Who's There?
Gus woke up groggily. His project had been haunting him. Infecting his dreams, both waking and sleeping. The voice of his father echoed through the house, beckoning him to come downstairs for breakfast. Gus threw his covers off himself and ran out his bedroom and down the long staircase. “Coming!” He yelled. As he swung into the living room.
“Augustus hurry up! Your food is getting cold.” His father yelled.
“I know! I know.” He said as he entered the dining room. Gus stood there for a good minute, trying to catch his breath. He then took a seat and watched his father slide him a plate of griffin eggs. “Thanks Dad.” He smiled, but there was sadness that resided in his voice.
“You alright?” His father asked, as he joined him at the table. “You seem down.”
“It’s my project!” Gus admitted. “The stupid thing is so stupid.” He glanced down, folding his arms. “If I can’t figure something out soon, I’m going to have to do something dangerous.”
“Well, danger can get you A’s sometimes.” His father laughed. “What kind of danger you thinking?” He asked, taking a bite of his food.
Gus followed, taking a mouthful of griffin eggs. “Do you think I’d get in trouble if I raised the dead?” Gus deadpanned.
“Uh-” His dad stuttered. “You shouldn’t do that. Although I don’t know if you even could. Your skill set, in terms of magic, might not be enough.”
“Because illusionists aren’t any good?” Gus mocked, waving his fork around—which had egg on it. “I’m strong.”
“That’s not what I said!” Perry exclaimed. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“That’s what you meant though. That’s what you always mean!” Gus shot up, and slammed his hands against the wooden table. “Admit it!”
“Gus.” Suddenly he sounded remorseful. He did mean it, he always meant that. Perry didn’t think his son was good enough, and he never will.
“I’m gonna go spend the night at Hunters. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Gus roared, before he ran upstairs to get dressed and grab his bag. Then, he was off for school. His father didn’t even try to stop him either. Maybe that was the worst part.
“Hey Gus!” Willow waved. “Woah, what’s wrong?” She asked, suddenly worried.
“My dad!” He huffed, folding his arms. “He thinks I’m weak! Which I’m not!”
“I thought your dad wanted you to become a master illusionist?” Luz asked. “I swear you said that one time.”
“It’s complicated. He supports me, and wants me to become the best of whatever I choose.” Gus explains. “But he also thinks illusion magic is the weakest magic of them all.”
“That’s so uncool!” Luz gasps. “Why I outta!” Luz begins to fake fight the air, in a comical manner.
“I'm just worried he’s right.” Gus sighs. “I mean, what can I do?”
“Read minds.” Hunter says, suddenly appearing behind him.
“Ah!” Gus screams and falls over. “Sorry you scared me.”
“Sorry!” Hunter apologizes as he helps Gus back up. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“Nah, it's cool. Don’t worry about it.” Gus smiles. “Anyways, I guess you have a point. Reading minds is pretty cool.”
“Yeah! And only you can do that.” Amity nods along to Luz. “So don’t let him get you down.”
“I’ll try not to.” Gus says, softly. “Hunter, can I spend the night?” He asks, turning to the boy.
“Uh, maybe! Let me text Darius.” Hunter says, as he pulls out his scroll and texts Darius, begging him to let Gus come over and spend the night.
“Holy Titan, you suck at texting.” Amity snorts. “You know you can use the space button.” She points.
“I know! It’s just…hard.” He lets out a sigh. “I’m trying!”
“I’m just poking fun. You’re fine.” Amity laughed. “I forget that you don’t understand jokes.”
“I do so!” Hunter replied. “I can joke.” He says as if he’s trying to convince himself.
“Sure.” Willow giggles. “We’ve gotta get to class though.” The group all goes their separate ways.
Gus headed to his first class, math. Titan, he hates math. The heximal system might kill him one of these days.
He entered the classroom and walked over to a pair of desks in the back. “Hey Matt.” Gus smiled at his desk buddy.
“Guess what.”
“Hm?” Gus cocks his head to the side and raises his eyebrow. “What?”
