Chapter Text
The Temple of Purgation was much the same as it always was- much the same as it always had been. Endless night cast down upon the woodland area with false moonlight catching on truly ancient stone slabs around the towering temple proper, reflecting off mirrored puddles of rainwater but never casting back the night sky. The Entity’s crows watched over the gloomy stage ready to sound the alarm on anyone they spotted.
A near-perfect hunting ground for the Ghost Face if ever there was one. Currently he stood in the lower level of the temple, generator grumbling between himself and Elodie. She might have finished it just as he came down the stairs but he was standing between her and freedom now. Which way would she go? She’d have to make a choice soon, neither of them could stay down here forever. Her eyes flickered around the dimly lit chamber before she seemed to make up her mind, feinting left before trying to circle around him. It was a cute effort but he still caught her with his knife and a red gash opened up down the length of her arm. She yelled in pain but she hardly even stumbled, toughing it out and darting up the stairs. Ghost Face followed after but by the time he emerged into the central room of the temple she was already gone. The trail of blood would sell her out, no doubt, and he quietly slipped into the shadows to follow it outside. Even through the relentless rain, only heavy enough to make clothing uncomfortably damp, the blood remained bright and left a stain on the dirt and grass leading deeper into the trees but before he could see where it went he was distracted by the distinct sound of a locker door nearby. Was she trying to hide or had he gotten a little too close to someone else while he was tracking her?
It seemed it was neither of the two. The shadows clinging to him dissipated and Bill darted out from behind the cover of a stone pillar.
“Eat this, you motherfucker,” he shouted and threw something that landed a few feet from the killer. The old man immediately dove for cover with a grunt but before Ghost Face could turn to follow him there was a faint high pitched whine and a second later an explosion. He could feel the blast of shrapnel harmlessly bouncing off his clothing as he uselessly covered his eyes. Way too late on that, the flashbang left him blind and disoriented and all he could do was wait for his vision to slowly recover on its own.
He immediately forgot about Elodie and turned his attention to the old man. Knowing Bill he was still nearby somewhere waiting to try something else and, unlike his previous target, he’d definitely be easier to catch.
It didn’t take much work to find him- he was practically orbiting Ghost Face, darting from behind one tree to another. He was probably running distraction for the others but the killer was sure it wouldn’t take too long to catch him and then he could hunt down the other three wherever they might be trying to hide. The trial had been going on for a while and he could feel the Entity scratching at the back of his mind, her irritation at a lack of sacrifice bleeding into his own. Sure enough Bill ran himself into a corner but Ghost Face couldn’t blame him for getting lost between the trees and the darkness, as soon as your back was to the temple it was hard to tell where anything was out here.
“C’mon, do your worst,” Bill taunted him as he dropped into a fighting stance with his fists in front of him.
The killer just sighed. This really wouldn’t be that much of a fight. He raised his knife and Bill immediately swung for him and it just put the old man right in position to take half the length of the killer’s blade right to his chest. He coughed and blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth but he still seemed determined to- to do what? He knew he couldn’t stop the killer. He really wasn’t that different from how he was at camp.
Ghost Face could use the break, honestly. He even humored Bill and let him get a good hit in, impacting squarely with the killer’s shoulder as he barely made any attempt to get out of the way. He looked smug even through what must be a punctured lung- for what little that meant here, ultimately- and as he pulled back Ghost Face struck out to get him in the stomach. This time it went deeper, all the way to the hilt with sickening ease. As Bill fell to double over and try desperately to hold his organs in the killer caught him and slung him over his shoulder. Warm blood drenched him, the heat penetrating his shroud and the barest hint of wetness seeping in through the thick material. Through the rain and mud and blood he was already starting to feel gross and by the time he found a hook for Bill to call his own he was thinking about how good a shower would feel when he got home.
