b-and-entity

[b-and-entity]

TW: car crash, death

“You were supposed to turn there” I said, annoyed.

“Aw shit, well we can take a turn up by the bridge instead” Adrian answered casually.

I sent him a look even if he didn’t see it. He pissed me off sometimes.

“No just turn right next time we can. We’ll be late”

“You’re not allowed to turn right there”

I let out an exasperated sigh and shifted in my seat. A building anger was crawling around my skin, making it hard to sit still.

“Who fucking cares? No one is out here this late at night”

“We are”

“And we’re the only ones!” I raised my voice “just fucking turn right!”

“NO! I can’t afford a ticket!”

My heart pounded into my ribs with fear when he yelled. My eyes welled. Like a fucking child. clenched my fists.

“No one will know! JUST FUCKING TURN RIGHT!”

We were almost at the turn. Adrian sped up. Maybe out of frustration.

“FINE!”

He sharply turned the corner. Even with my seatbelt on I felt myself lift out of the seat, lean with the car and then… headlights. The biggest crashing sound I had ever heard. Darkness.

I woke up, disoriented. I couldn’t see shit. I couldn’t… couldn’t breathe. Without even thinking I reached for my seatbelt, clicked it open. Lifting my shoulder hurt, but I was too desperate to acknowledge the pain. It was so warm in here… I had to get out. I grabbed the door handle and pushed the car door open, practically throwing myself onto the ground. I coughed so hard my lungs felt as if they were on fire. I thought I might choke on my own coughs, I needed to breathe. I inhaled sharply, the air out here was cold and crisp and it also hurt my lungs. Actually, everything hurt. I turned around to lay on my back. I stared up at the night sky. Between dark clouds I could see stars. They twinkled so kindly.

It wasn’t before I heard yelling, I realized that these past minutes, seconds, hours? Everything had been silent. When the sound returned, it was awful, loud like never before. Someone grabbed me under my arms, pulled me. I could feel- no hear my skin scrape against the ground. I could hear the flames roar. The cars alarms howl. The people’s yells scratched against the inside of my ears. I tried to fight whoever had grabbed me. I didn’t want them to touch me. Couldn’t they just let me be? Let me look at the sky a little longer?

“Did the sky make you feel better?” the therapist asked, jotting down my words.

“What?” I was sucked back into reality. The office that smelled so… clinical. Full of tools for mindfulness and all that crap. Shelves with books about people like me.

“The sky, what drew you in about it?”

What a bullshit question.

“I don’t know… maybe that if I focused on that, I wouldn’t have to think about anything else”

What a bullshit answer. I didn’t actually know why I remembered the sky so well.

“What happened to your friend?”

“He died”

“And the other driver?”

“Died too, he and his wife were on the way to the hospital. She was in labor”

“Did she survive?”

“Yes, but the baby didn’t”

“And how does all that make you feel?”

I looked down at my hands. I saw pale, elongated hands with ugly veins. But I also saw black, unnaturally shaped, bony fingers. It switched back and forth between the two. Like a kid playing with a light switch.

“… like shit. Like it was my fault. If I hadn’t convinced him to turn right, he probably would have been alive and so would the others”

I said, guilt dragging down my shoulders, spine and even lungs. That night everyone had treated me like a victim. Like it wasn’t my fault that Adrian was reckless and turned right on a road he wasn’t allowed to. Like it wasn’t my fault that he was driving fast. But it was. It was all my fault. We weren’t even going anywhere. We wouldn’t actually be late, I had just said it. Like the stupid fucking-

The light stopped flicking. All I saw was black bony fingers.

[b-and-entity]

B walked in with a tray in their hand.

“My lady” they smiled and put the tray of little cakes and other snacks in front of Mathilda “your refreshments.” She lit up with joy “thank you B, it looks delicious! Wouldn’t you say so mr. Erwin?”

She looked at the lamb plushie sitting across from her. B took a hold of the lamb and animated it as they answered in a silly voice.

“Yes, lady Mathilda, it looks absolutely scrumptious!”

Mathilda giggled excitedly, kicking her feet. B adored it. They loved when they had the weekends with her. She was their lover’s younger sister who visited for a weekend once a month. It was the best, not only because B loved children, but also because their lover always seemed to lighten up in her company.

“How about you miss wolfie?” She asked the plush next to her. B looked at the wolf too, anticipating an answer.

There was a silence.

“Miss wolfie? Don’t you think it looks good?” B nudged their partner who jumped a little at the touch.

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry” unsure hands wrapped around the wolf’s body “it looks great.”

