( First: https://redd.it/111m676 Previous: https://redd.it/11jhga3 Last: https://redd.it/11mzs2g ) (Suicide TW )

Jackalope was forced to stay home to rest for a few days after his body rejected his new arm. He needed help changing his bandages every morning, which I agreed to help. I put up his hair first, then went into the process of removing the day-old bandage to apply the new wrappings.

“You really don’t need to go through this.” Jackalope said the first morning.

He was a bit embarrassed when I saw him without his shirt on. Aside from his scarred and raw shoulder, he had an old scar on his chest. It looked like an autopsy scar. I didn't ask him about it because I could tell it would be a touchy subject.

“Don’t worry about it. I took care of my mother for three months before the end. This is nothing. What happened to your wrist?” I asked to try and change the subject.

He’d been wearing a wrist brace since he arrived home from the clinic. Robin didn’t mention Jackalope hurt his wrist or asked me to look after it. He glanced down and shook his head.

“It’s an old injury still healing.” He refused to say more.

The silence between us felt like a burden. The smell of medicine and wrapping bandages made me think back to when my mother was sick. She was more comfortable at home. We hired some nurses, but I mostly did the work. She refused to show how much pain she was in as she got thinner and thinner. I wondered why she got sick. It just didn’t seem fair. My mother volunteered with so many different organizations. That woman acted like a saint and yet she died so young.

My father also died too soon. The boy who shot him was just a confused kid. I wanted to hate him for making a mistake that took my father away, and yet I couldn’t. I didn’t keep track of what he was doing now. I think my father's killer regretted what he’d done and then cleaned up his life after he did his time. Even someone like him had done more for the world than me.

“What was your mother like?” Jackalope asked, his voice snapping me from my thoughts.

He didn’t have a family, so he liked hearing about mine. Telling him stories passed the time we were both under house arrest to recover.

By the second day, his shoulder healed up a great deal. Wet still stuck to the new morning routine of his hair being put up and shoulder treated. I caught his expression in the bathroom mirror one morning. He wanted to ask a question but wasn’t sure how to say it. I pressed him until he let it spill.

“Are you... not going to shave this morning?” He asked slowly as if walking over a minefield.

My heart nearly stopped. For a second I thought he knew the reason why I threw away the razors in the house. It soon became clear what was really bothering him.

“I'm trying out a new look.” I lied.

He made a face as if there was a bad taste in his mouth. My roommate was far too kind to come right out to say what he really thought. He just let out a small noise of disagreement and then looked away. I should be insulted. I just let the conversation die.

After the razor incident, I started taking over-the-counter sleeping medicine. So far, they have worked. I hadn’t come across any figures in the dark or woken up in the middle of the night. But I started to get stressed out over taking them for too long. I worried that Jackalope would be targeted if I didn’t take the burden of the God’s attention until we found a way to get rid of him for good.

By the time Jackalope recovered, I had a job waiting in my email. I never let him know about my sore shoulder, so he let me accept the work. I would be working with Fera, which made him feel better. I headed out promising to call if I wouldn’t be home by dinner.

I arrived in front of a fairly normal house in the middle of a pristine neighborhood. Fera waited out front. Her beads were a bright blue that matched her tie that day. She made a face the moment her eyes landed on me.

“What is that thing on your face?” She asked, refusing to take a step closer.

“You don’t like my mustache?” I replied trying to act offended.

“I don’t know what that thing is, but it isn’t a mustache. I feel sorry that Jackalope wakes up next to that.”

“We’re roommates.” I corrected again.

I really didn’t know where everyone was getting these ideas from. It’s not as if I acted like I made a move on my roommate. Just because we lived together didn’t mean we were also dating. At this point, I think Fera was just joking around to annoy me. And it worked.

I started to walk closer to the house, but her face turned serious. She stepped in front blocking my way.

“It’s pretty bad in there. I think you would be able to handle a body that got torn apart better than this. I don’t want you to do this case if you don’t think you’re ready for it.” She told me in a concerned voice.

