Burnt Out Lights

by YearbookFanC2Bc

Summary:

"Everything is well in hotel OJ right now. Not much besides working is happening anyway. I wonder if Painty is up to something right now."

Lightbulb is having a normal life. Normal days. Normal competition. Normal everything. She doesn't care, but she does care about one thing. Paintbrush. Lightbulb had gotten a crush on Paintbrush a while ago but she just hasnt gotten the courage to ever speak to them. On top of that the hallucinations are getting worse and she cant cope with it well. Something changes in her though after word got out about something.. Or.. Someone.

Notes:

This is like rlly shitty and unplanned at the beninginh so uhm… enjoy!

I put my blood and soul into ts :33

Chapter 1: Chapter 1: New Feelings

Chapter 1: New Habits (Plus warnings)
Humanized Objects 🤑
this chapter might contain:

Mention of murder
schizophrenia
Swearing

Day One.

Lightbulb was sitting in her room. Bored as ever before she got an idea. She rushed over to a drawer to grab an unused journal and a pen with a little keychain on it. The journal is pink and theres a three digit code that she thought she set up. She realized she never put a code in for it so she just put 564 for now… She opens the journal to the first page and starts writing.

“Hi!! This is my new journal!! I really don’t know Why im deciding to use this now when Test Tube got this for me when it was my birthday about a year ago.. But who cares!! ☆ I think maybe i should start using this more.. Test Tube got this for me to let me calm down from my hallucinations and stuzz :/ This might be random but I think i might like Paintbrush!! They are so cool and nice and I jst feel butterflies in my stomach when im around them!! (^o^) I think they might not like me but I just have to wait and see!!”

Lightbulb is jotting down in her journal before Lightbulbs thoughts get interrupted by her phone buzzing on the table. She closes her journal and grabs her phone, The little charm jingling as she taps the notification from Fan at the top of her screen.

FAN

LIGHTBULB!!! you SO gotta check this new fanfic i was reading!!!

LIGHTBULB

ooo :0 whats it called?? i could check it out but im kinda busy rnn >m<

 

FAN

It’s called Starry nights!1
its realy good!!
shit-
really* :)

LIGHTBULB
Lol-
Yea i will read it :P
Ttyl?

FAN
yea!!
ttyl :3
—————————————————

 

Lightbulb puts her phone down and just sits on her bed for a bit.. wondering if she should really check it out because last time she read a fanfic that Fan sent her it was… Something.. but, nonetheless she grabs her phone again and searches it up and starts reading.

After a bit she hears someone trying to get her attention and she looks up from her phone to see..

Them.

They were staring at lightbulb.. Sitting on the other bed in the hotel room.. Making lightbulb feel a bit uncomfortable.

The ‘Paintbrush’ finally starts speaking

“You know it’s never gunna come true, right?”

Lightbulb stayed silent for a bit before responding

“What do you know about the real Paintbrush?

They scoff. “Are you talking about what i know about myself? Cuz i know a lot about my own self!”

She seems a bit upset and them not knowing what shes talking about. “You- You know who im talking about! The real paintbrush. not whoever.. you.. are”

They stand up and off the bed looking around. “yes, yes, i know that, but you know that im just pulling your strings! plus that little crush you have probably wont like you back so why are you bothering to talk about them?”

Lightbulb tenses up and starts raising her voice, “You don’t know how they feels! It just takes time! you wont understand- Just.. go away..Im tired of talking to you..”

They laugh a bit. “Im in your mind. i cant just- POOF! disappear like that.”

Lightbulb starts ignoring paintbrush and goes on her phone.. Just reading the story that she got interrupted from.. When she looks up they are gone.. She hates it when they show up but she cant control that.. They still get to her though.

She still likes Paint brush. The real one. Not whatever that- Object is.. She sighs and ends up finishing the story that fan sent her. She starts thinking about it.. It was about this girl actually killing a bunch of people for this one guy they had a crush on. She never had felt that way but it was engraved in her mind that she does have thoughts like that and she cant help it.

She sighs, gets up from her bed and leaves the room. Planning on going over to Fans room for comfort. She cant hold in her crush any longer and she only trusts one person to hold her secret..

Paintbrush is holding their art class in the hotel stage. Teaching tricks and illusions.. all that stuff.. Fan walks by and fan is a bit worried.. He overheard lightbulbs conversation and not everyone knows that she has those hallucinations.. He wants to talk to paintbrush but doesn’t want to interrupt them.

He watches Paintbrush work for a bit before Paintbrush notices Fan. Paintbrush tells their small group to wait for them as they walk over to fan and they start talking with Fan.

“Hey fan.. did you need something?” Paintbrush asked.

“N-no.. Not really.. I was thinking i should tell you that i heard lightbulb talking to someone about something to someone and she started to yell..” Fan explains to Paintbrush. Doing little hand gestures while he is speaking. It’s a habit he has.

Paintbrush looks a bit confused but rubs it off quickly. “She probably just got upset while on the phone. Nothing to really worry about.”

Fan sighs and shakes his head.. “yea you’re right.. Talk to you later, Paintbrush..”

Fan walks off and starts going back to his room.

Lightbulb is at fans room, knocking on the door.. There is no response after a while and she walks in just looking around for fan.. Starting to get a bit worried. She sees Fan’s phone on his bed and she picks it up.. Its not to late as she checks the time. She sets down the phone and turns around.

“Lightbulb..?”

“AHH-!” Lightbulb yells as she sees fan at the doorway and call her name. Not realizing he was there behind her.

“Holy- Fan i didn’t see you there..”

Fan stares at Lightbulb before speaking up again. “Why are you in my room..” He says blankly

Lightbulb pauses.. Being shocked by Fans sudden voice change.. “Uhm.. I was looking for you.. Fan..”

Fan understands and walks in “Oh alright! What did you need me for?”

Lightbulb stutters for a bit before speaking. “Uhm.. I just wanted to tell you that I think I might have a crush on Paintbrush.. Yes i sound so stupid right now but- I just get these feelings!!”

Fan nods.. Understanding lightbulb. But being also a bit shocked. “You do!? Thats great! I do fully understand you Lightbulb..”

Lightbulb sighs in relief.. Feeling calmer now.. “Thanks Fan.. You were really the only one I trusted to tell you so.. I can update you later! Bye Fan!”

Lightbulb joyfully walks out of Fans hotel room and goes into the elevator to go to a different floor.. She pushes the up button and the door opens and she sees Paintbrush inside of the elevator..

She gets that feeling as she walks in and paintbrush stays in the elevator on their phone. Lightbulb tries not to be awkward but she supposed Paintbrush was going up because so was she. She stands there for a bit before speaking up..

“So how have you been, paintbrush..?” She asks.

Paintbrush looks at lightbulb and smiles softly at her and puts their phone away. “Oh i’ve been alright. What about you?”

“It’s been nice. I think i should start going to your art classes! I’ve been trying to draw more and i think i might need some more practice..” Lightbulb goes back to her cherry self as she starts to converse with Paintbrush..

“Im looking forward to seeing you lightbulb! its been pretty lonely over there.. haha-“ The elevator opens and they both walk out. They were on the same floor but thats when lightbulb realized that she was neighbors with Fan and she came all the way over here for nothing

“Uhm- I forgot something at Fans room- I will talk to you later paintbrush!!” Lightbulb quickly rushes off and Paintbrush watches her run off.

Lightbulb walks into her room and sits on her bed. Sighing as she just ran to her room. She sees that her journal is still on her bed with the pen on the bedside table.. Lightbulb grabs the journal, puts it in the drawer with the yellow pen then lays on her bed.. slowly drifting to sleep.

 

(guhuh..)

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Buttered Words

Summary:

Lightbulb has a nightmare the night after and she wakes up in a cold sweat, As she wakes up a small secret got out and tons of people migghhtt be a bit rude about it. Im too lazy to actually right the rest of this shii but live laugh love HOMICIDE 💜

This chapter (mightcontain:

Swearing

Schizophrenia

Violence

a fattass 😨

 

 

Day Two

"Hey."

They said. Staring into Lightbulbs soul.

"...W-What..."

Lightbulb seems confused by whats happening.. She attempts to look around but all that can be seen is a void and... Them..

"Where am I.."

She asks the Paintbrush..

They look down to the ground. Their feet swishing around on the liquid like floor, causing ripples to interrupt the still liquid substance.

"...I dunno. You are supposed to know."

Their voice is cold. Like scolding her on how she lacks the knowledge to understand where they both are currently..

"You expect me to know..?"

She snaps back at them. Lightbulbs voice shaky and her hands jittering slightly as she tries to approach the objectified Paintbrush

"Just cut it out already."

Lightbulb just stands there.. Not knowing what to say back as shes staring at paintbrush then at the endless void that is the horizon. Feeling at unease, she gets this sudden feeling of pain jolt through her body. Crumpling onto her knees as she falls to the ground.

The water splashes around her and she looks up to see them gone.. Then she looks back down to see knife going through her abdomen.

...

Lightbulb wakes up in a cold sweat, shaking from what she can recall happening in her dream..

"Fuck.. I-It was just a dream Lightbulb.." She says to herself. Still having the feeling in her abdomen of her being stabbed.

It's still dark out as she reaches over to her bedside table to grab her phone.. After being flash banged from her brightness, she checks the time to see it was 2:34... And that she has 76 texts from all different people in the hotel.

Shes confused as she opens one from her friend, Fan. It reads,

"hey lightbulb, I mighttveeee told a buncha people about your crush .,. IM SO SORRY I JST COULDNT HOLD IT IN!1!1 please for giv me :("

Lightbulbs eyes widen and she doesn't even want to read the texts from the other people sent to her, being afraid of being made fun of.

She turns off her phone and puts it on the table next to the bed, then just curls into a ball while trying to fall asleep.

"Hey."

She heard a familiar voice near her. She turned around to face the other side of the room and she sees a fan. A literal fan. He is sitting on the other bed in the room, swinging his legs like a little kid.

"A-Are you... Fan..?"

"God.. Of course I am! You're always so stupid. Just like you're stupid enough to believe Paintbrush will ever like you."

Lightbulb sits there just shocked from Fans words. Just sitting on her bed. She gets upset about him talking about paintbrush.

"Shut- SHUT UP! STOP MENTIONING THEM!!"

She yells at the fan, getting irritated by his words.

"Nah. It's kinda funny."

Lightbulb stares at fan. Going to say something before remembering that shes just hallucinating based off the fact Fan is just... A fan.

"Fuck this. Im just talking to myself."

She says before lying down. The thought of Fan slowly leaving her concerns as she drifts off to sleep again.

The real Fan is in his room, feeling bad about what he done and hoping that lightbulb can forgive him. He sighs as he sits up from his bed grabbing his phone and checking the text he sent. He saw how Lightbulb had seen his text.

He sighs at the sign of no response then goes to attempting to text Test Tube to see if shes awake.

He sends Test Tube a message.

—————————————————

Fan

Test Tube I feel so bad what do i do!! (>m<)

Test Tube

Why are you texting me at like

3 in the morning.. what did you even do this time

Fan

I TOLD EVERYONE ABT LIGHTBULBS CRUSH WAHHH I DIDNT MEAN TOO I JST COULDN'T HOLD IT IN AND NOW LIGHTBULBS NOT REPLYING TO MY TEXTS!!! :(

Test Tube

Damn calm down. Im sure it's fine!! Lightbulb isn't the type of girl to get mad over that type of stuff.

Fan

Hopefully you're right.. thanks TT ':3

Test Tube

Np Fan!

—————————————————

Fan sighs and lays down in his bed. Feeling a bit better now. Putting his phone back on his bedside table.

"Maybe i should go check on Lightbulb."

"..."

"Shes fine."

"I hope."

After a bit, Fan falls asleep. Forgetting about the Lightbulb and Paintbrush situation.. In the morning Fan has a bunch of messages from some others but he decides not to check them out of laziness. But he does see one from lightbulb.. His stomach drops. He wonders if Lightbulb knows what he did and she is upset..

Fan decides to not check it because he doesn't want Lightbulb to get upset at him. He walks out of his room and into the kitchen to see paintbrush eating their breakfast. It's pretty early but it's still kinda bright outside so it's not unsurprising that they are up at this time.

Paintbrush notices Fan and quickly looks away. Eating away at the cereal that they got. Fan walks over to Paintbrush and tries to strike up a conversation with them.

"Hey... Morning paintbrush.."

Fan said. Sounding like he was answering a question that he was unsure about.

"...hi."

They replied. Their mouth full of cereal as they spoke.

They both just sat there. Fan fiddling with his fingers, not knowing what to talk about.

"Sooo.."

Fan started to speak.

"How are you..?"

He asks Paintbrush. They look over to Fan and thinks a bit before responding.

"Oh, uh.. Im fine. How about you?"

Paintbrush stops eating his cereal to talk to Fan. Not wanting to seem rude to Fan.

"Oh im doing.. ok..? I dunno to be honest.." Fan replies. Still feeling a bit off from 'Accidentally' telling a 'few' people about Lightbulbs crush.

"Oh.. Okay." Paintbrush goes back to eating their cereal. They don't know about Lightbulb liking them yet. Not like it's even a problem for them..

Fan sits there before taking an Irish goodbye. Leaving without saying a word out of embarrassment. Paintbrush sits there for a bit before they finish their cereal and put it in the sink of the kitchen.

They just stand there. Staring at the sink. After a bit, Paintbrush turns around and starts walking to their room. Feeling a bit down.

They enter their room, Laying on their bed despite they just woke up about a hour ago.. A sigh echos through the room.

"God.. Why cant I get him out of my head.."

They sigh and just lay in their bed. Attempting to sleep while ignoring his own thoughts.(im not elaborating on this u guys guess who their thinking abt)

 

(Few hours later..)

 

Lightbulb had woken up from her own sleep. She sighs in relief that she didn't have another nightmare.. Slowly getting up from her bed, she notices the fan again but just ignores it, trying to not focus on them right now.

Shes about to leave the room before she gets the thought about her daily journaling again. She goes over to her bedside table and opens the drawer, grabbing the journal and her yellow pen. Sitting on her bed as she starts to write.

"Day two."

"I don't know if i should be mad or forgive Fan!! I didn't expect him to tell people and now im scared just to go out there :( But it shouldn't be such a big deal..? Everyone has crushes I guess!! :3 Yea!! If they have a problem about who I like then they gotta deal with that!! but like anyways, Theres more hallucinations now and I dunno if i should like try to talk to them or not because when i do they seem to disappear after a bit :[ Its scary!1!1! but like I gotta deal with it sometimes :/ Hopefully Test Tube can help out with them because they r really getting to me!! Lightbulb out!! ⍢⃝☆"

She closes her journal and sighs as she hears the lock click. Putting the journal back in the bedside table drawer and closing it. She turns around and starts to head out of her room to go to the kitchen.

She walks down the hall and into the elevator. Going to the ground floor to go eat breakfast. As she makes it down there, there is a bunch of people chatting, eating, playing games, and just hanging out. She walks out of the elevator and goes to the pantry to grab some cereal for herself.

She sits down at the counter and pours herself a bowl of cereal.. Not really wanting people to talk to her based off of what Fan said he did. She can feel a few glances coming from others but she just eats her breakfast. 

Then she suddenly gets a tap on her shoulder. Or more of a shove. She turns around to see Trophy and he scoffs. Looking down at Lightbulb.

"Hey Ms. Bright Light, being a fat-ass as usual?"

Trophy wraps an arm around Lightbulb as he laughs and Lightbulb just stares at him with a fake smile plastered on her face. Tired of his shit already and just wanting to eat her damn fruit loops.

"Oh helloo Trophy!~ Mind leaving me alone?!" 

Her voice sweet but with an aftertaste of annoyance. Trophy a bit startled by her response but he scoffs and walks off. Muttering something around the lines of "Whatever, Queer kisser.." His hands going into his pocket and leaving to go in the game room. 

She chokes a bit on her cereal when she hears Trophies comment. glancing behind her to look at Trophy again before turning back around to finish her cereal. She grabs ahold of her bowl to go put it in the sink. Ignoring the other people in the kitchen to not draw attention to herself. 

