Second Chances

Chapter 10

Clara unlocked the front door with Steve's key. Herobrine immediately looked up at her. Clara hesitated when she saw his eyes. Her entire life, she had been taught through stories and legends to fear those eyes. She couldn't imagine how terrified Steve was, since he had firsthand experience with the monster behind those eyes.

"Hey, there. Do you remember me? I'm Steve's friend," Clara said with a friendly smile. Herobrine just nodded. "Well, I'm going to be hanging out with you today while Steve is at work, okay?" Herobrine nodded again and wrapped the blankets around him tighter. Clara quickly noticed how pale he was. He was definitely sick.

Clara heard a chirp come from by her feet, and almost jumped in surprise when she saw a tiny creeper. She expected any moment for the little green creature to start flashing, warning of an explosion, but it just looked up at her with large, shiny, black eyes.

"That's Crackle. She's not gonna hurt you," Herobrine said. His voice was unusually raspy.

Clara cautiously picked the creature up. It squealed excitedly and wiggled its four little legs as it was lifted into the air. While normal-sized creepers terrified her since she spent every day fighting for her life against them, this little one was downright adorable.

Clara put the creeper down, then sat cross-legged next to Herobrine. "I heard you weren't feeling very well." Herobrine just nodded. "I'm sorry. Being sick isn't any fun."

Herobrine nodded again. "My throat hurts," he complained.

"Well, maybe I can make you something for that. Drinking something warm will help." Clara stood up, not realizing that Crackle had climbed up her back and perched on her shoulder. Crackle squealed in delight from being so high up. "Oh, hello there," Clara said to her tiny new friend.

A creeper being cute and Herobrine being a child... Clara's world was just slowly being turned upside down with every day.

...

A long day in the mines had left Steve feeling more tired than usual. His back ached and he fumbled with the key to his house. He ran his fingers through his coal dust-covered hair as he opened the door.

Clara and Herobrine were sitting on the floor with a board game between them. Herobrine was still bundled in a blanket, and there were two empty bowls next to him. Clara rolled the dice and moved her piece across the board. Crackle had one of the pieces in front of her and tried to mimic how Clara and Herobrine were moving their pieces around by pushing hers with her head. But since she had no grasp on the rules of the game, her piece wasn't on a playable area currently.

"MISTER STEVE!" Herobrine exclaimed excitedly as soon as Steve walked through the door, jumping to his feet and giving him a big hug.

Steve, unsure what to do in this situation, just patted Herobrine on the head. "Uh, hi," he said uncomfortably.

"How was your day?" Herobrine asked as he sat back down to take his turn in the game.

"It was... good." Herobrine didn't need to hear about how hard work in the mines was. "You're looking better," Steve commented.

"Yeah, I've been giving him warm liquids all day. I'm no doctor, but if you keep that up, he'll probably be feeling better soon." Clara said. Herobrine captured one of her pieces. "Hey!" she exclaimed, her attention going back to the board. Herobrine giggled, but his giggles broke into a fit of coughing.

"Well buddy, since Steve is here, it's time for me to go." Clara stood up.

"Wait, don't go!" Herobrine looked up at Clara with large, sad eyes. "We haven't finished our game."

Clara looked at Steve, who just shrugged. He was too tired to care. "Fine, you can finish. I'm going to change," he said, walking away.

Herobrine and Clara smiled at each other and continued playing.

Some time later, Steve came back with fresh clothes and the coal dust cleaned out of his hair. Herobrine and Clara had just finished their game, because they were cleaning it up. Clara walked over to Steve when she saw him.

"Hey. How was your day?" she asked.

"Long. Hard. Glad it's over," Steve said simply.

Clara laughed. There was a moment of silence between them, before Clara finally said something.

"Steve, I know that everything's basically a done deal at this point, but I still can't help but feel like we're making a mistake," she said.

Steve glanced at Herobrine to make sure that he wasn't listening. Herobrine was trying to get Crackle's piece back, but she fiercely guarded it. "What are you talking about?" Steve asked in a low voice.

"Herobrine isn't the monster you remember him being. He's a sweet little kid." Steve scowled at her, but before he could say anything, Clara added, "look, I understand why you're doing what you're doing. He hurt you in ways I can't even imagine. I don't blame you, but maybe killing him for crimes he never committed is a bit... cruel."

Steve hesitated and glanced at Herobrine, who had successfully gotten the piece back and had put it back in the box with the rest of the game. Crackle chirped angrily at him and tried to grab the game, but the game was far out of her reach and she didn't have arms.

Steve wanted to retort with everything Herobrine did to him, but he couldn't bring himself to say that. Steve sighed instead. "I know, and you're right, but what else can I do? He can't stay here. It doesn't matter what else we do with him, if I hadn't contacted the Netherwalkers, someone else would have. Even If you would have taken him, someone would have eventually seen his eyes." Clara stared at the ground. "Why are we even talking about this? What's done is done. You can't change what I did."

"I know, I just wish that you had thought before going through with it."

Clara left Steve in a stunned silence and she turned toward Herobrine. "I gotta go, okay?"

Herobrine gave her a hug. "You'll come back though, right?"

"Of course." She hugged him back, casting a quick, undiscernible glance at Steve. With that, she walked out and headed home.