Not A Dream | An Omori Fanfiction

17- Something?

Basil's P.O.V

I already knew what photos Aubrey and Kel were talking about. It had been so long since I'd taken them, I'd almost forgotten they existed.

...

Well not that long, but with all the chaos that my life had become, those photos weren't that important to remember.

Besides, I saw Something every day anyway, and given that I couldn't get it to show up in photos it wasn't like anyone was going to believe me when I insisted it was real, so I forgot about them and gave up.

I guessed that both Sunny and Aubrey hadn't noticed them in the time they had the photo album. Aubrey shocked me more than Sunny, as she'd had my photo album for years...

Then again... how much did either of them choose to look through it?

We walked just down the street to Aubrey's house and for the first time in my entire life, I stepped inside.

Suddenly it made sense why we never used to hang out at Aubrey's house as kids. The place was a complete wreck...

Random things were strewn about everywhere, plates, silverware, old videotapes, even some random pieces of food. The smell was awful and I could feel my stomach churning. Sunny seemed just as uncomfortable.

"Heh, yeah I know it sucks," Aubrey chuckled bitterly, "but I'm working on getting the place cleaned up. Believe it or not..."

Sunny gave no response, I just nodded. "Besides, my room isn't this bad." Aubrey said, walking over to a ladder that extended up to a small trap door in the ceiling.

I frowned. That didn't seem like much of a room... more of a place that her parents had hastily made just so they could have somewhere to put Aubrey.

It was sad, but on some level, I understood how that felt.

I was only six when my parents sent me to live with my grandmother. I'd never had a very close relationship with them to begin with. I always wanted to do things with them, or spend time with them, but all they seemed to care about was work, always brushing me off.

Finally they took me to Grandma's house and told me I'd be staying there a few weeks while they tried to sort out their lives. Weeks turned into months. Months to years. Suddenly I was alone in a new town where I felt even more alone. My parents didn't want me, no one wanted to be my friend, I was just so lonely.

I think that's when my fear of being alone started. Or maybe after meeting Sunny, Mari and the others. I finally had a taste of what it was like for someone to care about me, and I was so scared to lose that. When I did, it was too much for me to handle. So my mind created Something, just so I'd have something to blame for what happened. To blame for my loneliness.

Or I thought that's what I did.

We all climbed up to Aubrey's room, which was the nicest room in the entire house. Sunny and I wandered around the room for a moment while Aubrey and Kel grabbed the photos.

They called us over and sat us down in the way teachers would when they had something important to say to the class.

"Basil, Sunny, be honest... do you two hallucinate...?" Aubrey asked. I swallowed, a little harder than I meant. Sunny shifted uncomfortably. "U-Uh... yeah..." I stammered. They both nodded. It felt like some weird interrogation.

Aubrey handed me a whole stack of photos. I didn't have to look at them to know what they were. All the photos I'd taken whenever I'd see Something. It really ended up being pictures of dark areas in my house and I'd just scribble Something on it.

Except the last one.

The only one I'd actually forgotten about. The one I didn't take...

"Basil, who took that...?" Sunny asked quietly. "That's our question..." Kel replied.

A very familiar fear began to rise in my chest.

"I-I... forgot about this..." Was all I managed. My hands were shaking and I slowly placed the photo on the floor. Aubrey and Kel sat down, concern in their gazes. "Do you remember what happened when that photo was taken?" Kel asked. "Y-Yeah, but you won't b-believe me..." I mumbled, "Even I don't believe it..."

"Something..." Sunny said, almost inaudibly. I nodded, "That's... what I saw when it happened..."

"You mean to tell me that your hallucination took that photo...? Hallucination, Basil..." Aubrey practically scoffed. "I used to think it was real... so whoever or whatever actually took that photo... I don't know..." I replied.

"Strange..." Kel remarked.

"Logically, who would there have been to take the photo...?" Sunny asked. "Well... it was before Polly was hired so... it could've only been my grandma, and that doesn't make any sense..." I replied. Kel and Aubrey glanced at each other with confused looks and Sunny swallowed nervously.

"Then... who could it have been?" Kel asked.

No one spoke again.

Next thing I knew, Kel, Sunny and I all quickly left Aubrey's house, walking home.

* * *

Sunny and I didn't really speak for the rest day. We just exchanged nervous glances every now and then.

We only started talking when we set up an air mattress in my room for him to sleep on.

"Sunny...?" I finally said, my voice shakier than I hoped it would be. "Mm...?" Sunny replied. "Uh... that photo... do you think...? I mean... i-it isn't possible right... it was just in our heads... right...?" I asked.

Sunny looked away and out the window, "I don't know... it doesn't make any sense but... who- err- what else could've taken that photo...?"

I had no answer, which only made me more afraid, "Oh, Sunny, I can't go back to the way I was... I was so... miserable... I want to be ok, I have to be... everything has to be ok... everyth-"

"Basil, relax...," Sunny said, walking over to me and gently gripping my arms, "We don't know who took that photo... and until we have reason to believe it was... Something... we have no reason to freak out... ok?"

I nodded. The rational part of my mind knew that Something couldn't possibly be real, but the paranoid person living in my brain kept asking, "But what if it is?"

No, shut up, me, it's not real... it was all in your head, an expression of your guilt. Relax, you're fine. You're ok. Everything is ok. Like always.

...

Right?

Safe to say Basil didn't get too much sleep that night, but apparently Sunny didn't either.