[Y/N] - Your Name
[M/N] - Middle Name
[L/N] - Last Name
I
["Talking"]
["SCREAMING"]
["Whispering"]
["Thinking"]
* - Translated directly from Italian.

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

I dare you to find me a person that has never wished to be free.

The freedom to go wherever they want, to do whatever they want, think whatever they want, be whoever they wish to be, the options are endless. Alas, no such freedom truly exists, and we are always bound by, at the very least, something. One of the truly free things in this world are birds, able to fly, to go wherever, do whatever. It was always a dream to be a bird, to fly around the skies, unbothered, undisturbed.

But one thing that they don't tell you about birds is when they need to stop, maybe on top of a tree sometimes, because that is where Y/N found himself at. Although not as relaxed as he was a night ago when patrolling the outskirts of the place that held his friends, no. Instead, he was standing on top of one, clinging to the bark, while staring down. He held his breathing sometimes, and when he couldn't, he'd breathe slowly.

He looked to the side, where Aiden, also crouching amidst the leaves, had an arm around the tree, and the other around Y/N's waist. The blonde just gave him a wink, causing Y/N to roll his eyes and face up, where Ashlyn sat cross-legged on top of a branch, hiding the best she could. Ben, Aiden, Taylor and Logan were also beneath them, everyone sitting on a branch or another, clinging to the body of the tree tightly.

The skies above them were darkened, and droplets of water hammered down into them like punches thanks to their speed and velocity. Everyone remained huddled together, trying to get as warm as they could amidst the storm, eyes open, staring at the train not too far off. People came and went, searching the train for the last few hours, and, alas, nothing had happened yet, and there was no sign of it moving again.

Y/N laid his head against the body of the tree, doing his best to not let his eyes close. Had he known this would happen, he likely would've tried to find a way to break them out during the night, because fucking hell. He huffed in annoyance and exhaustion, until he felt a softness running across his hair. He gave a quick glance up, seeing Ashlyn, not too far off, keeping her hand on his head, and giving him a firm nod.

Y/N smiled at her, nodding along and calmly resting his head to the side again, letting the girl run her fingers through his hair for another moment before she pulled back. Y/N also felt a small weight on his shoulder, turning to look at Aiden laying his head there, clearly bored, exhausted and hurting a bit, but still smiling. Y/N just smiled back, this time, not a teasing one, just a small, genuine happiness as he inched in.

Planting a soft kiss on top of Aiden's head, he let out a long-lasting sigh, staring down at the ground again. The beams of flashlights, the voice of people coming and going, everything seemed so meaningless now. Even the coldness of the wood, the small cramp that remained on his neck since that night, nothing really appeared to bother him much, as he realized that he, at least, now had everyone together with him again.

Y/N looked up at the skies with narrowed eyes. It was difficult to tell the exact time, but night would come sooner or later, and they needed to get ready. There was nothing he could do other than hope those people would be gone before then. But, in case they didn't, he looked down at everyone, seeing their positions, tilting his head. As if sensing the pensive gaze on Y/N's eyes, Aiden inched ahead, his lips parting.

Aiden: ["What got my boyfriend thinking so hard?"]

Y/N: ["If we need to sleep up here... It's not impossible to think about it, but I hope we don't"] Y/N brushed aside the blush on his cheeks, turning to look at Aiden ["We can secure one another with our clothes tied around the tree and the branches, at least"]

Aiden: ["Sure hope this isn't how our first cuddling night is spent..."]

Y/N bit down his lip to resist the urge of bonking Aiden in the head. Right, this entire Phantom Dimension was making them stronger, who knows what could happen if he punched him from this high up? Aiden laughed softly, throwing both arms around Y/N's shoulders and laying his head against his shoulder once again, much to the dismay and annoyance of Y/N, who looked up at Ashlyn, and Ashlyn down at him.

He could practically feel the girl telling him "he's your problem now" through her eyes, which made him shake his head and drop it to the side, against the tree once again. As the hours ticked by and Y/N silently regretted everything and apologized to whatever God would listen, a sound echoed through the entire forest. Everyone stood on high alert as a loud, metallic hissing of machinery began to whirl around the place.

