Ch 9

You were hauled out of an area that resembled a rather old and 'Middle Ages' themed dungeon setting. The walls were all cracked concrete that was decorated in spaces with the excessive growth of moss, and the ground was a cobblestone path with gaps filled with dirty puddles of water and upheaved earth.

The Chaser had initially yanked you behind themself through the long halls of the chambers, but after growing tired of your constant screaming and the dragging of your feet against the ground, the silent character had scooped you off of the ground and resorted to carrying you.

The sound of Laughing Jack's continuous, spiraling laughter echoed through the walls of Sængurlegu, causing you to grow more and more apathetic towards the one who'd taken you. "I want to go back," You huff angrily at Chaser. Unfortunate for you, your simple demand was met with rigid silence. Chaser wasn't paying you any mind, and the aura you felt from them was strong enough to keep your mouth shut from then on.

A set of crumbled old cobblestone steps made its appearance at the end of the long walk through the hall. Chaser dragged you up these and you looked up to see a strange door barricading the very top. Apparently, it was a hatch, for the Chaser had quickly unlocked the clasp and pushed open the door, revealing a whole new area. Outside of the dungeon area, your eyes were greeted with with the dark night sky and a dome of trees surrounding the place. The moon shone in the sky through the tops of the trees, casting a pale glow upon both you and Chaser as the hooded vagrant pulled you out through the hatch.

"Where are we going?" You asked, the sound of your voice blatantly giving away your uneasiness. Once again, your words were met with a deliberate silence, and you were left feeling both angered by this and very afraid. Chaser began to carry you again, this time though the vast spread of trees that surrounded you. The further she carried you in, the more and more cramped the layout of the trees appeared to get, and you noticed that your surroundings were growing dark.

It was an instinct of yours to grab the nearest thing that felt like the slightest bit of protection, and in that moment, the protection was Chaser. You were in their hands, your very fate would be decided by whatever they would do with you. You had no other choice, and your small mind couldn't contemplate anything besides this bit. You wrap your arms around Chaser's neck and press the side of your face against their shoulder, aiming to attain even the slightest bit of security, even though you knew they were a figure that wasn't to be trusted. Chaser seemed only slightly thrown off by your gesture, but they continued forwards only releasing a small grunt, which told you nothing of how they felt about this.

You kept one eye open, monitoring where you were being carried. Eventually in the distance, you spot the faint glow of something orange lighting up in the distance. This catches your attention, and you remove your head from The Chaser's shoulder in order to gain a better view. You couldn't make it out from the current position, but you two approached nearer and nearer to the glow, you began to realize that the sight was that of a fire. A campfire, to be exact.

'She's going to burn me,' You though with a rising panic growing in the pit of your stomach. 'She's going to throw me in the fire!'

"Please don't put me in fire, I'll listen to you, I promise I'll be good please?? I swear!" You began to please, squeezing your grip on the Chaser. "I don't know. You look to me as if you'd make for a fine campfire snack," Chaser seemed to scoff. The Chaser plainly stated this in a joking matter, but you, a child who was beyond distressed at the moment took this as literal and you started to cry.

Chaser sighed loudly; they didn't care to make it known that it was only a small joke, but something about the sound of you crying peeved them immensely, and the next thing you knew, they had plopped you onto the ground and had begun to drag you behind them by the arm.

You didn't have the energy to fight back this time; instead you followed weakly with your legs trembling and your stomach turning like an acrobat. As the campfire came closer, you noticed strange things about the area; there were huge, black tents set up around it with rather strange looking symbols decorated all over the material. There were logs made for seating settled around the fire, and a few bags stocked in a pile and appliances that were probably used for cooking food.

You watched as an apparent figure that was sitting upon one of the logs before the fire stood up upon the arrival of you and Chaser. This stranger's face was covered by a black ski mask with a red upset faced stitched into it, and they wore a faded yellow hoodie with the hood covering their head and
worn out blue jeans.

Somehow, this person didn't scare you as much as Chaser had initially, but you still watch them with an attentive and untrusting glare as they waltzed up to you and your captor with the gait of a person who had all the time in the world on their hands.

"So, I finally get to see the little mark," The voice of a man reached your ears but it seemed a little less gruffer than what you'd remembered from Toby and Cody. "...It's still alive...?"

"That ignoramus of a clown decided not to do its job and incapacitate the hostage. Seems they instead struck up some sort of shitty friendship."

"You're a shitty friendship..." You mumble under your breath, but the sudden crook of Chaser's head to look down at you told you that she heard your comment loud and clear. The hooded man laughed a bit however, and he took a step up to you, slightly bending to your level. "Name?" He asked you directly.

       "Uhm—Kid," You respond quietly. "What's your actual name," He scoffed. "...(Y/N)...?"

"(Y/N), huh? And where's your parents?"

"Toby took me away from him!"

"...You're other parents..."

"Oh. They're ...gone..."

The hooded man grunted behind his ski mask and arose to a normal standing level again. At his full height, he just about towered over both you and Chaser. "The preparations for tomorrow night's sacrifice are underway," He spoke, now focusing his attention on Chaser. "X-Virus and The Rogue are out scouting for vagrant killers and separatists from The Syndicate. Masky is gathering materials for the ritual and Skully is keeping oath before The Operator's Place. Don't you think it's a bit too early to have brought the kid out here?"

