11:26PM

Wednesday, 8 days after the death of Gumball Watterson.

Penny grabbed the doorknob and turned it. With her left hand, she places it onto the side of the pearl-white door and pulls it upwards as she slowly opens it. Pulling it upwards reduces the creaking from the door. Although a couple did manage to slip out in the process.

Halfway through, Penny peaks her head outside to hear if her mom and dad were still asleep. After a few seconds of silence, the snores from her father reassured her that no one woke up to the sound of the door opening. If her father didn't wake up, she's sure as hell her mother and sister didn't wake up either.

She turned towards the staircase and headed downstairs to the living room. She quickly glanced at the window that displaces the neighborhood to find the only source of the light outside was the street lights.

This tells Penny that she's the only one awake around this time, as no lights from the houses in front of her came to shine.

She feels lonely. So fucking lonely…

Even with her family upstairs asleep and breathing, she feels alone in this world without her lover… Her best friend…

Gumball. Gumball Tristopher Watterson.

He would still be alive if things didn't get out of hand so fast that day. On the day she saw Gumball all alone in P.E, she went up to him and grabbed his hand, leading him outside to the hallway.

She needs to know if he's okay.

"Hey, baby… Is everything okay?"

She remembers asking him that question as he used both of her hands to cup his right hand. How she used her right hand to pet it, trying to comfort him.

He didn't even bother making eye contact with her, however. His eyes were just staring down towards his occupied hand.

In response, he pulled his hand away from her and places them into his pockets.

"Nothing Penny, I'm just tired…"

She should've just left it at that. She should've just understood that he just needed some time alone, to get himself together. But no… Instead of doing any of that, she interrogated him.

"Gumball, you can talk to me. I ca-"

"Penny, please! Nothing's wrong with me. I'm fine! I just didn't get any sleep last night."

Lies.

"I know there's something wrong, Gumball! You and Tobias were fighting at recess today, and everyone said you threw a rock at him when he was trying to talk to you! Why?! He's your best friend!"

Gumball balls his hands into a fist.

"Penny. I don't want to talk about it."

"All he was doing was asking if you wanted to hang out with him! Why did y-"

"NO! HE WAS TRYING TO PISS ME OFF! HE'S ALWAYS DOING THAT SHIT!"

She should've stopped.

"So you thought it was okay for you to throw a rock at him?! He had to go to the nurse, CRYING, because of you Gumball!"

"QUIT FUCKING LYING TO ME, PENNY! YOU AND EVERYONE HERE AT THIS SCHOOL JUST KEEPS RUNNING THEIR FUCKING MOUTHS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN US! IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!"

She should've never yelled at him.

"IT IS MY BUSINESS, GUMBALL! YOU HAVE BEEN A COMPLETE TOTAL JERK TOWARDS EVERYONE RECENTLY! WHY ARE YOU ACTING LIKE THIS?!"

"NOTHING! NOTHING'S WRONG, PENNY!"

"YOU'VE BEEN DITCHING, YOU'VE BEEN ISOLATING YOURSELF, YOU DON'T TEXT OR CALL ME ANYMORE, YOU'VE BEEN YELLING AT MY FRIENDS WHEN THEY TRY TO TALK TO YOU, YOU DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO HANG OUT WITH DARWIN ANYMOR-"

"IT'S HIS FUCKING CHOICE THAT HE DOESN'T TALK TO ME, ANYMORE! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM. HE FUCKING HATES ME, PENNY!

She remembers shedding a few tears at that point. Stupid, he was the one hurting the most and she cries before him?

"STOP SWEARING!"

"NO, I HAD IT WITH EVERYONE HERE AT THIS STUPID SCHOOL! CONSTANTLY BUGGING ME EVERY FUCKING SECOND OF THE DAY! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME, ALL I WANT IS TO BE LEFT ALONE, GODDAMNIT! IS THAT SO HARD TO HAVE?! HUH?! IS IT?!"

At this point, her Gummypuss couldn't take it anymore and started crying also.

