Hello! Sorry I'm late, I was writing and lost track of time.

Happy holidays everybody! My gift for you all this holiday season is two chapters this week! yay! Because I will be celebrating Christmas with my family, I won't be able to post next week, so I'm posting one chapter early. I hope, whatever you celebrate this time of year, that you have a good one.

Chapter 2: White Eyes

Alex

When I woke up, I instantly knew something was wrong. I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. Oh well. It probably wasn't important. I rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.

That's when it hit me: Steve wasn't waking me up. I opened my eyes and surveyed the room. The stars were still out, but the sky was a soft gray. The sun would be up soon. I glanced at Steve, who was fast asleep. Maybe I could go for a quick walk and be back before he woke up. I only grabbed a sword, because I have learned many times never to leave the house unarmed, especially since the sun wasn't up enough to burn out the mobs.

I walked outside and was greeted by the cool morning air. The dew on the grass made my bare feet wet. The weak sun rays peeked through the leaves, making them glow with green light. I ran my fingers along the grooves in the bark of trees. A chicken wandered in my path. It stared at me with its strange crossed eyes.

"Hey, little guy," I cooed. I reached down to pet it, but it squawked and ran away. I frowned and stood back up. That was weird.

"This is strange. I feel like I know you."

I whirled around to face the source of the voice, but I was alone. That voice did not sound like Steve's or any of the admins I know. I drew my sword. "Hello?" Something about it made my skin crawl.

"Oh well. It doesn't matter. Hello, Alex. It's about time I properly introduce myself." The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Who are you!? How do you know my name!?" My eyes darted frantically around, trying to find the owner of the voice. I tightened my grip on my sword. "Are you that rouge admin Notch is afraid of?"

The voice chuckled. "Admin? No. It's flattering you think that, though. Look at me, I'm blushing."

"Well, I would, but I cant see you," I remarked.

"That's because I'm not actually here. I'm somewhere else."

"And where would that be?"

"Your house."

My blood ran cold. This freaky voice was in our house!? Wait… Steve. Steve's still asleep. I turned and began running back to our house, hoping I wasn't too late. I could feel a pair of eyes watching me run away.

Steve

Something changed. I was dreaming about having enough diamonds to swim in, but I was suddenly wrenched from it. I found myself in an inky black void. Even though there was no light, I could still see my hands clearly. What the Nether? What kind of dream is this?

"Hello, Steven."

A chill went down my spine. "Hello?"

"Its time for us to get to know each other, Steven." A man suddenly appeared in front of me. He looked identical to men, from skin tone to outfit, but his eyes were blank, glowing white. I gasped and took a few steps back. "My name is Herobrine." He kicked me in the chest, and I went flying back. My head hit the ground hard, and stars crowded my vision. "I need you dead, Steven. I know that if I attacked you while you were conscious, you'd just respawn. But here…" I tried to get up, but Herobrine kicked me back down. I groaned in pain. "You wont." A diamond sword materialized in his hand. It shimmered with enchantments and electricity crackling up and down the blade. He poised it above my head, ready to shove it into my brain. Sadistic glee shined in his eyes.

This was it. I braced myself for the pain.

Notch

"Notch! Notch! He's here!" Jeb cried.

I choked on my coffee. I set the mug down on the desk and cleared my throat. "What!? How!? I had that program running that would delete him if he ever set foot in there!" I rushed to Jeb's screen. WARNING! FOREIN CODE DETECTED! was displayed all over the monitor.

"It's because he's not in the world," Jeb said. He cleared the messages. "He dragged Steve to the seam where the game and the rest of the internet meet." He pulled up footage of what was going on. Steve was on the ground, and Herobrine towered over him, poised to drive a sword into his skull. He seemed to be enjoying Steve's terror.

"Woah woah woah! Get Steve a weapon now!" I yelled. Jeb typed something and clicked enter.

Steve

Something solid appeared in my hands. I didn't know what it was, I just threw it up to protect my head just as Herobrine brought his blade down. There was the sound of metal clashing, and I opened my eyes to see I had deflected Herobrine's killing blow with an iron sword. I would've preferred a diamond one, but beggars cant be choosers. I stood up.

