When I Reach The End

Chapter 5: Vexation

Once Mars had gotten inside her house she saw her mom sitting on the sofa reading a book with an empty cup of instant ramen on the table next to her.

"Mom!" Mars yelled running up to her mom

She didn't answer

"Mom?..."

No response

"Mom? Can you hear me?" Mars said desperately looking for an answer...

There was none

She felt even more invisible than usual.

She stood there and wanted to cry but she was unable to.

Once Mars finally regained her composer she walked into her room and saw Ajax rummaging through her closet

Mars's room was pretty small and really messy. It was lit by an irritatingly bright bedside lamp that was able to light up the entire room which was good because the lightbulb in the overhead fan had been broken for at least 6 months by this point. She had two big windows in her room, one of which was opened so that she could make her way in and out of it, the thin curtains that hung around the open window were swaying in the soft breeze.

"What are you doing," Mars said in a quiet but angry tone

Ajax looked up from what they were doing and smiled like usual "Oh hello mars! I was just looking for something that you owned that had an ounce of colour in it! Seriously though, do you have anything but black T-shirts and hoodies?"

"I am going to fucking bury you the second I get the chance..." Mars said clearly not wanting to put up with Ajax anymore.

"Oh, sure you are..." Ajax said stretching and sitting down on Mars's bed

Mars's bed, like her room was messy. It had a plethora of sheets and blankets as well as her phone and headphones, right where she left them.

"Seriously Ajax, this sucks and I hate you, I can't even do cool ghost shit like picking up objects and making them float or making lights flicker"

"Whoever said you couldn't?" Ajax said putting their hands behind their back and laying down on Mars's bed.

"Wait what?-" Mars said intrigued, looking toward Ajax

"Anywho, goodnight Mars!" Ajax says in a sing-songy tone before flicking off the bedside lamp

Mars glares at Ajax and reaches out her hand to try and stop them from turning it off "Wait wha-! ... actually you know what, I couldn't give less of a shit at this point" she says once the lamp is flicked off.

...

"Hey Ajax?" mars said as she sat down on her floor

"Shh, I'm trying to sleep," Ajax said

"Who are you hiding from?" Mars said as she looked out the open window

Ajax froze up at the question. They sat up and turned on the bedside lamp "That is none of your concern." They said in a serious tone

"Actually it kind of is seeing as you are using me to hide..." mars said resting her head on her knees

"..."

Ajax sighed, "it's kind of a long story,"

Mars turned to them "Do I look like I give a shit?" she said.

"Ahh, well I suppose not..."

"let me try and explain this as simply as I can..."

"I'm not really from here per se and because of that I can't technically exist here, not unless I inhabit something from here,"

As Ajax spoke they said this in a much more serious tone and without their usual flair, their voice sounded scarily identical to Mars's.

"Me?" mars says as she glances at them

"Huh?" Ajax responds

"Me, I'm the thing that you're inhabiting to stay here, right?" Mars says before going back to starring out the window

"Precisely,"

"Why me?" Mars asked

"What can I say! You were desperate..."

"I could tell that you didn't really care anymore and that you might be willing to take a deal, no matter how crazy it may be... also, I had limited options and not much time so that too played a part in my decision..." Ajax said.

"What would you have done if I hadn't accepted your deal?" Mars asked

"Well... I would have just, stopped existing. This place wasn't built with me in mind. My mere existence was a big stain on the perfect fabric of your reality..." Ajax continued

"Are you-" Mars began to say before being cut off by Ajax

"I think that quite enough for tonight" they interrupted before switching off the light and laying back down.

Mars sat in silence until she was no longer awake.