Basil smiled tentatively as the stranger held his hand. They were sitting on a bench together, relaxing as the sun shined its warm rays on them. The golden light served almost like a spotlight for the stranger, giving him an angelic look. He was beautiful. At that moment, Basil was sure that he could happily spend the rest of his life simply staring at him. He wanted to study every detail of his face, to be able to close his eyes and reconstruct an exact replica of their body from memory alone. Maybe he should have brought his camera to preserve the moment.

The stranger simply stared forward passively, giving no hints to any thoughts or feelings that may have been running through his head. Basil didn’t mind, of course. He was used to this. The soft warmth that he was feeling through their joined hands was more than enough communication. It told him that this was ok. That they were happy. That no matter what, they would be together. “I-I’m… I’m glad that you’re here.”

The stranger turned to face him, tilting his head slightly. As they made eye contact, Basil could feel his heart jump in his chest as pink dusted his cheeks. The stranger smiled at that, though only slightly. Basil couldn’t help but internally gush at how cute he was. The way his messy, tousled hair gave him the perfect “Just got out of bed” look, his deep, dark eyes that were just too easy to get lost in…

He froze. Eyes?

He blinked and the stranger was still staring. Only now, a large diagonal gash appeared on his right eye. Blood gushed out in pulsating intervals, pouring through the wound in a sickening manner. The trail of blood flowed down his face and dripped down to his pants, staining it red. Beneath the stranger’s still expression, he could sense it. Fear. Basil was scaring him. Though he remained silent, Basil could still hear the resounding question ring in his ears: “Why?”

Strong, vile sickness rose within him, threatening to make him pass out as his vision was suddenly plagued with dizzying nausea. The bench he was sitting at vanished, only to be replaced with a ledge. Basil found himself sitting at the ledge before a very long fall. Waves of nerves and anxiety enveloped him as he looked down, shuddering. The end was nowhere in sight.

Behind him, he heard a door open, then close. He looked back to see him. Barefoot, in a hospital gown, and with a white bandage over his right eye. Basil’s heart lurched in his chest as he began to walk towards him. The look on his face told him that the stranger didn’t see him at all. He looked completely blank - his one remaining eye seemed devoid of any thought or emotion, resembling a dull marble more than anything.

Paralyzed.

The stranger eventually reached the ledge. There, he stood so close to the void that even a gust of wind could have sent him over. Basil, still sitting next to him with his legs dangling over the abyss, looked up. He was looking down at his hands, which were shaking, though only slightly. Despite everything, Basil felt a touch of sympathy.

“Say something.”

“I’ll follow you. I won’t let you leave me again.” Basil said, his voice calm and collected. It was the voice of someone who knew exactly what was going to happen, and what he would do, with no regrets of what was to come. The stranger didn’t react as Basil stood and took his hand. Despite everything, his grip was comfortably warm. It was amazing how that feeling of comfort softened the situation. It told him that everything was going to be okay, that no matter what, they would be there for each other. Maybe they could even apologize to her.

The stranger jumped.

Basil followed.

They were dead.

Aubrey could only stare as Basil kneeled down and began watering his plants, which were all obviously completely dead. It was kind of jarring to see, the prosperous garden that was once so colorful and fragrant, was now a graveyard of weeds and blackened petals. Despite this, Basil didn’t seem to care, or notice. He simply hummed to himself as he applied mulch to the soil and sparingly sprayed pesticide at the dead flowers. Skinny brown stems that resembled sticks were stuck to his gloves. It made her feel sick, for some reason.

“What… What the hell happened here?” Aubrey finally asked. “Basil, all of your plants are dead.”

“Can you pull some of the weeds over by that flower bed?” Basil asks, pointing at a row of wilting tulips. Overgrown weeds had ravaged it, almost seemingly consuming the flowers altogether, which were left with dry, brittle leaves that looked like they would snap off at the slightest touch. “They’ve been appearing a lot recently. It’s been a pain removing all of them.”

“Basil. They’re dead.” Aubrey repeated, slightly raising her voice. “Look at them!”

He looks away from her. Slowly, and with trembling hands, he puts down his watering can. In a robotic fashion, he took off both of his gardening gloves and placed them neatly next to the watering can, picking off the dead stems and thin twigs stuck to it. “W-What do you mean, Aubrey? They’re fine. They… they just need some care, that’s all.”

Aubrey frowned, unconvinced. “Basil. I’m obviously not as knowledgeable about plants as you, but they looked burned. Or like someone watered them with acid.”

He didn’t respond, electing instead to continue facing away from her.

“Basil.”

“...”

“Basil! Come on, talk to me.”

“S-Stop... Please.” Basil said quietly.

