Exposure

Chapter 8

(TW: Blood)

Joseph's POV

The morning of the 2v8 was painfully slow.

Joseph was full of energy, not because he'd slept particularly well but purely off of the fact that it was likely he'd see Aesop. Out of 24 survivors, 8 were in the game. That gave Joseph an unreliable 33% percent chance of seeing Aesop. However, he didn't panic. He knew he'd be there, he just felt it in his bones.

He paced up and down his room. He paced in the hall as he waited for Jack. He'd scoffed down barely enough food to count as breakfast, whereas the other hunters took their time and came to eat when they felt like it.

Not only did Joseph hurry himself but he also pestered Jack to hurry up too. Jack showed annoyance but didn't snap at Joseph, he believed that Joseph was simply eager to redeem himself in the hunters' eyes.

Joseph ended up dragging Jack into the game lobby ten minutes until they were due to meet. Jack didn't seem to have a problem with it but he was suspicious to why Joseph kept looking back around the curtain over and over like he was expecting something to creep up on them.
"They're not going to be here for a while, Joseph" Jack reminded "You brought us here ten minutes early."
Jack's voice held a tad of annoyance in it but Joseph simply shook his head and kept his eyes on the survivor's table, his hand running over the paper of the letter tenderly. Similarly to the way he used to stroke Aesop's hair when he came back injured after a long day.

Joseph's heart ached for Aesop. He didn't know when it started, he couldn't pinpoint an exact moment. It was steady, like wading into the ocean. Joseph could only tell how he felt by the time he was up to his neck. The more Joseph thought about the ocean the more his heart ached. It reminded him of Aesop so much, the way he could overwhelm Joseph with himself. Almost like he was drowning in Aesop. However, he could recede just as fast, leaving Joseph alone and exposed.
The other part of the ocean was his twin brother. He loved the ocean, they loved the ocean. There was a bitter sweetness about it after he died and his family crossed the English Channel from France to England without him. Joseph knew that his brother would've loved the water to be his final resting place but his parents would never agreed to burying his body there.

Thinking back, that's when Joseph started getting into photography and art. He'd never tell Aesop how the cameras really worked. He was scared he'd hate it and feel violated for how it works. When he'd told his closest friends all those years ago, the few people he trusted with his life that his cameras captured souls, they didn't believe him. When he proved it they suddenly turned on him, sending the whole town into panic and coming to hunt him and his family down for dead. That was the worst betrayal Joseph ever felt. It only got worse from there, his family disowned him. He lost nearly everything but then one last chance came by letter. The Host of the Manor said he knew how to bring his brother back as long as he played a 'game' at his manor. Of course, Joseph snatched up the opportunity like a starved lion. He didn't hesitate to go to the manor, nor realising what the game was not that he wasn't allowed to leave.

And now he was here.

The survivors finally filed in. Joseph's sight was like a laser, staring into the faces of the survivors. Of course, Joseph knew he was spoiling half of the game by ruining the mystery but the survivors were already here and it wasn't like they could change to better suit people who could combat Joseph better.

Finally, after all this time, Joseph made eye contact with Aesop, whose eyes widened and sheer dread radiated off of him. Joseph couldn't care anymore, just seeing him was enough. Joseph's only objective for his match was to get the letter to Aesop. It didn't matter if they won or not after that.