"EVERYDAY WHEN I COME HERE, I HAD TO RUN TO THE BATHROOM AND TRY TO CALM MYSELF DOWN BEFORE I LOSE MY SHIT! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAD THE URGE TO BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE HERE, EVERY FUCKING MINUTE TIME PASSES!?"

"I CAN'T STAND IT HERE! I CAN'T STAND WAKING UP TO THE SAME SHIT, EVERYDAY! WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU BREATHING DOWN MY NECK EVERY FUCKING SECOND! I-I… I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE!"

"..."

As Penny began heading towards the kitchen, flipping the light switch on and letting the fluorescent light burn her eyes, she started feeling anxious. The kitchen. Her mother always loved being in this part of the house. Here, she kept her cookbooks, spices, cleaning supplies, knives…

Sleeping pills...

"What's wrong with you…"

"NOTHING, PENNY! JUST DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND FUCK OFF! YO-"

*smack*

She slapped him. She was furious that Gumball would ever swear at her. She speed walked passed him and pressed both her hands against the push bar and headed back inside the gymnasium, leaving Gumball all alone in the hallway to comprehend everything that happened.

If only she knew what the outcome was for slapping him.

Penny opened one of the walnut-wooden kitchen cabinets to find a dozen pill bottles, pharmacy and commercially, standing before her.

If she only remained calm throughout the feud.

Picking up the first two bottles in front of her, she saw the sleeping pills that hid behind, staring at her. She grabs it and opened the cabinet next to her for a glass cup, which she laters on places underneath the sink and pushes the sink handle up.

Tap water is disgusting. But does that even matter?

She should've apologized. It's never okay to lay a hand on a loved one.

She heads back to the stairs and walked back into her room, forgetting to close the door behind her. She walks up to her bed and sits next to the edge, but not before placing the glass cup of water next to the nightstand.

If only she realized what she was doing was a mistake.

Pressing the lid down with her palm and turning it counter-clockwise, she looks down at the hole, barely seeing all the little tablets inside.

Two tablets fell out as she pours everything onto her hand. Fourteen tablets rest on her palm.

She brings her hand to her face, pours every last tablet into her mouth, and immediately reaches for the glass cup to drink, indulging every in her mouth rigorously.

There's no going back. It'll be all over soon, Penny.

She grabs hold onto her blankets and curls it over her back. She finally cries after holding it in since leaving the room, using the blanket to muffle noise. If this succeeds. If she finally dies in her sleep and she goes to heaven. Will she see Gumball? Will he forgive her?

Will she even go to heaven? Will he? They both committed a sinful act. How can God accept people like them into the gates of heaven after committing such a selfish act, leaving their friends and family in grief?

Either way, it doesn't matter, heaven or hell, she wants to see him again. She wants to comfort him and tell him how sorry she is. She only hopes that he won't be angry to find her in the afterlife, going out the same way he did.

Her eyelids are starting to become heavy. She's going to sleep. She just hopes she wakes up, not in her bed, not in some hospital with an IV bag attached to get wrist, but in the afterlife.

She lets go of the blanket, drags herself up to her bed, and rests her head onto the cool pillow. She brings the blanket back to herself and closes her eyes, but not before muttering her final words.

"I'm coming, Gummypuss…."

He always did hate that name.

The next day, Patrick is woken up to find his first daughter's bedroom door open wide around the time she was supposed to leave for school. He walks in to find Penny curled up into the purple polyester blanket.

Unresponsive, as her father aggressive shakes her lifeless body, crying her name in hopes that she wakes up.

"He later texted me that he's sorry that he left without saying goodbye, and that he wants me to move on… I can't believe they just left their dad like. I can't imagine what's he's going through right now…" Carrie stated as she gives Rob a worried look, afraid for Richard's wellbeing.

"Shit… And he just went ghost on you after?"

"Yeah…" Carrie said as she drags her eyes away from Rob and stares at the floor. "I sent so many messages to him when he sent me his last message. It's was probably like 24 or something. He never bothered responding to any of them. It's been hard going to school without him. He was the only person I was close with there, and now that he's gone, it… sucks."

