What was he going to do now? Arthur kept his hands on the wheel, and wearily looked into the mirror as the house started to fade. He knew better than to go into a suspicious looking house, especially one that sparked Vivi's interest, but this had to be the biggest mistake he's made in a very long time. Well, second biggest. His heart seemed to fill with dread as the memories played through his skull, and he could feel the color draining from his face. What was he going to do? Also, what was going to become of Lewis now? Despite the house vanishing, somewhere deep inside of Arthur's heart, he felt sure that this was only the beginning.

He looked over his shoulder to see Vivi in the back seat, her eyes shining brightly as she watched the mansion fade completely. "I can't believe it's gone…" her voice trailed softly as he heard her turn around.

"Why did you pull me out of there? That ghost was trying to communicate with me!" Here came the questions. He wasn't really ready to answer them, so he swallowed a couple of times and gripped the steering wheel harder.

"Weren't you paying any attention Vivi?" He asked, his voice cracking, "That thing tried to kill me!" He could hear the lie in his voice, but Vivi was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.

"Well, he didn't try to kill me!" She argued, leaning over the back seat so she could shout into his ear. "He was trying to TALK to me!"

"Well what if I was scared Vivi?" He responded, a little too defensively. Yet another mistake on his part, but Vivi caught onto it this time.

"Arthur, you're acting weird." She stated honestly. It was amazing how honest she could be, no matter how much it could hurt him. He was jealous of her in that aspect, but only a little.

"I was just scared," He said slowly, letting his feeling pour into each word so that she would forgive him. She made a face, but soon cracked a smile. It was this same smile he had been so used to growing up. It seemed to melt his heart, but he knew he couldn't let himself falter anymore. He wanted to spare that precious heart of hers.

"You've always been such a scaredy cat," She said through gentle laughter. "Well, it can't be helped. Let's go to my house tonight. I'll made dinner." Arthur had to hide a sigh of relief, since Vivi had dropped the subject on her own. Wait…maybe that was a bad sign. Arthur pondered it for a moment, but he knew pressing the issue would end badly on his part. She'd trapped him once again, true to nature. Arthur managed a weak smile.

"If you can make spaghetti tonight, then I'm game," He replied. He tried to put back the playfulness in his voice, but it seemed useless. After seeing Lewis tonight, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. Lewis had never found peace, but was instead haunting the woods close to their home. He could still remember he had first met Lewis back in high school. Things were so much different back then.

Arthur walked through the high school hallway, cowering slightly as he came closer to his locker. He never liked high school, especially since he was so much smaller than the other guys in his grade. This made Arthur the prime target for bullying. Arthur opened his locker and shifted his books to put them away, when his locker was suddenly slammed shut. He looked to the side to see a senior towering over him. The senior was one that he recognized from class. He had been forced to take the same math class for a third time, and he never liked Arthur. Arthur was supposed to be a sophomore, but he was very smart. He jumped a grade and was considered a junior. He thought it would help him make friends, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

The student sneered angrily at him.

"Where's my homework assignment?" He demanded loudly. Arthur was startled, and started to tremble at the towering teen's presence.

"D-Didn't you do it last night?" He asked barely above a whisper. The brute didn't like that comment, and punched the locker pretty close to Arthur's head.

"I want it done before class today," He said sharply. It wasn't a request, but a demand.

"I-I can't d-do your work f-for you…" Arthur said sheepishly, "Th-That would be…cheating…" No sooner had the words escaped Arthur's lips that his collar was grabbed. He felt himself get raised off the ground and pressed against the locker. Arthur's entire body trembled as the student glared at him furiously.

"I don't care what that would be!" He said on the brink of shouting, "I said to do it!" Arthur had problem breathing in that position, and he flailed a little. Where was everyone? Why were the halls empty? Why wouldn't someone help him? In his panic, Arthur accidentally kicked the guy in the stomach, and he retaliated by dropping Arthur on the ground. Arthur took the chance to run as fast as his legs could carry him. It wasn't hard for him to run fast, with his somewhat aerodynamic frame, but he seemed to run even faster when he was panicking. He heard some shouting and turned his head to see two other guys join the first. They gave chase.

