Ch. 10: Paranoia

Saturday Oct. 19th 8:30, 7 days left till Homecoming…

It was morning at the town of Elmore, as the sun's rays managed to make its way through the crack of the curtains covering the window, eventually settling itself on Carrie's face, irritated that she wake up sooner than expected.

'Screw you, sun; go back to China,' an annoyed Carrie thought, letting out a yawn, before she rose up from the couch and stretched her arms out.

"Had a good rest, Carrie?" the white wolf turned around and saw Gumball coming downstairs, still in his sleeping attire, as he spoke once more. "I didn't get much sleep ever since what happened last night."

"Can't say I blame you for that," Carrie remarked, before a thought occurred. "What do you plan to do for the next seven days until the homecoming?"

"I...haven't actually put that much thought into it," Gumball sheepishly replied, before a serious expression formed on his face. "But if there's anything I can do, I need to keep my guard up for when I get ambushed again."

For her part, Carrie stared at the seriousness from the blue feline's face; for the last few days, she and Gumball have found themselves in a situation they weren't used to, even for a town like Elmore. Their school wasn't even aware of two missing students and to top it all off, Penny, of all people, tried to murder them, as if she was an entirely different person and Carrie is certain that Tobias was behind it.

'If I ever get my hands on that coward, I'll strangle the life out of him for what he did to her,' Carrie darkly thought, silently vowing to give some payback.

"Good morning, you guys!" a certain two-legged fish greeted the two, as Gumball and Carrie looked up and saw Darwin up the stairs. "Was I interrupting anything?"

"No, no you weren't, Darwin," Carrie quickly responded with a straight face.

"...Alright then," Darwin said before quickly shrugging his shoulders. "Since we're all down here, let's help ourselves to breakfast."

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Gumball agreed.

"I could use a quick bite before I head back home," Carrie added.

With everyone in agreement, the trio made their way to the kitchen and ready their breakfast to start the day off.

After the trio finished up their meals and cleaned up the kitchen, Carrie made her way to the front door, intending to head back home for some rest and relaxation. But before she can turn the knob on the door, Gumball managed to put his paw on her shoulder, stopping Carrie in her tracks, as she turned around and saw a look of concern on his face.

"Are you sure you'll be safe out there?" Gumball genuinely asked, worried for Carrie's wellbeing.

"Don't worry too much about it Gumball. If Tobias even dares to approach me, I'll make him wish he was never even born," Carrie assured him.

"...Alright, if you say so then," Gumball hesitantly agreed. He already lost one friend to Tobias and he wasn't too keen on losing another. "Just be safe out there, that's all."

"I will and I appreciate your concern. Anyway, I need to get going now."

With that said Carrie opened the front door and closed it behind her, walking towards the opposite direction, as Gumball looked on through the window.

"Gumball, are you alright?" Darwin asked from behind, causing his brother to yelp back.

"Y-Yeah Darwin, I am," Gumball nervously insisted.

"Are you sure about that?" Darwin questioned his older brother. "I know I'm not a genius, but I could tell that you're looking at Carrie in the same way you used to look at Penny back in middle school," Darwin's tone of voice was a bit…unsettling to Gumball, as it was slightly dark and sounded full of jealousy and rage. Though Darwin's face looked as normal as ever, he looked more worried than angry and jealous that his brother might be moving in on Carrie.

"Is that so, Darwin?" asked Gumball, though privately, he was more curious about that himself. Did he really look at Carrie that way?

"Yes Gumball and I mean it," Darwin bluntly responded. "Why the sudden interest in Carrie? Did something happen between you and Penny? You shouldn't be looking at other girls behind her back."

"It's a bit more complicated than that…" Gumball began, as he tried to choose his words wisely. He wasn't sure how his brother would react to "Penny tried to kill me," so he had to pick every word carefully. "We're...sort of not in speaking terms now," Gumball hated to lie to Darwin, but for his own sake, it was better than putting him in danger after what happened a few days back. "Besides, I'm not into Carrie the way you think I am. I care for her as a friend, nothing more."

"Alright Gumball, I'll play along with you for now, but please, be honest with me next time," Darwin spoke with a calm but sad tone in his voice, before he made his way upstairs.

'I will someday, Darwin. I will,' Gumball thought, still feeling guilty for having to lie to his brother just like that but he couldn't afford to be telling his brother things he doesn't understand at all. "I think I could use some fresh air for the moment and get my thoughts together. The sooner I feel relaxed, the better."

His mind made up, Gumball went to the stairs and shouted as loud as he can to whoever is awake.

