Whumpee’s feet fumbled and slid across the carpet as they scrambled to keep up with Whumper. Fingers bruised deep into their arm, wrenching their shoulder forward as they were dragged upstairs to the office.
Whumpee stumbled forward, tripping over the rug as Whumper shoved them into the room. They clattered to a halt on top of the antique trunk Whumper used as a coffee table.
“Get in.”
Whumpee glanced around the room. “Ge-….what?”
“Getin.” Whumper nodded to the trunk behind them.
Whumpee twisted to stare at it. It was- it was barely bigger than them! Whumper couldn’t be serious. “Wh-why?”
“Because you’re going to be bleeding a whole lot less if you get in yourself instead of making me put you there.”
Not the question.
Whumpee swallowed with some difficulty, but managed to turn on their knees, picking at the cool metal hatch pin until it came up. They stared over their shoulder. “Please - a-at least tell me what I did.”
Whumper snorted out a mirthless laugh. “You’re doing it right now. Does that give you a hint?”
Whumpee’s eyes twitched away, heat rising to their face, they started at the small dark corner of the box. Their legs and fingers were trembling.
No,all of them was trembling. The tremor wound from their lungs down through every horrified cell of their body, scratching at their mind and screaming at them to stop.
Slowly - so slowly - they lowered themself inside.
.
(To be continued with the rest of the claustrophobe scene…)
