Chapter Text
It was raining the night that your world changed, you arrived at the home and parked your car walking inside just in time to greet the parents on their way out. “We’ll be gone for a couple of hours but we should be back by 11,” the mother, Nora said calmly as she set her purse on the counter of the kitchen island. “They shouldn’t give you too much trouble but if they do don’t be afraid to call us, I left my number just in case.”
You smiled kindly at her knowing that you were just there to get some extra cash but being polite is always best in those types of situations. “I think they’re still upstairs. Mary, Sam, we’re leaving soon and the babysitter is here!” She called up the steps as 2 kids popped their heads around the corner of the hallway looking down at her. “We’re coming,” Mary called as she nudged Sam who was the first to descend the steps as you stepped around the corner to see them fully.
“Hi guys, I’m Y/N, we’ll be hanging out for a few hours.” You’d baby sat before but with a new set of kids you always tried your best to make a good first impression and as Mary followed down the steps she paused briefly as the sound of their father coming downstairs caught your attention. “Hi, I’m John, you must be the babysitter,” he waved as he finished buttoning his shirt.
Nodding as the kids rushed past you John handed you a wad of cash and smiled, “I figured the kids might want some pizza for dinner so this should cover it. Have them in bed by 9 and you’re welcome to whatever drinks we have in the fridge.” As you made your way back to the living room Mary and Sam were already seated on the couch where Mary raised the remote towards you smiling as she spoke, “Can we watch The Neighborhood?” You’d heard of the show before and knew that it was appropriate for kids their age so nodding as you took the remote. “Oh they love that show, I always record it for them while they’re at school,” Nora gestured towards the TV as she searched for her car keys in her purse. Going to recordings you decided to click onto a random episode Titled “A New Friend” and as you did the screen flashed with bright colors and the intro song began to pour from the speakers. “Thank God I found them,” Nora sighed happily as she walked towards the living room leaning over the couch to hug each of the kids.
“We’ll be back by 11. I want you to listen to Y/N and be nice to each other ok?” They nodded in response and as she turned to leave she called to them once more, “Bedtime is at 9.” Dramatically rolling his eyes Sam turned away looking over the couch as he threw his hands up, “Come on mom, 9:30?” She shook her head picking up her purse as she looked over her shoulder and opened the front door. “She already extended it once Sam, don’t push it,” John insisted as Sam sighed in defeat flopping back to face the TV. “See you guys later,” John called as the door closed behind him and then the house felt slightly more empty than before. “Well I have good news, you said sitting yourself on a recliner seated near the couch, “Your dad gave me some money for pizza.” Excitedly looking over at you Mary tilted her head to look past Sam, “Can we get pepperoni?” Sam groaned shaking his head, “Mary you know I like cheese!” Keeping the peace you quickly interrupted before they began to argue, “We can get half and half .”
They both nodded in agreement and as you stepped behind the couch to be a bit further from the TV to hear better you spoke to the pizza place and watched the characters of the show who appeared to be exited about a new neighbor moving to town. “Ok guys it should be here in 30 minutes. Who’s that girl with the blonde hair?” You weren’t that interested in the plot but in order to make friends with them you figured you’d try and ask some questions about what they liked so much about the show. “That’s Julie, she’s my favorite,” Mary said excitedly as she pointed. “I like Frank, he’s got a grumpy face.” Sam turned towards you and frowned dramatically which made you laugh a little as you looked back to the characters who walked around their bright colored world seemingly in perfect harmony.
“It’d be kinda nice to live in a happy place like that.” You couldn’t help but admit that if life were more like kids shows the world would be a much more peaceful place. “The world would be so pretty and colorful!” Mary insisted as she raised her hands as if to sprinkle glitter, “And maybe homework wouldn’t exist,” Sam added giggling. You watched the show for a while in between looking at your phone overhearing the character Wally who was excitedly talking to the mailman about when the new neighbor would arrive. “I wonder what the neighbor will look like?” Mary leaned forward curiously, “I hope it’s a boy,” Sam insisted but Mary rolled her eyes shaking her head in disagreement, “No way! The show already has a lot of boys.”