“Augustus, you gotta guess!” Matt replied, aggressively.
“Okay okay.” Gus threw his hands up. “Hm, let’s see.” He stared off into the distance and pondered. “Oh no, oh titan! We have a test!” Gus screamed quietly.
“Yuh-huh.” Matt smirked. “You’re so done for!” He snorted.
“I haven’t had time to study! I’ve been trying to do my English project.”
“The interview one?” Matt asked. “I already finished mine. Well the rough draft.”
“I’ve been trying to find someone to interview for the past 3 days!” He groans and lays his head down on the desk.
“Hey, I’m sure you’ll be fine, Augustus.” Matt says, patting his back, awkwardly.
“I know.” He sighs. “I think I have an idea. But it might be illegal and illegal and very very illegal. Oh and did I say illegal?”
“I think you might’ve.” Matt laughs. Gus laughs too, a genuine laugh. “I say do it! I love drama though, so take me!”
“You want to come with me?” Gus asks, surprised. “Sure, dude.”
“Awesome!” He smiles. “When did you want to do it?”
“Tonight. Can I stay at your place?” Gus asks, finally sitting up again.
“Sure.” Matt replies, nonchalantly.
“Don’t you have to ask your parents?” Gus raises an eyebrow. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“They won’t be home tonight. Out on a work trip or something like that.” Matt shrugs.
“Oh, okay cool!” The two stare at each other. Something lingers in the air around them.
The teacher storms in, angerly. “Okay class! Test day, I hope you’ve been hitting the books.” She stares at one student dead in their eyes. The teacher grabs a stack of papers from her desk and slides each student one. “Once you’re done, turn it in to me.”
“Okay!” The class says in unison. Gus groans as he looks over the questions. Nothing makes sense. Mainly because his mind is on Matt and his project. But mostly on Matt.
Matt scribbles away next to him. And shows his answers to the poor boy. Gus quickly copies them down. The teacher somehow doesn’t notice. Thank titan. Gus couldn’t afford to get thrown into the detention pit. Or getting fed to the choosy hat.
Gus waits a few minutes after Matt turns in his test, so that they don’t look suspicious. It works. Gus changes two of his answers so that they have different scores. Hopefully it’s enough.
“That’s time.” The teacher announces, snatching the remaining tests from desperate students. “Hopefully you passed. If not, well then, you know what happens.” The class shudders.
“Thanks, Matt.” Gus says, as they walk out of the classroom. “That was super nice of you to do.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Matt says, trying to act cool. “Welcome.” He continues, quietly. “We could fly to my house together.”
“Do you even have a palismen?” Gus asks, suddenly realizing he’s never seen the boy with one.
“Yeah!” He pulls out a cracked egg. “His name is Fenris.” Matt scracts the top of the egg.
“Awww! What a cutie!” They hear a girl scream. A familiar scream. Oh titan, it’s Luz. She runs over and scoops the palisman up. “¡Dios mío, es tan mono!” She squeals.
“Hey! Easy with him!” Matt snatches the egg away from the aggressive teen.
“Aw.” She frowns. “He looks familiar.” Luz says, trying to think back to when she saw him last.
“I got him from the Bat Queen.” Matt replies, casually. As if that’s not a big deal.
“Like at school. When she brought a bunch?” Gus asks, although he didn’t remember seeing Matt that day.
“No, I was walking through the woods and I stumbled upon this guy. He bonded to me instantly. Ha!” Matt puts the creature back into his shirt.
“What?” Luz and Gus both gasp in unison and grab onto each other, dramatically. Matt just rolls his eyes and walks off.
“I’m gonna spend the night at his place. And finally finish my project.” Gus says.
“Aren’t you spending the night at Hunter’s?” Gus’s face drops. Oh titan, he forgot about that!
“Shoot! I gotta go talk to Hunter.” Gus scrambles off down the hall. “Hunter!” He cries out when he notices the blonde walking to his next class.
