I really didn't mean to take this long, but I was battling some of the worst writers block. Not to mention I wound up having to write this chapter twice, as my computer deleted it the first time. In the end, I'm not particularly fond of it, and this chapter may be cut when I go through the story for the Final Edit. But I promise the next chapter is way better and way more intense!

I also know exactly how the next few chapters will go already, so don't expect to wait long for the next update! Again, I am always here if you need to ask me anything.

I am so so so SO sorry to make you wait, but am incredibly thankful for your patience. Please be sure to leave me a review! And in return, I will make sure I see this story through to the end!

Chapter 25: Nagging Thoughts

Riley sat on the floor at the far end of the hall, her head between her knees. It felt like someone had strapped a weight to her chest, a new burden for her to carry. She sighed, her muted mind trying desperately to assemble a response to the situation. But it was no use. Her thoughts were still broken, her feelings still muffled. So she found the only way she could react to the new situation was with disbelief.

No, it couldn't have been Fear, she thought. He would never try to hurt me. He would never ruin my life like this. It had to be something else, a mix up, a misunderstanding. Fear cares about me. And I care about him... right?

She threw her head back and tried to relax her tensed muscles. Worrying about what happened and how the creatures got here wasn't going to help her mind get fixed. She just had to stay focused so she could find the final two emotions and bring her shattered psyche back together. It wouldn't be long now. After all, they knew at least one of them was nearby, trying its best to survive with Chips in constant pursuit. And as for the fifth one, it would no doubt show up soon. After all, Riley thought, all the others had appeared in the same general area. By that logic, the last one couldn't have gotten far.

While she was still pondering, a voice cut through the silence.

"Riley..?" Fear called out from within the bathroom.

The sound of his distinct voice felt like a dagger in the young girls heart. But she wouldn't let on what she knew. Fear's trust was so delicate. If he thought for a second that the young girl doubted his intentions, he would be off on his own in an instant. Besides, Riley didn't want to make any accusations without hearing the whole story from an unbiased party. So she kept her new knowledge to herself as she slowly rose to her feet to collect the emotion from the sink.

She entered the bathroom with a fake smile plastered on her face. Perched on the corner of the counter was Fear, clean and fully clothed. He met her smile with a small, nervous grin of his own, but it faded quickly. He knew in an instant that Riley's expression was insincere.

"Wh-what's wrong?" He asked, his face falling into its normal worried expression.

Riley was a little taken aback at how quickly the little creature had seen right through her. But she still wasn't ready to confront him on the matter. She maintained the faux happy face as she turned off the tap and offered her hand to the figure. "Nothing." She forced a chipper tone.

The little lavender figure remained unconvinced, but decided the girl must still be upset about the feline attack that happened earlier. Too scared to prod, he accepted the lie and stepped into the girls palm, securing himself for the ride back to the room.

As Riley walked the emotion across the hall, she couldn't help but wonder if the being she held in her hand was in fact responsible for the complete collapse of her delicate mind. She shook her head, reminding herself that now wasn't the time to think about it.

When she entered the bedroom, she noticed Disgust and Anger had stopped talking. Both seemed visibly upset, no doubt from the subject matter of their conversation. They each sat atop one of the makeshift beds, their arms folded, their faces in a mild scowl, facing away from the other. But they both turned to the young girl as she entered.

Fear looked to the floor expectantly, believing he was about to be put on the ground with the others. But the hand he was in didn't lower. Instead, Riley extended her other arm to the hard wood, offering this second hand to Anger and Disgust.

The green emotion raised an eyebrow at the gesture. "Wait, where are we going?" She asked, confused.

"Downstairs." Riley stated, watching the figures climb into her palm. "We're going to eat dinner with my cousin."

The older girl was just pulling the finished meal out of the oven when she saw the younger girl amble down the stairs and into the dining room. In her hands were the three shadowy bugs, whom she released onto the already set kitchen table. The older girl couldn't help but shudder. She could tell that her relative was indeed very attached to these things, and she knew just how intelligent they were. And though she tried, she still didn't like them. She didn't like the way they looked, she didn't like their constant hissing, and she didn't like keeping the secret. But she was the only other person who knew about them, so she wanted to learn what she could.

Riley sat herself down in a chair and the three emotions seated themselves on the table near her. Her cousin, protected by oven mitts, brought over the still steaming tray, six plump and perfectly made enchiladas sizzling within. It was the older girls specialty, and she proudly scooped two onto her own plate and two onto the younger girl's.

As she sat, she glanced at the shadowy creatures and tilted her head. "So..." She mumbled, playing with her fork while she waited for the food to cool. "How do you... feed them?"

Riley quickly and deftly used her fork to separate three tiny hunks of an enchilada and scooched them to one side of the plate to cool. "I dunno." She shrugged, confused at the question. "You just give them food. They feed themselves."