I’d been called to document a suicide. There had been an increase in them in the area. The Corporation hired humans that were aware of the supernatural to look over suspect events to decide if an Agent needed to be dispatched to the area. The human they hired also ended his life causing The Corporation to assume there was some sort of other force at work. The current death was a middle-aged man who didn’t seem to have any reason to end his life. At least his family didn’t think so.

Fera knew about how rough the past few months had been for me. I was glad she worried enough about my mental state to double-check if I would be alright dealing with such a case.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve done scenes like this before.” I told her.

She wasn’t entirely convinced. She let me walk by her and into the house while staying close behind. We walked to the upstairs bedroom where the scene waited. A heavy air fell over us. Other than talking about the case and gathering details I needed to document, we didn't speak. Fera gave this job all the respect it deserved.

I paused in my work to look at the body slumped against the wall. The gun landed off to the side. I needed to bag it but wanted Fera to do so. She needed practice. I suddenly didn’t want to be near the weapon, let alone touch it. Soon I didn’t have a choice. Her cell phone rang making her huff out into the hallway to take the call.

In a few minutes, she poked her head back inside.

“I’m needed for a job. How about you head home and let someone else finish up?” She offered.

I shook my head. I didn’t have much left to do. I wasn’t going to leave a few details to someone else.

“I can finish up here. You can go.” I said.

She gave me a long look, clearly not wanting to leave. Her phone rang again showing she really was needed elsewhere. With a sigh, she turned away and made me promise to call her or someone else if I needed help or wanted to leave early. I got back to work after she left wanting to finish this scene by dinner.

I worked for another two hours on my own. The body my only company. I’ve never had any issues being around the dead before. For some reason, being alone in a room with a man who took his own life started to get to me. I noticed my hand shaking slightly as I made notes. I thought I sensed eyes on my back but ignored it. I didn’t see anyone so wanted to blame that feeling on nerves.

The feeling grew the longer I stayed in that room. The tension was so thick it started to hurt my chest.

“I know you’re here.” I said out loud, breaking the silence.

A set of footsteps came from the doorway. Someone stopped in the doorway to rest a shoulder against the frame. Arms crossed, and a smug smile on his face. He looked like Jackalope, but how he looked when I first met him. Without the scars on his face, and both arms. The way he should be if we never met.

“Are you the one who killed this man?” I pressed.

I was stressed seeing this person. I didn’t have any idea what kind of creature he might be. He didn’t feel like the Dark God I’d been dealing with. The lights flickered leaving us in darkness for a few seconds. The only source of light came from the hallway.

“I didn’t do anything besides talk with him.” The creature spoke.

He didn’t really sound like my roommate. He tried, but there was something too smug about his voice. My hand hovered over my pocket wondering if I should call for backup. If I did, this creature could kill me and leave. Or could get away before help arrived. I needed to keep him here until Fera came back. Or deal with him myself.

“You must have done something more. This man had people who loved him and a support system.” I said and glanced over at the body.

From everything I’d seen so far, if this man was struggling, he had options. And yet he was dead on his office floor. If things were this bad, why didn’t he go to his family or loved ones? What did this creature do that pushed him over the edge?

“Loved ones? Like how your father loved you?” The creature said, a wide smile appearing on his face.

My stomach twisted in such an intense bout of guilt it nearly forced me to my knees. This creature must have some sort of power to increase the negative feelings a person may have. I hadn’t felt this bad since the funeral. I shook my head determined to not let him get to me.

“He has nothing to do with all of this.” I replied, but my voice turned weak.

“I think he does. He became a cop because he wanted to protect his son, didn’t he? He could have become a lawyer making all sorts of money but no. You were nearly taken as a toddler, and he decided he wanted to protect others.” The creature pressed causing me to think of long-forgotten memories.

There was an incident I was too young to remember. While at the mall, a man scooped me up and almost got away. My father caught up to him and nearly beat him to death. Afterwards, he found it hard to go out in public with his small son. To ease his fears, he shifted his career path to being a cop. He felt proud of the work he was doing. He died young simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I often wondered if I hadn’t been around, my father might be still alive. Or if I didn’t wander off that day.

“His death was an accident.” I said, voice shaking.

