Gamzee looked around his room, his roommate Tavros/Rufioh was nowhere to be seen. He shrugged as he went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He pulled off his shirt and leaned against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position. He reached his hand into his pocket, pulling out four small pills. He was supposed to take them everyday in the morning, but they didn't check if you swallowed so he had been saving them. His fists tightened a few times, his mind racing.

He couldn't believe he was the only one who had figured it out. He couldn't believe he was the only one who knew. He had to tell someone, he couldn't keep all this to himself. He tossed all four of the pills to the back of his throat, unknowing of how he'd react to taking four days worth of medicine in one night, but honestly he didn't care. He swallowed them before standing, stripping off the rest of his clothes, and sliding into the shower.

As the water poured down onto his head and cascaded over his shoulders, he started to wobble. He pressed a hand against the wall for support, but it didn't last very long before he slipped to the floor of the shower. He leaned against the wall, coughing and gagging, but the position he was in made vomiting a little difficult. He gripped at the soap holder, pulling himself up only to crash to the floor again. He reached his hand to the back of his head just as the door to the bathroom swung open. He expected to see a nurse, but with the blur of the shower curtain blocking his view, he wasn't sure who it was.

"Gamzee!" A voice shouted as they entered the bathroom, he heard whoever it was shut the door behind them. He awkwardly peeked around the curtain and Gamzee quickly recognized the fluffy mohawk and tan skin as Tavros pulling the curtain back. He bent down, reaching out for his hands.

"Are you okay?" Tavros asked. Gamzee shook his head, taking his hands as Tavros pulled him up. They stumbled out of the water, Gamzee draped over the smaller boy as Tavros struggled to hold him up. Gamzee mumbled something into his shoulder. "What was that?"

"I want out of here…" Gamzee whispered again.

Tavros lifted his chin to look at him, "You'll get out, you just gotta get better first and then you can go home! Besides, the hospital isn't that bad, is it?"

Gamzee shook his head, "I don't want out of the hospital…I want out of his head."


"So who are you?" Sollux lisped out as the growing group of patients each introduced themselves to the new girl.

She had long, dark red, curly hair and her skirt hung to just above the floor. Her eyes looked panicked as she glanced from person to person and took a step back, saying, "Who…who are you all? How can you see me?"

Terezi cocked her head to the side, "Guys, is there a reason you shouldn't be able to see her or…?"

Karkat shook his head, "No, we can see her just fine. She's just crazy. Come on, lets just leave her alone." He turned around and headed away from her. Terezi shrugged and followed after him. Everyone else pressed on, trying to at least get her name but she wouldn't hear of it, insisting that they shouldn't be able to see her. As time passed, the group thinned out, going their separate ways until it was just the girl and Sollux.

Sollux sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets, "I'm not really sure how we can see you or why we shouldn't be able to, but you don't need to be afraid of us. We're all friends here, okay?" He turned around and started off to join some of the others in a game of Uno. The girl caught his arm and he stopped. He looked back, his glasses slipping down his nose and he raised his eyebrows at her.

"M…my name is Aradia." She looked around from side to side as her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm dead. I shouldn't be here and you shouldn't see me. Because I'm dead. How can you see me?"

Sollux smiled lightly as he turned back around to face her and she let her hand slide from his arm, he caught her hand and gave it a squeeze. "You aren't dead. That's why we can see you, that's why I can touch you and you can touch me."

Aradia furrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand. "I…I died. In a car crash, I remember it!" She yanked her hand away. "Who are you to tell me if I'm alive or not?"

Sollux shrugged, "I'm no one important really, but I know when people are dead and when they aren't. You don't smell dead or look dead or sound dead – no, you're definitely alive."

Aradia took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she took another step back, "No…no no no…I was in the car with my mom two years ago and we hit a tree and the car was totaled and I died!"

Sollux shook his head, "You're confused. Do you want me to get a doctor? I'm sure they can exp-"

"NO! I don't need a doctor…doctor's can't help you once you're already dead. Stop telling me I'm not dead. I'm dead, okay? I'm dead!"

Sollux blinked slowly, "Maybe you are dead, maybe you did die in a car crash. If so, why are you here?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Are you haunting me?"

She shook her head, "I don't think so…why would I?"

