I wish I could just get used to pain were the thoughts going through Flaky's poor little head. She'd mistaken Fliqpy's paw going towards her chest as a sign that he was going to violate her, but clearly he'd read her mind as he twisted the knife out of her body before bringing it back down into her chest while bellowing "You have to stop thinking that!" But what was far worse was what Fliqpy had done. He'd taken away her ability to die. She already knew that he could control the very essence of what happened while in this dream state and he'd chosen to make her immortal, so he could give her as much pain as possible and not kill her. By now she was overwhelmed. Stab wounds covered her red body, across her stomach, neck, chest, legs and arms. She was quite literally soaked in her own blood. Fliqpy wouldn't let her fall unconscious either. He was making more blood appear in her body so she'd stay conscious, but only barely. Flaky felt horribly faint, like she hadn't slept for weeks and now knew she may never be able to sleep. And over her loomed the terrifying sight of Fliqpy. Her eyes had run out of tears and were now just watching, so exhausted they could only manage to half open, as Fliqpy slid the blade of his knife dangerously across her body looking for the next place to stab her. But then his smile grew bigger, if such a thing was possible, and Flaky knew that he'd had an idea.
"Here's a fun game little Flaky. Let's play hide and seek. I'll count to twenty and you find a place to hide! I won't cheat, I'll find you myself without using any special powers. You can have your healthy body back" he said, some reluctance in his voice at the last sentence. But no sooner had he said it than Flaky found that her wounds were gone, but she was still soaked in blood. She stayed lying on her back, expecting one of Fliqpy's tricks.
"Your time's already started" he growled. Flaky scrambled to her feet, the tiredness from before now gone. Fliqpy loved to play games. Flaky could barely run on the wooden floor of the classroom, she was still soaked in her own blood from head to toe. Wait... he can just follow the blood! she screamed in her mind. She burst through the classroom door into the corridor and run as fast as she could, holding back hundreds of tears. Several times she looked back at the trail of blood she'd left behind which provided a perfect pathway from the classroom to wherever she was. In her head she could feel herself start to go mad with fright, knowing that Fliqpy would punish her horrifically if he found her. But she was beginning to become convinced that Flippy would save her and stop Fliqpy, somehow. She didn't know how but as she ran through the corridors and skidded round corners on her own blood she chanted quietly to herself in a terrified, shaky voice "Flippy is coming! Flippy is coming! Flippy is coming!" She was half right. Back in the classroom Fliqpy had finished counting and was now walking calmly down the first corridor, following a blood path much like a snail trail.
Out of options and close to wetting herself from fear, Flaky skidded round a corner and bounded through the door of the girl's bathroom. The door smacked violently against the wall from the force of her entry and she had just a second to register that Giggles was washing her hands at one of the sinks. What must have gone through Giggles mind when she saw the poor blood soaked porcupine running in, shaking violently and crying her eyes out, is anyone's guess. But Giggles' first reaction was to grab a nearby towel and drape it over Flaky to try and comfort her. At first Flaky became convinced Fliqpy was behind her and was trying to smother her. She screamed in fright and spun around to escape but slipped on her own blood that covered parts of the floor after it had dripped off her spines. She fell to the floor with a hard thud and lay dazed. When she recognised the concerned pink chipmunk bending over to try and help her, she calmed down for a second only to remember who was after her. She grabbed Giggles by both arms and it took all of Giggles' strength to stop her from pulling her down to the floor too. She pulled Flaky up onto her feet and held her in a tight hug, not minding the huge amount of blood that was soaking her pink fur. She could feel the crimson liquid making horrible squelching noises as their bodies pressed together. Flaky was shaking like she had some kind of disease and Giggles had no idea what she could do. But then the door to the bathroom opened.
Flaky immediately heard the sound and jumped out of her skin, accidentally elbowing Giggles in the eye who stumbled backwards and smacked her head on one of the sinks, dizzying her. Giggles sat against the wall, her head spinning after the fall and a black eye quickly developing. Meanwhile Flaky was back on the floor and staring up in sheer terror at whoever had come through the door. But to her great relief it turned out to be Petunia and Lammy. Petunia was busying herself with a mop, cleaning up every trace of blood that Flaky had left on the floor. Lammy seemed to be doing nothing more than watching. But her eyes followed the path of blood towards the shaking Flaky, who was sitting in it. Lammy raised an eyebrow.