Arthur turned a corner and ran, refusing to look over his shoulder again. He turned left, then right, then left again. Normally, Arthur was good at navigating the school, but this time all the hallways looked the same. The shouting became distant and he turned right again. Arthur immediately slammed into someone who was rounding the corner. He was almost a whole foot taller than him, at least 6'2", and he was solid. He had unnaturally purple colored hair that hid his eyes, and slightly tanned skin. He wore a white button up shirt with a purple vest over it, matching purple pants and shoes, and he even wore a tie that was only a little lighter than his vest. Arthur bounced off of him and landed on his backside, a little dazed, but he quickly recovered and scrambled to his feet.

"I-I'm sorry!" He said sheepishly before taking off again. The last thing he needed was to have a fourth person chasing after him, so Arthur chose to run before it got any worse. Arthur heard the voices getting louder, so he turned sharply and dived into the locker room. He found an empty locker and used his small size as an advantage, slipping inside and closing it. He covered his mouth and tried to calm his breathing, making himself quiet as he heard someone enter the room. Arthur could feel his body tremble as the figure walked down the first aisle, then came to the one next to his. He considered running, but he knew he wouldn't be able to outrun them anymore. The figure came slowly into his aisle, and he could see the original bully from the holes in the locker. He looked underneath the bench and came close to his locker, but only appeared to look over it. With an angry sigh, the bully left the locker room, and Arthur was left alone. He didn't dare move from his hiding place until after the next bell rang. With students starting to flood the hallways, Arthur carefully came out of hiding and slipped into the group without being seen. He hid away the pain he felt and started heading back to his locker, when a figure seemed to catch his eye. It was the guy he ran into earlier. He was leaning against a nearby wall with a scowl on his face and his arms crossed. His hair hid his eyes, but Arthur felt like he was being stared at. Had he seen him come from the locker room? Arthur swallowed softly and focused his attention to the floor. He probably thought that Arthur was a coward, and he would be right.

Arthur had to slam on his breaks to keep from hitting the car in front of him. He'd let his mind drift to old memories, ones he had thought were forgotten, and now he was going to hear from Vivi. He looked over to see the blue haired girl's face red, as if she was embarrassed.

"Arthur! You idiot!" She shouted at him. There it was, the closest this girl had even come to cursing, and she was using it against him. "I swear! Watch the road! You're going to get us killed driving like that! Why do I even let you drive?"

"Because you can't reach the petals in this old van, and you hate driving." Arthur retorted almost instinctively. It was something he remembered Lewis saying, but why he'd let it slip, he didn't know. Vivi pouted at him, reminding him of her when she was little. She always did that when she didn't have anything to respond with. "Now now Vivi, don't be that way. I'm only telling the truth." He felt a small pang of guilt strike his heart, once again realizing what he'd set himself up for. Was this her plan from the beginning? He glanced over at Vivi, finding the girl with her arms crossed, still pouting at him. She wasn't going to say anything. Arthur realized he was just being paranoid, but this wasn't good. If he kept acting like this, he would say something wrong. The last thing he ever wanted was to hurt her feelings. "Actually, tonight I'm going to pass up on dinner. I'm exhausted!" He heard Vivi shift into the backseat, and he could see her pressing against her seat and feeling for the seat belt.

"There's a cop there Arthur," She mumbled softly as the seat belt clicked. She was just as childish as ever.

"Vivi, the cop already has someone pulled over," He said casually, "There's no way he would stop what's he's doing just to give me a seatbelt ticket for you." He smiled softly as he glanced at her small figure in the mirror. She was childish in how she acted, but she was definitely not a child. She was petite, and her favorite blue outfit suited her very well. It hugged her curves perfectly, but at the same time was conservative enough to leave some details for the imagination. Her eyes glistened with wonder through her thick glasses. Poor thing never had good vision, but that never stopped her from being curious. Her curiosity was more powerful than any fear, assuming she ever felt fear. Arthur was curious too, but his body cowered at the faintest signs of danger. He was a coward in every sense. He couldn't even tell her how he felt about her.

It wasn't his right to be with her anyway.

The thought came to his mind and his heart ached. It seemed to take too long to reach her house, and the cheerful girl waved good-bye from her front porch.

