sweet talk

keep my eyes from the fire

chapter twenty

Rigby gasped for breath, sitting up in his position on the ground... but it was dark, the park grounds midnight black on ink, and a sense of pain and confusion trickled through his head. His chest lurched, violently, and he looked up as a small whimper escaped his lips.

Red and orange flickered in his vision, and Rigby couldn't hear the crickets any more. He turned his furry head as he scrambled to his feet, and saw a fire burning bright in the distance. Words whispered into his brain.

Give them fear. Give them fear.

He inhaled sharply as he saw a shadow descend from the fire, and he recognized Skips' form, big and bold per usual. But his eyes, a light amber, burned in his soul, looking irritated yet fierce, but they softened when he saw him.

"Rigby! You need to run!" He shouted.

"Why?!" Rigby screamed back, fear running along his spine. He curled his hands into fists, and continued, "Where are you? We need answers! This demon is messing with my brain! And, fuck, I HATE IT!" Yelling this seemed sharpen his vision, so much that his ears began to ring and his head pounded in protest.

Stumbling back, Skips reached out and grabbed his wrist so he wouldn't fall. "That's why I came to you. I'm stuck, Rigby. But I found a way to contact you and Mordecai through the psychological dreamworld. I need you to fight the demon."

"Wh? But I don't even know anything about this demon," Rigby whimpered, his voice a small innocent whine in the cackling of fire, "All I know is that... he feeds me anger and emotion and that he wants to kill me." The last part came out as a snap, and Skips pulled his hand away.

"You need to find me," Skips said, and his eyes glowed in the darkness of night. "You had the right idea of going to my house. But your answers-- they lie in the deepest parts of the forest. That's where you'll find me and my soul and--" he stopped, and took a deep breath, "And Rigby? You have to keep Mordecai safe. Delliao is going after him, next.

"Thomas was right when he told you not to go to the hill. Don't go until you're questions are answered," Skips continued, "You need to tell Mordecai everything you are feeling."

"What? But I already did that. We kissed and--"

"You need to tell him more. Those feelings of pure happiness overcome those feelings of anger that Delliao feeds you. They fight those thoughts."

Rigby frowned at this. "Man, but that's bull!" He snapped, "Nothing can fight him! He's too powerful."

"Errghhh, don't say that! Fighting him is not impossible, Rigby. I would know..." his voice trailed away, and the big yeti looked down. His form began to ripple and vanish, the fire turning to smoke. "I'm running out of time. You need to go into the forest again--"