Chapter twenty
It took Lilinthia several moments to notice the book next to the bed and when she did she frowned in confusion. Wincing with pain she reached over and picked it plus the quill on top of it up. Carefully she opened it and was confused to see the single word within. With nothing better to do in her current state Lilinthia decided to entertain herself by responding.
-Hello there- Lilinthia dropped the book as soon as she saw more words than what she had added being etched onto the paper.
-Oh finally! Somebody else! Can you hear me?- Lilinthia frowned as she nervously picked the book up again, biting her lip a little.
-Not exactly... I'm reading what your saying...- There was a pause as Lilinthia waited for a response.
-Reading? But... How?-
-Um... You're a book?- Herobrine was fighting down his laughter. He had glitched the two copies so anything written in one appeared in the other, and although he hated having to act like this, it would be beneficial in the long run. By pretending to be Lilinthia's friend he could learn more information from her, things he could use against her.
-I'm a what? But how… Oh no, that bastard! How the hell could he do this!?-
-Do what?-
-I'm sorry, this must all seem really stupid to you…-
-Why don't you start at the beginning, tell me what happened- Herobrine grinned as he made up some sob story to gain Lilinthia's empathy. As he wrote he was able to see her facial expressions change towards sympathy. Her hand was quick to scribble a response once he was finished.
-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what happened to you.-
-Hey, it's okay. At least I can help you now. Heh, I'll be your Hero! At least, your hero from boredom!- Lilinthia laughed a little before responding.
-I appreciate it. I'm currently stuck in bed, and will be for some time.-
-Why?-
-I… I was attacked by the man who did this to you. He's… Holding me hostage and some other too.- Herobrine encouraged her to continue, reading her perspective of everything he had done and gleaning more information on how he could make her life a living hell. He continued their conversation for some time until Lilinthia had to hastily stuff the journal and quill under her pillow as Steve arrived with food. Herobrine frantically wrote a few things as if concerned over the woman's sudden silence and then waited patiently while she and his brother talked. Steve had made her a steak and potatoes and was helping her eat. Steve glanced out the window at the setting sun.
"Looks like it's going to be dark soon. Are you comfortable?"
"As comfortable as I can be." Lilinthia responded as she slowly began eating. "So what happened today?"
"Not much, did some mining and Alex hunted so we have plenty of food at the moment. Do you need any help laying down?" Lilinthia shook her head.
"No, I think I'll be up a little longer. A bit difficult to sleep when you're in as much pain as I am."
"I understand. Just give a shout if you need anything, I'm just in the next room."
"Thanks, sleep well." Steve then nodded in understanding before stepping out of the room. Lilinthia slowly continued to eat her food and once finished she reached over to place the plate on the block next to the bed, wincing in pain at the motion. She leaned against the wall behind the bed as she watches the last vestiges of light slip beyond the horizon outside. She once again reaches under her pillow and pulls out the journal and opens it, reading what Herobrine had left for her. Her response is quick.
-Hey, it's okay, I'm still here. I just paused to eat.-
-Oh thank goodness! You had me worried that HE had done something.-
-It wouldn't surprise me if he did, I'm currently injured and unable to move, he could do anything.-
-Hey, take it easy and breath, don't panic.-
-I'm alright, really.- Lilinthia was smiling gently at the book, a look Herobrine was not accustomed to seeing on her face. He began p[rodding a bit farther.
-So, any family get dragged in with you? I remember him threatening that with me…-
-No, I was the only one in my family who played. Mom and Dad are pretty nice, my brother, not so much.-
-Older?-
-Yeah, he's older than me.-
-Well what sort of idiot wouldn't love an adorable little sister?- Herobrine could barely contain his laughter as Lilinthia's face lit up bright red. The woman responded soon afterwards.
-He most certainly doesn't see me that way…- Herobrine perked a little, realizing he must have stumbled upon a rather interesting subject.
-What do you mean?- Lilinthia set the quill down as she bowed her head. Herobrine fidgeted a bit, he wanted to know what the woman before him was hiding. He prodded a few more times before she finally responded.