He didn’t waste any more time than he needed to searching for the other three. He heard a generator loudly chugging along almost as soon as he slid into the darkness and sure enough a few seconds later there was a loud explosion and swearing; the metallic jostling of a toolbox being hastily grabbed; shoes plodding through mud. Ghost Face was on Dwight’s trail and he nearly had him but- ah, the darkness was stripped away from him suddenly. It was annoying every single time it happened. Felt like someone was peeling his skin back- not in a way that hurt , but it made his skin crawl and sent a renewed wave of bloodlust through him that was helped along by the Entity’s will prickling through his consciousness.
Who saw him? It hadn’t been Dwight, he’d never spared a second glance behind him as soon as he realized he was being followed.
The second of distraction cost him the chase and he turned his attention back to his surroundings. He only got a glimpse of Kate and Elodie as they split up, the latter with already-staining bandaging hastily wrapped around her arm to staunch the wound from earlier. He moved before he really thought about it and found himself pursuing Kate through a small courtyard and around one of the etched pillars lined with candles. Just as he turned a corner and almost slipped on the rain-slicked stone beneath his feet wood clattered nearly on top of him and sent him reeling backwards. The palette, so unnaturally placed by the entity, wedged between the pillar and a rock and cut his path off. It wasn’t enough to stop his from watching Kate duck into the temple but it was a little annoying and he quickly made his way around it.
He’d be smarter about it this time. He slinked around the side of the temple and ducked down, peering through the wide antechamber into the cavernous temple proper. Sure enough she was still inside, nervously watching the room for any signs of movement. Too bad for her she was looking the wrong way and by the time she was even close to looking in his direction he’d gotten a good read on her and had a plan.
He slowly moved into the room, sticking to the wall and staying as hidden as he could, the black tendrils of fabric coming off his cloak practically slithering behind him. She seemed to think she’d lost him, maybe that he’d decided she wasn’t worth the time, and started to head towards one of the doors. He watched her in profile as she passed a golden slab covered in ancient writing and when she was just nearing freedom he rose up behind her, knife in hand, and struck with brutal efficiency.
She went down with a yelp and blood splattered across the wall almost comically, seeming an effect in a bad horror movie. Blood hung in the grooves of the tablet and ran down its surface and below it Kate writhed in pain, trying to drag herself away even despite the giant gash torn straight across her shoulderblades to expose muscle and bone.
He knew he’d have to be quick about getting her onto a hook, even as compromised as she was she’d still try to get away if she could. He grabbed one of her legs and dragged her back towards himself before hoisting her up. Despite the rough start things were turning around somehow. It didn’t ease the itch at the back of his mind but it brought him closer to the end and that was all that mattered here.
He wasn’t sure what the others were getting up to while he was dealing with Kate. No generators sounded, no birds took flight, but when he went to check where he’d left Bill the old man was gone. They’d managed that at least. Even so, over the next ten minutes he just… didn’t see anyone. On occasion he’d find a generator that had been worked on at some point and someone had pulled Kate down but they were being a lot more careful now. He’d given in and resorted to looking through the brightly colored lockers that dotted the area but even then he didn’t see any signs of life.
He’d just begun to trek across the woods to check the borders of the forest when suddenly four generators rumbled to life in almost perfect sync. Now that was teamwork, he’d be impressed if it weren’t immensely frustrating. And this meant he had to fucking book it to the gates to try and catch anyone he could or… well, he didn’t particularly want to see the Entity mad at him.
He got there just in time to see the third red light click on with a grating, loud, buzz. Elodie was the first to spot him, loitering as she was nearby, and she immediately sold him out to the others. They scattered as he rushed them but it was too late to stop the doors from grinding open and Kate slipped by to leave, grabbing Elodie’s arm and all but dragging her to safety where Ghost Face couldn’t follow. As for Dwight and Bill…
They didn’t make it past him. Bill was still hurt from earlier and put himself between the killer and the younger man. His refusal to budge, buying time maybe, ended in him taking a knife to the chest for a second time.
