Chapter 12: Always With You

"Are you alright in there?" I heard Aries' muffled voice from outside the door.

"I-I'm fine! You don't have to hang around outside!" I yelled back at him as I imagined him waiting for me outside the bathroom.

"Huh? Is that so? Then, I'll head back to the living room. Call me if you need anything." Aries said as I heard his footsteps growing distant.

I have no idea why girls like heading to the bathroom together? Isn't it awkward? I feel embarrassed. It's like he is right in here with me.

I frowned as I stared at the door that separated us. I checked the knob again and again, making sure it was secured. Lastly, I called out softly to Aries to make sure he was not there.

"A-Aries? Are you outside?" I asked as I shifted in place.

Silence... It should be a good sign then... Eh... Had it always been this silent in my house? ... ...

I frowned and turned on the pipe, quickly relieving myself as I tried not to think about the silence. I flushed before quickly washing my hands. Somehow I had a really bad feeling, so I hurriedly tried to open the door.

As I had not noticed earlier that the carpet had been twisted, I slipped and fell down. When I opened my eyes, I found the door knob in my hand.

"Ah... what... N-no way..." I stared at the door knob in my hand before turning to look at the door.

"Aries! Aries? H-huh? Did he not hear me? A-Aries!" I called out, beginning to panic.

I glanced around the bathroom as I heard the dripping of water from the showerhead. The slightly open door to the shower made my heart begin to race as I was reminded of the scene where the ghost pulled the girl under when she was soaking in the tub.

"Aries! Aries!" I banged on the door as I tried to get his attention.

Did he really leave? Maybe I should have told him to stay. What do I do?

As I was thinking of using my body weight to break through the door, the lights went out. Just as the lights went out, so did my rational thoughts.

"Aries! ARIES! H-HELP ME! ARIES!" I fervently hit the door, my hand begun to feel numb as my eyes begun to sting.

Just as all hope had begun to leave me, the door burst open. It was a blinding ray of light. Like the light at the end of the tunnel.

I reached out towards it, but unlike dreams where the light fades and we are back to the void of darkness, I was pulled into a tight hug.

"Sol? Are you alright? I think the lights went out. I was outside checking up on something because I heard a sound... Did you hurt yourself?"

"N-no... I thought you left... It was scary.... I broke the door knob... I couldn't get out... You also... You weren't there... No matter how long I called..."

I think I was saying something really stupid but I couldn't see Aries' expression, so I focused on calming myself down. The dark has never been pleasant. It was supposed to be difficult trying to sleep last night but somehow... with the wolf at the bottom of the tree... the night didn't seem so lonely.

"It's alright now. I'm here." Aries whispered in a soft and gentle tone. One I remembered he used to console me on the day of my parent's funeral.

"... Thank you." I whispered as I slowly pried myself from him. He has seen me at my worst like it was a daily thing in this two days. Even if I was scared... I should try to maintain some decorum...

"And uh... speaking of door... I broke it." Aries smiled awkwardly as I glanced at his face in confusion before following his gaze to the broken bathroom door hanging loosely by a hinge.

"Wh-- Ho--- The door..." I stammered as my head spun, trying to process it.

"Well... I'll go and check on the fuse box. Why don't you wait here?" Aries asked me as he patted my head.

"H-huh? Here? But... uh..." I glanced around me in the darkness before focusing my gaze onto Aries again.

"It's alright. I'll be back soon... You know what? Why don't you take this? My eyes have already focused in the dark." Aries smiled as he handed me the flashlight.

"A-alright." I accepted the flashlight as Aries patted my head again.

"I'll come back soon when the lights turn on again. You have nothing to fear as long as I'm around." Aries grinned before I heard him walking towards the front door.

My lab was designed a little strangely. The fuse box was located in the basement. But to get there, you'd need to head from the outside. That was the only design on this lab that I found to be tedious and frustrating. However, I didn't have much money to redesign the whole thing, so I just let it be.

I sighed to myself as I tried to get up. I heard the sound of water dripping in an entrancing manner. It wasn't as scary as the time I was trapped in the dark, all alone.

I darted across the room and snuggled up in the comfort of my blanket. You can say that being wrapped so securely is my form of a security blanket.

As I swept the room with the flashlight, I saw a flicker from the ceiling before the lights turned back on. I broke into a smile until the television screen turned on to the area we last stopped on and gave me the scare of my life.

I think it was the loudest I had ever screamed as Aries had rushed all the way into the living room, covered in sweat as he headed straight for me.

"Did something happen? Someone broke in?" Aries listed out a few worse case scenario options before noticing the image of the ghost on the screen and fell onto his butt, laughing in relief.

"St-stop it... I swear I'm going to have nightmares tonight..." I pouted as I looked at Aries who conveniently blocked the view of the screen for me.

"Do you need me to sleep with you tonight then?" Aries asked light-heartedly before his face flushed a crimson red.

"No need. Also... why is your face so red? Is it because you were running here?"

"N-no... Maybe we should just watch something else." Aries replied as he exited from the ghost movie, handing me the remote to choose a different movie to watch.

"It's alright. Let's just finish it. L-leave the lights on though." I said as I handed him the remote.

"Don't come crying to me later." Aries grinned as he comfortably sat beside me, clicking onto the resume button as the story unfolded.

The movie... didn't feel so scary anymore. I wonder what made the difference?