled, grateful that at least nothing had changed in her small sanctuary. She went to change her clothes, then decided not to, assuming that she wasn't going to be able to sleep again. She laid down, threw her blanket over her, and began to play her game, then decided to set an alarm for 7, when she'd head over to the showgrounds to hang out with the crew. She then went back to playing her game, biting time until her alarm went off. I don't think I can take another sleepless night. She thought to herself as she got up and did her morning routine, which consisted of brushing her teeth, making an instant breakfast, and feeding Loaf. One more of these and I might actually go nuts, she laughed to herself as she finished feeding Loaf. She pet him and said, "I'll be back soon, Loafy. Don't get into any trouble, ok?" She got up and left the cat to eat and plan for whatever it was gonna do, which was most likely rob a bank or something. She walked out the door and glanced at the mirror, a habit of hers, then noticed that the mirror was intact. But...I broke it...didn't I? Maybe it was all a dream...or the result of insomnia. Oh well. She walked out the door and made her way to the showgrounds, desperate to tell Tari and her friends what had happened. Then the words rang through her head.
"My friend...."
Meggy stopped, hearing the sincerity in his voice for the first time since the nightmares happened. Right then, she decided she wouldn't tell them. She would get answers on her own. She continued to walk to the showgrounds, even more desperate to find Tari so she could track down Puzzles. But she had made up her mind.

She was going to find Mr. Puzzles, and nothing was going to stop her.