I did not expect this to be so dramatic. Well, whatever, I hope you all like it!

It happened so fast. It all happened so, so, horribly fast.

It was winter, awful, awful, winter. Winter was always Willow's least favorite season, but never before has she loathed it with such a fiery passion. No, fiery wasn't the right word, fire was something she enjoyed. Fire was beautiful, and warm. Fire kept her alive during this awful season of snow. Fire…

…

No.

She was trying to distract herself at this point, but that was pointless. The truth was horrifying, awful, the worst thing that could ever happen to her. But there was.. There was no point denying it.

There was no point denying it.

There was no point denying it.

There's no point denying the truth.

Despite telling herself that over and over again, it was still so, so hard to follow through.

She still didn't, couldn't, believe what had happened.

Even though it was winter, everyone was doing fine. Even if things were more difficult than usual, the base had everything that everyone needed to survive, plus some! Dare say that as long as she stayed close to the beautiful fire, so she could stay warm and admire its beauty all day and night long and for once not be judged for it, well. Dare say she was comfortable.

And..

Oh god.

The last thing that happened before she heard the noise, no, why, why, she was having a fucking petty argument. Arguing with.. Arguing with Wilson about whether we should try to hunt koalaphants in this weather or not. He wanted to stay safe, even until.. Even until the end, he didn't want anyone getting hurt. But there she was, opposing that..

Willow doesn't think she could regret something as much as this, not ever again.

There she was, then, before it happened, objecting the notion to stay safe, to take the risk to hunt. How ironic that was the last thing she did before the noise.

But why?! Why?! There was plenty of food, warm fire, enough resources to bunker down until winter ended, and yet. She was objecting that. Why, why?!

For the stupid trunk. They didn't even need it.

…

And that was one of the last things she ever did… with him… before the noise.

Breathing. A massive creature, breathing from so far away. Louder. Coming closer. Getting louder. Roars and twisted cries of pain.

No, no, that was later… the worst part. At the time, it was just breathing.

Everyone heard it, and everyone was immediately put on edge. Some of the survivors knew what it was, some didn't. She didn't know, she'd never managed to make it that long. The group was the only reason she survived this long so far, so she didn't even know what it was.

Deerclops.

That's what it was called. What was breathing, coming closer.

Wilson knew. He was one of the ones who knew what it was. He looked absolutely terrified. Willow had never seen Wilson look like that. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

And then it was there. The Deerclops was there.

Then there was ice. Willow had always hated ice, but never more so than now. Destruction in all directions, being forced to flee and watch as the base, what everyone was relying on to survive through the winter with, was destroyed.

And it didn't even take that long.

But that was fine, Willow could've lived with that.

But no.

Then, it targeted them. The survivors.

Wigfrid decided to fight it first. Everyone had ran for too long, there was no way to avoid it. They had to face it, head on, she told everyone, before charging into battle with a cry. No one could leave her behind, never, so everyone else tried to fight it, too.

Willow wished they'd all just kept running, that Wigfrid hadn't tried. She wished they'd lured it into a trap, burnt it, something! But no.

Idiots, everyone in the group were idiots then, clearly not knowing what was coming, because everyone just.. Charged. Tentacle spikes, ham bats, battle spear. Warriors helms, football helmets, log suits.

It worked. Technically, ignoring everything that happened, they did eventually kill it. But fuck, it wasn't worth it. It would never be anywhere close to worth it.

Never.

Never.

Never.

Never…

She was frozen in place when the worst of the worst part happened. Willow hated ice, so, so much. It got them all, in one swipe, she wasn't expecting it to be that powerful. The Deerclops froze them all in place in one swipe. Then, it chose a target to kill while everyone was defenseless in a block of ice.

Wilson.

Wilson.

Why, why, why wasn't it herself instead, in place of him, why did he have to die?!

It singled him out, and why, why would it single him out, and it murdered him, before anyone could break out of the ice. In front of their very eyes.

There were things Willow wished that they could've done instead. She wished they'd all just kept running. She wished they'd lured it into a trap, or burnt it. Which, technically, Willow did. She did burn it.

She screamed, and screamed, and burnt the forest down, as she was told by everyone else afterwards. Willow didn't even remember, she was too blinded by rage and grief to remember.