Mathilda frowned and looked at her older sibling.

“8J?-@; it’s not fun if you don’t play along” she pouted.

“Sorry princess, I’m just… I’m a little tired”

B’s heart sank a little for them both. They rested a hand on their partner’s shoulder.

“Maybe you should go take a nap babe, it might help”

They had originally declined to take Mathilda for the weekend, precisely because of this. But the aunt had insisted, almost begged that they took her since she was going to a wedding out of town. Luckily, so far, the weekend had passed without incident, despite the recent increase in visits from the figure. Perhaps they could make it till she had to be picked up that night.

Their lover nodded and got up. Mathilda watched, unable to hide her disappointment.

“Okay… but next time I won’t let you skip a tea party!”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world”

Mathilda lit up a little again as a kiss was pressed to the top of her head. B smiled softly as they watched the two of them. It reminded them of their own younger brother. Back when he was this age, he was missing some of his teeth just like Mathilda. Nowadays he was all grown up, although in B’s head he was still 12.

B and Mathilda continued to play until late in the afternoon. They danced to music, curled her hair, and found bugs in the garden. B was attempting to put makeup on Mathilda when they heard a loud thud from the bedroom.

“}3y!H.?” B called out, but there was no answer.

“Quick, finish so I can show off my makeup” Mathilda said impatiently.

B turned their attention back to her and smiled “okay, okay, I’m almost done” they reached into their limited makeup supply and found probably the only lip-gloss they owned.

“Purse your lips for me… thank you” B stuck their tongue out as they applied lip gloss on her. It was much harder on lips this small, especially when they weren’t their own.

“There you go” B held up a little mirror to show her “what do you think?... Mathilda?”

Mathilda’s eyes were wide, mouth slightly open and her breath hitched a little as she stared past B.

B’s throat turned dry. They dreaded looking behind them, though they already knew what they’d see. Reluctantly, they turned around, immediately met with the sight of the entity. It stood in the dark hallway, staring at them. It slowly tilted its head, bones cracking as it did so. Its intense stare fixated on B,

B stood up and stepped in front of Mathilda who was quietly sobbing already.

“#q7;!K” B said sternly “I think you had a nightmare, please go back to sleep”

In the blink of an eye, the figure moved closer. It stretched its arm out towards B, although still not quite reaching them. B watched its clawed hand twitch in anticipation or fear. Or both.

It let out a desperate moan.

“I have to watch Mathilda, go back to our room and I’ll come join you later, your aunt will be here to pick her up in an hour or so” They kept their tone gentle, yet firm. They didn’t want to be mean to the entity, but they had to think of Mathilda.

B felt Mathilda grab their shirt tightly. She gasped a little and took a step back, attempting to pull B with her. They looked down to see black liquid seep over the carpet and flow around their feet.

Another heart wrenching moan left the entity.

“I promise, I’ll be there with you soon-“

Mathilda screeched with disgust as her feet got lathered in the sticky black substance. There was a crash, like glass breaking. B didn’t have time to see what it was because the entity began frantically glitching around the room. Its stare growing more intense. The black liquid poured down the walls now. Mathilda cried, begging B to make it stop. In the dark liquid lathering the walls, eyes birthed themselves and stared at them. The entity itself stopped right in front of B, claws reaching out with urgency.

B could hear the desperate whispers of their lover although they could not make out what they were saying between Mathilda’s cries and the wet blinking of dozens of eyes.

“?Å~£7n” B reached out for the entity, but was pushed away by cold sharp hands. They landed on their butt, pushing Mathilda down in their fall as well. Bugs lathered in black liquid crawled up their arms. Mathilda’s sobs only grew louder at this.

“You pushed B! You’re just like dad!” she cried out in fear. Instantly, the light in the room started to flash. Dark, eyes, liquid. Light. Dark, eyes, liquid. B could almost feel the entity fight itself. Light. Dark, eyes, liquid. Light.

Their lover was hunched over, hands over ears.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over again.

B blinked as their eyes adjusted to light. All the liquid and eyes were gone. The bugs still crawled up B’s arms. They gently brushed them off, then put a hand on their partner who flinched at the touch.

“Shh baby, it’s okay. You’re alright” B said gently. They felt their partner tremble under their hand which they slowly pulled away. But their lover reached out for the hand, grabbing it tightly, with urgency.

“&v=11§?” Mathilda said gently, crying still present in her tone “I didn’t mean it” she crawled over and hugged her older sibling.

“I got scared because I knocked over the cage with bugs and then you got scared”

B looked back to see the shattered bug terrarium and bugs crawling about on the floor. Their lover’s hand left them. They turned their head again and saw the pair of siblings embracing one another.

