MCYT RANDOMNESS 2

Torn and twisting: pt 3

Trigger warnings -Gore -Self-harm -mild Body horror -Drug/alcohol equivalent substances -Blood -Mentions of possession

PoV: Cub

I don't talk for the entire flight back to Scar's base. My mind runs through everything, still foggy, just a dull horror, flashes of my friends' terrified faces that won't leave my mind. I barely keep balance as I land. I need to be alone. I need to recover. So I immediately try to slip off towards the safe room.

Scar grabs my hand.

'I need to check if you're hurt, or the sculk is...'

'Later,' I mutter, too exhausted for more than quiet pleading. Scar pauses, his grip loosens enough for me to free myself. 'I just want to be alone to process.'

'Ok. But tell me now if you're hurting at all.'

'I'll be half an hour. It can wait.' I don't mention my splintering headache, or the prickling pain in my wrists, and ankles that could be real or phantom. Scar pauses.

'If you're hurt, I want to help you now.'

'It can wait!' I repeat, louder. Scar steps away. There's tears in his eyes.

'I'm sorry. Find me when you're feeling better.'

'I'm heading to the safe room, so I'll call you to let me out.'

'Of course. See you soon.'

I feel Scar still staring at me as I limp over to the hidden entrance in his terraforming, leading down into his safe room. He's painted the walls a warm, welcoming orange since I was last here, with little drawings of animals and trees. I smile. Before the truth digs into my mind.

The sculk would ruin this place in seconds if I let it out again.

I hurry, as much as I can, into the actual safe room, slamming the door shut behind me. It locks automatically with a click that's almost become comforting. Only then can I breathe. I try to sit, and end up collapsing onto a pile of bean bags, my leg only stinging more and more by the second. For a moment, I just have to lie there, hugging one of the larger teddies close to my writhing chest, tight enough to calm some of the turmoil. I curl up around it, bury my face in its fur.

And scream.

The sound muffles, and the walls block the rest. I'm safe to just scream, and scream, and scream. What I did. Attacking Cleo and Pearl. Terrifying Ren. He was right there when the Sculk took over. He doesn't know anything about this. I know from Season 5 he gets particularly jumpy around magic and possession. He put his hand on my shoulder. The last thing I remember, he had his hand on my shoulder. And when I woke up, he was hugging close to Tango and utterly inconsolable with horror. All of them were horrified. They had to pin me to the ground to stop me hurting anyone else. Skizz was there.

Another scream. My claws tear through the teddy's fur, letting out a flow of stuffing. Hurting it too. Killing it too. I throw it across the room and am left with nothing but hate and terror.

The sculk's still there. It's still inside me, some part of me, to take control like that. Give me that nightmare of-

I can't think about that bit.

I can't think about the implications.

What if that happens every time I try to sleep?

I need to get rid of the sculk. I need to. I need to get it out.

I scramble up, and then to the ground, my injured leg out in front of me. I pull up my trouser leg, and then tear off the bandages. The stitches Cleo gave are still in place, but the skin around is darker, bluer. Not much. Possibly a trick of the light. But it's enough to send another bolt of terror through my chest and shooting through my veins.