Chapter 7: Milk

Emptiness.

A common feeling that usually accompanied my dreams.

I had always forgotten almost everything that happened in them, and the only dreams I could actually recall were extremely faint, as only a select few things would appear in my mind.

It seemed that no matter how hard I tried, I could never replay any of my dreams to their fullest extent.

But now I had been dreaming, and in my presence was a dark and gloomy atmosphere that pervaded my surroundings, leaving me unable to tell what was truly transpiring.

I could vividly imagine seeing but not feeling my figure falling through an endless void with no way out and with no way to stop what was happening.

Sometimes, the feeling of falling resulted in the dreamer abruptly waking up, though that would usually only happen as the dreamer started falling asleep, and as I was falling, it felt as though I had lost track of time, neither waking up from my strange predicament nor was I understanding what was happening to my body.

At the moment, I was feeling emptiness. Nothing terrifying. Nothing scary, nothing worrisome. Just... nothing.

Within a moment's notice, the scenery around me warped.

What replaced a surreal, perennial gloom akin to an abyss was that of a familiar room.

The room itself was very nostalgic, as it was the room that I remember once occupying for years.

What appeared before me in the short distance was a feeble looking male that had been slowly approaching me.

"Hey, I've got some news to tell you."

The man promptly spoke in a tone containing traces of melancholy.

He looked to be no older than 30 and had features that would make anyone feel the opposite of jealousy. Skinny, ugly and pale as hell. It made sense why the man was single.

He was wearing nothing more than a pair of blue jeans and a turquoise shirt, as well as square rimmed glasses resting on his eyes.

"Alright, what is it then?"

A young, slightly overweight teenager responded in what sounded like my own voice. Compared to how it was now, it sounded more youthful and a lot grumpier.

"I uhm... Don't really know how else to put this but...

...I want you to.... forget about it, okay?"

The ugly man spoke, worry filling his words.

Without immediately saying anything back, the skinny teenager eyed the man behind him as he walked up to the front door of the room they were in.

Staring at the teenager on his left, a sentimental smile slowly formed on the lips of the feeble and ugly man.

The teenager was looking at the one before him with a confused expression formed on his face before he finally asked what was on his mind.

"What do you mean forget about it? What the fuck are you talking about, bro?"

"Idiot Rae Piste. You've always been bad at reading between the lines." The figure playfully spoke, suddenly warming up to him as he said those words.

As if the teenager just had his recent worries dispelled before him, his confused and suspicious eyes quickly quivered and mouthed to the man in a now angry disposition.

"Fuck off!"

He was clearly not very happy that he had been reminded of his ridiculous sounding name.

"Hahahahahaha. Classic tsundere behavior. I guess that's why you secretly love me," Irene chortled at Rae's remark.

"Hmph!"

Tilting his head to the side with slightly red cheeks, the teenager only proved his friend's point. Nevertheless, he could tell through his anger that his friend had only just been joking.

"Sorry if I tried to confuse you for a second. Didn't really know how else to put it, as I just said. So I guess you could say that... I'm going somewhere," said Irene, the sudden melancholy subtly returning to his voice.

"Okay and? Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Pfft, hahahahahahahaha."

The man's laughter echoed throughout the room, unable to hold back for even just a millisecond.

The youthful boy glared at his friend and within a few seconds, responded after the man's snickering started to slowly piss him off.

"Why the hell are you laughing so hard all of a sudden? Aren't you supposed to be leaving already?"

"No, that's not it, Rae. I'm just... gonna go and get some milk."

"Okay???"

Rae grew more and more confused at his friend's recent remarks. He was still angry at the fact that he was currently being toyed with.

"Just kidding, you dumb fuck. We already have plenty of milk in the refrigerator. Let's just say I'll be going somewhere to gha wof yao glwpg tiyo snajjio fjqifj towub giovou jajaio fiwhfuqonvnu."

As if the youngster could casually understand every word he was saying, he quietly replied in a tone that no longer contained any of his previous anger.

"Oh, okay then. Should've just went with that in the first place. Anyways, stop wasting my time and just go already. I need to watch more YouTube videos."

"Ahh, how adorable. That's why I'm gonna [REDACTED] you in your bed tonight."

"E-excuse me?"