Everyone exchanged glances, and looked down, thinking about it, they hadn't seen the flashlights for some good few minutes, maybe even an hour or two. The first one to start climbing down, closest to the ground, was Ben, then Taylor, Tyler, Logan, Aiden, Y/N, and finally Ashlyn. As the last two came to feel the safeness of dirt beneath their soles once again, Y/N reached a hand up, helping Ashlyn down.

The girl nodded as a thanks, to which he just smiled, before they took off towards the train once again. Fast, but careful, hiding around and looking over the place to see if they would spot anyone, they jumped in the train again. Y/N and Ben went first, extending their hands to help the others climb on as the train began to move. The rain still hammered down on their backs as everyone made their way up the train.

Hurriedly, Ben pulled open the entrance to the container they were on, and everyone immediately jumped inside. They closed it behind them, firmly but also slowly, so that no one would hear or see what had happened. Throughout all of this, Y/N noted how no one appeared tired, not even he that had climbed down, ran up the train, pulled people up, and also ran into the cargo hold, especially with his history of smoking.

He dropped to the ground, tired and laying back through his soaking clothes, staring at the boring ceiling of the container through half-lidded eyes and an annoyed expression. Everyone also gathered around again, slowly forming up the circle they always had. Y/N sat up straight, legs crossed, with Aiden sitting on one side of him, and Ashlyn sitting by the other — This seemed to pick up the attention of someone.

Tyler: ["You three seem very close ever since that... "talk"..."]

Y/N: ["And you seem like you still meddle on other people's businesses"]

They stared at one another for a moment before breaking into a silent giggle that spammed across the group. Remembering the times where both would bicker, like in the room during the first night they found themselves in this place. Looking back at it, and at their current situation, nothing really seemed that different. Still, Y/N just looked at Aiden, who shared a smirk, before looking towards Ashlyn, who nodded.

Y/N: ["Yeah, we got a... Situationship of sorts going on"]

Taylor: ["Like, the three of you?"]

Y/N: ["Tends to happen when you're as charismatic as I am"]

Logan: ["I guess the three of you always were really close..."]

Ashlyn / Y/N: ["Yeah, I wonder because of WHO"]

Both immediately turned to Aiden who raised his arms in surrendering while leaning back. He just stared at them, and they stared at him, and then at one another before going back to their sitting position. Y/N and Aiden just looked at one another again, the latter yelping softly as Y/N elbowed him on the side, tilting his head towards the group — Looking at Ashlyn, he found no help, as the girl did the exact same thing.

Aiden: ["Uh-... It's as he said, really. We just kinda, I dunno, got together...? We're still figuring out the details"] He sighs with a smile and a shrug, turning to face the others ["I would like to get it properly over with, but they say that "we have more pressing matters"..."]

Tyler: ["Couldn't possibly imagine what that is..."]

Taylor: ["I'm really happy for the three of you~!"] Cheerful as always, she clapped her hands together while looking at the three ["Honestly, you three do click together well!"]

Y/N: ["Like how the three of us are terrible at this, and are dying simply from talking about it?"] Aiden and Ashlyn both pointed at Y/N with their thumbs, only adding to what he said ["... Thank you, though. Honestly, having all of you here is... Is making this easier..."]

Logan: ["Yeah, our situation sucks, but... I couldn't possibly imagine going through it alone"]

Y/N: ["Speaking of, it's going to be night soon... Before we did our escape, I planned out a proper route. I did expect them to stop the train, just not for that long"] Taking a more serious tone, Y/N leaned ahead, catching everyone's attention as he spoke ["Night should be in just a few hours, so we'll need to climb onto a different train in just a while"]

Tyler: ["Better rest up while we can, then..."]

No one muttered anything, but their exhausted eyes agreed with Tyler's words. Immediately laying down again, everyone spent the next few minutes in silence. It's not as if they hadn't been talking for many weeks before this daring escape. As he laid down, Y/N immediately shot Aiden a glance, one that made a shiver run through his spine. Still, the blonde just laid down softly by his side, not far, but not stuck to him.