She notices that Fan is looking at her. His face looking guilty of what he did but Lightbulb looks away and starts walking back to her room. Going into the elevator and clicking the button to her floor. When she makes it up there she walks into her room, closing and locking the door behind her and sitting on her bed. Picking up her phone and scrolling through some random app.

"I wonder if there are any-"Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock at her door.

 

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: It’s not you, It’s me.

Summary:

She gets a knock from her door. Thats how it all starts out.

Lightbulb stares at her door for a bit before yelling out "Who is it?!" To the person outside.

"It's me, Fan.."

Lightbulb sits up and calls out again.

"Come in!"

She's too tired to actually get up herself, being exhausted from just everything that's been happening recently. Watching Fan walk in, she sees how distraught he seems.. They kinda stay silent for a bit before Lightbulb feels something in her eye and rubs her eyes. She looks up and sees it again.. The object fan stands there with a smug look on their 'face' and Lightbulb just stares at them.

Fan sees how distraught Lightbulb looks and when he closes the door he walks over to her, going next to her to try and ask her if she's ok, but he notices how Baxters food is empty.. Lightbulb is still staring at the door but he starts to fill up Baxters food bowl with crab food that was next to the cage. "Lightbulb..? You alright?" He asks while he is filling up Baxters food. 

Lightbulb mutters something under her breath. Telling someone or something to shut it.. All she can see is that thing staring at her with it's bead-like eyes. 

Fan sets the food down and walks over to lightbulb. Putting his hand on her shoulder to try and get her attention.

"Stop it."

Lightbulb says quickly. Jerking herself away and turning to look at fan. Her eyes concentrated on Fan but not the same Fan that is there.

Fan takes a step back from Lightbulb, clearly startled by her actions."Lightbulb you're scaring me.."

Lightbulb curls into a ball and covers her ears. Everything is sounding too loud for her as she sees the objectified fan trying to talk to her. "S-Shut up! Stop talking!!" Lightbulb raises her voice at Fan. Fan takes a step back again and just kinda stands there, not knowing what to do for his friend.

"L-look I don't know whats gotten into yo-" 

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Lightbulb yells again as she stands up and stares at Fan, Well, The fan that she is seeing right now. Fan gets started and hits his head on the back of the wall in her room. Falling to the ground. "OW- L-Lightbulb calm down!"

Fan watches Lightbulb frantically look around for something while covering her ears. He doesn't know what to do anymore and he is scared.. Maybe he should've stayed away from her to let her calm down.. He gets up from the ground and watches as lightbulb grabs a chair in her room.. dragging it as she walks over to Fan.

"L-Lightbulb.. What are you doing-"

"SHUT UP- SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Lightbulb is in front of Fan as she yells and raises the chair above her head. Fan tries to get away from Lightbulb but he is cornered by her. Lightbulb hits Fan in the head with the chair.. She looks down at Fan before hitting him again, and again until he isn't moving. 

Lightbulb hears a noise coming from the hallway and she quickly turns to look at the door.. She stands there for a good few seconds before looking back to the object infront of her-

She starts to shake as she realizes what she's done to Fan. She curls into a ball onto the ground and just stares as his body lying  against a wall, with some blood coming out of his mouth. After a bit she realizes how she's gunna get arrested for this, how her life might be over.

"Shit.."

She gets up slowly and goes over to her closet, looking inside for anything that could help her hide Fan. As she is rummaging through her closet frantically, she quickly looks at the time.. 9:44 am. Its too early to try and hide Fans body- or not.. Lightbulb is pacing in her room, thinking about what to do..

"It's Monday and most people that have jobs go to work.. hmm.. Work.. What else happens on Monday's.. Oh! Trash day!!"

Lightbulb quickly goes to a drawer in her room and grabs a large trash bag. She has them in her room because her room used to get overly messy but she's been more clean lately. She goes over to Fans body again and stares at him on the ground. Feeling like if she just puts him in the bag it will be too obvious. She goes over to the trash can that she has in her room and pours the trash in the bag. It's not much because it's mostly paper but it works.

Then, Lightbulb goes back over to Fan and kneels onto the ground. Fan is kinda small so she just kinda curls his body into a ball.. But she thinks for a moment before she gets a really bad idea. To fold fan to make him smaller, but it will break his bones.. The thought of hearing bones break and crack makes Lightbulb sick and she just shoves the curled up body in the trash bag. 

She starts to drag the bag into the bathroom thats connected to her room and she finds another trash can in there. She pours the trash in the bag to make it look like it's only just a bunch of trash. She sighs and tries to pick up the bag but it's pretty heavy. 

The bag lifts and hits the ground as lightbulb struggles to lift the bag over her shoulder but she manages to get the bag over her shoulder after a bit of struggle. She sees the garbage truck coming nearby to the hotel when she looks out of the window and she quickly rushes out of the room with the trash bag over her shoulder.

After she leaves the elevator, most people ignore her because they know how it's trash day and that Lightbulb might just not wanna be late with the trash, not knowing what happened earlier. Lightbulb manages to put the trash in the garbage bin before the truck comes and she's sweating bullets as she sighs and starts walking inside again.

Shes scanning the room as she walks by.. Trophy and Pickle playing video games, Knife eating breakfast with Microphone, Oj and Paper washing dishes together, Test Tube is.. Not there..? Lightbulb ignores that Test Tube isn't there and continues to walk to the elevator to go to her room. She hits the button and She sees Test Tube walk out of the elevator. She gets shocked by Seeing Lightbulb in front of the elevator and nearly bumps into her.

Test Tube adjusts her glasses and clears her throat a bit. Clearly trying to keep her composure as she seems nervous currently. 

"Hey Lightbulb.. Have you seen Fan anywhere..?"

Lightbulb starts to get a bit quiet but speaks up after staying silent for a bit.

"Not recently.. I-I think I saw him at breakfast earlier.. Why?"

Test Tube sighs and reply's to Lightbulb

"I-I was looking for him and I couldn't find him. He probably just left to go do a vlog or something.."

Lightbulb smiles a bit and keeps up her act of acting like she doesn't know what happened.

"Oh okay! If I see him I will make sure to tell you! See ya, Double T!" Lightbulb waves and then walks around Test Tube to get into the elevator. Test Tube walks off herself and seems more calmed down now, but also a bit skeptical of how Lightbulb sounded too nice.. She's probably overthinking it.

Lightbulb presses the floor button that her room is on and after a bit she makes it to her floor. As Lightbulb walks to her room she sees how Fans door to his room is open. Most likely from Test Tube searching for Fan.

As she walks into her room she noticed how her closet door is open from earlier, She goes up and closes the closet doors and she turns to see her bedside table. She knees down in front of it and opens the drawer that holds her journal. She grabs her yellow pen and the journal then sits on her bed. Putting in the code and turning to the next blank page.

 

"September 13th, XXXX"

"I thought I should start adding the date into these because like maybe I should keep track of my thoughts lolz. But anyways- I DID SOMETHING RLLY BAD AND I DUNNO WHAT TO DO ABT IT!!! I killed my friend Fan because of my stupid hallucinations!! Oh my god I'm so dumb!!! I could've avoided this but I hope it's like he just disappeared.. I just feel so.. what's the word- Relieved? I didn't have anything against Fan but sometimes he would talk a lot. It's not like I don't talk a lot!! But yea he's dead now and I dunno if I should confess or not 3:, But I should definitely get Test Tube to maybe find a way to make the hallucinations calm down a bit- Maybe there's medicine for that!! I dunno tho lol >< Lightbulb out!! ☆"

Lightbulb closes her journal and locks it, putting the pen and journal into the drawer and lying down on the bed. She feels an overwhelming amount of emotions right now but doesn't feel too bad. "He deserved it!" "He told everyone!" Her thoughts made her think that she was in the right.

Maybe she was.

 

 

 

—————————————-

YAYAYAYAYAYY!!! Around 1500 words 🤑

I lowkey jst copied and pasted this from wattpad soo.. ITS FROM MY WATTPAD ACC DW!! 

Chapter 4: Chapter 4: what is this?

Summary:

I’m.. not gunna explain this.. just read it. Please <3

(TW: SELF HARM THOUGHTS 💔‼️(sad 😞)

She's just staring at the ceiling. Not knowing what to do.

Her arms and legs making her look like a starfish. Her thoughts running through her brain

"Why did I do that."

"Why do I see those things."

"Am I.. Okay..?"

Lightbulb questions her mental stability silently. Sitting up slightly to check the time. It's too early to be doing this, but Lightbulb doesn't care. She goes back to lying on the bed on her back, everything looking a bit unreal to her.

"Hey. You really fucked up."

"WHAT THE-"

Lightbulb quickly sits up and sees Fan standing next to Baxters cage. A hand on his hip and staring at Lightbulb. God, Fan always was so stupid. 

Shes so confused.. She thought if she killed Fan, her hallucinations of him would go away.. But yet, he is still here.

"Can you just leave!? I'm tired of you!"

She yells at Fan. Tired of his presence.

"Nah. It's fun watching you be pathetic."

Lightbulb is about to speak but she chokes on her words when Fan says that.. Getting upset and grabbing a cup off her bedside table and throwing it at Fan, the glass hitting the wall as she realizes he's not real.

"Oh.."

She stares at where she was just hallucinating.. the glass shards on the ground.

"I'm not cleaning that right now." 

Lightbulb gets up and walks out of the room. Talking to others can help her! Right?

She walks out to the living room and she notices how Test Tube is still asking everyone where Fan is. She clearly looks nervous.

Test Tubes hands are fiddling with each other, she feels like every little detail about where fan is counts.. She doesn't know why she is so nervous, he always comes back! Right?

Test Tube groans as she has gathered basically no information on where fan is currently. She leave the room to go grab some food but just finds a bag of prentzels.. 

Lightbulb watches Test Tube walk back out with the bag of prentzels, she realized she hasn't eaten yet. "Not hungry, I will later." She tells herself. Not actually planning on eating later. 

She starts to walk again, going past the main room and going into the kitchen. Sitting down in a random chair and sighing. There's alot of people out there currently, and it really make lightbulb feel a bit scared. 

She known for being pretty social, but she just hasn't been feeling like herself lately.

She notices how everyone is so happy. How they all have someone to talk too, meanwhile, lightbulb is just sitting there.

All Lightbulb really wants is for Paintbrush to notice her though.

It would brighten up her day from the burnt out light inside of her soul if they just said hi to her once.

Her precious Paintbrush could just walk by and she would get the butterfly's by seeing them!

She sits there, lost in thought. Not focusing on anything happening around her

Disconnecting from reality.

Feeling like she's escaping the real world.

Her sins falling back into the back of her he-

"Snap out of it, Lightbulb."

She gets upset at her thoughts getting disrupted. Seeing the paintbrush again.. Trying everything in her power not to speak to them because there are other people around.

"Hmm.. so what is this? A merely crush?"

Lightbulb looks away. Knowing that usually works when trying to get her hallucinations to go away. She can still somehow see in the corner of her eye the fluffy bristles of the paintbrush.

"Cheer up, damn! You got rid of him, right? Now he won't be in the way."

"It's just your thoughts lightbulb, it's not real.." She mutters to herself. Trying not to think about that right now. 

She doesn't care what they say about fan.

How she's the bad person in this situations.

No she isn't.

Fan deserved it.

It's his fault.

"Fuck it. I can't do this anymore." 

Lightbulb gets up and leaves the kitchen, b-lining it to her room and locking herself inside there.

She doesn't want to be out there, there's too much going on. 

Especially when she has those two little things pestering her 24/7.

She grabs her pen and journal and enters in the code frantically. She finally opens the journal and sits on her bed. Trying her best to write fast.

"I don't wanna bother checking the date. I don't care at this point, like, what's the point in putting in the date if nobody is gunna see this? It was stupid just to try that.. just like everything I do. It's always stupid. I never think before I act.. but im supposed to be the team leader, everyone is supposed to be respecting me! Actually- no. That sounds egotistical. I forgot what that means- gosh I'm right, I am stupid. Well, test tube is still looking around for fan. I know I already wrote for today but so much is going on right now. I just wanna stay in my room and do nothing.. unless if painty is gunna have their lessons today- I should probably go! Oo it would be so fun!! ☆♡ I love painty so much too!! I don't know why, but I can't get over them!! ♡ I hope they can notice me someday too.. and not look at me like I'm just some random person.."

"I just want to be seen by them." 

"Oh yea I should probably also clean that glass on the ground."

Lightbulb glances over to the shards of glass on the ground.. seeing a sharp piece of glass and picking it up. Staring at it intently.

She has these.. thoughts. 

Nothing like her other ones. The thoughts of blood running down her arm.

I mean, if she wants she can make it happen in this world called reality.

 

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Soothing words.

Summary:

Test Tube watches Lightbulb rush to her room.. and she decided to follow her.

 

Test Tube paces around in the kitchen. Clearly worried about Fan’s sudden disappearance.

 

“God.. where is he!?”

 

She whispers to herself, her mind trying to think of the last time she saw him.

 

As she is pacing around, she gets reminded of how Fan told people about Lightbulbs' crush. 

 

“Lightbulb.. Did she- no..”

 

Test Tubes train of thought stops as she watches Lightbulb rush out of the kitchen and her going to her room.

 

“Huh.. that’s.. weird.”

 

Test Tube said to herself. She didn’t even notice that Lightbulb was in the kitchen as well for a moment before that.

 

She gets this feeling that something is wrong. She feels like she has to go check up on Lightbulb.. but she knows how Lightbulb hallucinations have been getting worse.

 

She might as well go check up on Lightbulb.

 

Test Tube starts to make her way out of the kitchen and to Lightbulbs room.

 

When she makes it infront of Lightbulbs door, she feels a wave of anxiety hit her. She’s never been this worried before.

 

“Did Lightbulb do something..?” She thought to herself. She hesitated before knocking twice on the door of Lightbulbs room.

 

Lightbulb jumps at the knock and the glass shard scrapes her arm badly. She hisses at the pain of the cut but after a bit the pain feels dull.

 

She quickly throws the glass away and rummages through her drawers to find something to cover her arms with.

 

She puts on her fingerless gloves and she can feel the fabric scratch at her cuts. She tries her best to ignore it as she walks over to the door and opens it.

 

Lightbulb sees Test Tube looking worried when she opens the door.

 

“You okay Lightbulb? I saw you rush off earlier..”

 

“And I heard-“

 

“Oh I’m fine! Thanks for checking up on me though!”

 

Lightbulb cuts off Test Tube, and Test Tube gets a bit shocked by that but she keeps her composure.

 

Test Tube wants to speak but she doesn’t know what to speak about, being confused and a bit scared for some reason.

 

“Alright, Lightbulb.. But are you sure? You looked really distressed back there..”

 

Lightbulb sighs and speaks up finally.

 

“Well.. I am okay but, it's just there was a lot of noise and also.. uhm..”

 

Lightbulb trails off. Hoping that Test Tube can understand what she was referring to.

 

Test Tube nodded and sighed. “This is getting worse”, She thought to herself.

 

“It’s okay Lightbulb..” Test Tube puts a hand on Lightbulbs shoulder to comfort her. 

 

“I understand what’s happening.”

 

Lightbulb smiled softly, but a hint of guilt washed over her.

 

Test Tube doesn’t understand. She won’t understand, but Lightbulb likes the comfort that Test Tube is giving her.

 

“I really should get working on a medication or something for your schizophrenia. Or maybe it already exists? I would have to search that up..”

 

Test Tube thinks out loud as she makes her way into Lightbulbs room. Lightbulb just kinda stands there uncomfortably from the pain in her arms.

 

Lightbulb starts to turn around to walk back into her room but her arm hits the corner of a table and she swears at the pain.

 

“Fuck-“

 

Test Tube turns around and looks a bit worried when Lightbulb says that.

 

“You okay, Lightbulb?”

 

Lightbulb quickly nods and goes to sit on the edge of her bed.

 

“Yep! I’m alright!”

 

Test Tube just gives Lightbulb another worried glare before starting to make her leave.