By the time that vile, awful creature escaped the fire, they barely had to do anything more before it went down. Just a few swings. Brutal, rage-filled swipes.

You know, one thing has never made sense to Willow, since it happened. A lot of things didn't, but this detail in particular irked her. When they skinned it for the meat, and damn, there wasn't ever going to be enough meat to make up for what happened, but they only got as about much meat as a fucking koalaphant.

Well, that and its stupid eyeball, which we had to keep too. The survivors who had lived past Deerclops' attack before, in the era before Maxwell was dethroned, knew it was too valuable to throw away. But that's besides the point.

No, what never made sense? Was the type of meat that was obtained from skinning it.

It wasn't monster meat. It was just completely average.

And to her, that was fucking enraging.

Why didn't this creature yield the iconic meat that all the monsters do when they die?! Was this a cruel joke?! Who didn't consider this abomination as a fucking monster?!

IT KILLED WILSON. IT DESTROYED THE BASE, AND THUS ANY CHANCE OF ANYONE ELSE SURVIVING PAST THIS.

HOW WASN'T IT CONSIDERED A MONSTER?!

Maxwell had told her shamefully that he had decided killing this creature should yield a good reward, and that monster meat just wasn't good enough to fill that purpose.

Willow logically knew that was justified, but it still irritated her to no end.

And then there was the funeral.

They had all decided Wilson had deserved a proper burial. Obviously. So everyone had to work together to make it happen. Woodie and Lucy cut down the trees and Winona and Wickerbottom built made the logs into boards and made the coffin. Webber and Wendy dug the hole. Maxwell, being the least disturbed by this kind of thing, moved the body.

They'd sent her to pick flowers for him.

Willow knew it was because they thought she was taking Wilson's death the hardest, and they definitely weren't wrong, but it didn't make her feel any better. Normally, picking flowers was soothing to Willow, which it was for a while, but of course that didn't last long. She didn't know why exactly, but just being alive, living, breathing was seeming to take a toll on her sanity.

A part of her wished that she could've helped more than she did. Another part of her was grateful that no one made her do any more.

Once Willow had come back with the flowers, it didn't take much longer for the funeral to start. Everyone mourned, most of the survivors crying, until the ceremony was over and everyone helped to bury the casket.

Willow hadn't cried during the whole thing. She just stood there, numb, until everyone had left. A few of the survivors tried to get her to come with them, but she refused, eventually leading everyone to reluctantly give up and leave her behind.

It was just her and the grave now.

Finally, with no one else around, Willow felt her composure finally break.

Which lead her to the present, sobbing uncontrollably in front of her dead best friend's grave, trying her best to stop denying everything that was happening. Willow ignored the cold of the snow as she collapsed to her knees, wrapping her arms around her stomach to hug herself pathetically.

Willow didn't know how long she'd been there, and how long she would be there until she regained her composure, but she didn't care. She couldn't focus on those questions, or anything really, with this pain in her heart distracting her.

She noticed through her blurry vision that the sun was about to set, but honestly, she didn't care. She had her lighter.

Probably.

And so what if she began to feel the cold seeping into her bones? That didn't even matter.

And even if she was beginning to see flickers of shadows at the edges of her vision, she didn't care. She probably had time before any of those flickers gained any form.

It didn't matter to Willow if she was in grave danger in a multitude of ways, what mattered was crying buckets of tears until the pain in her chest was gone.

Even if a part of Willow knew that no matter how much she cried it wouldn't take away the pain in her heart, that didn't matter to her. Even if she were to try, she wouldn't be able to stop crying. She knew that.

Between her shuddering sobs, she thought she heard a noise, and tried to quiet down a bit to hear. But there was nothing there, only a particularly cold breeze to make her shudder. Willow was just about to decide that she was going to ignore it when she felt something fall out of her pocket.

She looked down to see her lighter, glinting strangely in the light. Weird. That shouldn't have just... fallen out of her pocket like that?

She paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, before moving her hand slowly towards the lighter apprehensively. Just before she was about to grab it, a strange light enveloped it, and it seemed to jump a bit further from her.

"Ah!" The pyromaniac yelped, startled. The lighter continued to glint abnormally in the light for a moment before it faded back into reflecting normal lighting. "What…?" She murmured, curious and lowkey terrified.