"That time of the month huh?" she asked, to which Petunia automatically reacted with a swift punch to Lammy's gut. Lammy doubled over, wheezing after the punch.
"Don't say that!" yelled Petunia. Whether or not Lammy apologised was unclear due to the amount of heavy breathing she was making as she tried to recover. Petunia looked down on Flaky, who stared back up at the squirrel with round eyes. Petunia's expression didn't change as she began to bring the mop over Flaky and mop her clean. Flaky felt strangely comforted by the cleaning, knowing that the blood was coming off. Once Petunia was done, Flaky slowly got to her feet. She was surprised that Fliqpy hadn't found her yet.
"Um... did... did you guys f-find F-f-f-lippy anywhere?" she stammered, still visibly shaking. Petunia shook her head before getting back to cleaning the room. Lammy, who by now had recovered from Petunia's well aimed punch, put a comforting paw on Flaky's shoulder.
"What's wrong Flaky? You're even more agitated that usual" she commented.
"Th...that t-tends to ha...happen when you... you're covered in your own blood!" she stammered, trying to make a witty comeback. Lammy just rolled her eyes and went into one of the toilet cubicles before slamming the door behind her. Flaky instinctively walked into the neighbouring one, ignoring Petunia who was helping Giggles get back to her feet. Flaky entered the cubicle, locked the door, put the toilet lid down and sat on it. She just wanted to be alone.
It had only been for about thirty seconds that Flaky had been sat on her own and she was only just beginning to enjoy the solitude. Outside the stall she could clearly hear Giggles and Petunia talking about how hot that thought Flippy was. This made Flaky's whole body start to heat up, like she was angry but she only remembered this kind of overheating from whenever she got a fever, which was rare considering the amount of precautions she took. Why me? she finally thought to herself. Why did I have to be the scared one? People laugh at me, they know I like Flippy. If Flippy spent five minutes with Giggles or Petunia he'd see how pretty they were and I'd be nothing. I can't even talk to him properly most of the time. Why did it have to be me? she wondered. She could feel heavy tears buildings up as her eyes started to glaze over. But she was determined not to cry, it would only prove her point and for once she wanted to be wrong. Maybe she wasn't a coward, maybe everyone else was just very, very brave. It was an interesting thought to dwell on, but she didn't have long to do it as she heard the bathroom door slam open. She heard Giggles and Petunia scream in fright before Petunia's voice rang out; "Flippy! This is the girl's bathroom!" she shouted. Flaky's blood ran cold as she curled up into a ball inside her stall, hoping he wouldn't find her.
"Sorry girls" came the unmistakeable voice of Fliqpy. "Just looking for a little red bitch. Looks like there's more than one here" he said. Flaky heard Giggles gasp in shock at Fliqpy's comment.
"Well you might think we're bitches but we're not red are we?" asked Petunia, anger rising in her voice. Flaky heard a low chuckle from Fliqpy.
"No, you're not red. But you're about to be covered in it" and suddenly Flaky heard a horrible sounding crash as Fliqpy punched Petunia in the side of the face, knocking her into the wall. He grabbed her by the sides of the head and then Flaky heard Petunia let out a horrible scream. It was a scream of pure fear but it was cut off by the sound of a snap, followed by the thump of Petunia's limp body hitting the floor. Flaky tried to curl up smaller but couldn't. She was beginning to shake again. Meanwhile she could hear Giggles wailing. She had her back against the wall and was trying to beg Fliqpy not to kill her.
"Flippy! Please, no! Please! Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed, but Fliqpy just grabbed the helpless chipmunk by the head, turned her round and smashed her face into the mirror. The mirror shattered, as did Giggle's face. Shards of glass embedded all over her, leaving deep cuts all across her face. As blood seeped out, Giggles screamed again.
"Help! Help me! Please!" she screamed, trying to make a rush for the door but Fliqpy caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist and throwing her through the door of the cubicle that Lammy was in. The door caved in and Lammy screamed in fright but it was short lived as Fliqpy grabbed her and snapped her neck with ease. Giggles lay on the ground, relatively uninjured apart from the cuts on her face. She was partially buried in the debris of the door she had been thrown through but Fliqpy grabbed her by the feet and dragged her out, ignoring her desperate pleas. He left her lying on the floor, bleeding from the face and with purple blotches appearing on a few parts of her body; bruises from when she was thrown through the door.
"Flaky..." called Fliqpy, almost poetically. Flaky forced both of her hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.
