"Once again, you ruin my life!" He snaps at his step-brother, standing himself up after hopping over the garden wall.
"Who, me?" Greg points to himself, actually asking.
Wirt groans. "You and your stupid dad! You`re always prodding me, always trying to get me to join marching band."
Greg`s face lights up. "Oh yeah! If you join marching band, you can hang out with Sara more!"
Why can`t he just be angry with his older brother, for once? Why does he always have to be so joyful, and act like nothing in the world can touch him or hurt him in any way?
"That ship has sailed, Greg, thanks to you messing that up too!"
A 'ribbit' causes the little boy to blank out of the conversation, as he gasps. "Hold that thought, Wirt!" He turns, and searches through the bush.
"What are you doing now?" Wirt asks.
Greg smiles, then pulls a frog out of the bush. "We found our lucky frog! We gotta name him for good luck." He pets the frog.
"I don`t want to have anything to do with you, or that frog." Wirt crosses his arms, obviously irate.
"Hmm okay," Greg shrugs. "I`ll try to think of a name myself."
He sighs. "I`m leaving."
The sound of a horn causes the two to bring their heads up, to see a train approaching! The older brother gasps, then jumps out of the way just in time; not knowing that there was a drop until he is now tumbling down the hill. Wirt only feels cold water soak him, until his eyes shut.
What feels like in a flash, he wakes up coughing violently. He hisses in slight pain as he sits himself up, and looks around. Wait, where`s Greg?!
Forgetting about his pain, Wirt stands on his feet, and turns too look at every small detail of the forest he`s lost in.
"Greg? Greg?!" He shouts, hoping for Greg to find him. There is no sound, not even the crickets chirp.
He yells again. "Greg?! Greg?! Gregory?! Greg, where are you?!" He can`t even explain to himself why he`s almost crying now. For what seems like hours, he calls and shouts for his younger brother. He never yells back.
Wirt`s eyes slowly open, and he looks around his own room in confusion. A nightmare, that`s what it had to be! There`s no other way for that to have been real, unless-.
"Greg!" He nearly yells.
The boy jumps out of his bed, and rushes from his room and down the hall to Greg`s bedroom. Thankfully, he slows to a walk when he`s directly in front of the door. He lets out a shaky breath, before turning the doorknob slightly, and peeking into the room.
He`s still there; thank God.
A smile of relief pulls onto Wirt`s mouth, and he quietly shuts the door, and turns to go back-.
"What are you doing up at this hour?" His mother asks him, almost causing Wirt to jump a foot in the air.
Finally calming himself, he tries to come up with the best excuse. "Oh, uhm, well you see-, I-I was just re-reading a story to Greg."
She cocks an eyebrow. "At one in the morning?"
Wirt feels the sweat running down his face. "Yeah, he uh, he-he told me he had a nightmare and he wanted me to read to him."
A grin is on the woman`s face. "I`m glad you two are so close now."
"Yeah, me too." He genuinely smiles, then walks down the hall; but, a surprisingly comforting hand on his shoulder stops him.
His mother speaks. "Hey, if you ever want to go see someone-."
"I`m fine," Wirt says abruptly, then walks out of his mother`s hold, and back to his room. He hesitantly snuggles back into his bed, but he can only rest his eyes for a few minutes. Before the image of The Beast burns back into his memory.
…
"Wirt, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Kathleen asks as the two are packing their bags for fall break.
He looks up from his locker "Oh, not much. I`m staying here, and I`ll probably just practice clarinet; you see, I have a concert near Christmas and-."
"Yeah, yep, cool. So, what did he draw today?" She leans over to him, a wide grin on her face.
He squints his eyes in confusion. "What? What do you mean draw, and who`s he?"
"Jason Funderburker told me, Rhondi, and Sara that your little brother draws weird things. Was there one with fat lady, and a bell? I think he also told me one about some kind of creepy guy with horns or something coming out of his head."
Wirt doesn't even bother to hide the scowl on his face. "Well Kathleen, maybe you should go tell Jason Funderburker that he can shove those rumors-!"
