Lee’s Home

A Short Story

        Lee Tre had decided; right then and there, that he had died. It was not an easy decision to make, but with the cold blanket of snow that surrounded him and his inability to move; it seemed like the only choice he had was to accept his fate and let his life drift away with the storm that roared a few inches above him. This was not his preferred way of death; in fact, he would have much rather died in the crash.

        “Kaah- Kuff-” Someone was coughing. Lee could hear it right above him. It was dimmed by the storm of course, and maybe some piece of  Lee was convinced it was a hungry wolf gnawing on the old captain's corpse; but the voice telling him it was Dax yelled much louder. Oh, how he hoped it was Dax. The pudgy, short, and sad eyed Dax. Lee, believe me, I would much rather be at the bar than on a sketchy plane. The only reason taking up a free trip to Canada sounds slightly delightful is it means a break from Martha. Dax had said that to Lee over the phone a week earlier. He was going through a rough patch in his marriage, so Lee decided to invite him on his trip over the weekend. Lee was also going through a rough patch, but not in any romantic relationship- no. Looking for pennies on the floor, sort of rough patch. So, after getting a good amount of money from his business, he bought two tickets for a plane that was built and captained by a 60 year old southern man, whose cheeks drooped just below his chin. It was sketchy, yes… but it was all Lee’s failing corner store could afford.

        “Grrrraaaphk-edggee…” No. No it was not Dax. The dimmed moans did confirm it to be a human though. So, despite Lee’s dissociated and completely hopeless decision to die, he screamed. His scream was weak, and it made him realize just how close he was to finally passing. But the decision he made just a few moments ago began to slide from his ears and stain the snow; since now there was hope. Something to fight for.

        The sound of running above him grew, and Lee could feel the vibration of footsteps followed by the sound of sticky snow being pressed against the land. The sound became less and less muffled, and soon stopped around the same area as Lee. The second time Lee screamed the weaker it was. But whoever was above him had to have to have heard, since Lee could then hear the sound of digging.

        “Hello.” Rig’s eyes; each looking like a black hole, were almost as emotionless as his voice. His presence, Lee thought, was colder than the snow he had been buried in. He met Rig on the plane, and had felt the exact same way. But these thoughts were only whispers in the back of his mind as Rig stared down at him from the hole he dug. It was night, and the moonlight gave Rig an angelic glow.

        “Thank you. Oh thank god- thank you!” Lee had decided, right then, that maybe he would prefer to live.

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        The walk to the cave had been an exceptionally awkward one. Neither spoke to each other. It had seemed then that; despite both knowing survival was unlikely, they could possibly find somebody who could help. When they did arrive at the cave, (which Rig spotted) that optimism stayed afloat in Lee’s mind. Because, to his delight, Rig had already started a fire. The fire sat right beside a rock, and under a small hole in the ceiling of the cave. Lee’s eyes followed the smoke upward, where he would see the moon shine through the opening. The flame did a good job at illuminating the area, but there was one spot near the right side that the light could not reach, and that is where Lee would choose to sleep that night.

        “Tommorow we will look for anyone else and bury any bodies. I’ll try to find something to... eat.” Rig had said, staring into the fire with his endless, dark eyes.

“Could you please look for any sort of help?” Now he was looking at Lee. The light of the fire helped make out his face a little more, the eyes were still endless, his mouth was surprisingly small and his lips curled. Curled almost as much as his long nose. He was also balding; balding to the point where only a few strands of hair were able to survive on the sides of his head.

“S- Sure. Yes… yes I could.” Lee began to warm his hands. He discovered how truly strange Rig was then.

        That night, Lee dreamed. He did not dream of winning the lottery while lying on his sofa and drinking a fresh cup of Jo like he used to, though. Instead he dreamed of a place very unfamiliar. The walls and floors were made of cement… cold cement, the type you would see being used for garage floors. He could not see the ceiling, but the walls that surrounded him were very much visible. It’s so bright here. Lee thought to himself as he took a few steps forward. Now- a few steps is all Lee could take before noticing something very strange. A crack on the floor. Not a single crack, no- there were exact duplicates of this crack spaced around the room. They all looked identical to each other. All a quarter of an inch thick and three inches long with a slight curl at the end like the beginnings of a spiral. Soon, something else caught his attention. Something very, very wrong caught Lee Tre’s attention.

        Lee’s hope to see Dax had come true. As, sitting before him in a wooden chair was Dax. But he would have much rather seen his friend in any other state besides this one. Instead of Dax’s left foot being completely missing with blood dripping from the bone; Lee thought that he would have loved to see Dax’s foot on instead. And- if Lee’s mind would be so kind; could it try to not dream of Dax’s jaw dislocated and his right eye pressed back? You see, Lee did not like dreaming of his friend like this. He hoped; truly did hope that in the morning, by some miracle, Dax would be alive. But he knew, just as well as Rig, that Dax had died.

        A lot of horrible thoughts like this ran through Lee’s head, and all it amounted to was one long scream. A scream so loud, it sent tremors through his body, shooting him up and awake. Even after waking up, though, Lee could only think about that strange, repeating stone room… and the horrible things the plane crash did to his friend Dax.

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        After the dream had finally worn off, Rig was beginning to wake just as the sun was outside. The fires burning had come to a cease in the night, (same with the blizzard) and all that was left from its warm and bright comfort were a couple of hot coals and smokey wood. Lee looked over to see Rig stand up, walk towards the entrance of the cave where the snow storm's wrath was able to reach, and grab a bit of the powder. Then he began to eat it. Rig was trying to quench his thirst with the snow. Lee had been reminded then of how hopeless their situation was. He tried to keep his mind off of it, as right now he was trying to focus on the bruises from the crash. Luckily, he was able to make it out of the wreck barely scratched. He had multiple bruises around his body and one long gash found on his chest, but that was all.