“Go!” he yelled as he fell to the ground and the remaining survivor dashed away.
If Ghost Face was fast… No, he knew Bill. He knew that old man would find some way to escape if he was left alone for more than a few seconds and Dwight’s options were limited here. He could go for the other gate or he could wait for the killer to take Bill elsewhere and try to get around him then. Or…
No, he stayed. Dwight seemed like the type to run and hide whenever the going got tough but he was surprisingly dedicated to keeping the other survivors alive. As soon as Bill was up on the meat hook and struggling against the Entity’s awful, spiny claws Dwight was trying to get closer to pull him down again. It was desperate though, the clock was ticking and the collapse was closing in and Dwight just wasn’t equipped to face off with a killer one on one.
Ghost Face stood between Dwight and the exit gate with Bill in the middle of them like he was daring the survivor to try it. He was fine with standing here until the collapse took everything down and put it back into the fog like a parent putting away their child’s toys. Hm. No, he didn’t like that analogy actually. He frowned beneath his mask and continued to wait before Dwight finally darted forward to circle around the hook and try to find somewhere that would be safe for just a second.
Even as he reached for Bill, though, it was too late. The ground pulsed with veins like embers and the last of the forest faded away. Dwight was snatched up by a spike that bloomed upwards from the ground and impaled him through the abdomen, wrapping around him possessively as it tore him to pieces. Ghost Face looked away. Getting taken like that was worse than the hook, he truly didn’t understand what Dwight was thinking.
But it didn’t matter. The trial was over, two for two was a passing grade, and he got to go home. Or rather he got to go back to the little corner of the realm he was allowed some peace in, he didn’t want to think of anything in this nightmare as home.
As soon as he opened the door to the hotel room he knew something was wrong. A trail of blood painted a sloppy line across the carpet and red handprints stained the bedsheets. Despite the carnage he’d so recently caused he still felt his stomach drop as he followed the messy trail to the library where he found his roommate draped over the couch weakly clutching a medkit and struggling to do anything useful with it. He was in bad shape.
He pulled the Ghost Face’s mask off and tossed it on the floor, quickly followed by his black leather gloves, and sat down next to Danny.
“Did you have fun?” Danny asked weakly, glancing to Felix before turning his attention back to opening a new roll of gauze.
The blonde sighed and took it out of his hands, “No. Did you?”
There were a few seconds of silence where Felix half expected him to say he had a great time doing whatever the hell happened to him but finally the killer, the real killer, groaned, “Can’t say I did.”
“Let me see.”
Danny turned towards him with some effort. The damage was hard to miss but it was also hard to pick a place to start. Both of his arms were mangled and it was hard to tell the damage below the blood and grime but one was definitely broken, his chest was in a similar state and his shirt was in shreds, his face was battered and it looked like he’d been hit by a car. It was a wonder he’d made it back like this.
“Let’s get you out of all that first,” Felix said as he began unbuttoning the other man’s shirt. He wouldn’t have guessed Danny was the nervous sort, and he would never admit it, but Felix found the killer was a lot easier to work with as long as he stated his intentions first.
Not that it made this that much easier. The blood didn’t bother him as much anymore and he could handle putting a needle through skin but he still didn’t have the practical skill and there was realistically only so much he could do.
“How bad does it feel?” he asked, tentatively looking over the damage and trying to assess what he could do to help.
“Feels… pretty fucking bad.”
How incredibly helpful. Felix sighed and shook his head, setting the gauze down on the coffee table before standing. He told Danny to sit tight while he got some stuff from the other rooms and the killer shot back a very weak, barely witty reply.
He had a small list of items he needed in his head and in theory he knew where they were but in practice the main room was perpetually a mess. He rifled through the boxes on the bookshelf for a few moments before frustration took over and he gave up; the dresser was similarly useless with the old TV sitting shrine-like surrounded by broken parts taken from other electronics. He could see just from looking at it that Danny’s desk didn’t have anything he need either.