"Mom, I'm going to walk around town for a while! I'll be back by this afternoon!"

"Alright Gumball! Just be careful out there and don't get into any trouble!" Nicole shouted back. "I don't want to have to pay for the construction bills again!"

"I'll try not to turn Elmore into a crater again!" once he got that out of his system, Gumball made his way to the front door and closed it from behind, beginning his walk around the neighborhood, unaware of what was about to occur.

The neighborhood hadn't changed that much, as far as Gumball could tell. In fact, he wish time could be rewound so it could go back to the way it was before his world came crashing down. But it wasn't the time for such depressing thoughts; now, he just wanted some peace of mind before he felt better to head back home.

"Now that's more like it," Gumball said to himself, as he felt the cold air blowing through his fur. "It's not much, but for once, I enjoy the peace and quiet around town."

As Gumball continued to walk around the neighborhood, the breeze suddenly got stronger, surprising Gumball in the process and for a moment, he swore he hears a voice from the strong gush of air.

"You're going to lose everything."

"W-Who's there?" Gumball fearfully demanded, as he looked all over the place, only to find nothing out of the ordinary in the neighborhood.

"Alright, that was pretty weird," Gumball quietly said, before he continued to walk once more. "Either I'm hearing things or my mind is just playing tricks on me."

As he resumed his walk once more, the breeze around him got stronger once more and as Gumball did his best to resist the strong gush of air, the same voice spoke back to him once more.

"Don't bother resisting. Your efforts shall be futile."

"Whoever you are, just shut up already!" Gumball shouted this time in much serious tone, as the strong gush of air disappeared again, with nothing but the dead leaves rustling through the air.

"I don't know what's going on, but I think I need to get away from here. Just being around this place is giving me the creeps."

Gumball then quickly walked as fast he could from the neighborhood, not realizing that a certain cloaked entity is watching him from the shadows.

"Run all you can, Gumball. But no matter where you go, nothing's going to stop me from unleashing my plan."

Of all the places that Gumball had to go to, Elmore Junior High was the last place he wanted to be in. It's been a long time since he stepped foot in the place, especially what happened in the eighth grade, but for once, this feels like the safest place for the moment. At least then he doesn't have to hear that creepy voice.

'If this doesn't work, then I don't know what will,' taking a deep breath, Gumball grudgingly entered the building, once he was certain that it was completely voided of one living soul. Thankfully for him, one of the windows was unlocked, as he didn't have to worry too much on pick a lock up on the main entrance.

"This place brings back some bad memories," just saying that word left Gumball quite unease, as it brought nothing but painful memories. "Calm yourself Gumball; it's just an empty building. There's nobody here but me, that's all."

"Don't bother running away. It won't help you."

"I knew this was too good to be true," Gumball cursed himself, as he quickly left the classroom and into the hallway as fast he could.

"You're going to fail and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Shut up already!" Gumball yelled, his voice echoing throughout the building, as he began to run down in the hallway.

"You lost the only girl who made you happy."

"This town will be doom because of you."

"Do yourself a favor and just give up."

"Shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Gumball screamed at the top of his lungs, doing his best to tune out the voice. He didn't where he was going and he couldn't care about that. Getting away from that voice was all that matters to him and now, he just wanted to find some safe haven in the building.

"As soon as I turned around this corner, I'll head to the next area right away," Gumball then closed his eyes as soon as he turned around the corner and headed right into whichever area that was in front of him, as he quickly barged through the door, before he opened up his eyes to see where he was in now.

"Looks like I'm in the gym. How convenient," Gumball sarcastically said to himself.

"On the contrary, this is exactly where I want you to be."

Gumball could only cringed upon hearing the creepy voice that had followed him all day and by now; he was both frustrated and unnerved by it. Suddenly a black portal appears and out steps a tall man in a black cloak, one that Gumball is familiar with.

"Hello Gumball, it's good to meet you at last," he spoke with a calm but cold tone in his voice.

"No way…" was all Gumball could muttered and he didn't like it one bit. Before he could react, the mysterious stranger shot out a wave of darkness at him, sending Gumball to the wall very hard.

"No...not now…" Gumball mumbled, before he lost consciousness, as the cloaked man approached his unconscious body.

"You and I are going to have a very long talk," Textegear said to him, as he carried Gumball up on his shoulder and entered the portal, before it disappeared out of sight, leaving no trace of its existence behind.

A/N This story has been marked for completion and will become my primary focus till it is finished. Sorry for keeping you guys on a yearlong hiatus but I promise it will be finished this month.

Till next time, Sal out