“Huh, oh Gus!” He smiles. “What’s up?” He asks, looking Gus up and down.
“I can’t spend the night at your place. I’m sorry.” He looks to the floor. Hunter is going to be heart broken.
“Oh, that’s okay!” Hunter says, happily. “Darius said you couldn’t anyways. Something about me needed to go to bed at a reasonable time or something like that.” He shrugs.
“Oh, great!” Gus claps his hands. “I gotta go though. Thanks!” He runs off, leaving Hunter stunned.
Gus shuffles into his next class, English. He waves at the teacher, who waves back at him. The classroom is loud. Students chatting with one another, without a care in the world.
“Okay class.” The teacher begins. “Hopefully you’ve found the person that you’ll be interviewing.”
“What if you haven’t, yet! Hypothetically.” Gus interrupts.
“I was getting there, hush child.” He barks. “As I was saying. Then you’ll write out what questions you want to ask. If you haven’t found a person, I’ll assign you one. Okay children?”
Technically, Gus has found one. He just wasn’t sure if he’d actually be able to interview them.
The teacher waddled up to him. “Have you found one yet, child? Your question earlier concerned me. I feel as though you’re stressing too much over this.”
“I think so.” Gus began, his fingers traced the swirls in the wood that was used to make his desk. “I’m just not sure if I’ll actually be able to talk to said person.”
“What do you mean, child?” The teacher asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Very complicated. But if you give me another day, I’ll know. Then you can assign me someone.” Gus tried to bargain.
“Hm, okay. Yes. Spend this class writing down questions for this person, child. Remember to make them deep and personal.” Gus nodded.
“Okay. Yes, personal and deep. Got it. Thank you, sir.” Gus smiled, weakly. He felt some weight being lifted.
“Of course, child. Don’t hurt yourself for this however. Understand?”
“I understand.” He nodded, as the teacher walked over to the next person. Gus began to scribble down a lot of random questions.
Random and concerning. He made sure nobody saw it yet. If they did, he’d likely get in trouble. But this would be good! He’d knock these people’s socks off. He has too.
The bell screamed, and he was off to gym class. His least favorite class with his favorite people.
“Hey Gus!” Willow smiled, and waved him over. “How are you?” She asked.
“Good! Me and Matt are gonna hang out after school.” He explained. “What about you?”
“I’m pretty good.” Willow shrugged. She played coy. “Boscha hasn’t messed with me much, since Hunter broke her nose.”
“She so deserved that!” Amity said, strolling over to the two. “She’s such a bitch.” Luz nodded behind her. Hunter then came walking over to the group.
“Hey guys!” He smiled. “I’m so pumped.” He punched the air. “Aren’t you guys?”
“I hate P.E.” Luz groaned. “I wasn’t built for exercise.”
“I saved the Boiling Isles, but I can’t handle a bit of running.” Hunter mocked, grabbing his chest as if he was weak.
“Okay well!” Luz started, putting her finger in his face, before she went off on him. Amity hyped her up from afar.
“They’re like siblings.” Willow smirked. “Cuties.”
“Somebody has a crush on Hunter!” Gus whisper yelled. “Willow and Hunter sitting in a tree!” He began to sing.
“No!” Willow went bright red. “Stop, stop it! If he hears you, so help me titan!” Plants began to grow from the ground.
“Okay, okay I’ll stop!” He threw his hands up in front of him, defensively.
“Willow doesn’t like Hunter. Hunter’s…Hunter. And Willow's awesome.” Amity chimed in. Willow looked away, awkwardly. “Oh my titan, you like Hunter!” She actually screamed.
This caught the attention of Hunter and Luz, who both swung around to look at them. “What?” Hunter asked. “I heard my name.”
“Nothing!” Amity smiled. “Just go back to doing whatever you two were doing!”
“No way! I wanna know!” Hunter frowned, walking towards them. “Why were you talking about me?”
“It wasn’t anything bad.” Amity started, but then stopped because she didn’t want to out Willow.