I never blamed the person who killed him because I took all the responsibility myself. The feeling of guilt and stress started to build up to an almost unbearable level no matter how hard I tried to push it down.

“And your poor mother. She slaved away in that factory to feed her little boy. Now, remind me again what she did. Grinded away some sort of galvanized steel? Doesn’t that cause cancer?”

The words hurt harder than a punch to the face. A grimace fell over my face as the memories of how my mother looked when she got sick came back. I shook my head trying to get a grip on myself. In the back of my mind, I blamed myself for her death. Somehow, I found a way to blame myself for cancer.

I caught myself going down a dark train of thought. These were just words. Just thoughts. And yet, my lungs started to close. I suddenly couldn’t get enough air. I started to gasp while on my knees.

The creature wearing my friend’s face didn’t move. That grin said all it needed to. The feeling of fear and dread those thoughts caused made my vision swim. I needed to get away, to call someone to come by and help.

My breathing came fast and short. My hands shook almost too much to pull out my cell phone. My shoulders became so tense it hurt. I hovered a thumb over the dial icon, but my finger refused to move.

“Now, who are you calling? Fera? Isn't she busy? Wouldn’t her coming over here to save you cause yet another death? How many people have you killed? Your parents. Little Agent Six.” The creature said and suddenly was sitting in front of me.

“I didn’t...” I started but the stress became too overwhelming to speak.

My words died in my throat. This monster was just saying what I’ve kept to myself for years. I knew this is how it got under people’s skin. The power he held caused my emotions to go haywire. No matter how logically I looked at the situation, it didn’t stop how I started to feel. My body started shutting down from the stress. My chest hurt so badly that I thought I was having a heart attack. My vision became blurry, and I dropped my phone unable to stomach holding it.

The creature reached over to pick up the phone. His face changed slowly revealing what it really looked like. Something twisted and ugly under the mask it wore.

“Do you want to call your roommate? He would come here to try and save you. But I could talk with him as well. You don’t want that, do you?”

I shook my head as if that would remove all my discomfort. If I called someone for help now, I was convinced they would die. No, I needed to save myself. And yet, my brain refused to think of anything useful. I sharp pain came across my chest causing me to clutch the front of my shirt. It forced me to press my forehead against the ground with tears threatening to start.

“They all loved you. And that was their downfall.” The monster said, the voice growing deeper.

“Shut up.” I replied through gritted teeth.

“All of them are gone because of you. And for what? What have you ever done to repay them?”

It hurt. My entire body hurt as if it was in a vice pressing down. I wanted it to stop. To just stop thinking about everything.

No, I wanted my family back. But I wanted them to be alive and well without me. If I had never been here in the first place, the world would have been much better off. I didn’t need a monster to tell me that. He was right, I hadn’t done a single thing in my life that was worth living. I was scared of that fact but also felt such regret is made me feel as if I started to sink into the floor.

“There is a way to fix this.”

The voice changed to something gentle. Something cold was placed inside my hand. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know what it was. Somehow, the feeling relaxed me enough to sit back up. He was right. I could do a very easy thing. Something I should have done years ago. My eyes still closed as a hand guided my own upwards.

“Go on. It'll be quick.” The voice whispered into my ear.

For a second, it all just felt right. My finger on the trigger of a borrowed gun. I thought about how much easier it would be for Jackalope to only need to look after himself and the rabbits. He no longer needed to support someone like me. Everything would be so much better in the next few seconds.

Another thought came. One that made all the others disappear.

Who would put up Jackalope’s hair in the morning if I was gone?

That question broke through whatever spell the monster held on me just in time. I fired the gun and felt the hot blast so close to my face. If I hadn’t moved my hand at the last second, I would have blown open my entire face.

The creature let out a screech of fear and rage. It turned into a shriveled gruesome body. It got on all fours to make a run for it, but I turned the gun towards the monster. By some miracle I hit it. At least two bullets tore through the weak body. I didn’t think a simple weapon would be able to kill such a thing. But it let out another scream and then curled up like a dead spider.

