𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 (Sleepy Bois Inc) /Discontinued/

-13-

(Big thanks to my friend Jay for helping me with the end of this chapter LOL- https://anapocalypseinmymind.tumblr.com/)

Dream

--

Seeing my friends' bodies lying so cold and drained of life burned out the fire in my heart. It wasn't every day I had to deal with the deaths of the two closest people I had ever known, so it was quite hard to spend the nights without them.

Sapnap, once the most bubbly and energetic man I knew, his body charred and burned in the fire pit we once lazily sat around together; And George, my George, his body lay on the ground in the same place it had been when I knocked that son-of-a-bitch Technoblade out cold. It was reassuring to wake up that one morning with the stream running red, only to discover the mighty king had fallen victim to one of the oldest tricks in the book.

I was currently shuffling through the woods again, supplied by all that I could gather from our camp. I had been wandering around the woods ever since I left there the other day, deciding it would be best to bury George and Sap's bodies and leave for good.

Humming a tune to myself, I kicked at the dried mud lining the edge of the river. The chips of dirt landed in the swift-moving water with little plops and splashes, making me giggle at the sight. That was until, of course, I saw the smoke of a man-made fire rising above the trees. About a hundred thoughts came to me at once, but the most sensible of them told me to ask whoever lived there for directions. I didn't know the way around this side of the river as well as I did my side, so it made sense in my eyes to inquire about it.

Seeing as it was across the river, I took off my old hiking books and rolled up my gray jeans, preparing myself for the crossing of the water. I shivered as the cold liquid rushed around my ankles and chilled my bones, and I flinched as the stream grew deeper with each step. It didn't take too long to cross the whole thing, as it wasn't that wide and I chose not to dawdle.

Instead of putting my boots back on, I figured it'd be smarter to leave them off and let my dirty feet air-dry in the morning breeze. Truth be told, I had little faith that the people residing in the house would answer my questions, as it was hard to actually find people around these parts that didn't run away screaming when they came across me. I just had to hope these would be different.

The little cottage I had seen across the river smelled amazing, like the bread my gang and I used to steal, but much fresher. My stomach instantly rumbled at the aroma, and I wobbled closer to its source. Leaves fell at my feet, and I listened to the melodic crushing of them beneath my feet. It felt good to be walking through the forest, a short relief from the pain I got when remembering my friends.

"Hello?" I called, not wanting to scare anyone with my unexpected presence as I stepped into the clearing. There was no response. I could see a little wheat farm off to the right, and a modest cottage some meters ahead. The air felt nice and cold- my favorite weather- and I couldn't help but smile at the atmosphere surrounding me. I had half-expected to be met with a team of people instantly attacking me as soon as I stepped forward another step, but there was no one to be seen. Something certainly felt a little off, however.

I walked up to the door of the small home, and upon turning the knob, found it was unlocked. "Anyone home~?" I asked in a sing-songy voice while peeking my head through the slight bit of opening I had made. Still, no one.

"Huh," I risked saying aloud, taking another step into the home. It was a modest little place, with a couple of candles, a small oven, and some ruffled blankets that I assumed served as beds or seats. A crate in the corner held some wheat stalks, wrinkled apples, and what looked like stale bread. On what appeared to be the kitchen table, however, was a plate of fresh bread, still steaming. There was a little passage across from me that held a flight of stairs, but I neither knew nor cared what upstairs held- unless it happened to be more bread, of course, then I wouldn't complain.

My mouth was watering as I took a step toward the plate. Everything else seemed to fall away as I took one of the still-warm loaves in my hand, staring at it in awe. Wow. This is . . . .

My thoughts trailed off as I sank my teeth into the loaf. The bread practically melted in my mouth. I devoured it, then moved on to the next loaf, my grief and anger having kept the hunger at bay for long enough.

In less than a minute, the entirety of the two loaves was gone.

Wow. I . . . was hungry.

But no matter, my stomach was satisfied now. I didn't care about the stale bread and wrinkled apples, and I was not about to stoop so low as to eat plain wheat stalks. Maybe there's something else around here I can use.

Then again . . . the inside of the oven was still warm. I glanced at one of the candles sitting on the table and saw wax dripping down the wick. "Somebody must've just been here," I said aloud, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut.

If someone had just been here, there was a huge chance that this could be a trap. It was way too quiet. Fear overwhelmed me, then calmness. I was the best bandit, the best assassin around! I could take down an entire family if I needed to, if I wanted to.

"George," I started, turning around, and then I froze. "Right. You're . . . not here." Guess I'll do this myself then.

My eyes caught the stove, off to one side. It was the PERFECT thing to use, the perfect thing to drive someone insane.

I flipped all of the knobs on the stove on to the highest setting, watching with a grin as the flames swelled up, blue at the core and a searing white at the edges. Then I opened the oven and set it to the highest temperature, relishing the heat on my skin. "Somebody's gonna be mad," I sang to myself as I went over to the crate holding the food.

I ripped planks off of it, and when I had about five I went back to the stove, carelessly holding one end of each plank out to the fire. If it burned me, then so be it. The house was about to suffer an injury much worse than a simple burn.

"Let's make them feel my pain, shall we?" I said, imagining George and Sapnap standing beside me, arms full of burning wood. My heart stung at the memories of us, doing this same thing to innocents all over the forest, but I pushed it down and instead flung the first plank towards the far wall. It fell to the ground with a thud, cracking in half at the impact. I could almost hear the laughter erupt from George and Sapnap, who I still imagined standing by my side. 

After throwing the first board, I got arson fever. Quickly, I took the others and tossed them around the place too, smiling when each one sparked a new flame on the various materials that were strewn about. The crate of wheat and stale bread? Fire ate that up in a matter of seconds. The doorframe that opened to the stairs? Flames snaked up that like the stripes on a candy cane. The heat started to become almost unbearable, however, and the silhouettes of my friends quickly faded. 

The sound of storming feet and desperate pleas for someone named, "Nikki," to come back filled the air. The voices seemed ghostly, and I knew for a fact they were still a good distance away, but for safety reasons, I fled out the door and back into the serene forest.

Turning around, I caught a beautiful sight out of the corner of my eye. A girl ran out of the flaming cottage, coughing into her arm and collapsing. She screamed back at the door, "FUNDY!" And I assumed this 'Fundy' was the owner of the voice I had heard before. Strangely enough, there was no response from the mysterious man, only the deafening roar of the fire could be heard.

Then, the whole thing came crashing down, and a plume of smoke and crimson embers was launched into the air.