"Wirt, there you are!" Sara`s cheerful voice interrupts him, as she rushes towards her two friends, but only hugging Wirt.
His face flushes, and he encircles his arms around her hesitantly. "H-hi Sara."
She grins and pulls away. "I couldn't find you in the cafeteria."
He nods. "Well y-yeah, sorry about that. I-I guess I needed to pack more stuff than I thought." He chuckles nervously.
Sara smiles, and takes his hand. "Well if you`re done, we should get going. Greg`s probably thinking we ditched him or something."
Wirt smiles. "Yeah, we probably should." He pulls his backpack over his shoulders, and looks back to Kathleen. "Have a nice Thanksgiving."
She waves. "You too, Worrywirt."
Sara and Wirt leave the high school in relief, and the two walk the fifteen-minute stroll to Greg`s elementary school. When they get there, a surprising amount of little kids were still outside in the cold, fall air.
"Sara, Wirt!" Greg`s loud voice calls over the crowds of his classmates, and he rushes through them to instantly hug Wirt.
The older boy smiles slightly. "Okay, okay, I missed you too!"
Greg lets go, and instantly latches onto Sara. Normally, Wirt would have tried to pull Greg off of her, but he is somehow calm about it; for the most part.
When Greg finally let's go, he digs for something in his back pocket. "Oh! I made something for both of you during art class." He pulls two, folded pieces of paper out, and hands them over. "Open them!" He cheers.
The picture for Wirt is what seems like a distant memory; him, Greg, Beatrice, and their frog on the ferry to Adelaide`s. He can`t help but smile at colorful picture.
Sara`s is completely filled with odd looking creatures. "Hey," she chuckles. "who are these characters? Something you saw on TV?"
He shakes his head. "Nope, Wirt and I met them on Halloween!" The little boy goes over to her picture, pointing them out. "See, that's Fred the talking horse. That's Auntie Whispers, the big fat lady, and over there's the school Wirt and I saved with all the animal kids!"
Wirt feels his hands start to shake. "Oh don't bother listening, he-he just dreamed-."
Sara shakes her head. "No, no! I think they're really cute. Now come on, I don`t want to be stuck in this cold weather forever." She puts her hands, along with the picture, in her pockets and leads the two boys.
For the most part, as they walk, the three talk about their plans for Thanksgiving. Sara`s visiting her grandparents in Florida, Greg would take Jason Funderberker (Their frog, to be exact) to the park, and Wirt, as previously mentioned, would most likely shut himself in his room to practice clarinet.
"Wirt, can we go snake hunting?" Greg looks up at his brother.
"What, why?" He asks, obviously confused.
The boy shrugs. "Jason Funderberker needs a friend. He gets lonely a lot now that we're in school."
Sara looks down at him. "Jason Funderburker? I think he's doing okay."
"No, not the human Jason Funderburker, the frog Jason Funderberker." He slightly whines.
Sara smiles, but plays along. "Really? I didn't know you had a frog with the same name."
"Well yeah, his name was Wirt at first, but my brother Wirt thought that was confusing, so it was Wirt Jr. for a while." He grins.
She chuckles. "I never heard that one before."
"He was also the president for a while…"
Wirt's grin only grows as the two of them talk. It is only when the wind fades out of existence, and the birds stop singing, when he drags behind them. His face slowly drops at the familiar feeling of helplessness, and slowly turns everywhere to see what is the reason he is so paranoid.
There behind one of the many lampposts, and visible by a patch of trees, is The Beast. The monster that plagues torturous night terrors in both boys, is standing just a few meters away from all three of them. He wants them to run; he needs them to run. But, all Wirt can do, is stand in the middle of the sidewalk, and stare back at The Beast.
"Wirt!"
He flinches and gasps for air as his brother yells at him. He lays his hands on his chest, trying his best to steady his breathing. He feels a comforting hand lie on his back.
"Wirt, hey are you doing okay?" Sara asks, doing her best to ask calmly.
He nods, then quickly composes himself. "Y-yeah, I-I'm fine. I-I thought I just saw something."