 

“Well.. if you ever need anything, or if you just wanna talk.. know that I’m here for you, Kay’?”

 

Lightbulb smiles when Test Tube says that and nods again.

 

“Thank you.. Test Tube.”

 

“No problem!”

 

Test Tube leaves the room and Lightbulb is left there just thinking again.

 

Test Tube is too nice to Lightbulb, probably because Lightbulb has schizophrenia and that Test Tube feels bad..

 

Or.. She actually does care.

 

Lightbulb sighs and goes over to the bedside table to pull out her journal and her pen.

 

She enters the code and opens the journal to a blank page. She wants to write but she can’t.

 

She stares at the blank sheet in front of her. 

 

Her thoughts are too mixed up to write, unable to think on one thing at a time.

 

But soon she thinks about how Test Tube was so nice to her

(I gotta think of a line to feed the lightbulb x test tube shippers) how Test Tube was so kind to her.

 

Usually people just ignore Lightbulb but.. She’s glad to have a friend that can care for her.

 

Lightbulb finally gets to writing in her journal, trying her best to keep her arms from rubbing against anything.

 

“It's really confusing how people just ignore me all the time.. I understand I'm not like the ‘brightest’ (lol a pun :3) but still!! I wanna be seen… or not. I don’t know at this point. It’s so stressful having to deal with my hallucinations at the same time as i'm trying to stay under the radar but wanting not to? This is really confusing.. I wish I could just disappear so i won't have to deal with all of this, but Test Tube wouldn't want that.. Painty wouldn't want that.. Right? I wanna stay with them. I don't want to leave their side.. But, what do they think about me? I hope they don't see me as weird :( That would be terrible!! I REALLY want them to like me back. Is that obsessive? Nah i just have a crush :3 they are really the only reason i'm still here.. I guess that means I am? Eh.. I don’t wanna think about that right now, everything is getting on my nerves and it's really hard to cope with tbh :/ Well I think i've said a lot lol- Lightbulb out!! ☆”

 

Lightbulb stares at the journal when she is finished, she gets this overwhelming feeling of guilt wash over her again.

 

(Draw art of lightbulb staring at the journal, remember to give her fluffy hair.)

 

Lightbulb starts to tear up as she closes the journal and locks it, putting it back in the drawer in the bedside table.

 

She feels so stupid for what she did, she never lashed out on someone like that before. 

 

She starts to cry but soon gets ahold of herself. 

 

“C-Cut it out, Lightbulb..” She mutters to herself

 

She wipes the glossy tears off her cheeks, sniffing softly.

 

“I.. I should get some fresh air..”

 

Lightbulb stands up from the bed and makes her way out of the room, and down the hall of the hotel.

 

Trophy sees her and he wants to go up to her and annoy her but he sees how distressed Lightbulb looks.. He decides to stay back as he leans on the wall drinking the can of Dr. Fizz.

 

“Wonder what her problem is..”

 

He says to himself, crushing the can when he is done and walking over to a trash can nearby him in the corner of the hall, noticing how the trash is pretty full.

 

“Meh, might as well.”

 

He picks up the trash bag in the trash can and starts walking outside. Thinking that the trash was too full anyway.

 

“OJ probably couldn’t pick this up.”

 

He thinks to himself, he makes it outside and he throws the bag into the trash bin but hears a loud cracking noise.

 

The noise sends a chill down Trophy’s spine, not expecting that sound.

 

Trophy feels the urge to check the trash bin but he also feels afraid for some reason..

 

Trophy sighs and leans over the trash bin to look inside, seeing the bag he just threw and another bag under it.

 

He grabs the trash bag he just threw in there and lifts it up to see the other trash bag, seeing a thick liquid drip off the trash bag in his hand.

 

The other bag in the bin is covered in that liquid. Trophy wants to get closer or get a light to see what it is, but when he tries a horrible smell hits trophy and he tries not to throw up from the smell.

 

Without looking he can tell what that smell is, blood.

 

He quickly puts the trash bag back on top of the other one, not being able to handle the horrible smell.

 

“Damn whose dog died..”

 

Trophy said to himself as he walked away. Still feeling uneasy from the situation he just saw.

 

He makes it back into the hotel and he goes to grab another can of Dr. Fizz, leaning on the wall as he watches people in the hotel play video games and chat.

 

Trophy feels a bit lonely seeing everyone be so happy, most people don’t hang out with him, but that's their problem! Right..?

 

He just sighs and drinks his soda, trying to not let his thoughts get to him.

 

But he can’t help but think, thinking about what he found in the trash, how Lightbulb has been acting weird.. Not seeing Fan recently also added onto it

 

This made trophy a bit worried too. He grunted and took a long sip from the can.

 

Maybe he should look for Fan.

 

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Stop nagging me!

Summary:

They say the telephone rings.

Paintbrush sets their canvas down in their room and sighs, staring at the blank fabric of the canvas in front of them.

 

They have been trying to paint all day, even at their art lessons they did not know what to draw so they just talked about gradients.

 

They have been a mess all day, but they aren’t having a bad day.

 

Paintbrush pulls out their phone and starts scrolling through their contacts, just bored out of their mind.

 

They see Fan's contact on their phone and they start to wonder where he has been..

 

They haven't seen Fan since breakfast this morning..  And it really started to worry them.

 

Paintbrush looked at his contact, wondering if they should call him.

 

They sigh and tap the screen, calling Fan.

 

.

 

..

 

…

 

No answer.

 

Paintbrush tries again.

 

…

 

No answer.

 

They give up after the third try. Clearly noticing something wrong.

 

Paintbrush wanted to do something about it but they wouldn’t know what to do. They just sit on their bed, waiting for something to happen when nothing is going to happen.

 

~~

 

 

Trophy sees Lightbulb walking back inside from her walk. He wants to go up to her but he has the urge to follow her.

 

He follows Lightbulb to her room. When she’s in front of the door, he goes up behind her and taps her shoulder

 

Lightbulb jumps in surprise, to in her own head to realize Trophy was following her until now.

 

She turns around and sees him. She was expecting to see him looking all smug but he had this serious expression on his face.

 

“Lightbulb. Where did you go just now?”

 

Trophy asked. Lightbulb raises an eyebrow but responds.

 

“All I did was go on a walk.. Why are you concerned about it?”

 

“Look.. It’s just you have been more distant these past days. I’m worried.”

 

Lightbulb just stared at Trophy, not expecting that answer.

 

“YOU’RE worried? That’s swell coming from you.”

 

Trophy just scoffs after Lightbulb says that. Crossing his arms and glaring down at Lightbulb. What is it to you?”

 

“You’re just acting differently..”

 

“No, I'm completely normal. You must be seeing things..”

 

Lightbulb goes quiet after she says trophy that, trophy going silent as well.

 

Trophy feels a bit weird about talking to Lightbulb because he usually makes fun of her.

 

He notices how Lightbulb is covering her arm, holding it while hiding it behind her back. Its obvious she is hiding something.

 

“Lightbulb are you ok-”

 

“FINE- I'm fine.”

 

Lightbulb responded quickly before going into her room, shutting the door in Trophy’s face when she did so.

 

Trophy groans in annoyance, not really expecting this to be how their conversation would’ve worked out.

 

He starts to walk away and he goes back into the living room, sitting on the couch and pulling out his phone as he starts to scroll through videos.

 

~~

 

Lightbulb lets out a heavy sigh of relief, not expecting that to happen.

 

Usually Trophy doesn’t act like that so she was caught a bit off guard when he asked if she was okay.

Well, she technically isn’t okay but Lightbulb doesn't want to think that.

 

Lightbulb is fine, she's never been better!

 

Lightbulb is still leaning against the closed door, calming down.

 

She doesn’t know why she’s so worried right now, maybe because the thought of her not being okay makes Lightbulb scared.

 

She has to be okay. It's how she is.

 

Lightbulb takes her back off the wall and walks over to her bed, sitting on the edge as she tries to clear her thoughts, but that causes a certain two to show up.

 

“That's wild, Fan!”

 

She hears presumably behind her. She turns her head around to see the fan and the paintbrush talking while sitting on the edge of the bed on the other side.

 

Her expression drops, getting tired of seeing them but she doesn't really want them to leave for some reason. It could help get her mind off things.

 

“So yea, she just lifted up the chair like it was nothing!”

 

Said the fan, laughing a bit and the paintbrush joined in.

 

“Well, i'm not dead but you are so you can explain it to me how it is like if you can.”

 

“It's not like she's going to do the same to you, right?”

 

They both look over at Lightbulb, She gets a bit startled but stares back at them.

 

“No.. I don’t plan on doing that.”

 

She mutters softly, slowly drifting away from realizing that this isn't real.

 

“Yeah that would be stupid if you did, right Fan?”

 

The fan just nods somehow. Lightbulb slowly understands how these things work.

 

They are just objects with limbs and faces.. Is that how everyone really looks? Is that what people's souls look like? That's probably where everyone gets their names from.. 

 

Lightbulb grunts, her head hurting from how confusing this is, making her think too much.

 

The fan starts to speak up again, talking towards Lightbulb

 

“Well, hopefully you hid me away correctly. It sure would suck if someone saw my body.. Or if they saw a video of you with me.”

 

“A video? But.. The rooms don’t have cameras in them.”

 

“The halls do.”

 

Fan adds, Lightbulb just sits there, realization hitting her as the cameras could have seen her.

 

“Shoot..”

 

She says before she quickly gets up, rushing out of the room but she looks back for a second. They are both now gone. She just sighs and starts to quickly walk to the security room.

 

She makes sure that people don’t see her walking there, not wanting anyone to follow her.

 

She makes it to the security room, seeing the door is locked. 

 

She huffs in annoyance, needing to find a way to get in.

 

Lightbulb starts to look on the ground for anything that she can use to pick the lock of the door, noticing a variety of small nick nacks on the ground that could help her out.

 

‘God, they gotta clean this part of the hotel up.”

 

She mutters as she picks up a bobby pin. She remembers how pepper and salt would hang out here a lot before OJ told them that they can't anymore.

 

This feels too convenient for Lightbulb.. Just her lucky day I guess!

 

She goes in front of the locked door, fiddling around with the bobby pin to where she can pick the lock properly.

 

After a bit of trying, Lightbulb hears the door click. Her eyes light up and she opens the door to the security room. Seeing it dimly lit and a monitor in the middle of the room on a desk with various items on it.

 

She closes the door behind her and slowly walks in, taking in the ominous area.

 

She walks up to the desk, Sitting down in the chair that was in front of the monitor and powering up the monitor. While the monitor boots up, she looks around the desk and sees a photo of OJ and Paper. A date written down on the photo

 

She looks back at the computer and sees that she has to put in a pin. She groans, feeling like she’s hit a dead end.

 

She is about to get up before her glance hits the photo again, stopping and looking at it closely.

 

She then goes back to the computer and looks at how it’s a PIN code.. she starts to put the two and two together and she puts the date into the computer.

 

She sees that she was right, the computer loading up the Home Screen and Lightbulb looks around, trying to find the security footage.

 

As she clicks on the file that holds all the footage, she has to scroll through all the previous empty footage to find her with the bag.

 

She makes it to the part and she lets it replay, seeing how she lifted the bag and was taking it outside so easily.

 

She starts to edit the footage, trying to make it look like she was never there.

 

She notices a bunch of flaws she made when she was moving the trash bag in the process of removing footage, remembering to not make the same mistake if she ever gets in that situation again.

 

Then suddenly, she feels a presence behind her. Her breath hitching and she turned her head. Trophy stood at the entrance of the security room.

 

“I-It was you..”

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: not expecting this?

Summary:

Black ink or red ink, choose wisely.

Trophy stares at Lightbulb, Lightbulb being turned around on her seat and staring back.

 

They share a long, uncomfortable silence before trophy speaks up.

 

“Are you the reason Fan is gone?”

 

Lightbulb stays silent. For some reason she doesn’t feel bad for trophy, she’s just scared of what the jock might do to her.

 

Trophy takes her silence as a yes, his glare changing to anger.

 

He remembers earlier when he was at the trash, where he smelt the blood.

 

Trophy takes a step forward towards Lightbulb. She raises up her hands and stands up, the chair that she was sitting on getting pushed under the desk.

 

Lightbulb starts scanning the room. She feels unsafe. She NEEDS to find something to protect herself with.

 

As trophy started walking towards her, She noticed the chair that she was sitting on was foldable. She reaches out and grabs the chair, folding it up and gripping it tightly.

 

Trophy sees this and gets a bit scared and stops walking towards her. He needs to be more cautious now.

 

Cmon.. Think..

 

He thinks to himself, “How can I get her to drop that stupid chair..”

 

Before he can do anything, He hears footsteps approaching him and he sees Lightbulb running towards him with the chair over her head.

 

He reacts quickly, blocking Lightbulbs strike using his arm then grabbing her wrists tightly.

 

Lightbulb scowls, Trying to pull her hands off Trophy's grip.

 

Trophy holds his ground, trying to pull the chair out of her hands before suddenly he loses his breath.

 

Lightbulb had shoved the folded up chair into his chest, making him back up and so did Lightbulb.

 

Lightbulb looked shocked but also.. She felt a thrill of adrenaline rush through her.

 

As trophy is catching Their breath, Lightbulb takes a few steps forward and slams the chair into his side, making him lose his balance and fall to the ground.

 

Trophy grunts when he hits the floor, Quickly scrambling to get up, their gaze unfocused for a second.

 

Click.

 

Trophy hears the sound of a pen clicking, He stands back up and holds his head, Trying to regain his focus on Lightbulb.

 

When he does, the jock sees Lightbulb holding a pen in her hand. Trophy raises a eyebrow before Lightbulb suddenly runs towards him and stabs him in the neck using the pen.

 

Lightbulb grips Trophy’s shoulder Tightly, making sure that he cant move as he yells in pain.

 

She pulls the pen out of his neck and stabs him again, Blood getting on her arm as the jock frantically trashes around, trying to get out from Lightbulbs grip but him slowly getting more fatigued.

 

Lightbulb was holding him up at this point. She grunts before letting him go. He falls down, his legs giving up on him as blood starts to fill his throat from the inside.

 

Trophy hits the floor with a slam, gagging on his own blood and unable to speak. Falling on the ground made it harder for him anyways.

 

Lightbulb looks down at Trophy. A slight smile spreads on her face as he chokes on his own blood.

 

Trophy lies there, everything he sees going white before..

 

Silence.

 

The silence of the room hurts.

 

The only thing making noise was the soft beeps on the computer in the background.

 

Lightbulb stood there, staring down at Trophy’s body, the grip on her pen tightening.

 

Her hand was covered in blood, and some of her shirt. She needed to clean this up.

 

She walked out of the computer room, being cautious if someone saw her with blood all over her.

 

She rushed to her room, closing and locking the door and going over to grab a jacket and a trash bag.

 

Lightbulb gets the items and runs out of her room, quickly going back to the security room, the rooms were pretty near each other and on the same room so she felt okay running back and forth.

 

She puts the jacket on, covering up her bloody arm and shirt then kneeling down in front of Trophy’s body, opening the Trash bag.

 

Her hand grabs his shoulder as she shoves him into the bag head first, slowly but surely getting him fully in the large trash bag.

 

She stands up, trying to lift the heavy bag over her shoulder but is unable too.

 

“Shit..”

 

She mutters to herself, Not knowing how to put his body outside. 

 

Lightbulb gets the idea to keep him here until night then move him. She nods to herself and sets Trophy in a corner of the security room, using the foldable chair to hide him.

 

She sighs and walks out of the room, she needs to clean up the blood that got on the floor..

 

She finds the closet that Mephone used to keep the eliminated contestants in and she walks in, seeing a variety of cleaning supplies.

 

She grabs a rag and a bucket, brings it to the security room and then kneels on the ground, the bucket was already full of water so that made this easier.

 

She dipped the rag in the water then started to scrub the blood off the ground. Seeing the rag start to turn red before all the blood was cleaned up.

 

Lightbulb sighs and stands up after putting the rag into the bucket. seeing how the floor was all clean again.

 

She picks up the bucket and starts walking down the hall to the bathroom, needing to clean the rag and dump the slightly pink water out.

