Out of Your Control - a Hermitcraft AU

~ Chapter 11 ~

Mumbo stared down at his hands, deep in thought. There are no obvious connections between the murders. Sure, Doc was probably targeted because of his powers, but Etho, Cleo and False? Tango did have a fight with them earlier, but why would he kill them? And who's next? Mumbo sighed, burying his face in his hands. His brain felt fuzzy from tiredness, but he didn't dare sleep, not now.
Lying down on his bed and staring at ceiling, he let his mind wander, slowly drifting off, only to wake up the next day, with the sun threatening to blind him. Getting out of bed, Mumbo made his way downstairs, running his hand through his hair subconsciously.
 He walked into the living room and saw Iskall sitting on the sofa, sharpening his sword.

"Morning Iskall," he greeted, yawning. God, it's already eight?

"Hello Mumbo Jumbolio," he said, not looking up. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great!" Grian intervened, hopping down the stairs. Mumbo felt his cheek warm, as the chipper hermit smiled happily at them. 

He went over to the kitchen, grabbing some toast, but halfway there the lights started the flicker. Slowly turning around, Grian faced Mumbo and Iskall, fear evident in his eyes. "Guys?"

"Greetings," the same murderous voice came, sending shivers down Mumbo's spine. Grian started towards the living room again, only to be stopped by a knifem plunging through his heart from behind.

"No!" Mumbo shouted, trying to run towards the fallen hermit, but Iskall held him in place.

A figure stood in the shadows, holding a gleaming knife and laughing. Laughing. His glowing red eyes met Mumbo's, and he suddenly disappeared.
Mumbo ran towards Grian, who was lying on the floor, slowly bleeding.

"Nononononono," he whispered, knealing beside him. Nonono, this can't be happening. "Please, you can't go-" he started, choking on tears. "I - I lo-"

"Mumbo!" a voice cut him off. "Mumbo?! Are you okay?" The voice sounded weirdly cut off, like talking through a wall.
"It's not real." 
"Wake up!"
"It's just a dream"

It's just a dream. 
Mumbo jolted upright, gasping for air. Slowly looking up, he saw that sitting in front of him was Grian, alive.  "Oh my god, Gri-" he stuttered, tripping over his words and blinking back tears.

"Mumbo? Are you okay?" Grian asked, shaking his shoulders.

Nothing is okay, he thought. "W- what if we never escape?" What if he dies before I can tell him-

"Don't worry, Mumbo. It was just a dream," he said, hugging Mumbo.

Mumbo took a breath and looked at his surroundings. Grian's worried face, the outside air and Iskall standing by the door.

"What happened Mumbo?" he asked, looking worried.

"N- nightmare. How or, uh, why are you here?"

"Uh, I was just going to get breakfast, but as I was, uh, walking past, I heard you sort of whisper-shout out "no." And, uh, then you kind of shouted my name, so I ran in and Iskall followed," Grian explained, looking a bit pink. "By the way, I'm glad you aren't getting murdered right now," he laughed lightly. 

Mumbo pulled Grian closer and hugged him, as Iskall lead them downstairs. Each step, each minute beside Grian seemed to wash away the fear.

They grabbed some bowls of cereal and while Grian was making fun of Iskall, Mumbo stole a glance at the clock. Eight a.m. His stomach flipped over as he mind back-tracked. He glanced at Grian, who was laughing and took a deep breath.

It's just a dream. 

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"Iskall. Did you just pour the cereal first?"

"Did you just pour the milk first?" Iskall countered, glancing down at his bowl.

"Yeah! What's wrong with that?"

"Everything. Absolutely everything," he replied, shaking his head. He knew that Grian was trying to lighten the mood for Mumbo, but seriously? Milk first?!

They put their bowls away and sat down on the couches, seeing that they weren't detectives and there was literally nothing else to do.
Mumbo picked up the book he was reading before, but kept glancing at Grian, who sat beside him, fiddling around. Either way, how could he read in the first place?! We're on a freaking death island!

"Hey Mumbo? What was your nightmare about?" Iskall asked, tilting his head at him.

"Oh, uh, just... death," he trailed off, glancing at Grian.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Pulling out his communicator, he messaged Mumbo.

Iskall: u should tell him

A moment later, Mumbo's own phone lit up.

Mumbo: r u crazy?!
Mumbo: he'd hate me
Mumbo: i mean i have no idea what ur talking about

Iskall: your nightmare was about him wasnt it?

Iskall glanced up to see him glance at Grian, who thankfully hadn't noticed that both Mumbo and Iskall's phones light up.

Mumbo: i cant

Iskall: do u want me to leave?

Mumbo: i just cant okay?

Should I tell them? Ugh, but it's Grian's choice... he looked and saw both Grian and Mumbo glance at one another and look away. GOD, they're so obvious... you guys are literally killing me...

"I'm bored," Grian whined, dragging out the r. "I'm going to go look for something to do."

"I'll accompany you," Iskall offered, getting up as well. That's a truth, but really, he wanted to talk to him.

"Okay?" He made his way down the hall, opening any doors he came across, until he found a closet.

"What are you doing?" Iskall asked, peeking over Grian's shoulder, as he rummaged through some boxes.

"People always keep bored games in closets," he said standing up, blowing dust off of a chess board.

"Hmm," Iskall said, thinking of how to phrase this. "Hey, Gri? If we, uh, don't make it out, what would be your last wish?"

Grian turned and frowned at him. "I hope you hear how dark that sounds. But really? I don't know."

"I think you do, but the question is will you tell him?" Iskall asked directly. This only caused Grian to walk away, covering his head with one wing, and thwacking Iskall with the other. They headed back to the living room, to see Mumbo burst through the doorway and yell for them to follow.
Mumbo pointed to the left at the pool, where on the surface, there were leaves, dead insects and those sort of things you'd expect. But just below the surface, was Tango.

Okay so that was way longer than need be, but I wanted to romancy stuff so I'm sorry if you died with Tango. Thanks for reading my 1000 word chapter *face palms*