        “Lee, look around the wreck for anything we can use to communicate, okay?” God, that voice was so stale.

        There was a bit of silence, Lee was still shaken up from the dream, and the situation they were in seemed to just get more and more dire with each passing second. Lee could feel the urgency. Oh yes- yes he could.

        “Sure.” Lee replied even drier than Rig. He had no interest in striking up a conversation with Rig at the moment. (Or any moment for that matter.)

        When Lee did arrive at the plane crash, he was greeted by the corpse of the captain, whose whole body had burned to a crisp. His hands were still tightly holding the handle, and he was still leaning forward; almost as if he was frozen in time. The plane exploded on impact… yes- Lee could remember that much, but not much more. He attempted opening the door to the captain's seat, but underestimated how much strength he should have put into his pull. He stopped for a moment, hand still on the handle, before attempting again. This time pulling so hard his teeth quenched, his lips quivered open to reveal his yellow tinted teeth, and his eyes squinted giving him an angry expression; the veins on his arm seemed like they were about to burst. And the longer he pulled, the more tension built. Lee could feel the hunk of metal move backwards slightly as the hinges made an awful screeching sound.

        “Shit!” Lee flew backwards on his back, the plane door landing on top of him (his hands still on the handle). It had come completely off. He looked down at the piece of metal he was now holding, and threw it to the side in frustration. It landed onto the snow, sending a puff of powder up into the air. Lee’s frustration soon turned to fear, however, as when he glanced up he noticed something wrong with the captain. The southern man’s right side was completely torn off along with the door. He noticed, because it slid off onto his feet a few seconds after he threw the piece of bruised metal to the side. Lee now was able to see the horrible, bright red, and gooey insides begin to spill out from the corpse's left side onto the crispy mess at his feet.

        “Jesus- FUCKING… GOD DAMMIT!” Lee exclaimed as he shot upwards and turned away, covering his face with fear (and a tad bit of anger.) He was tired, to put it lightly, and really fucking angry. He lowered his hands, his expression basically screaming out, I am so tired of this fucking shit. He tried to face the cockpit again, but quickly turned away and bit his thumb with fear after noticing the rest of the corpse had fallen onto the floor. He screamed again, though it was muffled as his teeth were biting down onto his poor finger. Everything about the situation had finally caught up to him, and he held back all of it.

        He turned to face the cockpit yet another time, and (intentionally looking upwards to avoid the horrible sight below him) bent into the cockpit and tried looking for anything in the glovebox. Lee hoped for a walky-talky, but no luck. The stereo was also busted up, burnt to a crisp just as the captain was. He slammed the glove box closed in frustration before making his way quickly from the wreck, his expression still holding that; sick of this fucking shit, pose. He hated that place almost as much as he hated Rig’s voice.

        Now- remember that dream Lee had? You probably do, it was only a few paragraphs ago, but… I think Lee has already blocked that out of his mind. I say this because Lee has just noticed Dax’s leg poking from the snow. And I think right now he remembers the dream, because the amount of adrenaline you can sense in his digging is outstanding! Sadly, however, Lee realized that dream wasn’t just a dream. After pulling the body from the snow, (and refusing to look, because Lee likes surprises,) he screamed just as he had screamed in that cold stone room. The foot was missing, and- the jaw was dislocated- and- and- that eye was pressed back. Isn’t that something? Just the same as in the dream!

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        Lee had decided to run. He could no longer hide the overwhelming sense of dread and hopelessness. The crunchy outside of the captain followed by the squishy and grotesque inside continually repeated in his head. When he returned to the cave, the sun shone down on him through the entrance. He fell onto his knees and screamed. The image of the poor southern man had stopped, and now all he could think of was Dax. And Dax is what turned Lee’s angry scream into tears.

        He cried there all day, until night came. By the time night did come he was practically starving.

        “I found Dax.” That stupid fucking voice, Lee thought to himself as Rig walked into the cave.

        “By the looks of it, you must have too.” Lee looked into his eyes, and even now, in this situation, his eyes were completely dry. Lee stood up and went away into the corner where he slept, (there was a slight indent in the snow which helped him remember) and laid there facing the rocky wall.

        “I buried him.” Lee didn’t know how to respond to that, he didn’t want to respond either. His dislike for Rig had grown into more of a hate, you know?

        “I brought some food as well.” It may have been the overwhelming feelings and horrible memories causing Lee’s senses to fail on him, but for the love of god, he did not remember Lee drag in a dead bear. Its mouth hung open, its eyes squinted to the point where they laid like slits, and placed on its side was a giant wound- and- if you looked closely enough, see… you could make out its ribcage! Ain't that neat?

        “Must have been attacked by something…” Rig said as he tossed it to the snow with both of his hands, letting out a little grunt. Lee saw it land beside the rock, and he also noticed Rig staring down at it.

        “Try to keep quiet please.” Lee said in a whisper. The raspiness of his speech also screamed that; I'm so done with this bullshit, attitude.

        “I’m going to sleep.”

        “You don’t want to eat?” Rig asked, sort of surprised.

        “No. I am going to sleep.”

        And that is exactly what Lee did. And, again, just like the previous night, he was in that cold stone room. He saw the cracks, he felt the concrete, and worst of all, he saw Dax again. He hated seeing Dax, so what do you think he did? He ran! That’s right, he darted away. He had seen his friend twisted and bent too many times. Strike three, you’re out!

