“Fake, fake, fake, and fake!” Xenon exclaimed as he slammed his hands on the table.

He and Chomby had just met back up after both of their investigations. Chomby told him what he knew, and Xenon had started telling his story of ‘robotic sightings’. Xenon was on the verge of laughing but was trying to contain himself while he was explaining how someone saw a microwave turn on and swore it was a robot.

Chomby placed a hand on his chin to think about it all. “So, a robotics project of college students from last year, a person who was hallucinating, a boat on the water, and… a microwave.”

“I don’t even have the luxury of saying any of those were from the Mainframe, let alone any of Unit_00’s old robots. It was just a bunch of paranoia.” Xenon pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled. “I can’t blame them, though. Since we were in the thick of a robot apocalypse. Some people just didn’t get the memo that it was over. You and I took care of it all-”

“And Sarge,” Chomby interrupted.

“Huh?” Xenon asked.

“And Sarge. He helped, too.”

Xenon scratched his head for a moment then looked at his wrist. “Oh, right, yeah. Uh. ‘Sarge’. Yeah.” Xenon sat back down in his chair. “And you found stuff about him at the shop?”

“Only a single line.” Chomby looked down at his phone and closed his eyes. “He was there. And, somehow, the shopkeepers remembered he existed.”

“That a good thing?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me. You’ve completely forgotten him, but those two just… act like he was a stranger they met.”

“If I may wax philosophical for a bit, Chomby?” Xenon leaned back in his chair and tipped his hat up.

“Please do.”

“Going based off the possibility that I actually have forgotten… erm… the person I can’t remember the name of, you said he and I are close friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe it’s based on how much someone knew them?” Xenon shrugged. “I knew him a lot, so it has a bigger impact on me. Like all my memories of them mashed into a stone, and that stone is big. IF you dropped it in water, it’d make a large splash. But, if someone only said hi to him once, that’d be like a pebble. Drop it in the water and it doesn’t make a big splash.”

“I… think I lost the thread.” Chomby tilted his head to the side. “I thought this… curse thingy… only messed with anything directly related to Sarge. Now you’re thinking there’s variability?”

Xenon shrugged again. “Going based off zero knowledge and only a bit of evidence you and Mainframe gave me.”

“Well, I think that-”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Chomby and Xenon turned their attention to the front door. Chomby then looked over Xenon’s shoulder at the microwave. It said, “1:00 AM”.

“On the dot?” Chomby mouthed.

“You expecting someone, Chomby?” Xenon asked.

“No. You?”

Xenon shook his head. “Maybe? Maybe I invited someone but forgot because of this… thing?”

Chomby hesitantly looked at his hands before scooting his chair back and getting up. “Maybe it’s… uh… Heather?”

“The old lady?” Xenon asked. “Why’s she up this late? Better yet, how would she know where you live?”

Chomby rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. Just grasping at straws.” He walked to the front door and looked through the peephole.

He saw a clean-shaven man wearing a burgundy hoodie. They were currently looking down at their phone and whistling the tune to “Down by the Banks of the Hanky Panky”.

Chomby looked back to Xenon and saw Xenon was disguised as a human. He then decided to open the door.

Once the door was opened slightly, the man stood up straight and put away his phone.

“Hi, uh, do you know what time it is?” Chomby asked, faking rubbing his eyes.

“Do you?” The man asked. He took a step back and looked Chomby up and down. “You’re that one Chomby guy, right?”

“You a fan?” Chomby asked. “I usually don’t do autographs when I’m at ho-”

“No, not really. Not my kind of music.” The man lifted his hands and shook them. He then immediately shot a hand forward for a handshake. “Names Bark.”

“Bark?” Chomby asked as he shook the man’s hand. “Like a dog bark?”

“Or a wolf, yeah.” Bark nodded. “Don’t suppose you’ve got a bit of time to chat?”

Chomby looked over his shoulder and saw that Xenon had moved to the living room. He was sitting on the couch so he could listen in. Chomby then looked back at Bark. “It’s one in the morning.”

“On the dot,” Bark said as he looked at his phone. “Well, one o’ one now. But it was when I knocked.”

“Why?” Chomby asked.

“I’ll tell you if you give me time to talk,” Bark smirked. He gave a big, toothy grin. Chomby noticed that Bark’s canine’s were a bit sharper than an average human’s.

“Fine, you got two minutes.” Chomby said as he leaned his arm against the door. He was trying to not make it obvious to Bark, but he stuck his hand behind the door and extended his thumb and pinky, shook it a bit, then signed the numbers for 9-1-1. He then tried his best to sign “possible danger”, but was limited with just one of his hands free.

He heard Xenon cough quietly. He assumed this meant Xenon understood.

“So, I’ve heard you’d been snooping around trying to find out about this weird character in your dreams?” Bark asked.

Chomby felt his spine shiver. “Odd thing to state.”

“Well, the guy at the doughnut shop and the person at the boutique mentioned the same thing. I figured it must’ve been true.”

Chomby felt the fur on the back of his neck stand on end. Was this person stalking him?

“Uh… no means to sound brash, Mister Bark, but that sounds exceedingly creepy.” Chomby gripped the door tightly. “Why?”

“The person you have dreams about, are they a werewolf?” Bark asked.

Chomby felt his heart begin to race. This was certainly abnormal. “Y-yes. How… how did you know?”

Bark’s eyes lit up. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “That makes this SO much easier! Listen, Chomby, I think I have the exact answers you’re looking for!”