She leaned down towards the lighter, on her hands and knees now, to get a closer look, face flushed from the cold. Surely enough, the same thing happened again, the lighter continuing to move in the same direction.

"Are… are you trying to lead me somewhere?" She muttered, mostly to herself. She watched as the strange glow disappeared again, and then immediately jumped again, glow returning. Willow stood up, the lighter a ways away from her now, and took a few steps closer to it. It jumped again. Willow took another step forwards.

This seemed to go on for an eternity, although in reality it was only a few minutes, when the lighter stopped, not moving again. Willow slowly picked up the lighter again, this time being met with no resistance, and looked up to see where it had lead her.

She was back to the ruins of the camp, the other survivors trying to fix certain parts of it. Willow paused, unsure of how to react, but feeling strangely calm as she walked back to where her little section of camp was. She began rebuilding slowly, too numb to really process what was happening.

Just as Willow finished fixing her firepit, the only thing she was really actively trying to fix at the moment, she looked up, paling.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, quickly throwing a log in the pit and lighting it up, just as the sky turned fully dark.

She collapsed near the fire, sighing in relief as she threw on another log and felt the warmth of her fiery companion for the night. She suddenly realized just how cold she was.

Willow paused, and looked to the lighter slowly. If the lighter hadn't started doing… whatever it had done when it did, she'd probably be dead right now.

Holy shit.

What had just happened?!

Willow felt a panic overtake her. What the hell just happened?! What made her lighter move?! Why did it save her?! Why didn't she care earlier that she was about to die?!

What was happening?!

A small part of Willow noted that this was a very late reaction to this, but it was drowned out by the larger part of her just panicking.

She looked to her lighter, opening her mouth to speak, before pausing.

"Oh no, I am not about to start trying to talk to my lighter!" She growled, upset at herself for what she was about to do. "I'm probably just losing my mind." She sighed, all anger gone as quickly as it came and a deep sorrow replacing it. It looks like she'd have to make a top hat or something tomorrow.

Against her will, Willow felt herself start to tear up. She hugged her knees to her chest, trying not to be too upset. But she couldn't help it. She was actually losing her mind over this.

Willow buried her face into her knees, silently crying. Oh god. She was losing her mind over this. What if she was too late? What if she couldn't save herself from her own insanity fast enough? What if the shadows attacked her now? What if-

Suddenly, she noticed a faint glow, and looked down. Her lighter.

It looked the same at it had earlier, but in the darkness of the night it was much easier to notice that it held a faint glow. It didn't jump this time, and the glow was significantly weaker than it had been earlier. But it also didn't disappear, constantly there.

"Oh- Oh my god?!" Willow gasped in shock, staring at the lighter with wide eyes. "Hello?!" She exclaimed, before immediately mentally scolding herself.

But the glow didn't go away. The lighter glowed strangely in the dark, a comforting blue light coming from it.

"Is this real…?" She muttered to herself, mesmerized. She realized it could just be a result of her insanity.

But then again, wasn't her reasoning for thinking she was insane was the fact that she thought the lighter had moved?

Willow thought, stumped. She had definitely seen shadows earlier, but was she already so far gone that she was imagining all of this? Seeing the glowing lighter right in front of her was definitely making her feel otherwise, but she could never be too careful. But how could she confirm that any of this was real?

Wait.

The others.

Willow smiled, coming up with an idea. If the others could see this too, then she'd know whether or not she'd gone insane. She just hoped that if she was losing it, the shadow monsters would at least wait until she was done asking her friends if the weird things her lighter was doing was real.

...

Before she knew it, it was morning. She'd stared at the lighter all night. When the sun chased away the darkness of the night, Willow panicked at first. She thought that the lighter had stopped glowing. But as soon as she'd thought this, it'd started glinting again, only for a moment before stopping.

This convinced Willow to move.

Willow walked hurriedly through the partially repaired camp, looking for someone, anyone, to confirm that what she'd seen the whole night was real.

Willow hoped it was real.

Willow spotted a glow in the distance, and rushed towards it. Once she was closer, she spotted who she suspected would be here, and walked to her in a panic.

The glow she'd seen in the distance was Abigail, and she knew that Wendy wouldn't be far behind her sister. Which Willow was right about. Perfect.

