Chapter 7:
I ended up falling back into a blissful sleep, half awake, half asleep mostly. I could hear people knocking on my door every now and then, as if to wake me up, sometimes they'd even call my name. I just ignored them. By the time I did finally decide to get up, it was midday, so I slowly stood, stretching, staring at myself in the mirror. I froze completely, my head snapping behind me, but no one was standing there. I looked back into the mirror quickly, but instead of the figure leaning against the wall behind me, he was right behind me, breathing down my neck. His hands, which were adorn with claws for fingers, were placed on both my shoulders, and though I couldn't see his eyes, his hair too long, I somehow recognized him from somewhere, I just didn't know where… His eyes, they're a glowing purple like mine.
"I'm going to ruin your life." He whispered in my ear. "Are you ready?" I turned around to knock him away, instantly recognizing that line, but again, he wasn't behind me. Looking back into the mirror, he was gone.
Quickly getting dressed and concealing myself, I went to open the door, finding it locked. How did he get in? I unlocked my door; then went downstairs, finding no one here. I guess that made sense, its midday after all and we're getting ready for the harvest. I got something to eat, sitting down and consuming the meal, when the door opened. At first glance I saw the dude, causing me to freak out and make a complete mess of things. It turned out to just be Jerome and Mitch.
"Sorry, I thought you were someone else, you scared me." I determined, helping clean it up, but not being able to do much considering they were faster than I was when it came to cleaning up messes.
"Hey, don't worry about it, accidents happen." Jerome assured, patting my head. I flinched at the touch. Slowly nodding, I went into the living with them, sitting down across from them and not saying anything. "So, now that you're up, why don't we send you over to Mr. Grangers place to help Ian for now, I know Adam's in town helping pretty much everyone at once, and we'll be heading out to Amy's farm after this break of ours. You know how to get there, right?" I nodded, leaving after that. I continued seeing the man out of the corner of my eyes, the entire way jumping, rushing towards town.
I entered town, turning a corner swiftly and crashing into someone. I looked up to see Adam, now covered in feathers, ink, pink dye, and mushrooms.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, quickly standing and trying to help get him cleaned up. He softly chuckled.
"You're fine, accidents happen, I'll just go get cleaned up. Could you let Hazel know what happened for me?" He called over his shoulder. I nodded. "Thanks!" After that, he took off at a jog/sprint. I rubbed my head, the man suddenly in front of me, making me fall, but no one was there.
'I'm going to ruin your life…' His words echoed in my head. I stood, dusting myself off and rushing to Hazel's place. I found Blaze sleeping soundly behind the counter, making me smile. Hazel smiled as she saw me.
"Ty, how can I help you?" She politely asked, placing her folded arms over the counter.
"I accidently bumped into Adam and the stuff went everywhere, he asked me to tell you, I'm so sorry." I explained to her. She laughed.
"Don't worry about it, I have plenty more stock to cover everything, it was a very small load. Besides, accidents happen." She declared like everyone else. I nervously laughed, those words starting to eat away at me. I nodded.
"Thanks for under-" I cut myself off when turning around, knocking over a rack of stuff that caused some more stuff to fall over as well, making a mess. Accidents happen, accidents happen. I rushed to collect everything, continuing to apologize and apologize, over and over again. This day has been awful.
"Don't worry, you're fine, I'm sure you have stuff to do anyway, I'll take care of this." She stiffly insisted, taking all the stuff from my arms, forcing a smile on her face.
"I feel awful, really." I informed her. She nodded quickly.
"Go work, it'll take your mind off of it." She basically ordered, pointing to the door. Hesitantly, I left, Blaze's head tilted in confusion on what had happened while he slept. I made my way to Mr. Granger's farm, continuing to flinch and jump; the thing everyone keeps assuring me echoing in my head along with the first sentence the man had told me. When I found Ian, I rushed over, nervous.
"Hey, you're here, tie the logs down please." He requested, holding the large pile steady, looking worn the hell out. I tied the pile down for him and he sighed, allowing his weight to shift away from the logs. "Thanks." He sighed, patting my head, making me flinch.
"What can I-" I was cut off by the snapping of the rope, the logs rolling down instantly, making us jump back as we stared at them with surprise. "Do… I'm sorry." I mumbled. "I guess I didn't tie it right."
"No, Ty, I'm sure it was just an old rope, we can stack the logs again." Ian confirmed, not seeming pleased at all. If fact, he seemed rather pissed off, but he sighed, smiling down at me. "Accidents happen." He assured. "Go get another rope- actually two of them. They're in the shed over there." He informed me, starting to pile the logs up again. I jogged over, gently opening the door and entering the dark, dusty room. I rummaged through the pile of junk until finding some rope, managing to tug it out. Turning, I jumped back, the man in the doorway smiling deviously.
