The Momster

Ari's eyes opened and she sat up in the now all too familiar cabin. Looking around she was shocked to find Buttons sat in the corner with a cookie in one hand and Ari's data book in the other.

"Oh figured you'd be off hiding somewhere" Ari said as she rose up out of the bed. "Nuh uh... I'm your subconscious remember... and we're taking this while thing more... seriously now right?" Buttons asked, taking breaks in the middle of his sentences to take bites from his cookie.

"Right. I've been thinking about this all day, okay step one: using my points" Ari said as she got the book from Buttons and pulled up her profile. She immediately restored her health and added her remaining points to her speed.

[Dreamers Profile]

[Name: Zariah Brooks]

[HP: 90/100] > [HP: 100/100]

[Strength: 10]

[Speed: 10] > [Speed: 12]

[Stamina: 11]

[BP: 12/100] > [0/100]

[XP: 50/300]

"Alright that's done, next step what's the mission?" Ari said with a nervous tinge in her voice. "Meet Victor Heung. He was a med school undergrad. His parents pushed into it, he was struggling but had no one to talk to so he took a fist full of pills one night and didn't wake up" Buttons said as he handed Ari a paper with Victor's information and a much improved drawing of him on it.

"Wow this is actually really good, what happened?" Ari asked Buttons with a smile. "Well when your stuck in one place indefinitely you got time to practice" he replied as he pointed up to his recharge timer and Ari looked up.

//COMPANION RECHARGE\\

Dream companion Buttons is currently recharging from injury.

Full health in: 15:59:00

"Well hey keep this up and I might get you those double stuffed chocolate chip cookies we both like" Ari said with a playful nod. "Now your speaking my language" Buttons replied as his stitched mouth formed a warm smile.

"Wait but like how would I do that?" she wondered aloud as she looked around. "This is the inside of my brain" she added. "Well yeah it's your brain so just eat em in real life before bed or think about em really hard when you sleep and they might pop up. The mind's an enigma" Buttons said with a shrug. And with that Ari made her way to the door. "Same time tomorrow?" she said as she nodded to Buttons and headed out the door.

As soon as she did however, she felt gravity take hold as she fell out of her cabin and into a dark room below. Managing to land on her hands and feet thanks to her boosted speed and reflexes she surveyed the room. It was a dark and dimly lit living room. Adjusting her eyes to the murky interior she looked up at her cabin sticking out through ceiling of the room as if it had fallen through the roof of the house.

Through the dim lighting she saw a man sat in a recliner with a TV remote in his hand. He appeared older and his eyes were fixed on a television at the front of the room which remained off.

Thrown off by the fact her cabin was placed in the roof of a suburban house Ari was still trying to understand her surroundings. "You kinda look like Victor, I take it your his dad... know where I can find him?" she asked keeping her hands balled up into fists by her side.

Not wanting to be caught in a trap she grabbed a pillow off the couch next to her and threw it at the man sat down. As it hit his torso his head fell off his body and rolled towards Ari.

Frozen in shock as a lifeless disembodied head looked at her she felt her blood run cold. She instinctively covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming as she felt her shock bubble up into terror as her heart began to race and she felt herself breathing heavily.

Feeling a weakness in her knees she grit her teeth and shut her eyes. Trying with all her might to calm her breathing down she resolved to simply force herself to move on.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream that's not a real dead body" she muttered to herself in a failed attempt to find any semblance of courage. Amid her panic she began to hear the sound of a helicopter approaching her.

In a moment of confusion she opened her eyes to see a figure towering over her. Dressed in a pink blouse with black pants on it was an eight feet tall woman with pale hands with talen like fingers at her sides. The figure looked down at Ari as Ari saw a pale woman with wide eyes that stared daggers through her.

"Oh hello dear" the figure sakd with a smile as she looked at Ari before looking at the beheaded man on the couch "Emery you should have told me we had company" she said with an annoyance in her voice.

While her back was turned Ari wrapped her hands around a nearby end table and broke it over the monster's back. The table exploded over the monster's back as it staggered forward.

With a vice grip on the tables legs Ari held onto them and shoved the jagged broken ends of them into the monster's back. As it shrieked in agony Ari scrambled on the floor for more jagged pieces.

One by one she picked them up and began to stab the monster, first in the legs and once the towering figure was dropped to it's knees and she was face to face with the pale ghoul faced woman Ari stabbed the monster in the eyes.

As it wailed in agony Ari was met with a cry from the top of the stairs. "Mom!" cane a blood curdling scream as a young man with short black hair combed to the side, porcelain clear skin and glasses ran down the stairs. Ari instantly knew it was Victor due to him being the spitting image of Buttons' drawing.

"Get away from her!" Victor cried as he shoved Ari out of the way and shielded the bloody monster laying face down on the floor. "Wait what?! Victor get away from her she's a monster" Ari said as she watched the monster begin to stir.

"No! Shut up, my mom's not a monster!" Victor said as Ari stared at him in disbelief. "Not a mon- look at her!" Ari said as she composed herself. Thinking back to Kate's story of the boy who ran back to his mother as she had to watch the mother kill them both she knew she had to be weary of the monster's claws.

"Okay Victor, you know what? You're a good son and you Mrs Huang, you should be proud of the boy you raised. Hey Vic, you tell your mom about school?" Ari asked with a smug tone in her voice. "School?" Victor asked.

"Yeah about how much you hate it and you don't wanna be a doctor" Ari said as she readied the wooden stake behind her back. "Victor? What is she talking about?" the monster said as it rose to it's knees, unable to stand.

"Yeah Mrs Huang, Vic's been struggling. He can't keep up, maybe because he never wanted to be a doctor and he just went into medicine to make you happy" Ari said with a knowing look Victor's face became a sight of horror.

"Victor... what is this girl talking about" the monster said as it looked at Victor through gouged out eyes. "Mama... I... I..." "I, I, so first you can't become a doctor and now you can't form a sentance" the monster said as it grabbed Victor by the arm.

"Ah! Mama please! Stop!" Victor said as his mother's claws dug their way into his skin. "Don't raise your voice at me you useless-" Victor's mother said before Ari swiftly jammed one final stake in her neck.

As the monster's body released Victor and collapsed one final time Ari turned to face Victor. "Wake up! That's not your mother! Mothers are kind! They listen! That monster is not a mother! Live your life for you! Got it?!" Ari shouted as Victor's eyes welled up with tears as he nodded in her direction.

As soon as the first tear dropped from his face Ari was greeted by the usual green text:

[Mission Completed] as everything faded to black.