Barely Alive - Josh Washington x Reader

Chapter 31

You couldn't really tell how long it had been since he brought you here. It could have been several days, maybe even a week. Keeping track of time was rather difficult due to the fact that Josh took a lot of your attention. He showed signs of recovery, but his animalistic behavior continued to show in between periods of time. He still couldn't properly talk yet, but he was improving. His stance was as tall as it had ever been, and at this point you wondered if he was going to shrink back to his original form at all.

All of this weren't as concerning, especially not after you discovered two bumps on the sides of his head, right above his ears. They had a bone-like feel to them, their color representing a light beige, almost like some kind of horns or antlers.

You ran your fingers over them yet again, Josh silently sitting between your legs and continuing to glance back over his shoulder as you tried to think of a way to explain that there was definitely something growing above his ears. You couldn't exactly remember the symptoms of turning into a wendigo, but you assumed at the sight that this was a part of it. Unfortunately, Josh wasn't recovering in the way you wanted him too.

"I can't tell what they are... they're a little fuzzy actually." There was some small fluff covering the bumps, and it almost gave them a soft look even though they felt like hardened wood.

Josh whined in response, replacing your fingers with his own hands and covering them under his palms. He sighed, a deep exhale that was filled with worries. You noticed him visibly shiver, and you could definitely agree that it was rather cold in his room. You rose from your position behind him and wrapped the vest you wore tighter around your frame.

"Lets go downstairs. It's almost time for dinner." The past few days you had managed to make yourself and Josh some food, the only ingredients being canned food stacked at the back of the cabinets. You were able to make it somewhat eatable by adding some spices, but it still wasn't very good. As long as you could go to bed with a filled stomach you were content, the situation didn't exactly allow you to prepare a fresh meal everyday, even though you would be happy to serve that to Josh.

Josh had been on a vegetarian diet till further notice, you felt like if he continued to eat meat his symptoms wouldn't exactly lessen. Just like in the hospital, it didn't exactly help to continue to feed him meat every single day.

As you held Josh' hand and guided him down the stairs, there was something nagging you. Your grip on his claw tightened as you reached the first floor, and Josh growled at the sudden firmness of your grip.

"Something's... not feeling right..." You whispered, the volume of your voice lowering instinctively as you scanned your eyes around the hall at the front door. Slowly you unwrapped your fingers from Josh' knuckles and placed a finger against your lip as a gesture for him to stay silent.

Your usual gentle footsteps were replaced by silent tip-toeing, and you inspected the front door with judging eyes.
Just as you thought there was indeed something wrong. With wide eyes you motioned towards the stairs, whispering that Josh should hide in his room until you would come and get him. He nodded understandably, eyes scanning over your furrowed eyebrows before turning around and making his way back upstairs.

With all the courage you managed to collect from within yourself, you slowly made your way towards the kitchen. With a glance around the corner you confirmed it was empty, so you continued to walk towards the living room. With as much caution as before you peaked into the room, focusing on any sign of movement or sound.

Footsteps, but they weren't coming from the living room.  Now the fear was causing your heart to speed up, cold sweat running down your spine as you listened to the fade in of feet shuffling behind you. The tension of being surrounded by darkness, only your hearing being a trustful sense at this particular moment was killing you, and you couldn't remember feeling this tense since wandering through the caves.

Then suddenly light. It shined against the back of your head, creating a shadow of your own silhouette on the floor in front of you. Your breath hitched in your throat, and with widened eyes you turned your head towards the source.

A flashlight came peaking from an opened door leading to the basement. You could only see a hand holding the large object, the rest of the persons body was engulfed in darkness. So you stared back into the darkness, trying to search for the face of the intruder.

"S-Show yourself!" You managed to speak up, hoping it would just be some kind of burglar instead of the police or something.

But to your surprise the flashlight fell to the ground, and a loud sob came from the person that was previously holding it. You swallowed thickly and repeated your words a little more confidently.

"Show yourself!"

"Y/n.... you're still alive..." and then he revealed himself. With shaking hands you grabbed the edge of the doorway to the living room. The flashlight was picked up, and with a turn of his hand he forced your knees to buckle from the tension and relax in relieve.

"C-Chris..." He nodded at the mention of his name. And then you suddenly felt 500 pounds lighter, as if you were floating. The amount of relieve that washed over you as he rushed over to you and wrapped you into his arms was overwhelming, and before you knew it you were sobbing into his arms.

"Chris... I'm so... I feel-" You coughed between your words, spilling every single emotion that had been bottled up in the last few weeks into his shirt as you cried.

"I-It's okay, Y/n. I'm here, you're safe." He whispered with just as much emotion, holding you tightly into his arms as if he was afraid he'd lose you again.

"I'm here to save you..." You nodded but quickly corrected him.

"You're here to save Josh... I'm fine."

"W-Wait he's here?! You didn't escape from him?" Chris pulled away from you, a sudden hit of fear returning. You gave him a confused look.

"Of course, he's the one that took me here... how else would I know where he lives?" You chuckled, wiping some tears from under your eyes with the sleeve of your vest. Chris seemed to go into panic mode all of a sudden, grabbing your arm and pulling you up.

"We need to leave, he's dangerous."
You scoffed and ripped your arm from his grip, looking up at your brother with disbelief in your eyes.

"No, Josh took me here. He's been protecting me, he's not dangerous!"

"He'll kill you once he get the chance!"

"He's your friend, Chris!"

"That thing is not my friend anymore! He's a dangerous monster that will kill us if we don't get out of here!"
You were speechless as you listened to your brother speak. The fear that showed in his eyes was unrecognizable and you could see that he was terrified to face Josh again.

But you didn't have to argue anymore, because as Chris turned around he came face to face with the one he wanted to avoid at all costs, and that person had heard every word he said. His arms hung loosely besides his tall body, and his eyes showed sadness and betrayal. His torn up cheek moved slowly as Josh slowly mentioned his best friend's name.

"Chris..."

"J-Josh..."