HOW IT FEELS TO DISAPPEAR: DESCENT

WARNINGS: Scopophobia, Disturbing Imagery, Blood.

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[Take it with you.]

A strange feeling washes over you as you stare down at the Eevee. Those whispers in the back of your mind, demanding that you leave it behind. But looking into those wide, scared eyes… You swear, you can see them welling up with tears.

You don’t have it in you to go without it.

You walk back across your room, grabbing your bag lazily hanging off your desk chair. Eevee eagerly follows after you, still trembling but starting to wag its tail- you figure it knows what you’re doing. As soon as you open the bag up and kneel down, it jumps inside, quickly nestling up in the pillow and fuzzy blanket you’ve lined the bottom with- this had quickly become its favorite way to stay at your side, so you’d at least had enough sense to make it a bit more comfortable… It makes it impossible to close it in, but you haven’t needed to hide it, and you figure that won’t change- there’s only one person you’re deliberately hiding it from, anyways…

You sling the bag over your shoulder, ruffling a hand through the fur on Eevee’s head. It purrs, rubbing against you.

With that, you’re pretty sure you’ve got everything you need… You walk downstairs tiredly, only dully noticing how Miss Hazel isn’t in the kitchen or living room like she’d usually be right now… Probably out on some errand, you think, as you continue on towards the front door and swing it open.

You’re met face to face with a certain young man, his hand raised awkwardly, apparently going to knock just as you’d opened the door.

Blue Oak stares at you, almost dumbfounded at your impeccable timing.

“… Uh… Hey, Leaf- I’m, uh. I’m sorry to bother you,” he starts, bringing his hand down to rub over his arms. “I was starting to… Worry, I- I hadn’t- I haven’t seen you since… And I was thinking, like, that’s not like her, but I didn’t want to…..”

He trails off. Looks away. Blue was never the most open of books, and you watch with tired eyes as he searches for his words. He opens his mouth, shuts it- he looks you up and down, expression seeming to toe the line between confusion and concern as he processes the state you’re in.

Discomfort, anxiety, awkwardness- you watch the tension shatter into a frozen, mortified horror as his gaze locks onto your bag.

Confusion briefly crosses your mind as to what could possibly illicit that reaction from him, but as Blue steps backwards, it hits you all at once:

Your bag is wide open. Eevee stares up at him, bristling and snarling at the boy.

You suck in a breath through your teeth, hurrying to try and explain yourself and that it really isn’t aggressive, it’s just scared, but Blue speaks before you can get a single word out:

“You need to get rid of that thing.”

What?

“What?!” you exclaim, instantly echoing the whirl of confusion in your mind. “You can’t- Blue, you’re joking, right?”

You can already tell he’s not joking. That’s what confuses you the most. He’s trembling as if he saw a ghost, all the color drained from his face and his fingernails practically tearing into the armbands he always wore.

A voice in the back of your mind chides; he’s right, you know. You ignore it.

“Leaf- Leaf, please, you have to listen to me-” he stammers out, his unsteady voice dropping to a near whisper as he backs further away. “Please- that Eevee, it’s- it’s a-”

You move forward, wanting to soothe and listen to him in spite of your confusion.

When you step out of your front door, you are not in Palette Town.

Blue is gone. The afternoon sunshine is gone. The buildings outside your home are gone. The green grass and dirt pathways are gone.

You look behind you. Even your home is suddenly dark, and completely empty. As if it’s been abandoned for years.

You look back to your surroundings, fear rising in your chest and stinging like bile.

A dense fog shrouds the area, blinding and suffocating. You can barely see your own two feet. You squint, trying to forcibly steady your breathing as you take a hesitant step forward.

… You nearly run face-first into a fence. You hold onto the wooden posts, trying to gather your wits and see what’s going on. It’s a tall fence, painted white… It’s too tall to reasonably climb over- certainly not with the dew from the fog slicking it up, and while it has gaps big enough to see through, they’re more than narrow enough to keep you or even Eevee from squeezing through.

Dully, you imagine the bars of a jail cell. You shiver.

Looking a bit closer, you can faintly make out trees on the outside. It seems like… The autumn leaves have come in. You watch the fuzzy shapes of leaves dancing through the air and onto the ground, one landing close enough for you to make out the dazzling red. It compliments the wilted, brown grass well, you think bitterly.

… That’s all you’re able to gather, though. You turn to your right, seeing that the fence seems to connect to the house that way…

It’s the opposite direction that seems to open up, making a narrow dirt path, fully enclosed by white wood.

A part of you wants to optimistically think that at least you’re not trapped, but you… You don’t know how much you really believe that. But no matter what you want to think, one thing is clear:

There’s only one way to go.

You start walking.

… The path seems to stretch on, but you find yourself grateful that it’s straightforward. With this awful fog, you’d only feel queasier about any unpredictability… And there’s the little things- lazily running one hand along the wood keeps you on a straightforward path and the cool dew on your skin helps to keep you alert.

You think it’s been more than a few minutes of walking, though. Maybe this strange place can read you, somehow, because just as you’re starting to space out, you spot something in the distance-

A person…! You instantly perk up, recognizing some kind of human silhouette through the fog ahead. They seem to be sitting cross-legged on the ground, slumped back against the fence behind them, but you’re sure of it- you’re sure of it. Someone else is here!

You pick up the pace a bit, eager to have company, or answers, or anything. You ignore Eevee’s whimpering as your approach the stranger.

… As you get closer, though, you start to understand its worry.

You begin to make out details on them as you close the gap between you and the stranger.

Or… Lack thereof.

This is not a human.

You slow to a stop in front of them. You can feel your legs shaking, that primal part of your mind screaming to run.

Its body seems to be that of an older man’s- you think vaguely of those gamblers you fought outside of Vermilion City… That’s where the traces of humanity seem to end, though. The ghastly man is vaguely see-through, he seems to have no mouth, and he’s completely void of color, every last feature a stark and unnatural white.

He’s like a ghost, you think to yourself. But you don’t think he’s noticed you… You start to back away to continue down the path, hoping to avoid whatever danger this thing might pose.

Too late, though. He suddenly opens his eyes.

Seems like you were wrong about one thing, you think as you feel your mouth run dry.

A crimson gaze bores into you, and you watch in horror as the place where his mouth should have been rips open- all so he can flash you an awful, bright red smile. Blood trickles from his lips and bulging eyes, as if it weren’t truly parts of his face, but open wounds.

Your paralyzing terror only increases as he sneers at you, motioning to the trembling Eevee in your bag.

“HAH… REALLY? ALL IN FOR THAT LOST CAUSE… CAN’T YOU DO BETTER, GIRL?”