Ashlyn was the same, laying back down with a small sigh at feeling her muscles relax for the first time in the day. It was a bit uncomfortable, but definitely better than running around or sitting on top of a tree. She felt a soft poke against her cheek, opening one eye to see Y/N softly bringing in a hand, slowly raising her head, and laying it back down on his folded-up jacket. It was still damp, but rather soft still.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back, before laying down himself. As he was about to do so, however, he felt a pair of hands softly holding him. He looked to the side, seeing Aiden lean back against the wall, and extend his legs. Y/N just looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, prompting the blonde to smile. Without arguing back, Y/N sighed, and laid his head back down, against Aiden's lap, too tired to argue back.

There would be the occasional cough, sniffle or small talk here and there, but everyone remained mostly quiet, trying to rest as best as they could after everything that had just transpired. Most of them didn't mutter a word, and, in fact, were fighting off the urge to fall into a deep sleep, knowing the train could stop at any moment. And stopped, maybe about an hour or two after it had started up after the inspection.

The first one to kick up and whistle to call up everyone was Y/N, who carefully opened the door of the container and took a peek outside — Nothing. He just immediately walked out and waited for everyone, guiding them across the forest that surrounded them, and towards another train yard. Everyone ran at surprising speeds, especially for people who barely had any rest, and off towards another not-so-distant train yard.

As they made their way towards it, looking around to be sure they wouldn't be spotted, they climbed into the machine as it was starting up. Y/N looked at the containers, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a blue one standing on top of another, a small whistle caught the attention of the group as they turned to see Y/N climbing up on it, creating distance between him and the ground, motioning for them to follow.

They did so, and he helped every single one of them climb on. He looked around again, being sure they weren't spotted before closing the door behind him with a small thud, and sighing while laying against it. Everyone shared some glances, amidst the silence and through the months spent together, nearly reading each other's thoughts. The confidence and carefulness walked hand-in-hand, but for now, they'd rest again.

Y/N: ["We should be shifting at any moment now... Up here is going to be safer"] Y/N sighs while sitting down, looking at everyone ["But the Phantoms can get up here if they somehow find out. I rested the most across these weeks, so let me stay and keep watch"]

Taylor: ["Are you sure? I think it's best if we take turns, we also managed to sleep"] The girl said while raising her hand softly, causing Y/N to glance towards her ["It's going to be easier for everyone if we take a moment staying up... This way none of us get too tired!"]

Tyler: ["She's right, you don't need to act all cool because we were separated"] Tyler said while leaning against the wall of the container with a shrug ["That, and this way, you three could get some talking while the rest of us-"] Taylor elbowed him ["Ow! I'm kidding!"]

Y/N: ["... I can't with either of you ... Fine, I'll take first watch, though"]

He chuckled while shaking his head, allowing his back to rest against the wall of the container again. The minutes ticked by as everyone basked in their freedom and the quietness that came with it, the sense of adrenaline and fear was still present, but overwhelmed by the happiness that everyone shared. The minutes ticked by, and, as Y/N peeked outside and saw the moon, everyone decided to huddle up together again.

Y/N felt his muscles relax, his body rest, and his eyes heavy as he laid on the cuddle pile alongside everyone. Shyly, Ashlyn laid her head against his chest, cuddling up to one side, and looking up at Y/N with a shy smile, one that he repaid with his own. Aiden laid down near him the exact same way, his head also on Y/N's chest, facing Ashlyn, both sharing a small glance and smile before closing off their eyes again.

The shift was a feeling that Y/N would never be able to get used to, but alas, it happened. He still wasn't properly asleep, so he was ready to stand up and walk towards the door to peek outside, but there was a problem. Or, to be precise, there was TWO problems — A ginger one, and a blonde one. They kept their hands together, holding one another's palms across Y/N's chest, keeping him practically stuck there.

He wasn't stupid. He knew he was being rough on himself. He couldn't quite know why, and honestly, another deep, self-reflection session is the last thing he needed right now. So, he merely shut his eyes off and allowed himself to drift off. Maybe not sleeping, but still resting, and hearing everything and anything going on outside.