"You better be here on time tomorrow Arthur! If I have to come to your house and wake you up again, I'm using cold water to do it!" The threat was real, even if it came from someone who sounded like they were half their age. She slipped into her house, and on queue he turned on the van and drove home. He parked the van outside of his house and let Mystery out of the car. He locked the van and started to walk inside, when he noticed something weird.

His front door was wide open.

His house looked like it had been ransacked. The drawers were pulled out, his possessions were everywhere, and several pictures had been broken. He couldn't help but stare around in shock; the silence being filled with Mystery's low growl. He could sense the strange presence, and didn't like it one bit. Arthur carefully walked pass his upturned table, to where several of his pictures were tossed into a pile. He picked up the very first one, and examined the broken class. It looked like someone had solely punched at his face, shattering the glass completely. Whoever had done this was very angry, and very powerful. Slowly, Arthur turned to look into his kitchen, and his eyes came to rest on the far wall. He blinked twice, trying to process what it was he saw.

You have three days left.

Arthur's body started to tremble. How could he have found him so quickly? The answer was simple, Arthur had never moved. Arthur examined the wall nervously. The letters were burned into his wall, and they looked as if they were smeared by an opened hand. Arthur knew what had caused this. He knew that Lewis had burned them into his wall, and he knew that Lewis never made idol threats. He slowly backed out of the room and locked the door, then got into the van and drove it to a nearby motel.

He rented a room for the night and walked upstairs. Maybe if he didn't stay home, Lewis wouldn't be able to find him. Arthur sat in the bed and stared around the nearly empty motel room. When you came into the room, the bed was on your left, pressed against the nearest corner. Right next to it was a night stand with a lamp and an alarm clock on it. On the right, there was a dresser in front of the only window, with a vase full of fresh roses on the middle of it. Next to the dresser was a small table with a coffee maker, some foam cups, and a few candles. Across the room was the door that he assumed led into the bathroom. He started to lay down when he thought he thought saw something move. Did the vase move? It was on the side of the dresser now, closer to him. Arthur jumped out of bed and looked around the room frantically, looking for something, anything to appear. The room stayed in complete silence for a long time, and the only thing Arthur could hear was his own heartbeat.

Arthur slowly moved against the wall, giving his heart a chance to calm down. He slowly leaned back and looked over at his arm. If he was going to sleep at all, he needed to remove that arm. The metal was heavy and uncomfortable to sleep with, so every night he took it off. "Mystery, go get the screw driver." He instructed the dog, who immediately jumped off the bed and ran to get it. Arthur was a genius in robotics, so constructing his mechanical arm was a simple task, but there was no light, strong metal that he could afford. When the dog returned, Arthur took the time to take off the metallic arm, being careful not to trigger any of the sensitive nerve endings in his shoulder. He laid the arm down on the side table, and left the screwdriver beside it. He looked around slowly, examining the room once again, before laying down.

He slowly wrapped his flesh arm around Mystery and found some comfort in his presence. He looked over to Mystery, whose ears had fallen back against his head. "Don't be upset Mystery," Arthur tried to say softly, but his voice cracked again.

Who was he fooling? Arthur started to shake almost violently, and he looked around the room in paranoia, waiting for the apparition to make its presence known. There was nothing but silence in his room. The deafening silence that made Arthur even more afraid. In any horror movie, he could hear the main protagonist mutter, 'It's quiet… Too quiet…' just before a horrible figure came out of the dark. Arthur held onto Mystery gently for several long hours, before he finally managed to fall asleep.

Since the day Arthur ran into the purple haired guy, he saw him almost everywhere. He was in almost all of his classes, and they only sat a few tables apart. He sat all by himself, since everyone seemed too intimidated by his size to walk up to him. Arthur understood this fear, as he was intimidated by the big guy too. He'd never spoken to him once, though on occasion, he did catch him staring at him from across the hall. Was he angry at Arthur for running into him? He didn't know, but he was too afraid to ask too. Arthur glanced over at the silent giant, but he was started by a loud voice shouting in his ear.

"What're you looking at Arthur?!" Vivi asked him loudly as she sat down with her lunch. Arthur's face paled a little when he looked at her.