        Unfortunately, however, he made it to the end of the room. As he stood before one of the hundreds of cracks, he was filled with anger again. He started kicking the wall. Pretty pathetic kicks if you ask me. He tripped, and spun, and twisted an ankle, and- it almost seemed like he was dancing a great dance of anger and fear! But- he did one particular kick that turned off the lights. Instead of being bright, it was dark. Really dark. Good going Lee!

        He quickly turned from the wall, filled with adrenaline, and his heart racing. As he observed the room he realized there was a bit of light left. A small spotlight shining over something in the darkness. Yes- it was shining over something- oh, no it’s not Dax. Way too small to be Dax. (Although that fatass does have an exceptionally low height.) Lee hesitated, but did eventually begin to walk over to the… thing… sitting on the floor. When he made it, he noticed it was a doll. A dummy of sorts. Lee got a little closer… the closer he got the more his face was illuminated with the random spot light. He stopped a minute to observe, his head turning from side to side in confusion, but then he continued forward and… ah, yes. It's a ventriloquist dummy!

        “What the hell?” Lee was confused by this. He continued observing this doll, which was about a foot tall, and had bright red circles on his cheeks (imitating blush I think? Whoever made this doll did a horribly bad job.) It had a few strands of hair, though most of it seemed to just be ripped out, and it also looked sparkly clean! Right from the box! But the worst part about this doll was its eyes. Its eyes were lifeless. Just two black dots. Beedy and creepy. (Sort of like that one guy Lee hates.)

        The doll shot up into the air, stopping eye level with the now terrified Lee. Lee then bounced back, still keeping his eyes locked on the hunk of wood. Its legs bounced lifelessly up and down for a bit, before stopping and staying completely still. It was like that for some time, just awkward tension between a man and a doll. Soon however, its jaw began to open and close. Why? I have no clue. Same with its arms, it all started to move. It stopped again, and then turned to look upwards. Its black eyes fixated on something in the dark room. It was like it had seen something. Its nearly bald head shined so bright under the mysterious spotlight, it almost blinded Lee.

        “Hey, Rig! How are you today-!!” It’s mouth started moving again, but now much less random. Now it was talking, being controlled by nothing. And, did it just mention Rig!? Lee bounced back again, much less than last time and- his face much less illuminated by the bright light.

        “Kaaah kuhh… shit…” That cough was familiar to Lee, and the mouth did not move along to the voice this time. There was a deep breath too but- no mouth movement.

        “Hey, Rig!!! Is your friend asleep?” Its voice sounded so stale, yet so enthusiastic at the same time. The stale, enthusiastic hybrid of a voice echoed lightly in the room. That voice made the cement feel colder it seemed.

        “Hey, Rig!!!! Is your friend, Lee, asleep!? Is Lee asleep, just like Dax is!!!???”

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        Lee woke himself up immediately. He had no idea how he did it, but he did. And when he did wake up, Rig was gone. Lee looked around and saw the fire burning, and he heard only a little wind outside (and thankfully no storm). That could not have been just a dream, Lee thought, and remembered how that stone room seemed to have predicted his good friend's death.

        He stood up, walked up beside the bear corpse, (which had an awful smell) and shouted out for Rig. There was no response. The only thing shouting back at him was the eerie silence from the cave, and the dimmed wind of the forest which whistled oh so quietly. Lee looked over to the fire with hesitation, knowing that leaving the comfort of the orange heat would mean entering a domain full of hungry wild animals. He looked back at the entrance of the cave, and decided it was best to find Rig. Not for Rig’s safety at all; but for the sake of understanding his dream.

        As he walked through the trees, he noticed two things; the wreck (and even a glimpse of the captain), and footsteps which had to have been Rig’s. He followed the steps, placing his shoes into the indentation, and observing the horizing and trees to see if he could catch a glimpse of Rig. He did hear something… didn't see anything but- he did hear something. And what he heard stopped him immediately as soon as he set his right foot down. It was muffled, but it was that same dramatic voice that he heard echo in that stone room.

        “Is he asleep yet Rig, is he?” It was coming from his right.

        “I’m not sure.” It was Rig’s voice talking back. Who was he talking to, the doll?

        “I hope he doesn't find out about Dax…” He heard Rig whisper. If Lee wasn't confused before, he is definitely confused now, and maybe a little frustrated.

        “Rig! Rig, where the fuck are you Rig!” A bit more than frustrated, Lee was angry. It seems the hate for Rig’s eyes grew into a hatred for Rig’s entire soul.

        “Hey, come out!” He started walking in the direction where he heard Rig, but stopped as soon as he heard footsteps coming towards him. The footsteps got louder, but unfortunately, the forest was thick, and one mama oak tree towered before him. He could not see, and despite his loud voice, he was a little scared. Oh little Lee Dee, a bit frightened from the nightmare.

        From the side of the mama tree, came a doll. The doll had a few strands of hair, some of it looked ripped out. The doll had two black spots for eyes and two red dots for blush. It took Lee a moment to put the pieces together, but he eventually did.

It was the doll from the dream. And the one holding the doll, following close behind said doll, with his beady eyes and rosy cheeks and crooked nose… was Rig. And after looking at both of their eyes, he was able to understand why he hated both of them. They were the same kind of awful thing.

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        “What are you doing?” There was no response from Rig. Instead he stood there with the doll dangling from his left hand. His expression blank, his movement still.

        “You- You were saying something about me and Dax- what- what were you talking about? Where did you even find that doll?” Dax looked down, an exaggerated frown spread across his face. Something that really pissed Lee off is when people don't respond. They both stood there for about a minute before Lee broke the silence.

        “Hello!? What the fuck is up with you!? Were going to die anytime soon, and youre playing with a fucking doll!” A doll which he recognized. He knew he recognized from that dream, but he has started to try and forget about that place. After all, he doesn't have the gladest memories from that room, does he?