After a while there was a knock at the door and as you carried the pizzas to the dinner table Sam and Nora excitedly seated themselves. “One for you and one for you,” you announced plating Sam’s cheese slice on a plate in front of him and a pepperoni piece for Mary. “Oh, they said tomorrow the new neighbor’s gonna come,” Sam sighed rolling his eyes, “We have to wait until the next episode comes out.” Mary rolled her eyes sighing so you decided to speak up to try and make them feel better as you took a bite of pizza, “Well at least you’ll have something to look forward to.” They nodded in agreement as they finished eating and continued to watch TV for a while until on your phone the time said 9:00PM. “Looks like it’s time for bed.” Mary sighed, “Can we finish this episode please?” The episode seemed to almost be over so you nodded and waited until it finished to follow them up the stairs to their rooms.
After they’d finally gone to sleep and the house fell quiet you made your way to the living room and seated yourself on the couch scrolling on your phone. And then it happened, when you woke up the first thing you noticed was that you couldn’t move. Your eyes struggled to adjust to the dim lighting of a single lamp that was turned on beside you. Once your eyes did adjust however you realized that you were looking at a very different living room. This room had a large colorful couch that seemed like the type that was so soft it would be hard to stand up from and although the chair you were seated in seemed comfy the rope wrapped around you wasn’t very inviting. Struggling to process everything all at once you stared blankly at the circular coffee table and large pokadot rug under it. You recognized the room but even knowing where it was from your brain struggled intensely to put it together.
“Oh, good you’re awake. You seemed awfully sleepy so I figured I’d make some tea while I waited.” The voice, that familiar friendly voice that made its way across the living room, it sent chills down your spine. The first thing you saw were his shoes, then your eyes traveled upwards towards the striped pants and all at once you felt as if your world had collapsed before your very eyes. “You sure are quiet, maybe I should start. Hello, my name is Wally. What’s your name?” Struggling to form words you dreaded making eye contact with him for fear that your very existence would come into question but as you did you stared into a pair of dark brown eyes peering over a teacup. “Did you hear me friend? I said, hello, my name is Wally. What’s your name?”
You blinked several times swallowing the dryness in your throat as you spoke softly. “M-My name is Y/N.” Wally’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he bent down to set the tea on the table before seating himself onto his couch. “Sorry about the rope, I didn’t want to have to look for you. This house can seem a lot bigger than it looks.” He looked to the ceiling with a smile and as he did an eerie feeling crept down your spine. “I-I don’t understand, what’s happening?” Wally turned his eyes to you sitting up as he did so, he folded his hands and spoke, “That’s a good question friend, I wanted to invite you to the neighborhood by having you over for some tea. I’m so glad that you joined me.”
Joined was definitely a weird way of putting it, as you stared blankly you struggled to think of what to say.
“How did I get here? I don’t understand.” Wally crossed his legs resting his foot on his knee as he tilted his head to you, “You don’t remember? You crawled right through your TV, silly. I even waved to you, you waved back…maybe your thoughts are a little fuzzy right now. Fuzzy, like me,” he seemed amused by his comment and the more you stared the stronger the need to get out became. “Can you untie me now? I feel trapped here.” Hoping to at least get some sort of freedom you looked down at the colorful chair you were tied to and a memory of the show flashed before your eyes. That colorful chair that Wally sat in to talk to the viewers in his living room…there you were, it all felt so overwhelming that your chest felt as if it might explode with anxiety.
Wally stood making his way behind the chair and after a few silent minutes he leaned down almost startling you as his face came into view from the darkness around you. “There you go, I hope you like this chair as much as I do. It’s my favorite.” Nodding nervously you struggled to make eye contact, it felt as if his eyes saw straight through you. You looked to the teacup and thought of an idea briefly, “Um, you said that you invited me for some tea, can I have some?” Hearing your request seemed to make Wally perk up, he turned away from you and nodded walking back through the swinging door of what you assumed was the kitchen and at last you were alone. Your mind raced and as you stood making your way as quickly and quietly as possible to the door your hand turned the handle but nothing happened.
The door was locked, you turned the lock to unlock it but all at once it switched to locked on its own. Staring in disbelief you jumped back from the door in shock. “I think Home likes you.” Turning back to face Wally who stood with another tea cup in his hands seemingly unfazed by your attempt to escape. “I like you too, friend. Why did you try to leave? That’s not very neighborly.” You sighed nodding nervously, “You’re right, I’m sorry.” Considering the situation you decided to stay and talk to Wally to avoid making him mad. But as you took the teacup from his hands and made your way back to the living room you couldn’t help but wonder how in the world you were going to escape, or if escaping was even possible.