Forgive or die trying

Headspace

"Welcome back Aubrey", the once soothing voice coursed through her body as she looked around the endless white void. She sighed and looked around, waiting for her to appear again. Within only a few seconds, she spotted her.

"You know how this goes Aubrey, you can't run from it forever. You have to either confront him and make him leave for good or forgive him. Which will it be?", Mari's spirit glided over to the now slightly shaking girl, looking at her emotionlessly and waiting for her to stand again. Once the pink haired girl had stood up, she guided her over to the white door,

"They're waiting for you. Will you help them find him? Or will you continue to push him away. ### is starting to notice things Aubrey, will you banish him too?" Aubrey huffed, not answering the spirit as she opened the door and walked through. Instantly her eyes were hit with the bright colors of neighbor's room, although small bits of that forbidden side of headspace leaked through in cracks the others couldn't see. Textures missing here and there, cracks along the floorboard, black ooze leaking from the walls. Hero glanced up before instantly shooting to his feet upon seeing her,

"Aubrey!! Where've you been! We missed you so much!" His voice was cheerful, a stark contrast to the last time she had heard it in the real world. His pajamas hung loosely, a few sizes too big for him and his hair a mess. He looked like he had just woken up, although he did always look like that the morning after sleepovers. Kel puffed out his chest proudly, smiling brightly with his missing teeth on full display,

"I won a card game yesterday Aubrey! Aren't you proud of me! I finally beat these two!!" He was always very competitive, especially when it came down to him versus Hero. Basil laughed softly at the shorter boy's enthusiasm, it reminded Aubrey a lot of Angel. She wondered to herself if they would have been good friends had Sunny not..

No. Now isn't the time.

She shook the thought from her head as Basil tilted his slightly while looking at her. His face was filled with a mix of confusion and worry as he approached her slowly, gently touching the scar on her face,

"Aubrey? Where'd you get this?" Instantly the other two looked at her and both showed the same worry as the green haired boy, although Kel tried to hide it. She stood still and silent, how had the wound transferred over? Never before had it shown up while she was in headspace. Now that he had mentioned it, she also noticed how she could no longer see out of her right eye despite always being able to previously. Hero came over to her to examine the wound closer, determining it was already scarred over but that just led the other two to more confusion.

"Howd you even get this Aubrey? You haven't been around for a while so it couldn't have been from any monsters like sprout moles.", Hero spoke, muttering the last part to himself as Aubrey glanced at the other two before looking at her feet. Even in a dream world she can't tell them what happened. She forced on a smile and laughed softly,

"You know me Hero, if there's a way I can injure myself I'll find it!" The now purple haired girl brushed off the teal blue nightgown gently as Kel helped Basil fix his denim overall's straps. She couldn't help but glare slightly at Kel, she knew he wasn't the version who hurt her but she still held that resentment. The thought of the words he screamed at her that day, the way he defended Sunny's attack on her, it made her blood run cold. He was as heartless as the black haired boy. She could feel Something watching her from behind but paid no mind to it. Its presence was oddly comforting in this bizarre world. She looked back to the group and smiled again,

"Want to lead the way to Mari?" She turned to Kel who looked extremely excited to be the group leader today, proudly standing first in their line and moving quickly up the rainbow staircase as the others trailed behind. The blinding light was awful but she knew it would pass soon as they entered out of the tree stump and ran into the playground, seeing Mari gently laying out a wide assortment of fruits and treats for them to enjoy while playing.

As the others rushed over to her, excitedly talking about all kinds of nonsensical things, Aubrey got sidetracked by a shimmer in the distance. She slowly approached, the others too busy conversing to notice, as the glitching object became clearer and clearer. A knife, blood coating parts of it, lay in the grass. Looking up, she glanced for its owner but found no one. Cautiously, she grasped the handle and felt the world around her slip away. Desperately she tried to find her friends, but everything around her was as black as ink. Her breath quickened, the scar on her face burning as fresh blood spilled from a now open wound. All she could hear was the reminders of her past, his roaring voice saying she was nothing but a liar.

She clawed at her ears more desperately, trying to get the voices to stop as Mari's spirit glided over again and stared down at her,

"You have to let go of it, forgive or gain revenge. You know which I want, which do you want Aubrey?" And with that, the sobbing girl turned the knife towards herself and plunged it deep into her stomach, feeling it burrow through her organs as a burning sensation engulfed her entire body.

What DID she want? And was she even ready to deal with her choice?

She didn't feel she had much of a choice anymore anyways