She looks at him as if she`s unsure. But not wanting to cause an argument, she takes his hand in hers, and squeezes it. "Okay, I think we should be getting back, the sun will be going down soon."
He swallows, then nods. "Y-yeah, I think we should-."
'CRACK!' A lightbulb from the same exact lamppost breaks! Wirt lets out a little squeak the second the noise reaches the kids' ears. Sara and Greg instantly look back at him, worried if he would panic then and there; but he didn't.
For the rest of the walk home, Sara kept her hand in Wirt`s, and Greg refused to hold his older brother's hand as he was too busy completely hugging his waist.
He opens his eyes; darkness, he`s completely surrounded by darkness. His feet sink into something that causes his ankles to grow cold; snow. His breath hitches slowly as he looks all around himself-.
"Wirt!"
The boy gasps, and stares down at the familiar voice who called him. In his arms, Beatrice and Greg`s frog.
"Hey, what`s going on with you? We have to find Greg!" Beatrice cries, staring up at Wirt.
His heart beats faster. "Wait, what-what`s going on?"
"What do you mean what`s going on?! Greg`s missing, and we can`t find him. That`s what`s going on!" She nearly yells.
"No, no, not again!" His thoughts say. His breathing increases, but he-.
"WIRT, WIRT! BEATRICE, HELP!" The familiar scream sends shivers down his spine, and his blood turn cold.
"Greg!" He shouts, dropping Beatrice and Jason Funderberker onto the ground. He almost feels as if he could fly by the speed he is running at.
He leans against a tree when he feels he could run no more. He holds himself and slightly whimpers as he breathes heavily. Then, pushing himself away from the tree, a light is seen in the darkness. The lantern!
Wirt sprints with all of his energy to the lantern, then picks it up in haste. Swiftly, the boy searches around for his brother. He has to be around here, he was-!
What the light reflects on as Wirt turns everywhere, causes him to freeze in absolute fear. Greg lying in the middle of the plain, unmoving. Wirt slightly gasps, and steps forward without thinking. He gets closer, and closer, and closer, until he can really see him.
Greg`s tiny figure is nearly covered in the snow, though his resting face is still seen. Wirt kneels over his little brother, and brings the lantern closer to him, now noticing his skin is a slight shade of blue.
"Greg," Wirt whispers, touching his brother`s cheek. His eyes grow at the feeling; his little brother is colder than ice. He pulls his hand away, and only stares at him. "Greg?" He asks. Greg doesn't move.
His breath shakes. "Greg, Greg wake up." He doesn`t bother to wipe his tears. "Greg, come on, we have to go home! Mom and dad are probably freaking out right now, we can`t scare them." He begins to slightly shake him.
"Come on, we-we have to go and take care of Jason Funderberker, right? Greg, please." He sobs, now picking his brother up, and pulling him into an embrace.
Gone.
He`s gone.
More tears pour from his eyes, and he hiccups as he tries to not make a sound. He holds onto Greg like something is trying to take him away from him.
"It`s my fault we ended up here," he chokes out, then finally wipes his own tears. "everything`s been my fault. I-I should've been careful, I should've never left you, I-I-I-I never should have treated you like I had in the first place." He sits there alone, holding Greg.
"Give me the boy."
His face hardens at the sound of The Beast`s voice. Glancing over his shoulder, Wirt gently places Greg on the ground, then stand up to fully face him. He leans down, and picks up the lantern. "No," he spits.
As the lantern is thrown onto the ground with full force, the snow turns to black, and all the lights go out. Wirt lets out a sigh of relief.
"Did you think it would be so easy to dispose of me, child?" The cold voice mocks him. Wirt snaps his body around to stare at the monster in front of him. From his view, The Beast almost seems to be growing taller and taller the more that he stares.
Defenseless, Wirt can only say one thing.
"Go away," He hisses quietly. It's like The Beast can't hear him, as he treads closer to Wirt.
"Go away." He nearly sobs, intimidated by the monster looming over him. A stroke of anger and courage washes over him. "Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away! Go away!" He screams as the darkness encircles him, suffocating him.
Wirt`s eyes shoot open. His breathing comes in fast, causing him to let out a loud cough. He covers his mouth, and frantically pulls himself up to find out where he is. His room.
