Dead Inside

4.

"Let's play! Let's play! Let's play!" Yellow Steve exclaimed impatiently. It's been a week since Sabre discovered his pains, and Blue Steve had brought up the idea to have Yellow Steve, Red Steve and Green Steve play some games with them. Rainbow Steve had agreed to this, along with Galaxy Steve and Alex. 

"Sounds like a good idea," Rainbow Steve had said. "I'm sure they'll have fun."

Sabre almost chuckled from Red Steve's face when they had asked them to play with the friends. Red Steves weren't the type for games, they were too busy 'guarding' redstone and such. But, to Sabre's surprise, Red Steve agreed to play.

"But only since me win." Red Steve had told them. 

"Okay," Blue Steve smiled to Red Steve's remark. 

Now, they had agreed to play duck duck goose. Sabre didn't exactly know why, but they all looked like they'll enjoy it; therefore, they were going to play duck duck goose. Alex was chosen to go first and she touched Sabre's head slightly.

"Duck," she said. Sabre smiled from that one word. It meant he wasn't chosen to chase her. 

Alex then touched Blue Steve's head, who sat next to Sabre. "Duck." then Rainbow Steve's. "Duck." Then Yellow Steve's. "Duck." Soon, she touched Galaxy Steve's head and she exclaimed happily. "Goose!" Galaxy Steve jumped to his feet and chased after Alex. Alex had dodged Galaxy Steve's hand swiftly and leaped to Galaxy Steve's former spot where he had sat. 

"Dang it." Galaxy Steve said before laughing. "My turn!" 

While Galaxy Steve went around the circle of friends, touching each one's head as he went, Sabre made sure no one was watching before glancing at his hand. The other day he had waved his hand in the reflection of the mirror, and to his surprise he didn't have any fingers left. He could still feel them, but move them? Not so much. It was a struggle to move one finger, or grab a spoon for breakfast. He stopped himself from sighing, strange for him to think about but he missed his fingers. 

"Goose!" Galaxy Steve exclaimed when he touched Sabre's head. Sabre barely had time to react before Galaxy Steve took off around the circle of friends. Sabre scrambled to his feet and chased after him, reaching out with his hand to touch Galaxy Steve. Before he knew it, Galaxy Steve was in Sabre's spot. 

"You're turn!" He said with a big smile spread over his face. Sabre laughed and began touching everyone's head individually. When he came to Red Steve, he touched his head. "Goose!"

He was about to take off when his ankle gave way to his weight. He stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. What just happened there? Red Steve was still sitting in his spot with folded arms and crossed legs. 

"Red Steve," Sabre said. "You got to chase me."

Red Steve blinked at him. "But if I don't, you can't take my spot. Therefore, you can't win."

Galaxy Steve snorted. "That's smart. But it's apart of the game rules. You have to chase the one who 'gooses' you."

Red Steve shrugged and whipped around to poke Sabre in the leg. "Got you."

Sabre tilted his head. "I wasn't ready."

Rainbow Steve laughed. "He still got you. You're out."

Sabre shrugged with a chuckle and sat in the middle of the circle. At least now he can think without being bothered. What happened to his ankle seconds ago? It was as if they couldn't hold him up anymore, or his bones didn't exist. Sabre soon realized why his fingers wouldn't move and his ankles gave out on him. His bones were disintegrating. Soon he wouldn't have bones! Then his friends would find out about his secret and Sabre would be their only worry. Sabre didn't want his friends to worry about him. Sabre wanted to be normal, yes, but he also wanted his friends to have fun playing. Sabre glanced up to watch Red Steve get tagged by Yellow Steve- the fastest runner in the Steve world. If these were Sabre's last days playing with his friends, then he should have fun with them before whatever was happening to Sabre get worse.