And suddenly, the shift happened again, waking up Y/N and everyone else. He had fallen asleep, bound in place by the two. As everyone woke up, Y/N sneaked a glance towards Aiden and Ashlyn, who shared a knowing smirk for what they did. As Y/N shook his head, he stood up as well, gathering around everyone as they stretched, yawned, and just overall got themselves ready to continue on during their escape.

Y/N: ["We should be approaching, or already at, a very small town nearby. Should be enough for us to get off, get supplies, and rent a dingy room..."] Y/N said while he kept his bag slung over his shoulder, bringing everyone's attention towards him ["After this I say we stop somewhere to eat, because I'm fucking starving from not eating in two days..."]

Taylor: ["Some food right now would be glorious..."] The girl sighs as they all step towards the door of the container, rubbing her belly ["I could eat an entire buffet and have seconds. The things they served us back in that prison were NOT tasty at all..."]

Y/N was the first one to peek out, looking from left to right to see if he would spot anything. Over his shoulder, he gave a nod and was the first one to climb down, hanging on the ledge of the container and placing his feet down on the one beneath, slowly making his way to the train before hopping off. Everyone followed suit before they broke on a dash, feeling barely reinvigorated and lacking energy from the sleep.

They only came to a walk when a town made its presence seen to the group. Not too far off, they approached and walked through the city mostly normal, looking around sometimes. Y/N felt natural, as if nothing had been going on, and seemed mostly undisturbed, like he really belonged there. Their first stop was a grocery store, where they restocked on a variety of foods and drinks, before going towards a phone store.

Y/N was the only one who went inside, and they could hear a brief talk as he got himself a simple, and cheap phone, as they'd mostly need it for communication anyways. He tossed it over to Logan who caught it effortlessly before both shared a quick nod, and turned to face, in the end of the street, a dingy motel. The group shared looks from one another before deciding to make their way towards it.

Y/N: ["Let me do the talking on this one, too, I got an idea... I guess it should stop anyone from being too nosy"] He muttered while in the middle of the group before approaching the reception, clearing his throat to get the clerk's attention ["Ey. Me and my friends are new in town, we'd like a room, please? They can't speak English and we're kinda lost"]

Conversation came and went as Y/N chatted up the clerk for a minute before he slid the cash towards him, picking up his key and nodding his head towards the stairs. A room, another one, and past yet one more, they all made their way inside. Laying out the sleeping bags they had bought to make up for the lack of space in the single bed present in the room, everyone sat down — and as they did, everyone sighed together.

To say the sight was painful would be an understatement. Everyone looked tired, bruised in some way, dirty and hungry. There were bags under their eyes from the lack of proper sleep in these past few nights. Sure, it was nothing new considering they dealt with this before, but in this particular case they didn't even have the walls of the bus graveyard to hold them. Y/N groans as he stands up, cracking his back while at it.

Y/N: ["We're all fucked up, hurting, sleepy, tired, and starving... But at least we're alive"]

Ashlyn: ["Yeah... Well, that does make our second day without food, but I can hardly keep my eyes open"] The girl thought to herself, laying on the bed with a folded shirt under her head ["Let's get some rest first... Then we'll go out and find something proper to eat"]

Aiden: ["I'm also hungry, though-... ... Already?!"]

He looked down towards Ashlyn, and the girl was already passed-out asleep. Logan and Tyler laid down on their sleeping bags, with Taylor laying by Ashlyn's side, arms dangling off the side of the bed. Poor Ben had his arms crossed on top of a table, face down on them. While the first two put away their bodies to rest, setting up an alarm on their phone, only Y/N and Aiden remained awakened, the former which left the room.

Walking downstairs, he made his way through the reception with his head hanging low, and stepped outside. As he walked, he saw the clerk with a cigarette on his lips, and his eyes narrowed. He could feel himself being drawn to look at it before he shook his head and stepped out. The night was a bit chilly, but he didn't seem to mind it, filling his lungs with air before sighing out everything, and staring up at the moon.

A few minutes ticked by, with Y/N having his arms crossed and leaning against the entrance of the place, by himself. It didn't take long for a pair of footsteps to come behind him, and his hand slid lower, clutching something at his waist. He looked over to a familiar sight, and a smile that, as much as he wouldn't admit it, took a load off his shoulders. He let go off his waist and turned towards Aiden, raising an eyebrow.