 

She walks into the family restroom, pouring the water out into the sink and then trying to wash the blood out of the rag.

 

She looks up and sees her reflection in the mirror. She sees how there’s blood on her face as well..

 

She cringes, she didn’t even realize she has blood on her face until now.

 

“*Sigh* I’ll just take a shower.”

 

She says to herself, putting the rag back into the bucket when she’s done cleaning it. She’s too tired to put it back so she puts it under the sink.

 

She starts walking back to her room, the hallways oddly empty.

 

She walks into her room, closing the door behind her and then going into the bathroom that's connected to her room.

 

Lightbulb turns the shower on and then gets undressed, walking into the shower and letting the water wash the blood off her.

 

She watches as the water turns light pink, a twisted feeling going through her head.

 

Why was she doing this?

 

This is the second person gone.. She didn’t mean for this to happen..

 

 

She crumbles into a ball onto the ground, her own legs giving up on her from sudden exhaustion and overstimulation from everything that's happened.

 

Lightbulb puts a hand on her damp hair, gripping it tightly to try and calm down.

 

She lets out a shaky sigh and mutters to herself, trying to calm herself down.

 

“C-Cmon Lightbulb.. It's nothing.. Get over it..”

 

She sits there, taking deep breaths until she is fully calmed down and she stands up, turning the shower off because she got all the blood off her.

 

Lightbulb walks out of the shower, being careful not to slip. She catches her reflection in the mirror when she walks by.

 

She stops, staring at herself and then at her hair.

 

“Maybe.. Maybe they will like me if I look like them..”

 

Lightbulb mutters to herself, grabbing a pair of scissors out of a drawer in the bathroom.

 

She brings the pair of scissors to her hair and starts to cut.

 

She continues cutting her hair until she is happy with what she has. She puts the scissors down and looks on the floor, blond hair scattered around her.

 

She then looks in the mirror. Seeing her reflection.

 

“Huh..”

 

She mutters to herself. She never imagined she would do that to her fluffy hair..

 

She just smiled cheerfully and leaves the restroom and goes into her own room, grabbing a pair of shorts and a black T-shirt to wear before it turns night.

 

She sits on the side of her bed, looking down at the bedside table she has and remembers how she has a journal in there.

 

She reaches down, opening the bottom drawer and grabbing her journal and yellow pen.

 

Lightbulb unlocks the journal and flips to the next empty page, starting to write on the paper.

 

“Another one is gone, hopefully this won’t become a recurring problem happening.. I know it’s not good to murder but something about it makes me thrilled? I dunno.. TBH trophy deserved it! He is the one who tried to attack me and I just needed to defend myself. So it’s HIS fault. Now I just have to get rid of the body at night.. ugh. I wish he just didn’t have to walk in on me in the security room. I also just cut my hair, I think I look nice!! It goes well with Paintbrushes haircut♡ I think- I haven’t seen us side to side yet because I just did it LOL- but about Paintbrush.. I really love them~♡ One day we will be together! I just know it!!” 

 

“-Lightbulb out! ☆”

 

She closes the journal with a smile on her face, locking it and putting it back in the bottom drawer of her bedside table.

 

She lays back on her bed, pulling out her phone.

 

As she’s scrolling through videos the pass the time, she hears a voice supposedly infront of her..

 

“Get up, fatass.”

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Soul > Mind

Summary:

YAOI!! you don’t need a summary.

Notes:

(SIGH) this prob published earlier than the one on wattpad soo 💔

 

“I said get up”

 

Lightbulb sat up and saw another object.. It was a trophy, and it had a ribbon around it that was orange.

 

This made Lightbulb notice something familiar about her hallucinations, each of them having an accessory that was orange.. the same color of her bow.

 

But it showed how each of her hallucinations was connected to her in some sort of way besides just being in her head, which was sorta enough to show the connection but it kinda made Lightbulb like her little friends more..

 

As Lightbulb was busy thinking to herself, the trophy spoke up again. Trying to get Lightbulbs attention.

 

“Hello? God- you really are a mess.”

 

“Yea and she likes to make messes too!!”

 

Lightbulb heard the fan speak up suddenly, she never noticed that he was there or… Maybe he just appeared there. It was pretty normal for Fan to do that.

 

“I- What!?”

 

She says out loud. Clearly a bit offended by the comment Fan said about her. 

 

At this point, they aren’t even hallucinations anymore, they feel like real people.

 

Fan had an orange bow tie on. She’s seen her hallucinations have that bow tie on Fan before, but she never thought about it too deeply.

 

the trophy looked over at Fan, scoffing as his gaze locked on the orange bow tie, somehow understanding what happened to Fan now.

 

“Oh god.. Is this what happened to Fan?”

 

Trophy asks Lightbulb, she was about to say yes but she realized that Trophy probably did want an answer.

 

Lightbulb soon loses herself in thought, usually her hallucinations would go away after this.. But they chatted in the background.

 

Were her hallucinations of people more than just.. Visions? She knows that Paintbrush was the first, but never stays long and rarely appears. Usually they only appear when she’s spaced out though.

 

But.. Fan was different. He seemed more.. Lively? If you can even say that. Like that the hallucination is more. Like it’s the soul and not just the mind.

 

Maybe the trophy was like that too. Maybe each of her future kills will have their souls trapped in her mind.

 

Who would even be the next? Who will be forced into an early grave and trapped forever with Lightbulb?

 

Why was she even thinking like this? Lightbulb grunts, putting a hand on her forehead and grabbing her hair. 

 

She hated thinking like that. She hated how she killed Fan, and now Trophy is dead too. 

 

She never ment to hurt anybody in the first place. Fans gone, and technically Trophy is still here because he still needs to be hidden-

 

Oh shit. 

 

She forgot.

 

Lightbulb stood up from her bed quickly and darted out of the room, aiming for the security room. 

 

As she was practically jogging, she caught a glimpse of a window that showed that it was sundown now.

 

She opened the door to the computer room, a horrid smell illuminating her senses.

 

She looked to the left and saw the trash bag she had put Trophy in. Still crumpled in the corner of the room.

 

The smell was a lot, but she somehow tolerated it. The bag that Trophy’s body was in had some blood staining the bottom of it.. hopefully it wouldn’t leave a stain on the ground

 

Lightbulb covered her nose as she walked towards the bag, lifting the bag and starting to drag it out of the room pretty easily. Easier than carrying it.

 

As she’s walking down the hall, she thinks about throwing it away in the trash again, but that didn’t seem like a good idea.. 

 

She walks past the same window, seeing that it’s already dark. 

 

“Damn.. that quick..?”

 

She mutters to herself. She makes it to the stairs, but as she’s walking down the stairs, her gaze is caught with someone else’s.

 

It was.. The stupid winner…

 

~~

 

*A few minutes earlier…*

 

Suitcase was saying goodnight to Knife, already wearing her nice sunshine yellow pajama set.

 

“Goodnight knife!!”

 

“Night, Suitcase.”

 

Knife smiles softly before closing the door to his room.

 

Knife has been much more nice recently, still rude, but specifically more nice to Suitcase.

 

And Suitcase loved it.

 

She loved the fact that Knife was trying to change, the fact that Knife was so sweet to Suitcase.. And how he always made her laugh-

 

Oh cut out of it Suitcase! You might like him, but you don’t need to think about him THAT much.

 

She sighed before starting to make her way to the stairway, and for some odd reason, a faint smell was coming from the staircase.

 

“Probably just mold.” She said to herself in her head. She knew that OJ had been in a bit of stress because of something.. But he never told the others about what it was.

 

She starts walking into the entrance of the staircase and then she walks up a flight of stairs before her eye catches onto someone.

 

They were dragging a big black bag behind them.. And it seems like it was.. A body bag!?

 

Suitcase freezes, her gaze finally stops as she notices Lightbulb was the one dragging the bag.

Lightbulb freezes. Not knowing what to say- Should she even say anything?! This is bad..

 

“Heya buddy.. uhh..”

 

She says, her voice shows clear signs of nervousness and maybe a bit of frustration? She just wants this to be over with. None of this was planned.

 

Suitcase just stammered around her words. She was mainly a bit offended that Lightbulb called her buddy, but also, what the fuck is going on!?

 

“I- Wh.. Who is that..!?”

 

~~

 

*MEANWHILE!!~ :D *

 

“Okay so now you have to use your pencil to draw a circle around-“

 

Paintbrushes speech gets cut off by their phone ringing. They quickly put their hand up and wave as they excuse themselves.

 

Cheesy, cherries, and yin just started chatting in the background as Paintbrush answered the call, on the other line Yang spoke up.

 

“Duddeee… when are you gonna come over to my room!! It’s been like- 3 hours since you last said you would..”

 

Paintbrush heard how upset Yang sounded. They knew Yang was impatient, but that made Paintbrush like him more.

 

“I just have to finish up this lesson and then I promise that I will be there, Kay’?”

 

“Grr.. fine.”

 

Yang said before hanging up, earning a small chuckle from Paintbrush.

 

Paintbrush turned back around and spoke to their class, the 3 going silent.

 

“Sorry about that- where were we?”

 

~~

*20 minutes later*

~~

 

“And yea! That’s how you draw abstract art!”

 

Paintbrush exclaimed, flipping their canvas around to show the three. Cheesy cackled.

 

“WOW! That art really colored me surprised!”

 

Cheesy said, mainly because Paintbrushes drawing was much better than his. He slapped  Yin held back a laugh while cherries started to belly laugh.

 

Paintbrush chuckled a bit too before standing up and making their goodbye, their canvas under their shoulder as they walked to Yang's room.

 

They knock on the door to Yang's room and they hear someone frantically getting up, falling, then the door opens for Paintbrush to see Yang smiling a bit too wide, with a red mark on his forehead from falling.

 

“HII BRO!”

 

Yang said, clearly excited to see their friend.

 

Paintbrush cackles, Yang was always the one to be some sort of chaotic, silly person.

 

Yang lets Paintbrush into his room, and Paintbrush sits on the edge of Yang's bed. Watching as Yang starts going on another rant.

 

“I’ve practically been waiting for agesss!! I’m SO glad you actually came this time!!”

 

“Yang I didn’t show up one time is that a big deal-“

 

“Well to me it is!!”

 

Yang says quickly, they aren’t really fighting but it sounds like they are. Paintbrush and Yang sit there for a bit, Yang talking Paintbrushes head off like usual..

 

Until Paintbrush had a question for Yang.

 

“Yo.. Yang, how do you tell if someone likes you?”

 

Yang pauses before replying quickly, like he knows what he is doing.

 

“You gotta read the signs! Like if someone wants to kiss you, they would close their eyes or even put their arms around their neck-“

 

Yang was demonstrating how it works with Paintbrush, putting his arms around Paintbrush's neck and closing his eyes. Paintbrush blushes heavily, not expecting this.

 

Yang opens his eyes and sees how he put them in that position and he blushed too. Yes, he acts on impulse, so no, he didn’t mean to do that.

 

But he was still flustered.

 

The two stared at each other's eyes for a bit, Paintbrush never expected this to happen with their crush..

 

“Hahah… Uhmm .. Hey Paintbrush..?”

 

“Yea..?”

 

“I think.. Goddamnit- Just.. Just let me-“

 

Yang cuts himself off by kissing Paintbrush on the lips.

 

Paintbrush gets a bit caught off guard by this, but they close their eyes and put a hand on Yang’s cheek. Savoring the kiss.

 

After a few long seconds, Yang pulls back. Clearly a bit embarrassed.

 

“Was that okay bro?”

 

Paintbrush couldn’t hold back their laugh, Yang soon joined their laughter before the two calmed down.

 

Paintbrush smiles at Yang, still giggling slightly.

 

“That was more than okay.”

 

Yang blushed before smiling back at Paintbrush before Yang speaks up, Stammering around his own words.

 

“Soo… uhm… Do you wanna date?”

 

“If I said that ‘it was more than okay’, do you think I would?”

 

“I’m Gonna take that as a yes”

 

Yang happily hugs Paintbrush, his arms wrapping around Paintbrush tightly.

 

Paintbrush giggled and hugged the chaotic one back, one arm around Yang's back and the other one petting Yang's black fluffy hair.

 

“Bro, I love you.”

 

Yang said, still hugging Paintbrush.

 

“Me too, dude.”

Chapter 9: chapter 9: hung and humiliated

Summary:

Uhmmm

“Who would you think it is?”

 

The silence after that was deathly.

 

The two are staring at each other, neither one knowing what to do.

 

Lightbulb shifted slightly, her grip on the body bag tightened.

 

Suitcase didn’t even know what to say, she knew she needed to stop Lightbulb, but she was too scared to move.

 

“…well?”

 

“What do you mean ‘well’!?”

 

“Aren’t you going to do something? At least who do you think is in here?”

 

Suitcase stammered. She knew she had to do something. For christ sake- she won II! She should know what to do! 

 

After another long, uncomfortable silence, Suitcase spoke up again.

 

“I don’t think I want to know..?”

 

Lightbulb shrugged, her legs moving again as she started to walk past suitcase.

 

“Well, I better get going!~ Nice talki-“

 

Lightbulb gets cut off by Suitcase grabbing the back hem of her shirt, choking her slightly before she takes a step back closer to suitcase.

 

“You’re going to stay here while I call 911.”

 

Suitcase said. She was still really nervous, but she needed to do something. She can’t be labeled as the winner of II who saved everyone from Steve cobs by letting Lightbulb just walk off with a body bag in hand!

 

Lightbulb grunts by the fact Suitcase is just holding her still like this. Lightbulb didn’t want to have more casualties than she already caused, because 2 was enough.

 

Suitcase used her other hand to pull her phone out of her back pocket of her pajama pants, starting to dial the number before…

 

SMASH!

 

Suitcase fell onto the ground. Her nose bleeding.

 

Lightbulb had elbowed her.. And now she was standing over Suitcase.

 

Lightbulb lifted her foot, about to kick suitcase.

 

Oh shit.. Suitcase forgot about one thing.

 

She never had a phone.

 

~~

 

Lightbulb stared at suitcase, who was now passed out on the ground in front of her. 

 

Lightbulb didn’t want to hurt more people, but she can’t have any witnesses.

 

One thing was bothering her though.. Why did Suitcase pull out air from her pocket..?

 

Whatever.. she needs to get going. And quickly.

 

Lightbulb lifted up Suitcase and threw her over her shoulder, grunting as she does so.

 

Carrying two limp people… God save her from this nightmare…

 

She started walking down the hall, turning around to go through the back exit of the hotel.

 

She made it outside, the cool night air cold on her skin.

 

She dragged the bag over to where her car was (yes, all the people have cars now at the hotel.) and put Trophy and suitcase in the trunk.

 

SLAM

 

She shut the trunk and walked over to the driver's seat, sitting down in the car and shutting the door.

 

Lightbulb just grabbed her hair and rested her head on the steering wheel. Feeling absolutely terrible.

 

“Goddamnit.. why am I doing this..?”

 

Lightbulb sighs and lifts her head off of the steering wheel, starting to rummage through her glove box for her keys.

 

She knows that she put them there from the last time she left the hotel, which was like… a few weeks ago..? She doesn’t leave the hotel much usually.

 

Lightbulb found her keys and then turned the car on, starting to drive off from the hotel.

 

The slight rattle of the car as she drove on the road was.. quite calming.

 

She got to think to herself a lot as she drove.

 

Where am I going again?

 

Hopefully Suitcase doesn’t wake up..

 

I should probably stop by a store for some rope if she does.

 

Why am I doing this…?

 

Lightbulb cuts her thoughts off, not wanting to think about the reasoning behind her actions, but this silent note in her knows why.

 

Its for her love. Her lifeline. Even if it's just a chain effect from person to person. 

 

No witnesses! That’s all! After this she can go back on her merry way.. Having her Painty all to herself.

 

She smiles before noticing a craft shop on the side of the road. Realizing she still needs to get that rope. 

 

“Hmm..”

 

~~

 

Ding!

 

The bells chime as Lightbulb walks into the craft store, looking around.

