Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays [6]

Toby was laughing like a maniac, and he whooped loudly as each firework was set off, his usual tics and spasms increasing tenfold. Hoodie and Masky worked fast, setting up the fireworks, Masky using his cigarette to light them, Hoodie nearly using his gun to do it before Eyeless stopped him. (Eyeless eventually went inside, claiming a headache, Jeff suspected it was due to the people rather than the fireworks themselves). Ben and Sally were playing with sparklers, watching the rest of the chaos from a safe distance.

Jeff watched the gunpowder shoot into the air, bursting into colorful sparks in the night sky. Eventually though, the loud bangs and flashes were getting to him, and he sorely regretted not wearing earplugs.

"Jeff! Hey!" Said a high pitched voice, and Jeff looked back at Sally, who beckoned him over. he slowly made his way over, and she offered him an unlit sparkler. " You're not helping set off the fireworks?" She asked him. He took it, replying, " Yeah, I don't see the point in helping them. It'll waste the fireworks faster." Ben lit a match for Jeff, who cautiously held out his sparkler at arm's reach, allowing the ghost to light it.

Sally moved her arm in lazy circles, watching the trail of light that came from the sparkler. "It's a perfect night for fireworks, too. I'm glad we did this," She said thoughtfully. Jeff gave a short nod in response, watching his own sparkler intensely. Ben sighed and floated onto his back, watching the fireworks.

"Yeah..." He said mildly. "Wanna play a game? Guess what color the next firework will be?"

"Red." Jeff said immediately.

"Guess Jeff's playing then, you in Sally?" Ben asked, his eyes alight with interest.

"Ok, I suppose. Mm, how about purple?" She guessed.

"Blue." Ben said, right before the firework shot into the air. It exploded into blue and white sparks, and Ben grinned, dropping his sparkler to the floor before it got too short. "Next round!"

"Green." From Jeff.

"Purple!" Shouted Sally, who also dropped her sparkler.

"Blue." Was Ben's guess, and once again he was right. "Round three!"

"Purple!" Said Sally.

"Shit!" Said Jeff, his sparkler had reached the end of the stick without him realizing, and he let out a curse, dropping what was left of the sparkler. He gripped his palm, Which was now slightly red looking, the surface of his skin raw. The burning, searing pain on his flesh reminded Jeff of a time when his entire body had once burned. Even if the current pain was bearable, the memory shocked his senses into believing it wasn't. He sunk to his knees, feeling lightheaded from the memory.

The firework exploded in the night sky. It was red red red.

Jeff stared at his palm, his breathing becoming labored. Someone was speaking to him but it sounded distant. Red and fire and pain we're acting weird stop it the pain the pain remember it?

"Jeff!" Said a voice, cutting through the muddled thoughts, and a hand placed itself on his back. He jumped up, taking a few steps backward. "I'm fine." He said immediately. Ben lowered his hand, glaring at Jeff in distrust and confusion.

Jeff rubbed his palm with his other hand, his nerves still tingling with a phantom pain. "I'm fine." He said, "I'm fine. I just..." He trailed off, his eyes darting everywhere, checking to make sure he was outside and not in a small bathroom. He reminded himself the smell in the air was sulfur, not bleach and vodka.

"You should go to Eyeless." Sally finished for him. He looked at her, meeting her eyes for a short second. "For the burn," She explained slowly, as if he had forgotten. Jeff clenched and unclenched his hand.

"Yeah." He said finally, his voice raspy. "Yeah, I... Yeah," He repeated, nodding his head, and turning it to try and find the mansion.

"I should go with you," Ben suggested, but Jeff cut him off quickly.

"No!" He snapped, panic flaring in his chest, before evaporating just as quickly. "I...no. No thanks." He said again, quieter, "Just keep doing whatever. I'm fine. It's just a burn. It's nothing to freak out about. " He quickly left, grateful to get away.

He entered the house, stumbling to the basement door. He went to grab it, but stopped, instead using his unburned hand. "Hey Eye? " He called out, as he came down.

The basement level was large, separated into two parts. The first was storage, boxes stacked on top of each other, threatening to fall and bury Jeff as he walked past. Most of them didn't have labels, the ones that did were completely incoherent- scribbles, so unreadable Jeff could have assumed they were written in a different language entirely.

A door led to the second part, Eyeless's medical ward, and Jeff opened it, the harsh lights and clean atmosphere a welcome change to the dark, cobwebbed storage.

Eyeless looked up as Jeff came in, pausing on restocking his shelves. "Yes?" He asked Jeff.

Jeff held up his hand. "Burned my palm," He explained. Eyeless nodded with a sigh. "I thought Toby was going to be the first one down here. Sit on the table." He requested, and Jeff obliged.

The room, like everywhere else in the mansion, was almost normal. If you didn't do any more than simply glance, it would seem like a normal exam room. A few patches of the floor were discolored- perhaps from old bloodstains. Every drawer and shelf was painstakingly labeled- including the organs, sitting in jars of fluid.

Eyeless grabbed Jeff's hand, holding tight when Jeff instinctively tried to rip it away from him. He applied a layer of ointment, before quickly wrapping it up. The process took only a couple minutes, and Eyeless released Jeff's hand, saying, "You can relax now, you big baby."

Jeff glared at him, annoyed that he had in fact, been holding his breath through the procedure.

"Whatever. How long do I keep these bandages on?" He asked, flexing his fingers and wrist to test the mobility.

"Just today and tomorrow, maybe. But if you don't want it to scar you should keep it on longer."

"Tomorrow, then," Jeff said, with a short nod. Eyeless looked like he expected that answer, but still frowned in annoyance. Jeff noticed colorful wrapping paper on the floor.

"What'd Sally give you?" He asked. Eyeless looked surprised at the question, before he reached into a drawer and pulled out a CD.

"It's an audiobook," Eyeless explained, sensing Jeff's confusion. "A few classics- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Call of the Wild, The Most Dangerous Game. You know, since I can't really read." He put it away, a trace of a smile on his face. Jeff nodded, slipping off the table and onto the floor again.

"Thanks for the bandages, doc," He said, leaving.

"You should be thanking me for not eating you," Was Eyeless's smartass reply.

Jeff walked up the basement steps, past the kitchen and living room, upstairs. He walked past the row of doors to his, and slowed down at a familiar mahogany one. He stared at Jack's door for a second, his eyes drifting to the ground where a small gift lay. A note was attached to it, just as one had been on Jeff's own present. He pondered it's contents for a second, before shaking his head and walking to his bedroom. Wasn't his problem.