The scenery abruptly changed, and the boy from before was now lying on someone's bed, with the man walking into the door-less room, staring at the boy with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Poor, Rae. If only [REDACTED] knew. I wouldn't be needing to do any of this [REDACTED] thing to you. I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do you, but we both know you deserve it."

"What the hell is--"

"It's time to face your punishment. Time to make you suffer from your actions. This is what happens when you choose to leave me. I want you to remember that it wasn't me who left you. No, it was you! You did this! When you choooosee choose choose chooose to... make me worry about eveeyutjig iwooo sidofbih"

A bunch of gibberish came out of Irene's mouth, or from the person that was perceived to be Irene. Like a strange video game, his figure started glitching as he slowly made less and less sense with every word he was spewing.

"Zay hoodbyw. Ugyl byo."

Holding on to a thick and heavy object that bore a striking resemblance to a male sex toy, the boy started panicking intensely, but before Irene did anything, I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the boy's voice.

"Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!"

"Sweet Dreams, Rae."

The boy screamed at the top of his lungs. Everything fell into chaos and my dream lost all semblance of reasoning.

***

In a familiar dark room stood two separate individuals.

They were none other than the Aztecan man and his prideful friend.

One of them sighed out loud, expressing his sharp disapproval.

"I'm honestly a tad disappointed with how you handled that situation. I thought you were a bit smarter than that."

"Hehehehe," the Aztecan man laughed nervously, seemingly shrugging off his friend's sharp words.

"I wonder what the Lord will say once he realizes your little failure in the matter. Perhaps he'll even punish you for being a stupid little--"

"I wouldn't go that far if I were you," an intense and scary pressured oozed out of the Aztecan man upon hearing his friend's remarks, but the terrifying pressure left as soon as it came, and a gleeful smile had formed on the former individual's face.

Apparently, their solitary confinement room had brightened up, and they were now capable of seeing each other's faces far more clearly than before.

Staring at his friend in front of him, the Aztecan male wasted no time teasing him. "Now that I'm getting a better look at you, you are quite the looker. It has been a while since we've last seen each other properly, and you look more handsome than I remember. Still not as handsome as me, hehehe. But I'm curious. Tell me. What is the secret to your newly found charm?"

With dark, long hair, hazel colored eyes, a well-toned frame, along with a youthful face that looked no older than a man in his late 20's, topped with a chiseled jawline and a shaved beard, it was no wonder why the figure found his friend rather decent-looking.

"You little... No, I will not play your stupid game. I am not here to--"

As for the Aztecan male, the prideful figure could not tell whether he maintained the somewhat muscular frame from before, but this was quickly overlooked, as it was hard to notice the changes in spite of the newly lit room.

"Aww... how sad. Maybe next time then?"

Getting no response out of his friend, the somewhat skinny individual mimed at his silence and continued onwards as if nothing happened.

"Anyway, about what happened the other day..."

Contemplating about the situation for a little bit, the Aztecan man's smile disappeared.

Because he was wearing a mask, it was impossible for his friend to see through his expression, but that didn't matter to the masked individual, as it was imperative that he wore it at all times for as long as possible.

"I merely did what I had to do. In fact, I actually ran out of other things I needed to say before I teleported back here. I also made the choice of playing a fool to calm him down. From the looks of things, he was at the cusp of fainting, and I even pretended to play dumb at the mention of New Halloween's supposed secret location."

"I don't believe you for even just a second," his friend said doubtfully.

"Yeah, yeah. It had been so long since we last met anyway, and my little slip up should have zero consequences on the plan. If anything, it's good that I didn't spoil him any more than I already did. Besides, he and I have plenty of other chances to talk. I have faith that he'll at least be able to grasp the process of awakening after I specifically told him about--"

Before the individual could continue talking, a soft thud could be heard as the figure fell on his hands and knees firmly planted on the hard ground, seemingly prostrating to his friend in front of him.

"Wait. Did I... really forget? Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord!"

Another sigh escaped from the prideful individual as he gave his friend a disgusted look.

"Tsk tsk. I can't defeat you in a fight, but you can't beat me when it comes to actually executing plans. Looks like it all evens out. Hahaha."

The Aztecan figure suddenly stood from his recent prone and glared at his prideful friend.

"And who's idea do you think it was to get in touch with our master? Hmm?"

"That doesn't change the fact that you're still stupid."