“So why can’t I know, then?” Hunter asked. “Unless you’re lying to me?” He accused them.
“No! No we wouldn’t do that!” Gus butted in. “You know that, Hunter.”
“I know. But when you keep secrets, I can’t help but overthink.” Hunter explained. “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I won’t push.”
“Roll call! Everyone, go to your coach! I repeat, roll call!” They all scrambled off to their coaches and sat down in line.
Gus fiddled with his fingers. Tonight, he’d betray Hunter. All for a stupid English project. “Titan please give me an A.” Gus whispered to himself.
“Alright class, you get free time. Because we coaches don’t get paid enough to think of anything better. Be free!” Everyone got up and ran off to be with their friends.
Gus headed to the bleachers and sat next to his group. “I finally know who I’m going to interview!” He announced.
“Who?” Luz asked. “Is it me? Because I’ll answer anything!”
“No, not you,” Gus rolled his eyes, “it’s somebody you guys don’t know. You might’ve heard of them, but you’ve never met them.”
“Can we meet them?” Willow asked. “I’m intrigued by this.” Hunter nodded.
“Maybe. We’ll see. It all depends on a lot, really.” Gus explained. “I’ll try to get them to you, but who knows.”
“Ahhh!!! So mysterious!” Luz exclaimed. “I’m so excited. Even if we don’t get to meet this person, hopefully we’ll be able to see your finished project.”
“Of course! I can at least promise that.” He nodded. “Do any of you have any projects?” He asked.
“Make an abomination by mixing magic.” Amity said. “They want us to learn more than one magic type, so that we’re not confined to one coven forever.”
“That’s so cool!” Willow said. “You should use plant magic. I could help.”
“I was thinking of that.” Amity admitted, shyly. “That’d be nice. Thanks Willow.”
“Of course!” Willow replied, happily. “Luz, are you doing that too?”
“Yup! But I’m going to use oracle magic. It’ll be insanely hard, but I love a good challenge.” She smiled, a great big smile.
“That’s my Luz.” Amity said, as she leaned into the girl's chest. “Pushing herself.
“You know it!” She said, pumped up. “I’ll be working on it tonight, with Eda. She said she’d try and help me to the best of her abilities.”
“She can’t do magic though.” Hunter pointed out. “I mean, unless she somehow found a way to?”
“She can’t, but she used to be able to. So that’s gotta count for something. Right?” Luz smiled.
“Yeah I guess so.” Hunter shrugged. “I’ve got a potions project already.”
“Dang. You’re gonna suck.” Amity smirked. “Have fun failing that.”
“Hey! I’ll do…okay. It’s whatever. I’ll find a way to do it.”
“What’s it about?” Luz asked, as Amity made her way into the girls lap.
“I don’t know. The teacher refused to explain it to me. I don’t think they like me very much. I think it’s cause I was the golden guard.”
“No! I’m sure they don’t hate you! Who could hate you?” Willow winked.
“A lot of people.” Hunter deadpanned. “You knew me when I was the golden guard. I was evil! A literal monster.”
“No! You were just misguided. Confused and scared and extremely brainwashed.” Luz pointed out and Amity literally pointed her finger at him.
“Yeah, but I still did bad things.” Hunter sighed. “I don’t want to self-loath though. So let’s just move on.”
“Too late, mister. I’m not letting you have a pity party.” Luz replied. “I don’t want you to suffer in silence. If that teacher hates you, get a new teacher.”
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Hunter brushed them off.
“You should, dude.” Gus chimed in. “She could harshly grade you. Or hold you to higher standards and make you fail her class.”
“If you don’t want to say something, then we will.” Willow said. “We care about you. We won’t let some old person push you around because of your past.”
“You said it, sister!” Luz smiled. Her fingers were now tangled in Amity’s purple hair. The girls looked peaceful.
“Thanks guys.” Hunter blushed. “You’re the best.” They all hugged him.
The bell screamed, and everyone headed for the cafeteria. He didn’t get in line, as he had a cold lunch. Like always.
