Sometimes Falling isn't Down

Chapter 11

You walked in a direction you could only describe as the-way-Mabel-and-Dipper-didn't-go. Every wall was identical- each a featureless cool beige with the carpets a darker version of the same color to match. Each turn of the corner just revealed the same view. It was equally as likely you were returning to the entrance of the basement as it was that you were treading deeper in; You couldn't recall which side of Will's door you felt first and the light did nothing to help jog your memory. After the third identical hall, you started to wonder if you were moving at all. Maybe there was a secret treadmill under the carpet and each step forward was just another step back and you'd never end up anywhere no matter how long you walked.

It took until the fifth hall for it to occur to you that maybe if you didn't know where you were going, that meant you shouldn't be the one leading the way.

Will followed you silently and without hesitation. He must have overlooked the same thing.

"U-Um..." Your voice sounded wrong in the air, like nothing belonged here, but least of all you. You ran your tongue along the back of your teeth, the silence chasing away your intrusion and filling the space so thickly you could almost see it congealing in the air. You wanted to ask Will where to go, but you couldn't force another sound out, your voice banned, like a library that expected absolute silence.

Will brought his other hand up to envelop your hand in both of his, slowing you to a stop. "Yes? You can ask me anything, I'll listen."

Intense.

You imagined it was meant to be a sort of comforting gesture, but his twitching and fidgeting dampened the effect, his eye meeting yours once before running away. Still, despite his obvious discomfort, it helped- at least enough for you to get the rest of your sentence out.

"I, uh, I dunno where I'm going..." you weren't able to make your voice come out louder than a mumble, both the feeling of Wrongness and your throat growing sore from the shouting match earlier quieting you. Will caught your words anyway.

His grip loosened, "Oh." He smiled, though his eyebrows stayed intertwined, "I can show you the way...?" He phrased it like a question so you nodded in response and he nodded back.

Will took his turn as the leader, leaving your hand in only one of his, the other hand fiddling with a lock of his hair as he went. With each step, the uncanny atmosphere returned and pressed in. For some reason you expected every strange feeling from your stroll with Dipper and Mabel to go away now that you'd switched out their company for Will's and he'd turned the lights on, but somehow it might even be... worse.

With Dipper and Mabel, you'd been able to hear them breathing and the rustling of their clothes- at least until your brain started filtering them out. Those same sounds seemed to be absent with Will from the very beginning. With the lights on and him in front, you could watch his every move, but even watching his clothes swish and bend, you couldn't seem to hear a thing. Though you had to admit you couldn't quite hear your own clothes or breath either.

And something else... Something you hadn't noticed until both of his hands were around yours, Will's hands... they were cold. They shouldn't be cold. At least not that cold. The room around you wasn't cold, wasn't even chilly. And he was even wearing gloves- gloves that should keep hands warm, hands that should be even warmer still being clutched in yours. But his hand instead chilled yours in return, like digging your hand in the freezer while looking for an ice pop.

And the damn smell - or lack thereof - it was driving you bonkers.

Everything here was Wrong. Incorrect.

And there wasn't even anything to look at or distract yourself with- no windows, no tiles, not even cracks or imperfections in the wall.

You wanted out.