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Door after door, it starts getting more and more blurry. The hours pass in a blink of an eye, like nothing. Everything was so stimulating, it turned boring.
It had been so long since he saw another living being, if he ever met one at all.
Each step felt heavier than the other. Sometimes, he catches himself wanting to stay in the saferooms for longer than he should. Of course, he would always ask for forgiveness for not wanting to continue his journey, but sometimes he wondered if he did something wrong to deserve any of this.
He slowed down, going from a sprint to a walk. As he wondered, he could feel a lingering presence around him, closer than he would expect.
“Feeling brave today, aren’t we?” It spoke, now making its presence loud and clear.
John quickly flashed it with his flashlight thoughtlessly, letting his muscle memory do the job.
Stepping back, Mime flinched, blinking repeatedly.
“That was pretty rude!” It growled, rubbing its eyes. “I didn’t even touch ya yet, hah!”
In an almost robotic way, John immediately started running, not paying attention to whatever it was saying this time.
It was always some half baked excuses to try to get him to sin; most of them were ignored without any second thought.
It would usually keep to itself, creeping behind in case of any mishap, waiting for the perfect catch.
It was hard to be oblivious about how that simply didn’t work. Easy to avoid, easily ignorable.
“Wait, wait, wait, I still want to have a talk!” It followed, rushing over to catch up.
“I know my tips weren’t so useful for you before, but I was barely edging the surface!” It explained, trying to reason. “I still have many more that may be.. a bit more helpful!”
He kept running.
“I know that you have been quite the lonely guy lately!”
Stopping right in his tracks, John slowly turned around.
“Yes, yes! It’s easy to notice that just by looking at you! You look so very sad.” Mime nodded, clasping its hands together in an exaggerated motion. “I can tell, everyone can tell, your grandma can tell. But I can fix that! And it’s easier than you think.”
“I am not falling for this old trick.” With a sigh, John replied. “You’ve tried that a million times, why would think that would work now?”
“You still stopped though, didn’t you?”
The air was silent for a few seconds, before he tried dash forward, he was stopped by a grip on his wrist.
“Look at me.”
It demanded.
“I could kill you right now if I wanted to. But I don’t. You’ll be fine, trust me! It’d be for the better for the both of us.”
Even with its expression unchanged, you could still hear the smile in its voice.
It could kill him if it really wanted to, though. It wasn’t lying. He was pretty much served in a silver plate.
For a second, he actually thought it was genuine, and —- God forgive him —- considered it.
“Not interested.” He pulled his arm out. “Try a better one next time.”
——————————————————————
The Saferoom was the only time he could think properly. Not being chased endlessly by sins was nice.
John would never stay for too long, though. He saw it as a “betrayal” of his own meaning. What was he if not a mouse on a saturday cartoon chase? What else is there, really?
He was never quite dead, nor quite alive. He ran to simply delay the forever inevitable.
There had to be more to life, he knew there was. He wanted to know, maybe he’d lose his mind if he never found out. Somewhere in him, he wanted to give up and give in to whatever Mime was saying.. maybe it was right.
Oh, no. What a terrible thing to even think about. Maybe he really shouldn’t stay in the saferooms for too long!
He rushed to the door, trying to get a distraction as quick as possible. He didn’t want to entertain this thought any longer.
——————————————————————
A quick pink light flashes across John’s eyes, making it now known the coast was clear.
Leaving the hole he was hiding in, he sprinted to the next room, to the next, to the next… he couldn’t tell how many rooms he passed through.
He already encountered pretty much every entity at this point. Deeply, a part of him wished he had encountered it already. No. That’s silly.
He rubbed his eyes, as a slight static covered his view. As he continued walking, it only got more intense and bright.
In an instinct, he turned around and hid behind a wall, only to be met with a familiar face.
“…”
He could feel his heart skip a beat.
“… how long have you been there for?”
John stared, glued to the barrier behind him.
“Oh, for a while… a.. short while! Don’t worry about it too much.” Mime stuttered. “I’m just checking to see if you’re still alive. I’m surprised you are! You seem pretty tense. You know, I have just the cure for that.”
He didn’t even keep eye contact with it, ashamed of what he’s about to say:
“… what do you want from me?”
Oh God. Please forgive him for this willful sin, but he couldn’t stay so lonely forever.
Mime, even with its constant smile, seemed surprised at his response. It’s the first time it actually gets its way.
“Well…
I don’t want anything! This is purely for you. A better question would be: “what do you want from me?””
It caught both his hands, holding them carefully with its.
“Just what makes you happy!”
“Well- I’ve— well- I don’t know— I can’t trust you.” John mumbled. “How do I know that you are not— going to kill me- or something?” He was rushing his words together, making most of them incoherent. He was feeling something he has never felt before.
“If I kill you, what’s the big deal? You will always die, no? Does it matter if it’s me or someone like Dozer?
Worst case scenario, you die and come back whole.“
His face didn’t seem all that convinced, still looking around, everywhere but the entity itself.
“Hey, I’ll be honest. We’re both hungry. Both literally and metaphorically, aren’t we? It’s a win for the both of us.”
It squeezed itself near his face.
“I’ll make sure it’s painless. You don’t get such courtesy often, do ya?”
He was now looking directly looking at it, probably visibly reddish.
“God, please forgive me.”
“…sure.“
——————————————————————
Reaching the last door, he could only think about how what he was doing was wrong. He shouldn’t do this. he deserves only the worst to happen to him.
It was still eagerly following, politely waiting.
As he went down, he held out his hand to it, giving it full permission to enter.
Now, it could kill him in an instant; instead, if kept its promise, and stayed in place until he made the first move.
John rushed and hugged it tight, not caring about anything else. All that mattered is that for the first time, he felt somewhat alive.
It hugged him back, trapping him in an even stronger grip.
“You’re going to kill me anyways.”
“I will.”
“Is that why you brought me for?”
He could feel his legs being ripped apart already, but he doesn’t care.
“Well, maybe it’s why. Or maybe it was all a psyop to spend time with you alone! Ahah.”
It put one of its hands on his cheek, slowly caressing it. He could feel the lingering warmth of its fingers.
“I prefer to die like this every time, than die to anything else.”
“I know.”
It’s hand traveled down to his neck, the other leaving the hug and going under his chin.
With a twist, he fell onto the ground. His carcass slowly went stiff, and the saferoom went quiet.