[color=#E82222][center][u][h2]Tristan[/h2][/u][/center][/color] Click. Click. Bump...Bump...Bump… His drumbeat heart pounded on. Stomach convulsing in uncertainty. Fearing his chest would become a chasm, with his intestines spilling out onto the library. His mouse hovered over his email’s inbox, like one holds a gun’s trigger. Receiving his first email from anyone. Anticipation coursed through the curious teenager's veins, opening Pandora’s Box. Face growing pale as the computer screen. Previously sitting alone, faced with an army of thousands. Binary code covered the canvas, but clicking continuously caused crashing. A message that appeared encrypted, flashed across the screen long enough to be read before his surroundings were shrouded in darkness. A computer melody twisted with static screeching pierced his ears. Did the place have one of those things described as a 'power outage'? Sweat dripped from the tip of nose, tasting the salt when licked off. White light blasted from the monitor. Mirroring his perplexed expression, pinned to his seat like nails had been hammered through his soles. He couldn’t get up from the office chair, or look away as the reflected face began glitching. Contorting into a grotesque smile with rows of sharp teeth… “Oww...” Tristan groaned. Groggy eyes staring up at the bed his upper half fell out of. His pillow, now the carpet his head conked down on. Tangled in his bed sheets, not dissimilar from a fish in a net. His MP3 player lying his bare chest. Music playing from the headphones, beginning to loosen the cord wrapped around his neck like a serpent. Just as a worm writhed about in the dirt. He squirmed backward on the ground, until his whole body touched the ground. Managing to thrust himself up on two feet. Turning his MP3 player off, and quickly setting his electronics on the cleared bedside table. Scratching at his bed head, wiping his warmly drenched forehead. Glancing at the mirror hanging from his room’s wall, beaming a pearly white grin. “Another good morning today.” [hr] Exhaling through the clouds amassed behind the curtains, fogging the bathroom window. The hot pressurized water rained down on his back, cleansing soapy skin. Feeling like a god was massaging his shoulders. Still blessed everyday that electricity had been allowed in his previous Quasi-Amish farmer lifestyle. Happily singing a tune, while bending over and reaching for the shampoo. He stopped and held his breath. Hearing subtle noises creeping from the inside the bathroom. He knew it wasn’t coming from natural causes. Low growling breaths that weren’t his own. Noticing a black creature’s hands reaching inside the bathtub, opposite side to the showerhead. Grabbing ahold of the curtains and pulling them with a sudden burst! “Rawr!” The black puppet popped out, his younger brother’s voice growled out with a laugh. Tristan glanced from behind he curtains, exchanging smiles with his sibling. Noticing multiple pairs of pajamas on the lying crumpled on the floor. His clean clothes all hanging from the towel rack. “Don’t get Luci wet. You know he’ll get upset and melt like The Wicked Witch.” Tristan playfully remarked, mimicking the high and squeaky voice. “What a world. What a wooorld.” His younger brother smiled and gave a firm nod, stepping away from the shower. “Dad wanted you to do laundry today, and wash both our dumb sisters bed sheets. Sable spilled paint all over her bed! And Alexa, wet the bed again!” The brother exclaimed in a disparaging tone. “Alright. But don’t call them dumb, that’s not nice. Could you please put your P.J’s and mine in the laundry hamper?” Tristan’s polite tone sending his brother away, picking up the dirty clothes and heading off, closing the door behind him. Not long after, resuming his shower until he finished the rest of his typical morning routine… [hr] Fully dressed, finished dealing with his sister’s sheets. Letting them play outside while waiting for his father to return home with the neighbors freshly baked raisin bread and jelly donuts for breakfast. Ascending the staircase to the second floor and heading into his room, approaching the bedside table. Noting his bedsheets were already made, with the black puppet resting atop his pillow. Picking up his music player in his right hand and putting his headphones on, off his ears. Inserting his hand into the puppet with the left, and turned around to look into the mirror. Beginning to move the puppet’s hands and mouth. “Did we scare you?” Tristan chided playfully in Luci’s voice, a deeper tone. It danced about in triumph. Tristan shook his head. “Nope, you’ll have to try harder than that to scare me.” Tristan answered back in his own voice. Luci tapped its chin a few times, as it pondered its response. “Hmm. Maybe the next time your brother takes me out of the dresser. I’ll grab him by neck. Lead him into the bathroom and shove his head into a tub of water. Holding him underneath while he thrashes about helplessly, screaming as water fills his lungs. Until the last bubble-” The voice stopped with a gasp. Tristan’s felt shivers down the back of his spine and felt frozen in place. Luci danced again seemingly pleased with such a reaction. “Did I scare you now?” Before responding, interrupted by the sound of his brother stampeding through the hallway toward his doorway. Tristan turned his attention to his brother with hands behind his back, stopping just beyond entering the room. “I made your bed to apologize for playing with Luci without your permission.” The brother explained, extending his hands out with Luci within his grasp. “I’m here to give him back. Dad’s home.” Tristan blinked and glanced in the mirror, seeing the white puppet he wore. After rubbing his eyes didn’t change reality, he simply smiled politely and took the puppet back. Carefully laying them both in his top dresser drawer, and shutting it without another word. “Go downstairs and save me some jelly donuts. I might go for a walk...I just want to check the weather-” Tristan replied turning to look at the sunlight peeking through his window. But his young brother had already ran before finishing the sentence. Stepping up to his window and unlatching it. It was too fast to make out. A child sized shadow of a figure, plummeted outside from the rooftop. There was no conscious decision in that moment. Tristan immediately bolted out his room, leaping past half the staircase and rushed outside...