 

She walked over to a section that had different types of rope. Why would a craft store have this? I dunno. Neither does Lightbulb.

 

The cashier has their legs crossed on the counter, clearly not paying much attention.

 

They scrolled on their phone, looking at the news.

 

After a bit, they looked up, startled by a noise and quickly sitting normally and putting their phone up.

 

“God- at least make your presence known-“

 

They mutter, speaking to Lightbulb who had dropped a large bundle of rope on top of the counter.

 

“What’s it to you?… uhh…”

 

Lightbulb stammered, realizing that the cashier didn’t have a name tag. Gosh how stupid she must’ve looked.

 

“Flip.”

 

“Flip?”

 

“Yea? What's the problem with my name?”

 

Lightbulb rolled her eyes, getting a bit irritated.

 

“Theres nothing wrong- Goddamnit- just scan the rope.”

 

Flip shrugged, grabbing the rope and scanning it. Clearly a bit irritated themselves by how Lightbulb questioned their name.

 

“$15.47.”

 

They said, looking up at Lightbulb who was going through her wallet and grabbing a $20.

 

“Here.”

 

She said as she gave Flip the bill. They reached out and grabbed it, starting to open the register to get Lightbulbs change before she stopped them.

 

“I don’t want change.”

 

Flip gave Lightbulb a look, clearly confused.

 

“Okay..? Why are you buying rope at this hour anyways.”

 

They said, putting up the 20 and handing Lightbulb the rope.

 

“I dunno. Neither do I know why your name is Flip.”

 

They looked away, getting a bit upset by the continuous comments from Lightbulb about their name.

 

“It doesn’t bother you.”

 

“What? Is it like some sacred secret? I wanna knowww!”

 

“God- why are you acting like we know each other!?”

 

“I genuinely don’t know. Anyways- is that even your real name?”

 

Flip scoffed, they haven’t had this good of a conversation with a customer for a while, but they do want to get home soon anyways.

 

“My full name is Flippable charger block.. but.. I shortened it to Flip because it just.. fits?”

 

“Oh that's actually… pretty reasonable.”

 

Lightbulb stood there for a bit, holding their rope with two hands in front of herself. Why was she even so interested in that?

 

“Now leave my store.”

 

“Alright!!”

 

Lightbulb rushed out of the store, Flip watching them leave.

 

Flip pulled their phone out and turned it back on, going back to the news app and starting to scroll again before their thoughts got caught onto something.

 

“Wasn’t that girl from that show?”

 

~~

 

Lightbulb practically ran to her car, going over to the back and seeing the trunk. Hearing someone’s breathing.

 

She opened the trunk and saw Suitcase passed out still, dried blood under her nose from her nosebleed.

 

Lightbulb quickly scanned her surroundings before starting to tie up Suitcase using the rope, her hands steady as she did so.

 

She tied Suitcases arms behind her back and her feet together.

 

 Lightbulb put the rest of the rope in the trunk before putting Suitcase back in the same spot she was in as well, next to the body of Trophy.

 

She shut the trunk, sighing after she did so. Slipping over to the front of the car and turning it back on. Starting to drive somewhere.

 

Lightbulb noticed how more and more cars were not on the road before she made it to the highway. If her memory was right, there was a rocky bottom of a bridge somewhere nearby…

 

She drove for 10 minutes…

 

20 minutes…

 

40…

 

One hour later, she had made it to the bridge. Dragging along Suitcase and.. what was left of the jock.

 

Suddenly, she felt something trashing in her grip.

 

“Gh-! Let go!”

 

Lightbulb turned her head to see Suitcase trying to get away from her. This made Lightbulb chuckle slightly. 

 

The concrete of the bridge scratched against Suitcases pajamas. The sound of the wind made Suitcase have chills down her spine.

 

She was scared as hell.

 

She needed to get away. She needed to get back to the hotel.

 

Suitcase yelped as she was suddenly thrown over Lightbulbs shoulder. Herself giving up on trying to escape like a dying worm.

 

Lightbulb had one arm holding up Suitcase while the other was dragging the bag that was smelling like rotting flesh.

 

She stopped at a spot that she thought was good, staring down at the rocks at the bottom of the bridge.

 

Suitcase had no idea where she was. She has given up on trying to get away at this point. Tears started streaming down her face.

 

Ah.. Suitcase was all tied up.. so humiliating.

 

Lightbulb thought to herself as she let go of the body bag and her grip tightened on Suitcase, both hands on Suitcases waist.

 

“W-wait.. Lightbulb what are you DOING!”

 

 

She threw her off her shoulder.

 

 

Suitcase ended with a stab to the throat. Cutting her screams short.

 

It was a rock. All it was, was a rock.

 

 

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: the others

Summary:

OH MY GOD!!! Ive been neglecting this version of BOL so much… I usually upload chapters to wattpad bc its more organized, but whoo!

Notes:

Fuck

 

 

OJ paced back and forth in his room, one hand clutching his hair while his other was holding a stack of papers.

 

Test Tube had sent him multiple letters about Fan. How he randomly disappeared one day. And how she’s noticed some… Weird activity.

 

This overwhelmed OJ, he never wanted to deal with disappearances. That was the last thing he wanted to deal with as a hotel manager.

 

He kept on re-reading the papers, how there were detailed descriptions of last sightings of Fan and his interactions before going missing.

 

It felt like OJ was reading a case file. And that didn’t ease his nerves at all. 

 

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Snapping OJ out of his trance of walking in endless circles.

 

“Jay… you doing okay? Hun..?”

 

A male voice spoke up from the other side, slightly high pitched. OJ sighed in relief, walking over to the door and opening it.

 

It was his husband. White messy hair with light blue highlights. It was kinda spiked as well. Like a mullet. He was wearing his pajamas, an oversized shirt of OJ’s and some shorts with long socks.

 

“Yeah..I'm just alright..dear.”

 

OJ responded, although his hair was messy, he was in his baggy, stained clothes paired with his ripped goiky socks, and dark purple eye bags under his eyes.

 

“You don’t seem too okay… nor look okay..”

 

Paper countered back in a worried tone, which made OJ want to assure Paper he was doing just fine..even though he wasn’t.

 

“I promise you hun, i'm okay, seriously!”

 

OJ reassured, even as his voice seemed distraught and troubled. Paper stepped into the room, scanning the area as his eyes landed on a paper of Fan’s descriptions with everything before the disappearance.

 

“OJ… I don’t think you are okay..”

 

They said, grabbing the papers and looking through them as OJ stood, watching the papers like an eagle with a tired frown.

 

“... I guess not.”

 

He rubbed his head in embarrassment. as Paper looked through the papers, a confused yet worried expression grew on his face.

 

“This… It doesn’t make any sense… you’re telling me Fan just vanished..?!”

 

“It seems so, but it doesn’t seem humanly possible to seem so. There is a zero chance you can just… Poof. Disappear.”

 

“Did someone kidnap them? Did they run away… but why?”

 

“Fan couldn’t have ran away, as they were in the hotel the whole time they were always seen. Which also means they couldn't have gotten kidnapped.”

 

“Maybe we should… AH! We should check the security cameras!”

 

Paper suggested with enthusiasm, as OJ nodded in agreement.

 

“Good idea, let's go hun.”

 

He opened the door, holding it for Paper as he walked out, with OJ behind his lead. As they walked they felt a bit of tension in the air, the orange hallways felt stuffy as they walked. 

 

The walk down the wooden floorboards seemed to take hours, with worrisome and distressedness in the air. Once they finally got there, OJ sighed with relief, which was quickly caught off when they walked in.

 

“It… shouldn't be unlocked.”

 

Paper questioned, before OJ followed up.

 

“And the floors shouldn’t be sticky..”

 

OJ looked, the once relieved face now having a concerned look. Before Paper followed along with a shocked expression written on his face.

 

The two were standing still, paper’s eyes wide open and OJ frozen in place as paper goes to inspect the corner of the room.

 

“Oh god… what happened here..”

 

Paper whispered, realizing what was on the floor. It was blood.

 

Paper gagged, he touched someone's blood!? Paper quickly walked back next to OJ, clutching his chest with his other hand before OJ patted their back..like that’d do anything.

 

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”

 

“That doesn’t really help..”

 

Paper muttered, he felt disgusted at what might’ve happened here.

 

“I… I need a moment.”

 

Paper says, his voice barely over a whisper as he walks out of the room quickly. Leaving OJ standing there, confused.

 

OJ wants to go to Paper, but he wants to also give him space. Instead, he walks over to the computer in the room, booting it up and typing in the password.

 

Incorrect

 

He does it again

 

Incorrect

 

At this point, OJ is getting upset. He's putting his password in right, WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?

 

try again in 5 minutes.

 

OJ grunts, slamming his hands on the table then notices the photo that has the date on it.

 

He starts to think, what could’ve happened…

 

You dumb fuck.

 

OJ groans as he understands now. Someone must’ve changed the password to the computer. He shouldn't have left that there… 

 

“This is never going to end…”

 

(Meanwhile…)

 

Paper rushes toward the bathroom, panting and looking like on the verge of tears.

 

He slams the door, locking it shut and sliding down the back of the door, clutching his chest.

 

“No… no… Mephones gone.. and… this cant…”

 

“Paper, calm down, geez.”

 

Someone spoke inside of Papers head, he instantly recognized it.

 

“N-Now's not the time.. Origami…”

 

“When is it ever the time? Cmon! Your life is so boring and something just happened! You should let me take control and help you out!”

 

Paper sighs. At least what it’s saying is helping them forget the cards in front of him.

 

“Origami… I don't think you should do that..”

 

“Fine… whatever… Get up, you look terrible.”

 

“I DON’T LOOK TERRIBLE!”

 

Paper says back quickly, his high pitched voice echoing through the small bathroom. He stands up, standing in front of the sink and splashing his face with water.

 

He looks up, and sees himself in the mirror. God, he does look terrible. Did seeing that really get him so stressed..? Or maybe it's built up..

 

 He splashes his face one more time, but when he looks up, he sees it. For the first time in quite a while.

 

“Long time no see? Eh?”

 

“I don't want to talk to you right now!” 

 

“Well, I want to talk to you.”

 

Paper pauses, staring at Origami in the mirror.

 

“Fine.. What is it?”

 

“I think YOU should stay back on searching for your pathetic little friends, AND!!! and- and theres more yep yepp theres more-“

 

“Get to the point Origami…”

 

“LET ME SPEAK!!! Ahem- And you should let me take over! Have a break~ wouldn't that be nice?”

 

“N-No! I can’t just let you do that! You… You’re mean! And I have to be there for OJ!”

 

 

 

“Alright, whatever. Be that way. Just make sure to keep an eye on… her…”

 

Paper stutters, caught off guard by the pronoun.

 

“H-HER?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HER-“

 

In a blink of an eye, Origami is gone again. Paper grunts, his head falling down and hitting the sink counter out of anger. He shouldn't have let Origami get away.. But… It's kinda nice knowing it is helping… sorta.

 

Paper walks out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Feeling… A bit better.

 

“Cmon paper.. you’ve got a person to find.”

 

~~

 

The cold breeze of the air stings as she walks down the dirt path, her shoes ever so often stepping on a leaf. Emitting a satisfying crunch out of it.

 

She walks deeper into the forest, bag in hand and walking with authority.

 

The night is cold, yet she doesn't mind. She's been out here a million times at this point.

 

As the trees only get bigger, she sees a figure in the distance. She smiles softly as she yells out to them.

 

“Mic! Is that you?”

 

Taco said, smiling softly.

 

Taco and Microphone agreed to meet up tonight. Just because they wanted to.

 

Taco's vision wasn't the best, her other eye being almost completely blind. But she always insisted that she was fine.

 

Mic yelled back, running towards Taco and hugging her tightly, picking her up as she spun her around.

 

“Hi Taco!!”

 

“AH-! M-MIC!”

 

Microphone laughed at how upset taco was. Taco wasn’t exactly expecting that from Microphone, but it was nice for a change 

 

She set Taco down, the two starting to walk over to their iconic log where they used to hang out.

 

“Yea.. But even if the show is over, I still feel like I'm Outcast. Do you know how ridiculous that is!”

 

Taco said, her hands expressing her anger as she waves them around. Microphone can't help but laugh a bit at Taco.

 

"At least you have a place to sleep, it's better than nothing!”

 

“I don't feel very welcome there. But whatever.”

 

The shorter one said, going to sit down on the log and Microphone sits next to her. Taco pulls out a sandwich and hands it to Mic, then grabs a sandwich of her own.

 

“Thanks, also… Why did we come out here?”

 

Taco hesitates slightly, picking the bread off of the sandwich as a way to fidget.

 

“Well, I just wanted to get away from the hotel a bit. And I wanted you to come with me.”

 

Microphone smiles. Taco has been… Healing. She's glad to see Taco doing well again and taking care of herself

 

Taco notices Mic’s staring, god how cute she was when she smiled like an idiot.

 

“Mic, you're staring.”

 

“Yepyepsorryyep.”

 

Microphone quickly said, looking away and eating her sandwich. Thinking about her past with Taco.

 

It was really late, yet it didn't matter.

 

Microphone recalls how Taco manipulated her during the second season, how taco would make Microphone sound quiet, yet she isn’t.

 

She did things she didn't want to do, but it felt like she had an actual friend at the time.

 

She does now! But she still wonders how Taco felt during those long months of not talking to Taco.

 

Microphone glances over at Taco, who isn't eating her sandwich.

 

She needs to eat.

 

“Taco, are you going to eat your food..?”

 

“Hmm.. I will.”

 

Taco said, taking a bite into her sandwich. She didn't want to eat.

 

She was still thinking about him.

 

She missed him. She missed him a lot.

 

Taco remembers how she found out she was made for the game, and it was hard to process. But she's grown past that, she's growing to be her own person who isn't just a manipulative person.

 

But she still manages to hurt the people closest to her, she wants to be friends with pickle, yet he still holds a grudge, and she wants to have him back. He didn’t deserve to die, nobody deserves that.

 

She used to think what would happen if someone hit the red line while they were escaping mephone 4, yet nobody did. But from what she’s inferred, they would probably end up like Bow or Dough. (THIS IS NOT CANON, its for plot for THIS STORY)

 

Hopefully she can heal though. Mentally and physically. 

 

During those months of not talking to Microphone, she didn't eat much, couldn’t sleep because she stayed up writing letters that she never sent and she still has scars from the lowest point she hit during those months.

 

She really hopes that Microphone never notices how much Taco hurt herself because of Mic leaving. It wasn't Microphones fault. It was Mephones fault for making taco this way.

 

Taco finished her food, and she wanted to ask Microphone a question about something that she's had on her mind for a while.

 

“Hey, Mic?”

 

“Hm?”

 

Taco paused, she was hesitant to ask Microphone at all, but she felt like she had too. Even if it was stupid.

 

“What would you do if I never existed..?”

 

Microphone paused, looking over at Taco with confusion and concern in her eyes.

 

“What!?”

 

“Answer the question, microphone.”

 

Microphone looked away. Trying to think of what she would do? Well, when she was away from Taco, she did feel a bit better. But now Taco has changed… She doesn't know if she could… Go on… without her.

 

“I don't know, probably just… try to find a way to recover you..”

 

Taco smiled, she wasn't expecting that answer, but it was better than what her thoughts told her. She was about to speak up until the two heard a car in the distance.

 

“Huh..? At this hour..?”

 

Said taco, getting up and walking out the forest a bit, Microphone following behind her.

 

The two watched as a car pulled up to Hotel OJ, and Lightbulb stepped out. She seemed exhausted, walking over to enter the hotel through the back door instead of the front.

 

Microphone raised an eyebrow, Taco shivered slightly.

 

That wasn't like the Lightbulb she knew, being so secretive…

 

Before Lightbulb opened the door to enter the hotel, she glanced over and saw Microphone and Taco.

 

Shit.

 

Chapter 11: Chapter 11: a loud night

Summary:

Lightbulb’s schizophrenia ACTIVATED!

Lightbulb laid on her bed, limbs sprawled out from corner to corner.

 

She was exhausted, drained, she didn't want to exist anymore.

