Amber had no idea she had been out. But according to the guys, it was thirty minutes. Then ten more minutes were explained that what she just experienced was gamma sickness, something both the rake and slendy produce.
"So, why didn't it attack me?" Amber asked Habit to which he shrugged.
"No idea. Fucker kills anything in sight. Not like letting someone live. Strange," Habit mutters the last part to herself as they make their way back to the car.
They soon found out they had left a message, written in what appeared to be spraypaint very sloppily: "You can't hide forever. This is only the beginning - White Reaper." with a picture of a deer skull drawn next to it.
"Well, at least we have a name for the face," Jeff said hopefully, with a nervous chuckle.
"Sounds like a KKK leader to me," Habit muttered.
"What do we do now?" Amber said, checking her breath. She almost gagged as it still smelt like burnt bleach. She needed a toothbrush. Evan noticed her gagging and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder
"Simple, let me drive." Habit started and she made way for the passenger side but was grabbed by Vinny. Habit just looked at the hand and then to Vinny before, unusually calmly asking. "Can you please let go?"
"Why should I let you drive my precious truck?" Evan questioned, crossing his arms. "You are never known for being careful." Habit growled but then took a deep breath.
"I know all kinds of backroads, plus I can get us to safety faster than Mr. Careful." She gestured to Vinny. "And Mr. Burntboy." He gestures to Jeff who promptly flips him the bird. Habit doesn't seem to care. "Would you rather die at the hands of that guy or have a chance of living with me?" She smirked at the last part.
"I would rather die," Evan dry complained to which it earned him a shoulder nudge from Amber.
"It is not like we got an actual choice here," Amber reminded him.
Evan sighed, reluctantly getting in the back of the truck and shutting the door. He rolled down the window and started. "Fine, but you better not scratch my baby." Evan was about to put up the window but quickly stuck his head back out. "And obey the speed limit!"
"I'll think about it," Habit chuckled as Jeff tossed him the keys and she got into the front.
This was going to be a long night.
—
The drive could have gone better. Habit did what Habit does best: ignore every safety precaution and embrace pure chaos. He drove way too fast and ignored every speed limit they came across. Everyone had gotten out of the car frazzled but okay. And surprisingly, Habit didn't leave a single scratch, despite Evan's constant searching, to the outside of his car.
A Lot of people had… interesting thoughts about the drive but they came to the same conclusion. ("New rule! Habit isn't allowed to drive, ever!"). The habit didn't seem to care and just walked into the motel to check-in. Habit/Larisa slept with Amber. Evan, Jeff, and Vinny slept in another room to give the girls some privacy. However, Evan came over to make sure everything was okay with Amber (or so he claimed). Habit tried to get him to leave, to which he said he would. But he never left and ended up falling asleep with Amber in his arms.
Amber was still wide awake hours later and she groaned. She looked at the clock to see it was midnight. This could be her just worrying or side effects from the adrenaline from Habit's reckless driving. Either way, she wasn't going to get sleep at this rate. Amber turned over to Evan who was lightly snoring, and turned away from Amber.
Amber decided to get up and get some fresh air outside in hopes of it maybe making her sleepy. She lightly unwrapped Evan's arms from around her. She quickly got out of bed and grabbed her phone off the nightstand, turning on the flashlight on her phone. Amber made her way through the room passing by Habit who was mumbling something about knives. Amber chuckled. She found it amusing that the entity needed sleep. Let alone he talks about knives and something about a cat (The cat's name sounded like Isabelle but Amber wasn't sure).
She quietly opened the door into the crisp air of the night. There weren't many lights on so Amber could see all the stars in the sky. She took a deep breath in, smelling what she thought was chocolate from a few doors down. Amber closed her eyes, hoping the sounds of the night would make her tired enough to sleep.
"Hey," A deep, soothing but unnerving voice said. Amber looked around to see no one there. She was about to go back to looking over the parking lot but: "Hey, I am addressing you, mame."
"Oh sorry, I thought I was imagining things. Where are you?" Amber asked, looking around her.
"I am in your mind."
"Who are you?" Amber questioned. The voice chuckled.
I am surprised how you don't recognize my voice," Amber put two and two together.
"Oh, yeah you're the voice from earlier." Amber realized. The voice chuckled.
"Yes, yes now you get it."
"Can I ask who you are?" Amber asked. The voice went silent for a moment. Amber thought she was scared of the voice but she just sighed.
"I do not have a name. Humans have given me many names. Most ridiculous and makes no sense to me. But I find it harder to be identified by my…peers if I have no name. I go by many through them, but you can call me Mr. S.
"Okay Mr. S, what are you exactly?" Amber leaned against the railing.
"I am something humans have and haven't known for many years," S stated mysteriously.
"Come on, you don't have to do the supernatural bullshit-"
"Language!"
"Sorry, now like I was saying, I already know a creature. Habit-" Amber realized what she just said. Shit.
"Ugh, don't mention his pathetic name."
"So you know him?" Mr. S went silent for a second.
"You could say that," Mr. S muttered. "How do you know the entity anyway? He is not known for traipsing about with mortals."
"Long story," Amber said, not wanting to divulge the information to the mysterious entity. It was nice but she didn't know who it was. She didn't know what the creature would do to her, especially since she knew Habit. Was he-it?- an enemy?
"Oh, I have adequate time. Please do tell me," S prodded. Amber nervously chuckled.
"No, you don't want to know it is boring and-"
"That wasn't a request," Mr. S growled, and a ringing noise filled her ears as she covered them and tried to turn and go back into her room. But she tripped over her own feet and slammed against the door. She turned around, trying to figure out what was happening.
"I can't tell you!" Amber yelled, still covering her ears.
"You will divulge this information whether you want to or not!" The creature roared and her vision began to become cloudy. Suddenly the door opened from behind her and she went tumbling back into the room behind her. She looked up to see a half-asleep Larisa looking down at her. The ringing stopped. Her vision was back to normal, and Amber no longer heard S.
"Larisa?" Amber asked, getting to her feet.
"Habit, get your names straight." Habit responded, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Why are you yelling? It is the middle of the night. And who were you talking to?" Amber looked behind Habit to see Evan was still fast asleep and snoring. She````` sat down on her side of the bed. Amber told her everything that had happened. From the times she heard the voices. She sat there nodding. She acted like he cared. Once done, Habit took a deep breath in and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"Why would I? You could kill me anytime plus, I didn't know if I could trust you." Amber replied.
"Fair," Habit shrugged.
"Do you know who Mr. S is?" Amber asked and Habit shook his head.
"Nope, as far as I know, he is another threat. Tell me if you hear the voice again or any weird dreams." Amber nodded as Habit yawned. "Now if you excuse me, I need to get my beauty sleep.
"I thought immortal demon things don't need sleep," Amber said to which Habit groaned.
"Usually I don't, but this new body isn't adapted to me so I need sleep. If you ask any more questions, I'll gut you like a fish." Habit walked over to the bed and landed face first seeming to instantly fall asleep.
She dreamt of a boardwalk, surrounded by foliage. Everything was in black and white, almost blurry. She was running from…something she didn't know what. Just as she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned around she woke. She could now hear the sound of Vinny knocking on the hotel door, yelling to be ready in a few minutes. Amber said she would and decided to ask Habit about the dream later.