Rob pulls his hand out and reaches over to touch Carrie's shoulder to comfort her. It didn't even help, for his hand just passes through her, making the whole situation even more awkward between the two.

Rob bring his hand back and cover his left face with his palm, facepalming at his stupidity.

"Sorry. Sorry. I completely forgot you can't physically touch a ghost."

Carrie looked back at Rob. "It's fine. Thanks though, for trying to comfort me."

Rob removes his hand from his face and looks back at Carrie. "What about everyone else? The Fitzgerald's?"

"I haven't heard from them… Teri's parents tried calling them the week after the news broke out about Penny, but nobody answered the house phone. I don't know if anyone else tried to get in contact with them."

Teri.

"Teri..." Rob runs his hands through his hair. "Her and Penny were best-friends… Hope she's doing okay..."

Carrie bends her head slightly down, responding to hearing Teri's name. The whole Cheerleading Squad officially disbanded three days after the death of Penny, although none of the girls involved ever bothered to meet-up for practice ever since.

All the girls who were close to Penny mourn for the loss of their friend, but Teri was the worse out of all of them. Her attitude in life has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

The girl who other students would consider to be brainy now has to make regular trips to Mr. Small's office because the teachers are concerned about her sudden drop in grades.

The girl who's is seen to be an outgoing person, now struggles to even hold a conversation with her own mother.

Worse, is that now some students have witness Teri turning to drugs, such as Molly and Xanax. One of her close friends, Sarah, has seen Teri passed out in one of the bathroom stalls, with her head resting on the toilet paper dispenser, with two blue tablets resting on the edge.

Many questioned as to how a twelve-year-old managed to gain possession these narcotics. Some assumed it could've been Jamie, who sold the stimulates to Teri. Although she has denied ever speaking to her, she has had a history with distributing drugs to people outside of school grounds.

Speaking of Teri, how on earth does he know about he-

Carrie's train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of footsteps across the hallway. Carrie looked a back and waited to see who was coming up, with Rob looking behind her, questioning her sudden movement.

Then came the inaudible sound of the radio scanner.

It's the police.

Popping out of the corner, two police French Fries came sliding in. One of them had a pistols draw out of his holsters, using two of his hands to hold the gun.

"POLICE OFFICER, DON'T MOVE! GET DOWN NOW!" The officer on the left yelled at the two teens, provoking Carrie and scaring Rob, all while his partner reaches for his belt and grabs one of his handcuffs. Rob immediately pushes off the food court table and raises both his arms to the air.

His partner on the right reaches over to grab his gun and forcefully pushes it down. "Jesus Mark, put the gun down! What the hell is wrong with you?! They're just kids!"

"You heard what that lady was talking about when we arrived here, James! These two are dangerous!" Officer Mark pulls his gun away from James' grasp and points it back at the two. "ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"

"MARK! FOR FU-" Carrie immediately flew right into James' mouth and possesses him. The aggressive head shaking and twitching made Mark reaching over to his radio to call for backup, almost ripping it off from his uniform in the processes.

"I NEED BACKUP, RIGHT N-"

James has gotten in all fours and bear crawled towards his distress partner, grabbing him by the ankle and pulling me down to the floor, pinning him in the processes.. Mark dropped his pistol once he slammed into the floor. As he tries to push James off, he attempts to reach for his taser, but his partner notices this and kneels his wrist down to the floor.

While all this is happening, Rob is standing in the food court, witnessing the whole action.

All while having his arms remaining in the air.

James turns around to Rob with a trail of saliva hanging from his chin. "wHAt ARE You StaNdING foR?! rUn!"

And with that, he started to haul ass out of the food court.

Sad, he never got that girl's name.

The flashing colors of red and blue haven't died down ever since he managed to drive into the parking garage undetected. He may have been followed after all.

No, it's probably for some other cause. If those cop cars were for him, they would be driving up here inside and surround him with guns pointing at him and yells from trigger-happy police.

As if any of those bullets would hit him. All he is is just a cloud of mist. A rain of bullets firing towards would, at most, only piss him off as it would damage the van he had for seven years and all of his "toys" he has in the back.

