In the late morning downtown, the buildings were blocking the sun, and the shadows were hitting the ground. Paintbrush was walking through the town, they were wearing an old big black coat with a hoodie and long wide pants. They were wondering why a group of people were breaking into their house. The thought of it both scares them and upsets them at the same time. As they were walking further into the town, they saw a tunnel connected to the roadway. Curious, Paintbrush decided to go through this tunnel to see if they could find a clue. Inside the tunnel were some small stores, a corner store, a bar, and an abandoned store. The tunnel was a dead wasteland, it was dry, and no plants were seen in sight. Either way, Paintbrush continued to walk inside until they saw Bow. The pink bow tie was standing in the middle of the road since there were no cars nearby. She had her camera ready on a tripod and was talking about how ugly the tunnel was. Paintbrush decided to leave her alone but heard something. "Why bother? She probably wanted to mess with you. Paintbrush" said the voice inside Paintbrush and their mind. The voice sounded similar to Test Tube, but she wasn't around which mortified Paintbrush. "But…" Before Paintbrush could say anything else, they pause for a moment. "Painty. Please. Just think. Why would she bother you and your friend?..." The voice was getting louder and clearer to Paintbrush. "Because she is mean. Lightbulb said so," said Paintbrush, somewhat agreeing with the voice. "Who broke into your house?" Paintbrush thought for a moment again. "I-I don't know." The paintbrush was getting nervous, but the voice continued. "It must be her then. Get her." After that, Paintbrush harshly walked over to Bow as their steps were loud. Bow didn't notice the sounds coming at her. She was too busy talking to the camera and her viewers. However, when she turned around, she was confused. Their outfit was blocking their identity, so Bow couldn't make out who they were. Unfortunately, Paintbrush pushed her camera and grabbed her. There, Paintbrush took off their hoodie and smiled creepily at her. They began to choke Bow by tightening her head with their hands. Bow tried to say something, but couldn't so she started crying. Tears were coming down from her eyes, and she was coughing. "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BREAKING INTO MY HOUSE!! YOU-YOU-YOU-" Out of nowhere, Paintbrush lets go of Bow and thinks for a moment. They didn't want to hurt anyone because it would be like ending the person's life. They would end up making the same mistake much like in their past. Paintbrush looks back at Bow, who was slowly getting up from the ground to look at them. She had a facial expression of being feared and sad. This scared Paintbrush even more, they turned around and left running. Nobody was around, so Bow just sat there crying again. Wondering what the hell just happened to her.

As the day was hitting dark, the shadows of other days had passed, and Paintbrush was rushing towards their house. The house was a mile away, they were just running over there. Once they got to the house, the door was already fixed by Paintbrush, so they just opened it normally. The house remains the same aside from a partly shattered lamp in the middle of the hallway.

They walked in, looked around, calling out Lightbulb or Test Tube, and they found nothing. After looking again for clues, they decided to check the basement, but unfortunately, nobody was around. They look around the boxes, look at the old furniture, and even call out their names again.

Nothing.

After panicking and crying for two hours, they heard something. The sound of a glass item moving through the furniture and boxes. It was Test Tube making the sounds and movements. Once they realized it was Test Tube, Paintbrush got up quickly and started looking for her. There they found Test Tube with a straight face, and standing between the boxes. She didn't respond in any way until Paintbrush hugged her. "Paintbrush. I'm sorry for my absence. Wanna play a game?" Paintbrush nodded and took out a board game for them to play with. Test Tube smiled, she sat down next to Paintbrush. While the only two friends were playing the game, Test Tube decided to start a conversation. "Oh, Bow. Always quite the silly head she is." Paintbrush then stops playing the game and turns around to look at Test Tube. "What do you mean?" said Paintbrush in confusion. "Did Bow bother you?" asked Test Tube looking back at Paintbrush. "No. I did though." Paintbrush was still confused, and probably even more went Test Tube said something out of context. "Murder." The paintbrush stood up and backed away from Test Tube. "Huh?" said Paintbrush with some of their tears coming out. "Murder her." The voice of Test Tube was getting deeper. "What!?" Paintbrush didn't know what was going on, why is Test Tube saying all of this? She was supposed to be their friend, serious but also friendly. None of this felt right to Paintbrush, but Test Tube continues. "Murder her. She's cruel and only a paper copy of our friend." Paintbrush wasn't sure about this, especially how Test Tube won't normally hurt anyone close to her friend group. Bow is friends with Marshmallow, but Test Tube is friends with Marshmallow as well. "B-but-" Paintbrush didn't know what to say or what to do. They didn't want to disappoint Test Tube, but also at the same time, didn't want to hurt anyone. "Please." Paintbrush continued saying the same words until they realized something. The day they lost everything, the day they lost their loved ones, the day they lost themselves. After realizing that, they decided to follow through. To just make it up for her, and not only her but for everyone else too.

"Okay. I will do it."


Summary:

Paintbrush goes to find the culprit and finds Bow doing her commercials. They attacked Bow until they realized their mistake. They ran away and left Bow behind as she was terrified. As they went back home, they talked to one of their hallucinations, Test Tube. She told them to murder Bow over and over again. Paintbrush wasn't convinced at first since they didn't want to hurt anyone but decided to do it for their loved ones.

Word Count: 1,006