 

She was at her lowest. She has never felt this way ever since II 18, and yet somehow this is worse.

 

She palms her face, why can't she go back to her joyful self? Why is her schizophrenia getting to her this bad NOW!? WHY IS PAINTY ALWAYS ON HER MIND!?! 

 

…

 

…why were they on her mind so much?

 

Lightbulb sat up, thinking deeply now.

 

They were just so pretty, and the way that Paintbrush would look when they were concentrated or upset makes Lightbulb get butterflies.

 

She just wants to get closer to Paintbrush, yet they aren't even friends! Sure, they were on a team together, but Paintbrush had moved on from the show.

 

They were never close, and Lightbulb wanted just to be friends with Paintbrush before she had gotten feelings for them…

 

Or maybe she always had feelings for Paintbrush? 

 

She groans, her head hurting from being up so late, and overthinking.

 

 “U-ugh… W-were am I..!?”

 

Said a high pitched voice. Lightbulbs face went white. That voice was unforgettable.

 

She looked around the room before she noticed a small suitcase. An orange ribbon tied around the handle of it, and it only had legs…?

 

This was unlike the other hallucinations. Well, besides the ribbon and the object body. Where are its hands!?

 

“LIGHTBULB!?”

 

Yelled the suitcase, backing up closer to the wall while sitting on the floor.

 

Lightbulb flinched, she wasn't expecting her hallucination to be this… Soulful?

 

“I-I… Suitcase…?”

 

The suitcase stutters, standing up and looking at their “feet”, then at Lightbulb.

 

“You- I’m- Can someone explain this??”

 

Lightbulb didn't even know how to explain this. Usually the others would just… Accept it and not ask questions…

 

“Hold it! I got it brighty!”

 

Exclaimed an excited voice, Fan running out from seemingly behind Lightbulb and going over to Suitcase to explain things to her.

 

Suitcase’s face goes grim, staring at Lightbulb.

 

“You killed me..?”

 

“Well, she did to all of us!”

 

“Fan you shouldn’t joke about that-“

 

Lightbulb said, the other two going quiet. Fan looking upset and Suitcase looking upset but scared.

 

“I don't think you have a say in this.”

 

Said suitcase, looking away from Lightbulb for a bit as she spoke.

 

Lightbulb muttered an apology before realizing how stupid that was.

 

“Aren't you guys in MY head?”

 

“Well, technically we are. But we kinda still have our souls, so we are more trapped in your head. We got turned into these object versions of ourselves… I do like how I look though TBH! Also lets exclude Paint-“

 

“Did you just say TBH out loud?”

 

Suitcase said, staring at the fan who was standing there like a little dork.

 

“Uhhhhhhh”

 

“You guys are all so stupid…”

 

Lightbulb said, suitcase looking over at her, pure anger on her face.

 

“YOU DONT GET TO SAY THAT YOU- YOU- GRAHH!!”

 

Suitcase huffed, walking away and sitting in the corner of the room while Fan stood there like a deer in headlights.

 

“Uhm- uh.. Sooo.. Does anyone know yet?”

 

Asked Fan, moving closer to Lightbulb and sitting next to her on the bed. Kicking his feet like a little kid.

 

“No.. I don’t think so… Well, Taco and Microphone saw me coming back earlier. And people have GOT to notice Trophy is gone… Probably.”

 

“Well, on your end that's good! I think Trophy is just with them right now, he's a bit upset because he didn't want to be dropped off of a bridge.”

 

“YOU GUYS SAW THAT!?”

“YOU WHAT!?”

 

Yelled Suitcase and Lightbulb, the two staring at each other before looking back at Fan, who looks a bit taken aback. Readjusting his orange bowtie, or just fiddling around with it out of nervousness.

 

“Yeahh… We see what happens most of the time, it's really confusing because we know we are… gone… But still feel alive?”

 

“Hmm..”

 

Lightbulb looked at the ground. Realizing how well the two have adjusted to being dead, meanwhile Suitcase is still wondering if she has arms.

 

Maybe, just MAYBE, Lightbulb can get what she wanted after trying so hard.

 

She just wanted Painty.

 

Lightbulb grabbed her diary, unlocking it and looking through the pages. Seeing the most recent one from when she got back. 

 

It was short, but she has more on her mind. 

 

She reached down, grabbing her yellow pen. At this point, she had forgotten about Fan and Suitcase. Who are now gone from the room.

 

She began to write.

 

“They still exist. I can see them, I can hear them vividly… But they are just objects now. It scares me how they just turn into that while I'm over here, someone with skin and bones with objects who could be set on fire.”

 

“I can’t touch them though, and they can't touch me. They are like ghosts, but the ghosts I know are Bow and Dough. I wish that I can just have this all go away. I didn't want it to go this far, but I can turn back… Right?”

 

“When I cut my hair, I really liked how it looked when I looked in the mirror. But I swear for a second I saw another one of those objects replacing my face for a second while staring at the mirror.”

 

“It was a lightbulb I think. (How ironic.) and it was staring back, it had the same face and limbs as Fan and Trophy, but each one of them seems to have some sort of orange fabric around them.”

 

“Fan has an orange bowtie, Trophy has an orange ribbon tied around him, and Suitcase has a ribbon tied around her handle, I'm pretty sure.”

 

“I haven't seen Paintbrush in a while, probably because I'm so focused on the real one instead of the one in my head, but I swear there was no orange on them. Like- NONE!”

 

“Maybe it resembles them when they die from me, because of my orange bow… But I don't know.”

 

“I just want painty, not pain.”

 

Lightbulb was about to continue writing, before she heard people walking past her door. She recognized the voices: Microphone and… TACO!?

 

What is Taco doing with Microphone? Well, they are best friends after all… But she must’ve missed something, because she SWORE that they were on bad terms.

 

Lightbulb got up, leaving her diary on her bed open and left the room. Seeing Microphone and Taco already making a left turn.

 

Lightbulb followed them, she heard more voices now. Paintbrush and Yang were there as well.

 

She peeked her head out from the corner and saw what was happening, her face dropping.

 

Microphone was talking to Paintbrush, talking about some random shit like being really tired while Paintbrush gave Microphone advice to “probably go to bed.”

 

Taco and Yang were bickering, Yang yelling something about tea being boring and Taco going all like “HOW DARE YOU! YOU SKALLYWAG!” Or something. Lightbulb wasn't paying attention to that.

 

She turned around and started walking back to her room, but instead of walking inside of her room, she walked past it and went to the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor as she sighs and leans against the wall of the elevator.

 

Microphone cant be getting close to Paintbrush, SHE CANT BE!

 

But… If Microphone is barely friends with Taco, then Microphone must be wanting some sort of attention… Which she is going to Paintbrush for!

 

Yes… Yes! That's right Lightbulb!

 

Microphone and Paintbrush will get closer, then eventually get to the point of dating.

 

This made Lightbulbs blood boil, after ALL OF HER EFFORT, SHE STILL ISN'T GETTING WHAT SHE WANTS.

 

Lightbulb was on the verge of pulling her hair out before the elevator dinged, the door opened and she sighed again, stepping out of the elevator and immediately getting grabbed by the shoulders by someone.

 

“GOLLY! LIGHTBULB! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?”

 

“TEST TUBE!?”

 

~~

 

Microphone sighed, Paintbrush rubbing the back of their head.

 

“Yea, you should get some sleep. Like, for real.”

 

Okay, maybe Microphone did need some sleep. But she didn't want to.

 

“It can't be that late, right?”

 

Paintbrush paused, pulling out their phone and checking the time.

 

“It's almost midnight, you should really go to bed.”

 

Microphone groaned but nodded, Paintbrush walking over to Taco and Yang who were practically fighting like rabid animals now.

 

“Cmon Yang, let Taco have her little tea time.”

 

They said calmly, picking up Yang who just looked mad but stayed silent besides a slight huff of annoyance.

 

Taco stood up, brushing the imaginary dirt off of her pants.

 

Paintbrush walked away, a Yang in their arms meanwhile Taco and Microphone stayed back, saying their goodbyes and parting ways.

 

Microphone walked a different direction from Taco, going down the hall to get to her elevator.

 

As she was walking down the hall, she noticed a door was open to a room.

 

Wasn't this Lightbulbs room? 

 

Microphone raised an eyebrow, going to shut the door before seeing something on Lightbulbs bed.

 

Was that… A diary?

 

She didn't want to snoop… But OOOHHH how much she wanted to take a look at the diary of Lightbulbs.

 

She looked both ways before sneaking into the room, sitting on the bed and flipping to the first page.

 

“Test Tube got this for me to let me calm down from my hallucinations”

 

“H-hallucinations…?”

 

Microphone muttered, flipping the page and reading it.

 

“I don’t know if I should be mad or forgive Fan!!”

 

“Theres more hallucinations now”

 

Microphones eyebrows furrowed, seeing such a happy girl having to go through such a tough time…

 

She flipped the page again, this is where it all started to… shift.

 

“I killed my friend Fan because of my stupid hallucinations!!”

 

“I just felt so… what's the word- Relieved?”

 

Microphones face dropped. Staring at the paper in disbelief.

 

It now made sense on how Fan has been gone for a while recently. Her hands shook as she flipped the page again.

 

“I just want to be seen by them”

 

Flip

 

“It's really confusing how people just ignore me all the time..”

 

Flip

 

“Another one is gone”

 

“Tbh Trophy deserved it!”

 

Flip

 

“I didn't mean for it to come this far.”

 

“Someone please save me… before I hurt more people.”

 

Then that was it.

 

The final page had tear stains on it, but a few more were added as Microphone started crying.

 

Three people… All gone, because of Lightbulbs schizophrenia…

 

Microphone didn't know how to comprehend this, she was about to take out her phone to take photos of the diary before she heard…

 

Her.

 

“What are you doing in my room?”

 

 

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: magical(not) girl forze!! ☆

Summary:

PLEASE KYS LB 😭😭

also warning for threats?

“Answer me, what are you doing in my room?”

 

God, Microphone didn't know what to say. She was standing there, diary in hand, staring at Lightbulb who CLEARLY can see HER OWN DIARY in Microphones hands.

 

Should she be honest? That would be the best option.. 

 

But oooh! It would sound like: I saw your door open and wanted to snoop! Thats all <33 anyways im gonna go check up on my g-

 

NOPE! NO! NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THAT!

 

Microphone grunts, setting down the diary on Lightbulbs bed.

 

“I just… saw your door open and I was going to close it but I saw your diary open on your bed and… And couldn’t help myself.”

 

Her voice was shaky, she knew everything. And she wishes she didn't.

 

Lightbulb narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharpening on Microphone.

 

She walks into the room, coming over to her bed and picking up her diary. Microphone shuffles away, afraid the team leader might do something.

 

“B-But Lightbulb- Di-“

 

“Did you read till the end.”

 

Lightbulb cut off Mic, turning to stare RIGHT at Microphone. It sent chills down Microphones spine, yet she reluctantly nodded. Feeling terrible that she did.

 

Lightbulb looked back at the diary, with the stained page and flipped back a page, then another.

 

It slowly hits Lightbulb that… Microphone read her diary… And some of the pages had confessions in there of what she has done.. Like no dip Sherlock! 

 

But… But this means…

 

 

Microphone knows.

 

She… Knows?

 

SHE KNOWS?

 

GOD, OH NO, OH CHA- OH GOD!

 

 

Lightbulb slams the diary shut, her hands shaking as she opens the drawer and puts the diary in it. Trying to be as calm as possible meanwhile Microphone is still trying her best to avoid Lightbulb yet not wanting to flat out run away.

 

“Lightbulb.. did you…”

 

“Y…You could say so…”

 

“You could say so?!” WHAT DO YOU MEAN “you could say so”!?”

 

Mic snaps back, being scared of herself at this point, the tears rolling down her cheeks from earlier return.

 

“OH CMON MIC! It's not.. It's complicated! It’s so hard to control my thoughts- And my STUPID temper over trying to hide it, and over Pa..”

 

Microphone takes a step back. She’s always assuming the worst, thinking that Lightbulb is going to lash out on her at any moment.

 

“L-Lightbulb… You can.. You can't expect to get away with murder..”

 

“B-But I have so much to live for! Right? I don’t want to lose my entire life just for some stupid things I see!”

 

“L-Look, I get that we all are looking forward to not being in the show anymore.. B-But that doesn't mean we have to do this!”

 

“NO MICROPHONE! YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT! UGH!”

 

Lightbulb stomps on the ground, getting upset that Mic doesn’t understand her words.

 

Microphone flinches, taking another step back from Lightbulb, her hands close to her chest.

 

Lightbulb brings her own hands to her chest, clutching them tightly as she takes a step closer to Mic.

 

“I- I want to be a good person! I want to- I want to become someone who helps others! Not someone who hurts people! I never wanted this to happen, DON’T YOU GET THAT!?”

 

 

.

.

.

Mic stays silent, yet she doesn’t.

 

 

“IVE DONE SO MUCH EVER SINCE HE HAS LEFT! I'VE TOOK UP WRITING, LEARNED SPANISH, HAVE GOALS TO STRIVE FOR, BECAME MORE SERIOUS… I don't want it to go towards NOTHING!”

 

 

.

.

.

Mic stays silent again, and she continues.

 

 

“I feel terrible, thinking about the people who I've hurt, it kills me even more. B-But they are still here! Just in their own ways! I just… I just want someone to be here with me, not in my head. Something that is real, that I can hold, that I can touch, that I can just.. FEEL their presence..”

 

 

.

.

.

SPEAK MIC GODDAMIT SPEAK.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

SHE CONTINUES.

 

 

“But Mic… Isn't it magical? How the world changes so quickly. Ho- How he can just leave and expect what he made us to not crumble? God! Even Trophy can't keep up his act because he wanted to follow me once.”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

“What?”

 

Lightbulb takes a step closer, Mic didn’t realize that Lightbulb is right in front of her now. She jolts, Lightbulb notices, yet doesn't act on it. She has this… Smile. That smile that is trying SO HARD to comfort Mic, yet it is doing the opposite.

 

Microphone didn't really get all of what Lightbulb was saying, she was too afraid, too scared, too focused on keeping her hands pressed to her ears to TRY to ignore the fact a killer is trying to reason with her.

 

Or she's just playing with her food.

 

Lightbulb sighs, Microphone is clearly still not getting it. She looks away, not wanting to rip open the stitches she has created.

 

“Mic, if you tell anyone… You will be hearing from me. And I will know. Okay~?”

 

“Uh…Uh-Huh.”

 

Microphone mutters, her cheeks stained by tears. 

 

Lightbulb leads Microphone to the door of her room, letting her leave before saying one last thing when Mic is out the door.

 

“Oh! And this is how you shut a door, silly!”

 

Lightbulb yells out, then shuts the door. Loud enough for Mic to head, yet not slamming the door completely.

 

Microphone is hugging herself tightly. She doesn't know what just happened, she's scared, shocked, sad (for some stupid reason.)

 

And… If she’s being completely honest… 

 

A bit empathetic.

 

She DOES understand… A little.

 

And she DOES want to help… A lot.

 

She can't just leave this interaction to waste… And… Lightbulb wont ALWAYS know…

 

…

 

She needs to tell someone.

 

——————

 

Test Tube is lying down on her desk, the blinding light of her lamp making her want to scream.

 

She's been working non-stop ever since fans disappeared, even before that as well!

 

She's tired, exhausted, done with trying to find every little clue to try and find her friend.

 

She opened all the doors, and all the rooms were empty.

 

Test Tube sits up just to look at her research, which was all over her desk.

 

Fan was last seen in her lab, they were hanging out before he left to go back to the hotel as she stayed at the lab.

 

That was the day he went missing.

 

And it sucked, a lot.

 

After that, there was no trace of Fan instead of his phone. 

 

Weirdly enough.. that same day, or even the day after, she heard Trophy complaining about the trash can outside making weird noises. Her and a few others were in the main room as he was talking loudly to knife…

 

There was herself, OJ (who seemed to be really curious about it), Paper, bomby, bot, Lightbulb, apple, and… Cabby.