Lunch came and went. He was off to his illusion class which took up the rest of the day. It was fun. They were working on horror illusions. Matt was Gus’s partner. It was kinda weird. They used to be at each other's throats, but now they were hanging out.
Things are strange nowadays. After Belos was killed and the isles had to rebuild itself, everything was different. But different doesn’t always mean bad. Gus is a lot happier now. Everyone is a lot happier now.
“I think I want to be a construction worker when I get older.” Matt started. “Because I really like construction. I also like illusions, but just not as much.”
“I get that.” Gus responded, as he began a spell. “I think I want to teach people about humans. I love human culture so much.”
“That’s a very you thing to want.” Matt says. “I mean that in a good way.”
“I know.” Gus replies. That same tension looms over them. But it’s not the type of tension that Gus is used to. “I’m excited to hang out tonight.”
“Same! We’re gonna have so much fun, doing illegal things.”
“Shhh, keep it down. I don’t want to get busted before we even get the chance to do anything.”
The two spent most of the class giggling and chatting about their plans. The teacher was unimpressed. But who cares what she thinks.
Then the final bell screamed and the two were off. “First stop, my house!” Matt smiled as he got onto his palisman. Gus followed.
“You’ll have to lead the way.” Gus said. “Cause I have no clue where you live. I mean you used to attend Glandus! I’m assuming you moved though huh?”
“We didn’t move. But it takes a while to get here.” Matt replied.
“What? You still live out in the pelvis?” Gus gasped. “No way! This is gonna be awful.”
“The scenery is beautiful though, Augustus. Appreciate the island for once.”
The fly was not as long as Gus thought it would be. Thank titan for that. Matt’s house was small and cozy. The town looked a lot different than Bonesburrow. “Woah. This place is insane!”
“I know! Isn’t it awesome!” He smiled. “Anyways, come on in!” He gestured for Gus to enter, to which he did.
“Awww, your house is so cute.” Gus said, looking around. Examining all the nooks and crannies.
“Yeah, yeah.” Matt chuckled. “Come on, let’s go to my room.” Why did that make Gus’s face feel warm? Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
Gus followed Matt down the hall and into his room. The place looked like how Gus would envision it. Posters, a desk, and a lot of clothes on the floor.
“Oh shit, sorry! I didn't really think anyone would be coming over today, so I didn’t clean up. My bad.” Matt scrambled to shove his clothes under his bed and into his closet.
“Ha, you’re fine.” Gus laughed. “Don’t even worry about it. I don’t mind.”
“You can sit on my bed if you want.” Matt offered as he pushed the last bit into the corner of his closet.
Gus took his offer and plopped down onto the bed. His blanket was rather comfortable. Gus examined the art on his walls and realized they were all hand drawn. All probably made by him. On his shelf was BLADEMAGE, a novel series. He had every edition. “You like BLADEMAGE?” Gus asked.
“Yeah. It’s my favorite series.” Matt said, as he walked over to Gus and joined him on the bed. “So tell me the plan!”
“Oh yeah. Ha almost forgot about that.” Gus chuckled awkwardly. “I want to go to the titans skull, and raise the dead.”
“What?” Matt’s mouth dropped. “Okay, not what I was expecting. Especially not from you Augustus.”
“Do you still wanna help me? Cause I don’t know if I can perform the spell alone.”
“Heck yeah! This is gonna be awesome!” Matt exclaimed.
“I have the book with the spell in my bag. Hold on.” He said, before reaching into his backpack and pulling out a large book. “This’ll be loud.”
“Got it.” Matt said, as he covered his ears with his hands. Gus ripped open the book. The thing screamed, and wailed. But there it was, the spell.
“I’m gonna write it down on another paper so that I don’t have to open this guy up again.” Gus yelled, so that Matt could hear him. He then pulled out a notebook and pen, and began to rewrite the spell.
He then closed the book before it ate him. Matt moved his hands down, and smiled. There was a moment of calm. Unusual calm. I wish I could stay like this forever. With you forever. His face was glowing.