Y/N: ["What are you doing here? I thought you were going to sleep?"]

Aiden: ["Same could be said about. Dramatic much, aren't you?"]

He smiled at Y/N, both sharing a glance and a smirk before they walked together. They found solace on a bench that both sat down on, looking up at the moon and letting their gazes wander. Y/N was distracted, enough so that he jumped a little once Aiden's hand clutched around his softly. He didn't bother looking down before giving the blonde's palm a soft squeeze back, turning to look at him with a small, snarky grin.

Aiden: ["What? Can't I spend some time with my boyfriend~?"]

Y/N: ["I hate it when you say it like that, you fucking dork..."]

Y/N muttered back, both laying closer together and their noses softly brushing against one another's. The first one to initiate it was Aiden, whose lips softly pressed against Y/N's before he pulled back, both of them sharing yet one more kiss before Aiden fully embraced him, arms wrapped around his shoulders, chest-to-chest. They broke off a minute later, lips still a whisper apart while they also stared at one another's eyes.

Aiden: ["I just needed to spend some time with you... Not feeling sleepy?"]

Y/N: ["No, not really. I thought I would be, but... ... I dunno, I guess I just got a lot on my mind"] He says while Aiden sits by his side still, laying his head to his shoulder, and wrapping an arm around Y/N's ["Just, with all that's been going on, I-... I don't know..."]

Aiden: ["I get it. It's a lot. This... Us, Ashlyn, our escape, whatever the hell is going to happen with our lives"] Aiden gave Y/N's hand another soft squeeze while nuzzling his face to his boyfriend's neck ["I just wish we could deal with all of this already, you know"]

Y/N: ["Oh, please, you of all people wanting to move away from something so exciting? What else, you're gonna tell me you're straight?"] Both shared a small chuckle while Y/N laid his head on top of Aiden's softly, closing his eyes ["You know, I never really talked about it, but I've always wanted to go back to smoking — Especially nowadays, too..."]

Aiden: ["Don't. If you do, your breath is going to smell disgusting and nor Ashlyn or I would want to kiss you anymore"] To put emphasis on what he meant, Aiden's lips pressed against Y/N's neck very softly ["That, and you promised me that you would quit..."]

Y/N: ["Well, I never PROMISED it..."]

Y/N stopped talking when he looked to the side and saw Aiden staring at him, still with that same smile, but with a clear serious tone behind it. Y/N merely chuckled, leaning more into his touch and sighing, closing his eyes for a moment and letting Aiden's warmth soak him. He remained there for a few moments before breaking off the blonde and standing up, stretching his arms over his head with a loud yawn.

Y/N: ["We're gonna shift in like, three hours... Let's try to get some rest"]

Aiden: ["Suddenly feeling tired just because we finally had some alone time?"] Aiden crossed his arms, puckering his lips ["And I was just getting the courage..."]

Y/N: ["Surprisingly, I'm a human and I need sleep. And the last thing I want, even with you by my side..."] Y/N cupped Aiden's cheeks, bringing him in, eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose ["Is dealing with whatever the fuck those copies of us lurking around are, you hear me?"]

Aiden: ["... Getting bold, aren't we?"]

Aiden looked at the position both found themselves in before smirking, causing Y/N to also let out a little giggle before both of them walked back to the motel they were staying at. While the clerk watched a shitty show on an old TV, they made their way up, and back to their room where everyone else was laying down and sleeping. Y/N got himself comfortable near the bed, laying against the frame with arms crossed.

He looked at Aiden one final time as he laid down on the bed, squeezing himself rather comfortably between Ashlyn and Taylor, his hand reaching Y/N just enough to softly run through his head. He did not feel like protesting — after all, why would he? — so Y/N just remained quiet and went to sleep. After a quick goodnight whispered between them, letting the weariness of the past few days overwhelm him until he passed out.