"Wendy!" She called out, stopping in front of the girl. She looked up at Willow, blinking in surprise. "Oh, you're alive. I thought that the darkness had taken you."

Willow paused, staring at the pessimistic girl for a second. You know what, she was just going to ignore that, there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Okay, but seriously, Wendy." Willow began, a bit nervously. "Do you notice anything weird about my lighter?"

Wendy stared hard at the lighter for a moment, before looking back up at Willow. "No."

Willow looked down at the lighter, sighing frustratedly. "It's not doing it right now."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

Willow shuddered, a sinking feeling in her gut. It wasn't real. "I thought I noticed something weird with my lighter, but I guess I was wrong. I-I think I'm losing it…" She spoke softly, sounding more terrified than Wendy had ever heard her.

There was a moment of silence before Willow noticed a soft glint. She gasped. "Wait. Wait. Do you see that? Please tell me you see that." Willow panicked, gesturing to the lighter. Wendy squinted hard, trying to see what Willow was talking about.

"I… I'm afraid I don't. I'm sorry, Willow." Wendy sighed. She knew that Willow didn't want to hear that she was crazy, but it was true, and lying to the pyromaniac would only make things worse.

"No, no. I-It's hard to see, there's gotta be a way to make it easier for you to see!" She cried, shivering violently. This can't be real. She can't be insane, this has to be real.

Willow was absolutely terrified.

"If there's a way to make it easier to see, try it. Trust me, I do want to see what you're seeing, but I'm afraid you might be right. You might be going crazy." Wendy told her, frowning nervously.

The girl was afraid for Willow, in all honesty. She hoped that Willow was right, that whatever she was seeing was just hard to notice. She hoped that Willow wasn't becoming insane. But Wendy knew that her hopes were unlikely.

Willow thought hard, feeling her breathing speed up. There had to be a way to make her see it. It felt so real, and it helped her, it prevented her death, it helped to calm her down, it had to be real, it had to be! Suddenly, Willow got an idea.

"It glows!" She exclaimed, causing Wendy to flinch a bit at her volume. "T-the lighter, it should glow, i-it should be glowing!" She explained hastily, using the hand that wasn't holding her prized possession to cast a shadow over the lighter. She saw the lighter glowing softly, much easier to notice in the slight shadow her hand cast, but still hard to see.

Wordlessly, Wendy slowly brought her hands near Willows, trying to block out as much sunlight as possible to see if Willow was right. She squinted for a moment before her eyes widened. The pessimistic girl gasped in surprise.

"I-I see it!" She exclaimed. Willow tensed for a moment, before smiling widely. "Y-you do?! I haven't completely lost it?!" She cried out, hopefully. She felt her eyes well up with happy tears.

"Yeah! I do!" Wendy grinned, relieved that her friend wasn't hallucinating. "Oh, great, that-that's… I'm…" Willow grinned widely, relief clear across her features, trying her best to speak but unable to find the right words.

"That's just… That's just so great to hear." Willow sobbed out, smiling widely as relieved tears streamed down her face.

Wendy noticed Abigail making her way over to see what was happening, before the ghost paused. Suddenly, the spirit rushed over. Willow looked up to see Abigail staring at the lighter with wide eyes. The ghost whispered frantically, to quickly for Willow to understand.

Abigail was already hard to understand, but if she tried she could make survivors other than Wendy understand her. But with such quick words out of the ghost, it was impossible for anyone other than Wendy to understand her.

"What? What's happening, Abigail?" Wendy asked. The ghost turned to her, eyes wide. Abigail said something to her sister in her ghostly whispers, causing Wendy's eyes to widen. "What?!" Wendy exclaimed.

Abigail responded, seeming as shaken up as Wendy was by whatever she saw.

"What? What's going on?!" Willow asked, panicking a bit. Wendy turned to her, looking more shocked than Willow had ever seen her.

"Willow…" Wendy began, sounding as shaken as she looked. "Abigail… She knows what's happening to your lighter."

"What?! What's happening to it?!"

"It's being possessed. Abigail says it's Wilson."

IT'S DONE, YES, I'VE HAD THIS IDEA FOR SO LONG! Hopefully this is good, if you guys like it feel free to leave a review! Hopefully I'll bother to finish this! Bye!