        There was a pause. Shorter and less awkward than last time, but there was still a pause.

        “Fucking answer me!!!” He looked into Rig’s eyes, which were now slowly rising towards his own, and he realized there was no use in trying to fight. He did not know what was wrong with Rig, but right now he did not seem to care. So, after spitting onto Rig’s feet, he stormed back to the cave.

        Shortly after arriving, Rig also entered, still holding the doll. Lee refused to look at him, instead he sat with his arms resting on his knees… just staring at the wall farthest from the entrance. He heard the footsteps of Rig grow louder in the cave, and in the corner of his eye he could see him lay that horrible doll down on his resting place. The resting place that had his body shape pressed down on the powder. Rig knew as well as Lee that Lee slept there. Lee and only Lee. Seeing Rig do this began to piss Lee off to the point where his palms were sweating and his teeth began to clench. So, after Rig went to start the fire again for the night, Lee also got up and walked over to the doll. It was only after Rig had started the fire when he noticed Lee holding the beady eyed piece of wood. He held it from its collar with his left hand and raised it up to his head. The doll’s face showed a small smile of joy, and Lee’s face basically told Rig; I am very close to killing you.

        Rig stood there, his face the same as ever, except for his eyes, which were now a little larger due to his surprise at seeing Lee hold his toy. His eyes widened even more after seeing Lee throw the doll into the air. It danced in the sky a bit, and then landed in a dramatic snow poof. He looked up at Lee, who was now sitting down (sitting down on his resting place). Lee never lost eye contact with Rig, and was still perfectly holding that fuck you face.

        Pretty soon, Rig came over with a cooked piece of bear meat (which smelled awful) in his greasy hand. Lee grabbed the meat, his hands now also becoming greasy, and began to eat. Unlike the smell, it tasted surprisingly sweet. When he finished feasting, he went to bed. But before sleeping, he asked Rig a question:

        “Where did you find that doll…?” Nothing but the silence of the cave answered back for a while.

        “I dreamed.” Dreamed? Lee, oh Lee Dee Doo could not believe what he had just been told. Could it be the place he dreamed of? He had been trying to hide those memories of that room, but now there was no point, was there!?

        “I dreamed it was in my luggage, and it was there.” Lee did not know how to respond. Only now he was very confused, very confused and a little…, a little terrified! He did not know what that dream place was, but he now knew for sure that Rig had visited some place similar as well.

        “What is this place you dream of?” His voice revealed his fear. It was cold and stale.

        “I dream of it every night. It’s my home. I’ve dreamt of that cold stone room my entire life.” Holy shit! Lee could not believe his ears! Was he going crazy? Lee sure did think he was going crazy…

        “That doll what- what were you doing with it?” He wanted to try again with this question, maybe his luck changed since last time. But alas, his luck did not change, and instead he was met with the silence of the cave. And soon he drifted off to sleep. He did not want to, but he did anyway.

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        Lee noticed the cracks on the floor. He noticed the brightness of the area. And, of course, he noticed the cold stone. He has noticed these things so many times before, and yet this time felt so different. Maybe it’s because of his past experiences of the place, or maybe it's because of the conversation he had with Rig the previous night. And again, just like the previous nights… he noticed something. He noticed something so far off in the distance. It could have been Dax, it could have been the doll… there was no real way of telling for sure. The only way was to move forward. Each step sends a haunting echo around the bright, dull room. And when he did get close enough to make out whatever was in front of him, he stopped. He stopped in fear, because he knew who this person was- yes- he had begun to know this person quite well these past nights.

        Standing around fifty feet from Lee was Rig. Standing with his back facing him. He was holding something, but it was not the doll… no- it was an axe. An emergency axe from the plane, the one he noticed sitting right behind the glass pane. He was holding it. Now- Lee had become very terrified of Rig, so when he noticed him turn around and stare directly into his eyes, he got quite scared. And what shocked him even more is when the room filled with darkness, and a light shot down over Rig, giving him the same angelic glow as when he was dug up from the snow. He stood there for sometime, before walking into the darkness. And soon something else took the spotlight; it was the bear. The dead bear that he ate.

        The light shut off, and for a few moments Lee was stranded in complete darkness. But soon he was pulled out of that dark ambiance as the light shot on again, this time illuminating the dead bear a few inches in front of him. He stared down at the exposed ribcage, and couldn't help but notice something moving. He saw what looked like skin move swiftly behind the bones and flesh. The movement started small, but it soon intensified. Intensified to the point where the lifeless carcass began to hop and kick around, its jaw moving, its eyes rolling, its bones stretching- yes they were bending. Bending and pulling, creating pressure and horrible noises…

        There was whining and moaning, and soon, from the dead carcass, came a hand. It pushed through the bones, stopping the horrible sounds with a dramatic crunch, and a bit of flesh squishes sprinkled in. Now Lee was scared. Now Lee was really fucking terrified! But what really caused him to jump is what came after the hand. It was a head. It was a head he recognized, and a head he has seen before. It was Dax. It was fucked up face Dax. And instead of running, Lee stood there in shock. It was only after the rest of Dax stood from the fleshy mess and forest of veins that he ran. And when he ran he woke up. Woke up to a new feeling of dread.

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        Lee observed the cave, his heart seemed to vibrate his whole body. He gathered himself as well as he could, and sat up while his eyes adjusted to the lighting. He noticed three things specifically; one, Rig was missing. Two, it was still dark outside. And finally three; the fire was put out. Not one of these individual things scared him, but the mixture of these things created a horrible feeling deep down in his gut. And the cherry on top for this horrible mixture was seeing the dead bear.

