Your Telephone Calls are my Favorite Place (Karlnap)

Twenty Two

(tw: blood)

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Sapnap responded by mimicking Karl with a laugh. The silence resumed, only the soft sounds of the keyboard keys between them.

2 days

Today was the day Karl would spend with Mr. Beast and the crew for their Halloween video. The plan was to go on a scavenger hunt in a haunted house, completely decked out with actors, animatronics, and FNAF characters. Whoever found all the items first would win $10,000. Could it really be a Mr. Beast video without an insane cash prize at the end? 

Karl had conflicted feelings about the day. He knew his day would go by quickly, leaving just one more day until Sapnap would arrive, but he also really, really, really  hated anything horror related. 

Karl soon pulled up to the set, making his way over to the group to get his body cam set up. 

Chris promptly hugged Karl from behind, lifting him in the air as Karl squealed, his nerves already getting the best of him. Everyone laughed and Karl joined in out of embarrassment. Chandler marched over to the two, lifting Karl up like a child and pulling him to his chest. 

"Don't be mean to Karl or you'll lose your privileges." He said as he carried Karl away, resulting in the group bursting out into laughter again. Chandler let him down and pulled him into a normal hug.

"Alright, alright everyone. We've all missed Karl but let's not scare him off before he even sees the house." Jimmy said, walking up to the group from the other side of the set. Chandler headed back to the rest of them, while Jimmy and Karl stayed back. 

"How are you doing?" Jimmy asked quietly to avoid the others from hearing. Karl understood by his tone he wasn't asking a general question but specifically hoping for an update on him and Sapnap. 

"Much better." Karl said with a soft but genuine smile, too uncomfortable to share the details with the rest of the group so close by. 

Jimmy returned the smile and gave Karl a side hug before making his way over to his friends. It was time to start filming. 

The item lists were passed out to everyone. Each person had a unique list to avoid someone stealing all of one item, preventing others from completing their list. As the group stepped inside, Karl was both awestruck at the work that had gone into the house and instantly horrified at the blood splattered walls and décor. 

Hours passed and Karl was still inside. He only had one item left, he wasn't positive, but he thought he might actually win this. Just as Karl was sneaking passed a FNAF animatronic, praying he wouldn't set it off, his eyes landed on the candlestick- his last item. His face lit up as he began running down the narrow hallway towards the item. 

Suddenly, a closet door swung open and a tall man with a machete jumped out and yelled at Karl. Karl let out a blood curdling scream, losing his balance as he fell back. He bumped into a table, knocking over a glass vase, and roughly landed into the glass pile. 

"Oh shit, man are you okay?" The masked machete man asked, pulling off his face covering and dropping the fake weapon. Karl winced in pain as he looked at both hands and arms, with the lighting being very low, Karl could barely see that he was now covered with small cuts and glass fragments.

"Yeah, yeah, just hand me that candle stick so I can get out of here." Karl pointed at the candle stick and slowly stood up. The actor complied and handed him the stick, showing him to an exit near by. As Karl opened the door, he got a better look at the man's face. He was quite attractive. He was taller than Karl's 5'11, probably 6'3 or so. He had olive toned skin, a sharp jawline, and warm amber eyes. Karl continued to stare, noticing the dusting of freckles on his face. The actor flashed Karl a smile, revealing a dimple on each cheek. 

"Sorry!" Karl rushed hurriedly out the door, only to be stopped by a large tender hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned around to see the actor looking a little flustered by his own actions. 

"I'll, uh, come check on you after all this. You know, seeing that you're hurt because of me." The mysterious man stated with a softer smile, recoiling his hand, his dimples now barely visible. 

"O-oh, okay, yeah." Karl said awkwardly. Was this guy flirting or just being nice? Karl was unsure. Karl shook off his confusion and made sure to be camera ready as he ran around to the front of the house holding all of his items. 

Jimmy and the crew members were waiting alone, meaning Karl had won the challenge. As they noticed Karl running towards them, they all began cheering. As Karl got closer, the cheering soon faded as the blood dripping down his arms came into view.

"Is that fake?" Karl heard a cameraman ask Jimmy. Karl slowed down as he approached the group, catching his breath.

"Well, I won, right!?" Karl asked, doing his best to maintain his enthusiasm for the cameras. 

"Karl, is that real?" Jimmy asked, no sign of his Mr. Beast personality anywhere, as he reached cautiously to Karl's arms. 

"Yeah, I got scared by something, stumbled, broke a vase, and landed in the glass. You might want to block off the hallway by the back door, the glass is still on the floor." Karl let out with a half chuckle. He had been specifically avoiding his gaze from his arms, knowing the sight would make him faint. The pain really wasn't too bad. It helped having the distraction of the game ending and the nice actor who helped him find the exit. 

Karl heard several people start talking over walkie-talkies, mentioning 'back corridor' , 'prop malfunction' , 'ambulance' , and so on. Karl's smile slowly faded as he saw two paramedics rushing over to him and Jimmy from the parking lot. Jimmy's face painted with concern, unable to look away from Karl's arms. 

"Jimmy.." Karl started. "You're freaking me out."

Jimmy finally broke his gaze from Karl's arms, looking his friend in the eyes. Jimmy knew how squeamish Karl was when it came to blood, he didn't want to alarm him. 

"Karl, these two guys are going to take you to go get cleaned up. I'm going to pull the rest of the crew out so we can wrap things up. I'll meet you aft-" Jimmy was interrupted by the sound of the two remaining contenders coming from the front door. 

Chris and Chandler had burst out the front door simultaneously. They were convinced they must've beat Karl and wanted to split the prize money. Their laughing abruptly stopped as they laid eyes on Karl. Chris dropped his items and began running towards him and Jimmy, while Chandler stayed paralyzed at the front door, his eyes wide and both hands covering his mouth. 

Without thinking, Karl let out a small laugh and raised his arm to wave at the two. As he lifted his arm, he saw that his skin was completely covered in blood, with thick streams running between his fingers. There was also a singular large shard of glass, still lodged into his forearm. Karl froze, this being the first time he saw his arm in the light. 

The paramedics were just meters away. Karl felt his head beginning to spin, there was so much blood, nothing compared the cut he sustained the other day when talking with Sapnap. 

"Hey, hey, hey!" Karl heard Jimmy's voice, it was distorted though. Karl stumbled as he urged his body to remain upright and look at his friends. He couldn't though, Karl felt himself beginning to lose balance and a pair of arms wrapping around him. His eyes rolled back and the world went dark. 

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(1,336 words) Oh Karl :(