Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Thirty Two: Listless

TW: brief description of a panic attack

Witnessing other people lose their minds was one thing. Right now, staring at the tiny symbols of fucking doom which you had no recollection of drawing, was another.

"Oh, what the fuck." You breathed.

Brian didn't try to pull you away from the glass now that you'd already seen what he had.

Your first instinct was to turn to Brian, start panicking, project your fear onto him in the form of mortified anger. But upon further frozen reflection, you could only come to one very frightening conclusion; you were next. And while you still half heartedly thought Brian deserved a lot of shit, you didn't need to take your current state out on him.

When you finally tore your eyes away from the crosses of doom, Brian was already staring down at you, trying to gauge a reaction. There was a look in his eyes that you couldn't quite place, something brimming beneath his greenish irises. This staring contest felt different to all the others - less discerning, more... concerned.

After a moment, he spoke in little more than a murmur. "Do you believe me now?"

He read you like a book, of course. Knowing you well enough to realise that no matter what he told you last night, you weren't one to believe in random ass fantasy creatures right out of a horror movie. Yet he hadn't pushed it, probably a setup for reverse psychology that he planned on taking up on a later date - ever the manipulative bastard, though you believed now that his intentions were good.

It didn't matter now, though. There was no explanation for the symbols you'd drawn mindlessly, the same ones on Lily's mirror and Harry's walls. It would be too much of a stretch to call it all a coincidence.

You didn't answer, staring hollowly into his eyes. You believed him, yes, but you were struggling to come to grips with it. A mental wall had just been shattered within you, opening the floodgates to a whole load of other shit that you'd previously thought impossible. A part of you would never truly believe in demons. It was the same part of you that still struggled to believe that Harry was dead, or that Brian could be kind.

Your legs seemed to carry themselves. You pushed past Brian's chest, stalking out of the bathroom. You didn't even make it half was down the hallway before you heard him follow, though. You increased your pace and so did he, until you had no choice but to turn and face him.

You were now in the middle of his musty living room, walls feeling like they were closing in on you. He kept a few paces back, keeping his distance and yet something in his gaze told you he'd follow you around this shitty little place no matter where you hid, just to keep an eye on you.

It was all too much right now. Only just processing what the symbols could mean, the darkness of this room, the knowledge that he wouldn't let you go anywhere else, his intense stare that made you want to sink into the floor. You felt tears sting your eyes, heart rate increasing until it was through the roof as you just stood there, shaking.

The symbols meant that it was after you. That's what you'd learned from Brian. He'd said his boss liked to mark its territory. It wanted you dead. Just like Harry, just like Lily. Would you go mad, too?

"(Y/n)." At the sound of Brian's voice, gentle and concerned, you could help but let the tears spill.

You sank to the ground, curling up against the musty floorboards, head in your knees. You weren't drunk enough to run to him for comfort, though it only took a few glasses of whiskey as you'd found out yesterday.

Your brain went a million miles an hour, and you were powerless against it. The usual mental motions of a panic attack; your brain spiralled, letting you sink into painful and mostly unrelated flashbacks to upset you further. Harry. Jade. Masky. Lily. Cass. Hoodie.