"Looks like your precious admins didn't abandon you," Herobrine said with a sneer. "Doesn't matter. There's only so much they can protect you from." He swung his sword at me, and I clumsily defended myself. I'm screwed. There are drowning endermen less screwed then me.

Herobrine moved so fast. His sword was barely a blur, and it took everything in me to deflect his blows. I tried to swipe at him, but he easily deflected it.

"Oh, come on, Steven. You're not even trying!" Herobrine taunted me.

I grunted and tightened my grip on my sword. I lunged, trying to stab something important. I completely missed his chest, but I grazed his arm. A few drops of blood stained his shirt.

"Hmm. That almost hurt. Did Notch not program you with some basic fighting skills? Or are you just really, really bad naturally?"

The sounds of metal clashing with diamond echoed through the dark void. Herobrine was significantly better than me. He toyed with me, making me think I had an opening only to be effortlessly blocked. He grinned, thoroughly enjoying my struggle. He tried to use his leg to knock me on my feet, but I dodged the move and tried again to stab his heart. Our blades locked as we pushed against each other. His white eyes stared right into my blue ones. With a shove, he pushed me off balance, then swiped at my neck. Left with limited options, I tried to dodge again and I threw my arm up to protect myself. I screamed as he dragged his sword across my forearm, deep enough to touch bone. I clutched my arm. Blood ran through my fingers and dripped on the ground. Herobrine watched me with amusement.

"Given up, Steven?" He taunted.

"Not yet."

"Hmm. Stubborn. I like it. Too bad that's what is going to get you killed."

Alex

I ran through the forest as fast as I could. Branches scraped up my face and snagged my clothes., but I didn't care. I only cared about Steve. When I was only a few chunks away from our fence, I froze. All of the leaves on the trees were gone. I shuddered in fear and continued running.

I burst inside and dashed up the stairs. I gasped when I saw Steve. His face was paper white, and his breathing was labored and irregular. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, and his left eye was glowing white.

I screamed at the sight of this. "Steve!" I grabbed his hand. His skin was colder than ice. "Steve! Please! Say something!"

Steve clearly couldn't hear me. I just held his hand, mostly out of lack of other options. I had no clue what was going on, and less of an idea of how to fix it. I just prayed he would snap out of it.

Steve suddenly cried out and flung his arm in front of his face. A deep gash appeared from nowhere, and blood ran down his hand and dripped on the sheets. He whimpered quietly.

"Steve! No!" I cried. I stared at the wound, the sight of blood causing my stomach to churn. I had to do something fast or he would bleed out. I tore off a piece of the blanket and attempted to wrap the wound. Steve began flailing when I tried to grab his arm. "Steve, for the love of the End, HOLD STILL!"

I aggressively snatched his arm and somehow was able to get the makeshift bandage around it. Steve whimpered again and flailed again, punching me in the process. I was very tempted to hit him back, but I had a feeling my problems were much smaller than his. "Notch, where are you when we need you!?" I screamed.

As if this was all some kind of sick joke, I saw Notch enter our world.

Notch joined the game

Notch

The smell of popcorn wafted through the office. I gave Dinnerbone a dirty look. He munched on it as he watched Steve and Herobrine fight. He noticed my expression. "What?" He asked through a mouthful of popcorn. I just rolled my eyes.

Herobrine slashed Steve's arm, and I decided this had gone too far. I didn't think Herobrine had it in him to actually kill Steve, but clearly I was wrong.

I tried to load into the world, but my screen glitched and pixelated. "No no no no no no no…." The system crashed, and I swore loudly. Dinnerbone offered me some of his bowl of popcorn, and I scowled and swatted it out of his hand. "How about you stop watching this like it's a movie and help!?"

The small audience that had assembled to watch the fight sheepishly went back to their computers. I tried to reload the system, but my screen didn't change. I was about ready to smash my keyboard into a wall when my screen turned back on.

VIRUS DETECTED

DELETING…

61%

I glanced over at Jeb, who gave me a thumbs up. I gave him a nod as thanks, then loaded into Steve and Alex's world as fast as humanly possible.