(my mind's) fully fading | Mystery Skulls Animated [Editing]

Chapter 5: First Quarter - Arthur

TRIGGER WARNING: More PTSD and audio flashbacks

The next morning Arthur woke up with a splitting headache, swimming in the residue of violent dreams, and his first thought was: I saw Lewis fall.

        Wait.

        I SAW LEWIS FALL.

        His thoughts spun. If I saw it happen, I was there. He knew Lewis wouldn't have been as careless as the investigators had made him out to be—he wouldn't have made a stupid mistake like that. There had to be something else at play. And now I can figure it out.

        Arthur rocketed out of bed, almost falling onto his face as he overbalanced to his right. The fuck. . .? He turned to look at his prosthetic but there was nothing there. Oh. Of course—Vivi had confiscated it last night out of fear he'd hurt himself or damage the thing.

        Straightening, he hastened out the door, up the corridor and into the joint living/dining room where he found Vivi stationed at the table, typing furiously away on her laptop.

        "Vivi."

        She jumped and slammed the lid shut, immediately leaning on her arm and plastering on a try-hard smile. "Arthur! Good morning!"

        He raised an eyebrow. "What—nevermind. Vivi I have something to tell you but I'd like my arm back first."

        She looked confused for a moment before it clicked. "Oh—here it is." She reached down under the table and pulled it out for him.

        He snatched it back, scandalised. "You were hiding it??"

        "No," she said defensively. "I was protecting it."

        "Mhm," he replied, unconvinced, and with practised ease unscrewed the gel cap from his prosthetic port and clicked the arm back into place, giving it a rough tug to test before he sat at the table. "Okay. Vivi. It's about Lewis."

        Her face immediately fell, eyes clouded with sympathy. "Oh."

        "No no no no," he hurriedly defended, "It's not— okay. You know how none of us can remember what happened that night?"

        "Uh. . . yeah? Isn't that just how trauma works?"

        "No, Vivi, listen. They all said that it was a mistake. They said Lewis was careless and had an accident. But I know him. He was always so careful, Vivi. He'd never make a move unless he was absolutely sure it was safe first."

        She seemed like she understood the premise but she still looked lost, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

        "Nothing would have happened if something or someone else wasn't involved," Arthur pushed, watching as the light slowly dawned in her eyes. "And because we couldn't remember we couldn't figure it out. But Vivi—this morning, I remembered."

        Her eyes blew wide. "What?"

        "I've been having these dreams for months but I never remembered them when I woke up. This morning, I remembered—I saw him fall. I was there."

        "Oh, Arthur. . ."

        "No, listen to me!" he cried. "If I remember that night, if I work on it, we can finally know what happened to Lewis. And we can—we can get closure. Or justice. Something took him from us that night, Vivi. It wasn't an accident."