        Now, everything that has happened in that god awful room has, so far, happened in real life. And Lee, being smarter than average, was able to quickly put the puzzle pieces together. Everything in his head was telling him he should run and find Rig. Unfortunately for Lee, however, he's curious. He likes finding the answers. So, he stood up.

        Before taking a single step, he first observed the room again, hoping that maybe he was still dreaming. That he would wake up, and it would be morning and the fire would be smoking. The snow would be glistening, and- despite his hate for Rig; he would still be getting ready to look for help. But you know Lee’s luck… and you know that would never turn out for him.

        He took his first step towards the dead animal. The snow crunched beneath his left foot, and- oh look- Lee jumped a little at that sound! He must really be fucking nervous! He started hesitating a little, you could see it in his eyes, but he soon did begin to take a second step.

        Cr- Krunch! This time the snow popped and cackled a little louder, loud enough to make Lee jump again. He darted his eyes from the entrance of the cave back to the bloody mess; his body still not fully committing to either option. But the longer he waited, the more curious he got. He hoped, really hoped… that this would all be over soon. He did not want to see Dax again. He wanted to forget all about him.

        Instead of hesitating even further, he took the next few steps in a quick sprint, the snow crying out a little after each move forward. Now arriving beside the bear, he knelt down, and then the hesitation kicked in again. At this point, he was fully committed to looking inside the stinky corpse. He knew he would be much better off not, but he had to. There was no way in hell he wouldn't.

        So, he wrapped his hands around the ribcage, and noticed it was loose. It was- yes… it was built almost like a wooden trapdoor. He pulled it upwards, a few chunks of flesh also being pulled with it. It made a satisfying sound, almost like when you pull a nasty weed from your yard. Lee did not find that sound satisfying at all, though. He turned his head in disgust, throwing the strange ribcage aside.

        Now there was one final thing for Lee to do. One final pull of hesitation he had to force himself to overcome. He had to face the now opened up bear, and see if his friend Dax is eternally sleeping in the carcass coffin. So he did turn his head. He turned his head and observed inside. He even cried a little. Not because he was sad- no, no, no. He was happy. The bear was empty, and nothing but meat and some cut out pieces of flesh from when they ate sat inside the bloody skin. He rolled back, still terrified, but also relieved at this new discovery. But there was still one thing that needed to be done. He needed to find Rig. Rig was still missing, and he needed to find him. So little ol’ Lee did. He ventured out into the darkness.

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        Lee couldn't see a thing. As he walked aimlessly, he hoped to get some sort of general direction by screaming out to the beady eyed pie face for a response; however, that didn't seem to do anything besides drain his breath. Soon his eyes did adjust, and he gained the ability to see a few feet in front of him, and the moonlight seemed to affect his surroundings a little bit more. But that was all, and the pitch black darkness only became a dull image; still making it very uncomfortable to walk around.

        Then Lee heard a sound, like a running sound. It sounded like a dog running almost- oh. Oh god. Yes, it was most likely a wolf. A hungry wolf out for food. And Lee was the only thing listed on the menu at the moment- priced for twenty percent energy usage from any animal who wishes to feast upon him. Out of pure reaction, Lee turned the other way and began to walk, walking fast enough to where it almost was sprinting- but not quite. He did this to make as little noise as possible, he didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

        His efforts were soon deemed useless to his survival, because the sound continued. This time he could hear the running grow louder to his right. The horrible running- oh now he could also hear a bit of breathing begin to fill up the empty space between the trees; reaching out to him… ready to pounce and attack with a one hundred percent discount, granted to the wolf from Lee’s own horrible luck. Poor Lee didn't know what to do! So he ditched the idea of finding Rig, instead he ran back to the cave.

        Soon he was able to make out the shape of the cave entrance. With his last bit of strength he pushed forward, only to be thrown backwards on his feet when a new shape pounced in front of him. This shape was large enough to cover up the silhouette of the entrance, he could make out large bones and- oh there were so many legs. Legs that skidded and twitched in all different directions trying to stay afloat after that great leap. Lee’s legs also skidded and twitched, but only after he shot up to his feet. His whole body was now being fueled with adrenaline, and he ran without thinking. He ran without breathing… or even opening his eyes for that matter. Lee was putting all energy into his legs. Maybe he should have considered looking around, because remember that plane? I certainly do. Well the wing of that plane is unfortunately hanging right on Lee’s path.

        There was a loud hollow klunk that echoed through the forest. It screamed so loud that all wildlife seemed to notice, as now birds were flying and wolves were dashing all around. Lee would not notice, sadly. He would not notice the beast hunched around him either. This is because Lee fell asleep. And you know what happens when Lee falls asleep.

        As soon as he felt the cold stone around him, he panicked. He remembered what had happened. He remembered how he was chased by something so abstract. Something so contorted… and that thing was now right beside him. He just knew. So, instead of exploring this horrible room he had been in so many times before, he sat down. He waited. He didn’t know what he was waiting for, but he did know he wasn't looking forward to it. Would it be Dax again? Maybe that horrible puppet? Rig? Lee didn't know, and he didn't care either. In Lee’s mind, he had died. Who wouldn’t think that? He was trapped inside a prison. A prison which was his mind. And no matter how much he pulled and tugged at the barrier of brain and flesh he could not escape. No matter how much he punched the inside of his skull, making horrible sounds; (almost as bad as the southern captain falling apart like a rack of tender ribs) he still would not be able to leave. He was in a box, and his body was being torn apart by living hell.

        “Hi, Lee.” It was Rig.

        “What do you want?” Lee was sitting down, legs crossed, turned away from the face behind him.

        “I want to help you.” Lee was confused.

        “Are you even real?”

        “Everthing you’ve seen here so far is real.” What the fuck? What was this crazy shithead talking about? Lee turned to face Rig, a stubborn expression put on his face.

