"𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕙𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪."

Ineluctable

( Content warnings for this chapter: Disembowelment, mutilation, character death, drowning, torture, graphic depictions of violence and gore. Reader discretion is advised. )

3 should have known that things wouldn't stay good. It had been two years since Mark's alternate problem forced him to let it back into his life. And it had been wonderful, even with all its ups and downs, with all of Mark's rightful anger towards it, and how hard it'd been to earn his trust back somewhat.

Still... Sometimes, it needed some time away. Not that it didn't like Mark's house, just that this wasn't exactly what it'd have wanted for its life. So, when his roommate was gone, it tended to go outside. It had to go out in its human disguise, with one over it. Usually, it took one of Mark's hoodies, pulling the hood over its head, which was exactly what it was doing right now.

It didn't do anything in particular, just... 3 missed being able to do whatever it wanted. The way things had gone, it was dangerous to be outside, not only for itself, but Mark could get attacked. It was a lot of responsibility, one that it hadn't asked for, but it did deserve. After all, if it hadn't killed Cesar they wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place. It had been doing what it was made for, but it didn't excuse its actions.

The alternate decided to let its thoughts rest, laying back against the tree trunk a bit more. It relaxed with the soft sounds of the forest, the birds chirping, and the noise of rushing water not that far off. A good place to unwind, to feel the world almost pass it by. The forest was good for that, lacking the noises that humans were known for. There were no cars, no people laughing and talking, no cellphones around. Completely and utterly peaceful, the closest thing that a creature like it could get to experiencing heaven.

And then it felt the small shift in temperature. 3 sat up with a start, looking around for anything wrong. Anything that might tell it was who it thought. Father. He hadn't made an appearance ever since that day, which had just served to fuel its nightmares. He had to be nearby, it hadn't seen any alternates around here before, and Father had a reason to follow it. To kill it, like he promised to so long ago. Of course it had to happen now that everything was alright.

It looked around for a few minutes, nerves on edge for the whole time. After ten minutes of searching, it decided to stop. It was just... A random gust of wind. Everything was fine.

"Already giving up, 3? I thought I taught you better than that."

3 whirled around to face the voice, figure shifting slightly in panic. There he was, in all his robed glory, his smile big and sinister. Father. It took a step back, trying to find a way out of this, a way to escape.

It needed to run. 3 turned around and started to sprint, trying not to stumble on any of the greenery. But, no matter how much it kept running, it didn't seem to be moving forward. The forest looked the same, no matter how much it kept running, how its legs were starting to hurt from the effort.

It got to a point where 3 couldn't run anymore, falling to the floor. Fuck. It tried to scramble up, arms trying to pull it up and off the ground, but it felt a sudden weight on its back, making it fall back down onto the ground.

"Good attempt, I suppose. Useless, but I suppose I can commend you for it. Still, it'd be annoying for you to try that again..."

A few beats of uncomfortable silence, 3 wondering what Father was going to do. It felt one of its arms be grabbed, pulled upwards at an uncomfortable angle, before it clicked.

"Please nno-"

A sickening crack, and it went quiet. It couldn't move one of its arms. 3 tried trashing around, to avoid the same fate on its other arm, but it was futile. It whimpered at the now dulling pain, shaking in its spot. It knew how Father must be looking at him, with a sadistic smirk that it'd seen so many times before. 3 never thought it'd be directed at it.

"There we go. It's much better if you can't move and mess up my work, don't you think?"

The alternate tried not to sob, pressing itself deeper into Mark's hoodie. It was going to die, it knew that, alone and afraid in this forest, so... Why spare itself any comfort? It let its tears roll freely down its face, shaking like a leaf.

"Hm. I prefer it when they beg, but this is fine too, I suppose."

It felt the weight get off its back, and then a hand grip it by the hood of its sweater, turning it so that it was laying on its back instead.

"Are we crying now? Don't stop on my accord then."

He put his foot on the wounded alternate's chest, shoving it further into the ground and taking the breath out of it. The antichrist took in its appearance, eyes cold. He seemed to be thinking, a bad sign given the current situation.

"Now, what should I do with you? I could gut you like a fish, but alternates have no real organs, so that's be incredibly unfulfilling..."

It was then that 3 got an idea. If someone heard, they might help it, right? It doubted that to be the case, but what else could it do? It couldn't get up, and it was in the middle of the woods. The alternate wanted to live.

"HELP! ANYONE, PLE-"

A sudden pain in its throat made it stop. While it had been screaming for help, Father had leaned down, and had started to grip its throat with remarkable strength.

"That'll get annoying fast. Thankfully, I know just the way to shut you up."

His fingers started to dig into its throat, and it wasn't long before it felt them pierce its dark flesh. 'Gabriel' smiled, before clenching his hand even tighter into the creature's throat, roughly pulling forwards. A huge chunk of its flesh came out, and it tried to scream, only to find that it couldn't. There, in the middle of the gory mess in the antichrist's hands were its vocal chords.

"There we go. You know, 3, if you had just stayed at your little human's home, nothing would have happened. But now? Nobody knows where you are. No one is coming to help you. And, when I'm done with you... I think I'll pay him a visit, too."

3 tried to get up, his legs moving weakly, but it couldn't. It all just hurt so much. It had tried its hardest, right? 3 just... wished that Mark would know where it went. That it didn't just leave, disappear into thin air.

"Giving up, then? Good choice. Now, what should I do with you... Oh, I've got some interesting ideas."

3 stared at the antichrist, watching how his fingers shifted into dark claws. It couldn't do anything but watch as its hand tore a straight line through its chest, feeling the fabric of the hoodie and its skin give way, the sudden sticky, warm feeling underneath it. 'Gabriel' grabbed on to the two separate bits of skin, pulling them apart. He watched gleefully as the hole in his version's chest grew, skin stretched and hoodie tainted with its blood.

"Mm, so satisfying..."

He lifted his hand out of the other's chest, watching the blood drip down and stain his robe grey. 3 was starting to get dizzy from blood loss, eyes hazy and unfocused. It couldn't even make a noise, the only thing to signify it was still alive being the small shakes of its form.

"Well, I've had my fun. This is starting to get a bit too drawn out for my taste. This is all your fault, 3. If you had simply followed my instructions, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Do your best to remember that."

The antichrist got up, grabbing the hood of the alternate's hoodie and dragging it along by it. 3 just watched as they started to move, the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder. It was turned around to face the other way. A river, its current going peacefully.

It couldn't resist as its head was pushed underwater, a hand on the back of its head keeping it in place. It only took a few seconds for it to start thrashing around, legs trying to kick out at his assailant. It wasn't long until its struggles began to die down, vision growing fuzzier and fuzzier. 'Mark... I'm sorry.' In its last moments of life, it could hear its murderer chuckle, satisfied.

"Let's visit your little human. I'm sure he'd love to see you again."