Chapter Text
Whatever you do at the Crossroads. Keep going forward. Or something like that. (I was never good with endings)
Derek huffed and kicked his legs down, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape and a sigh before he looked over at Avery, "Too corny? I mean, come on, who write a damn suicide note like that?"
Avery shook his head, reading over the last paragraph of Derek's draft before sipping his coffee and looking at his friend, "Nah man, not to corny at all. That stuff hits pretty deep, especially after all of the other stuff with don't turn left and stuff? Insane pull if you ask me."
"Heh- If you say so." Derek rolled his eyes and reached for his own coffee, sipping on it as he made sure his computer actually saved the finished draft, scrolling through the typed out pages.
3 months, he had spent 3 months on this story. Didn't really even matter that much since it would never get published anywhere, well maybe on some sort of fanfiction sharing website but that would be it. And who would even want to read something like this? Destroying a World That Doesn't Exist, he couldn't even remember when he had decided he wanted to write this sort of fucked up thing about Minecraft but somehow it had become a full blown thing. Two massive chapters, all about what would happen if he and Avery played Minecraft and one day he had found some stupid giant golden gate and saw something that drove him insane. Such a dumb idea.
"Hey! Earth to Derek, you good man?"
Derek blinked as he looked up. Avery was waving his pale arm in Derek's face, trying to get his friend's attention while Derek had been staring at his computer screen blankly, "You've seemed really out of it lately, man. I mean- More out of it than you normally do. Is something going on?"
"No. No, sorry man. I just- I've been losing sleep writing this thing, must be getting to me." Derek groaned and rubbed his face, taking another sip of his coffee and reaching out to close his computer.
"Ahh gotcha." Avery nodded but his emerald eyes betrayed a hint of deeper concern for his friend.
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Derek walked home alone after he left Avery at the coffee shop, humming to himself as he made his way back towards his apartment complex. He couldn't get it off his mind no matter how hard he tried, something about his own story felt oddly familiar, like looking at the words on his screen was taking him to a time that he hadn't actually lived through. What the hell was happening to him? How can one stupid story make him so freaked out? It didn't make any sense, it was just some dumb story about a Minecraft world that doesn't even exist.
Derek kept walking, his head slightly down as he kept humming to himself. He was letting his body carry him on autopilot, dragging him through the streets of the city and towards his home. He did this often, just let himself get led on by his own mind and muscle memory. It was easy, really, to go blank and get lost in his own singular thoughts while the world rushed past him. It gave him moments to just focus on himself and nothing else, no one else. He could just make it through the world without needing to worry about other possibilities, people, just himself really.
He grunted slightly as he ran into something. That was weird, the street he had been on had been empty- Derek looked up to see what he had run into, his eyes meeting an oddly painted yellow door. Wait, what? Where- He looked around himself quickly, he was in some alley he didn't really recognize. He must have taken a wrong turn somehow, weird, but he was pretty tired. Derek grunted and shook his head, turning away from the door to just walk away. But he froze. What the hell is a bright yellow door doing in a place like this? Is this the back entrance to some sort of restaraunt or something? He turned around to look back at the door.
It really was still there, a bright yellow door in the back wall of an alley. No building, just a wall at the end of the alley. Maybe it's some sort of performative art or whatever people do. Derek chuckled to himself slightly and again turned to walk away. Again his feet froze. Surely it wouldn't hurt to just look through it. It would just lead to the other side of the alley, right? No building behind it for him to accidentally trespass into.
He turned again. He was curious. He just wanted a quick peak. Why does this feel so damn familiar?
He reached out and slowly opened the door, expecting to see the other side of the alley.
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Derek slammed the door shut, trembling violently and panting. His head felt like it was going to explode, a pressure behind his eyes was building so violently it felt like they were going to fly out of his skull. He let out a broken sound between a scream and a sob and raced through the streets, barely managing to move in a straight line, nearly slamming into others on the street as he made his panicked flight to his apartment. He struggled up the stairs, nearly falling and dropping his computer as he went.
He nearly broke the door to his apartment rushing inside and slamming it shut, his eyes flicking around the place quickly as he desperately tried to think past the noise filling his ears and skull. Why was there so much? How could he make it stop? He scrambled to his bathroom after dropping his computer on his bed, wrenching the medicine cabinet open to grab painkillers. How many was that? When would they kick in? Would one more be okay? He coughed slightly as he forced the pills down his throat, trying to count how many he had taken. Please- Please just make it stop- Stop taking so many. Don't die. You'll survive. Calm down. Not this time. Not stuck this time. You're okay. Derek recoiled at the thoughts overlapping his own. He dropped the pill bottle and stumbled to his bed, nearly collapsing onto his own computer. Nothing was okay, why the hell was he telling himself he was okay?! Sleep. Sleep. Yeah. Sleep sounds nice.
Derek whimpered gently as he looked over at his computer laying next to him. He struggled to reach out and open it. His eyes started to close. Damn he was starting to feel weird. How many pills did I take? His fingers brushed against the top of the computer before his vision went dark.