        “How would you fucking now that? Huh…?” No response. He just stared at Lee with the same expression as when he was buried out of the snow. He was doing that thing again also, where he refuses to talk after starting the fucking conversation. Lee was fucking angry. He was scared shitless. He was confused. Lee- now- started to go a little insane.

        “JUST FUCKING ANSWER ME!!” He shot up, hands clenched in a fist… and screamed. Afterwards, when his disgusted face toned down to a pretty forced blank expression, he unclenched his left hand. His right hand, though, stayed tight as a drum.

        “What the- FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!” He threw that tightened hand directly at Rig’s face. But there was no recoil. No response. No physical stimulation which gave Lee that grand feeling of success. Instead, his fist phased right through the balding head and he was thrown to the floor by the force of his hand. He didn't stay there for long. He got up. But Lee really should not have gotten up. Because now Rig looked pretty fucking bad. Yeah his- jesus christ- Rig’s head just started coming apart! Just blew up into a million fuggin’ pieces! Like something was- I don't know, something shot out from inside his skull. Pretty soon Lee’s blank expression did not exist anymore and instead Lee could only make out a skull. A skull with two eyeballs dropping to the floor after sliding through a bloody mess. This time instead of Lee throwing the punch, it was Rig. And Rig threw a pretty good punch.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

        Lee stumbled backwards, clasping his hand around his jaw. He looked up to Rig’s disconfigured face, and after observing the messy head of his enemy, decided it was best for him to run. So he did run. Lee ran fast. Just as fast as he had from the beast. Sadly, the adrenaline that kicked in after he saw such a butchered Rig flooded his brain, and he completely forgot that he was in a stone room. He would remember, though! Oh yes, just the same as when he smacked his head against the plane wing, he would remember.

        S-shmuf-paaw! Lee’s run was interrupted with a clap. A loud and undesirable clap which echoed through the room. The forest also echoed, Lee would remember. Lee remembered how the forest echoed just as this horrible boxed room. Lee opened his eyes, and- wow, Lee was in that forest now!

        Now- Lee noticed a few small things before noticing one big thing. He noticed these small things in the matter of- what… five seconds? The first was the wing. The plane wing which he had smacked his head on. The wing which put him to sleep. The next thing he noticed was his leg. Something was really off about his right leg. Really off. His leg was completely off! His right leg was removed from his thigh, brutally twisted and turned, the bone sticking out from the flesh! This limb sat right on top of him, laying over his chest! But before he could scream, he noticed the one big thing. He noticed the beast.

        While he was asleep, the creature had inserted one of its limbs into poor Lee’s mouth. He could feel it deep inside him. He could feel its finger poke and touch his insides. He wanted to scream, yes, he really did! But sadly, he could not. All Lee could do in that moment; a moment of pure fight or flight (minus the flight), was grab this fleshy arm (which he was having trouble really making out, besides that it was gross as fuck.) and pull it away from his head. The more he pulled, the horrible feelings inside of him intensified. Without a good scream, all Lee could do was violently kick his remaining left leg, and allow the veins on his head to bulge. As he pulled harder and harder, (the horrible tickling motivating him to use more strength) his head turned redder and redder. He felt the tickling sensation move slowly up towards his throat. There, he began to choke. The choking helped, really helped. As now the feeling moved quickly to his tongue. He felt it twist his tongue and pull. With his last bit of strength he pulled the arm out.

        Immediately afterward, he threw up. He threw up so much. Due to the darkness, he could not make out the color, but he assumed it was not pleasant. And just as quickly as he finished throwing up, he stood up. Lee forgot completely about his injury, but once he stumbled to his foot, he remembered. The leg slid from his chest and landed onto the puke-ified snow with a subtle plop. He did not care though. Lee did not care at all! He just kept hopping forward away from the beast in complete darkness. Lee was still curious though, so he took a quick glance back to look at the monster. The beast had grown in size since he last saw him. It grew so large that its body was pressed against trees, deforming its natural shape, as well as bending the bark trunks. He did not look for long. He started moving just as the creature started moving. He heard it begin to use its strength to push itself through the thick forest. It pushed itself like an obese man squeezing through door ways. Except these doorways did not break under pressure. No- but the trees do. They certainly fall under pressure! He heard a long crunch followed by a tall bark tree landing beside him. Lee took a landing. He faceplanted due to his overworked limb. And he just now realized how much pain he was in. As now, he could not get up. Poor Lee could not get up!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

        The more he squirmed on the floor like a dying slug, the sharper the horrible pain got. And the worse the pain got, the more he squirmed. Lee did not want to accept death. He had before, but he would not like to again. So, after a second bark tree collapsed to his left, he came up with an idea. His idea, (which appeared to him even clearer after the cloud of snow brushed his face) came into motion as soon as he saw the huge hunk of flesh- bones and… all sorts of grotesque things loom over him.

        He clenched his hands around one of the tree’s many baby branches, (a more grown one, but still the tree loved it as much as all the others) which poked out from the trunk, almost reaching for Lee. After doing so, he pulled his body forward and pressed his foot against the bark. And then- after relaxing his muscles a bit, pulled. The pulling hurt much worse than the squirming. He screamed a bit, and even cried. But he continued to pull with all his might, and that pulling would eventually pay off.

        Crunk-ch! The branch was taken from his mother. Lee’s foot pushed him backwards a bit as well. And without any hesitation, Lee placed the stick in front of him like a staff, pulled himself onto his remaining leg, and he started to hop and bob slowly away from the obese creature using the stick as support.

