GUILT (OMORI AU) BLOOD/EMETOPHOBIA WARNING

Chapter 8: The Rabbit

"Tada! heheh...." Basil chuckled nervously.

All of his friends looked up at him in complete shock. They were speechless. Sunny's eyes darted around the hangout. He could have sworn he heard someone.. or something. Basil also seemed to notice, lifting one of his ears slightly. He looked over the trees that were supposed to cover the hideout, and realized people could possibly see him. He squeaked, quickly reverting back to his regular self. And just as he did so, Kim and Vance walked into the hangout area.

"Yo! Hi Aubrey! What are you guys doing?"

Aubrey smiled nervously. This was a horrible time for her girlfriend and her brother to be here. She got up to her feet, planting a kiss on Kim's cheek. She then looked at her, clearly stressed. Vance rose a brow. He was lost.

"I'm not sure if it's the right time to be here.. I know I told you guys that you could come but there's something personal going on right now.." Aubrey put her hands on Kim's shoulders.

"That's fine, we're here for whoever they are. Right Vance? ....Vance?"

Vance had wandered off, examining the strange flowers that seemed to follow Basil. He plucked one, and Basil's body twitched. Was he connected to these flowers somehow? He twitched again. It was as if someone was pinching him over and over again. He looked at Vance.

"U-Uhm Vance.. I planted those flowers. You can keep the ones your holding! But don't pick anymore.. please."

"Oh crap I'm sorry. They're just so pretty... I wanted to give them to my mom.." Vance looked at the flowers in his hands.

"It's okay! You can still give them to her. You have plenty." Basil smiled softly.

Aubrey walked back to the quilt, Kim following her. She seemed angry.

"Is there something I'm not allowed to know? Are you hiding something from me Aubrey?"

"I already told you that there's something personal going on and you shouldn't be here."

"But I just wanted to say hi!"

"Please, Kim. Go home, I'll meet with you later. I love you, but this is not the time." Aubrey's eyes saddened as she looked at her girlfriend. It was an expression Kim, or really anyone, had ever seen Aubrey emote.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to hang out.."

Aubrey sighed, smiling softly. "There's plenty of other chances to hang out, okay? And plus, I see you like, every day. I haven't seen Sunny or Hero in a few months. Maybe tomorrow you can come by once things calm down. Okay hon?"

Kim nodded, smiling back. She pecked Aubrey's lips, blushing a little, before turning to Vance, who was touching the petals of the flowers he picked. Meanwhile, Basil continued to look uncomfortable, feeling as if pressure was being put on his body. He truly was connected to the flowers. The flowers were like a voodoo doll. But Basil didn't want to tell Vance he couldn't take the flowers. He figured that once the flowers were left alone, he would be okay. Until then, he shuddered every time Vance touched the flowers. Thankfully he stopped when Kim walked over to him.

"Bro, lets go. We can come back tomorrow, mkay?"

"Yea, sure... But look at these flowers I found? I'm going to give them to mom."

"Oooh, maybe I should get some for Aubrey... Next time."

Their voices faded out as they went back into the park. Aubrey heaved a heavy sigh, walking back over to the quilt once more. She sat down with her legs crossed. It was dead silent.

"So basically, Sunny and Basil are weird monsters now. Cool, I guess."

"I-It's not really like that.." Basil scratched his cheek. "The whole reason I'm like this is because, like Hero said about Sunny, I saw a monster in my reflection a month ago. It told me horrible things about me, making me feel guilty for my past actions. I started to wallow, and realized that the monster was trying to take my body as a vessel. It started changing me, and I became angrier for almost no reason. I almost hurt Polly...."

Basil looked down, inhaling as he continued to speak.

"One day, I was tired of the monster following me around and being so nasty. So I stood up against it. We fought. For multiple days. Verbally, and physically. But eventually, I had an idea. The beast likes flowers like I do, and that's something we have in common.. So I thought that in exchange for half of my body as a vessel, the rest of it's body could be used to grow into a plant. So we worked together to make that happen. I was able to control these new abilities I have thanks to the beast, and now I have a beautiful flower growing in my garden that I talk to sometimes. We have lovely conversations... The beast has become more calm since we did this. And I've been feeling less guilty. I realized that my guilt and sadness will never go away, but I can change how I want to live my life. And so did the beast. So that's why we did it."

Great. Now he's giving you ideas on how to get rid of me. That beast is a coward, just like that boy. It's pissing me off. I'm so hungry, just eat one of them and get it over with. I like the pink one the most.

I'm not eating my friends. Just like I'm not eating Kel and Hero's baby sister. And I'm not going to eat anything until you work with me. Basil is right. You're not helping me at all.

When did I say I had to help you? I'm here to help myself. And I want your body. Your whole body. Not half. Not even a quarter. The. Whole. Thing.