Better Off Dead (Kellic) ✔️

21: Kellin

**Kellin's POV**

I was sitting outside on the front porch of the house when I saw Vic coming back. He emerged from the fog that blocked off my view of the rest of the street and crossed it at a fast pace. He looked kind of nervous and creeped out honestly.

I couldn't help but to notice how he looked left and right frantically as he walked. And it was then that I saw a cloaked-like figure trailing behind him. The second I noticed it, I felt its eyes on me, and then it disappeared.

"Well that wasn't unusual at all." I murmured before I focused back on Vic, who just passed me and quickly made his way into the house.

I jumped up on my own two feet and decided to follow him. He quickly made his way into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, not even bothering to grab a glass. Instead, he just twisted off the cap and put the neck of the bottle to his lips.

I quirked an eyebrow and chuckled as I watched him chug the whiskey desperately, like he had been stuck in the desert or something.

He was panting lightly as he put the bottle back down on the counter, holding onto the neck for dear life. The amusement of the scene that was unfolding before me disappeared the second I realized just how distraught Vic was.

"We-we need to talk. Kellin, we need to talk. No, we have to talk. We have to. Kellin, what happened, can we talk about it? We should really talk about it. Ugh. No." He rambled as he slowly bent forwards and rested his head in one of his hands.

"There's only so many ways you can say it, but I get the hint." I murmured before leaving the kitchen.

I was worried about him, though. Sure, yeah, we definitely needed to talk about... well, you know, the whole kissing thing. But that couldn't be why Vic was so freaked out, was it?

Once in the living room, I grabbed the iPad and opened up the Notes app. 'there's a few things that we need to talk about' I started typing in the application. 'but just know, that whatever happened, it can't happen again. it just can't.'

I sighed as I read over my own message. However much I hated it myself, I had to stay realistic. Kissing Vic was nice... more than nice, even. But whatever that was had to stop, for his own good.

He deserved much more than a dead person. It could never work anyways. No matter how much I may want it to, because in all honesty, I did want it to.

Vic was different. So unlike anyone that I had ever met. He was the first person who didn't judge me for my interests. Heck, he even gave off a sense of excitement when I told him about my crazy discoveries and how I did my research.

Speaking of research...

I decided to delete the note that I had written and switched to the internet browser, where I still had a page of reviews opened up about the strange machine that Vic had been using to visit me, sorta speak. The same machine that apparently I was going to write about but had somehow completely forgotten.

Most of the reviews that I read were pretty exciting and positive. People told their experience about walking amongst the dead and communicating with them, just like Vic had with me.

Not many people had experience with this thing, but enough of them to intrigue me. It definitely made sense to me why I was planning on writing about it.

I read through the reviews some more, until I spotted one that seemed a little different. The title read 'READ THIS & DON'T EVER USE THE MACHINE!!' and I could feel the urgency behind the words.

I bit my lip in curiosity as I opened up the post, which ended up being multiple paragraphs long. I vaguely read through it, skipping most of the sentences and only picking out the parts that stood out to me.

'started hearing strange noises'

'feeling of being followed around'

'he was watching me'

'I was cheating death'

'he will come for you'

'no one can cheat death'

Then suddenly, in the reflection of the screen, I saw its face. I saw the darkness in its eyes, the bolts and gears that made up for its mouth, and I felt its cold breath in my neck.

It was there for only a mere second before it disappeared again. But I remembered. I remembered everything.

And I had to tell Vic immediately.