He shrugged again, "Well, regardless of if you're dead or not, we can see you. So why don't you make friends?"

She shook her head again, with more enthusiasm, "I can't make friends…I shouldn't talk to the living…I'm-I'm dead…"

"I understand that. I jus-" Someone laid a hand on Sollux's shoulder and he turned around to see a man in a black suit and hat.

"It's alright Sollux, let me talk to her." The man stepped around him, pushing Sollux back a few steps but he kept close, watching the interaction. "Do you know my name?"

"You can't see me if I don't want you to!" Aradia yelled, her hands covering her eyes as she whispered to herself quietly. She peeked out between her fingers, "You can't see me anymore, right?"

The man reached out to take her hands away from her face, "Aradia, my name is Doctor Spades. You are not dead and I can see you very clearly right now."

Aradia yanked her hands away from his, "SHUT UP!" She screamed, "I-I'm dead, me and my mother were in a car and we drove off a bridge and I died…everyone died, my mother died and I died and my dad died and everyone is dead…"

Sollux stepped forward, "I thought you hit a tree?"

"We did. We hit a tree and it caused us to go off a bridge."

Dr. Spades shook his head at Sollux, "Please, let me handle this." Sollux nodded and stepped back again as Dr. Spades knelled down so he was smaller than her. "Aradia, you are not dead. Do you know why you're here?"

"I'm here to haunt this evil place."

"No, Aradia, you are here because you walked into traffic saying that cars couldn't run over a ghost. Do you know you are not a ghost?"

"I'm dead but people can see me so I must be a ghost. If I jumped out that window it wouldn't hurt me, you know? If I went into the kitchen and slit my wrists no blood would poor out. If I carved open your chest, Dr. Spades, it wouldn't even affect you because I know that you're dead too." Aradia's face held a solemn expression, no emotions passed through it as Dr. Spades stood up, took a deep breath, and patted her shoulder as he walked away.

"We'll continue this in your actual session, alright?"

Sollux stared at Aradia in silence for a moment before stepping forward again and reaching out for her hand. She pulled away for a moment before letting him take it. "Aradia, I don't care if you're dead or if I'm dead or who ever else is dead, you can still be happy in the afterlife, right?" She blinked at him a few times before he tugged her over to the group playing cards, "Just…don't hurt yourself, alright?" She blinked a few more times before nodding at him. He sat down and patted for her to sit next to him. She sat more behind him than beside him as she peeked around his shoulders at the others. "This is Aradia and she's dead."

Karkat rolled his eyes, "Oh for the love of-"

Terezi elbowed him in the side, "Hi Aradia!"

Aradia leaned forward again, this time speaking aloud to the group. "W-well I'm actually here for schizotypal personality disorder."

Rose smiled, "It's nice to meet you."

A few of the others all gave her polite hello's and smiles, but she kept her same, serious face as she glanced around at each of them, still not speaking. She leaned forward and whispered into Sollux's ear. He smiled a little, "She says its nice to meet you."

"Goddamnit, is she a fucking mute too!?" Karkat gritted his teeth only to be slapped in the back of the head by Gamzee.

"If the little motherfucker ain't feelin' like talking to no one but lisp-brother, who cares?" Gamzee gave a lazy smile at Aradia and Tavros looked up from where his head was resting on Gamzee's shoulder to give a light wave, "Nice to all get at meetin' you."

Aradia nodded her head at Gamzee and Tavros before leaning forward again to whisper in Sollux's ear. "She says she isn't mute, she's just shy." Aradia nodded her head again, still barely peeking around Sollux's shoulders. He smiled, "Oh and Dave, you have 'uno' and didn't call it." He pointed out as he pushed the pile of cards in the middle towards the blond boy.

"Shit…"


"Are you asswipes fucking kidding me?"

Karkat's head dropped onto the table and Terezi snickered at him, "Calm down, KK, what's the big deal?"

"First we get Ghost Girl over here and now fucking Dracula's here? Is this a hospital or an episode of goddamned Supernatural!?" Karkat didn't even lift his head as he groaned.

A new girl stood near the group, her arms folded and she rolled her eyes, "If you don't be quiet, you'll be the first I drain."

Karkat rolled his eyes, "Oh I'm so fucking scared, you're going to attempt to bite me with your dull-ass human teeth since you're a goddamned human and don't actually have vampire teeth."

