Chapter One, Fish Food.

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  A young man sat at a park bench in the dead of night. He would often twitch, or dig his nails into his thighs.

  He exhaled, skipping a rock into the large pond before him.

  He did his best to ignore the multitude of voices screaming all around him.

  The young man, Everett Masse, ignored the words of his . He simply continued to skip his rocks, the droning voices getting louder,

  All he did was watch the rocks sink in the water, cracking a smile every time the ugly——sea monster surfaced.

  This figment of his imagination enjoyed watching the rocks sink with him.

  The delusions grew louder, screaming into his ears, a thick pressure descending onto his mind.

  He winced, anger swelling up on his tired face.

  He screamed, throwing his head up, his hands grasping at the sides of his face.

  He groaned, sweat profusely dripping down his face. He dug into his pockets, pulling out the small pill bottle and popping a few tablets into his mouth.

  Everett Masse,

  He lived in a small apartment on the outskirts of his city.

  Many people knew him. He often wandered around the place, staring off into space, twitching, or just being a person many would recognize as "weird".

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  Though, in his eyes, there was something that made him different from other schizophrenics.

  He was 100% sure of the fact that his

  There were many cases in which he would see his "figments of imagination" making moves that affected the real world.

  Although he had witnessed these altercations with his own eyes, he had been conditioned to believe what he was seeing was merely an illusion.

  Yet,

  "Everett, the Garlip wishes to eat you!” One of the voices whispered, much more restrained than before.

  Or,

  He had grown more drowsy, and his muscles became more tense.

  Everett responded, feeling cold and bony fingers on his shoulders.

  He gulped, fear and anxiousness creeping onto his face, but he did not turn back.

  It whispered directly into his ear, its heavy and raspy voice making him jump to his feet.

  ”Ugh!” He groaned, scratching at his ear like a bug had just flew into it.

  Everett scoffed, being more mellow now that the drugs had calmed him down.

  ”You always say that.” He murmured, shaking away the fear in his mind. His feet shuffled, his hands moving upwards and flipping his hood over his head.

  “Until next time, little Garlip.” He said, turning away from the pond.

  ”Mister E!” All the ambient voices around him shut up.

  ”Reese?” Everett stared ahead, his hands in his pockets.

  ”That is my name.” She said with a warm smile, a scarf wrapped around her neck, her breath visibly spreading into the air.

  “What are you doing here?” Everett asked, digging his face into the collar of his jacket, his hands still deep in his pockets.

  ”I often come here! To feed the fish.” She said with red cheeks.

  ”The fish?” Everett turned around, looking at the pond.

  With her entrance, things had calmed. Only now did he notice the fish beneath the waters surface.

  ”I see… But at 12:30 at night?” He scoffed, turning back towards Reese.

  Standing behind the small—not even five foot—

  It was tall and lanky, with long claw like fingers.

  Atop its head were 5 spikes, and its entire face was just a large toothy grin, its skin pulled tightly towards where his ears should be.

  ”Everything alright?” Reese asked, noticing Everett's out of it gaze.

  Everett forced a smile to his face, ignoring the creature.

  ”Well, I was gonna get going… but I don’t mind feeding the fish with you for a bit.” He said, moving back towards the bench, taking a seat.

  ”You really don’t have to…” Reese said, moving over and taking a seat next to Everett.

  She said happily. “So why are here anyway? It’s pretty late.” She chuckled, pulling out a large bag of fish food.

  Everett responded, Reese placing a handful of fish food in his hand while he gazed into the sky.

  ”I see… Does it… voices?” She asked nervously, tossing a few pellets into the water.

  There was silence for a few moments, but Reese quickly tried to fill it.

  "Uh, sorry! I-, I was just trying to get to know more about you." She said, a sincere worry plastered on her face as she avoided eye contact with Everett.

  "Not many people know information about you that isn't surface level around here! It's weird you know, She complained, real frustration seeping into her voice.

  "Is that so." Everett laughed. His hand that held the fish food twitched a little, spilling a few pellets onto the ground.

  His eyes started to grow even more drowsy, as unbeknownst to Reese,

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