Chaser shrugged their shoulders, "The fact that they were befriending the clown that was supposed to terrorize them was starting to piss me off, Hoody."

The hooded man, "Hoody" shook his head slowly, "You're too easily aggravated by everything, Kate. The order was to keep the child in Sængurlegu until the time of the ritual. You'd best return them, as there's nothing else to be done with them out here. We don't need it wandering around."

"And what about that bleached menace? Has he shown face yet or not?" The Chaser, "Kate" ignored Hoody's comment and hounded him. "Don't you think you would've been notified accordingly if he'd shown face?"

You were too dazed and uncomfortable to pay attention to the banter between the two adults. Your hand loosened up in Chaser's hand as you train your attention to the small camp that was settled before you, and the crackling flames of the burning fire.

        After a long while of staring at the fire, your eyes catch the sight of a strange blur moving quickly in the distance, and initially this sudden movement scared you. Your hand again tensed in Chaser's hold, and your eyes remain focused on the area in which you had spotted the fast moving blur.

        For a while, nothing out of the ordinary seems to occur, but then you spot the movement of some bushes shaking and then what looks like a face?—you couldn't really tell, but a pale figure that displayed blackened eyes and black lips peered out, seemingly in your direction. Flowing black hair fell around their 'face' and concealed the rest of their features, along with the bush they hid behind.

        "What's that..." You barely whisper, shakily raising your other hand to point at the spying individual. Your whisper however was barely audible, as both Chaser and Hoody continued to talk, seemingly ignoring you. You didn't bother to repeat your question and lowered your hand.

        However, your gaze never broke from the strange faced figure, and you watched as their body slowly pushed away from the bushes, eventually revealing the full bodied form of a strange woman with very pale skin that was patched unevenly in places, a short cut plain black sleeveless dress, and black ankle-high combat boots. The woman's 'face' turned out to just be a mask; although the mask was very simple in nature, it also managed to unsettle you slightly somehow.

        You watch as the woman flashed what looked to be a small knife in her hand before slowly creeping towards you, Chaser, and Hoody's direction.

        Just as you were getting ready to tug Chaser and alarm her of the approaching individual, the masked woman quickly held up a finger to the mouth of her mask; a signal you knew very well as 'Shhh!'.

        You didn't know who she was or what she's wanted, but you decided to comply and held off on shaking The Chaser's attention. You were confused as to how she wasn't drawing any attention to herself, as you were the only one that seemed to notice her presence at the time.

        However, sure enough, after a few more steps closer, Chaser's head crooked in the approaching woman's direction and she immediately let go of your hand, contorting her body into a feral, attacking position, "Hoody, intruder!"

        As soon as Hoody's name was uttered however, the masked woman charged and launched herself at the yellow clothed man, jarring her knife into his side. Hoody yelled out in alarm and stumbled forwards on a knee as the woman over took him, attempting to stab him some more while he regained himself and fought to hold her back. Chaser sprung into action to aid her comrade, throwing herself at the masked woman and attempting to tear her sharp fingered gloves into her back.

       You backed away, your eyes widening at the sight and was unsure of what to do. You thought that running might be your best option, but where would you go, all by yourself? It wouldn't hurt to try, you guessed.

       You turn around and start running away from the tussle, your heart racing in your chest. You ran as fast as your little legs could take you through the darkened woods, far away from the campfire and the odd people that seemed to frequent it. You were scared and tired and wanted to go home to Jeff. You wanted some sort of friend, or anyone that could at least guide you into what you should do next.

        After what felt like forever of running blindly in one direction, you eventually come to a stop and stumble to your knees, panting and trying to catch your breath. Where were you? You had no way of knowing, but you did know that you were lost and that you'd probably never find a way out.

        The sensation of tears welling up in your eyes occurred, but you quickly wipe your face and try to 'man-up' like Jeff had always told you to. You wondered if Jeff was looking for you, or if Jeff even cared anymore. The thoughts of Jeff began to you and you started to feel more and more despaired by your situation.

        Just as you were reaching the very brink of being able to hold back your tears, you hear the sound of footsteps crunching past leaves behind you and you quickly swing your head around to see the same masked woman from before storming towards you; you noticed she was now covered in bloody cuts and scrapes all over her body and her dress was torn.

        You wobbled as you tried to stand and attempt to run away again, a frightened whimper welling up in your throat, but the woman reaches you first and she suddenly grabs you up, pulling you to your feet.

       "Don't worry sweetie. I'm here to help you okay? Hang on to me and don't let go."

        Her voice sounded a bit rough but there was a hint of softness in it which filled you with a sense of security. You allowed her to haul you up into her arms and you did as she said, wrapping your arms tightly around her neck as she began to run with you in her arms through the woods.

        In the distance, you could hear the sound of someone approaching, and you held tighter to the woman, growing afraid by the fact that Chaser may be coming after her. The woman, despite panting as she traversed through the woods tried to speak to you again calmly, "Don't look. Close your eyes and imagine a big home with a comfy bed and warm clothes to sleep in. Don't open your eyes until I tell you to, alright? It's all apart of the game. When you open your eyes, everything will be okay."

        You acknowledged her words and quickly shut your eyes, tightening them. You did your best to imagine the things she spoke of, trying to ignore the sounds of the violent shouts that were coming from the distance behind, and you held tightly onto her neck, now entrusting this woman with your very life.