When Violence Ensues: Slenderverse Short Stories.

Story Fifty-Six: Homesick for a lost soul, residing in an empty home.

"It's nice." The husk spoke bluntly, as Tim pulled up into the driveway of his house. Of course, this was a new home he'd moved into since the last upload of Marble Hornets- Alex had burned his original house down in an attempt to kill him, so he really was not left with much of a choice. Even so, this house was nice enough and most importantly, far enough away from the haunting scenes of Marble Hornets and the memories that plagued consistently. It was a relief not to walk down the same streets every day, if he was being honest.

Tim gave a shrug in response, "It's home, I guess. Better than sleeping in motels, that's for sure." The male spoke as he pulled his house keys out of his pocket and slid the key into the lock, turning it and opening the front door. Stepping into his home, Tim motioned for the shorter other to follow him, "C'mon, I'm hardly about to leave you standing in the cold." He mused, as the husk followed him inside and closed the front door behind him. It was a relatively small home, but there was only Tim living there- so it was perfect for him. Cosy, reasonably well sized rooms and good internet. Life was finally levelling out just a little bit for him.

The husk felt a sinking feeling ache in his chest. He was like a bad omen, nothing good could come of him being here. Yet here he was, following Tim's advice. Beginning to attempt to try to live rather than just simply survive.

"Thanks again. You didn't have to do this-"

"I did." Tim interrupted, "Like I said, I'm not about to watch someone who's wearing my best friend's face die. Not again."

The husk clenched his jaw as he gave a nod. It was totally understandable how Tim was unable to cope with the thought of another friend dying at the hands of that supernatural entity- he'd lost practically everyone at this stage. Removing his black gloves, the hoodie-wearing male pocketed the gloves and sighed as he stretched his fingers, noticing the bruising around his knuckles and the scars that littered his hands. He sported the calloused hands of a hangman. Tim raised an eyebrow as he observed the purple-dusted bruises that coloured his knuckles, "How many people have you been hitting?"

"Only those I have to. That, and a few walls." The brown-eyed male responded neutrally, "Sometimes even I struggle to deal with the effects of the Operator." He finished, his seemingly simple words masking a deeply disturbing reality that rotted in his mind and poisoned his blood. Tim sensed the hidden darkness of his words and gave a curt nod, seemingly unsure of what to say. What was there to say? No words of comfort could possibly hope to lighten or relieve the static that constantly controlled his mind.

The husk knew nothing but that static.

Tim gave a light whistle," Hey, earth to Hoods?" He questioned, dragging the husk from his thoughts and bringing him back to the present,

"Sorry. I just, I was thinking, I guess."

"Well, hopefully not about how to kill me." Tim jested, much to the husk's amusement. Snorting in response, the brown-eyed male rolled his eyes,

"Oh ha ha. No, I was thinking about how different today's been." He sighed, as Tim gave a shrug and led the husk into the living-room; a good sized, comfortable room with a well-sized television on the wall opposite the couch- a console under it, "What's that?" He questioned, motioning towards the black, sleek console on the TV stand underneath the television that was mounted upon the wall. Tim gave a little smile,

"An Xbox. You've never heard of an Xbox?" He asked, almost in disbelief. It was obvious that the husk had access to the internet via hacking, also a laptop that was in his possession back at the decrepit Benedict Hall. So surely, having been on the internet, he knew what gaming consoles were?

"No, what's it for? I have seen things about it on the internet but I don't recall anything." Hoods replied honestly. He was disconnected with Tim's reality- disconnected and disjointed from anyone's reality, really. Little things that were basic knowledge to many people could be something massively unknown to him- a shell that felt like he'd suffered for a millennia, but in actuality his realities were merged into one giant mess that corrupted his head and contributed to the static.

Tim gave an amused chuckle and a light nod of understanding, "Videogames. It's a game console, I'll show you if you want." He offered, much to the husk's surprise. Without really thinking about it, an unfamiliar tugging sensation pulled at his lips- forming them up into a small smile,

"That sounds fun." He responded lightly, and gingerly sat on the blanketed couch. The dark haired other watched with mild entertainment how the husk so cautiously sat and the little, slightly unnatural smile he gave. It was in small gestures like that, that Tim found it slightly easier to differentiate Brian from the husk. Brian smiled brightly and with warmth, his eyes reflected the joy he felt- the husk? The husk smiled with caution and slight awkwardness, it was obviously something he was not accustomed to doing. Yet, there was a child-like innocence and awkwardness that resided in such a cautious smile.

Tim moved over to the television and turned it on, before turning on the Xbox and picking up the controller, turning it on as he waited for the Xbox to complete its start-up sequence, "Would you rather see a horror game, action game or something like Final Fantasy?" The male asked, as the husk tilted his head to the side and gave a little shrug,

"Whichever you would rather play. I wonder how terrifying I'd find horror games nowadays..." Hoods chuckled- dark humour dripping from the implications of that sentence. Tim scoffed in a light manner,

"I second that one." He mused, as he sat down on the couch beside the husk and signed into his account on the Xbox before selecting a survival thriller from his list of games. The Evil Within.

Fitting, right?

"Are you trying to be smart?" The husk asked with amusement in his voice, "The Evil Within, huh?"

"Yup. It's a good game. Here, you play." He spoke, handing Hoods the controller and giving a small grin, "Follow the tutorials- you'll get the hang of it soon enough. What food do you eat?" He asked, as the husk took the controller carefully and inspected it momentarily- confused by it,

"I eat anything that'll keep me alive. But, I don't like mushrooms." The brown-eyed husk admitted, before reading the tutorial of the game and familiarising himself with the controls and the buttons on the controller. Tim was right; it wasn't too difficult to adjust to.

"Okay, is pizza okay? I'll order pizza for tonight- I was supposed to get groceries and stuff today but as you know, things didn't turn out like that." The dark haired male sighed, as the husk gave another awkward grin,

"Pizza's great as long as its pepperoni."

"Agreed- you have good taste."

"I know." The husk retorted, before returning his focus to the game and eagerly deciding to begin the game after becoming somewhat familiar with what each button on the controller did. Mesmerised by the graphics and opening cut-scene of The Evil Within, the husk couldn't help but fall into a comfortable silence as he soaked up everything that was going on. Hell, know he understood to some level why people loved these Xboxes and consoles. Videogames were absolutely riveting.

Tim observed with quiet entertainment at how quickly Hoods had been won over by the game, and how quickly his attention had been grabbed. For being a vessel devoid of a complex understanding of humans and created by an entity so infectious, Hoods was peculiarly child-like in some aspects.

A sarcastic, sardonic piece of shit in most other ways, however.

Even so, Tim had a good feeling about this situation- after all, things couldn't get any worse.

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Hello friends!!

I hope life has been treating you all well!! If it hasn't, then I really hope that things level out for you soon.

I hope you enjoy this little chapter- I apologise if it's slightly shorter than usual, I've had an increase in homework and coursework this week that's killing me slowly :')

Thank you all ever so much, and until next time!! <3