He looked down at the radio to read the time.

7:25 PM

It's been ten minutes since he heard the last siren, and by judging the ongoing, non-stop sounds of sirens and car doors slamming, there must be seven or eight cop cars out there.

He grabs hold onto the crank handle and began turning it. If those cop cars are for him, then he would need to get out as fast as possible before reinforcements come.

Halfway open, the Shopkeeper squeezes through the spacing and dashed towards the outside view of the garage. Slowly peeking up from cover, he sees enforcement surrounding the entrance of the mall. Four cops remained near in their vehicles, while the other four were talking to bystanders, possibly in for questioning.

All of which, were not facing in his direction.

As he was about to fade back into the shadow to hide from the public eye, loud screaming could be heard from the inside of the mall. Before anyone could make any sudden movement, the glass door came in the opening, almost hard enough for the handles to hit the wall.

Coming out of the door, was one of the French Fry officers, Mark. Which was a horrible sight for everyone to see, as he came out with the left side of his face bitten off.

As he tried to get himself up, in the opening of his bite mark came the possessed James running at him in full speed. James bolted through the door and pinned Mark on the floor to finish him off. Grabbing him by the back of the neck, James continued off what he started and bite off another part of his partner, this time the lower neck area.

"AHHHHHHRGGGGGRRR! GET HIM OFF! GET HIM OFF!"

Two officers, a coffee cup and a hamburger, pulled both of their guns out and pointed at James. The Hamburger Officer took one step forward and screamed his possessed partner an order "LET HIM GO, JAMES! I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL SHOOT!"

Both of the French Fries snapped back at the direction of the shouting. In James' point of view, all he could really focus on was the barrel of the Glock 19 pointing down near his lower neck area.

Mark brings his right hand up and screams back at the man behind the gun. "MATT! PUT THE DOWN GUN! HE'S BEING POSSESSED! HE HAS NO CONTROL ON WHAT HE'S DOING!"

A single strain of tear came running down across his cheek. "P-PLEASE DON'T KILL HIM!"

The pressure of his neck loosened as his partner eases his grip and let's go of the pleading officer. As Mark rolls his whole body over to look at Mark, he sees his partner hurling at the officers in front of him.

Carrie flew out of Mark's mouth and came into view of the two officers. Her hands sticking out in front of them and began pleading to the two.

"PLEASE DON'T SHOOT! IT WAS ALL MY FAULT! I HAD NO CONTROL OF MY ACTIONS AND GOTTEN CARRIED AWAY WI-"

"GET ON THE FLOOR, NOW!"

Carrie remained still for a while. Then, do as what she was told to do, flew down into the sidewalk, escaping from the police.

Returning to the Shopkeepers view, three other officers came running down to the scene and assisted the two French Fries who were currently on the floor, one of them being in serious health condition, and the other one unconscious.

Man, he wished he would have felt some kind of emotion after witnessing someone eating their own kind in a ferocious matter. But all it really did was made him realize how easy it would be to dispose of a body. That is if you ever stumbled upon someone who seemed quite tasty.

Instead, he was feeling absolute terror as the elevator dings came to fill the silence around the garage, following by the sound of the door sliding open.

Turning his head around to face the direction of the noise behind him, came into view of a disfigured cyclops, panting with his hands on his knees and his butt pressed against the wall.

The same disfigured cyclops who he made business with a long time ago.

He should've swum back inside to his van. He should've faded into the shadows and remain hidden. But no, instead he became frozen the moment the kid brings his head up and stare right directly into his eyes.

It's him. The fugitive at large, staring down at him.

The only sound coming from the garage was the cars a floor below running across the speed bump. None of the two even dared to say a word.

Rob was the first to break eye contact and slowly traveled his gaze to the chrome elevator buttons, mainly eyeing at level 1.

Then he returned his gaze to the shadowy figure standing before him.

He only went up to his floor to hide from the police's ongoing search for him. Returning down to the first floor would leave him wide open handcuffs and the taste of asphalt as an officer kneels on his back and pulls his arm all the way to his back.

Fuck it.

