A Living Nightmare - (MCSM FANFIC - Collab with eternal-eloquence) DISCONTINUED

Chapter 7 - Chilling Memories

Chapter written by eternal-eloquence
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Lukas slammed the door of the Order hall behind him. None of this made sense. None at all. Since when could he rely on Petra to crack the code? Everything she'd said was wrong. There was no doubt about it.

His first thought after he stormed out of the hall was to head to his now abandoned cabin in the woods. The tranquility of the area would surely help him blow off some steam. It was somewhere he could clear his mind and rid it of all the confusion, where he could sit down and just think. He missed the peacefulness there, and in all honesty, it was one off the few places he knew as home. He didn't need confirmation when he gave into his instincts and booked it back there.

He got a good glimpse of the progress that Beacontown was making as he briskly walked the streets, responding to any waves that he received from the citizens. His cabin wasn't too far from where Beacontown was located, so it was only a matter of time until he got there.

But the walk to his cabin from Beacontown proved to be a lot more time-consuming than he'd expected. He didn't expect so many questions from the citizens about how much longer it was until the Beautification Project was completed. What made it so much harder was that he didn't have the answer to those questions.

When he finally arrived at his home (he tried not to think about how much faster he could've gotten there if it wasn't for the Beacontowners), Lukas had the biggest shock of the day when he found Jesse waiting for him at the front porch of his cabin. By the looks of it, she looked just as confused about the whole ordeal as he did when he addressed her.

"Hey, Jesse?" he said, wondering why she was at his house at dusk.

Jesse perked up slightly when she heard her name, and her eyes frantically darted around until she they landed on Lukas. "Lukas!" she shouted. "Finally! I've been waiting forever!"

"Waiting forever?" Lukas echoed. "Waiting for what?"

"For you, dummy!" Jesse retorted.

Lukas opened his mouth, about to ask her how she possibly could have gotten to the cabin earlier before remembering—ah, the citizens—and choosing to ask, "Why were you waiting for me?"

Jesse's reply was plain and simple. "Because Petra told me that you needed me here to help you with your new book."

"Huh?" Lukas paused. He did not ask Petra to call Jesse over for his book. He'd finished editing it a while back. If Lukas knew Petra, she must have falsely told Jesse to visit for a reason. He was just about to tell her to go back to the Order hall, when he felt sorry for her. She listened to Petra and came to supposedly help him, and he was just going to send her back? Besides, he could use some company. Maybe she actually could help him with adding even more details to the book. And maybe it would keep her mind fixed onto something other than work for a change.

"Okay, Jesse," he said, reaching for his keys, "welcome to my humble home."

He unlocked the door and pushed it open, instantly welcomed by his ocelot, Dewey. Jesse perked up at the sight of him and crouched down to stroke his fur. "He's so cute," she told Lukas, watching the ocelot purr at her touch. "I missed you, furball."

"Getting distracted?" Lukas said with a smirk.

Jesse sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. We should probably get to work."

Lukas plopped down into a seat on the couch, reaching for his quill and book to ask some questions. He patted the seat next to him, gesturing to Jesse to come sit next to him. Jesse obeyed and gladly sat down.

"It's almost done," Lukas said. "I finished editing the part that I was present for a while ago. Now I just need rest. Like that prison you were sent to? What was that called?"

"The Sunshine Institute? Trust me, that place is the exact opposite."

"I'll take your word for it," Lukas chuckled. "What was it like there?"

"It was horrible," Jesse said, shuddering as the visions of the Sunshine Institute replayed in her head. "The air there was like breathing in ashes. The warden and the associates were so rude, and there were these huge purple iron golems that pushed the prisoners around everywhere."

Lukas hummed, jotting things down.

"Jack and I tried to escape in the first five minutes, but there was this huge maze that went on forever. Seriously. It was filled with mobs, but these weren't your average zombies and skeletons. There were spider-creeper hybrids, wither-zombies, three headed ghasts, magma creams infused with slimes, you name it."

Lukas nodded again, trying to picture what a wither-zombie would look like.

Jesse went on to describe the rest of their stay at the Sunshine Institute, how they were caught, how Jack was sent to something called the "mushroom" (it could have been mush-room, but he wasn't sure) and how she was sent to the warden's office. She started getting choked up at the part describing Radar's torture, and Lukas was about to say that she could stop if she wanted to. Jesse kindly turned down his offer, and continued telling him about everything that had happened, the hours segueing into one another. By the time they'd reached the part where they'd left the underneath and fallen back into Beacontown, it was late at night. Jesse yawned and leaned her head on her arm, unnoticed by Lukas.

"What happened after you went through the portal?" Lukas asked her when he'd finished writing down everything she'd told him.

She didn't reply. He shifted his gaze from his notebook to Jesse. "Jesse?"

Jesse had drifted off, her chin resting on her hand and her eyes shut. Lukas glanced at the clock, leaping up in surprise when he said that the hands read 11:30 pm. She'd spent three hours and a half talking to him about everything. Whether it was because he'd bored her to sleep or because she was just genuinely tired, he couldn't blame her for falling asleep.

"You're staying for the night whether you like it or not, Jesse," Lukas muttered to himself. He just couldn't bring himself to waking her up. Instead, he headed to his former bedroom, searching for a spare blanket. When he found one, he headed back to the couch and draped it over Jesse's sleeping form. He then fixed the position of her arm so it wouldn't be stiff from propping up her chin in the morning.

"Sweet dreams, Jesse." He smiled and flicked off the light before heading into his own bedroom.

Just as he opened his drawer to change his clothes, there was a strange hissing sound coming from the other side of his closed door. Puzzlement appeared on his face, and he cautiously inched forwards about to turn the knob—

The door suddenly flew open on its own, and as if an invisible force had grabbed him and threw him in, Lukas was hurtled forwards and into the room.