There was nothing to see in the huge theater. All of the seats were empty, devoid of their feline occupants. As he moved the flashlight around to see better, he noticed that some of the chairs were broken.
The wood of some had been snapped in half, leaving jagged spikes of chairs out and ready to impale if he happened to slip. The cobwebs all over were much like the ones in the hallway, though these ones seemed to belong to a much bigger creature.
He walks down the theater isle cautiously, gripping the flashlight in his hand tightly, an unconscious fear of someone or something snatching it away deep inside of him. He can't see that far down, the dust making the beam of light seem solid.
As he is halfway down, the stage getting closer and closer, he hears something rustle above him. He assumes it's something having to do with the decomposing curtains hung near the walls, some of the thread ripping and letting the mess pool to the ground.
He hears the sound of rustling again. This time, he stops and points the flashlight beam up to the ceiling where the sound had come from. His blood runs cold as he takes in the sight of a thousand creatures, all hanging on the ceiling like bats.
They have mangled faces, almost like their skin is falling off of the bone, leaving exposed innards and guts. Katsuki watches as some of them bite and nip at their companions, ripping and tearing at flesh that comes off so easily.
The creature under the main focus of his flashlight winces, its pupils slitting and its cat ears twitching. Then, it looks down at him and lets out a screech, dropping some of the chunks of flesh out of its mouth.
It reverberates throughout the once quiet theater and Katsuki sees some of the flesh plopping onto the ground with wet slaps. The creature takes that chance to swoop down, claws extended and ready to swipe at him. He falls to the ground right on time, clicking the flashlight off.
The creature gets back up into the air and nestles itself in a new spot on the ceiling. It cries out as others begin to feast on it. Katsuki watches the sight for a moment until he finally catches his breath. He grips the flashlight again, not aiming it at the ceiling anymore.
He takes the stone from out of his pocket and puts it to his eye. He begins to look around, up to the ceiling and around the seats. There is nothing but the gray world with no sign of the burning red of a soul.
That is until he aims his line of sight onto the empty stage, now with no seats or equipment. There is a big ball of something on the center of the stage. Katsuki feels a shiver wrack his spine, but he balls up his hand and moves forward.
Something brown glows directly in that ball when Katsuki looks through the stone. He puts it back into his pocket and gets closer. The smell of rotting flesh gets stronger and stronger. The ball is made up of hair and red liquid that has mysterious chunks in it, all moving in collective breaths as if alive.
As he focuses his flashlight on it, it seems to twitch. Inside, there are two people with way too many arms and way too many legs. They are twisted, smooshed, smashed, and melded together to make one person. Mr. Aizawa and Mr. Hizashi, Katsuki's brain supplies.
All between that mess, two hands held the soul, intwined. Slowly and carefully lifting himself up on the rotting stage, Katsuki is trying his harder not to make a single noise. That thing in there is clearly something that he can't take in a fight, and if it's sleeping right now, then there is a chance he can get the soul without having to do some crazy shit.
He gets closer, sucks in a breath, holds it, and does what he needs to do. He moves his arm, his hand touching the cold mixture of meat and guts before he clenches his fist and pushes through it harder. It squelches and churns around his arm and he grits his teeth, trying to fight the urge to get his arm out of this thing.
His hand touches another hand, and he feels along the fingers to the small marble. The hand felt slippery, like if Katsuki moved too much, his fingers would go right off, and he would lose his place. He finally got to the marble and tugged; the fingers still wrapped around it.
He takes another breath and with one final firm tug, he takes the marble and pulls his arm out of the ball, his face scrunched up in disgust.
"Fucking gross fucking gross fucking gross-"
He angrily whispers, looking at the sleeve of his arm, now stained red and wet. He is about to turn away when his flashlight catches their faces again. He doesn't expect anything, but he nearly shits himself when four button eyes open, staring directly at him.
Then, an arm, twisted and melded, bursts out of the ball and reaches for him. Then, in two voices that Katsuki has never heard in his whole life, high pitched and anguished, they scream,
"Thief! Stop! Give it back! Thief!"
YOU ARE READING
Strings and Buttons
FanfictionIn celebration of the fall. Katsuki Bakugo has moved into a new place with his parents, leaving behind his middle school friends and life in exchange for empty gardens and rotting apples. though not everything is what it seems, especially when he m...