I sat, breathing heavily and hands shaking. I let the gun drop to the floor unable to hold it any longer. I wasn’t certain how long I sat in shock. My mind shut down from the entire experience. I’d been seconds away from ending everything. My phone rang but I didn’t answer it. I couldn’t face anyone at that moment.

Fera came back after an unknown amount of time. Her face dropped when she saw the scene inside the room. She stepped over the creature to help me to my feet. Her jacket was placed over my shoulders, and I was herded out of the room. She left me on the front step, shaking and staring blankly forwards. I knew she was calling someone, but the words didn’t reach me.

My mind went elsewhere. When I finally came back, she was sitting next to me saying something.

“I never should have left you alone. We call those creatures a Whisper, because well...”

For a moment, I didn’t understand why she looked so distraught. She couldn’t bring herself to say what almost happened. That creature’s whispers nearly convinced me to do something I could never take back. But it wasn’t as if those were words I’d never thought of before. It just used how I already felt against me. If she knew that would have been a possibility, she would have never left me alone.

A person stopped in front of us. I felt too damn tired to deal with him.

“I am arranging some counseling for you after this event.”

Lupa stood in front of us, his arms behind his back and nose up over the idea I now needed even more time off. I assumed he arrived to make sure the creature wasn’t faking its death. The monster was far too dangerous for most people to deal with.

“Why didn’t backup arrive sooner?! Carlos never should have been in there alone!” Fera snapped at her boss.

Her face twisted in an inhuman snarl. I didn’t realize until then she only left because she thought someone would cover for her. Somehow, we already became friends without me noticing. She kept a hand on my back and I reached out to take her hand to calm her down.

“He wanted to confirm If a supernatural creature was behind the deaths in the fastest way possible.” I said in an oddly calm voice.

Fera’s mouth dropped open. She might have tried to maul Lupa if I wasn’t there. Lupa was stronger than her, but that wouldn’t stop her from attacking him. I wasn’t upset at Lupa. I wasn’t overly useful in The Corporation. He saw this as a chance to finally use a resource.

“I believe your victim complex was the reason why the Whisper was able to appear in front of you.” Lupa responded with his eyes narrowed.

Fera was going to say something, but I squeezed her hand to keep her silent. Lupa ignored us to walk inside. We were no longer needed so Fera saw me back home. Those magic doors sure were useful. Within a few minutes, I was standing in front of my house handing her jacket back to her. She made me promise a few times to call if I needed anything. If Jackalope wasn’t home she wouldn’t have left.

After I let her go, I walked inside smelling something familiar cooking. Jackalope found another one of my mother’s recipes to try out. The rabbits were already put in their room for the night. I paused in the doorway, watching his back for a minute until he looked over.

“Did something happen at work?” He asked.

Jackalope could tell something was wrong. It would have been so easy to say everything was fine, and nothing happened. But Fera had his number. He would be angry if he found out about today through her.

“Do... You know what a Whisper is?” I asked and was shocked by how soft my voice sounded.

He knew exactly what kind of monster I faced that day. I expected him to tell me to sit down for dinner and eat something, but instead, he turned off the burners on the stove. In a few steps, his long legs covered the distance between us. I wasn’t expecting him to grab hold of me with his remaining arm to try and crush my ribs in a hug. I could have brushed it all off. I was a bit embarrassed he was making such a big deal out of something I thought I could just deal with.

“You smell like gunpowder.” His voice came low and soft near my ear.

He knew what happened without me saying a word. The sense of guilt tore through my body again and the dam I held back for so long finally broke. Unable to stop myself. I held him back as if the world would end if we were apart.

“I'm sorry.” I choked out.

Within seconds, I broke down. My knees gave out as I cried those two words over again, unable to forgive myself. He nearly gave up his life for my own and I nearly tossed it all aside. He only wanted to see me live. I almost didn’t even do that. My body shook from the sobs. Everything hurt. I can’t even remember the last time I cried let alone that hard. I wasn’t scared he might hate me for what I’d done. I already hated myself enough, no one else could beat me on that front.

When I finally calmed down, he pulled away just to help clean my face.

“I’ll never be upset for you feeling the way you do. I’m just proud of you for coming back home.”