The new girl raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth lightly, revealing her pointed canine teeth. She poked one with her finger, watching it make an indent in her skin and slowly fade to normal again.

"Shit…" Dave mumbled to himself as he watched her. Tavros made an unintelligent noise and looked up at Gamzee who just shrugged.

John smiled awkwardly, "A-are those, uh, sharpened or something…?"

She shook her head, "I am a vampire so I was born with them."

Karkat looked up to see what the big deal was, "And by born with them, you mean the original teeth, right? And then you got some guy to file those fuckers into points, right?"

She smiled a bit and shook her head, "No, I mean I was born with them li-" She cut herself off and looked at the blonde girl who hadn't said anything but kept staring at her. "Are you alright?"

Rose just stared at the girl. Her hair, her outfit, her face, her makeup. She just stared at it all. She's so cool. "Oh – I'm fine, my name is Rose. I like your teeth." I like your teeth? What the hell was that? "I mean your clothes. But your teeth are pretty cool too." I swear to god if you ask to touch them I will- "Can I touch them?" You motherfucker.

The girl smiled at her and laughed lightly, "My name is Kanaya, but I don't think you would want to touch them. With flesh so close, I may not be able to control the bloodlust." What do you mean, bloodlust? "Not that I would want to bite you or anything." That sounded quite condescending, now she may think there is something that causes you to not want to bite her. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy to bite you and-" Not talking would be a very wise move right now. "My name is Kanaya."

Rose smiled nervously, "You mentioned that."

Kanaya nodded her head and the two grew quiet for a moment before she looked around, "Where did all of your friends go?" Rose shrugged and Kanaya looked at her feet.


John raised an eyebrow, "I don't understand, why do you want to tell me this?"

Gamzee breathed out slowly, "You were the first motherfucker here, I need to know everything I can to make sure I'm all right about this shit."

"What 'shit' are you making sure you're right about?" John pressed on, still confused.

Gamzee shook his head, "I can't tell you, brother, you'll think I'm crazy."

John stared at him, "My boyfriend had a twenty minute conversation with a small puppet that only he can see and yours has conversations with his other personality, I'm hardly buying into how anything can sound 'crazy' anymore."

Gamzee smiled at him, "You're awfully comfortable for a boy hospitalized for anxiety, motherfucker."

John looked down, "You aren't my father…so I'm okay, mostly." He looked up and gave a light smile, "Uh, care to explain now?"

Gamzee stood up, pacing back and forth, "Just…okay. I'll tell you what I think is all going on but you gotta swear, motherfuckin' swear on your life, you won't be at tellin' anyone else."

"I swear, I swear. Just please explain what's going on here!"

Gamzee sat back down and bit his lip for a moment, "You know that picture that Karbro found a while back, looked like it had all our parents in it?" John nodded and Gamzee kept on, "I-I think that fire it was talkin' about…I think some real shit happened because of it."

John shook his head, "Yeah, of course it did. It burnt down an entire building but no one was hurt so-"

"Exactly. How the motherfuck does an entire three-story institution with over 20 people inside burn down and everyone is out safe before even the motherfuckin' fire department shows?"

John bit the inside of his cheek. "I don't know, maybe everyone was downstairs at the time."

Gamzee shook his head. "Nah, everyone would've been on the third floor at the time of the fire, motherfucker. The building used to be different. Commons was upstairs and the rooms were on the bottom floor. Shit burnt down in the middle of the day. There was just one staircase at the back of the building – no fire escapes either, brother."

"I…I don't understand, how do you know all this?" John was really trying to follow him, but nothing the guy said made sense.

Gamzee smiled, "See, that's where it gets all motherfuckin' interesting. It don't matter how I know – but as long as I know, that means it happened." John just grew more and more confused and it just caused Gamzee's smile to widen, "See, we're just puppets in this dark carnival, just his motherfuckin' play things. If you died right now – no one would even remember you, brother. You know why?" John was silent and Gamzee's head ticked to the side, "I asked do you know why?" John shook his head more of out of fear than curiosity, "Because your parents don't exist, motherfucker. No one does. Not any of us, none of our relatives. There ain't but one person livin' in this place. And I'm the only one who can help him, now are you gonna join me or what?"

