Sorry this took longer than expected. For about the past month, I was dating this girl. It got me out of the depression that helped inspire most of the story. It had me euphoric. But she left me and now I'm back to feeling like shit. So I figured I'd get typing again. It helped me get through it before. By the way, be prepared for this chapter. It might be a little shocking.

Part 1 Cont.

The scream woke me up. Once again, I dreamt of that monster. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair. I heard Kiwi panting and put my hand over the edge of the bed. He sat down in front of it and I began to pet his head. After a few seconds, he jumped up and laid down next to me. I usually wouldn't let him up there, but having him there made me feel better. I eventually pulled him closer. Before I realized it, I was crying a little. I don't even know why. It was probably just a mix of all of the stress and the fear. I must've made him uncomfortable because he soon jumped down. I felt so weak, so alone, so vulnerable, so terrified. Suddenly, I heard movement from Odd's bed. I could vaguely see his silhouette moving in the darkness. He sat up and looked over at me. He yawned and asked, "Ulrich, what're you doing?" I wiped my eyes, cleared my throat, and replied, "Uh, nothing. Kiwi jumped up and woke me."

"You're such a terrible liar."

"Fine, I had a nightmare. Honestly, it was nothing."

"I heard you crying. What's wrong?"

I didn't want to answer his question. I felt like an idiot for crying. Odd stood up and sat down on my bed. He said in a quiet voice, "You're not alone. We all love her. Not the way you do, but love is love."

"I know."

"You don't, Ulrich! You constantly think that you are the only one who cares about her, the only one that worries. But what about the rest of us? We all care for each other."

At this point, Odd had put his hands on my shoulders. I could hear him sniffling very silently. I was somewhat shocked by the way Odd was acting. He could be serious, but never to this degree. The last time he had been this serious is when he came out to me as being bisexual. I muttered to him, "I'm sorry." Odd stood up and walked back to his bed. Before he laid back down, he said, "We'll get through this, alright?" I didn't know what to say to that, so I just remained silent. He didn't say anything else after that.

I didn't get much sleep after that. It was Saturday, so I decided to just stay in bed. I didn't really feel like leaving it. Odd left for breakfast a little later than usual. He had spent a decent amount of time trying to convince me to go with him. I felt sick. Around noon, Odd came back in. He sat down on my bed and said, "You should get up and take a shower. Staying in bed won't help you."

"I really just want to be alone right now."

"Well, I want you to get around, get some food, and hang out with us."

I didn't say anything, which caused Odd to sigh. He stood up and walked to the door. Before he left, he said to me, "We're really starting to worry about you, too." He left the room, shutting the door behind him. I felt like such shit. I was just adding more to their worries. After a couple of minutes, I got up and took a shower. Once I was done, I debated getting lunch, but I didn't feel like eating. I instead went to Jeremie's room. I opened the door to find Jeremie alone at his desk. He asked, "How many times do I have to ask you guys to knock?"

"Sorry, Einstein. Odd and Aelita aren't here?"

"I think they're in the library. Odd said he needed help with some homework and I've been busy."

"What're you busy with?"

"Nothing too big. Just trying to find interest in some new things. I've started looking into online gaming. You know, it's actually pretty fun."

"Odd get to you?"

"Yeah, he did. I like it, though."

"Man, I never thought I'd ever see you enjoying yourself."

"Well, since Aelita and I broke up, I've needed something to take up the time in the day. It was either that or jack off all day."

I laughed. Jeremie had loosened up a lot since we defeated XANA. I really liked that side of him. He asked, "You okay?" I debated lying, but I couldn't. I didn't see the point in it. I replied, "No, I'm not."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not too much."

"Alright. Odd and Aelita are extremely worried about you."

"They don't need to."

"I'm not too worried about you. You're strong. You'll find out what's going on."

I sat down on his bed and looked at the ground. I didn't know what to day to that. I was a little shocked that he had so much faith in me. Jeremie turned around in his chair to face me. He asked, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I just can't. I'm having nightmares."

"Again?"

I didn't even connect it. During our fights with XANA, I had nightmares nonstop. I sighed and said, "It must be the stress or something. You know how much I care about Yumi."

"Yeah, but you also need to take care of yourself. I don't want to see you become self-destructive over this."

"I'll take care of myself when I know I don't need to worry about Yumi."

"You're never going to stop worrying about Yumi."

He was right. Yumi was such an important part of my life, and I felt like I was losing her. I suddenly felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I stood up and said, "Hey, uh, I'm gonna go take a nap. I'm not feeling very well."

"You okay? You need me to help you to the infirmary?"

"No, I just need to lay down and get some rest."

I walked back to my room and laid down. Within minutes I was asleep. It wasn't the best sleep I'd ever gotten, but it was sleep. I woke up to find the room a little brighter than usual for how late it was. A loud noise caught my attention. At first I thought it was just Odd snoring, but I quickly realized it was Kiwi growling. I grabbed my cellphone and used it to light up the room. Kiwi was at the foot of Odd's bed, staring at the door. I suddenly realized that the door was slightly ajar. I watched as Kiwi started to look extremely defensive, and then jumped off of the bed and ran out the door. I laid back down and sighed. I didn't have time for this shit. I got out of bed and smacked Odd until he woke up. He looked at me and groaned, "What the fuck, Ulrich? What time is it?"

"I don't know, but Kiwi just left the room."

Odd shot up and looked at the door. He looked at me and asked, "How'd he get out?"

"The door was open."

"I shut it when I got back. Did you open it?"

"It was open when I woke up."

"How the hell did the door open back up?"

"I don't know Odd, but we should probably go get Kiwi."

He got out of bed and we left the room. Odd asked, "Which way did he go?"

"Pretty sure he went towards Jeremie's room."

We walked but didn't see any sign of Kiwi. Odd said, "Maybe he went the other way. I'm going to check the rest of the floor. Would you mind checking the stairs?"

"Yeah, sure."

I opened the door to the stairs. As soon as I did, I got a chill down my spine. The stairs seemed to have an eerie darkness to them. I entered the stairway and instantly it hit me. A horrible smell and a coldness that didn't feel natural. I once again used my phone as a light and looked down the stairs. What I saw made my heart stop. At the bottom of the stairs, laying in a pool of blood, was Kiwi's mutilated body.

Hey everyone, just wanted to give a little update on things. I'm definitely feeling better now, and I'm going to attribute most of that to the fact that I'm writing again. I did also just see Deadpool, so that is almost making things better. This chapter was one that came to me out of nowhere. I suddenly wanted things to turn dark in a way even I wasn't expecting. And I'm really happy with it. I did make a few small adjustments that I don't think anyone saw. Just rephrased a few things. Fixed a continuity issue. But yeah, thanks for reading this. Next chapter should be up soon since I'm getting so excited about the story.