Eternally Afton

What Just Happened? (Virgil's Entrance)

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter :))

??? POV
My head shoots up off of my pillow as I barely hold back my screams.

My dreams seem to get worse every night, showing me every way that anything and I mean anything could go wrong.

I suppose it’s what comes along with being me, I just can’t help but worry, I was made to do so.

I breathe in my nose and out of my mouth, trying to calm down. I am trying to be as silent as I can, but I know that one of these nights, they will discover me. Oh, how much they will question me with their words, annoying me to a point where I won’t listen to them. Then, one of us will burst and yell, eventually calming themselves down only to annoy me some more.

They will tell me that they can help, or that they could find something to help me, but I know they can’t. Nothing can. This is a part of being the curse that is me, the curse that is being the literal embodiment of anxiety.

3rd POV
Once Virgil is seemingly calm enough, he sits up, only to look at the carpeted floor. Right now it’s grey, just for the purpose, but he wonders for a moment if he should change the color, but then he shakes his head. This is not what he should be worrying about. Rather, he should be worrying about the decision he has to make.

Without looking, he reaches for the paper sitting simply on top of his dresser. The paper is a little yellowed, and yet the ink on it looks completely new. The sides of the paper are ripped jaggedly, and it is crinkled a little bit.

If you looked at the paper, your eyes would be drawn to the bold words written there in ink. Only two words are sitting there, yet Virgil stares at them almost as if they are his lifeline. At least someone cares about him.

‘Another one?’

“Of course. Why else would I be up this late at night?” Virgil whispers out. “Now what do you want?”

'Does it matter?'

The words previously on the page disappear as the new ones appear, in order as if someone is writing them.

'You weren’t doing anything anyway. It’s not like you would be able to fall back asleep.'

“Yeah but still-” Virgil starts as if he is going to say something else. He looks up and away from the paper in frustration. A few seconds of silence later, Virgil is sighing, and not too long after. The words on the paper have changed again.

'You know…'

The words seem to faze in and out on the paper, as Virgil finally turns to look back at it.

'... I could have the portal ready in around ten minutes… if you wanted to go…'

Virgil sighs again and looks away, anywhere but at the paper again. This is the decision that Virgil was dreading. Should he go or should he stay? Would they even recognize him? Would they hate him? Would they yell and ostracize him and kick-

'Stop it. Not now. You have an important decision to make. Going down the gutter is going to fix that.'

The paper shone brightly, the words shining straight into Virgil’s eyes. He glares at the paper but then sighs in defeat. Their right. Why should he imagine the worst, when he has to decide first. Why does he imagine the worst? Why is he always forced to think of how things can go wrong? Because they always go wrong.

No. No. No. No.

Not today. Not now. This is not the time to think about how he got here.

Virgil stands up frustrated and then heads towards the closest wall. As he moves towards it, he crumples up the paper in his fist, holding it tight. He moves his hand toward it fastly, as if he is going to hit it, but right before it hits he stops himself. It’s too late at night to be banging on the walls. He then crumbles down on the floor. God, why does the stress always get to him? Why can’t he just be normal? He sighs and then uncrumples his hand, the paper is seemingly more crumpled than before. One word begins to appear on the paper, sensing that he is done with his little fit.