The shift occurred and the night was mostly harmless, with everyone just cuddling up to sleep on the little bed they had. And when the day rolled around, fresh with as much energy as teenagers on the run from the law, starving could have, they got up. First thing they did, of course, was to carefully go outside and make sure they weren't being followed when they took a stroll around town, stopping by a fast food joint.

To say that they ate their hearts out was an understatement, in fact, most of the cash Y/N had brought with him was blown out on that exact morning. For a good few minutes none of them talked with one another, simply eating and drinking away the aches and soreness of the past days. It wasn't until a while later that someone decided to speak. Keeping her voice low, she glanced towards Logan again.

Ashlyn: ["Has Alex messaged back yet?"]

Logan: ["I keep checking... But there hasn't been any response yet"]

Y/N: ["That's odd. I told him to find Elio and that he'd be taken to a safe place"] Y/N muttered while putting another fork of waffles in his mouth swallowing it after chewing ["I would try and message Florentino, but knowing him he changed his number already"]

Ashlyn: ["Since we have some time, we should discuss our traveling options..."]

Aiden: ["Fill me when I get back, I gotta use the bathroom"]

Y/N remained sitting down while eating, sneaking glances every so often behind his shoulder in a discreet manner. Out of everyone, Ashlyn could tell he looked the most anxious — Eyes darting around, playing with his fingers, bouncing his leg, etc. She rested a hand down on top of his underneath the table, causing Y/N to jump, before she gave him a serious look and a nod, prompting Y/N to reply by doing the same.

However, Ashlyn could notice that his gaze wasn't focused at her, but rather, through her. She also took her time sneaking a glance over her shoulder, seeing a worker of the place staring at them seriously and with surprise, muttering something to her co-worker. She looked back at Y/N, whose eyes narrowed even more when looking towards them. He just glanced at Ashlyn and motioned by putting a finger to his lips.

The ginger nodded as they continued to eat, visibly a bit faster than before as they also alerted the others with their gazes and hushed whispers. It didn't take too long before Aiden came back, drying his hands in his shirt before he took a seat by Ashlyn's side. He looked at everyone and their serious gazes, confused and with a tilt of his head, before Y/N just nodded at him, which Aiden understood as a "come here".

Aiden: ["What's up?"]

Y/N: ["High chance we have been spotted and ratted out... The employees were staring at us a bit too oddly"] Y/N murmurs, taking his cup and sipping more of his drink before putting it down ["This is a backwater town with less than 50.000 inhabitants, it's obvious a lot of people would pass through... So why are we, out of all people, worth of staring at?"]

Aiden: ["I get what you mean, but we do look weird, don't we? Sketchy, I would say"] Y/N hums, not entirely convinced, while looking over his shoulder again ["I guess that just means we gotta eat quickly! I don't wanna let all of this go to waste after so long!"]

Y/N: ["Might be a bit too late for that..."]

Y/N said while standing up rapidly just as the sound of sirens came through in the background. At least three cop cars pulled up in the parking lot of the fast-food joint, their sirens blaring. Y/N clicked his tongue with anger while everyone else also stood up and on high alert. With his hand behind his waist, Y/N clutched at the gun he had. His arm shook, but he tried to keep a firm grip while the place was stormed by cops.

At the command of the man who stood in the front, his taser pointed at them, everyone save for Y/N raised their hands. He seemed ready to have a quick draw before Ashlyn nudged him with her foot, shaking her head no. Y/N just stared at her, and the girl stared back, both sharing a second of silence before he, too, removed the grip from his gun, and put his hands up, staring at the officer in the front of the trio.

Cop: ["Ashlyn Banner, Aiden Clark, Ben Clark, Taylor Hernandez, Tyler Hernandez and Logan Fields, all of you are to be detained and classified as highly dangerous"] Y/N raised an eyebrow at this, not hearing his name being called. A strange shiver ran down his spine ["We will use physical force if you don't comply, and, if necessary, lethal force. Don Leonardo Cadaverini-"] The man directed his eyes to Y/N, who clicked his tongue ["You are to be escorted back, and taken away. Don't worry, kid, we'll get you out of this, alright?"]