"Oh Flaky... found you" he said rhythmically as he pulled off the door to her cubicle. Flaky immediately broke into a fit of screaming, backing herself against the other side of the tiny cubicle. But she was shut up the moment he spoke.
"Shut up. Shut up Flaky. I want to show you something" he told her. His face almost seemed serious. "If you aren't right here by the time I count to three, I will rip your fucking heart out and eat it in front of you as you die!" he yelled. Flaky didn't hesitate, she followed his orders. Slowly she stepped towards Fliqpy, every part of her being screaming at her to stay as far away as possible. But the closer she got, the less likely it seemed he would hurt her.
"Come with me" he told Flaky and she stepped out of the cubicle into the main bathroom, where the dead Petunia lay and Giggles lay on her back, whimpering softly. Flaky wanted to try and help but didn't know what to do. She looked at Fliqpy and once again he read her mind.
"Go ahead" he said to her. Flaky quickly scrambled to Giggles and knelt down next to her. Giggles was crying her eyes out, staring at Fliqpy in sheer terror as blood continued to seep down her face.
"Giggles, it's... it's okay. It's okay! I don't t-think he'll hurt you" she told Giggles. The moment she looked at Fliqpy, he nodded to clarify. But then as Flaky brought her attention back to Giggles, she felt something being pushed into her paw. Fliqpy was handing his bowie knife to her.
"I won't hurt her. You will. Kill her. Kill her now" he ordered. The wide eyed Flaky stared first at him and then at the bloody knife.
"But... but why?" she asked, a whimpering building up in her voice.
"So you can feel what it's like. If you love Flippy so much, prove that you're willing to be like Flippy. Follow his example and murder your best friend. He enjoys it and you will enjoy it too. I am Flippy. You know that" he told her maliciously. Flaky turned back to look down on Giggles, tears running down the cheeks of both of them.
"Flaky... please. We're friends. We're friends!" whispered Giggles. In the shards of glass that littered the floor, Flaky could make out the reflection of Fliqpy smirking. Slowly, Flaky grasped the knife's wooden handle firmly in her paw and held it out, ready to strike.
"No. No, please no" begged Giggles. Tears were streaming down Flaky's face, hitting the floor and mixing with Giggles blood.
"Don't you remember? She's not real. Everything here is just part of imagination. Now kill your friend, and be like your love. Take on his role as the murderer. He and I are one. You shall become part of us" said Fliqpy without any kind of emotion whatsoever in his voice.
Flaky kept looking directly down on the whimpering Giggles. She didn't change her glance at all, she just stayed transfixed at Giggles.
"I made my choice" said Flaky finally. There was no stutter in her voice. "I made it a long time ago" she said. Fliqpy raised an eyebrow. Slowly, Flaky turned towards Fliqpy and looked him dead in the eyes, something she'd never been able to do before.
"You're not Flippy. You're a mutation. I'll kill you!" she suddenly screeched before launching herself at Fliqpy, who just managed to block her as she dived, knife poised to strike, directly at his chest. Fliqpy grabbed her forearms in one hand and her neck in the other before slamming her against the mirror and pinning her there. Her last chance was gone. She'd failed. The infuriated Fliqpy pinned her against the mirror, holding her in the air so her feet dangled above the floor while one of his paws held her in place by the throat, threatening to crush it with the force with which he was holding her. Flaky tried to struggle but it was pointless. The paw that held the bowie knife was pinned against the mirror by Fliqpy's other paw. She couldn't move it.
"You're braver than I remember" began Fliqpy, growling every word. "But bravery only leads to taking risks, which can only lead to death. Whether you like it or not, you little fucking bitch, your precious Flippy and I are one. Sometimes he is in control, sometimes I am. But this is the truth Flaky. He lied to you. He never had PTSD. He never fought in the war. I was Flippy. I was the one who owned this body. But one day I changed. He became part of me. An intruder. Then he took control and made me an outcast in my own body! And you dare to call me the mutation! He is! Flippy is!" screamed Fliqpy. Flaky could barely comprehend what he was saying, but she didn't need to. He dropped her to the floor and she landed with a sickening thud, some of the shards of glass cutting her legs. She whimpered but Fliqpy responded by kicking her in the ribs.
"Grow the fuck up. I had to deal with far worse" he said. Then he crouched down next to Flaky and spoke softly, right into her ear.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" he asked.
"Why?" Flaky asked weakly.