His gentle words hurt. It would have been easier to deal with him being angry at me. I shook my head feeling miserable.

“Go have a shower. I’ll finish making dinner. After you eat, we’ll talk. Alright?” He said with an encouraging smile.

“I’m really not-” I started to say.

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

Jackalope could be very forceful when he wanted. And I didn’t really have that much fight in me. The shower did help a bit and the hot meal did even more good. I almost felt normal by the time we were finished. Jackalope didn’t stand up to gather the dirty dishes. We sat awkwardly at the table until he finally broke the silence.

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling great?” He finally asked knowing the question was an understatement.

I shrugged unsure of what to say.

“I thought I was fine. And when things got bad, I didn’t want to bother you. I just... was handling things until I wasn’t.” I admitted.

“Are you finally going to take some real time off work to recover?”

I nodded knowing that Jackalope wouldn’t let me work or do anything stressful for a while.

“Lupa said I needed some counseling.” I said, wondering when that might start.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever agreed with that man.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but I smiled. A small one but it was progress. My roommate would also try and killed Lupa if he knew there was a chance I got put on that case for a reason. I wonder how long I could keep that fact hidden from him. I stood up to start clearing the dishes to keep my hands busy. My mind hadn’t fully settled down yet. Jackalope let me get started on washing them as he watched from the table.

“I want to go in and donate blood tomorrow. I think enough time has passed since the last time.” I said as I started to try and figure out what else I needed to do to get my life in order.

“Maybe you should take it easy tomorrow. You don’t need to force yourself to be productive so soon after what happened.” Jackalope suggested.

I paused washing the dishes. The soapy water soaked the front of my shirt. I wondered how Jackalope washed these so often without getting water everywhere. I mentally scolded myself for not even being able to do the dishes properly. Then I got upset for thinking such a thing.

“I want to stay useful. It feels like I haven’t done a single thing.” I admitted but didn’t elaborate.

I didn’t need to. Jackalope knew what I was talking about. I had already admitted how far this feeling went when we met for the second time. He knew I felt as if I didn’t deserve to keep living.

“You adopted Pesto and Houdini. And you let me stay here. On top of that, you’re doing a very important job.” Jackalope pointed out.

A small spark of anger came up. I pushed it down not wanting to be upset with him.

“Anyone could do those things.” I said as I turned around to face him.

“Yes, but you’re the one who did it.”

Such a simple thing. And I never let myself consider the answer. When we first met, Jackalope changed because I saw him as a person. Buying him his favorite candy was an extremely simple act but was enough to make him want to give up his life. I looked him over thinking back to the reason why I pulled the gun away at the last second. He needed help putting up his hair in the morning. And I wanted to be the one to do it. That was enough of a reason to wake up each morning.

“Is... it really alright I’m still here?” I asked him softly.

His lips were torn and scarred. And yet his smile was still perfect.

“Yes. Because I-”

I didn’t get to hear what he wanted to say. A knock came at the back door making us jump. I was closer so I reached the door first. Neither of us had any clue who might be outside in the backyard at this time of night. I carefully opened it after turning on the backlight. The person standing at the base of the steps made my heart stop. It shouldn’t have been possible, but he stood there and made an awkward wave.

“Six?!” I asked and flew down the three steps.

He looked a bit different. His mouth almost looked like an insect. His eyes were fully black and a bit larger than before. His hands also looked as if he wore some sort of jointed plastic covering his fingers.

“You look terrible.” He commented.

“It’s been a rough day.” I said wondering just how much he might know.

He made a face showing he wasn’t talking about my emotional state showing on my expression.

“My mustache isn’t that bad.” I said once I clued in.

“It is that bad.” Six corrected. He then looked over my shoulder to nod at my roommate. “Hi, Mr. Jackalope.”

“Do you want to stay for dinner? We have leftovers.” Jackalope offered from the door.

Six shook his head. He needed to be somewhere else, but Jackalope offered to pack a meal to go. He left to go back inside to do so and left us alone to talk.

“They told me you died.” I said looking him over.