John stood up slowly, shaking his head, "I-I know what I said about nothing sounding crazy anymore but…I'm sorry, I'm just going to go now. I…I hope you're alright." He turned around, looking back at him for a moment before hurrying off.

Gamzee shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, "I know you can hear me. You got yourself and everyone else fooled but brother you better stop all that noise with me."


Gamzee opened his eyes slowly and looked around him. Where am I? He blinked a few times and tried to remember what happened. He had been talking to John, he confided in him, he thought he could trust the boy…but he had ratted him out to a doctor. Now he was in this small, white room, nothing but a single door. Padded walls was something that had long been out of style and straight jackets were something you saw magicians in Las Vegas use, not something in psychiatric hospitals. Small, white rooms to help you 'reflect on your thoughts,' was still definitely a thing they used, especially for Gamzee. He had grown quite used to being locked in them, never for very long, just enough to calm down.

He heard someone move in the room next to him and knocked on the wall. He waited a moment for someone to knock back. "Motherfucker, who is you? Everyone's in the common room, did I all up and forget some brother?"

The other room's occupant let out a grown before talking back, "I'nt know…can't…'member…" The voice slurred its words and Gamzee had trouble picking apart what they were saying.

"You all hurt over there?"

They stuttered out a 'no' and the two fell quiet for a moment before the voice could speak a little better, "Been here…a while…Dave…is Dave…okay?"

"Dave's fine, how do you all know him?"

Another patch of silence before he spoke, "D-Dirk Strider…I'm his brother…Cali…Caliborn put me here…been here…a while…Dave…is Dave…okay?"

"You already asked that, motherfucker, I done told you he's fine." Gamzee gritted his teeth, "If you all is Dave's bro, why're you here? Didn't you die in the motherfucking fire like the rest of them?"

"I don't know…" Bro croaked, "That day…something weird happened…I remember dying…but I remember living…what…what happened?"

Gamzee was quiet for a moment, "Listen to me. Are you all motherfuckin' listening carefully?" Bro groaned a yes. "Look on the floor. There's a gun."

Bro squinted his eyes, "There ain't no gun."

Gamzee took a deep breath, "Just believe there's a gun and it'll all be there. Okay, are you believing there's a fucking gun?"

"I can't believe…there's a gun here…if there ain't a gun."

"Stop motherfuckin' thinkin' so much. There's a gun. It's right by your left foot, brother, do you see it?" Bro was silent. "It's small, I don't know shit about gun types but it's something small and its black. Is it there?" Silence. "Look, when you see the gun, you need to-"

A gun shot rang through the hallway and echoed in each and every cell, easily fading through the paper-thin walls.

The door to Gamzee's cell opened and a man stood in the doorway, "Have you calmed down, Mr. Makara?"

Gamzee stood up, "Yeah, calm as a motherfuckin' cucumber."

"Good." The man didn't speak again as he lead Gamzee from his room and into the small hallway. Gamzee looked into the empty cells around his, all empty, including the one right next to his own. Of course, why wouldn't it be? He was the only one locked up, right?


A/N: I finally pushed myself through yet another chapter! (:

I'm really trying not to let all this drama get me down and I'm just going to keep writing because that's what I love to do and I really like writing this fic and if you have a problem with it then just don't read it uwu

I'm really digging all this foreshadowing/not telling you all whats going on/making you squirm in confusion thing lol you guys should comment with your theories on what's going on or something! ^^ I'd like to hear your thoughts on what may or may not be happening!

Wow there was a lot of Gamzee in this chapter okay that's cool lol

Here's the edits for this chapter: Aradia's symbol is actually something I think means 'toxic' or something? I'm really not sure, I googled her disorder "cotard's syndrome" and looked in the images and it was one of the first things I saw lmao not to mention I was originally gonna make her like believe she was sort of a zombie (since it's also called Walking Dead Syndrome) but I thought ghost fit better and I didn't feel like changing her shirt so yeah uwu and then there's Kanaya who believes herself to be a vampire (I couldn't find a disorder to fit with this aside from 'clinical vampirsm' which it's considered a mental disorder but it's the closest thing I could find – not including windigo psychosis which will appear later – so we'll go with 'clinical vampirsm' as her disorder!) and her shirt shows a poorly drawn mouth with fangs poking out!