[1] HOUSE OF CROWS | Haikyuu!! (Murder of Crows) ✓

HOUSE OF CROWS | 11

There was something dreadfully, dreadfully wrong with Hinata's face.

Perhaps it was the shadows, teasing out the sharp edges and cutting lines of his features, or a trick of the light, but the boy was almost unrecognisable. His eyes were still deep black hollows, yet he seemed able to see exactly where you were, and his mouth was drawn up into a smile, razor-thin and threatening. Kuroo's words echoed once more between the spaces in your thoughts, and gooseflesh crawled over the back of your neck. 

That's not Hinata anymore.

And then you noticed the shadow behind him, a figure that seemed to bleed into his, but with a face of its own. You saw the glimmer of ashen skin, black glossy eyes, and a smile like a wolf's, hungry and animalistic.

Hinata wasn't alone.

"Guys..." you whispered, your voice hitching when Hinata snapped his head towards you. "I think we should-"

"Run!" Kuroo finished, and someone grabbed you from behind, pulling you after them. It was Tsukishima, to your surprise. His glasses were filthy and you were surprised he could see out of them at all, but his face was set with grim determination, and he let go of you as soon as he was confident you were stable enough on your own two feet. 

You kept one hand covering the cut on your shoulder as you ran, trying to quell the blood flow and ignore the pain lancing up your arm. Twigs and leaves upturned beneath your heel, snagging at your ankles in a desperate attempt to trap you, to pull you back into the arms of the forest. You could hear something thrashing through the trees behind you, giving chase, but didn't bother turning to see if it was Hinata or... the other thing, the shadow with the glossy eyes and hungry smile. Who was he? Or as Kuroo would have said, what was he? There had been something distinctly inhuman about him. Something wicked, like the way Hinata had looked at you with those hollow eyes. 

"Does this forest ever fucking end?" You growled as you tripped for the third time, almost crashing into the back of Akaashi. Then he abruptly stopped, and you did stumble into him, your arm bumping painfully against his. "Why are we stopping?" You gasped, blood thudding dully in your ears. "We're still being... Oh, shit."

Standing between the trees once more was the house, its door flung wide open like a hungry mouth.

"We've been going in circles?" You cried, throwing a glance over your shoulder. Something was moving in the shadows behind you. "He's coming. We need to move."

"Keep running or hide in the house?"

"I'm not going back in that place," Tsukishima said with a shudder, and nobody disagreed. The rest of you followed Kuroo as he ran around the house, chipping his elbow on a cornerstone as he tripped over something buried in the grass. You steadied him, and saw the sweat running down his face, sticking his hair down to his scalp. His eyes were dark and haunted, passing over you almost without seeing.

Then another building came into view - a small outhouse buried between the trees behind the House of Crows. Without consulting the others, Kuroo threw open the door and the three of you stumbled after him into the dark. The door whispered shut behind you, and then all was silent. In the beam of Akaashi's flashlight, you realised you were in a small, windowless shed. It was empty, nothing but dust and cobwebs.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to trap ourselves in here?" You said in a hushed voice.

"If we're quiet, hopefully he won't know where we are."

"What was that thing?" You asked after a moment, resting your back against the cold stone wall.

"What thing?" Tsukishima panted, taking off his glasses to finally wipe the dirt and sweat off them. "It was Hinata wasn't it-"

"No, not him. The thing behind him," you said impatiently. Had nobody else seen in? The second shadow.

Then Kuroo cleared his throat. In the guttering light, there was an odd look in his eyes, that strange depth that you'd seen earlier. "I think it was the Crow."

You opened your mouth to challenge him, but found that you couldn't. You really didn't know what to believe anymore.

Silence fell heavy and sudden when you heard footsteps outside the shed. Akaashi and Kuroo quickly switched their torches off, plunging you into darkness. You almost held your breath, but you already felt lightheaded from bloodloss and didn't want to risk passing out. The soft tread of feet drew closer to the shed, and you wondered for a brief, panicked moment if they knew you were in there. But then the footsteps passed, getting further away, and you heard someone shuffle in the dark.

"What now?" Tsukishima whispered, shuffling again, but something still didn't feel right.

"Shh," you urged, listening carefully.

Then you heard it. More footsteps, heavier this time, and then a voice.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? Kuroo? Tsukishima? Are you there?"

You felt a chill stiffen your body, and a feeling of nausea crawled up your throat. Through the gloom, you exchanged a horrified glance with Kuroo. 

That was Hinata's voice.

The second you made a move, a hand reached out and stopped you. Akaashi. He shook his head firmly, finger on his lips, and you stilled again. He was right. You'd seen Hinata only moments ago, seen the unnatural look on his face. It might be his voice, but it wasn't the same boy.

"[L/N]? Are you out here? You didn't leave me, did you? I'm scared. I don't want to be alone." You squirmed uncomfortably, but Akaashi kept his hand on your arm, gentle but unyielding.

"Please, is anyone out there? I'm tired and cold. I just want to go home!" His voice was getting further away, strangled by distance. Guilt settled as a cold, heavy stone in your chest, and when you raised your eyes from the ground, you saw it on everyone else's faces too. None of them wanted to leave their friend behind. But they knew it was a trap. They knew that wasn't Hinata anymore. 

After a few more beats of silence, Kuroo switched his torch back on. His face was set like stone. "I'll go and check if it's safe," he muttered, but you rolled your eyes. Stupid acts of bravery did nobody any good in situations like this.

"Nobody splits up," you told him firmly, and the muscles in his face relaxed a fraction. "Stay close and keep quiet."

You were met with three nods, then turned and gently nudged the door open, peering through the slit. The forest outside was still and quiet, nothing stirred. Gesturing for the others to follow, you stepped out. 

You paused once more, listening beyond the silence for anything to suggest that you weren't alone, but there was nothing. Just the soft whisper of feathers and leaves, high up in the canopy.

"I think we're clear," Kuroo said once you had all traipsed around the perimeter of the shed, checking the immediate surroundings. "But we have to move quick, before they come back."

You nodded, turning round to head back the way you had come, and then stopped suddenly in your tracks, going cold all over.

Hinata was stood behind you, smiling.

"Found you."