CYOA Page 196
Sep. 11th, 2013 06:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lumy12You've killed shitloads of infected -- Runners, Stalkers, Clickers, Bloaters... (okay, maybe not so many Stalkers, but only because they're not as... plentiful?) (and 'shitloads' would refer to them as a whole, because you can count on one hand how many Bloaters you've killed -- and never on your own). You've also killed a fuckton of hunters. Grown men with guns and shit. How the fuck can you be afraid of a damn ghost, for fuck's sake?!
You fetch your flashlight and bravely venture forth to vanquish the evil spirit. ...or befriend it, as the case may be? Just... anything besides laying there, wondering and fretting.
You have to tread very carefully in the hallway, though, lest you wake Joel. You need to find the way up to the attic... and you hope it's not near his room, because he left his door open and you don't want the light to disturb him. As luck would have it, you find an upward-bound stairway on your side of the house. You spend about twenty seconds summoning the courage to go up there by reminding yourself once again of all the people you've killed.
...and the only reason I'm climbing up the creepy fucking stairs super slowly is I don't want to wake Joel, you also tell yourself. Not because you're a kind, considerate person who wants him to get his sleep, but because the last thing you need is him asking you what the hell you're doing, then teasing you about it.
Well... that, and you're a kind, considerate person. When you want to be.
You're surprised to find a trap-door-thingie at the top of the stairs, because you kind of thought attics were an either/or when it came to those and stairs? You pull the string carefully and pray that it doesn't fall open with a loud squeak or something. Although... it's not like Joel fucking HEARD any of the noises up here that I did! You cool it a little on the uber-carefulness with this in mind.
You poke your head through and start to sweep your light around. "Helloooooo?" you call tentatively. "Uh... ghost person? Whoever you are? You better tell me what the fuck you want..."
The attic looks like any normal attic: cramped, with boxes of shit strewn about. You hear the noise again! You still think it sounds like little feet -- you shine your light around wildly but you don't see anything. "That's not helpful," you tell the ghost firmly, trying to sound confident and in control and like you're not shitting your pants right now.
You let yourself all the way into the room and start to pace it slowly. "Look, dude... whatever you want... I'll try and help, okay? If it's not too outrageous. ...I don't know what ghosts usually want. My firstborn? Cuz... I can't even promise you that I'm gonna have children. And if you're a child yourself... which I think maybe you are..." It didn't sound like big heavy adult feet stomping on the floor. "... er... not like I would know what you're supposed to sound like... in this... form? Or whatever? ...Anyway... um... if you are, then... that's not really something you would want, right? Gotta say... that sounds a little ridiculous, even for a grown-up. Like, what would you even do if you had a live kid up here..."
"Who are you--"
"Aaahhh!" you yelp and nearly jump out of your skin when you hear a voice. You whirl around toward the source -- the trap door... but of course, it's only Joel! Fuck!
He chuckles at your reaction... and just stays there, halfway in, resting his arms on the floor (along with his newly-batteried flashlight, which he is at least kind enough not to shine in your face). "Who the hell are you talkin' to up here?"
"No one!" It's not a total lie...
"You sure? 'Cause I thought I heard you talkin' about havin' kids. Pretty heavy talk for--"
"I wasn't!" You might as well come clean. "Joel, didn't you hear the noises? Like... little feet running around?"
"Sure I did. There's mice up here."
"...Mice?!"
"Yeah. They're prob'ly feedin' on the spiders... an' there's some seeds up here, too. Look -- over in that corner there. Whole bagful."
You don't bother to look. "Why didn't you fucking tell me there were mice?!"
"Uh... because I didn't want you to freak out?"
"Why would I freak out about mice?!"
"I don' know... I just didn't want you to get it in your head... thought you might imagine them comin' down and... nibblin' on your toes in your sleep or somethin'."
That's almost laughable. Maybe if you weren't so pissed off! "Do you think I'm a fucking four-year-old?! Why would I--"
"Well, I don' know... I'm sorry -- I know you ain't squeamish about critters like most girls, so I shouldn't've assumed--"
"Yeah! You fucking shouldn't have!"
"...Calm down, kiddo. Why are you gettin' all worked up over this?"
"Because! Cuz -- you say you didn't want me to freak out? What do you think I was doing when I heard noises up here! Like... feet running around. If I'd known it was only mice..."
"What else would be runnin' around up here?" he chuckles. "Wait... you didn't think... you did, didn't you. You thought it was your ghost from downstairs--"
"No I didn't! I had no idea what the fuck--"
"You did -- you thought it was the ghost. That's why you were talkin' to it. Havin' a serious conversation with it, from the sound of things."
