Across from him at the desk, a young boy sat. He was in rough shape—in all honesty, his body weak and obviously underweight.
The boy was staring at a painting hanging above his head, at least he thinks he is.
"I heard you're the one who came here and told the guards about a beast, correct?"
"Yes."
He could already tell this was going to be quite awkward. He'd dealt with people like the boy before—either they were trying to be intimidating or actually were intimidating. This boy was neither of the two, he was simply himself. Or at least that's what he thinks from that small interaction.
"How many people were with you during that time?"
"Three."
"Did they all die?"
"Two did."
"What about the third then?"
"I don't know."
"Is there anything we can be on the lookout for?"
The boy paused for a second.
"Red hair."
Red-haired people were uncommon, but they weren't nonexistent in this kingdom. Though their numbers were probably only in the hundreds, it still allowed them to narrow it down. That is, if he managed to survive whatever creature the boy did.
"Now… can you tell me what the beast was like?"
---
Walking out of the building, the boy began to walk. He didn't know where he was walking, it just felt right to walk in this direction. He didn't know why, but after what happened it was as if something had been stripped away from him. He was a quiet person, but he wasn't always this quiet. He wasn't an oblivious person—after all, he could tell the change. It didn't matter anyway. He couldn't refill a water pouch if it had a hole in it, if he did, it would all just leak out again.
Then he saw it—red hair walking into an alley, a bandaged left arm but otherwise seemingly fine. Discreetly he followed him until he turned a corner. By the time the boy reached the corner and was about to go down it, he was nowhere to be seen. That was before a hand grabbed his hair and threw him back. The red-haired man looked down at him, but then he slightly flinched.
"It's you!"
The red-haired man ended up rambling about how messed up it was, he didn't even hesitate. But that's not what the boy was focused on. Standing up, he reached his hand out and with one tug undid the man's bandages. The arm was different than his right—tanner, but also it had a tattoo that read "Diana." He recognized that tattoo. In the painting above the guard captain's head was a group, one of the men had a tattoo that read that very same name. Though it was simply a painting, the tone of the skin was similar. The arm was also longer and more muscular than the right.
"It's you… you're the monster."
---
"It's you… you're the monster."
The red-haired man's body grew stiff before a smile adorned his face. He wasn't sure if it was a sinister smile, but it sure did look like one due to the sharp teeth in his mouth.
"And what does that mean?"
He stared down the red-haired man, knowing very well how dangerous it was. He could tell. The man was different—he must have gone insane. No, something more than insanity. Something far, far worse.
"You're the one who killed the guards, right… and also the guards who went after the monster… and seeing as you're here, also the man who was selling meat earlier this morning."
Once again he was talkative. Was he only like this around the red-haired man? And if so, why? That didn't matter though, emotions at the moment didn't matter. Because he could see through the gaps of the red matted hair… were crazed eyes digging into his skull as if trying to kill him from the inside out.
"Why are you looking at me like that! You think I wanted to do all of that?! Of course not, but… I had to survive."
He grit his monstrous teeth before his tone changed, sounding more like blades scraping across stone rather than the previous way the voice came out silky and smooth.
"You… you fucking hypocrite."
"You think you… YOU THINK YOU have the right to call me a monster?"
"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO RAN AWAY!"
"If you stayed… if you just had stayed, none of this would happen. Why for once in your GOD DAMN LIFE COULDN'T YOU STAY!"
"YOU'RE A DAMN HYPOCRITE!"
"YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO LECTURE ME?!"
"AFTER WHAT YOU DID! DO YOU EVEN FEEL GUILTY?!"
He was going on a crazed rant in front of him… at first he thought the red-haired man was talking to him, and maybe he was, but eventually he could tell. He was talking to himself. He had truly and utterly gone insane, haunted by what he did, haunted by the things he thought were necessary to survive.
"Calm do—"
"CALM DOWN? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?"
"It's always like this… it's always me."
"The second time in my life I acted selflessly, this is what happened… then wouldn't it be better to be selfish?"
"Yeah, it would."
The man stomped his foot down on one of the rats walking around the alley, reaching down and soaking his hand in the blood. Using the blood, he slicked the hair that was in his face back, now revealing his entire face.
A crazed smile was painted on it, the eyes of a madman gleamed with malice.
It was the face of Sunny, it was the face of the villain in the first nightmare.