He disappeared, as I expected, after I jumped back. Unfortunately, I happened to trip and land on top of something, breaking it. I stood, wincing, searching for the broke object. I soon found a broken container, a flammable warning symbol on it. Oh no…
"What happened?" Ian suddenly questioned from behind me.
"I tripped and fell… And I think I broke this…" I determined, showing him the rather large container. He sighed heavily.
"Go home, get cleaned up." He ordered, basically shoving me out of the shed. I tripped, falling down, staring up at him as he started moving stuff around, working in the dark.
"But I want to-"
"I said go home." He coldly replied. Tears brimmed at my eyes, but I didn't move, just stared at him shocked. He didn't notice.
"But-"
"Go!" He partially yelled, making me flinch as his head snapped back to me, his eyes burning like a torch, newly lit. Tears rolled of my cheeks as I scrambled to my feet and took off running. What bothered me was that he didn't even try apologizing. I got back to our place, slamming the front door behind me, tears still flooding from my eyes, blurring my vision majorly. Jerome popped his head into the kitchen, concern filling his face.
"Ty, what's wrong?" He asked as I just shoved passed him, running upstairs and slamming my bedroom door shut behind me. I went to the corner farthest from the windows and the door, curling into a ball as I sobbed. Ian never yells, he never yells, not at me… My door opened, not closing as someone rushed over, hugging me tightly and holding me against them. I felt someone else hug me as well. I didn't care, I could tell who they were even without looking at them. Jerome was the second one to hug me, the first being Adam, and I heard my door softly click shut, someone sitting on the edge of my bed. Mitch.
I was forced to stand, brought to my bed, and once more sat down, Adam holding me and only Adam now. I didn't mind, just simply sobbed into his chest, his arms engulfing me, tightly holding me.
"Ty, what's wrong?" Jerome questioned, concerned. I just simply shook my head, not able to find my voice, just sobbing louder as I tried talking. They didn't mind, just simply held me, never leaving my side, despite the fact they probably have more important stuff to do anyway. After I calmed down though, Adam's soft, hushed voice continued to quietly murmur into my ears, hushing me further.
"What's wrong?" Jerome calmly asked once me, one of his hands gently stroking my cheek.
"I-… Ian got pissed with me and started yelling at me because I fucked something up…" I whispered. Suddenly Jerome was out of the room, the front door flying open and slamming shut again. Mitch rushed after him. Adam didn't let me follow, just held me there firmly, as if to keep me from seeing what was bound to happen.
~Jerome~
"No, Mitch, Ian can't be yelling at Ty, let go of me!" I screamed, trying to shake him off as he stood there, holding me in his death grip.
"Take it easy Jerome, you'll get yourself hurt." He pleaded, tightening his grip around my waist.
"Mitch, let go!" I demanded.
"No!" He responded, his voice cracking. I stopped struggling, listening as he quietly cried into my shoulder. "Please… please, you'll get hurt, I can't nearly loose you to Ian again… You know what he's like when he's upset, you know he won't listen to reason, just please… drop it…" He begged. I slowly turned around in his arms, tasting the salt on his lips as the tears stained them. I slowly nodded.
"Ok… ok, I'll drop it for now… but if it happens again-"
"You have every right to go after him." Mitch insisted. I nodded, smiling partially.
"So, am I needed anymore, or…?" Hazel asked. She'd been sitting on the ground, or on my foot more like it, weighing me down even more as Blaze had been ripping the cuff of my left pant leg up partially from his tight grip as well. He'd stopped now, seeing our game of 'tug a war' was over. I chuckled, softly shaking my head no. She sighed.
"Well, ok then. I'll try talking with Ian myself, he wouldn't hit a woman and Ty's just as much as my friend as he is yours. Have a nice night." Hazel confirmed, dusting herself off. "Blaze, come." She called. Blaze trotted after her, wagging his tail as his tongue flopped lazily out the side of his mouth. Mitch and I turned around, walking silently back to the house. When getting back, I looked around for Ty, or for Adam. I found neither of them. Heading upstairs, I crept towards Ty's bedroom, peeping in to find Adam and Ty still in the others embrace, seeming happy, making me smile.
"WELL." I stated loudly, making them both flinch. "We're back, I decided not the talk with Ian, but we should get going, get back to work. You can stay here if you want too Ty, to clean up and all." I informed him. He gave me a weak smile, hiding his face against Adam's chest again, nodding.
"Bye." Adam quietly stated to Ty.
"Bye…" He whispered back, letting go of him. They paused, but did nothing else, Adam leaving the room, an awkward feeling hanging in the air. I waved goodbye, Mitch copying, Ty waving back, and we left again.