The boy rests his hands on his chest, in an attempt to comfort himself, taking in deep, slow breaths. After steadying his breath, he tiptoes to his door to check on Greg; just one more time. He was still there the other night, and the one before that, why is he checking again? If he tells anyone, especially Greg, they would call him weak; they would hate him.
The door creaks open, causing him to jump and run back to his bed in fear, pulling the covers over his head, trying not to cry.
"Wirt, are you sleeping?"
The childlike voice instantly catches the older boy off guard. Hesitantly sitting himself up, he looks over to his door, and sees the outline of his younger brother in the dark. Wirt coughs.
"No-no, I-I`m awake." He stammers. "What-what are you doing out of bed?"
The tiny child instantly walks to his brother`s bed, and sits beside him. "Well, I was going to the bathroom to refill Jason Funderberker`s bowl, but when I passed your room, I kept hearing you say 'Go away! Go away!' a lot, and I thought The Beast came back. So, I wanted to protect you."
Wirt simply stares at Greg, not fully taking in what his little brother just told him. When he finally realizes, a small grin pulls onto the boy`s lips. "Thanks Greg. Listen, I-I haven't been completely honest with you, or Mom or anyone else really."
For the first time in a while, Greg frowns. "Why?"
Wirt stares at the floor. "I`ve been having dreadful nightmares, you know, about The Unknown and The Beast. They`re almost always about us being stuck there with him, or-." When he turns to his brother, his throat tightens at Greg`s sheer look of innocence.
He puts his hand over his mouth to try and cover a sob. "I-I just can`t lose you. To-today when we were walking home with Sara, I-I thought I saw him; The Beast. He-he was so close, and-and I didn't want him to-."
A crushing hug from his little brother interrupts Wirt, and he instinctively wraps him in an embrace, holding him like he would disappear if he let go.
"It`s okay Wirt, I haven't been telling the truth either." Greg mumbles drowsily from lack of sleep.
The older brother scrunches his face in confusion, and pulls away to look at him. "What do you mean?"
Greg continues to hug Wirt. "I've had nightmares sometimes, but I thought that you didn't have any, so I didn't want to be a crybaby and tell Mommy or Daddy."
Wirt shakes his head. "Greg, if you told them, you wouldn't be a crybaby."
"But you called me one when I did tell them."
The older brother sighs, and holds his brother in his arms. "Greg, I was dumb back then. Now, I want you to tell me or Mom and Dad if you ever have nightmares. Okay?"
Greg stares. "Will you tell if you have nightmares?"
Wirt chuckles. "I will. No more secrets, all right?"
"Okay, and that's a rock fact." The two brothers giggle in the dark. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" The younger boy asks.
Wirt slightly smiles. "Sure," He pulls the blankets over the two of them, and stare up at the ceiling. The older brother feels a tiny hand squeeze into his.
"Wirt? If we could go back to see Beatrice, and the kids at the school, would we?"
The older boy`s smiles disappears; but, he responds. "If the Beast wasn't there, then maybe."
"I don't think he would be. Besides, if he was, I'd scare him so much he'd run off crying and wouldn't even think of hurting you!" He whispers fiercely.
Wirt chuckles. "I would do the same for you."
For the rest of the night, the brothers lied in the tiny bed; never once waking up due to nightmares.
Alright! So, story time, I watched the entire series of the show the day I got my wisdom teeth out with my grandma, and ever since that, I fell in love with it. This was also my second attempt at a fanfiction with no OCs! I had kind of a hard time writing out characters, especially Greg, so if I wrote anything wrong, constructive criticism is recommended. I also want to thank my older sister, Diamond in Rough, or Annie, for reading this beforehand, and telling me what to work on. It was probably a bit challenging for her because she`s only seen one or two episodes, so go ahead and check out her fanfics!
Also, thanks to ShatteredIce18, they reminded me that I forgot to mention the italicized words signal present time, and the regular words are the dreams. I tried to give all of you a mini heart attack in the beginning, since in common writing, italicized words mean a flashback or dream.