"I wasn't looking at anything," He mumbled softly. Vivi could tell immediately that it was a lie, so she leaned over and looked where she thought he had been looking.

"Were you wanting to talk to the new guy?" Vivi asked him. Arthur jolted a little. "I'll go ask him to sit with us then!" Before Arthur could protest, Vivi leapt out of her chair and walked over to the stranger. She seemed completely immune to the eerie presence he had around him. That's how Vivi was though. She was the first one to welcome Arthur when he jumped a grade and entered her class in 3rd grade, and they've been friends ever since. Vivi was an amazing social butterfly, her calm and innocent demeanor melting away the disgruntled feelings of whoever she talked to instantly. Something about her made everyone happier. It's what he loved the most about that girl. Vivi tapped on the new guy's shoulder and smiled politely.

"Hello there," She said softly, "My name is Vivi. We're in a lot of classes together. My friend and I were wondering if you wanted to sit with us today." Vivi gestured over to where I was now sitting alone, and the new guy followed her gesture. He looked at me for a moment, then looked back to Vivi. He spoke so softly that I couldn't hear him at all. He then stood up and followed Vivi back to our table. Vivi sat down in front of Arthur, while the new guy sat down next to Arthur. Arthur noticed how the bench seemed to bounce a little when the new guy sat down, and he felt even more nervous. Was Vivi crazy? She looked over to the giant and smiled, then gestured to Arthur.

"This is Arthur," She said happily introducing him, "He's a super genius, so he skipped a year in elementary, but since he's so small, he gets picked on a lot." Arthur's face flushed a little as he waved his arms at her.

"V-Vivi! Don't say that!" He cried softly. Vivi only smiled and gestured to the new kid.

"Arthur, this is Lewis," She said softly. Lewis looked down at him for a moment, scowling at him. "Arthur…" Vivi prompted. Arthur was nervous, but Vivi would never let him live it down if he didn't do something. Arthur looked up at the big guy slowly and smiled sheepishly.

"H-Hi Lewis," He said softly, "It's nice to meet you." Lewis continued to stare at him for a few minutes, but then a gentle smile came across his lips.

"Hi Arthur," He said softly. It surprised Arthur, how shy this giant actually was, but it also calmed his nerves down a little. "It's nice to meet you. Hopefully, we can be friends." Lewis outstretched his large hand to Arthur. Arthur extended out his left hand to take it, but suddenly everything became dark.

And Lewis fell, his face full of surprise and betrayal, towards the rocks far down below.

Arthur jolted straight up in bed, sweating profusely as he tried to shake away that dream. It was the last thing he wanted to think about. Arthur panted softly and looked about the room, wondering if someone was watching him. He didn't see anything, and after the long silence dragged on, he started to lay back down to get some more sleep. The moment his head touched the pillow though, he heard a crash on the other side of the room. Arthur leapt out of bed and turned on the light switch. He saw a broken vase across the room, one that had been safely in the middle of a dresser. Arthur's body began to shake.

A candle suddenly lit itself, glowing a dark shade of purple that looked unnatural. Arthur jumped back a little and slammed the exposed stump against the wall. He slowly slid down to his knees and panted loudly, the pain in his arm being overwhelming. He used his good arm to feel the stump, and found that he was bleeding. Arthur managed to get back on his feet and walked into the bathroom, leaving the door wide open. The bathroom was pretty standard. On the right was a shower, on the left was the toilet, and in the middle was the sink, with a large mirror over it. He found a few towels under the sink and used one of them to try and stop the bleeding. He used the mirror to look at the wound, and he noticed his own reflection.

Arthur knew he was scrawny, but he didn't think he was that pale. His blonde hair was a mess, seeming to spike up a little on one side, and his goatee was squished. His eyes were a little bloodshot. He looked like the poster child for insomnia, and he felt like it too. If Vivi saw him like this, she'd probably throw a fit. Arthur carefully tied the towel around his stump, hiding the scarred flesh from view, and he began to leave the bathroom. Suddenly the door slammed shut, and he was left in the dark. He started to scramble for the door, when he saw his own reflection in the mirror again. In the dark lighting, he thought he saw himself with dark green skin, and his wide eyes looked crazed. In an instant, he remembered those last few moments of Lewis's life, and now he was staring at the culprit.