~Ty~
I slowly washed away all the flammable oil from my body, making sure none resided, sighing as I felt relieved it was all gone. Still seeing the man out of the corner of my eyes, I got out, dried off, and redressed, then returned inside, sitting down in the silent house; letting out a nervous, shaky breath. I shot up and looked in the kitchen, but no one was there. I sighed, turning and falling to the ground as the man leaned over me, not disappearing this time.
"I'm going to ruin your life. Are you ready?" He reminded, disappearing again. I sighed. Just my imagination… I stood, shaking the slightest bit. This shouldn't be getting to me so much, so why is it? Why is this man, the man that I think I know from somewhere but I'm positive I don't, getting to me? I looked to the clock. They should all be home soon. I got the table cleaned, pulled out some servings of food, set the table, then looked out the window, seeing them approaching from down the road.
I went outback as the sun set, sitting on the porch, pulling my legs to my chest, hugging them as I watched the slowly fading light die. I just sat there. I could hear talking from inside, the sound muffled from the closed door and the distance between us. I didn't want to know what they were talking about anyway… Probably something terrible, about me anyways. I sighed. I fucked up everyone's day today… I slowly nodded to myself. I'll try to make it a better day tomorrow.
'I'm going to ruin your life.' His words echoed. It was just a dream, right? 'Are you ready?'
"Yes." I whispered; waiting for a reply I wouldn't get in return. "Bring it." I added.
I tossed and turned in my sleep, the nightmare unbearable. No, no, no, no, no… I shot up, my eyes instantly spotting the figure in the corner that vanished in a split second. I got up, dressed quickly, seeing it was a bit early in the morning; then stood in front of the mirror.
"Bring it, you say." The man with no eyes visible to me whispered in my ear. "Bring it I shall." He confirmed, disappearing. Damn, don't tell me he's real… Slipping my bracelet on, I left the house without breakfast, going to Hazel's shop, which was open. She gave me a warm smile, despite what happened yesterday. I made sure to put plenty of distance between me and anything I could knock over.
"Hey, so I was wondering if you needed any help." I began, biting my bottom lip. She blinked; then slowly nodded, a frown on her face. She narrowed her eyes.
"Why?" She demanded.
"Because I wanted to help, to make up for yesterday." I mumbled, trying to look her in the eye. She sighed, smiling.
"Alright, let's see here… You can sort dye packs, right? You aren't color blind?" She teased, handing me a medium sized box filled with different dye packs. She motioned for me to sit behind the counter, towards the end by the wall, so I sat there with the smaller containers used for the display case under the counter, sorting the different dye packs very. Very. Very, carefully. When I finished, I slid the boxes back into place, where they should go, then went to Hazel, who was in an aisle fixing a broken rack. She smiled as she saw me. "Finished then?" I nodded. "Good, then… can you clean the counter down? Here, I'll get the cleaning supplies." She went and got the cleaning supplies, but after giving them to me, she stood by the counter. "Do you smell that?" She demanded. I did smell it.
"Maybe a dye pack broke, I'm sorry, I'll fix it." I determined. We both began to carefully search all the containers, until Hazel suddenly shrieked while going through the blueone.
"NO!" She screamed, starting to quickly take the dye packs out. By now, at least 75% of them had been soaked in red dye. Red. "Damn it, do you know how much money it costs to buy blue dye nowadays Ty?! I can't get another shipment in quick enough, and everyone buys blue dye at the harvest to prepare for winter, what the hell, did you do this on purpose?!" She demanded, suddenly enraged, looking to me. I just stared at her shocked, quickly shaking my head no, not being able to find the words to speak. "The dye pack is ripped open! Fucking ripped the hell open, if this is some kind of twisted game I swear to god Ty!" She determined, still yelling. "I can't sell purple dye to people that want blue, what the hell am I supposed to do now?! I'll lose so much business, our town is the heart of the harvest Ty; how could you do this to me?" She was passed anger and onto tears. Hazel doesn't take things lightly, she never has. Her family is all dead and all she has is this shop, if she loses business she'll lose the shop. She'll lose her life.
"Is there anything I can-"
"NO!" She yelled, shocked I would even offer, making me flinch away again. "Just… go away." She begged, starting to clean the mess up as Miss. Israel came is. I rushed outside, hurrying home. I went straight to my room, making sure the door was locked, then unlocked my chest and started rummaging through it. I know I have some in here somewhere… I pulled out a small bag containing lapis lazuli, the key ingredient in blue dye. In fact, you could just crush up the lapis and you'd be set to go. I rushed back out of the house, hurrying back to Hazel's shop, but when I got there the door was locked and she wouldn't let me in. Damn it…
It went on like this for weeks, everything I tried doing making everything a fucking mess, getting worse and worse until I just started hiding in my room and not coming out. I was getting really paranoid, getting insane, I couldn't stop thinking about the man, about everything he's done to my life without even being here in the flesh to cause it physically. This isn't me, this can't be me, I don't cause trouble, this isn't me! Ian had stopped trying to comfort me a while ago, Mitch following about a week or so later. Not even Jerome will comfort me anymore, and I won't let Adam do it, I don't want to lose him eventually too… The sun would be setting in a couple of hours, the sky already pink and orange.