Actually… No, there was a roll of duct tape next to the computer. That was something. He grabbed it but in the process he knocked over a pile of books that had been left out and he flinched as a few of them hit the floor. It was a problem for later but he was annoyed nonetheless. It wasn’t like either of them really had the time to keep this place tidy- once Felix started doing the killer’s job for him he could see why this place had been such a disaster when he first arrived.
What else? He opened the bathroom door a little too hard and it hit the wall with a thud but he barely even noticed, his mind already elsewhere. Thankfully the bucket was right where it was supposed to be under the sink, some small mercy he supposed, and he emptied it of the paltry amount of tools and miscellaneous junk it was holding.
As he filled it with water he made the mistake of looking in the mirror. How could he not when it was right in front of him? He saw himself in the black hood, shroud still secured tightly around him, framing his face like a pale caricature of death. There was a streak of blood across his jaw and he quickly ran his hand under the stream of warm water to scrub it off. He wasn’t sure if it had seeped in during the trial or if it was Danny’s and staring down at the diluted red water still clinging to his hand didn’t offer any answers. Not that it mattered. Not that it made any difference whose blood was on his hands. He’d been as quick as he could, he didn’t waste anyone’s time, he didn’t enjoy any of what he had to do. And at the end of the trial everyone else went back to the campfire relatively safe and sound. His only consolation was his link to the Entity being severed until the next time he was taken away to dance for her again.
So why were his hands shaking? The tightness in his chest that was working its way up his throat was a distant but familiar memory. Felix could rationalize every choice he made in the realm and he knew he was working towards something good but still… Before he could fight it back down his vision blurred and a single choked sob escaped.
He didn’t have time for this.
When he returned to Danny a few minutes later the other man was fiddling with a piece of paper, trying to unfold it with one hand and smooth it out on the table though he was clearly having trouble just sitting up and leaning over far enough to reach it.
He didn’t look up at Felix, focused on whatever was on the wrinkled scrap, “So I got this. And some shots on my camera,” he paused to breathe in, followed by a wet cough, “I don’t know how good they are though. I mean, some are fine. I had to take a couple on the run though so…”
Felix let him talk, it was a good distraction for both of them. While Danny recounted how much time he spent going from place to place and all the people he narrowly avoided running into the architect went about wetting a towel with perpetually warm water and again looked over the beaten and broken man before him. They’d have to start with the arm, obviously, and he hoped Danny wasn’t going to make this harder than it needed to be. Felix was still distracted though and not entirely together so when he reached out to grab the killer’s arm the other man reflexively pulled away.
Felix shook his head a little, “I’ve never set a bone before.”
There was a moment of silence while it sank in that that’s what he was trying to do. Finally Danny just half-shrugged half-sighed, “I don’t think you’re gonna make it any worse, yeah?”
That remained to be seen. The broken arm was swollen and purpling but it was otherwise intact and besides a few scrapes nothing was torn open. Felix wiped away more dirt than blood and then left the towel in the bucket as he went about sizing up where he needed to… relocate whatever was broken. It was one of the forearm bones, the… one of them was the radius. He didn’t know what the other one was called but that was the one that was broken. He could see the poking and protruding bulge towards Danny’s elbow, forming an almost perfect right angle through his skin. He didn’t like looking at it but he was going to have to.
“It’s going to hurt,” he said to provide as much warning as he could and as he pressed down on it to move it closer to where it should be, hopefully align it as close to correctly as he could, and Danny yelped and punched at the armrest with his good arm before going silent.
Felix really didn’t know if he was doing this right but he was pretty sure he both wasn’t and that it didn’t matter by virtue of how this place worked. Realigning the bone and binding it together was a small comfort that would hopefully expediate the process, that was all. Once Danny’s forearm was wrapped (too tightly? not tightly enough?) in a layer of gauze Felix put makeshift splints in place and held them on with duct tape. It was really the best he could manage. The other man’s fingers twitched and were dark red with too much blood and when Felix brushed against them they felt like they were on fire.