“Oh right. Sorry. I sent a letter explaining things. It must not have shown up. My family is really strict. It’s either being an Agent or dead. A lot of my brothers fake their death to get away. The Corporation goes along with it because they know how crazy our parent is.” Six explained.

I never even considered that a possibility. I wanted to believe he was alive somehow, but my brain never thought of him faking his death. I was so glad he not only looked to be doing well, but forgave me for him getting hurt on the job we worked.

“Carlos... I...” Six started and started to wring his hands together. “I wanted to thank you. For my entire life, I assumed I didn’t have options. That my kind were Agents that protected humans. But you were strong enough to protect me. And you’ve been doing so much to help even though you don’t have magic to back you up. It made me think that I could also do other things. That maybe I would be more useful living a longer life doing something else to help instead of dying young as an Agent.”

I was a bit taken aback by his words. This again was something I never would have thought I would hear. I didn’t know how to deal with such a compliment. I just stood in front of him awkwardly trying to think of something to say. Jackalope came in to save me. He handed over a bag to Six telling him he could keep the containers. The now ex-Agent let out an odd chirping sound very excited about a big home-cooked meal.

“What were you two talking about?” Jackalope asked.

I opened my mouth to answer but wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I told Carlos I liked him. I think he needs to hear that from time to time. Hey, is it alright if I drop by more often after I get settled?” Six said without a hint of shame.

Six came from a huge family of brothers. Because of that, he found it easy to treat everyone like a sibling. I wished I had a younger brother like him, so I wasn’t overly embarrassed by what he said.

“I like him too.” Jackalope teased.

I gave his arm a light punch for trying to embarrass me. We both told Six he could stop by whenever he wanted. The fact he was alive and well lifted a massive weight off my shoulders. Six thanked us again for dinner and promised he would be back. He was faking his death and needed to keep a low profile. So, we weren’t sure when he would be able to see us again.

After such a long day, I was exhausted. I needed a good night of sleep. But I doubted I would get one. Jackalope decided that sleep was more important than talking. In the morning we would start looking at some desperately needed therapy. Jackalope waited in the hallway until he saw me go into my bedroom. I was so tired I collapsed in bed, falling asleep in a few minutes for once.

I wish I stayed asleep. I still had the Dark God problem. I nearly forgot about him. He made it pretty hard to forget he still lurked in the dark. For some reason, he was done lurking that night.

I woke up feeling pressure on my chest and neck. The dark silhouette of a person sat on top of me, and already had a set of hands wrapped around my neck. I tried pulling those hands away without any luck. The God far too strong for me. He wanted to end my life just as started to get on the right track to getting better. In the dark, I saw a smile appear on his face. A set of black teeth gleamed in the dark. I couldn’t even scream for help. I scratched and kicked without any effect. Fear tore through my body making it hard to react correctly in that kind of situation.

Just before I passed out, the God was suddenly pulled off and tossed clear across the room. The creature let out a scream of anger and skittered up the wall on all fours. The thing looking at my savior with flaming blue eyes. I rolled out of bed while coughing. I would rather die than what I saw. Jackalope stood at the foot of my bed, glaring daggers at the God.

I never wanted them to see each other again. Not after everything he already gave up.

“What's this my little bunny? Here to make another offer?” The creature said in a low raspy voice.

“We are not giving you anything else.” Jackalope replied in such a stern voice it pushed the God back a step.

I recovered enough to walk over to my roommate. I refused to let him face this creature alone. No matter how brave he wanted to appear, I knew he was scared as hell. His hand shook slightly at his side, so I took it. Having someone next to him helped. That God grin grew wider down towards us.

“Nothing? Do you think you can get away from a God like myself? I’ll leave you children alone, but for a price. How about that other arm to even things out?” A long laugh followed his words.

My stomach twisted. I might be sick from the suggestion. I held onto Jackalope’s hand as if I would die without it. I searched through my head trying to figure out a way out of this. Then it came to me. So far, the simple answers always work.

“Get out.” Jackalope said beating me to my plan.

The God’s smile faltered. He no longer was getting under our skin. We may have been scared of him but refused to let that get to us. He no longer had the power he did before.

“I am a God.” The dark thing said in an angry tone.