“Answers? What answers?” Chomby knew that he should be cautious of something this dangerous-seeming, but he wanted to dig further.

“Who this person is that’s haunting your dreams, why they feel so important to you…” Bark put a finger to his eye and his grin faded, “why you cry whenever you think about them.”

Chomby felt his eyes widen. “Why do you know that? Have you been stalking me?” Chomby got his hand ready to indicate for the phonecall.

“Not to sound ‘creepy’, but only as much as legally allowed. Just wanted to make sure you actually were the one before I made any moves.” Bark took another step back. “This is my ‘move’, by the way. Talking to you. I’ve got more information for you, too!”

“Then, why don’t you just tell me and not tease it?” Chomby snarled. “I’ve been haunted by Sarge for so long and I NEED to know why!”

“Sarge?” Bark pulled out his phone and flipped through it. He started to type something. “I’ve heard many names, but Sarge is certainly a new one to add. Cool.”

“Wha-what?”

“Names. Anyone who has these dreams gives a different name. Berithal, The One Shrouded In Darkness, Bringer of Hope…” Bark put his phone away again. “I guess Sarge is the newest name to add!”

“Newest… what? Bringer of hope? Shrouded...? What?” Chomby shook his head. He didn’t understand what was being said.

Bark looked Chomby dead in the eye and smiled. “Caught your interest, I see? Listen, I can tell you more!” Bark pulled a small card out of his pocket and handed it to Chomby. “Calling card. I’ll be at the location this Saturday right before midnight.”

Chomby looked down at the card. It had both a phone number and an address scribbled on it in blue ink. It then had the words, “Believe, and He will arrive.”

Chomby looked up and saw that Bark had started walking backwards down the walkway. Bark gave a wave. “See you then, Chomby! Nice to find another like me!”

Chomby heard a flurry of footsteps behind him. He then felt Xenon’s head poke through the doorway for a split second. Xenon seemed to lock eyes with Bark, as both he and Bark reacted by turning away.

“Bring your friend, too, Chomby!” Bark called. “The more, the merrier!”

Once Bark was out of sight, Chomby slammed the door shut and turned around. He put his hand to his chest and took several deep breaths. “That was… terrifying.”

“Did you catch the names he mentioned, at least?” Xenon asked.

“Uh… Berry thrall, bringer of hope. Shrouded in… I dunno.” Chomby shook his head. “How did he know about all that?” Chomby looked up at Xenon. He knew Xenon would recognize the fear in his eyes.

“I don’t know.” Xenon gently nudged Chomby out of the way. Chomby didn’t fight back. He merely sidled past the door and let Xenon open it. “But, I think we may need to investigate this location first. Give me the card?” Xenon stared outside for a long moment before shutting the door and holding out his hand.

Chomby looked at the card and read the address aloud. “958 N Ballerview Drive?” Chomby passed the card to Xenon.

“Ballerview. Drive? I think that’s the street next to the forest, isn’t it? The one that leads up to the cabin?” Xenon looked the card over and put a hand to his chin. “I’ll see if I can find anything on it. Mind if I use your laptop?”

“Can’t you use the terminal?” Chomby asked. “It’s not like I can use it myself.”

“I could ask the mainframe, and I will. But, I want to see if I can find anything on the internet first.” Xenon looked over his shoulder at the dining room table. Chomby followed his gaze and noticed the case files.

Chomby whispered what he remembered about each file. “Ghost in the attic, robotic sightings, chanting in the forest.”

Xenon nodded. “Third case. That guy’s pseudonym was certainly odd, don’tcha think? The way he acted, too, kinda seemed cult-like.”

“I suppose that would add up with the findings Sarge had in the file. Though, he didn’t mention a cult specifically. Just murderers, sacrificial rites, and, uh… what was that thing called? The Yeah-nahl-do-she?”

“Oh, the Yenaldooshi. I mean…” Xenon turned around and leaned his back against the door. He looked between Chomby and the table. “I know common depictions of them are wolf-like in nature. That Bark fellow did mention a werewolf. It seems we have a correlation. Forest, chanting, cult, werewolf.”

“He did mention that Sarge goes by many names, right?” Chomby folded his arms. “I don’t understand. Why would the mainframe say that Sarge is a nice guy, but then Bark is acting like he’s some sort of malevolent deity?”

“Did he say malevolent at all, or is that just assumption?”

“Assumption. Just talking to him made me feel uncomfortable. I felt like I was in danger.”

“Then we probably shouldn’t look into this case. If it’s too dangerous, then we can’t risk you getting hurt.”

“But I need to know about Sarge!” Chomby retorted. “We’ve spent several days trying to figure this out, and some guy comes to the doorstep and mentions exactly what is happening, and I never told him any of that. I haven’t even met him! Don’t you think that’s worth looking into?”

Xenon exhaled for a long while and closed his eyes. “I’m just as curious as you are, but I feel you need to trust your gut here. If he feels dangerous, then treat him like he’s dangerous. We can get the police to investigate this. Or, at the very least, have a squad come with us.”

“Do you really think Bark would tell us anything if we have police with us?” Chomby asked.

“No.” Xenon said. “But lets give ourselves time to plan this out. We have a few days before his agreed-upon meeting time.”

~~~~~

Sorry for the wait. A lot of stuff happened around Christmas and the New Year! SO, here we go. Next chapter!

~~~~~

Chomby/Sarge/Xenon/Story ©  pikminpedia Me