“You’re not like dad. You’re nice”

“Thank you, princess. Sorry for scaring you” there was a pause between sniffles “did B do your makeup? You look beautiful”

Once all the glass was swept away and most of the bugs outside… although B feared they might find a few here and there, the three of them settled down to enjoy the leftover snacks from the tea party.

Before they knew of it, the aunt arrived to pick up Mathilda. It was a minor battle getting her out the door, but B wouldn’t have it any other way. Once they finally closed the door B looked back at their lover.

“I think… maybe I should start seeing a therapist”

B nodded. They hugged.

[b-and-entity]

[b-and-entity]

The entity stood in the corner of the room. Its blank eyes fixated on B.

B stood behind the couch. Their eyes filled with tears.

“!jl@P%” their sobs choked them from the inside “I can’t keep doing this”

They sniffled. It felt so embarrassing to stand there, like a child who had missed their nap and got upset at the smallest of details. Their tears mingled with their snot. They could taste the disgusting concoction. It was salty

The creature moaned a word “æHhp” B knew it as its way of trying to utter the word ‘help.’

“I know, I want to, but I can’t” B tried to dry their tears, but they got replaced quicker than they could wipe. Their head felt like it would explode.

“æHhp”

B shook their head “I want to but I can’t”

Their cheeks heated from the pure embarrassment of the situation. The creature in front of them needed real help. The fact that it was even standing there was an indication of mountains of trauma. Something B could never understand. They had simply had a bad day at work, perhaps they hadn’t slept that well. Their issues seemed miniscule, unimportant in comparison. Yet they found that even just trying to think of how to help the figure exhausted them of all their mental energy.

“æHhp!” the entity cried out in misery. It glitched towards B, bones cracking and snapping as it moved. It went around the right side of the couch. Its piercing glare burnt the top of their head as it hovered over them.

“No!” B moved to the left side of the couch “I can’t always be the one who saves you” they sniffled helplessly.

“I want to, I do, but I’m so tired and I just… can’t today! You can’t just always expect me to fix everything, it’s unfair” B sobbed more. The creature’s cold claws scraped their skin and B jolted away.

“No! Leave me alone” they headed for the front door, grabbing their jacket and car keys. Without even thinking they slammed the door behind them. Only when they had reached the car did they look at the window. It was dark inside their house, but they could see the entity’s white eyes stare at them through the glass. Familiar black liquid seeped down the window. Although the figure stood still, B could feel the thrashing fear and anger within it. They felt that if they stayed much longer the thing would give chase.

B got into the car and drove off.

Pearl placed a steaming hot cup of chocolate milk in front of B as well as a little bowl of Skittles.

“I picked out the yellow ones, you don’t like those, right?”

B chuckled half-heartedly and nodded.

“Thank you” they said and took a sip of the hot chocolate. It was hard to swallow due to the guilt occupying their throat. Here they were, eating snacks with one of their friends while the entity was at home, probably terrified out of its mind.

“I feel bad. (h8$?E can’t help it, you know?” They felt their eyes well up a little again. Pearl put a reassuring hand on their back.

“It’s okay, you’re allowed to have bad days too. You two are partners, not a therapist and a patient” she said gently.

“It’s just that lately, it’s gotten worse” B sighed softly “the figure, entity…”

“Scary lanky guy?”

“Yeah, you’ve seen it before?”

“Yup, once… anyway go on”

“Right… it comes out more often and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared…”

“You’re scared of it?”

“Yes… no, I’m not. I’m scared for it” B sighed softly “it’s like it loses itself and I want to help, but…” they trailed off, at a loss for words.

“But you need to take care of yourself too” Peal finished the sentence.

“Yes” B grabbed a green skittle “but then I feel bad because… it has it so much worse”

Pearl grabbed B’s face, forced them to look at her. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes serious.

“Do not compare your struggles. A hard day is a hard day, no matter how it came on” she said, a slight pout in her tone.

B smiled a little. The guilt in their throat loosened up a little and they could finally swallow the skittle that had been swirling around in their mouth.

Pearl let go of their face “now tell me about this bitch customer you had at work”

“Oh, yeah”

B talked about all the shitty encounters they had had throughout the day, even laughed when Pearl imitated the unreasonable customers. She told them all to go stick their ego back up their ass. They watched Lorax together like they always did. Watching the same movie never got boring with Pearl.

Eventually B looked at the time and found it was just past midnight.