She felt her blood freeze as he finally turned to face her. He looked almost unrecognizable from just a few minutes before. His eyes were completely bloodshot and had dark, heavy bags under them, as if he hadn’t been sleeping at all. There was a shaky, obviously forced smile plastered on his face that looked like it would collapse at any second. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he stared through her lifelessly. “I’m sorry. You know, I probably shouldn't have dragged you into this. I think I can handle this myself. You can leave now.”

“What? Basil, seriously, are you okay?” Aubrey asked, taking a step closer and trying to ignore how he flinched at that. She couldn’t help but feel guilty though; Did he still see her as a malicious bully? If so, it wasn’t as if she could blame him. She really needed to find a way to properly apologize to him.

“Yes. I-I’m okay. Please leave.” Basil said bluntly.

“... No. You’re clearly not okay, actually.” Aubrey decided. She couldn’t say that she was too surprised about this. No matter how normally he acted, she just couldn’t shake off the suspicion that something was wrong. There was just no way. All of the sudden, Aubrey felt grateful that she hadn’t gone home after all. Basil… he needed help. This was her chance to do something right for once. “Come on. We’re still friends, right? You don’t need to be by yourself.”

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Basil closed his eyes and started muttering. His fists were closed so tightly that she was afraid that he might burst a vein. “Just leave. Leave me alone. Leave me alone.”

“I’m not gonna leave you alone.”

He stood up, eyes snapping open. She backed up a little as he glared at her with wide eyes. There was a sort of unhinged look in him that made her think for a second that he was about to attack her. “Shut up! Why aren’t you listening? Leave me alone! What was I thinking, trying to be nice to you? You hate me. You… No, everyone hates me. The only thing I’m good for is gardening and even that’s gone wrong.”

Basil feels STRESSED OUT.

“Just leave me alone. Please, j-just…” Basil shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, leaving behind bright red streaks. His palms were bleeding. Badly. He barely even noticed it though - It was just another layer of pain left for his brain to try and process. Everything in his body had begun working overtime. He felt it. Something. It wanted control. It wanted his body back. It hated him for ruining everything. “I’m fine, okay? I-I’m fine. I know what it looks like but really, I’m just a little tired, that’s all. That’s all! I didn’t get much sleep last night. A-And… it’s… fine. I’m fine. I’m okay. Everything’s okay. Y-You don’t need to pretend like you care. I know we used to be friends, but...”

He began backing away from her, stepping on the beds of flowers and talking faster and faster all the while. His eyes were on fire. With every step he took, the sickening crunches under his feet grew louder and louder. The sound of it was disgustingly painful. He could feel each broken stem, each torn petal, each crushed plant. He was stepping on corpses. Crushing the dead bodies of Sunny and Mari. White tulips and lilies of the valley. Pictures flashed in his eyes. A picture of Mari, hanging from the tree. An eye looked out from under her hair. It was bulging, seconds away from exploding. A picture of Sunny, body broken, with red cracks dancing along his skin and laying listlessly on the pavement. Blood poured out from his opened wounds, wounds that he caused.

Aubrey was just staring at him with what looked like regret in her eyes. Why? What did he do wrong this time? He tried so hard. He did so much. Everything was to make things better. To make things right. And yet, the exhaustion wouldn’t leave. Something wouldn't leave.

He cringed as he felt his eyes begin to water. He felt it. Something. It was behind him. It was annoyed. Disappointed. He knew what it wanted. Pain, sickly pain, beyond anything he had ever felt began circulating through his body like poison. Somehow, he managed to choke out a short laugh. It was a broken, raspy sound that physically hurt his own ears. “E-Excuse me. I just need to go to the bathroom.”

“Wait.”

“H-Huh?”

“Basil. I’m sorry. For everything. I… I shouldn’t have bullied you. I shouldn’t have blamed you like that.” Aubrey said. “That didn’t help anyone. It just made things worse. I-”

“Stop. STOP IT!” Basil screamed. “Just leave me alone! I’ve told you so many times, just leave me alone! I don’t care about that!”

Aubrey’s hand shot forward and grabbed his arm. She was crying too, and she looked absolutely pissed at herself for it. “No! Like it or not, I’m not going to leave!”

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up…” Basil sobbed, punching her with his free hand over and over again. This didn’t last long as eventually, Aubrey pulled him closer and embraced him in a surprisingly gentle hug. The physical contact made him feel like he was choking. Everything hurt. Everything burned. Each individual muscle in his body kept tensing and untensing and it just made everything blurry and he was so tired and it hurt so bad and why the hell couldn’t he “stop that shaking I can’t move so STOP IT”

He couldn’t do anything except stand there and take it.