“And we don’t give a fuck. Get out of our house.” I ordered, my eyes refusing to look anywhere but that creature to make my point clear.

A very long silence came between us. This monster could still rip us apart and be done with it. I had no idea what he could do and that scared the hell out of me. A smile came back to his dark face. A different one than before.

“I suppose this is also amusing in a way.”

The monster did not elaborate. It just started to sink into the wall to finally disappear, taking the darkness of the room with him. For the first time in weeks, the light from the street came through the window. I’d forgotten just how bright my bedroom looked at times at night.

“That... was a little scary...” Jackalope admitted.

His hand still hadn’t stopped shaking. He stood up to one of his biggest fears for his stupid roommate that couldn’t deal with his problems on his own.

“I’m sorry. I thought I could get rid of him before he got this bad too.” I admitted.

Jackalope made a face in the dark. For a second I thought he was going to hit me.

“How long has this been going on? Why didn’t you tell me?” He demanded.

I refused to tell him now that I got busted. He already knew I refused to burden him with any of my problems. And it nearly killed me.

“I think I’m going to pass out.” I said and was only half avoiding his questions.

After the adrenaline of dealing with that God faded, I lost all my energy. I suddenly didn’t feel right and needed help getting back into bed. My eyes closed right away as my head swam in the dark. I heard Jackalope walk down the hallway, then come back. I thought he might be getting me a glass of water. A click came and I saw a hint of light from behind my eyelids. Then I felt someone slip next to me.

I shuffled away as far as possible while still on my bed. Jackalope sat, looking about ready to crawl under my blankets to go to sleep. He even brought in his rabbit light.

“I think it’s best if I stay here tonight.” He told me without a hint of shame.

“But we... We’re...You.” I sputtered, unable to form words.

“Grow up. Nothing is going to happen.” He said and finished getting settled.

I thought it would be hard to fall asleep with someone next to me. I couldn’t even remember the last time that happened. We were roommates. We shouldn’t be doing this, risk of a Dark God or not. Those thoughts ran through my head for at least five minutes before I passed out in the deepest sleep I'd gotten in months.

I woke up hearing faint voices somewhere in the house. I sat up dazed and confused over what time it was. To my shock, I’d slept till noon. That was also new for me. Jackalope was gone. I smelled something cooking and that told me he got started on lunch. I crawled out of bed still in my sleepwear to walk into the living room. Three people greeted me when I walked out.

Nessie had been playing very gently with Pesto. He stooped to give me a crushing hug Fera and Six needed to pry him away from.

“You didn’t tell me you dealt with a Whisper! I would have stayed last night if I knew!” Six said offended when Nessie got distracted by a rabbit again.

“When he heard that he dragged us over to make sure you were doing alright.” Fera explained.

“I’m fine. Why would you bother coming all the way over here?” I asked them, my brain still working slowly due to sleep.

“Because we’re friends.” Six pointed out.

That was right. I knew we were friends, but it never fully clicked until that moment. These three cared about me. They didn’t even need much or a reason to do so. They just wanted me to be doing alright. Jackalope came out to say lunch would be ready soon. His hair hadn’t been put up because I slept so long. I gestured for him to come over so I could fix that for him. A few sets of eyes on us to watch. I gave them a look, daring them to say something.

“Are you sure you’re doing ok?” Fera asked instead of teasing.

“Yeah. At least for now.” I said with a small nod.

“Good. Go and shave before lunch. I bought some new razors. They’re in the bathroom.” Jackalope ordered.

The only time he missed his other arm was when he wanted to cross them to look somewhat bossy. I glanced between them all and scratched my face. I did want to shave but didn’t think it was a big deal either way.

“Is it really that bad?” I asked.

“Yes!” At least three voices replied.

I loved these guys, but they could be brutal. At least I got the hint. I could still hear them chatting away while in the bathroom removing the offending facial hair. I found it hard to believe that only the day before I hit rock bottom. Now there were four people inside the house ready to support me in any way possible. After I finished washing my face, I looked at myself over in the mirror.

I decided that it was a good thing I was still here. Even if that feeling only lasted a few hours, it was a very good start.