"I was talking to myself," you lie smoothly -- at least, it would be smooth if you weren't suddenly blushing tomato-red right now, but Joel probably can't see that. "You've heard me do that before! It's like... how I calm myself. And I was creeped out, over the noises, so--"
" 'Cause you thought it was some spirit messin' with ya."
"No I didn't!"
"Well, now that you know the truth, why don't you come back down an' go back to bed, yeah?"
You hate the smirk you hear in his voice. He's not outwardly acting like a dick... or, not too big of one, at least? ...but you know he's laughing his ass off on the inside. "Joel. I did not think there was a ghost up here."
"Whatever you say, kiddo."
"Why won't you believe me?"
"...Does it matter what I think?"
"Yes! I don't want you going home and telling everyone that stupid little Ellie was up all night chasing a phantom through--"
"Why would I tell anyone that?" he says, laughing.
...and since he's so fucking amused, there's no use trying to bargain or reason with him. "I dunno. Maybe cuz you're an asshole?"
"Ouch."
Now he's legit smirking.
"You want me to come down?" you sneer at him. "Then you better fucking move, cuz right now your face is in line with my foot. And I just might--"
"Whoa whoa whoa... I'll move. Please don't hurt me!" His head disappears.
You could almost laugh at that; you don't think you've ever heard Joel utter the words "please don't hurt me" before -- not all together like that. Generally because he's the one that's doing the hurting. He's nowhere in sight as you descend the stairs (leaving the trap door open, in case the mice want to come downstairs too and they don't have another way... do mice usually go through the walls and shit?). (And you can't ask Joel because he'll tease you about your ghosts going through walls.)
You round the corner-- and he scares the shit out of you again by popping up out of nowhere!
"Shit... you look like you've seen a ghost," says Joel with mock concern.
"Motherfucker!" You launch yourself at him and start beating him up. ...Okay, so not really, but you land one good punch on his arm before he starts to block you. "Why do you have to-- be such a--"
"Such a great guy? I don' know... just comes natural to me." Now he has you in a chokehold from behind, with his arm across your neck. "What do you do next..."
It takes you a moment to realize he just turned this into a self-defense lesson. Ha! That's so Joel. "Uh... you don't wanna do this right now. Trust me."
"That's what you do? You'd tell him he don't wanna do this? Not a very good--"
"No -- I'm telling you!" you chortle. "Because I might actually do it this time, and you'll be hating life if I do."
He releases you immediately. Ha!!!
And now you can laugh at him! "You thought I really would do it, didn't you! That's fucking hilarious."
"I was ready to block you... but yes, I couldn't take that chance. You seem pretty pissed off."
Not so pissed off that you'd initiate the maneuver that culminates in kicking him in the groin... and actually kick him instead of faking it! From what you've heard, it's pretty much the worst pain ever. Joel looks like he's in pain right now, and you didn't even touch him! "Eh, I'm already dead anyway. You got your arm up too good. I didn't know we were doing that, or I'd have--"
"I know. I reckon I would've deserved it anyhow. I'm sorry."
It's a placating apology, not a real one. "Whatever. I'm all wide awake now, thanks to you, but I'll try to go back to sleep." You shove past him and don't bother issuing another 'good night.'
"You wanna read some more? That'll help get you sleepy again."
No! I just want to get the fuck away from you! ...but you're glad you didn't say that out loud, because you realize it's not true. You pause. "Um... you don't have to do that."
"I want to. We can't jus' stop in the middle of a chapter like that. It ain't right."
You snort. How can you resist Joel throwing your own words back at you? And that was really nice, reading with him earlier. "Okay... but in your bed." That way, he can't leave you before you're ready, as you will be the leave-er.
"Deal."
It's amazing, really, that you can go from being seriously irritated with him to snuggling with him in a matter of minutes. You forget all about the ghost while you're reading with him... and yes, you do still believe there's a ghost, because it wasn't the fucking mice that opened the cabinet and moved your chair across the room. You don't believe Joel's ludicrous story that he accidentally kicked it that far. But you'll be out of the ghost's hair tomorrow, and its little ghosty life... or whatever?... can go back to normal.
As for tonight... you feel safe. Joel takes over the reading when you get too sleepy to continue, and you're going to have to reread that part, because his voice lulls you to sleep before he finishes it. He doesn't even bother to move you back to your own bed.
If you'd like to start another adventure, return to page 1.
Carlos
Date: 2020-12-05 05:29 am (UTC)RE: Carlos
Date: 2020-12-05 01:08 pm (UTC)