“We should get going.” Matt quickly said, as he pushed himself off the bed and started to get ready. “Make sure you’re ready. The skull is off limits for a reason.”
“We should scope the place out while the sun is setting, then we’ll go inside.” Gus explained, as they both walked outside. Gus held the spell in his hand. He took a deep breath before hopping onto his palisman.
They both gave each other a look and a nod before flying off towards the skull.
“So who are you planning on bringing back?” Matt asked.
“You’ll see.” Gus replied. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” I don’t want you to not help me once you find out. Was what he meant. He was sure that Matt knew that too.
“You scare me, Augustus.” Matt smiled.
“Thanks, I try.” Gus smirked, before bursting out laughing, Matt did the same, grabbing his chest as he fell back onto his bed and wheezed.
The skull could be seen in the distance. They were getting closer. This was really happening. This would either be really bad, or awesome. His stomach turned as they got closer and closer. They flew down, and got off.
The sun was setting, and the place was quiet. Nobody keeping watch. It was now or never. “We gotta go now.” Gus whispered. Matt nodded. The two bolted. “Wait, we gotta fly in.” Matt sighed.
—
The inside of the skull was more cracked and sad. Nobody went inside here anymore. It was very obvious. “Do you know where we’re going?” Matt asked.
“Yep, follow me.” Gus replied, guiding him down the hallway. There was a large pit below them. That’s where he had to get to. Down to the pit. “There’s a staircase here, but be careful.”
The two walked down the long staircase. It led into the darkness. The deep black. A void of nothing, no life. Not for a long time.
Gus was about to give them life again. All for a stupid project. He was about to change lives, all for English.
Hunter was going to hate him forever all because of this project. The worst part is, Gus didn’t really care. His mind was set for the stars. He wouldn’t stop just because Hunter couldn’t handle his past.
“Augustus watch out!” Matt whispered, loudly. He grabbed onto the back of Gus’s shirt and pulled him up. “You almost fell.”
“Sorry! I must’ve spaced out.” Gus laughed to mask his fear. He was so scared. “Only a little more to go.”
“Thank titan, cause I’m getting ancy.” Matt groaned. The two continued down. One foot in front of the other, don’t fall.
“Okay, we made it.” There, in front of them.
“So many…bones.” Matt took a step back. “Is there a monster here? Something that killed all these people.”
“Belos. Belos killed them all. These are the previous golden guards.” Gus explained, as he walked around. “Come here, help me out.”
“Coming! What do you need?” Matt asked.
“Place your hand on my hand.” Gus began. Matt did as he was told. “Now follow my lead.” Gus began to twirl his finger alright, Matt did the same. Something orange and black began to form in the air in front of them in the form of a circle, then it morphed into a skull. The ground began to shake.
The whole titans skull shook violently. Shierking could be heard. Painful cries for help. Skull began to wrap around some of the bones. Only the ones in close proximity to them. On one side of the room. Nude figures took life.
“It’s working!” Gus shouted. “Keep going!” He commanded. The things seemed to grow louder as they fully became living.
The spell suddenly died. The air went cold. But the figures didn’t die. They were still living. One pushed itself up and wailed.
It looked like Hunter. Only slight differences. “Something’s wrong with him.” Matt said, cowardly.
“No.” Gus smiled. “He’s alive. We did it!” He shouted. “It worked, oh my titan it worked!”
“Shh, I think you’re scaring them.” Matt pointed out. The thing stared at the two boys. Eyes wide and bloodshot.
“Hello.” Gus waved. “Can you speak?” He asked, gently. His whole demeanor changed.
The thing turned around, a few other guards who managed to come alive as well, stared back. He limped over to one and helped him up. The others struggled to stand, but eventually did.
“Hey pal! He asked you a question.” Matt yelled. Gus shushed him quickly. “I was defending you!”
“I don’t need you to defend me, Mattie.” Gus snared.
“Are you alright?” The thing spoke. He cupped the other guard's face.
