"Yeah, that was him." A boy's voice sounded from just within earshot.

Andrew felt like the voice was familiar yet couldn't pinpoint exactly why.

"Is that dumbass the one who was supposed to be too scary for the rumours? Look at him. How could he not have been lying?" A woman replied in annoyance.

"But he wasn't lying. You know I can't lie. And if I say he didn't lie then he didn't lie." The boy insisted. 

"Then why is he that pathetic then?" The woman replied. 

"How would I know? The damp isn't even a normal abnormality. It's stuck in place." The boy said in frustration.

Andrew could hear the pair squabble behind his back and he felt increasingly annoyed. He was about to lose his life after taking one over a seemingly omnipotent being and they were talking about it as if it was simple and worthless. 

Will they shut up already? 

The boy and the girl went into view for the nearly passed out Andrew and he saw the young boy he met on the bus along with a tall young woman about his age with long, fiery red hair and piercing green eyes. 

Huh? That kid is?

"We have to do something or he'll really die. He was quite friendly. I liked him a lot. Tell him how to do the thing." The boy insisted, tugging the young woman's shirt.

"You know it can't be done on a whim like that." The redhead replied.

"Yes it can. I found out on my own so if you help him a little he'll find out too." The young boy said in a way reminiscent of the start of a tantrum.

"Fiiiiine. Why do you have such a soft spot for him anyway? That's unlike you." The redhead gave in.

"If I tell you, you'll hit me. So I won't." The boy replied with a giggle.

"I'll tickle this out of you after we're done here. OI JACKASS! Are you out? Will I have to save you like a damsel in distress or are you going to fight back?" The redhead shouted.

Andrew tried to cuss the red haired woman out but the only thing that came out were some choked gurgling sounds as the line tightened even harder around his neck.

"Good to know you're up. I'm sure you said something lovely. Now. Just follow what I say and you'll live. I think. Just believe you can take that thing down real hard and you'll probably do it. If I see that you have passed out I'm not saving you." The redhead said while the boy giggled behind her.

What is she talking about? Wait. What about….

Andrew tried to turn his head towards Maya but he was unable to move an inch, leaving the madwoman's words as his last lifeline. So he tried to believe that he could conquer the monster. He had already seen its weakness. Something with a weakness could always be beat. 

And something clicked. It was as if something completely natural to him had come back after being lost. What he was faced with was… in the grasp of his hand. And so it happened, as if taking a breath Andrew did something that defied logic and turned the being into mist. The mist had the look of a deep dark smoke with bright blue crystal-like impurities in it that gave it an uncanny beauty.

Andrew fell to the ground, free from the grasp of the odd being and the mish that was left behind closed in on him at incredible speed and upon contact with his body was absorbed into him. 

"W..what was that?" Andrew muttered 

"Hello. Are you okay? Nice to see you again." The young boy said as he rushed to Andrew's side, helping him up.

"This was-" the redhead tried to say but was cut off by a bloodcurdling scream. 

Maya ran towards Andrew and checked his injuries before turning to the redhead. 

"HOW DARE YOU NOT SAY SORRY YOU DUMB BITCH?" She screamed, slapping the redhead across the face.

The redhead sighed deeply and then turned towards a confused looking Andrew. 

"I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have acted this way but it was a complete accident. You see, my little brother here just ran off when he recognized you and I wasn't really paying much attention. I'm sorry." She said with an annoyed look on her face.

"W… what? That's not.." Andrew murmured. 

"Do you think you're going to get out of this so easily? I'll call the co-" Maya screeched before dropping to the ground unconscious, having been choked out by the kid.

"Thank you Jimmy. I'm getting you ice cream. The temper on that bitch was insane. Your friend right there dodged a big bullet." The redhead sighed.

"What in the world is going on here?" Andrew managed to speak. He was pressing his button up onto his self made wounds to help the bleeding stop, revealing a part of his well built body.

The redhead nodded her head in disapproval and turned to look at Andrew.

"How annoying can you be? If you couldn't guess, you met a rumour. That's the monster that just made a mess of you. You are very lucky to have made an impression on that kid. Otherwise you'd have been dead. The name's Luna. The kid you owe you life to is Jimmy." The redhead said. 

Jimmy waved at Andrew as he was settling Maya in a resting position. 

"I…I don't know what's going on. I'm Andrew, nice to meet you. Is this whole thing…real? It's like that room right? But I don't know I'm asleep. That's got to be it. I must have fallen asleep on the bus on the way home. I hope I wake up soon since I've probably missed my stop by now. I have a date to go to."  Andrew said nonchalantly, letting his shirt fall down normally again. 

"Tsk. Do your dreams do this?" Luna said in frustration and slapped Andrew across the face with enough strength to throw him to the ground. 

"Ouch. That was a little rude dream lady. But yes. My dreams do, do that. Though I don't think I'd classify you as a dream." Andrew replied nonchalantly. 

Jimmy giggled in the back as he heard and saw the two quarrel but got a curious look on his face. 

"Doesn't the marionetter do that?" Jimmy asked. 

"You're not talking about that one right? Fuuuuuck. So, Andrew. Did you perhaps start getting weird dreams recently?" Luna spoke. 

Andrew smiled at Luna and laughed. 

"This is one of them is it not? Of course I'm getting weird dreams. I usually get one where I'm stuck in a room and apparently chased by a weird marionette. This time it's some interesting redhead. Hehehe." He replied.

"Andrew. I can assure you that this is real. It's not a dream. You started to see things that were never meant to be seen. Monsters. Or as we call them, rumours. You need to believe me on this. When you consumed that monster. You felt a unique feeling that would be unreplicatable in a dream. You are still feeling it. Stop being in denial." Luna said, throwing away her annoyance and replacing it with pity. 

Andrew did not reply, he just fully laid on the ground, covering his face with his hand and staying silent. 

"You can't turn back even though this road was chosen for you. That's how it's always been." Luna added. 

Andrew sighed deeply and removed his hand from his face, soaking in all the sunlight. 

"Can't you at least let me pretend to be dreaming? I didn't sleep a wink last night. I'm running on canned coffee, a single piece of candy and half a sandwich. Cut me some slack will ya? Anyways. Lay it on me." Andrew said.

"What you just saw was a…being called a rumour. People years back thought they were born from well, rumours so they named them as such but that's not entirely true. What we know is true is that we are not supposed to see them. And that they don't like it when we do." Luna spoke.

"Then what in the world was the thing that just happened?" Andrew asked. 

"It was an ability of sorts that is built into us. We can consume the creatures or as we say, eat them. We gain their odd energy which allows us to fight back but. There is a reason what we do is called eating. Afterall, you are what you eat. You'll soon find yourself change because of the rumour you ate. You'll become more like their most prominent attribute, the thing that created them." Luna continued. 

"I'm so tired. Can you explain the rest after I've had a nap?" Andrew pleaded. 

"You can't do that." Luna replied. 

"Yes. If you sleep you'll die." Jimmy said.