King of Hearts

The second Pete and I walked out of the room, the tension left. It was like it'd never been there. I think it was more of an atmosphere in the room, not Pete himself. I think the blood on his face, the crazed looks, it was the room speaking through him, warning me.

However, I did get the strange feeling that I should wonder what that room had seen to make it like that. What could have happened between those four walls that was so horrifying that it didn't want me there?

And another thing: why protect me? What is so important about me that the small space feels the need to protect me of all people? Why did it show me one of Pete's thorns?

"Muffin!" that was Pete now. Running towards me, grinning like the maniac he is. And to tell the truth, it was only the second time I'd felt true fear towards him. The first being when I was first coming towards the woods.

"Muffin, come here!" he reached me, and then started to pull me in the direction from which he came.

To tell the truth, this was the first time his hand felt cold around mine. Cold like metal. Cold like the metal of a knife, and with the illusion of wetness. But not with water.

As I followed behind him, his hand warmed up and the bloody feeling left. But it only left his hand, it would never leave my mind.

That feeling was the kind that would be etched in my memory so that when I grow old, I'll still be able to imagine it clearly, and feel it in my hand.

"Pete? Where exactly are you taking me..." during the time I'd spent here, Pete had managed to start making me insane. All it took was that card game to ruin his progress, and now we were back to where we started; I'm cautious, and scared of Pete, and Pete is clueless and/or apathetic.

"I'm taking you to the garden room, silly! How could you not know that?" I awkwardly stumbled along with his skipping, silently wishing for him to slow down. I wouldn't voice my wish, though. He would just laugh.

When we came to the door, it was already open. I looked inside, expecting to see that single flower, like last time. But there was nothing. Not that beautiful rose that could hold my vision captive for eternities that lasted seconds.

"Look! Look at our flower!" Pete was jumping up and down, excitedly, still holding my hand. I just looked at him, rolled my eyes and said "Pete, there's nothing there." His jumping stopped immediately.

"I thought I told you to call me Panda..." there wasn't anger in his eyes, like I suspected. Just sadness and loss. He seemed upset that I wasn't becoming like him anymore. Almost lost, maybe even lonely.

"Pe-uh-Panda. I'm sorry, but I something just snapped me back. I guess I'm just not meant to be insane." he dropped my hand, lowering his head. I saw a few tears drop off of his nose and fall to the floor. "Muffin, I don't want to be alone. Please, you're leaving me to be alone again!"

I was debating on whether or not I should reach out to him or something, but he ran out of the room. When I stuck my head out the doorway, he was gone. Gone without a trace, like when a rose dies for the winter.

The only difference is that you see the winter coming. You always know when the rose will die, what will cause it to whither. And you also know that come spring, it will come back to life.

But with Pete, there is no fixed time. And I had no idea what would happen to make him flourish, or even what happened to make him fade.

I felt in my pocket, hoping I'd still have the key to room 17. The room I hadn't slept in since the first few nights when I arrived. It was like a safe haven; it was the place in this mansion where I could go when I was normal, when I was sane.

The key was there, yes. And I knew if I looked hard enough, I'd find the door with '17' crudely carved into the wood.

The question was if I really wanted to go back. Stepping foot into that room would be excepting the fact that I was normal. It would be taking that fact, and rubbing it in Pete's face to show him that he really is alone again.

I suppose I was so reluctant to leave him alone because I knew what it was like. It had seemed, for a while, that finally the both of us had been cured. Pete of his loneliness, and me of my sanity. But once more, I am sane, and Pete is alone.

It should be an easy fix, I let him drag me back to his craziness, and he regains his companion. But really, it's not that easy. You had to factor in fear.

After what happened in that small room, I feared Pete. In the darkness, I would see his face splashed with blood, the grin always present on his face turned sadistic.

It was a sight that would keep anyone up at night.

"Patrick?" I jumped, startled by the sound of Pete's voice coming from no where. He emerged from the darkness, his face the only thing visible in the dim light.

"It was the card game, wasn't it. That's what ripped you away. That's why you fear me." I sighed, but nodded, agreeing sleepily with what he was saying.

"I want a rematch. I need a rematch. You need a rematch. It will make things better. It will make them okay again." He wanted a rematch? He wanted to play that game of his again? No... I couldn't let it happen. I was already scarred from the first time.

"Please, Patrick. Please." I looked down at the floor, thinking of a way to tell him "no". But when I returned my gaze to where his face should have been, he was gone.

I sighed, now knowing what I had to do.