"Because this is Flippy's playground. He created this mental realm to trap me in so I couldn't get out and retake my own body. Every second of my existence he would plunge me into terrifying nightmares that I have had to live out. Just like what you've been experiencing here, but a thousand times worse! Imagine it. Constant. For years, your own mind used as a weapon against you. It changed me. I'm no longer who I used to be. Now I hunt. I kill. I murder. Flippy was the one who did this to me. And I'm gonna make him pay. Just before I took you here, he regained control for the smallest instance and planted things in this realm. To disguise himself, to hide the truth from you. He fed you lies that this is all in your mind. It isn't. It's in mine! He just wanted to keep it a secret, to hide that this is all his plan to keep the real owner of his body imprisoned! Flaky, oh Flaky. I brought you here so you could experience just a sample of what I've had to live with. This is what Flippy did to me. Now I ask you this; will you love someone that does this to another person?" he finished.
"This is all about me loving Flippy?" asked an alarmed Flaky.
"Of course it is! As long as you love him, that gives him strength. The strength to keep me imprisoned! I want you to experience what I have to experience. And then will you love him? He will lose his greatest defence. You."
Flaky didn't know what to say. The shock of what Fliqpy had told her was only just starting to set in. But he still had plans.
"Now do what the fuck I said, and kill her" he ordered Flaky. Giggles was still lying on the floor. Flaky turned to look at her and slowly rolled over. She knew she had no choice. In her head a thousand questions were being screamed. Slowly Flaky brought the knife towards Giggles, and Giggles began to sob as she watched helplessly as the knife approached.
"Please. Flaky, please" begged Giggles. Flaky brought the knife into the air above the terrified Giggles as Fliqpy watched, unblinking. But Flaky couldn't bring it down. She tried to but couldn't. And Fliqpy could tell. As Flaky could feel herself giving up, she felt Fliqpy's paw on hers, the one holding the knife. Slowly he began to force her paw down towards Giggles, the blade of the knife pointing directly towards her chest. Giggles begged for them not to, but not even Flaky paid attention. She just let Fliqpy guide her paw towards Giggles. Occasionally Flaky would whimper and a tear would fall from her eye onto Giggles soft fur, which was still coated in Flaky's dry blood from when she hugged her.
"Just let it happen. Feel the pleasure as it goes into the soft flesh, as the blood flows freely" said Fliqpy as the blade began to press against Giggles' soft chest. Flaky felt Fliqpy's paw loosen and let go. He was leaving it to her to finish the rest. Flaky took one final look at Giggles, who simply stared at her with tear filled eyes before Flaky slammed her eyes shut and thrust the knife into Giggles' stomach. She felt the hot blood splash onto her face as the knife went deeper. Giggles' breathing could be felt through the knife as it went deeper still. The blood that poured from the wound now formed a pool around Flaky's paw as she forced the knife even deeper into Giggles. Then, slowly, she withdrew the knife. But Giggles was still alive. Flaky slowly opened her eyes and realised she wasn't done. The moment she had opened her eyes many more tears flowed out, but she suddenly brought the knife down and it tore another wound into Giggles' stomach. Again she plunged the knife into Giggles' soft flesh, then again and again. Her eyes were wide open and she just stared at Giggles as her life force ebbed away increasingly fast with each stab. At first Giggles' had been gasping for air but now that had subsided. Repeatedly Flaky stabbed the bowie knife's blade as deep inside Giggles' torso as possible, spraying blood everywhere with each action. Finally she felt confident that Giggles' was no longer alive and she brought herself to stop. Blood was everywhere. Giggles' was soaked in it, the floor was like a bath of it, but Flaky was also soaked.
As Flaky lifted the knife out of Giggles' flesh, she felt a warm presence behind her. Fliqpy knelt down next to her in the blood and placed a paw on top of the one Flaky was holding the knife with. He pulled her paw towards his face, his green eyes observing the blood soaked blade. Then, without warning, he opened his mouth and licked a great deal of the blood off, tasting it like it was a fine wine. Flaky watched, no emotion registering on her face besides the tears that had now formed small watery lines down the drying blood coating her face. Fliqpy then guided the knife towards Flaky's mouth.
"No. No, please, no" Flaky tried to protest but it was no use.
"Taste it. The spoils of victory" said a gleeful Fliqpy, and Flaky let her tongue escape from her mouth and lick a large amount of hot red blood from the blade before bringing it back into her mouth. Fliqpy watched with fascination as Flaky tasted the blood. She let it roll around in her mouth before swallowing it.
She loved it.