-My brother, he was born with a very frail body which he resented, even more so when I was born perfectly healthy. Because of that he has never liked me. I never understood why until that incident…-
-What incident?-
-I… I ran up to him to hug him, that's all I wanted, I swear…- Small tears were beginning to fill Lilinthia's eyes and a few fell on the pages of the book and Herobrine was a bit surprised to see them appear on his copy as well.
-Hey, it's okay, you can tell me…-
-When I hugged him… I ended up breaking bones which took months to heal. He screamed at me, cursed my existence and my name…-
-I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm sure it really wasn't your fault.-
-That doesn't make it feel like it wasn't.-
-I'm sorry… I just realized, I never caught your name.- Lilinthia laughed a little.
-You can just call me L for now.-
-All right L, then you can call me Hero! Since I'm here to save you from your boredom!- Herobrine felt like he wanted to puke, acting this chipper, even through writing, was nauseating. Lilinthia yawned and began writing once more.
-I'm going to sleep now, I will talk to you later.-
-Sleep well, hopefully HE won't visit and give you nightmares.-
-I hope so too…- She then closed the book and put it and the quill back under her pillow. She had some difficulty laying down but did manage it and to pull the covers over her. Herobrine waited for her to be asleep before flexing his powers and slipping into her dreams. He grinned as he saw that her dreams were uneasy, stressful, and about her past. He watched the figures in her dream, gleaning that the one in the wheel chair was her brother and the older couple were her parents. She was being yelled at by the latter two. The white haired woman before him was obviously stressed and he used a bit of his power to pause the dream which confused Lilinthia as she looked around in confusion. Herobrine stepped out of the shadows at the edges of her dream.
"I believe I'm the only one allowed to give you nightmares now."
"What do you want now? Haven't you done enough for the time being?" Herobrine began circling Lilinthia.
"So who are these people to you?" Lilinthia stiffened as she glanced at her family.
"I… I don't know."
"Liar, now tell me, who are they?" The powerful deity reached forwards and grabbed Lilinthia by her hair, yanking her head back. The woman hisses in a sharp breath as she stumbles back towards Herobrine.
"It's none of your business!" She was surprised when her body suddenly went limp and the only thing holding her up was Herobrine's grip on her hair.
"We'll see about that." He let her fall to the ground limp and she could only watch as he approached the figure of her brother. "I guessing you were trying to protect this one? Seem typical of you, somebody who is weak and unable to defend themselves." Lilinthia tried her best to speak but found herself unable to. Herobrine waved a hand and Lilinthia's brother became unfrozen. Her brother's face twisted into a mask of rage.
"You little fucker! What the fucking sort of shit did you get into now? Oh? A gold star? Guess what? They're fucking worthless, now give it here!" Lilinthia cringed as much as she could under the barrage of assault from her brother. Herobrine watched with interest before freezing the figure once more mid yell.
"How interesting, that is not what I expected. Now tell me my little pet, who. Is. He?" Once more Lilinthia found herself able to speak.
"My… My brother. Please, just, just stop this!" Herobrine crouched in front of her.
"Oh now you beg? Is it really so much more worse than me? He'd never kill you like I would, or rape you." Lilinthia shuddered.
"He's always wished me dead. At least here, I occasionally get some respite from that living hell. The bright eyed man stood up, towering over his victim.
"I can make things so much better for you Lie, just submit to me."
"Never."
"Then remain in this nightmare till daylight." Herobrine vanished from sight and Lilinthia's dream continued, but she still could not move. She had to remain laying there, under the verbal assault of her family until day came.
Herobrine had retreated to his fortress in the Nether to scroll through player names once more. He idly flicked through them, not really paying much attention and just decided to choose one that was online at random. He pulled up a screen to look through and found a young kid playing his game, grinning excitedly and swinging at the mobs. The bright eyed one narrowed his eyes and settles in to wait. He wondered how Lilinthia and the others would react to having a child brought in, presumably not well which was fine by him. The child happily played until he pauses. CP turns the microphone on as the child turns around, a female voice is calling from somewhere else in his home.