 

If she recalls right though, she hasn't seen Trophy around recently aswell…

 

But besides that, nothing out of the ordinary… Just… Lightbulb has been different. Less of the Inanimate Insanity Lightbulb, and more.. Herself, and that's great! Being more than the show itself is great!

 

…

 

Hopefully her schizophrenia isn't that bad right now.

 

Test Tube really needs to make a medication for Lightbulb, all the other prototypes she’s made or some she's found online just made Lightbulb either pass out after taking them, or start speaking to someone called “them”. 

 

Neither outcomes are good.

 

… 

 

She’s tired of thinking right now, she REALLY needs sleep before she starts rambling about some random shit like the sun actually being rainbow instead of orange or white.

 

Test tube stands up, stumbling slightly but catching her balance. She pushes her chair in and turns off the desk lamp. It was the only source of light in her lab so she pulled out her phone and used the flashlight to go to the exit of her lab.

 

Shes going to leave everything here, probably will come back in the morning when she wakes up. She goes to the entrance/exit chute and pushes a button, being sucked in then pushed out of the vending machine at the top. (I dont know how it works LOL.)

 

Test Tube grunts, it always hurts going up instead of down.

 

“God.. I gotta make some stairs…”

 

She mutters, before standing up and starting to walk back to the hotel, taking in the scenery. It was a peaceful night too, with the wind being gentle, the slight noise of crickets in the distance, the grass was even a little bit wet.

 

Did she really stay in her lab for so long? She went in there at like… 10 am? And last time she checked the time it was 6 pm… 

 

Test Tube realizes that she just has a phone and she can use that. She pulls it back out, previously putting it up when she exited the vending machine.

 

She bit her lip when she saw the time. God she was in there for a LONG time.

 

It was about 3am now, yet it had felt like so much had just happened at the same moment.

 

Test Tube continues walking to the hotel, wondering how everyone else is doing, and a way to get her damn sleeping schedule back on track.

 

When she makes it to the hotel, she's not even CLOSE to the entrance until someone runs out and notices Test Tube, rushing towards her and grabbing her by the shoulders out of panic.

 

Test Tube yells, startled by them doing this all of a sudden. Wait.. thats Microphone!

 

“TESTTUBEIHAVETOTELLYOUSOMETHING!”

 

“M-MICROPHONE! Words! Cmon! I need words!”

 

“I-I need to tell you something! It's really important! Cmon!”

 

Test Tube doesn't get to say another word before being practically dragged by Microphone to the hotel. The grass letting their footsteps be heard.

 

What does this Geebweezer have to say now?

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: remember?

Summary:

We get some tacomic action this chapter again!!!! Savor it while you can IDIOTS.

What happened next was way too chaotic for Test Tube to process until Microphone actually started talking.

 

She apparently ran into the hotel to check on some people. Test Tube had stayed in the lobby, sitting on a stool at the counter drinking some water.

 

Microphone came back almost dragging Taco by the arm, who looked like they were just dragged out of bed. 

 

Microphones excuse was that “She needs to hear it too! I… I just need her to know aswell.”

 

Test Tube thought that was a bit odd, yet let Taco come along. She doesn't hold a grudge against Taco for what happened in the show, yet isn't really friends with her.

 

Mainly because she was, but that's not the point. Taco always looks exhausted, so it's not that different.

 

They all went back to the lab, Microphone looking a bit nervous, checking around as if someone is following them. Test Tube was tired, and Taco seemed worried about Microphone, yet still drowsy.

 

The three dropped into the Lab using the chute, the lab dark and the only thing on was a lamp at a desk.

 

Test Tube walked over to a Light switch, turning the entire lab back on.

 

Taco groaned at the Light, she wasn’t prepared to be blinded when Microphone told her that she has “important news.”

 

Taco complied anyway. She wouldn’t leave Microphone alone if something bad is happening, that's in the past

 

Speaking of the past… Taco REALLY thinks about the past often. A lot, even.

 

She hates thinking about how she acted when she was on season 1 and 2.

 

Every time she thinks about all the things she’s done, she hates herself for what she's done even more.

 

She would curl up into a ball, close her eyes tightly, or even just space out in general. She thinks, and thinks, and thinks, and it never makes her happy.

 

She used to deal with all of this stuff alone, in the woods, sometimes Mep- her ally… Would try to comfort her, yet it would only work for the time being.

 

Recently though, when she goes into that state of thought, Microphone would be by her side. Comforting her, telling her that what she did was in the past, that she isn’t a bad person at heart, it’s just what he’s done and not what she’s done.

 

Taco loves it when Microphone comforts her like that, feeling actually better and happy for a while. She knows what she’s done isn't okay, and she hates the way she acted herself back then, but… She's working on herself now.

 

They still remember when they were at their lowest points though. Hiding in the bushes, watching from the sidelines of the show, talking to Microphone acting as if she has more power over the game than she really did…

 

All of a sudden, Microphone left. Bitterly, no sugar added.

 

Taco was being sarcastic, like always, yet she never knew Microphone felt so strongly about how she would speak to her.

 

And when she knew, it was too late.

 

She fell down and hit the ground. Hard. It hurt the entire time. She would think about what she would do differently a lot, and that wasn't even a good thing either. It damaged her mental state, and physical state.

 

She made it through. Not without a little fire though, but Taco doesn't like thinking about that or looking at her legs at all for that manor.

 

Yet now, she wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to Microphone, or her friends, or anyone in this case! Well.. Regarding this case…

 

Microphone was saying Taco’s name, asking if she was okay. Test Tube was also looking over at them, a bit concerned and confused.

 

Taco shook her head a bit, realizing she was spacing out again. She really needs to work on that part.

 

“Taco? Tacooo? What's going on in that short head of yours?”

 

Microphone said, crouching in front of Taco. 

 

Taco huffed, feeling like she's being teased.

 

“Microphone, is Taco usually like this? She should be listening! You were just explaining what happened before you went to Lightbulbs room…”

 

Lightbulb? Taco asked in her mind

 

Microphone stood back up, facing Test Tube.

 

“Only when she's deep in thought, she told me all about it. It's really nothing, but can I talk to her real quick?”

 

Taco froze. She wonders if she's going to have a serious talk with Microphone… She doesn’t like tough conversations. It makes her feel smaller than she already is.

 

“…Alright.”

 

Test Tube muttered before walking to a different room. Microphone crouched back down to Tacos height, it's like whatever Mic was talking about went away when Taco spaced out.

 

“Do you wanna sit?”

 

“…Okay..”

 

Taco reluctantly sat on the cold floor, microphone following suit. 

 

They hated the way the floor felt because she was wearing shorts. They never really wear shorts, but it's what they sleep in so it's fine for now.. Still makes Taco uncomfortable though.

 

“You were spacing out again.”

 

“I know…”

 

“It's okay! It's just worrying sometimes when I'm trying to explain something important..”

 

“Ah… I know, and my apologies, I just got lost in thought-“

 

“Taco, what did we say about apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong! Just wondering if you're okay..”

 

Taco bit her lip nervously, bad habits die hard… She does need to work on herself even more still, it’s not like she's perfect right now.

 

Microphone smiled gently, putting a hand on Taco’s right shoulder, Taco scooted closer to Microphone.

 

“So, what's running through that head of yours?”

 

“…I was just… Thinking about what happened again, I really just trailed off though! I'm just… Happy you are here for me now.”

 

Microphone’s smile grew slightly, and Taco cackled slightly, smiling as well.

 

“Haha- Mic! You look so silly when you're grinning like that.”

 

“And? I'm just glad to hear you think that, heh!”

 

The two laughed a bit before standing up, Microphone helping Taco up, knowing about her legs still not being in the best shape.

 

“You can bring back Test Tube now, Mic.”

 

“Kay!”

 

Microphone walked over to the room where Test Tube was in, but before Mic could say that she could come back, Test Tube started bombarding Mic with questions, Mic being very confused yet trying to answer them.

 

Taco noticed this and walked over to the room as well, standing next to Microphone as her brows were furrowed as Test Tube asked if Taco had ‘been on medication of some sort’.

 

Test Tube was a bit weird, over analyzing everything sometimes, and right now is kinda important because Microphone made it kinda seem like Taco was having a mental breakdown or something. Which she wasn’t.

 

“Test Tube cmon- its not that important?”

 

“Urgh. Fine. What were we gonna talk about again?”

 

“Uh, Lightbulb threatening me?”

 

Tacos eyes went wide and stared at Mic from the side, taking in what she just heard.

 

“Lightbulb WHAT?!”

 

“Y-Yeah!? I know, right? It was just- I went to her room because I saw her door open, But when I went to close her door, her diary was on her bed! I couldn’t help but read it but… I think it explained everything about Fan, and even the others we haven’t seen in a while.”

 

Test Tube was paying attention, Taco wasn’t paying all of her attention to Microphone right now, besides the fact earlier that she had threatened Mic, what was that about??

 

Taco also didn't know much about the whole situation, so she didn't understand what the ‘explained everything about Fan’ part.

 

As the group started conversing, Taco learned more about the conversation Mic and Lightbulb had, Test Tube scrambling to grab her notebook, deeper in the lab. Microphone followed Test Tube, while Taco leaned on the doorframe from the main room to the back of the lab.

 

Suddenly, Taco heard a loud, hollow bump, she turned around and saw the entrance into the Lab… Taco could’ve sworn that she heard something from over there.

 

She pushed herself off of the wall, walking over to the chute and looking in it…

 

Nothing.

 

Why was Taco looking around? It's not like anybody could enter.. Only Test Tube knows the code… So does Taco but that doesn't matter.

 

Taco turned around and glanced from left to right, about to check behind a desk before Microphone called out for Taco.

 

“TACO! COME SEE THESE NOTES!”

 

“Ah! Mic! I'm coming!”

 

Yelled Taco, running over back to where the others were.

 

.

.

.

“OHMYGODTHATWASCLOSE.”

 

Lightbulb took a deep breath in, hunched over under Test Tubes desk, that stupid Brit was about to find Lightbulb because she can't make a silent landing! God! Stupid!

 

It took Lightbulb a bit to catch her breath, she was quite literally shaking as Taco was looking around.

 

She came down here because she was worried Microphone was going to go talk to someone… And when she looked out of her window, she saw Test Tube walking back to her Lab with Microphone and Taco.

 

Microphone will NOT get away with this kind of behavior. Lightbulb can't take that at all.

 

She slowly crept out from under the desk, peeking up from where she was and seeing that everyone else was in a different room. Great.

 

She stood up and started going through the drawers of Test Tubes main desk. 

 

She saw pens, a phone, some letters from Fan, notes, and… Another notebook?

 

She grabbed the book and opened it, her eyes going wide in shock at what was in it.

 

It was.. about the disappearances? And… My schizophrenia?

 

Lightbulb thought, flipping through the pages. 

 

She cant… know this much… Ugh…

 

“OH MY GOSH IS THAT REALLY WHAT HAPPENED!?”

 

This made Lightbulb jolt, shutting the book quickly and putting it back in the drawer. 

 

Microphone and the others must’ve gotten off of topic.. Lightbulb being able to hear snippets of a story test tube is talking about, Microphone sounding like she's in awe and Taco just not saying anything.

 

Lightbulb quickly heard the three starting to walk back to the main room, Lightbulb making a dart under the desk again and having her knees to her chest.

 

“So yeah! That's what happened to the forgotten island in that one book… cool, ain't it?”

 

Said Test Tube, Microphone quickly replying in a happy tone.

 

“Oh my gosh really? I was never able to figure it out and my theories were always stupid… That makes so much sense though!”

 

“…what are we talking about?”

 

Test Tube and Microphone giggled, Tacos probably really tired still. 

 

The three chatted before inevitably leaving the lab. Test Tube turned off all the lights before they left, so when Lightbulb got out from under the table she couldn’t see much.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Lightbulb groaned, tugging at her hair slightly out of being upset at herself, she should’ve just made Microphone die! That would be better than all of THIS!

 

…Dont think about it…

 

Lightbulb knew her way throughout the lab, so she walked over to the room that the three were reading Test Tubes notes in, and started reading them as well…

 

Oh.

 

OH.

 

OH!?

 

MICROPHONE WROTE EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS IN THAT STUPID NOTEBOOK!!!

 

Oh stars… Lightbulb grips the notebook tightly, accidentally tearing a page slightly. This caused Lightbulb to start frantically trying to fix the tear (stupid bozo you cant fix that.)

 

“Nononono- w-wait…”

 

Lightbulb stared at the notebook… the teared page is still in it… She has an idea. Another, beautifully, stupid idea.

 

Lightbulb grinned, putting the notebook under her arm and starting walking away to leave the lab, exiting fairly easily.

 

The cold grass hurts, the stars are blinding, everything is too much for Lightbulb still, but she doesn't care.

 

She quickly starts going the opposite direction of the hotel, aiming for the shoreline…

 

The wind was cold on her face as she ran, her hair slightly ruffled from the ride back up from the lab.

 

The grass under feet crunched before it started turning into sand, Lightbulb panting as she paused to catch her breath.

 

“B-breath Lightbulb… Breathe…”

 

Lightbulb caught her breath. She was in such a rush that she really wasn't paying attention to many things..

 

She did notice a glimpse of Taco's iconic spot in the woods while she was running, but Lightbulb focused on the main problem at hand.

 

She started to walk on the sand, closer to the dock that is still there from the show…

 

Lightbulb looked up into the sky, frowning slightly.

 

Hopefully they aren’t watching, this is really pathetic of her.

 

“Oh really?”

 

“Shut it Trophy.”

 

Muttered Lightbulb, continuing to walk down the dock, aiming to make it to the end… But it was a fairly long dock, meant for large boats.

 

“You go all this way just to throw a book into the sea? You must really hate school.”

 

“Like you ever went to school.”

 

“HEY! I GOT PLENTY OF DECENT GRADES!”

 

“Decent says something, Trophy.”

 

“Urgh. This is why I should leave the small talk to Fan.”

 

Lightbulb paused, looking behind her and seeing Trophy. He can't just disappear like Paintbrush usually.

 

“What?”

 

“Oh, Fan makes sure that we talk to you sometimes I guess. So we don’t really tweak out even if we are still dead.”

 

“…That's really weird. Look, I know you guys are TECHNICALLY dead, but why are you guys still like… yourself?”

 

Lightbulb asked, slowly walking down the dock now, Trophy next to her.

 

“No we aren't."

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Fan is acting like a child sometimes, and other times he's in this depressive state where he can't speak to anyone, but that only lasts a day or two. Paintbrush usually ignores everyone but Fan, so that just includes me and Suitcase. Oh, and suitcase keeps on ranting about you and she doesn't want to ever check up on you, even for her own sake.”

 

Lightbulb seemed shocked by this, it's just like… they still can interact with each other even when they are dead? She shouldn’t know this… Right? It should just be her mind anyways, C'mon Trophy! Shoo!

 

“Whatever. Watch the edge.”

 

“What?”

 

Lightbulb looks in front of her and jolts backwards as she realizes she's about to walk off of the edge.

 

“AH!… oh…”

 

Lightbulb stared at the edge, then next to her… He's gone… phew..

 

Lightbulb then prepared to swing, and threw the notebook as far as she can, stumbling slightly but being able to see how far the notebook goes from where she is…

 

…

 

She can't see it anymore besides a small splash in the distance.

 

…

 

She doesn’t feel anything.

 

…

 

It's cold out, go back home Lightbulb.

 

But if I know so much, and if it feels so real, what if this is all a dr-

 

GO HOME.

 

 

Chapter 14

Summary:

Oh gosh this is so relateable…

Warnings for: S/H, Derealization (i think ghats what it’s called), fainting and throwing up!
Slight cannibalism warning too.

(Situations in this chapter are based on real life experiences. Be wary if it's in specific details and if it's twisted slightly for the character.)

 

 

Lightbulb was in her room, sleeping in what seemed like a peaceful state.

 

Nobody was bothering her, she could get the rest she VERY DESPERATELY needs, and even brainstorm on how to not get caught if it happens again.

 

Which she doesn’t plan to happen again… She hopes in her sleep.

