Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eyes.

A pair of round, glossy, inky black eyes stare at you from your window. Its irises vibrate with anticipation, like a predator stalking its prey. 

You stare right back, frightened, unmoving, like a deer in headlights. 

Your tv fizzles with static, the signal cutoff. The light illuminating from the television is the only source of light in the room, as if it was a meek little candle in a pitch black castle. The sound of the static is deafening, loud, so loud (is it getting louder?). 

You don’t dare breath, nor take your own eyes off of the pair of pitch black irises that stare you down. You swear you can hear a faint chuckle emit from behind the glass of the window. Swift movement comes from within the darkness of nighttime. 

A soft blue sweater covers an arm as the entity leans in and presses and a hand to its cheek. 

Yellow skin (?), bright as lemons, reveals itself to you. The eyes become half lidded, as if they, it, was mesmerized by you.  

A scarlet red ascot was tightly wrapped around the entity's neck, and fluffy blue hair that curled itself into a swirl shape sat atop its head, somehow unmoving. 

Was it a puppet? 

No, it was too human-like, too..fleshy, too lively. 

Suddenly, It broke the game of eye contact between the two of you,  and it motioned to the telephone. 

An old authentic home phone from the sixties that you had bought from a garage sale. You had  bought it purely because you thought it was cool. It sat upon a coffee table in your living room, glowing in the light of the TV. 

You looked at the telephone, then looked back to him (could you even call it a him?). Hilariously, he held up one finger to you in order to say; ‘one second please’, as if he were inconveniencing you (as if he was never watching you at all). He hopped down from the window sill, and whatever he was, he must’ve been short, because when he hopped down, it was almost as if he left completely. 

You almost sighed in relief, but as soon as he was gone, he popped right back up again. Though this time, he had a telephone. 

The phone was similar to yours. But while yours is white, his was a shiny red that matched the scarlet colored ascot around his neck.

You watched cautiously as he used one slim, yellow finger to turn the dial on the telephone. It seemed like an eternity as he turned the wheel to a different number each time. 

Finally, the puppet (?)  raised his arm, phone in hand, to his ear, and began to stare at you again  with a smile on his face. 

And then, from the living room, came a ring. You yelped.  

The phone rang. It had never once rang before. Ever. 

You didn’t move, paralyzed once again. 

You looked back to him in the window. His eyes flickered towards your phone, as he had done before. Encouraging you to pick it up. 

You took a deep breath and started to gingerly walk to the telephone. It felt like you were treading on eggshells. 

The phone continued to ring, and ring, and ring. Never once stopping. You hoped and prayed it would stop before you reached it. 

It didn’t. 

And so, with a shaky hand, you reached towards the old white telephone, and picked it up, and held it up to your ear. 

“Hello…?” 

You spoke weakly into the receiver. 

“Well, hello neighbor!” A smooth, calming voice spoke on the other end. Though the voice was full of static, it was almost like it was trying to lull you to sleep.  

He, it, was speaking to you. And not only that, but he was just outside your house, staring at you.

You felt the urge to vomit. 

“Calm down, I wouldn’t ever think about hurting you. Ever.”  His voice was full of… adoration? Almost as if he spoke lovingly to you. 

“Who– what are you?” You stared back at the window. He was still there, watching.

“Wally Darling, at your service.” He tipped an imaginary hat to you. Ah, so he chose not to answer the ‘what’ part. 

Though, the name ‘Wally Darling’ sounds familiar. Where had you heard that name before? 

“You’re thinking. You recognize my name, don’t you?” He chuckles. 

Wally Darling… Wally Darling… Wal– Oh! 

“As in, Wally Darling from the old TV show ‘Welcome Home’?” 

“Correct! You're a smart one, aren’t you?” 

You hadn’t been born when the TV show had aired, but your parents were. They had told you about how they had watched it when they were just little kids. The show was animated, but it had puppets as well. 

So, if Wally was in fact, a puppet, then how the hell was he alive and talking to you right now?! And why did he come all this way, just to find you ?

“I’ve been watching you for some time now. You just hadn’t noticed me.”

The urge to vomit worsens. 

“Why? How–” “Because I admire you. You’re so full of life, and so, so lovely.” He trails off on the last statement. 

Lovely? 

“I'm going insane..” You say to yourself.

“Don’t say those things! I can assure you you're not!” He (poorly) reassures you. 

“Then why is there a puppet from the sixties talking to me over the phone right now?!” You yell at him, voice frantic. 

“ Don’t yell.” He commands in a low tone, voice serious. 

You shut up. 

“To answer your question,” He continues “I’m not exactly sure!” 

Wow. That helps a lot. 

“Then can you at least tell me why you’ve been watching me?” 

You ask with caution, not wanting to upset him.

“You really want to know the answer?” 

You nod at him. 

“ I just can’t seem to get my eyes off of you, neighbor…” 

And then, he laughs.

And laughs.

And laughs. 

And finally– he says;

“ I need you, and you need me. We are one in the same” 

You feel tears of fear well up in your eyes. 

“We are nothing alike. You know nothing about me.”

“Nothing about you? My darling, I know everything about you! Do you know how long I was watching you for?”

The tears start to fall.

“What do you want from me?” 

Maybe It was because you simply forgot, but it just so happens that you had left your windows unlocked. It was a nice day and you had decided to let some air in. But the calming night air was suddenly replaced with regret as you watched Wally start to open your window. 

You screamed and dove for something, anything to protect you. 

Wally was fast, as you found out. But you were stronger, and running on adrenaline. 

You swung around your makeshift weapon (a rolled up magazine) like a mad man. 

You were doing it! You were fending him off! 

…

…or not. 

You had tripped. Backside thudding against the hard floor. 

Wally was approaching closer by the second.  

You scooted as far back as you could– that was until your back hit the tv. 

The static from the TV roared behind you, and the light illuminated Wally’s face perfectly, as his mouth was curled up in a Cheshire grin. 

He stood in front of you, and left you shaking with snot and tears. 

Until finally, he spoke, and answered your question with a simple; 

“I want you.”