LU 210 - Shayde 4

I returned to the bunker today. I searched for Stella, calling out to her.

*“Stella? Stellaaaa, where are youuu?”*

*“Oh! Oh, Hello? Little one, is that you?”*

*“Yep, It’s me! Hi Stella, how’ve you been?”*

*“Oh, I’ve been quite well, Little One! And you?”*

*“Oh, I’ve been quite well! I’ve returned to grab my things from the bunker, do you have any idea where they are?”*

I watched as Stella’s smile faltered slightly, but she was quickly back to smiling sweetly.

*“Oh, okay! Well, of course, I can show you where everything is! Follow me, Little One!”*

I nodded and followed behind Stella quietly, excited to get my things and leave the dark, dank basement.

*“Everything should be right here!”*

I looked inside the tall chests and grabbed everything that was mine, and had turned to go, when Stella stopped me.

*“Oh, Shayde! Wait! I never gave you a proper tour of this place, have I? Come on, follow me!”*

*“...okay Stella, but after the tour I have to go, okay?”*

*“Weeeeeelllllll… that last part can be debated. Anyways, as you can see, this is my third favorite corner! It would be my second, but it has that weird stain in the corner that is just not very flattering. Then, if you’ll follow me, you’ll see my second favorite wall! I’ve named him Bartholomew, say hello to Bartholomew.”*

*“Uh- Stella- y’know what, fine, hello Bartholomew.”*

*“Bartholomew says hello and nice to meet you! Now follow me, allll the way to the back! This here is my favorite hole! It’s very moist here, as you can see from the water dripping over here, but nothing to worry about! We even have a few bat friends!”*

Stella pointed to some bats that were flying around, as I nodded and pursed my lips.

*“Now, over here, is my favorite corner, where I remove peoples’ bones for bone meal! It’s quite simple, I can teach you if you’d like!”*

*“Oh, uh, no thank you Stella, that’s quite alright. I think we’re done here.”*

I quickly walked out of the cave and got about half way to the door before Stella called me back over, “Oh, Shayde! There’s one last thing I wanna show you, could you come over here for a sec?”

I sighed softly and rolled my eyes, before turning around and putting a soft smile on my face.

“Of course, Stella! What’s this?” I watched as the sentient universe girl picked up and move some rocks one by one, revealing a rather deep hole that would result in a broken-legged Stella. Y’know, if she could technically break bones, I suppose.

“Look at this strange hole, Little One! Isn’t it so weird! Whoops!!!” I watched as Stella’s book fell from her hands and down, down, down… THUMP! It landed all the way at the bottom, way farther a fall than Stella could survive.

“Oh, Little One, could you grab that for me? I need it for… reasons!” I nodded and jumped down the hole, landing lightly on my feet at the bottom. I stood from my crouched position and grabbed the book, preparing myself to leap back up the hole.

“Stella!” I called, “I got the book!”

No response.

*“Stella?”*

… Still no response.

*“Stella, I’m coming up now!”*

I slowly worked myself up to jump back up to the top of the hole, and did just that. Thankful for my agility, I walked to go find out where Stella had gone.

*“Stella? Steeellllaaaaaa-?”*

I ran up the steps to the exit, only to find that I was locked inside the bunker… and there was Stella, standing behind a locked Iron Gate.

*“Stella… Stella, you forgot me in here, c’mon, let me out!”*

*“Oh… Little One, I am afraid I cannot do that…”*

*“Stella. What are you on about, let me out of here. Please, Stella!”*

*“Little one, I’m doing this for your safety. Please understand. I will bring your friends to see you, no worries!”*

And with that, the universe girl tottered off, leaving me stuck behind the heavy metal bars. I went back down the stairs, tears filling my eyes.

*My friend… someone I considered my **best** friend… she betrayed me. Why? I don’t get it…*

I fell asleep on the cold, damp floor of the bunker, letting the tears fall. I have no idea how long I was actually asleep for, I don’t remember if I dreamed or not, all I remember is waking up to three different voices coming from outside the door.

I started up the stairs, to see Stella. She was back, and she had brought… Meat? And…. Cashew...

*“CASHEW! CASHEW, oh my god, please get me out of here. Stella locked me in here against my will. Cashew, please I don’t want to be in here anymore!”*

Cashew looked half panicked and half angry, I suppose I could really only tell because I had known her longer than the others. But, Cashew didn’t stick to frantic buzzing like she normally does around people other than Soul and Me. No, no, she actually talked.

*“STELLA, YOU FUCKING W HA T??? STELLA, LET HIM OUT, NOW. THIS ISN’T FUNNY.”*

Stella immediately took on a shocked expression.

*“Hang on, the bee can TALK? I was under the impression she was mute!!!!”*

Cashew glared at Stella, who just looked utterly confused.

Meat looked unphased by the bee talking, and instead looked back at Stella patiently.

“What???” called Stella, “Okay, look, Cashew you have to understand, Right? I’m doing it for his safety.”

Cashew and Stella began arguing back and forth, and I had a pleading look on my face as I looked at Meat. Meat immediately took notice, and phased through the ground, appearing directly next to me. Meat put a translucent finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. I nodded as Meat motioned toward a patch of the wall that was all dirt.

We quickly went over to that section of the wall, and Meat helped me dig my way out. When we saw the first ray of light peeking through the dirt at our fingertips, I sped up, wanting to get out of the bunker. I dug and dug and then, I was out. I jumped out of the hole in the ground, and quickly ran up to the doorway to rub it in Stella’s face that I had gotten free.

Then, I watched as a thick, green vine snaked out of Stella’s arm and wrapped around my waist, pulling me back into the room outside of the bunker. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the vine vanished from my waist, and Stella left me in the room, as she barricaded the doors with iron.

I took note that the walls were wooden, thankful that I always kept a flint and steel in my mouth, and promised myself that I would only use the flint and steel if Stella refused to let me out.

*“Stella, I trusted you. How could you do this to me?”*

Just at that moment, I believe Meat came to realize the same thing that I had realized just before, the fact of the wooden walls.

*“Stella, you realize Shayde could easily just burn the walls down, right?”*

Stella paused for a moment, looked at the room, and then looked back at me.

*“Shayde, you don’t happen to have anything flammable on you, correct?”*

Bingo! She asked the wrong question, so I’ll give her the truth.

*“No, Stella, I don’t have anything flammable on me. Kinda strange isn't it?”*

Stella continued to spout on about how she was doing it to protect me, and finally I had had enough. I took out my flint and steel, hiding it at my side.

*“Stella, you have 5 seconds to let me out.”*

*“5…”*

*“Could I get that upgraded to 10 seconds?”*

*“4…”*

*“3…”*

*“2…”*

*“...... 1.”*

Suddenly, the wood in front of Stella was set aflame. Once there was a clear path for my escape, I ran out, grabbed Cashew, and escaped back home.