The sun must have set by now. Squee curled into a tighter ball somewhere in the cavernous basement, shuddering violently. Nothing ever changed. Once again, Squee shivered in some dank corner, terrified out of his mind. Weak thing he was, he couldn't find it in himself to do anything about it.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and stood up. Where was he, anyway? Squee's mind dimly registered something, but he was too preoccupied with his surroundings to notice. Rusted machines of a dubious nature littered the ground, chains and spikes hung from the ceiling. He let out a small "squee!" of terror and began to run.
Z?
"Dammit, where is he?" growled Nny, forcing open another door in his basement. "I should have locked the fucking door. Now he's lost in here."
He went on muttering to himself and shone a flashlight around the darkened room. Nothing there but corpses. Well, that was another level down. Squee must have gotten to the really old areas. Not good.
Z?
Squee stumbled over something and went flying. His head came to rest inches from a yellowed skull. A scream brought a shower of earth down upon him, and he stood and ran before the cave-in could trap him with the skeleton.
Stairs! He climbed them, sobbing in relief. Until his head hit an unyielding trapdoor. His sobs changed to shrieks of hysteria, and he beat his fists on the rotted wood until they bled.
Z?
"Squee?"
Johnny strained to make out the source of the pitiful squeaking sounds that had just started up. His hands brushed rotted limbs and crumbling machinery as he sought out the hidden door in the floorboards. He must be under there.
Suddenly, the latch popped up, and the trapdoor swung open. Squee's consciousness failed him, and Nny drew him up out of the hole before he could fall down the stairs.
"Shit. Why did you have to come down here?" he sighed, hefting the boy over his shoulder and starting on the long climb up.
Z?
"Um…Devi?"
"Nny!" Devi held the phone away from her ear and stared at it incredulously before speaking again. "Why are you calling me? On my cell?"
"I've got a bit of a problem."
"Well…yeah. You kill people. On a regular basis."
"I mean besides that! Squee got into my basement."
"Not good."
"Exactly. And now he's having hallucinations or something." A small pause, then "Oh. Nevermind. Now he's just shivering in a corner."
Devi sighed and capped her paints.
"I'll be right over. Does this mean you're going to consider—"
"Look. I just want to make sure Squee doesn't do something stupid. And I figure you have more of a calming effect on him than I do."
"Fine, fine. I'll be there in five minutes."
Devi hung up and put the finishing touches on a painting. Two minutes later, she began the walk to Nny's place.
Hell, it was faster than driving.
Z?
Squee's mind threw terrifying visions at his madly rolling eyes. He shuddered violently and let out a choking scream. Dimly, he registered two figures moving toward him that may or may not have been part of the hallucinations.
Then they got closer to him, and he screamed louder. Their faces, rotted and warped beyond recognition, somehow reminded him of his parents. They reached out to him with clawed hands, the flesh stripped off of the razor-sharp bone. He tried to run, but he found himself backed into a corner.
In the midst of his hysteria, one coherent thought made itself known to Squee:
Fight or Flight.
"What the hell, Squee?" snarled Johnny, dodging another wild kick. "It's just us!"
"Shut up, Nny," snapped Devi, edging her way toward the boy. "You're not going to make this any better by yelling at the poor kid."
Carefully, Devi approached Squee, murmuring soft words to him. He glanced at her, his gaze unfocused, and started to flail again. Then something registered in his mind, and he quieted.
"Squee?" Devi reached out a hand to him, and he pulled away. "Sorry. Are you there, Squee?"
He stared at her again, still unseeing.
"Okay. Calm down, Squee. Everything is alright now."
Squee shuddered, but didn't strike out. Devi sighed in relief and put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn't cringe away.
"Squee, I want you to try and get out of those hallucinations. That's all they are, you know. Hallucinations." Devi took a deep breath. "Squee? Just follow my voice. Keep following my voice, and I'll lead you back here."
"What a load of bullshit," snorted Johnny, leaning against the wall.
"Shut up!" hissed Devi. "I'm mediating, here!"
Squee started, and with a yelp of surprise, Devi stumbled backward. Squee's eyes came back into focus, and he took in a deep gasp of air.
"What happened?" he asked in a very small voice.
"Um." Devi glanced at Nny. "From what I understand, you accidentally found your way into Nny's basement, and it shocked you into a stint of violent hallucinations."
"Oh." Squee blushed. "Sorry."
"It's okay, Squee," laughed Devi. "We're just glad you're okay."
Johnny rolled his eyes. Devi caught him and gave him a swift elbow in the ribs. He glared at her, but didn't say anything.
"Um. What time is it?" asked Squee, glancing around.
Devi checked her watch.
"Close to 9pm. Why?"
"No reason." Squee stood and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. "I didn't know Nny would let you in his house."
Devi smiled.
"Only when somebody is in immediate danger."
"Or when stupid kids go poking into things they shouldn't and send themselves into convulsions," growled Nny.
"Like I said, only when somebody we like is in immediate danger," reaffirmed Devi, glancing at her nails.
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a/n: ello, mes amis. sorry for the lag in updating. i feel almost silly now, writing this almost a month after valentines day. ah well. devi is now in nnys house! dun, dun, DUN!shiftplus1 what now? dont ask me, i have no idea. well see what happens, eh?
-raven-chan