Chapter Text
His soft footsteps rang through the dead silent of the hallway, the flashing red of the silenced alarms piercing through the cloth wrapped around his head and over his eyes.
“⍙⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏃⍀⟒ ⊬⍜⎍? ⌿⌰⟒⏃⌇⟒... ⌿⌰⟒⏃⌇⟒! ?” His cry devolved into a harsh cough. The words spoken had been unrecognizable, no they weren’t, stop lying, even to himself. Why can’t I understand? He knew he could. He just didn’t want to. He pushed aside the thoughts as the ĐɆ₳Đ silence crashed around him. Too quiet. Where is everyone? Anyone?
Red. Dark. Red. Dark.
He stumbled, sending himself crashing into a wall. His fingers, claws? Were they always like this? They had been hadn’t they His. claws dug into the drywall as he fought to ground himself. To ignore everything.
“₩Ⱨ₳₮ гРɎØɄ ĐØ?”
He flinched. Taking a shaky breath, he leaned forward, resting his head against the wall.
“I ⎅⟟⎅⋏'⏁. Ǐ̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞ ̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̌̄̄̈́͟͞ď̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞ǐ̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞ď̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞ň̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞'̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̌̄̄̈́͟͞ť̵̵͓̫̲̭͔̄̄̈́͟͞ ”
Laughter tore through his head and his ears flicked back, trying to ignore the white dancing on the edge of his vision. White was always worse than purple.
“ɎØɄ ₭₦Ø₩ ₩Ⱨ₳₮ ɎØɄ ĐłĐ.”
Why was it always so confident? So… teasing?
“I ⎅⟟⎅⋏'⏁. ⟟ ☊⍜⎍⌰⎅⋏'⏁...
“₵₳₦’₮ ɆVɆ₦ ₮₳Ⱡ₭ ⱧɄ₥₳₦ ₦Ø₩?”
He carefully pulled his claws out of the wall, dried plaster clinging to them “Your hand are so soft! Like silk!” Turning slowly, he looked for the figure. He knew it wouldn’t be there. It never was.
“₩Ⱨ₳₮ гРł ₮ɆⱠⱠ ɎØɄ?”
He knew. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. His claws dug into his scalp, drawling blood as he clutched at his head.
“ɎØɄ ₳ⱤɆ ₥Ɇ.”
“⌇⊑⎍⏁ ⎍⌿.”
A door slammed, and his head shot up. He… He wasn’t alone? Purple dripped from his claws as she stood from his crouch. When had he crouched? Wasn’t he standing the whole time? He stumbled toward the noise, slowly at first, but picking up speed as the whisper chased him down the hall.
“₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ⱤɄ₦₦ł₦₲ ₳₩₳Ɏ ₣ⱤØ₥ ₥Ɇ?”
“₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ?”
“Ȧ̶̵̗̳r̶̷̲͍̭͐̾̀͟ę̷̵̧̖̫̗̆̊ y̯̤͑́́̓ȍ̸̢̢̮͚̐̚û̶͙̽̿͆̈?”
“C҉͓̟͇̼͕̻ͭ͌ͩ̒͘͜͡͞͠a҉͖̟̜̞̂̃̑̽͢͢͠͡n̸͐̈́͟͟͝ ȳ̸̵̩̜͔͍̔́͟͟͢͡o҉̢̡̲̌͗͝u̶͖̖͆̊̈́͡͡?”
Spotting a sliver of stable yellow cutting through the flashing red, he skittered to a stop, staring at the door with wild eyes before slowly reaching out. Grasping the cold handle, he slowly pulled the door open. Pale and wide eyed, the inhabitants stated back at him, the light from the alarms bathing the room red. He took a step forward. And. They. Screamed.
The piercing shriek tore through his head and he flinched back, hastily reaching up to cover his ears, purple blood flinging off his fingers and onto the face of one of the others in his haste. He looked up, plea for help dying in his mouth as they skittered away from him, huddling in a corner.
“Monster… monster… monster…” The half whispered, half cried word poured from the lips of the smallest one, shoving a knife deeper into his heart with each repetition.
“Monster Monster Monster”
The voice laughed before joining in.
“₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ ₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ ₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ”
“I’m ⋏⍜⏁…” He trailed off as the words distorted. Purple flecks dotted the face of one, staring at him in accusation as the man grabbed a pipe off the floor, brandishing it between the group huddled in the corner and the creature in the doorway.
“₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ ₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ ₥Ø₦₴₮ɆⱤ”