“I should head home. I have an early shift tomorrow” their lungs fell flat with the dread of work.

“You sure you don’t want to sleep here?”

“No, all my keys for work are at home anyway… and I should check on U?=;4b”

“Completely sure?” Pearl put a hand on their forearm.

“Positive” B nodded in confirmation. Pearl frowned ever so slightly but let go of them.

“Alright, but you’re always welcome to come back”

B drove home in silence. Their thoughts swirled about, and the dread of the workday ahead lay heavy on their chest. They pulled into the driveway and saw that the black liquid no longer dripped down the window. They went inside and turned on the lights. Everything looked the way it had when they left, everything, except…

B walked over to the coffee table. There was a bag of gummy bears on the table. Primarily white and red bears. Under it was a note.

‘I’m sorry about the way I acted tonight.

I called your boss and told her you aren’t coming in tomorrow. A well-deserved mental health day.

Maybe we can talk about stuff then. I feel bad for putting all that pressure on you.

I went to sleep, hope you will join me (if not that’s okay). Pancakes tomorrow morning, yay or nay?

I love you B’

A doodle of a bee buzzing around a flower was scribbled next to their name.

B smiled softly and wrote yay next to the question.

[b-and-entity]

[b-and-entity]

B held up each pack of gummy bears, trying to see which one had the most white bears in it. It was a task that could take a while for them, but was absolutely necessary. In the end they found one with quite a few white bears and a good amount of red ones and put it in their cart, very satisfied. “Babe, do you want any snacks?” They turned around only to find themself in an empty aisle. They scanned it from one end to the other, but their lover was gone. A mother walked briskly past the end of the aisle, dragging her crying child along. Another person followed, almost jogging towards the exit of the store. B felt their stomach drop ever so slightly. They took a deep breath before pushing their cart towards the place they were all running from.

Several people hurried past them, one even grabbed their cart and warned them that some freak was disrupting the store. B simply excused themselves and headed towards the aisle said ‘freak’ was in. Aisle 15. The stench of blood and abandoned hospital instantly hit B as they turned the corner. Black liquid seeped down the sunken lines between floor tiles. B saw the tall black figure, long limbs contorted into an unsettling pose. Almost as if its spine had broken and its upper body was now hanging helplessly while its limbs tried to keep it standing. “You need to leave the store right now” an employee stood close to it, poking the entity with his mop “you are scaring the other customers”. The entity stared directly at the employee, moaning in response. The sound was horrid and inhuman, lathered in pain. It tried to bat away the mop with its long bony fingers. They twitched uncontrollably. The pasta and flour on the shelf shook as its fingers graced them. “You should probably leave, this one is completely out of control” another employee warned B as she tried to mop up the black liquid. “No, that’s my partner” B said gently, fixated on the scene in front of them. They let go of their cart and walked towards the creature. The black liquid made their shoes stick to the floor and every step became an effort. The creature let out another horrible moan as it swatted at the employee hitting it. Its flailing arms nearly hit B. The employee trying to scare off the figure looked at B with an angry expression. “Don’t get any closer, you’ll make it worse” “No. You’re making it worse, stop hitting it” B fought their way through the sticky liquid. They almost lost their balance when they lifted their foot and was pulled back down by the black ooze. The creature did another accidental swing at them, and this time B had no time to react. They fell to the floor, trying to cushion the fall with their hands. The black, sticky liquid was cold and covered their fingers. Finally the entity turned to look at B. Its eyes widened when it saw them on the floor, trying to get free off the liquid. The entity stumbled towards them, upper body flailing helplessly. It fell to its knees and wrapped its long, bony arms around B, screeching helplessly as it did so. B looked up at it to find piercing eyes staring them down. It was terrifying, yet B sensed it was out of concern. “I know you didn’t mean to, it’s okay” B put their hands on its cold cheeks “can you help me up?” The creature grabbed B, it accidentally scratched them, but helped them stand. “We should clean this mess huh?” B said softly. The creature swayed quietly next to them for a bit then moaned. B looked at its contorted back. It looked painful “lean on me for support” B said and let the large entity put its weight on them. It was heavy, cold and wet. They looked to the employees who looked on in terror “I’m sorry, we’ll leave now” B started walking. The weight of the creature slowed them, but the black liquid was less sticky now. It slowly flowed back into the entity’s body. With every step, the creature hanging on the back of B seemed to get lighter. It went from being cold and wet against to warm and dry again. “If you want, you can go to the car, I’ll pay for our groceries” B handed it the car keys and watched as long, yet human fingers took the keys out of their hand. “B… Hershey's, please?” “Hershey's chocolate? Okay" “Thank you” a gentle kiss was pressed to their cheek before their lover slouched out of the store, head down as to avoid people’s stares. B smiled a bit and made their way back to the snack aisle. They picked out three different chocolate bars. It didn’t take long before they were back in the car with their love whose face was buried in up-giving hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you” Black tears streamed past pale hands. “It’s okay, you didn’t mean to, are you okay?” “No” “That’s okay too, let’s go home, I’ll run you a bath” They placed a hand on their lover’s thigh and backed out of the parking lot.

