DSMP Backrooms AU

Chapter 12

The Hub

Karl sat there, praying to who knows what that Sapnap would wake up. He overheard every conversation that happened around him. He mostly heard Bad and Ant's conversation and Foolish, Ponk, and Sam's conversation. He wasn't really paying attention to the first conversation, he was more invested in Foolish, Ponk, and Sam's conversation. "I've been wondering, what happened out there Sam." Ponk asked. "Karl and Sapnap got attacked by a clump on Level 83. I had to ask Dream about the level. Makes more sense now. It's a pretty peaceful level, apart from the black-painted houses that contain entities." Sam shrugged.

"What happened to them?" Foolish seemed caught off guard. Not surprising. "Sapnap seems to have been attacked first. His chest had been ripped open, in fact, we could literally see..." Sam cut himself off, sounding disturbed, "...Inside of his chest cavity. Karl had similar injuries... and it wasn't a very... a very pleasant sight." Sam coughed uncomfortably. Foolish and Ponk seemed caught off guard. "Holy shit! How are they still alive?" Foolish gasped out. "I don't know... We can't even be sure Sapnap is alive. Karl surviving that wasn't as surprising, his injuries weren't quite as severe. Sapnap seemed to have been attacked for quite some time. Karl passed out shortly after calling us in. The clump was missing a few arms and the longer arm was already gone before Callahan had killed it." Sam sighed. "Callahan? Who's that?" Ponk questioned. Foolish seemed to have that same question. "Sapnap and Karl had brought them to us, having them join the group. Callahan is mute but they're pretty cool I guess." Sam shrugged slightly.

After that, Karl shifted his attention back to Sapnap, not caring to listen anymore. Karl began to drift into only his thoughts like usual. He had been sitting with Sapnap, everyday for the past week or so, Karl didn't know. He relied on his sense of time despite the Backrooms having a messed up sense of time spans. Karl had always known what time it was, even without checking the time. He just knew. Karl would seem even more insane if he was asked 'How long have you been sitting here?' and he just responds with the exact time span, down to the second. And if you were to ask him, his response would be, '8 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes, and 37 seconds.'. He didn't know why or even how he knew, he just sensed it. He looked over at Sapnap, hearing the raven groan. "W...Where... am I?" Sapnap's voice was rough. Karl's heart raced, "You're in The Hub. Are you alright?" Karl placed a hand on the confused raven's chest. Sapnap looked up at Karl and smiled. "How long have you been sitting with me?"

Karl froze, he'd just thought about that. He wasn't prepared to talk about his time sense, so he just responded with a vague answer. "Al- Almost nine days, why?" Karl seemed off put. A shocked expression. "You sat with me here... for nine days?" Sapnap had a very subtle, soft smile. "Yeah. I wanted to make sure you'd be okay." Karl looked down, avoiding Sapnap's searching half-blind gaze.

"Look, I wanna apologize. I didn't know that there was anything in that building, I didn't know what that entity was. I'm sorry." Karl felt tears starting to form. Sapnap grabbed Karl's hand, "I don't blame you Karl. I feel like I can't blame you. Please don't worry about it." Sapnap's voice was soft and reassuring. Karl had to resist the urge to hug him right then and there. "You have no idea how long I've needed to hear that." Karl wiped tears from his face, smiling. Sapnap sat up and wrapped his arms around Karl.

"Don't cry, Karl. I'm alright. I'll always be alright." Sapnap comforted. "I've been worried that you'd blame me and... and hate me!" Karl sniffled, burying his face into Sapnap's chest. Sapnap put his hand to the back of Karl's head, pulling him closer. "I could never hate you Karl!" Sapnap's voice flooded with pain that Karl could have thought that. "No matter what you do Karl, I would never hate you! You could kill someone and I'd help you hide the body and fake an alibi, and I'd stand by your side on trial." Sapnap soothed. Karl chuckled. "That was... oddly specific." Karl's amusement showed through the veil of passing tears.