Y/N looks down at the rest of the group with only his eyes, shrugging his shoulders, as confused as they were. Ben, looking over his shoulder quickly, looked at Ashlyn, who nodded up at him, both clearly nervous, but not willing to go down without a fight. They presented their wrists forward as if to be placed under cuffs, and, as the cop in the front of the other two stepped ahead, he went on to put cuffs on Ben first.

Before he could so, however, Ben grabbed a fork from the table they were eating and stabbed his arm before he could react. Sent on high alert, the other two officers behind him raised their tasers as well. The first one was slammed to the glass wall by Taylor, the second one had a plate of food thrown at his face. Before he could recover, Y/N picked him up by the waist, raised him over his shoulder, and slammed him down.

Aiden: ["There's a window in the bathroom and a door in their office room thing!"]

Ashlyn: ["They probably have the whole place surrounded, but any other exit is probably better than the main one"] The girl thought to herself, turning to address the group while keeping a serious glare in her face, nodding to them ["Alright. We're going to-"]

Before the girl could finish, however, a sudden shock spread through her body. The guard that Y/N had slammed down raised his taser in a last-ditch effort, zapping Ashlyn, causing her to fall knees-and-hands to the ground with wide, shaking eyes. She felt like she was being torn apart, her body was flickering rapidly with widened irises and trembling limbs. The most strange of all, however, were the lights flickering.

Everyone of the group felt dizzy for a moment as the shift occurred, just as Y/N had kicked the taser away from the hand of the officer. Tyler removed the things stabbed into Ashlyn from her body as Y/N put the guard to sleep with a well-placed ick to his jaw before turning around. He hurried to Ashlyn and, along with the group, helped the girl stand. Her body was still shaking a bit, and she looked out of it, but mostly fine.

Y/N: ["You doing alright? Don't stand up too fast..."]

Ashlyn: ["I'm fine, I'm fine, just-... A little twitchy, is all..."]

They were about to proceed with their escape, until yet more sounds rang across their ears. This time around, however, not the sound of sirens or the booming voice of a commanding officer, but that of a scared one. They looked outside, through the glass wall of the joint and saw a few of the officers that had come along standing in the Phantom Dimension as well. Aggressive red skies, and a horde of Phantoms around.

There were too few of them to properly fight them off, and as Y/N picked up his gun and readied it, he felt someone holding his shoulder. Ashlyn kept him in place, just like he did, she had narrowed, confused eyes. As if asking herself if her irises were deceiving her, or if maybe the shock had knocked her unconscious, she rubbed her eyes, but nothing. Gunshots of the law enforcers fighting the Phantoms echoed still.

Y/N tapped around frantically for his flashlight, but nothing, until he realized that he was not on his body of the Phantom World, but rather, on the regular plane's one. He just looked even more confused while the group kept trying to shout for the officers to use their flashlights, but nothing. Logan was ready to hand his cellphone to Taylor as she asked him for it, to use the flash against the Phantoms — But they stopped.

A sound so nasty it made them want to throw up everything they had eaten moments prior to this shock of adrenaline. A ringing so disgusting that everyone felt it ring down to their bones. Sure, they were no stranger to blood, let alone their own or other humans, but the sight of one of the Phantoms ripping open one of the officer's mouth far wider than possible, and climbing inside of him was too much for them to bear.

Justifiably, everyone was frozen at what they saw. Afraid, confused, borderline terrified and almost throwing up at the sight, the officers began to shake around. Suddenly, they stood up again and turned to face the group, at which point, a loud whistling caught their attention. Standing near the door of the backroom, Y/N motionied his head for them to follow, pistol in hand, and ready to be fired.

Y/N: ["WE GOT TO FUCKING GO!"]

<<<<<< I >[---]< I >>>>>>

[Published in - 04/29/2025]
[Word Count - 6.120]

You wanna know something? The next chapter is the finale...

It's been a wild ride. I won't rant much about it here since I'll do an entire Author's Note dedicated to that when the chapter does drop, but MAN has this been a fun ride. Of course we're not 100% over yet, as there will be (hopefully) a third season of this story. Will I start writing it from the get-go? When it's got a few good chapters out? When said third season is also over? I dunno, I guess we'll just have to wait 'n see!