He screamed at the top of his lungs.

Vivi forced the motel room door open and barged into the room, then quickly pulled open the bathroom door. She saw that Arthur looked pale, and his eyes were blood shot. She was dressed in blue pajamas with pink polka dots, and her headband was messily pushed into her hair. She ran straight up to Arthur and took his flesh hand.

"I came over to your house and you didn't answer the door! Just as I start to try to break in, Mystery jump on me and leads me here! Then I walk in and catch you screaming from the bathroom?! What is wrong with you?!" Vivi's words came out very quickly, and Arthur barely had a chance to process one after the next. After a brief moment of silence, he managed to answer.

"I screamed because I forgot to turn on the light, so when I came in here, the darkness and the mirror startled me." He laughed anxiously, hoping she'd take think of it as embarrassment. "A-And I'm here because I accidentally locked myself out. I decided to stay here and break into my house tomorrow. You don't need to worry so much V, I would've called you if something was really wrong." He didn't want to hurt her, but every lie felt like it weighed down heavily in his chest. He noticed the purple flame get larger, and took this chance to usher Vivi out of the room while he had her attention. "Listen V, I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine!" She shouted loudly. Just then, something donned on him.

"Wait a sec V," He said carefully, "Why are you here in the middle of the night anyway?" Vivi blushed a little and slowly glanced behind her. Arthur saw Mystery by the door, his head slightly lowered in shame. When did he even have the time to do that? Arthur looked back to Vivi as she stepped closer to him.

"Don't you scare me like that ever again!" She shouted loudly, flailing her arms a bit.

"I won't V," Arthur said softly, lying through his teeth. "Mystery, go take Vivi home. She won't be ready for our adventure tomorrow if she doesn't get to sleep, but I don't want her going home alone." Mystery whined at him softly, but obeyed his master like he was supposed to. Vivi turned to Arthur one last time and stared at him, trying to figure out what was going through his head, but she gave in.

"Alright Arthur," She said softly, "But don't you be late tomorrow, or I swear I'll hurt you." She smiled faintly and started walking home with Mystery, the dog occasionally looking back at him with worried eyes. Arthur watched them go until they finally disappeared from his sight, and slowly walked back into his room. Now exhausted all over again, Arthur laid down and fell into yet another fitful slumber.

Lewis was a pretty cool guy. He was shy at first, but after a few weeks of them hanging out together, he became the best conversationalist. He was strong enough to lift Arthur and Vivi over his head, but he was gentle enough to be loved by animals. He was into mysteries and the paranormal. He and Vivi could talk for hours about the stories that had read and the places they wanted to go. Arthur liked hanging around them, but he never felt like he could truly depend on Lewis. It felt like he was only there for Vivi. Arthur felt a little left out, but seeing them happy made him smile.

One day, Arthur overheard Lewis ask Vivi out on a date. He was leaning against the wall, and Vivi was standing by her locker. Arthur didn't mean to overhear it, but it immediately infuriated him. He was already jealous of him for being taller, stronger, and for having more in common with her, but now he was going to take her away completely. He got angry. "HOW DARE YOU!?" He shouted loudly at Lewis, who was caught completely off guard.

"Arthur, are you alright?" he asked, but Arthur ignored him.

"You THINK you're SO clever!" Arthur shouted at him, pointing his finger at the larger man. "You NEVER wanted anything to do with ME! All you EVER wanted was to take her AWAY from ME!" Arthur's hands started to shake. He knew they didn't need him, that he was just a third wheel when he was with them. He knew they could do anything without him. He was afraid of losing the only thing he ever had in his life. He was very afraid of losing the only person he ever loved. "I HATE YOU!" Arthur shouted from the top of his lungs. He was about to say something else, when a swift hand slapped his cheek harshly, knocking him back a little.

Vivi was crying, with her hand glowing red.

"You're such an idiot!" She shrieked loudly at him. She cried softly and hugged Lewis's arm for comfort. He looked up at Arthur like he was a disease, and the two of them walked away from him.

Arthur deserved to be alone.