This time instead of Rig’s face being expressionless, Lee’s face was. Sure, his eyes drooped from exhaustion a little; but that doesn't really count, does it? Despite his lifeless face, Lee was still jumping and pouncing. But he did notice something strange though; the more he stumbled through the forest, less and less trees tumbled over. Near the beginning of his escape he noticed countless trees being pushed over; but now there were maybe… two every fourty-five seconds? And also the sound was getting quieter behind him. The fleshy and slimy sound which always echoed before a tumbling tree. Lee knew he was not outrunning the beast, that was impossible. Still- he looked back to make sure. He did see it- but- it was so much smaller than before. Instead of its ginormous size which could barely fit in between the trunks, it looked like it could move easily between them. Lee would have been frightened by this fact, however, it was not moving towards him. No, it was moving away from him. Still- the darkness made it completely impossible to make out; but he could still see the moonlight reflecting off of the slimy flesh. So he stopped, and fell onto his bum letting the helpful piece of wood also take a rest.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

        Lee ended his rest very quickly. He found himself looking at that piece of bone (subtly reminding him of his friend's missing foot) a bit too much; and realized that it was maybe not such a good idea to entertain himself with his own misfortune. So, just the same as when he was escaping the obese butterball, he got up using the help of his stick. He took his time, the stubby leg still hurt… but the hurt, hurt so much it seemed to dull its own fury. Soon Lee did summit his staff, and he gave himself the time to regain his stamina. His first step seemed harder than he remembered, maybe it was because this time he was not the prey of any indescribable horrors. Everything that had happened to Lee hit him as soon as he took his fifth step, but it was so overwhelming and unbelievable all that muttered from his lips was a measly; ‘pfft!’, and a slight shake of the head.

        Lee told himself he did not want to accept death, but deep down he knew he would die. He was shocked as hell he wasn't dead yet. He was losing blood, breath, and strength every passing second. On top of that, Lee did not have a goal either. He originally ventured out here to find Rig, but now he is not too sure. Did he find him? Was that really Rig in that room? If so, Rig was sure as hell dead. He saw his face blow up after all. So far Lee only seemed to be aimlessly walking, hoping he would find help.

        “Lee!?” Speak of the devil! It was Rig! Lee had a bittersweet feeling seeing him. The only reason he was slightly glad was because this meant he could see a real person. He turned to face Rig, and saw him jogging through the trees.

        “Are- Are you okay- are-? We need to get you help-” Lee didn't let him finish. He had some questions that needed to be answered.

        “Hey- do you remember that stone room?” Rig’s face didn’t move.

        “Do you? Yes or no?” Still, he didn’t respond. Not yet anyway. Maybe Lee was coming off a bit too strong. When's the last time you saw a guy with an exposed bone spit a question out to your face?

        “Okay, how about this one… uh,” He paused for a moment before inching a little closer to Rig by setting his stick in front of him and taking a little hop.

        “What the fuck was up with that doll? Huh? Can you at least tell me that?” Rig looked down, but to Lee’s surprise; his lips were actually beginning to move!

        “I have trouble talking to people- so I- I talk to Jerry to practice-”

        “Oh-! Oh he has a name… Jerry!?” He cut off Rig’s horrible, weak, quivering voice.

        “Uh… ok… so tell me Rig; why was Jerry talking about Dax and all that weird shit?” Rig looked back up to Lee.

        “I- I don’t know.”

        “Uh huh… okay, how about you answer the first question maybe you’ll know that?” Rig nodded, still remaining eye contact with Lee.

        “Do you know… about that stone room?” Lee tried to spell it out for the nutcase standing in front of him.

        “Yes.” He looked down again, and began to fidget with his fingers like an ashamed child.

        “Okay… Okay!” Lee felt like he was making progress. He also felt a bit insane.

        “Can you… can you tell me a bit about that then?” Rig nodded.

        “People can’t go to those sorts of places.” Rig said. Lee was taken back by his sudden confidence; although he was still having a hell of a good time with his fingers.

        “That isn’t a place people can go.” He wasn’t answering any questions now, was he? No- to Lee, he was just creating new ones.

        “What does that mean?” Now Lee was the one with the weak voice.

        “Well,” Rig stopped messing with his hands, and stood there for a bit.

        “Can I ask you a question?” Lee didn’t respond. Instead he hoped his silence would give Rig a clear answer. It didn’t.

        “Why do you hate my eyes?” What? What was this guy trying to say?

        “What do you mean?” Lee’s voice was even more timid than before.

        “Whenever I find you, you are always thinking about my eyes.” Lee looked up, and now Rig’s eyes seemed to have grown. They must have- they look huge! Like big-bug eyes!

        “I’m- I- I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about-” Wow- it really does seem like the roles are reversed for these two! Who’s the one asking the questions now!? Huh Lee?

        “Sure you do! Whenever I read you… you- say something about my eyes!” Now he started inching closer to Lee.

        “I-” He stopped, his huge eyes (which started to really frighten Lee) were beginning to water up.

        “I just- I am trying to-” He was choking. Oh- poor Rig. Poor Rig was crying. Lee looked into the eyes, which despite still being emotionless, still attempted to show emotion.

        “You humans are too hard to be with- I-” At this point Rig was fully sobbing. He bent over to his knees and began to massage his own bald head.

        “What- What are you talking about?” Lee said. He is trying to show more confidence… but sadly failing.

        “Teach me Lee. Teach- each- each-, me to be a human!”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

        The first night Lee dreamed of that room was the first night Rig tried to learn. You see, those soulless eyes of Rig’s weren't just because he was a mundane fella’. Rig was special, very special.

        “I have no father, Lee. No mother- no one to teach me.” Now Rig was starting to stand up.

        “I’m not like you, I am really not. I wish to be though.” Now, to Lee’s terror, he started inching closer and closer to him.

