Poison Crazy Lush

When Marnie came to, he was in a daze. Light was blaring on his face. People were speaking around him but he couldn't quite understand the words. The air felt heavier than his head did.

Something felt very wrong.

“Oh god… Ivy…”

The words started to process more coherently in Marnie's mind. As his vision came into focus, he saw Chris looking down at something beside him with a stunned expression. Beside him, closer to Marnie, stood Kaede staring at the same spot.

“Wh…?” Marnie mumbled in confusion. “K… Kaede…?”

He tried to sit up but as soon as he moved, his head started to spin. Kaede glanced over and, as soon as he saw Marnie had returned to some form of consciousness, his worried face lit up with relief.

“Marnie!” He knelt down and gently held the daydreamer's shoulders, helping him sit up slowly. “Thank goodness you're awake.”

“S…sorry, I…” Marnie struggled to speak. His thoughts were moving so slowly it hurt. “What's…What happened?”

Kaede seemed to have just as hard of a time answering the question as Marnie had asking it. As the daydreamer tried in vain to listen, his head rolled and set him staring face-to-face with that which left the room in cold shock.

It was Ivy.

She was lying beside Marnie, eerily still. Her bright green eyes were wide open, lightless and empty, staring back at him with the remnants of primal, unadulterated fear. An icy chill rolled through him deeper than his spine, making every single hair on Marnie's body stand on end.

Ivy was dead.

Completely, irrevocably dead.

Memories flooded Marnie's mind. Only a short time ago they were laughing, bonding, having fun together — how could she just be…gone?

“N… No… She was… f-fine…”

The blood started to rush through his ears. It was becoming hard to breathe, and hard to think. Apparently noticing this, Kaede firmly pulled Marnie off the floor and to his feet, brushing him off.

“I know, I know,” he said softly. “It’s an overdose, Marnie. You…you're lucky to not have met the same fate…”

Breaking away from Ivy’s spiritless gaze may have saved Marnie from hyperventilating, but it did nothing to ease his anxiety. Especially not when he saw the fear and guilt reflected in Kaede's eyes.

It was then that Chris finally tore his attention from the body lying in his bedroom and noticed Marnie's state. Ignoring the whispers of shocked party guests and their hurried movements to leave, Chris stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Marnie like the daydreamer was the only thing he cared about in that moment.

“Marn, thank God! I thought you were…” his grip tightened for a moment before pulling away, unable to say the word. “I'm just so glad you're okay.”

“C-Chris, I—”

“Christopher, you should take Marnie home,” Kaede interrupted. “I’ll handle things here. You two, just…go get some air for a while.”

Chris ran his hand over his troubled face, but nodded in agreement. Marnie didn't want to leave, not while his friend’s body was just lying there, but he couldn't bring himself to protest. Before he knew it, Chris was dragging him by a firmly grasped hand out of the house and into the night air.

Kaede was right; getting away from that room and into fresh air did help clear Marnie's mind. He could breathe easier, the ringing in his ears stopped, and even his head felt lighter. But none of that made him feel any better.

As Chris continued to lead him to a car, Marnie tried several times to speak. He'd open his mouth, and sometimes a small pained or distressed noise escaped, but no words formed. Occasionally, Chris would squeeze his hand a little, but even the normally optimistic trainer remained silent. Two friends, desperately wishing to reach out to each other in a time of need, but incapable to leap across the gap that sudden death left between them…

The car ride home was mind-numbingly silent.

Marnie pointed the directions to his apartment, held hostage by the racing thoughts and tumultuous feelings inside himself. Chris drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, fidgeting every so often. In any other circumstances, it would have been a golden opportunity of social interaction. Instead, Marnie felt so many things at once that his brain was trying to shut down.

When they arrived at the apartment, Marnie couldn't even bring himself to open the car door. After a few moments, Chris exited and opened it for him, helping him out of the car and to the door. Chris’s grasp was firm and reassuring, but Marnie could tell that he was still trembling.

“Uhm… C-Chris, I…” Marnie finally managed to stammer out some words on his doorstep. “I'm so…so sorry. I didn't— I didn't know—”

Chris held no interest in Marnie's apology. He wrapped his big arms around the small daydreamer in a firm, tight hug. For a moment, Marnie got the impression that Chris was afraid to let him go, but he quickly dismissed the thought. After all, he couldn't possibly be that important to Chris. He didn't deserve to be.

“Don't, Marnie,” Chris spoke into Marnie's strawberry-blonde hair. “Don't apologize. It's not your fault.”

Marnie wished hearing that did more to make him feel better. Unfortunately, all he felt was a torrent of negative emotions. He wasn't worthy of Chris’ forgiveness. But after gently putting his back, and seeing the look in his brown eyes when he broke their embrace, Marnie couldn't bring himself to take that from him.

“Look, uhm… Try to go inside and get some rest, okay?” Chris tried to comfort him awkwardly.

