As we walked, different types of Invent's and my creatures scurried under our feet. They were monstrous creatures that were part human, animal, and machine. They use this maze to travel to the outside. I once tried to follow them and use their exit. The second I got within a couple of feet of the tunnels to go in and out, they attacked me. 

I got a couple of scars from that experience. I have never really enjoyed looking at them, especially the big ones. Thee and Tho seem to like them, stopping and staring as they scurry by. They even tried to reach down and pick up a couple of them. I didn't bother to tell them not to. 

Either they'll figure it out after they get stabbed by them. If they can still feel pain. Or they'll just keep doing it until they piss off one of the bigger ones. Though I have seen none of the big ones in a couple of days. They all scurried off to deal with something. 

"Follow?" Thee asked, pointing to the small monstrous creatures. 

"No, Thee, we can't follow them to an exit."

He nodded and went back to staring at them as they scurried past. I didn't mind how slow they were being. Not only are we not going to find the exit as usual. The third path is the longest path to take, anyway. It's already going to take us two days to get to the first obstacle.

Why should it matter if it takes longer? At least I will have a bit of peace for longer. Of course, thinking like that must have jinxed me because a curfew bot came out of nowhere. The bot's body had chunks of human and animal flesh and metal pieces ripped from it. It locked its eyes? On me, and for a second, I thought it would attack me.

Instead, it just flopped on the ground and died. Can you still call a creature like that alive? Tho reached forward as if he were going to touch it. Before I could tell him he definitely shouldn't do that, it exploded. The force of the explosion sent me back over twenty feet. 

I landed in a heap close to the door of my office. We hadn't really gone far because of how many times the twins had stopped. Wait, the twins. I stood up instantly, realizing the twins weren't next to me. I didn't really have to look for them. They were still standing in the same spot they had been when the explosion had gone off. 

I tried to rush to them, but a sharp, agonizing pain went through my leg. When I glanced down to see why, I nearly fainted at the sight. A jagged piece of bone from a corpse pierced through my leg. Bits of rot and decay were on the bone. I glanced at Thee and Tho, and for some reason, they still haven't moved.

So I reached down and yanked the bone out of my leg. The pain from doing that was so much worse that I nearly collapsed. Thankfully, I stayed awake and limped over to the twins. 

"Thee, Tho, are you guys alright?" 

I reached towards Tho's shoulder to use him for support. Before I could, though, he wrapped his hand around my throat and slammed me into the wall. 

"What the hell are you doing, Tho?" 

I reached up to pry his fingers from my neck, wondering what the hell had happened. When I looked in his eyes, though I froze, noticing he no longer looked confused. The look he gave me was sharp and filled with disgust. When I glanced at Thee, he no longer had that confused look either. It's looking like the explosion might have knocked something back into them. 

Tho tightened his grip on my neck. Squeezing so tight that I think he might break it. Thee put a hand on his shoulder. 

"S--to--p w---e-e n-e---ed h--im t-to g--e-t u-s ou--t of h-er--e. Pl--u-s h-e is th---e do---c--to-r w---e ne---ed."

"Stop? Look at what the fucker did to us." 

I didn't bother trying to explain that it was the Nightmare Master who actually did all that. I'm not really sure they care either.

"Look, since you're better no-."

A bitter laugh slipped from his mouth, interrupting me. "Better? How the hell are we bett-."

His words faded from my mind. I don't know when it started, but my whole body was shaking. Now that I could no longer hear his voice, all I have are my thoughts. Those thoughts were telling me that this corpse was trying to hurt me. I didn't stay in my mind for long, though a painful slap to my face broke me out of it. 

"Don't you dare hide in your mind; you don't deserve to."

I stared at him for a second, wondering what he was thinking. I know what most people think of us. They think we do this willingly. Like we're sadistic assholes who get off on it like the Nightmare Master. None of them has ever thought that maybe we are also the victims. 

I'm not like the other nightmare lords; I don't become numb to all this shit. Some part of me shuts down, and I become exactly as the person wants me to be. That's what I was doing right now, shutting down. I don't like it when I shut down. But it has helped in certain situations.

Maybe it will help in this one. Thee must have noticed something was wrong because he shoved his brother away and hugged me. His hug helped me just like before. The feeling of shutting down went away, and I felt like I was okay. For now. 

He pulled back, staring me in the eye. "O-kay."

"Yeah, thank you. You, um didn't have to do that."

I pulled away from him, refusing to hold either of their gazes. "As I was trying to say before, I think we should go our separate ways."