Rob pushes himself off from the handrail and reaches out to the control panel. In the corner of his eye, he sees the Shopkeeper already running at him in full speed.

Rob pressed hard onto one of the buttons. He didn't even bother to look at what button to press, hell, he didn't bother to press it with one finger.

He smacked the panel with his whole palm and aimed for the Close Door button, pressing it vigorously and repeatedly.

He doesn't even know if the door closed or not, because seconds later, he was indulged by darkness as a sudden push sent him flying towards the elevator wall.

"Jesus…"

The Shopkeeper flew back a bit and observed the damage he has caused. Not only is there a noticeable dent in the wall, but his former customer was the floor, unconscious.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…"

He didn't mean to hurt the kid. Even when his deliveries go bad and end in getting in trouble with the authorities, never has he ever went physical in those situations. The usual go-to plan is to just drive off.

But here he is, standing in front of some teen who came in at the wrong place at the wrong time, potentially becoming a hostage if the cops manage to find him here, hiding.

As he grabs hold of Rob's ankles and starts dragging him towards his van, he tried convincing himself that knocking the kid cold was the right thing to do.

He began thinking that the reason why Rob was trying to get down to the first floor as fast as possible was that he was going to start running outside to the police and scream at them about how he saw the Shopkeeper in the parking garage.

"Yeah, that what he was trying to do…" The Shopkeeper said to himself.

The garage level wasn't as silent as before. Now the only noise in that area was the sound of clothing being dragged across the asphalt.

Ringing...

The first thing Rob can remember from waking up was the constant ringing from both his ears. Then came the stinging sensation from the hard cold floor that ran through his face and arms.

As he tries to bring himself up, the ringing from his ears worsens to the point where his forehead started to pound, as if the little cells inside his brain are banging at the ears to stop the constant sound of ringing.

Rob tried to open his eyes to see, but all he could make out was a blurry insight of darkness.

"my head… jesus christ, my head…."

Seconds later, the ringing in his ears soon starting to fade away. A minute later, he started to regain his sights. Minutes later, he fully conscious, with the only exception that the banging inside his head hasn't stopped at all.

Rob looked around to see lit candles surrounding the whole van. It seems to be the only light source inside.

On top of the candles were wooden boxes and bookcases that carried books with languages Rob has never seen in his life. Come to think of it, the majority of those probably aren't even real languages, some are just… markings…

Against the left wall were swords mounted against the wall with a wooden carrier. Two of them were average looking Katanas. The other two are seemed to be made with a "rocky" kind of material.

In the middle of the van, was a red display column with a purple pillow on top. The only material the pillow had on top of it was a folded paper card with the words "SOLD" written across with red ink.

All of this didn't scare Rob at all.

Instead, what scared Rob was that in front of him wasn't the view of the driver side of the van and the windshield that displayed the view of what was outside, instead, he was looking at the back door of the van being chained up by the man that dragged him here in the first place.

That when it hit him. He was here because he tried to escape, but not before the Shopkeeper caught up to him and slammed him against the wall. The only thing Rob can remember after that was darkness.

As slowly and quietly as possible, Rob placed one of his hands and the ground and tried to bring himself up to his feet. The Shopkeeper hasn't noticed that he was awake, so if he can try to get up without making any n-

*smack*

None of that matter though, underneath Rob was a farmhouse chandelier with hooks nailed across the wooden beam. As he hit his head, the keys that were hooked onto the hooks started to rattle in response to being touched.

And with that, the Shopkeeper paused his chaining of the exit door and turn around to see his temporary hostage standing on his own two feet, awake from his slumber.

Seeing his kidnapper's eyes made Rob tripped over his own feet. His ass slams down onto the hard surface of the van as he tries to kick himself away from the Shopkeeper. No words left from his mouth, only gasp.

The Shopkeeper slowly flew left and right at Rob, trying to avoid hitting any displaces that were in his way. Getting into his face, the Shopkeeper rises up and was the one to finally speak up ever since their interaction.

"So," The Van Shopkeeper spoke in his usual gravel voice. "We met again…"