"Grrrrrrrr," the Aztecan figure pouted in what was his worst loss so far.

A smug smirk appeared on his friend's face. It seemed that their little 'relationship' wasn't so one sided after all.

"In any case, you'll have your chances as you said. Rae, or The Great One, should be at least aware of what lies ahead of him. I think we'll be able to meet him at the same time if he can awaken. The process shouldn't be too hard, after all.

From what I can remember, regular humans should still be to awaken even without anyone helping them, and even if they aren't aware that such a thing exists," the prideful figure said.

"Correct. I have no doubt he would've awakened even without my little 'push', but it would have taken him at least a few months to a few years longer, and I doubt we'd have been able to prolong that part of the plan. Sooner or later, he'll embark on a trip to New Halloween."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"No, he will. I will take advantage of our extra encounters to remind him of his new quest."

With a sudden look of understanding, the Aztecan friend said something that surprised him.

"You know what? I take back what I said from earlier. It seems like I was worried over nothing."

"Oh?"

The Aztecan male instantly questioned if his friend was being sincere or not. He wanted to get a clarification on what he had just said, as he didn't expect for him to utter in such a way without some sort of catch.

"Obviously, you didn't actually tell him everything I believe you should've said, but you did tell him the most important bits. Good job, at least. Hopefully, you do a lot better on your second chance."

And just as he expected, the prideful figure came at him with a backhanded remark. But rather than being hurt, he merely laughed it off. He wouldn't have been his best friend if he hadn't been as petty as he was.

"Hahaha. I expected nothing less from you."

The prideful individual immediately went straight to the point.

"Setting aside such unimportant shenanigans, I think it's time we carry out our next course of events. I did propose the idea of the two of us meeting with him, though I am more than willing to go with 'that' idea as well if you don't mind?"

"Ahh, that idea. Actually, I think I might like yours more. 'That' was just a firsthand thought that I had formulated on the spot. I think it's better if we choose to chaperone him, even if he has no idea who we are. Though, before that can happen..."

"You'll be the first to see our master, then. Well, good luck. Until then, keep an eye out for any unforeseen circumstances. We don't want anyone ruining your old friend's experience now, do we?" the prideful man spoke.

"Hehe. He's your old friend too, you know?"

In a disdainful tone, the prideful figure muttered, "I do not dare to call our master a mere friend. Even if... even if I may dislike him... for the time being..."

"Hehehehehehe. You really are an adorable one, aren't you?" The Aztecan man playfully remarked.

"Whatever!"

"Never change, my dear friend. Never change."

"Tch. Why don't you do your job and quit teasing me!?"

"Okay, okay. No need to be so worked up. Why don't you take what people these days call a 'chill' pill?"

"Shut up, please."

"Hahahahahahaha."

The rest of their conversation went smoothly and ended without any problems.

***

"Guhhhh! Haaa...Haaa...Haaa...!"

Waking up from a dream had never been as awful as it had been now.

As I tried to catch on to my breath, I could feel an extremely sharp pain coming from the top of my head.

And as I stared around me, I couldn't help but utter out loud.

"Where the hell am I?"

I then heard a familiar voice that wasn't far where I was resting on top of.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. Only took you a hot minute."

"What the? Kevin? Is that you?"

"In the flesh."

"Am I in the hospital right now?"

Kevin responded with a solemn voice, quickly confirming my suspicions, "Not only are you in the hospital right now, but you've been in a coma as well. A long one at that."

"If you know that, then are you gonna tell me how long I've been out for even though I just woke up?" I asked.

"You're quite the smart one, I see. But no. You've been confirmed to be medically fine and have no heart issues despite your weight, so I see no point in not telling you."

A silent hush filled the room. I was left confused yet again. I could no longer make heads or tails of what was happening anymore. From the meeting with the bizarre man to the dream with Irene just now.

My mental state had been declining rapidly, and just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse... The man that was near me stated something that would bury all possibilities of me ever recovering.

"You've been asleep for about 7 days now. It's good to see that you're finally up."

It took me a moment to process what he said, and when I did, I instantly realized just how heavy the gravity of the situation that befell me really was, as what Kevin said to me felt as if I had gotten rammed over by a truck.

"S-seven days!!!???"

I was never able to sleep soundly after that.