The Sorry Tale Of Nightmare Cooth

Chapter 10

Charlie decided to bring his brother with him back to London with us. Probably has something to do with the whole parent issue. I don't know. I just know that while Chastopher is around, I have to be carful when I'm out...

But it's okay. I'm not gonna freak out over this. I'll just see if Charlie and I can be alone to talk in his room. Maybe set some stuff up so that Chastopher won't hear us talking whenever I'm out.

Because I like being out. I don't want to be cooped up in hiding forever. There's a big difference between being material and being spiritual. And I can only be material if I'm open to the public eye.

"Charlie? I don't want to have to sit in hiding forever..."

'You won't Cooth. It's okay. I'll figure something out.' I heard him.

"But your brother. I don't want him to freak out, if I'm out and he sees me he's sure to flip his shit!" I said.

'Again. You're worried for nothing. It's okay. I'll make sure that you can have your out time even though Chastopher is around. It's okay.'

This eases me only a little. I just have a sort of bad feeling about Chastopher seeing me. Like if he knew I was around, he would try to get rid of me. And I know there are spells out there that can cast a nightmare away, Ive talked to Sarah about it. She made some for unruly nightmares that don't listen to reason. So if Chastopher knew I was here, I have a feeling he won't rest until his brother is free from me.

Even though I know that Charlie has me wrapped around his little finger ever since I found out I kinda like him and don't want him to be mad at me.

But other than that, he's a good kid, and it sucks that their parents just fucking left without saying where or for how long. It was pretty unfair. That kind of the reason why I didn't protest when Charlie said he was coming with us back to London once the house was sold. I was just a little concerned when I would be able to have time to bond with Charlie.

But, when we got back with the kid, it wasn't all that bad.

He set him up in the workroom and moved his work stuff into pur room. It made Charlie's room a little too full, so we kept materials in the closet in the hallway and it was much better.

Charlie set up his room with sound dampening cushions to avoid Chastopher hearing him talk to me. He even dedicated a 'Cooth time' which he told Chastopher was study time. But Charlie never studies, he's already really smart and is doing fantastic. So that time is time we get to bond and explore the things we can do together.

During this time, Chastopher is told not to enter the room in fear of 'breaking concentration' and then we're free to lull about freely.

I need to start making my way to telling Charlie I might want to get closer to him, but it's such a foreign concept to me because I've never felt this way to anyone before and have no knowledge or experience in it or how to approach it. At all.

I've thought about just telling him straight up, but I can't find any words that don't make me sound stupid. I've never really cared about how I came off to someone before until now. Probably another little hitch that pissed people off. And probably another reason Charlie likes having me around more now than he used to. I'm learning how to be better. Better to him.

Better to myself too.

I'm learning how to really accept myself and what I've become and then use it to look for a new goal. Getting my color back. And honestly, I think Charlie's gonna play a pretty big role in it. Because I think I might like him more than I honestly liked myself when I was alive. I mean, it's not saying too much when I use that phrasing, but you get it. He means a lot to me.

And again, I don't want him stolen from me so I need to work to that whole imprinting thing. But any time I even think about how I would get to that point, my stomach cramps up and I can't think of it anymore. Too much sudden emotion spike, it just hurts.

I thought about letting him read the chapters Sarah put in so he knew what we could do, but maybe instead of that I'll just talk to him about it during his study time.

So when it came around, Charlie shut the door and I come out and stretch. It feels good to be out. "I like it. Thanks for making this work, char." I said softly.

"Hey, depriving you of your out time is cruel. I have to give you at least some time to feel the outside world." He said, closing the curtains.

"It's gonna happen soon, Charlie. What are you gonna tell him when he asks about me?" I asked. I had told Chastopher Charlie was interested in the human that Charlie had painted me as just for a joke, but now that he's with us in London, he's bound to ask about it sooner or later.

"I'll tell him you moved away or something, I don't know..." Charlie said.

"Moved away? Hm." I thought about it for a second before just abandoning the subject entirely. "Hey, so I read the new chapters that Sarah put into the book."

"Yeah?" Charlie joins me in just abandoning the subject and dealing with it later.

"So I guess... there's like this thing that nightmares can do that includes tethering themselves to a host. And I guess the book says it's a huge trust thing because it allows the nightmare full access to control without permission. It's a huge trust thing." I told him.

"And what does that mean?" Charlie asked, tilting his head.

"Ah, mmm, it also says that if a nightmare from another host imprints on a host that's not their own, they can force the nightmare of THAT host to pick a new host. But if the host already has been imprinted on, it won't work." I said.

"Imprinting?"

"Yeah."

"Explain again how this happens?"

"Ahm. It uh. It said like... its a really deep bonding thing. Didn't specify how it happens, but i think maybe ill know it when it happens."

"But what does that m e a n." Charlie asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I mean... I... I don't know. We would just have to keep testing I guess....." I've thought about  scenarios like this before and the stupid curse of hatred on me makes it worse.

"Bonding..." Charlie wonders. He thinks for a second. He sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to him for me to sit.

I take a seat and think with him.

"Well, What is 'bonding?'" He asks.

"Something important, something... that would connect us, an unspoken thought or bond..." I said.

"You're right." Charlie thinks, pausing for a bit. "Is this something you're interested in, Cooth?" He suddenly asks softly.

"W-What?" Shit, the cramping. God that hurts...

"Are you okay? You look in pain..."

"I'm getting cramps, it's okay..." I told him, allowing my stomach to calm down.

"Cooth?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to do something like that? Are you thinking of maybe getting closer? I know you were joking about it earlier, but maybe not? I need you to talk to me about this. It's important to me." He said.

Shit shit shit. I did not think that's where this was gonna go. Oh god.

How do I get out of this?