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

HOUSE OF CROWS | 16

Again, things happen really quickly in this chapter. I'm sorry if the pacing is really off-kilter ;-; I'm always bad at ending fics lol. I just didn't want the story to become too repetitive by making them get lost in the forest again, etc, so I thought it best to end it here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy~

The Forest of Crows passed by in a blur of black and silver. The short, stunted trees, with their ash-coloured branches twisting up to the sky, tried their best to trip you up, and your ankle turned over more roots than you cared to count. But still, you kept running.

Kuroo was a little further ahead of you, but every now and then he would glance back over his shoulder to make sure you were still there, that you hadn't been dragged away into the dark, dark wood.

You listened out for the thrash of leaves and feathers behind you, for anything to suggest the Crow was giving chase, but you heard nothing. It was deathly still, deathly silent. Not even the crows were watching you from the treetops. Perhaps they had flocked back to their master.

And still, you kept running. Your lungs were on fire, and blood was dripping from your arm and splattering the leaves, and you could barely feel the ground passing beneath your feet. But you would not stop running until you were out of the forest. Until you were away from the crooked trees and unnatural shadows.

But what of Akaashi and Tsukishima? You hadn't heard or seen them since you had left them back at the house, and could only hope that they had somehow found their own way out while the Crow was distracted.

A branch snapped to your left, and you stumbled over a tree root, caught by surprise. You went down heavily, landing on your knees with a thud. Recovering, you looked around wildly for what had made the noise, digging your fingers into moss and bark as you scrambled for purchase.

Someone was stood in the shadow of the trees, only a dim outline visible - a boy, you thought, with black hair and a slight frame, and skin that glowed softly like moonlight-

"Akaashi!" You gasped, eyes widening in recognition, and your fingers scraped desperately at the trees as you hauled yourself to your feet. "Akaashi!"

Kuroo skidded to a stop behind you, panting hard. "[L/N], what are you doing?"

But you ignored him, moving towards the boy who you thought was Akaashi. He had the same stature, the same dark hair, the same pale complexion - it had to be him.

"Wait! [L/N], wait, that's not-"

But it was too late. You were already there, and by the time you realised Kuroo was right, hands shot out from the shadows - hands covered in mud and moss and wet earth - and grabbed you by the shoulders, and the boy's face - his terrible, terrible face - loomed close to yours. It wasn't Akaashi at all. It was someone else, a stranger, another boy trapped in the dark. 

You could smell him, like rot and earth and shadows, and you thought you could hear words rising up from his throat like a gurgling river, sticky and wet.

"Hungry... so hungry... eat... need eat..."

"Get off," you cried, trying to twist away from him, but there were brambles and twigs around your ankles, and his fingers dug into your arms like briars. He drew closer, and that's when you saw he had no eyes. Just like Hinata. Another lost, broken thing trapped in the forest.

When he opened his mouth, and darkness spilled out, and you saw teeth like thorns, you gave one sharp, sudden tug and broke away from him. At the same moment, Kuroo came rushing up behind you, holding a branch as thick as his arm. He swung it, straight towards the boy's head, and you saw his neck twist with an unnatural crack, like twigs snapping, trees creaking, the earth rending apart.

You were running again before you heard him fall.

Kuroo said nothing, but you understood what he was thinking. You had been foolish, to trust so blindly in tricks and shadows. The forest was playing with you. It didn't want you to leave, so it was sending things after you, things that belonged in the dark.

So you ran, and ran, and ran, leaving it all behind you, black and silver and red and blood and feathers and darkness.

And then, a voice.

It came from nowhere and everywhere at once, following you as you dashed through the forest. It was the voice of the trees, of the mud, of the shadows. It was a voice that belonged below the earth, where the dead things went to rot.

It was Hinata's voice.

"[L/N]? Kuroo? Are you there? You're not leaving me, are you? Please don't leave me all alone. It's dark. I'm scared. I want to go home. Please don't go."

Kuroo looked at you sharply, as if expecting you to stop, to give in, to answer the voice.

But you didn't. You knew now that it wasn't Hinata speaking. It was the forest, the house, the Crow. It was something dark and sinister and it was playing tricks on you. It was trying to deceive you into staying, into going into the darkest part of the woods so that you would never come out again, so that you would become another lost, broken thing of the Crow's.

You caught his eye and shook your head firmly. Kuroo nodded in return, and you kept going.

You ran, and ran, until, suddenly, there were no more trees. Kuroo stopped, and so did you.

You had broken the treeline.

The dark, humid air of the forest lifted from you and suddenly you could breathe. The sky was full and clear above you, no longer obscured by a canopy of dark, twisted trees. Kuroo was stood next to you, his face shining in the full light of the moon. You saw blood on his skin, on his neck and shoulder, and wondered briefly where it had come from, but it didn't matter anymore because you were out. You were out of the forest.

You reached out and pulled Kuroo towards you, wrapping your arms around his neck, almost crying with relief. "We're out," you whispered, shivering. It was colder outside the trees, and you could feel the sweat cooling on your skin. Kuroo said nothing, digging his fingers gently into your back.

Then - more voices, calling your name, and figures running towards you in the dark. Akaashi and Tsukishima.

The two of them stopped in front of you, breathless and wild-eyed, and you went and threw your arms around them too. "I'm so glad you're both okay," you said, pulling them close.

"W-we already called the police. They're on their way," Akaashi told you, his body trembling softly against yours.

"We made it out," Tsukishima gasped, shaking his head as he pulled away from you. "I can't believe we all made it out."

The four of you stepped back and looked at each other. But something felt wrong. Something felt missing. You glanced over at Kuroo, and saw his eyes were downcast, his face sunken in shadows that seemed somehow darker than the ones in the forest. His lip trembled softly, and when you reached out to him, he was further away than you thought.

"No," he said, his voice low, like an echo on the wind. "Not all of us." He glanced back towards the trees, to the forest that had stolen Hinata from you, and shook his head.

"Not all of us."

END.

Yeahh, it was all rather sudden wasn't it aha. I've always struggled with writing endings so I'm sorry it's not great ;-; Don't worry though, I will be posting a short epilogue as well, which will hopefully wrap things up a bit better.

Thank you all so much for reading to the end! I know this story wasn't anything amazing, but it was fun to write, so I hope it was fun to read too! If you want more haikyuu horror goodness, I have two more Murder of Crows stories published - TRAGEDY is finished, and I'm about to start working on MONSTER ^-^