        “I have to be like you Lee. Please!” All that Rig is saying is (unfortunately for Lee) true. He has no mother or father. Rig's life started a bit differently. He started small, and grew. And as he grew he discovered things about himself.

        “That room, what is it?” Lee didn't try to hide his fear anymore.

        “It’s my home, Rig!” Rig discovered his ability to escape into his mind. He discovered he had a power no other human had.

        “It’s something only I can do! Only me!” Now, for the first time ever, Lee saw Rig show emotion. His face was curled in such a way that really shouted to Lee how much pain he was in.

        “I try to be human everyday, I invited you into my home but you still refused to teach me!” He paused.

        “Dax- you… you like Dax?” his emotion faded along with the volume of his voice.

        “I tried to be a friend like Dax so I- I talked to Jerry.” Lee was so tangled up he could feel himself choking.

        “But I can’t. I can’t be Dax. But I can be you…” What? What did he say?

        The main thing which Rig discovered in his infancy was his ability to transform. And this amazing, profound discovery (which Lee had already seen) was unfolding before Lee’s very eyes. Rig started to fall apart everywhere, melting very quickly. His pale skin turned red and red would rush over his whole body. After he was engulfed with red he would begin to twist and turn. From the red bubbling sludge; arms would grow. Legs would form. And soon, Rig’s body would fully transform into the ‘wolf’, which had chased him into the plane wing. And Lee knew exactly what he had which Rig wanted. He was human. Lee was very human. And Rig was not. Rig was very unhuman.

        In the time that Rig was shaping into his natural self, Lee was attempting to escape. His escape, which started out as a few hobbles back and a few tumbled forward, was now beginning to go quite fast. Although his hops were serving him well, his sight was not. As now the cold and blood loss were finally catching up to him. But, he persisted. He persisted just the same as the monster which was now chasing behind him. And one thing definitely stayed true in Lee’s mind; he was not going to die.

        Soon however, the beast would use the red blood to form a new limb. A limb which would dig through the snow. And in the snow it would find Lee’s friend and grab him. And then it would bring the friend out of the snow and grow deep inside the friend. Then, and only then, the friend would be controlled.

        Lee could see, rising out of the white powder in front of him; Dax. He was unfortunately in the same state as when Lee saw him in the room, all mutilated and torn. The bone which substituted his missing foot gave him a strange limp. Lee could see this limp in action as Dax was running towards him, his man boobs and beer belly bubbling up and down. Lee did not care that Dax was running towards him. He did not even care when Dax grabbed him. He did not even care when Dax shouted for Lee to join him. He ignored everything, because he knew it was Rig. He knew that whatever Rig was doing, it was so Lee could die. And Lee was not going to die.

        After the beast's attempt at tricking Lee came another problem. A more natural one. Ahead of him Lee could see a clearing. Not a good one though. He saw a clearing as in; ‘the floor was missing.’ Lee was jumping and bobbing, huffing and screaming towards the fate of falling. The one thing which could save him from this fate was a tree, which stretched out over the abyss.

        So after arriving at this abyss, (which due to the darkness, really did seem like an abyss.) he used his stick and his might to get to the top of this leafless trunk. He stuck his staff halfway up the piece of wood, and planted his foot a bit of ways below that. With a bit of strength and some adrenaline taken from the noises of whatever the hell was following behind him, he pulled himself upward. So, again, using some might and adrenaline, he lowered himself to a sitting position. With his bone sliding off to the right and his leg resting in front of him along the trunk. Lee took a deep breath. Because now he was safe, now he could wait out here for a bit. At least that’s what he thought.

        In front of him the fleshy beast also rested. Dax would soon also make his way over to the cliff, and he would stand beside his friend Rig.

        “I’m so sorry Lee, but Rig needs you…” Was that-, that was Rig’s voice! Rig’s voice was coming right out of Dax’s lips! Just the same as when Rig was talking through the doll he was talking through Rig!

        The wind whispered right after Dax- or Rig, finished talking. Lee refused to respond, however. But Dax didn’t mind. Instead, he tried something else.

        “Don’t- Don’t get you’re fucking body up here…” Lee tried shouting as Dax was beginning to scale the tree up to Lee. But he was too weak to shout. His face, which was very pale and droopy, really showed that. The blood loss which only gave him shortened vision was beginning to make him want to die. When Dax did eventually make it next to Rig, he pushed his leg off the side of the tree. Lee tried to move his arm to stop him, but it ended with him dropping his stick off the edge instead. They both sat with their leg(s) dangling off the side of the bark, like an old couple on a summer day.

        “It’s okay Lee, you need to move on.” He rested his hands over Lee’s stub.

        “It’s Rig’s turn now, okay?” And as he looked over to the zombie that sat right next to him; the drooping, mutilated face he had seen many times before, he couldn't help but accept what was coming for him. He didn't want to accept death again, but maybe he wasn't. Maybe Lee was actually accepting change. So when Dax turned his resting hand into a squeezing one, Lee didn't fight back. Instead he watched as the chubby hand drained him of the rest of his blood. He observed the red drip from his bone and out into the darkness. And after watching that for a bit, he let his corpse fall off of the side, and into a new kind of life.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

        When Lee did wake up, he was back in that stone room. But this time, the stone room felt a bit more like home. He would not know the reason he felt like this until much later, when he saw a mirror resting on one of the grey cold walls. In the reflection, looking back at him, was the pair of eyes he hated. The pair of soulless eyes he once wished would go away. And after looking into the black holes of his own eyes, he knew Rig had won. Whatever Rig was, he now was. And whatever Lee was, Rig now was. And soon, Lee would also be able to transform and switch between his room and the outside world, but at this moment he cannot. Instead, Lee is going to stay in the comfort of his new home for a while.