“R…Right. I'll try,” Marnie managed a response.

“I should… Shit, I should get back. It is my house, and all…”

“Mhm. Good…good call.”

“I'll call you tomorrow, okay? I promise.”

Marnie nodded, his ability to reply declining rapidly. An unsettling feeling was beginning to consume him from the bottom up. As Chris gave him one last pat on the shoulder and drove away, he wanted to do nothing more than collapse and whither away…

~ • ~ • ~ • ~

“Hey, Marn. You busy? Look, I'm…I’m really sorry. You know, about the party… I should have gone to find you sooner, bro. I really screwed up — ugh. Anyway I was hoping to maybe…see you. Soon? If that's cool? … Just call me back when you can. Later…”

B E E P

“Marion Worick, where the hell have you been?! It's been three days that you haven't come into the office! No call. No notice. You better have a damn good reason for this, or don't you dare show your face around here again!”

B E E P

“Mr. Worick, this is Lily with June Berry’s office. We noticed that you missed your last appointment and just wanted to check in on you. Please give us a call back at your earliest convenience.”

B E E P

“Yo, Marnie! It's Chris again. I guess you still aren't taking my calls… Look, if you're mad at me, I get it, but can we just…talk about it? Please at least tell me you're okay…”

B E E P

Marnie laid in the fetal position of his bed, cycling through the voicemails on his phone. Had it really been that long since he left his apartment? Ever since Chris took him home, the daydreamer couldn't bring himself to do much more than exist, and he was barely doing that.

Not that he felt deserving of existence. Not while Ivy was dead. The same thoughts danced around his head, second after second — Ivy was so full of life despite the darkness she clearly held…it wasn't fair that he survived while she suffered.

Every time Marnie tried to sleep, he was plagued with nightmares of the Depths. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ivy’s staring back at him. Thoughts of eating made him nauseous, and getting out of bed felt like trying to push a boulder up a mountain.

All Marnie wanted to do was fade away. Yet some part of him held onto the voicemails he received, stubbornly refusing to let go of the proof that, in some small measure, he still mattered.

B E E P

Marnie moved forward to the most recent voicemail. Upon hearing the voice on the other end, his dull blue eyes widened.

It was Kaede.

“Marnie…” his unmistakably gentle voice cooed through the speaker. “Forgive me. I've been trying to give you your space, but it's been nearly a week now… I'm worried about you. Please let us know you're alright.”

B E E P

No New Messages. Goodbye.

Marnie dropped his phone onto the bed and hugged his pillow tightly. Even Kaede was worried about him now… What was he supposed to do? RabbitHole was what got him into this mess, he couldn't trust himself to use it to get out. Not to mention he hadn't seen Chez since they were trying to escape the beast in the Depths. Did he even make it out okay?

Then a worse question cropped up in Marnie's mind. One he hadn't been prepared to face.

Was Chez even real?

“Uggghhhhhh, stoooopppp,” Marnie groaned and hugged his pillow tighter. “I don't even deserve to be questioning that! Shay saved me… He's more real than I could ever be…”

Aww … What a sad little rabbit…

Marnie jumped up, to the edge of his bed. That voice….it was definitely Chez's. But it was so faint… Was he hearing things? Running a hand through his hair, he realized how itchy he was.

“Ugh, I'm pathetic. The least I could do is shower…”

As Marnie wrenched himself off the bed and listlessly made his way to the bathroom. As he passed by the bedroom window he heard a soft tap tap tap on the glass, and the shadow of something nimble and cat-like darted past in his peripheral vision. Yet, when he turned to look, nothing was there…

The visions only continued. In the shower, Marnie could have sworn the Other Side’s fog was filling the room, only for a few blinks to reveal nothing but typical steam. He was spooked by the brush of a cat’s tail across his bare shoulders while getting dressed, and occasionally the sound of soft, taunting laughter caught his ears.

Thoroughly unnerved by what he was certain were delusions, Marnie made his way into the kitchen. He needed water; to refresh himself. Dehydration could produce hallucinations, right? It would all be okay if he could just get something cool to drink. Past the discarded food wrappers and instant ramen cups strewn about… to the near-bare cupboard where his water glasses were… Just a flick of the tap, and—

“No–! AHHH!!”

CRASH

Marnie stumbled backwards and fell hard onto the floor. What had poured from his tap and filled the glass was pitch black and unnerving. It was the infinitely repeating word which plagued Marnie's existence.

Yet, when he looked at the shattered glass beside him, and the blood dripping from his freshly cut hand, there was no FEAR to be seen. Only clear liquid, stretching across the tile to mingle with its crimson compatriot.

“What…the hell… Am I going crazy…?”

Marnie asked the question aloud, but there was already an answer brewing within his mind. This felt deeper than madness. The Other Side was haunting him, and running from it was only going to make things worse.

No more running. Marnie had to go back.