Darkness | ~Danny Gonzalez~

Chapter Five

"He's gone... " Danny stood up slowly, cautiously. It was strange. With Drew gone, it was almost like the mind control was... weaker.

Danny wasn't completely back in control, per se. He still felt the hypnosis lingering in the back of his brain, like a dull headache that refused to go away. But he had much more control of himself than he did when Drew was around.

He wondered if the hypnotic burden was lifted off of Thomas in the same way. He walked over to the electronics section, where Thomas was sitting propped up against a shelf of old DVDs that never sold.

"Hey Thomas?" Danny asked cautiously. "Are you... yourself?"

"Yeah..." replied Thomas.

As Danny walked closer, he knew it had to be Thomas, and not Dark Thomas talking to him. Because not only were his formerly purple eyes back to their normal amber tone, but they were also filled with confusion and fear.

"Are you okay?" Danny knelt down next to Thomas. He was concerned for his friend. He was the one who did this to him, after all.

But then he realized what a stupid question that was. How could either of them be expected to be okay after what they had just been through?

"I don't know," Thomas answered honestly. "I don't understand, Danny. What's happening? What happened to Drew?" Thomas' eyes swelled as he blinked back fearful tears. He took a long shuddered breath and bit his bottom lip.

"I... I'm not sure exactly,..." Danny admitted, putting his hand on Thomas's shoulder, consolingly. "But whatever happened, he has the power of mind control now. He used it on me, and then he made me turn you to the darkside too. I'm so sorry."

Thomas sat in stunned silence for a moment. He couldn't possibly take all of this in at once.

"I'm so sorry,..." Danny repeated softly, trailing off sadly. "This was my fault."

"Don't- don't apologize," Thomas spoke up, after a while. "You're a victim in this, Danny. Just like me."

"But I had a chance to stop him, and I just... I couldn't," Danny sighed.

"It's okay. None of this was your fault. We couldn't have possibly predicted any of this."

"No. But I could've tried harder to fight back."

"He's powerful, Danny. You can't blame yourself for that. ...Which brings me to my question. Why are his powers weaker all of the sudden?"

"I wish I knew," Danny shrugged. "Maybe Drew's control over us weakens the further away he is from us."

"Then we have to get far away from him. Now's our chance. We have to make a run for it."

"No. Thomas, we can't. It's too risky."

"Risky? How?"

"What if he has hidden cameras? Or what if he's reading our minds right now? He'll kill us."

"If we stick around here any longer, we might die anyway. We have to try to get out while we have the chance. And when we're far away enough, we can think of ways to get the old Drew back."

"You're right," Danny replied hesitantly. "Not only is this our only chance, but this could be the last chance to save Drew."

Danny knew he had to make that sacrifice. He knew Drew would do the exact same thing for him. Even if it was risky. It was a risk he had to take.

So they headed to the front of the store. 

On the way, they passed the clothing department, which was lined with mirrors. That's when Thomas finally got a look at himself in his current state.... He looked exactly like Virgil. He gasped and ran his fingers through his hair, confused.