Passing Notes

Chapter 22: The author abuses plot convenience

A/N confusing chapter ahead... new book out now!

Cross jolted awake, a cold sweat running down his back. What had he just seen? It must have been Dr.X, thanks to one of his many stupid experiments. Cross had seen glimpses of the man's life before as he was asleep, but nothing quite as foreboding as this.

Who was he talking to? What was going on? It was pretty clear to him that he was the lab rat. Who on earth could he have been hanging out with that the Doctor would want? No matter what, he had to protect his friends from whatever foul plans that man had.

"You know, as much as you seem deep in thought the answer is right in front of you."
Cross glanced to his side, sighing as Chara crossed their arms at him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but Chara probably figured it out. They couldn't talk to anyone but him (and now Dawn's strange ghost buddy) so they spent most of their time observing the people around Cross. He rubbed his temples.

"Alright, fine. I know what you're going to say. You're the smartest, much better than me, blah blah blah. Can you just tell me who it is? You saw that dream as well, I'm sure you're aware how dangerous this could become."
Chara hummed and floated over to a beanbag in the corner of Cross' room. Sure, they couldn;t actually sit on it. It was still nice to pretend though.

"Yeah. Thanks for admitting that once again, since we all know I'm the best half of the soul and-"

"Chara. Cut it out, this is actually important for once."
Chara huffed and rolled their eyes. Cross didn't have to cut them off like that. There wasn't really anything they could do either since those two could be anywhere.

"Let's see, who's new to the area, had some sort of vision thing that might be similar to what we did, and is a complete mystery? It's not that hard to tell they're looking for Dawn."
Cross groaned and stared at the ceiling. He was really hoping that wasn't the case. It all made sense though; especially how she seemed to think getting anyone involved would be dangerous. It was too late for that though, because if Dr.X was involved, Chara and Cross had quite a bit of unfinished business with them.

"I guess we've gotten ourselves into quite the mess huh? Still, we were bound to run into him again."

Chara stayed silent, hands clenched tightly. Nothing they could say would express the amount of rage pent up inside. Cross understood perfectly, because he too also felt like that. Silence was the only thing they could stand when thinking about him.

Honestly though, nobody could blame them. Chara had lost their sibling, and Cross his brother. All of their friends were gone, or in some cases gone from them mentally. There was no saving them, and there wouldn't be. It was absolutely awful. Now, their new friends were in danger.

He should probably warn them. The gang knew about his issues. No, that was an awful idea. Everyone, especially Killer, would want to hunt him down and kill him. Assuming Dawn didn't already know, he needed to talk with her.

Last he checked she was preparing for something. She must know somehow that people are coming for them, but she might not know the specifics he does. Plus, it's possible that this enemy of hers wasn't working with Dr.X last time. They could trade information. Knowledge on both of their enemies and plan accordingly.

It was too late for her to try and keep him out of this anyway. Dr.X had mentioned his experiment, and that couldn't be anyone but him. They were both targets who didn't want to endanger their friends, so they were on the same side. They were similar, or at least he thought they might be.

She had a ghost like him after all. He had no idea how that happened, but it could be similar to his in some way. Doubtful, but quite possible. She also had a dark past she hid to keep those close to her safe, and it seemed she also didn't use her full magic.

She still had a lot of secrets he didn't know if he'd be able to figure out. I mean, Dream and Nightmare couldn't get a fix on her emotions. That was something he had presumed to be impossible up to this point. Not to mention those strange moving tattoos Killer got on video?
Ever since that day, she's been wearing gloves everywhere. Long skirts, long sleeves, and gloves. She was very clearly trying to hide something, but it hadn't been there before. Was it some sort of curse? Some sort of experiment?

He shifted in bed turning to the bean bag. He wanted to ask Chara what they thought, but the ghostly child was fast asleep. He smiled and turned back around. Chara was still just a kid like him, sleep was important.

They shouldn't have had to deal with what they did growing up. Nobody should, nobody should have such a Dark past that they change themselves. He was going to help Dawn. She was a kindred spirit, and also running from a dark past it seemed she couldn't escape.

When he said nobody deserves things like he did growing up, he meant it. If Dawn had even some things in common with him when it came to a tragic backstory, then he was going to help her put it to rest.

Maybe this way he could put his past to rest. It was time to just let go of them, his friends weren't coming back. He might have to face them again, but this time he'd know. They weren't actually fully there, that monster of a man had destroyed them long ago. He just hoped he could remember that when the time finally came.

He sighed as he closed his eyes. It just wasn't the right time to tell Dream. It never really was, but he needed to keep everyone safe. If Dream was put in danger, especially because of him?
Well, Cross wasn't sure how he would be able to live with himself.