The older girl put a hand to her forehead. "But, like, how do you know what they can and can't eat?"

"They can eat anything I eat." Riley prodded the food with a finger to check the temperature. "If I like it, they like it."

Her cousin didn't understand. How could she? She had no idea what the beings really were. She shook her head and began to slowly pick at her meal, her mind racing with questions about the things. But mostly, she was curious as to what her relative saw in them. She wanted to know why the young girl was so determined to care for these things, why she was so determined to get them home safe. She had noticed Riley had not been acting quite like herself this entire week. Was it because of these beasts? These were things she wanted to know.

Deciding the food had cooled enough, Riley picked up the three hunks and handed them to the three emotions. Anger and Fear took theirs without hesitation. Disgust stared at the hunk of enchilada with a slight grimace, watching a bead of sauce drip from the tortilla wrapping.

"No... No forks...?" She asked, sounding disappointed.

Riley chuckled. "No. No forks. You'll just have to use your hands, I'm afraid."

The older girl watched as the third black bug hissed a response before taking the chunk of food offered to it. Riley looked at her cousin and smiled.

"Sorry. She's kinda picky." She shrugged.

Her cousin blinked. "She is..?" She questioned, putting down her utensil. "They have different personalities?"

"Oh yeah." Riley nodded, taking a few quick bites of her dinner. "They're very different." She swallowed and gestured to the first bug, sitting on her left. "This one's really shy. He doesn't like if things are too big or too loud. And he's really fast."

Fear paused. He turned to Riley and gazed at her with his huge, bright eyes, beaming an embarrassed smile.

Riley pointed to the next of the black beings on the table. "She's a little fussier, but she's also really dainty and clever."

Disgust smirked, flipping some of her emerald hair and batting her long eyelashes. She looked at the older girl across the table, but was met only with a confused stare.

Finally, the younger girl pointed towards the third emotion, sitting furthest away from herself. "And he's..." Riley muttered. "Well, he doesn't really talk to me... He's kind of grumpy. I feel like I don't know anything about him."

Anger's fiery red eyes darted to the young girl. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but one could just barely see the look of disappointment and sorrow that crossed his face. He turned away, upset more with himself than anyone, and continued to eat his ration, emitting the quietest little growls.

The older girl stared at each of the trio of monsters in front of her. The smokey trails their bodies emitted completely hid any visible shape or outline. She looked up at the young girl. "They really look different to you..?" She leaned her head onto her hands.

Riley looked back down at the emotions. Each one produced a glow of a different color around their forms. Each one had a unique face and body structure. They looked so different from one another that it was hard to believe they were related at all. But only Riley ever saw them that way. It seemed that the whole rest of the world saw them as these mysterious black clouds. Since she was the only one who didn't, perhaps it was her that was seeing them wrong. But she was sure of it; she could see them for what they really were.

"Maybe..." She spoke slowly, thinking aloud. "Maybe you're... not meant to see them."

The rest of the dinner had been mostly quiet and uneventful. The older girl, her mind trying to process the onslaught of new information it had been given, had ceased her question asking. She already had too much to think about. Riley, wanting to keep the emotions on her cousins good side, had taken the three away immediately after the meal. Perhaps after enough of these brief visits between the creatures and the older girl, they would grow to understand each other. But it would take time. Riley didn't want to rush anything.

She retreated back to her bedroom, leaving only for a moment to construct a third tiny bed out of the materials in the hall closet. All three now had their own beds; their own personal property. Anger had immediately laid down on his new mattress, happy to have the space all his own. In only a few moments, he had drifted into sleep, exhausted from a very long and very tiring day.

Riley, not ready to sleep just yet, had resumed reading her book. Disgust and Fear busied themselves with things around the room. They found a stack of cards, each with a photo of a hockey player on the front with their stats on the back, and they made a game of using them as flash cards, quizzing each other on the various facts about the player.

Eventually, the sun crawled lazily down the sky and sank into the horizon. As the natural light began to fade, the the young girl and her two still conscious emotions prepared for the night. Riley changed to her pajamas, and the three settled into their respective beds.

Their day had been a hectic one. They had recovered a third emotion, yet failed to earn its trust. They had been discovered by the older girl of the house, but were able to convince her they meant no harm. And they had learned where to find yet another emotion, even if they didn't quite know how. Disgust and Fear thought over all that had happened, as they snuggled into their pillows. It wasn't long before they, like Anger, succumbed to their exhaustion.

But Riley didn't fall asleep immediately. There was something on her mind. Something she couldn't forget. Something she had tried so hard not to think about, but that had continued to resurface in her mind. Her lamp still on, she stared at the sleeping purple figure in the bed closest to her own. Who was he really? Was the Fear that she had known a lie? Was it all a clever facade?

It would be hours before the girl finally slipped into slumber. But by then, her thoughts had taken form, giving birth to a nightmare.