“Mhm.” He replied groggily. “My body hurts.” He squeaked.
“Yeah mine too.” He nodded. “Everyone okay? Besides you Paul. Fuck you.”
“Screw you too!” Presumably Paul responded, folding his arms.
“Okay what happened?” Another said. “Are we alive again? I haven’t felt pain like this in centuries.”
“You are alive!” Gus chimed in. “I gave you life again.”
They all turned towards the two. Fear on some, anger on others. It was strange.
“I’ll kill you!” Paul screamed. “I’ll fucking end you.” He was about to lunge but was stopped by someone a bit taller.
“You.” The man spoke. “What is the meaning of this?” He stepped forward.
“I needed to interview you for an English project.” Gus blurted out. It was the lamest reason ever. They were going to totally kill him. He’d be with them, forever.
“You are a child?” He said, shocked. “What are you doing here?” Suddenly he sounded worried. “You must get out of here. You mustn’t let him see you.”
“Let who see us?” Matt asked, worried. “Oh titan, is there a monster?”
“Belos is dead.” Gus said coldly. “He was murdered by a friend of mine. Sigils don’t even exist anymore. Or they still do, but we’re trying to reverse them.”
Silence filled the titans skull.
“You’re Caleb. The human, right?” Gus asked, pointing at his ears. “You look just like Hunter.”
“Who’s Hunter?” Caleb asks. “And yes, I am. You are smart.”
“Hunter is one of you. A grimwalker. Based on Caleb.” He explained to the group. “I want him to meet you. I also need somewhere to store you all.”
“You could’ve said that a lot nicer, but I understand what you mean.” One said.
“Sorry. You’re right, that was my bad.” Gus rubbed the back of his head. “My name is Gus. This is Matt. We’re friends of Hunter. The grimwalker.”
“My name is Adam.” Adam smiled. He didn’t have a tooth gap, and his hair was slicked back.
“The name’s Morgan.” Morgan says, quietly. He has no eyes. Gus jumps when he notices.
“Todd.” The one who’s standing next to Adam smiles. His voice slurs.
“Sup, name’s Jeremy.” Jeremy says, his voice warm and kind. He stands rather lax.
“I’m William.” William waves. His feet are pointed inward. He’s got pigeon toes.
“You already know my name.” Paul smirks, as he grabs his mask and puts it on.
“Are there any clothes around here?” Caleb asks.
“Oh yeah. Hold on.” Gus laughs.
The Grimwalkers get dressed and assess any wounds that they died with. Gus and Matt hang back. “What do we do with them?” Matt asks.
“Take them to the owl house.” Gus shrugs. “It’s the best place for them.”
“Something’s wrong, Augustus.” Matt says, worried. “Tell me.”
“They won’t live forever. They’ll die again. Back into the ground they go.” Gus admits. A lump forms in his throat. “I don’t know how long they have, but I know it’s not long enough. It’ll never be enough time.” His voice goes quieter as he trails on.
“Oh.” Matt says quietly. “Hm, okay.”
“I shouldn’t have done this. They’re people, not toys that I can dig up for a project.” Gus taps the wall that he leans on. “How do I tell them?”
“Just tell them?” Matt replies, awkwardly. He rubs his temples. His face scrunches up. “You shouldn’t have done this.”
“Yeah. I know.” Gus looks down. His head is empty but full at the same time. It’s a strange feeling. The Grimwalkers and conversing with one another. “I know.” He repeats. “I wanted this so badly. And now that I have it, I don’t want it anymore.”
“That’s how things work it seems.” Matt sighs. “I’m sorry, Gus.”
He can feel tears well up in his eyes. “I'm so sorry.” It hurts, his body hurts. “I just mess everything up!” He’s panicking now.
The world around him spins. It’s firing at him from all directions. He deserves to die. They deserve to live again. He rubs his fingers against his hand, he can feel his pores. “Hey, don’t say that!” Matt shushes, grabbing the boy and pulling him into a hug.