Beware the darkness

✧༺ 7 ༻✧

Steve has become a bit of a slob lately. Then he will forget the torch, then he will not keep track of the strength of the tools, then he will step into the water, then he will trample the sprouts. And recently I woke up in the dark. Well, as in the dark, there was a weak light in the window, as in the early morning, but it did not illuminate everything that was behind the partition. So it was more or less light in one part of the house, and dim in the other. Of course, this has not been left without consequences. Literally on the same day, Steve lost the desire to return home after he went outside. Yes, and the Herobrine has gone somewhere: "Why is hē so mysterious? For wh₱t? Why do his eyes look w&ite? Can we talk to him abou[ it?" Steve thought for a long time about the mystery of his white-eyed neighbor, and then just shrugged and went to get water. When he was already approaching the stream, he saw a man standing with his back to him, in the same clothes as him. Steve stopped dead in his tracks, not knowing what to do. Should I approach him? To speak? Or maybe do nothing and leave? Or maybe just go to the spring, get some water already and leave? The guy decided to just leave, but couldn't move: "Am I paraly*ed? Okay, cal£ down, Steve, everything's &oing to be fine. Just... move... slo€ly." Steve tried to take a step back, and he succeeded. However, my legs began to hurt terribly from the intense tension in them. Step by step, he moved away from the unknown, and when he was about to go around him, he suddenly turned around. "Is th0t... me? — Steve didn't believe it, - 0n l0oks like m£!" The guy stood with his eyes wide open in surprise, not wanting to believe what he saw. The stranger stared at him motionlessly for several seconds, and then turned away and went somewhere, eventually disappearing behind the trees. Steve had never met strange creatures of this kind before, but now he suddenly started. And moreover, I began to meet them everywhere, at home, on the street, in the mine (here most often). They were all incredibly realistic and scary. Each time, the guy, if not surprised, was terrified of them. And one evening, when he was putting out the fire, he actually heard someone's footsteps, and then something or someone flew out of the darkness at him screaming. Yeah, Steve had never run so fast before. After that, he couldn't sleep for half the night, sitting in a corner with a blanket on his shoulders, and when he finally fell asleep, he woke up again in semi-darkness. "It seem$... there'$ so*ethin& wrong with m¢… I feel... stra3ge...": Steve thought, sitting on the porch of the house. In such... not the best condition, he was suddenly discovered by Herobrine, who appeared out of nowhere. The guy did not notice him until exactly the moment when the newcomer spoke:

— Are you okay?

— I'm not sure... — Steve replied, and then looked at the interlocutor with a strange, slightly creepy look, — Where have you been?

— I studied villages.

— Did you find someone? —  He lowered his head again.

— No, — Herobrin went up to the sitting guy and after a few seconds touched his head.

— What are you doing? —  Steve asked indifferently, not looking at him.

However, the white-eyed man was silent. And he was silent for a long time. The guy could only guess what was in his head and what he was trying to do with it.

Steve decided that it would be good for him to unwind and go somewhere. He remembered that once upon a time, traveling around the world, he came across the sea and had a good swim in it. Then he really liked the warm atmosphere, and now he wanted to repeat it. Of course, it takes half a day to walk to the sea, but if you leave at dawn, you will get there just closer to lunch. Steve suggested that Herobrine go with him. He did not refuse, but refused to swim on the spot.

— Come on, what are you embarrassed about? — the guy was changing clothes.

— It's too bright and hot in here. What do you like here anyway? — he grumbled in response, shielding his eyes with a squinted hand from the surprisingly bright sun.

— That's the whole point. The beach should be hot and bright. This will make the water warm. You do what you want, but I'm joking.

Steve moved to the sea and carefully entered the water. In the beginning it was a little cold, which made him rub his shoulders, feeling goosebumps, but then his body got used to this temperature and became warmer. The guy was swimming near the shore, while Herobrin just stood and looked at him with the same displeased face. And then he got tired, and he sat down not far away under a tree. "W0w, it just got ¢almer,—  Steve thought, feeling the warmth of the water around him, — All the heav¥ load was lifted by han&." At one point, he closed his eyes and plunged under the water, giving himself completely into the possession of warm streams. It felt like he was in zero gravity. Everything is so calm, quiet and bright. No alarms, no sounds, no problems, nothing bad. Steve slowly turned over with his back to the surface and opened his eyes a little. At the same moment, he saw six small glowing red eyes staring at him from the dark water depths. They scared the guy terribly, which made him tense up and, floundering, immediately floated to the surface. The calmness and tranquility disappeared like a hand. Steve surfaced from the water and aggressively paddled towards the shore. Herobrin immediately realized that something was wrong, seeing the fear in the guy's eyes and a change in behavior, however, he did not move, and when he finally got out on dry land and went to his clothes, trying to catch his breath from what he had experienced, he suddenly gave out with a malicious grin:

— There are no animals, and you decided to become one yourself? Mostly a cat, huh. Me-eow,—  he folded his hand into a fist and shook it in a circle, like a cat with a paw.

However, Steve was not in the mood for jokes. He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath, and when Herobrin "joked", suddenly looked at him with frightened eyes and said:

— I saw the eyes there! Red eyes like a spider's!

— Pf, is the spider underwater? Haha,— the white-eyed man laughed somehow... good—naturedly, —How stupid. It's all in your head. You're spoiling your entire vacation with such contrivances.

But these were not fancies. Steve saw it with his own eyes. Or... does everything that he saw still not exist? Maybe Herobrin is right?

Steve felt worse every day. He had strange thoughts in his head that he sometimes couldn't understand himself. It felt like they were in a language he didn't know. There were more and more strange mysterious creatures, and they worried Steve more and more often. As a bonus, he woke up almost every day with extinguished torches and lanterns. In the end, it got to the point that one day the guy just didn't want to go home and couldn't resist this feeling in any way. He just didn't see the point in entering the room. He wanted to sit on the porch all night.

— Why are you still here? — Herobrin began with displeasure, frowning, standing in front of Steve.

— I... don't want to go home,—  the man replied quietly, not looking at him, which caused even more frown.

— You need to go inside. Right now.

— Don't follow me like a kid,—  Steve frowned slightly, glancing in the direction of Herobrine without raising his head, — If you want, you can come in." I'm not blocking the way.

However, he was not satisfied with this answer. At one point, the front door burst open with a bang, which made the guy flinch, after which he immediately flew into the house, crashing into the wall opposite the entrance. The lanterns around the moment burst into even brighter flames.

— Agh, what a...? —  Steve frowned at Herobrin, who was crossing the threshold, holding his back, —  What are you doing? I don't want to be here.

— No, you'll be here, —  the white—eyed man replied coldly, closing the door behind him.

— Don't you dare to control me and my freedom! —  Steve jumped up, clenching his hands into fists, and headed for the door.

However, Herobrin did not stop him and simply moved aside, sitting on the bed. The guy pulled the door open, but it didn't open.

— Open the door, — Steve glared at the white-eyed man, — Now! — He shouted a little.

But he just looked at him with an indifferent face, doing nothing and not answering, and the guy suddenly felt a rising panic. From the moment the door slammed shut, Steve's pulse and temperature jumped sharply, although he did not immediately pay attention to it. But when I saw Herobrin's indifferent face, I suddenly came to my senses and felt a wild fear. But fear of what?