"Eric! Dinner!"
"Just a minute mom!" The kid didn't even have a chance to turn back around to turn his game off as Herobrine reached through and grabbed him by the hood of his sweater and dragged him in. As usual the human went unconscious and shifted to look like their player skin. He watched as the child turned completely purple. Herobrine rolled his eyes at the stupidity of children's avatars. Or at least, how stupid they looked. Herobrine dropped the body off at spawn, wondering if the child would find his way towards Lilinthia's group or be killed by mobs. As usual he gave the command for his mobs to leave the child alone until the next night. He looked at the sky, noting that the sun would be rising soon and decided to go bother his brother.
As the child woke up he groaned before sitting up and looking around. He almost immediately recognizes where he is and makes a happy noise. It had always been his dream to live in a video game, and now it looked like he was going to achieve it. He eagerly stood up and began running around, quickly drawing attention to himself. GhostWolf had been nearby and watched the kid run around, tsk'ing in irritation. He moved silently, just out of sight, wondering if he should just off the kid. As he considered this, a different idea came to mind. He could use the kid, use them to lure in the woman the other man wanted dead. Surely the pesky thing known as "motherly instinct" would still apply here? After watching the kid for a bit longer, GhostWolf made his presence known. The purple child quickly turned to face him.
"Hello?" GhostWolf grinned as he came closer.
"Why hello there. What's your name?"
"My name's Koolio!" GhostWolf grinned and offered his hand.
"I'm Ghost Wolf, we should get you someplace safe."
"Do you have a cool base?"
"Sure, I guess you could say that." Koolio grinned broadly and took GhostWolf's hand, unaware of the situation he was putting himself into.
It had taken several weeks for Lie to recover enough to return to her usual routine. During that time she had been plagued by nightmares from Herobrine and had gotten closer to Hero, the entity in the book. She rather enjoyed her conversations with Hero, but she had warned him that now that she was healed she wouldn't be able to talk as much. The small group was holding steady on their own, they had plenty of food and their farms had grown vastly. They were still occasionally attacked by the griefer, but they'd manage to curb the damage so far. Lilinthia had gone off to gather more wood so they could make a couple more houses since they figured more players would eventually be dragged in. It was slow going for the white-haired woman, but she was managing. She'd already felled a few tree's and had gathered their saplings when a nagging feeling tugged at the edge of her conscious. She quickly looked around, searching for the source of her unease. Upon seeing nothing she hesitantly returned to shopping down tree's only to jump in surprise and drop her axe as a voice smoothly spoke behind her.
"How interesting, I see no sign of the child." Lilinthia quickly turned around to face Herobrine.
"What are you talking about?" Herobrine grinned as he moved closer to the woman before him, watching her step backwards until she was pressed up against a tree.
"I'm talking about the latest player I dragged in, a child. I know he hasn't died, but he also doesn't appear to be in your care either." Lilinthia gave him an incredulous look.
"A child? You brought a child in!?" The entity grinned.
"Oh yes, why wouldn't I?"
"But it's a child!"
"And what difference does that make to me?" Lilinthia scowled and her fists tightened as she stared down Herobrine.
"You are a sick bastard."
"Times ticking Lie, who knows what sort of trouble the boy is in." With those words he vanished and Lilinthia sprung into action. She gathered up her supplies and rushed back for the hamlet. Guy met her at the outskirts.
"Thia what's wrong?"
"He brought a child in!"
"Wait, what?"
"He brought in a child! And I don't know where the child is!"
"Calm down Thia, it's probably a trap."
"But what if it isn't?"
"I'll go and check it out."
"Guy no, it's so close to night, you'll be killed!"
"I don't think we have a choice. Just stay inside tonight, promise me that." Lilinthia huffed as she crossed her arms.
"Fine, I'll stay here, but be careful." Guy smiled gently at his female companion.
"I'll do everything in my power to stay safe. Don't worry, I'll be back." Guy then headed off to gather supplies while Lie headed for the main house.