Her Cookies Were to Die For

To Subcon Well

Hat Kid tapped a few fingers to her chin.

"Did you eat too many cookies? I know I smelled cookies in your house. You ate all of them right after you baked them, didn't you, BFF?"

Snatcher let out a grumble in response. Before he could even get a word in, Hat Kid continued.

"Maybe you need some water? Or, maybe there's some weird plants growing here that will make you feel better? Or, or- oh! What about your minions- they might know how to do something to help! Or the Dwellers..."

"Kiddo, shut your pie hole, PLEASE!" Snatcher barked. His voice cracked through the air like thunder, nearly making the entire forest shake. Up in the trees, birds nervously chittered at the sudden upset.

Snatcher almost winced when he saw the face that Hat was giving him. She almost looked hurt. In a quieter, less harsh tone he finally continued.

"Listen. First of all, I'm not sick. Second, if I was, no one here would know what to do about it. And that includes me. I have never been sick, not since I died, kiddo! It's not possible, okay?"

Regardless of what Snatcher had just said to the small alien girl, he had a hard time even believing his own words. Ghosts...couldn't get sick, could they? No, no. That would be ridiculous. But he certainly felt it. For the first time in quite a while, he actually felt a little queasy.

Hat Kid stared at Snatcher, her lower lip stuck out in a pout. She still appeared to look hurt.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Snatcher huffed, crossing his arms.

Hat said nothing and looked down at her feet, kicking a small pebble into the water in front of her. Her goofy purple hat lolled to the side as she tilted her head in what appeared to be thought...or silent defiance.

Ah. The silent treatment.. That's what this is.

Letting out a groan, Snatcher felt defeated. He had been trying to get that small girl to shut up this entire time...but now that she was actually silent, he didn't like it.

"If I walk with you to the Subcon Well and take a drink, will you go home?" the ghost sighed.

It was as if a switch had flipped. Hat Kid's face immediately lit up and her eyes sparkled.

"Yes!" she cheered. "Water should make you feel better! It makes almost all walks of life in the universe feel better, right?"

Snatcher looked at the child with a puzzled expression. She looked so human that he often forgot she actually did withhold alien knowledge. He sometimes wondered what the girl actually knew; how far her knowledge reached. She looked and talked like any other little girl...most of the time.

The trip to the well was mostly silent. On occasion, Hat Kid stuck her tongue out at minions and waved. They seemed to be used to her antics, and waved right back. The Dwellers floated in silence, slowly swaying with the wind.

Snatcher found himself growing a bit tired, and almost debated stopping for a moment. However, if there was one thing that he refused to do, it was show that he was weak. That simply was not an option. Not in the outer walls of his forest. And especially not anywhere that demon coated in ice with red glowing eyes could be watching him.

"Hey, you ok?"

Hat Kid had stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, taking one of Snatcher's large claws in her hands.

"Come on, we're almost there."

Snatcher felt dazed. He didn't even bother yanking his hand away from Hat Kid, or fighting her pull on him. He simply allowed himself to be led; a bit similar to how a kid pulls along a balloon on a string.

Once they were up on the well, Snatcher actually did as the kid asked, and drank plenty of water.

"Look at you doing all that self-care! Good job, best friend!" Hat Kid clapped as if it were the best thing she had ever seen.

Snatcher's cheeks burned at how loud the little girl was cheering for him, just because he was drinking water. Apparently, to her, that was incredible. He simply did his best to ignore it.

Once he finished drinking, he sat up and looked at the kid, an unamused expression on his face.

"There, are you happy now, kid? I drank your water. All better. Now go home."

Hat Kid simply pointed at him, her mouth dropping wide open with what appeared to be shock.

"No, not 'all better'!" she cried. "Your face looks even more blue than it did before you drank the water, Snatcher!"

Hat Kid actually looked genuinely afraid. Only she could see the awful, pale blue color that Snatcher's face was becoming.

Cocking his head to the side, the creature caught a glimpse of his reflection in the water. It almost scared him, too! He was incredibly discolored...and it looked as if the tips of his claws were starting to change in color, too.

"This...shouldn't be happening," Snatcher murmured as he stared at his hands.

Snatcher remembered turning his hands blue once, way back when he was alive. When he was at the academy studying law, one of his electives had been a potion brewing course. A mix of alchemy, and chemistry, if you will. But Snatcher hadn't been doing anything of the sort recently. It was an enigma as to why he was suddenly changing color.

Ghosts didn't do that, now did they...?

Quite suddenly, the queasiness that the ghost had been feeling earlier came right back. Without saying a word, the ghost glided off of the well, and back onto the ground. He didn't know what was happening! He hadn't felt this awful in decades. He had well forgotten what being nauseous and dizzy even felt like.

As if nature itself was getting upset about Snatcher's state, the sky began to flash with pink lightning. A few of the bolts struck the ground right next to him. He didn't jump, but he did snap his face up to look back at the well. Hat Kid was staring at him, looking like she was about to jump down.

"Don't you DARE come down here, kid! Not unless you want to die!" he hissed. "Don't you see all of this lightning?!"

Hat Kid paused, clutching one of her arms. "But...but you don't look ok! You look sick!"

"Ugh, I am not sick!"

Life itself wanted to contradict him. The moment those words escaped his mouth, Snatcher began to gag. The storm in the sky seemed to retaliate with vicious claps of thunder.

He couldn't breathe and felt as if he were about to pass out. Slowly and miserably, something forced its way out of his throat. A mix of well water, blue slime, and what was left of Vanessa's cookies splattered onto the forest floor in front of him. Snatcher stared at it with his mouth agape in silent horror.

He didn't even know that he was capable of vomiting anymore. This was certainly...new. He didn't have time to ponder it, though. Before he could do anything, or really even think, his eyes rolled back into his head and closed before he fell to his side and passed out on the wet leaves.

"Snatcher!!" Hat Kid screamed.