Tonight was the harvest festival, the thing I'd basically been destroying by accident. No one had tried talking to me, or even knocking on my door for about 3 weeks now, like they'd just given up on me and didn't care about me anymore, considering I've hurt and effected them as much as I have the people of this town, but surprisingly, I heard a faint knock.
"Ty?" Adam's soft voice started. "Ty, could you open the door?"
"It's been unlocked for 2 fucking weeks now!" I snapped back bitterly. The door slowly creaked open, Adam's face set with a partially hurt, partially worried look.
"Ty, are you ok?"
"No!" I laughed. "Everything I try doing goes to fucking hell and I don't understand how, why would I be alright?!" I demanded, my body beginning to shake, my numb body that hasn't moved for about a week or so waking up again.
"Ty." Adam approached, kneeling down in front of me, embracing me with a gentle hug. "You need fresh air, you look like you're going insane." He determined.
"No, he's out there still; he's trying to get me!" I argued, pressing myself into the corner. Adam sighed. Yes, I'd told them about the creepy man plotting to ruin my life. Yeah, they totally believe me! Oh, don't forget to add 5 hundred layers of sarcasm to the cake. They think I'm a lunatic. Jerome thinks I'm trying to make up excuses.
"Ty, no one is out there." Adam informed me. I growled.
"Yes there is!" I snapped back.
"Ok, then I'll stay at your side the entire time to ward them off." Adam concluded.
"It doesn't matter, you never know when he's coming and he's only there a split second anyway!" I explained as Adam dragged me from my room, towards the stairs. "You wouldn't be able to stop him even if you wanted too, it's impossible, he haunts me in my sleep as well; that's why I can't sleep anymore!" I continued.
"Not this again." Ian mumbled, holding the door open for Adam as he dragged my stiff body outside.
"Why do we have to bring him again? He'll probably fuck everything up." Mitch added. Jerome didn't say anything, but never looked to me with a smile either, more of a deep set frown, as if he disapproved of me now.
"Guys, give him a chance." Adam snapped.
"We've given him several already, what do you expect him to prove? Besides, he probably has something on him anyway." Ian confirmed. Adam stopped abruptly, starting to search me, patting me down very firmly.
"He has nothing but the clothes on his back." Adam coldly assured, continuing on. The night went by horribly. First off, no one but Adam would get within 10 feet of me, not even Ian, Mitch, and Jerome. I had to stay in one spot, just in case something happened, so no one could prove it was me and get me blamed again. I was even in view of a street camera! Adam seconded that, at least he had faith in me; I mean he could do whatever he wanted in the whole world at this festival, but he stayed with me.
The festival went on for hours into the night, the only lights on this new moon being the streetlamps. No stars were out, the clouds too thick and heavy, but it never rained. Suddenly, the power went out completely. Adam stiffened as my grip tightened on Adam's hand.
"It's him, it's him; I know it's him!" I whispered in his ear.
"What the hell is going on?" Someone called as Astro climbed the side of his building, the power generator for the village up on his roof, considering he was the mechanic and all.
"Someone cut up all the wires." He determined as people got out emergency torches. Everyone that lives in this town, including my own housemates, looked to me, glaring.
"I didn't do it!" I screamed, shocked and horrified.
"Ty couldn't have done it, he was with me all night long, in view of that camera right there, you can check, but Ty didn't do it." Adam calmly added to that statement.
"Then who would do it? Nothing happened to anyone in this town since Ty disappeared for a while, and now he's back on the night of the festival and we've lost power!" Hazel screamed. I slowly backed myself against the wall.
"Why? Why have you suddenly turned against your own people Ty? What did any of us ever do to you?!" Megan yelled.
"I didn't mean to do anything, not on purpose…" I whispered, no one hearing me as tears filled my eyes. Basically everyone was yelling at me, anyone who lived in town at least. The man's words repeated rapidly in my head, as well as everything he's done to ruin my life. He wins… I stood, taking off running home, getting there in a record time, rushing to my room and locking the door behind me as I stopped crying. I got my bag, unlocking the chest and putting everything into the bag, all of the money I'd collected for myself over the years. I got my journal, jar of ink, and a quill, flipping to the next blank page and writing down what came to mind first, ripping the page out and leaving it on my desk as I stuffed all of that stuff into the bag as well.
I grabbed my sheath and ran downstairs, placing the sheath on, the bag over it, leaving through the backdoor and not looking back. I just ran. Ran and ran.
'I've ruined your life. Are you satisfied?'