Toxic Mentality~ {TRANS HUNTER AU}

Chapter 30: "Why me?"

im sorry.

TW: PANIC ATTACK, CHILD ABUSE, BLOOD, IMPALING, SUFFOCATION/CHOKING
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Hunter's POV:

I woke up a lot later than usual, which was strangely happening more often since I wasn't waking up to a 5:30 alarm like in the Emperor's Coven. I looked around and saw rays of golden light peeking through the small window just above ground level at the top of the basement wall opposite of the staircase. I checked the time on my phone to see that it was already 12:34. I groaned, stretched, cracked my back, and stood up. I looked over at the couch, Gus wasn't there. That made sense though, because he was usually awake and upstairs by this time. I threw on my binder and a black baggy hoodie, followed by gray sweatpants. I jogged up the stairs and creaked open the door, only to see no one there. I looked around the living room first, then the kitchen and bedrooms, but there was no one in the house at all. I looked out one of the windows in the living room when I heard a few small taps on it, noticing it had started to rain. My first thought was 'what if they went out, and got caught in the rain?' until I remembered rain didn't boil in the human realm, and began worrying even more than before. I frantically searched the house once again, hoping, praying that someone would be home in a room I didn't check. I knew they had to just be out shopping, or running errands, but I still was hopelessly, relentlessly, frantically tearing the house apart, just looking for someone. Even Flapjack was gone, and he never left my side. I eventually wore myself out, and slumped down onto the couch. I checked the time on my phone again, which I pulled out of my pocket when I don't even remember putting it there, and it showed 12:37. What? I thought to myself, sure it had been at least an hour since I last checked the time.

I sighed, and decided that maybe everyone was in the shed since we had been fixing it up for quite a while now. I threw on a pair of Crocs and walked outside, shivering at the unusually cold temperature along with the cool sprinkles of rain. I walked through the wet grass, following it down the road to the woods. It took longer than expected to reach the old house, but it looked even more run-down than it was when we found it. I made a face when I accidentally stepped in mud and got my socks wet, but I just needed to make sure everyone was okay, so I kept walking. I grabbed for the door handle, pulling it, but it wouldn't budge. I leaned back on all my weight, my crocs sliding on the broken wooden planks, until the door opened and it flung me down on the steps onto my back. I groaned at the sudden harsh pain, but still sat back up nonetheless.

My eyes widened. "What the-..." I meant to say something, but it only came out as a whisper, inside the small abandoned house was awful. There was growing mold, broken and rotting floorboards, and a hornets' nest in a corner of the ceiling. But what caught my eye the most was a glob of green-ish sludge sitting right in the doorway which leads down the hall. I pushed myself up to a standing position, ignoring the aching pain in my back. I sucked in a quick breath through my teeth in response to a spike of pain that shot through my lower back when I straightened it, and slowly began walking towards the front door of the house. I stepped over a broken board sticking up out of the floor, and into the house. Everything was eerily quiet, causing me to jump when one of the boards creaked under my foot. I stepped around a hole in the floor and crept closer to the strange green glob, not taking my eyes off of it for a second. That was, until I heard my name said in a voice all too familiar. "Hunter..." The voice croaked, hoarse and deep. I froze. The voice echoed in my head, just loud enough so I couldn't hear anything else around me. My head spun, and my thoughts spiraled and twisted around me, making sure I couldn't move even if I wanted to. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move, I couldn't think. My vision became blurry with tears that threatened to fall, while his foul breath grew hot on my neck. I could tell he had perched his head right above my shoulder, but I didn't dare turn my head to look. My whole body trembling with fear, I swallowed hard, my throat dry and raspy.

When I suddenly didn't hear his breathing anymore, my ears perked up in curiosity. I turned to look, only to find myself in an empty room once again. I turned back to where the blob of green sludge once laid, only to see a wet residue where it was. I stepped forward, inching towards the doorway again. My heart still raced from previous events, pounding in my ears and giving me a headache. I tip-toed down the hall, only then realizing there were more rooms in that old house. I peeked into each room, all empty except for some really old furniture, which was rotted and covered in moss and mold. I soon came across an old door at the end of the hall, which was slightly cracked open, and part of that green sludge dripped off of the doorknob. I wedged the door open with my foot, trying to avoid the dripping goo, and carefully walked down the stairs.

As I stepped down, a board broke under my foot and caused me to yelp, but I steadied myself again and continued downward with a shaky sigh. My breath hitched when I reached the bottom of the stairs, freezing up when I heard a squelch under my foot. I cringed and lifted up my foot, only to stop again when I looked around the room. It was dark and humid, but I still made out a familiar silhouette using the sliver of light peering through the doorway. It was Belos. But it didn't feel right. There was something off, wrong. I heard a strange crunch, and the monster jerked it's head up and back. He was hunched over, back facing towards me, hiding what he was doing. I crept around the room, careful to not make sound so he wouldn't notice me. He was crouched over a large lump on the floor, the details of which hidden by his towering shadow. It reeked of death and mold, and I had to plug my nose to keep from gagging. The stench was so foul, it smelled like something had been rotting there for months on end, I could taste it even.

I stepped on a creaky board and Belos snapped his head around to look at me. The glowing blue eyes blanketing his body emitted a low, eerie light, not enough to actually see anything, but just enough to make out the outline of his face. I stepped back as he took a step forward, attempting to keep a distance between us. He eventually backed me into a wall, though, and I had nowhere left to go. So, in a moment of irrational thinking, I ran. I barely avoided tripping up the stairs, and had to grab the wall to keep myself steady as I went around the corner, but I got out of the house and ran towards Camila's. I burst open the door, immediately locking it behind me and running downstairs into the basement, where I curled up into a ball on the couch and cried.

It was no use trying to steady my quick, uneven breaths, so I let it all out. "I- I don't want to die anymore." I sobbed out, tears streaming down my face and my nails digging into my legs. "Why-y?.. Wh- Why does it always have to be me?" I choked on tears, struggling to even form words I was crying so hard. "Why me?" Choked out of my throat, quiet enough to be just above a cracked whisper. It felt like I couldn't breath- breathing too fast, not getting enough oxygen. I coughed violently, still trying to take in air as I did so. All of my thoughts were so overwhelming, I couldn't think properly, I couldn't breath, and I guess that's why I didn't notice the creaking open of the basement door.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and I looked down to see a spike of greenish sludge pierced right through me. I went to inhale, but it quickly became a gargle, and I coughed and spit up blood, which splattered all over the floor and couch. The spear-like shape retracted back to Belos' deformed, unsettling body, and I fell off the couch and scrambled back to the wall, still coughing and trying to breath. "F- fhuck." I barely breathed out, choking on tears and blood.

A slimy, deformed hand covered my mouth and nose, forcing me to look up at him. He crept closer to my ear, and a croaky whisper came out, but all it said was "Disappointing." He backed up farther, and made eye contact with me, just before my vision went blurry, then black.

1597 words

i would say im sorry for the cliffhanger but that would be a lie :3

ily guys, cya next chapter so you can find out what happens nextt <3