 

The room was quiet, dust could be seen with the first rays of sunshine outside of her window.

 

Lightbulb hasn't been in the best state, at all. Her arms hurt more and more every day, her head killing her after she hallucinates, her body aches from head to toe in exhaustion.

 

Her hallucinations aren’t just the group of souls though, she's been seeing things looking different than they actually are, some people looking like those weird objects for a split second before she blinks back to reality to see it's just… Just…

 

Lightbulb jolts up suddenly, panting slightly but seeming to calm down quickly, her hand on her heart, gripping her pajama shirt tightly.

 

Lightbulbs brows furrow, remembering what she was dreaming about and gagging slightly.

 

She dreamt that she ate her friends whole…

 

…

 

She wants to throw up.

 

…

 

Lightbulb holds it back and lies back down on her bed, throwing her arm over her eyes so the light from the window doesn't bother her more than it already is.

 

Her eyes shut, just wanting to go back to sleep.

 

The ache is still there, slowly eating at her, the bumps on her arms make her feel like she’s about to cry in disgust, and her mind can't stop thinking.

 

Test tube, Microphone, and Taco have to know now. It's all over for Lightbulb.

 

She has to do something, anything to stop the three from spreading information throughout the hotel.

 

That would be the death of her.

 

…

 

Or they are just on a suicide mission.

 

Either or. Doesn't matter right now. All Lightbulb cares about is trying to keep herself in a good state… Maybe cleaning her room could help? Take care of baxter-

 

WAIT. WHENS THE LAST TIME I FED BAXTER!?

 

Lightbulb quickly darts out of bed, rushing over to the little enclosure she has on a desk that holds the only pet she's had.

 

Her hands shake as she frantically looks for her crab food, last time Baxter was fed was… When Fan was here? Just a bit though…

 

What about his water? Is his water still there? Is his water okay? IS HE OKAY!?

 

Lightbulb got the food and looked inside of the glass cage, trying to see for any sign of her precious crab…

 

…

 

“Baxter…?”

 

…

 

“Baaxxteerrr?”

 

…

 

Lightbulb didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, all she saw was the little stone den that was in the enclosure, the few sticks in there that Baxter would steal, the empty food bowl and… The empty water bowl.

 

Lightbulb set down the food, trying to stay calm as if she was afraid her pet might’ve died… He's okay, he has to be.

 

Crabs can live a long time without food and water, right?

 

She opened the cage, lifting up the only thing Baxter could be hiding in. The tiny den.

 

…

 

Well, she found him.

 

…

 

Lightbulb slowly put the den over it, then closed the cage.

 

She walked over to her bed and laid back down on the covers, not saying anything, not breathing, not doing anything.

 

She hates it here, she hates everything and everyone here.

 

Why do all the bad things happen to her?

 

She doesn't feel good, well, she hasn't been feeling good at all, but she feels worse.

 

Her stomach hurts, bile is building up in her throat. What she saw in that cage disgusts her, she doesn't know how to react to it though.

 

Lightbulb sat up, feeling a wave of pain hit her suddenly.

 

She shivered, then she brought her knees to her chest, lowering her head down on her knees and wanted to cry. She needed to cry.

 

But it just isn't coming out. She’s out of tears, out of everything, she's empty.

 

She sat there like that for a bit before stumbling out of bed and walking over to the restroom, turning on the water and looking in the mirror again.

 

The room was dimly lit, her skin looking pale and yet it felt so hot, the water calming her down slightly yet she still feels the pain in her body.

 

She had her hands on the counter, staring at herself as if it would help.

 

Until she gagged again, holding back the vomit as she clenched the edge of the sink.

 

Lightbulb then threw up what little food she had in her stomach, and a little bit of blood.

 

“..Ergh…”

 

She groaned and coughed a bit as she looked back up at herself in the mirror, shaking slightly. Her throat burned.

 

She felt disgusted just looking at herself, and she wanted to throw up again but held it back.

 

Lightbulb hates this, but she can make it through. She always does, she’s Lightbulb! Team captain of the bright lights! The one who made serious situations be silly!

 

She should be like that now, right? Even if she was made to be that way, she would prefer to be what she is believed to be rather than what she is right now.

 

She unconsciously started picking at the scabs on her wrists, trying to calm herself down. This is too much, it's too much. 

 

Lightbulb felt something warm touch her finger and then moved her hand and saw blood, looking at the counter and seeing little spots of blood that got on it as well.

 

…She feels disgusting, weak, pathetic even.

 

She started to cry, the little bit of blood getting on her shirt as she covered her eyes with her hands.

 

Lightbulbs legs gave out under her and she fell to her knees, her hands pressed against her face as she sobbed, disgusting sounds came out of her as she continued to cry.

 

She chokes on a sob as she wipes her tears, yet they keep coming out. It's like a river she can't build a dam for.

 

She feels hot yet cold at the same time, her hands don’t feel real, it’s like her vision is blurring up with spots and her head killing her.

 

Her head feels too heavy for her body and she falls over on the floor, feeling the carpet on her face poking her skin.

 

She lies there, her eyes drooped and exhausted as she tries to catch her breath, feeling like she can't stand, like she's about to faint.

 

Three knocks.

 

She felt her tears run down her cheeks, exhaustion starting to get to her. Mainly from the lack of sleep and her skin feeling like it's boiling.

 

“Lightbulb?”

 

Lightbulb closed her eyes, just wanting to get away from the blinding lights of the bathroom. The supposedly soft carpet feels like needles against her skin.

 

The door opens.

 

She didn’t open her eyes, her throat burns, her head hurts, her skin tight…

 

They don't want to be here anymore, it isn't real. They aren't real.

 

“LIGHTBULB!? OH MY GOD!”

 

Test Tube ran into the bathroom, crouching down besides Lightbulb, making sure she’s their okay.

 

They were too exhausted to speak, already (somehow) feeling comfortable against the cold floor.

 

“Lightbulb, LIGHTBULB! STAY WITH ME!”

 

…they didn't respond.

.

.

.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

.

.

.

 

Test Tube looked at Lightbulb, they were pale and their skin felt like it was burning. Test Tube tried shaking Lightbulb awake, but to no avail, they were out cold.

 

“Oh golly, ohhh god…”

 

She mumbled to herself, not knowing how this happened. 

 

She cussed under her breath, she can wonder later, just get Lightbulb to their bed.

 

Test Tube tries to lift up Lightbulb, failing at the first try but SOMEHOW being able to drag Lightbulb out of the bathroom and into their room before having to take a breather..

 

A bit later, Test Tube got Lightbulb in their bed, rushing out of the room for a bit to grab an icepack from the freezer in the lobby.

 

As she was running there, Microphone had noticed how frantic and worried Test Tube looked. She decided to follow Test Tube just to see Test Tube going into Lightbulbs room.

 

Her heart sank. Did Lightbulb do something to someone?

 

As Test Tube was putting the icepack on Lightbulbs head, she turned around and saw Microphone looking at her.

 

She's still a bit skeptical about Mic, but now's not the time.

 

“Test Tube what the HELL happened!?”

 

“I-I don't know! I came here to ask Lightbulb a few things and I saw her on the ground out cold!”

 

Microphone walked into the room, looking at Lightbulb. Unease set in her easily, stuck to her own thoughts until Test Tube spoke up.

 

“I… I'm gonna go check the bathroom.”

 

She said, walking over to the bathroom connected to Lightbulbs room.

 

She took a few steps in before noticing some blood on the counter… and a bit on the carpet as well. 

 

…what was that about?

 

She grabs a rag and reaches out to turn on the sink but notices something else…

 

Is that… Vomit?

 

God, is lightbulb okay!?

 

Test Tube was really worried now, even if there wasn't much in the sink… she can still see little pieces in places.

 

Ew.

 

Test Tube tried her best to clean up the sink, well, the best with just a wet rag.

 

She put the rag up and left the bathroom, turning off the light and closing the door as Microphone saw her exit and called over Test Tube.

 

“Hm? Yes, Mic?”

 

“I… I think that's blood?”

 

Microphone said, pointing at Lightbulb’s shirt that had a few little specks of blood, and that's when Test Tube noticed something.

 

It looked irritated on the underside of Lightbulbs arm, so Test Tube moved over and looked at Lightbulbs arms.

 

…

 

Test Tube started to tear up at what she saw.

 

“Test Tube!? A-Are you okay?!”

 

Test Tube balled her fist, coughing into it in an attempt to calm herself down.

 

“I-Im okay… Please, can you leave for a bit and grab some bandages and rubbing alcohol…?”

 

Test Tube mumbled, Microphone made a worried face but left to go get the things for Test Tube.

 

Meanwhile, Test Tube sat on the edge of Lightbulbs bed and gently took hold of their arms again, looking over the scars they had… some deep, some ripped open again. And some little marks…

 

What has Lightbulb been going through to do something THAT bad to herself…?

 

“Urghhh…”

 

Test Tube jolted her hand away as gently as she could, looking at Lightbulb with concern as they woke up, VERY confused to see Test Tube next to her bed.

 

“…eehhh..?”

 

Groaned Lightbulb, looking at Test Tube, than the bed, than their arms-

 

THEY DONT HAVE THEIR GLOVES!

 

Lightbulb started getting stressed again, breathing heavily and starting to shake before Test Tube put a hand on Lightbulb’s shoulder, comforting… Her.

 

“Hey! Hey, it’s okay, it’s just me, it’s me, Test Tube…”

 

Lightbulb stared at Test Tube before glancing away, worried about one other thing.

 

Get rid of mic.

 

“…Did you bring me here…?”

 

Asked Lightbulb, which Test Tube scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

 

“Ehhhh… Yes. W-well I found you on the bathroom ground! And you were out cold, there was vomit and… and blood…”

 

She said, gesturing to their arms when she said “blood”.

 

Lightbulb looked away, rubbing her arm in embarrassment.

 

“I-Im not mad! I'm so worried about you though! M-Mic’s been saying that you threatened her, and you’ve been acting weird and now I see you’ve been harming yourself! Lightbulb, I'm really worried about you, I don't want you to die! What's going on? Please… Please tell me…”

 

Test Tube rambled, Lightbulb feeling bad but another thing popped up in their head.

 

Don't tell her the truth, it will only ruin you. She doesn’t care, it's just sugar coated.

 

“I…I miss Fan, and… ever since he left, I feel like I can still- can still hear him! I just want him back, I don't know where he is though… the hotel doesn't feel safe anymore and… and… it's stressing me out!”

 

Test Tube listened carefully, noticing every single pause and stutter… Every mention of Fan and the hotel…

 

She gets it now.

 

She didn't kill them, yet her schizophrenia is making her THINK that they are still here!

 

It makes sense! 

 

IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

 

well not really, BUT LIGHTBULB ISN'T A MURDER!

 

Test Tube reached out to hug Lightbulb, where they reluctantly accepted it, hugging Test Tube tightly. They had a few tears fall, yet weren’t crying…

 

They just needed that humanity back for a moment.

 

Lightbulb laid back down and then saw Microphone standing at the doorway, holding some gauze and rubbing alcohol.

 

“HeyTestTubeIgotyourstuffbyenow.”

 

Microphone quickly handed Test Tube the items and ran off, Test Tube scoffing to herself slightly..

 

“Here… Lightbulb, hand me your arm..”

 

Lightbulb looked at the rubbing alcohol then to their arms, and handed over their left arm. Letting Test Tube hold it gently as she starts putting some of the alcohol on a paper towel.

 

“This might sting a bit, okay?”

 

“…Okay.”

 

Lightbulb waited for the sting…

 

…

 

It did sting, but it wasn't that bad. They’ve felt worse.

 

Test Tube cleaned off Lightbulbs arms gently, her hand feeling cold in Lightbulbs skin. 

 

Lightbulb stayed silent and just watched her do her work with such care in her eyes, like Lightbulb is as fragile as an actual Lightbulb.

 

Test Tube set down the paper towel and grabbed the gauze, starting to softly wrap it around Lightbulb’s arms…

 

…Lightbulb thought it felt itchy, but it's whatever.

 

“…Your hands are really cold.”

 

They said, Test Tube looking up and giggling slightly.

 

“No, you’re just really warm. Do you have a fever?”

 

“Urghrgh..”

 

Lightbulb didn't give a definitive answer, feeling embarrassed enough by this situation, but she should know that being sick isn't something to be embarrassed about.

 

Test Tube scoffs and continues to wrap Lightbulbs arms, finishing up and pressing it firmly to get it to stay in place.

 

Lightbulb lifted up her arm and looked at the bandages, slightly in awe.

 

“You… You really did that for me?”

 

Test Tube perks up, hearing their mumbled words and laughing nervously, scratching the back of her head.

 

“Yea! Of course! I hope it's not too shabby…”

 

Lightbulb was about to speak before Test Tube put the palm of her hand on Lightbulbs forehead, pulling her hand away after a second.

 

“Golly! You really are heating up! You should really get some rest, Lightbulb…”

 

But… Microphone…

 

“Urghhh… Knayy….”

 

They mumbled, sinking into their bed slightly, bringing the blanket to their chin before the door opened with Microphone walking back in.

 

“Guys? OJ Is asking for everyone to go to the lobby…”

 

Mic said, giving a glare at Lightbulb while she stared back at Mic, keeping her eyes glued on her for a bit.

 

“Well golly gee…”

 

“Test Tube, never say that again.”

 

“Cmon mic!!! Urgh!”

 

The two left the room with Test Tube helping Lightbulb up, still worried about her mainly because she woke up from fainting not too long ago.

 

They all walked down the hall, Lightbulb mostly too focused on how she breathes right instead of the conversation Mic and Test Tube are having.

 

They all made it to the Lobby, OJ and Paper standing in the middle of the room with people gathered around them.

 

Lightbulb stood in a less crowded area, against a wall. Test Tube and Mic were also with her.

 

“Ahem- As most of you probably know, we have been having some… Difficulties locating some residents here.”

 

Said paper, pulling out a clipboard and handing it to OJ before continuing.

 

“We believe that because of this repetition of disappearing residents… We should implement some safety measures since the police aren't really doing much.”

 

Police? Oh yeah… They come every once and a while and Lightbulb just shuts off and lies usually. No big deal! Minor inconveniences though..

 

Lightbulb thought, smiling softly as her thoughts drifted off to how to get rid of someone before OJ spoke up.

 

“From now on, when you leave or enter the building, you will have to use the sheet at the front desk. Paper has volunteered to be there most of the time.”

 

Everyone groaned, Lightbulb heard Knife yell out in slight annoyance and disapproval.

 

“Why not use the cameras!?”

 

He said, OJ clicking his touch and gripping the clipboard tighter.

 

“Someone must’ve messed with the computers in the security room, so we can't really access them right now…”

 

“And… It's not the best to be in right now.”

 

There were a few more questions, but Lightbulb mainly just sat there, mindlessly listening until Taco walked up and hugged Mic tightly, Mic laughed a bit and twirled around.

 

…Were they always like this?

 

Lightbulb overhead how Taco would tell Microphone about how her day has been so far, mostly just tea and more tea blah blah…

 

Microphone spoke with Taco for a bit before the two left to go to walk through the halls… Lightbulb just kinda wondered how the two got so close.

 

Test Tube seemed to notice and she hissed nervously.

 

“Yeaaahhh…. They’re really close now for some reason.”

 

She said, sitting on the ground and Lightbulb following.

 

“Hah… That's surprising.”

 

They replied, fiddling with their hands slightly. Their arms itch, already hating the bandages.

 

The two sat there in silence before Test Tube gasped in realization.

 

“Lightbulb! You should get back to your room, I just completely forgot you have a fever..”

 

Lightbulb looked at Test Tube, smiling softly before standing up.

 

“If you say so..”

 

They said before walking away, going to her room. Test Tube gave them a slight wave as they left.

 

Lightbulb walked into their room and locked the door. Sighing loudly and going to flop on their bed…

 

It's not time to sleep, but she doesn't care.

 

They get comfortable, drowning themselves in their blanket before drifting off to have a nap…

 

Microphone should get more time…

 

For now.

 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Lightbulbs Crush.