[b-and-entity]

The click of the door opening disturbed the otherwise peaceful night. Groggily, B sat up in bed. They looked to the alarm clock next to their bedside. A gentle green light told him it was 2:04. “Babe?” They muttered, sleep still present in their voice. “Is that you?” Only the white noise of their house answered. Reluctantly they swung their legs out of the bed. Cold floorboards met warm feet as they shuffled into the living room. An unpleasant sensation ran up their spine and to their neck. At the front door they could make out a tall figure. Humanoid, yet its limbs were too long. It stared silently at B, reached into their bones with its gaze. “Babe?” B blinked. In the time between their eyes being opened and closed the figure crept closer. It now stood behind the couch, barely two meters from B.

It continued to stare silently, eerily into B’s eyes, didn’t blink even once. Stitches kept its mouth or lack there off shut. “Something bad happened, huh?” B’s hairs stood up as they walked towards the creature. They extended their hands toward it “come to bed please, it’s late” Without breaking eye contact, the creature leaned its unnaturally long body over B. Hovered over them like a predator over its prey. B shivered from the cold that seemed to leak from its body. They could smell it now. Iron mixed with a faint smell of hospital, but the dirty, perhaps even abandoned kind. “You don’t scare me” B frowned. Was it at the figure or their own lie? They couldn’t tell themself.

“If you don’t want to hold my hand that is okay, but I think we should go to bed” B said as the figure tilted its head, twitching as its spine crooked. Every vertebra seemed to crack with its movement. B sighed softly and started back for their room. They could feel the coldness of the figure as it followed, so closely it made the hairs on B’s neck stand. Its steps were silent. B flicked on the light in the room and turned around to face the figure. It was black like a silhouette, yet seemed to glitch here and there like a hologram. The white stitches over its mouth were tight. The white of its eyes were too white and its iris black and far too small, as if only a pupil. The mirror in the corner of the room revealed that on its back, its spine could be seen, bone for bone, sticking out as if trying to escape the creature itself. It stared silently at B, tilting its head till the neck looked broken. “If you can’t speak, that is okay” B opened the drawer of their nightstand. They pushed aside some pencils and medication to find an assortment of colourful cards. Each had a word written on it. ‘Yes’ ‘no’ ‘idk’ ‘tired’ ‘sad’ ‘angry’ ‘scared’ ‘help’ They turned back around to find the creature standing no more than 30 centimetres from them now. It continued to hover over them, that clinically, irony smell hitting them in an instant. “How are you feeling?” They held out the cards like a magician would with a child. Long, black, bony fingers with claw like nails scratched at the paper. It scraped at B’s ears and they shuddered from the uncomfortable sensation. Its finger landed on angry, then slowly traced over to tired. “Do you want me to run you a bath?” The finger dragged itself to ‘no’ “Would you like to sleep?” It tapped ‘no’ “Then what do you want?” The nail scraped the paper uncomfortably till it reached ‘help’. B nodded gently “would you like me to comfort you?… yes? Okay, sit down” The creature moved its long limbs in a slow, eerie fashion as it sat on the bed, still staring B down with an unreadable expression. B sat next to it and laid their arms around it. It was cold, wet and sticky. B could feel the sharpness of its bones as they held the creature gently in their arms “so you’re angry, hm? I’m sorry my love, do you want to talk about it” The creature tapped the stitches over its mouth. “Right, sorry… how about I hum? You know that song you like, the one you can’t remember where you heard first” The creature stared without blinking, but nodded slowly. B took a deep breath. They started their humming. Felt the figure relax in their arms. When they finished the song, they started it again. The figure melted into their touch. After a while it started convulsing. It let out ugly, inhuman yet muffled sobs. B kissed its head, never breaking the hum. They closed their eyes and let the creature sob, slowly shedding its bones, melting away the black mass that surrounded it, let it shrink. Sobs turned into heavy breathing. B opened their eyes and saw their lover with tear stained cheeks, but asleep. Gently B tugged their lover in and turned off the lights. “Goodnight my dear”