Halt jumped. What was that? He had just heard a voice. It wasn't Will's, he was at a lunch party with his friends, it wasn't his own, he had never talked to himself, and it wasn't anyone he knew. And, strangest of all, he had heard it in his head. He frowned.
Its so funny when you're confused. Halt jumped once again. There it was! The same voice! A voice inside his head.. He must be going insane in his old age. Yeah, you are pretty old. Halt didn't have time to feel insulted. He was too scared. "Who are you?" he asked slowly, afraid that it would answer.
I'm Bob. I'm a voice. Halt's eyes widened. Great, voices were talking to him! As if he didn't have enough already to deal with. So, how's life? And you don't have that much to deal with. "I do," he said aloud. "You have no idea." No, you have no idea. I have so much stuff to do, I can't even tell you how much.
"You're a voice! All you do is talk to people about stupid stuff." Halt replied. I do not! Now I'm insulted. "Good," Halt muttered. "Why are you here, anyway?" I'm bored. "Go bother somebody else!" Halt grumbled. Nah. Halt stomped outside, picking up his longbow. He nocked an arrow, then pulled the string back. He was just about to release when the voice yelled, MISS! the arrow swerved off to the right and hit a tree.
Halt yelled in frustration. "Leave me alone!" Nah. I don't feel like it. Like I said before, its funny when you're frustrated. Or did I say confused? Bob! Are you torturing another poor human? a high voice yelled. Halt groaned. Another voice? Oh, hello, Halt. My name is Penelope. I'm Bob's sister.
"Hello," Halt muttered. Well, now what? Bob! Can't you see he wants you to go away? At that moment, Will had just come back. He saw Halt talking to himself and stifled a giggle. He walked over to Halt. "Halt, what are you doing?" he said, trying to keep a straight face. "Oh, hello Will. Meet Penelope and Bob." Halt said sullenly. "Say hello guys."
Hello. Hi! but, of course, Will couldn't hear them, so it was very silly. He grinned. "Well, tell "Penelope and Bob" hello too. Bye!" Will ran off, laughing his head off. Oh, he had to tell Gilan this.
So.. What are you doing? Bob asked. Halt didn't answer, hoping if he didn't the voice wouldn't either. That won't work on me. Halt cursed. He forgot the voice could read his thoughts. "Can you please just leave me alone?" Halt asked pleadingly. "I'll do anything!"
Hmm.. Anything.. Well.. Alright. Halt nodded enthusiastically. And then his expression changed when the voice told him what he had to do.
5 DAYS LATER…
Halt grimaced at the bottle. He uncorked it, then took a sniff. Ugh. Disgusting. But if this was the only way to get rid of the voices, then he would do it. He took a deep breath, then drank the contents of the bottle. He forced himself to make the sickening liquid to go down his throat. It burned as it went down. When Halt finished the bottle, it fell from his hand with a loud crash. His head pounded and he was very dizzy. Why? Because he was.. Drunk.
He stumbled off outside, crawling to the stables. He managed to get himself on Abelard, and then they set off. They rode to Castle Redmont. Halt's eyelids were drooping and his head ached. When they reached the castle, he put Abelard away and stumbled up to Pauline's room. He banged on the door and she came out.
"Halt?" she asked, shocked, taking in his appearance. His hair was sloppy, his eyes wild. "Hey Pauline.." he slurred. "The voices told me to get drunk and go to you.. Your hair's really pretty.. Can I have some?" Pauline looked very alarmed. "Oh, well that's nice," she said nervously, backing away into the room.
"Bye bye, then, and have a super duper day!" Halt said, bouncing off. He came back to his cabin. "Okay, I did what you guys said. NOW GO AWAY!" Halt shouted. Silence. "Yes!" he shouted. "The voices are gone!" Will was coming outside again, and saw Halt. He stifled another laugh and walked away.
Now he'd have something else interesting to tell Gilan.