“The rest of you next.”
“Sure.”
He wanted to ask Danny about the paper and what else he’d seen and by now his mind was already a million miles away from whatever had happened between himself and the mirror in the bathroom but he could still feel it lingering just at the back of his throat. He tried to keep himself distracted. Putting Danny back together would benefit both of them in one way or another.
“What happened here?” he asked as he wrung out the towel. When he grabbed Danny’s chin to turn his head there was resistance for just a second before he gave in and Felix was able to examine him closer. Blood matted his hair and blackened dried streaks were peeling off in flakes to reveal swollen bruises beneath; the bruise aligned with and cut off almost perfectly where his lip was split, covering more than half of the left side of his face.
“Blight,” ah, that made sense, “Fucker can’t just…” Danny let out a frustrated sound and waved his hand dismissively, “he never cooperates.”
Felix raised an eyebrow, “You’ve tried approaching him before?”
“Sure, yeah. I tried to be nice and greet my neighbors when I got here. My fucking mistake,” he moved wrong and winced, freezing in place before experimentally leaning back and forth as he tried to work out how far he could go, “Maybe a handful of people wanna be cool, everyone else,” he pantomimed a stabbing motion, “Ya know?”
Felix had a pretty good idea. He nodded.
“I know there’s something going on inside his head,” Danny continued, tapping on the paper on the table. Felix glanced over at it- faded and stained, torn from a notebook probably. It looked like there was writing on it but without looking closer he couldn’t make out what it was through the looping handwriting, “I never payed him much mind before. I mean, he hardly ever goes anywhere so it’s not like I see him that often, but I got to thinking. Where is he all the fucking time, you know? I know I have my private little room here and some other people have smaller places too but him? No idea where he is. So I start poking around.”
Danny was starting to get animated as he talked, gesticulating with his better arm and leaning back into the couch, making it so Felix had to lean over him to wipe at the blood staining his head.
“I thought maybe he was tucked away in one of the bigger zones like how Sally’s rooming with that- that fucking-” he was halfway through a thought when he reached up to pull the towel away from Felix, “I got it, I got it, I got it. That fucking clown.”
The absolute disgust on his face was plain as day. Felix had been on the receiving end of the clown’s violence plenty but Danny’s detest towards him was on a whole nother level, the only time he saw the killer become so genuinely put off was when the clown came up. He watched the other man for a moment before he finally sat back.
“What’s up with that?” he asked, setting aside caution for the time being. Danny gave him a confused look before he asked more clearly, “The clown. There’s obviously something going on between you two.”
“Don’t fucking- there’s nothing going on with me and him,” the other man full on glared at him but after a moment he looked away, eyes narrowed and focused downward. Finally he shook his head, “He just… reminds me of someone.”
That sounded loaded. Felix didn’t like speculating on other people’s business so far as he could help it but thankfully before he even could consider who someone might be Danny continued.
“Someone who deserved it. Would you believe I wasn’t always like this?”
Felix tilted his head to the side, “I could be persuaded.”
The killer’s expression softened a little but he remained quiet before sighing and pulling the towel over his head, pressing it against where the wound must be. A color like rust soaked into the fabric around his fingers.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I’ve never told anyone, is all. Oh the other murders, I made sure those were all over the news. Made sure everyone knew who deserved credit for them. But he wasn’t… It wasn’t murder , it was just self defense. Or maybe I did mean to kill him. I don’t know, I can’t really,” his voice didn’t quite crack but it came close, came out choked and too fast, “I don’t remember. His name, his face, what we were wearing. The, the name of the bar. But whenever I see Jeffrey or hear his voice or see his shit eating grin this feeling just comes back and I’m almost there again.”
Felix didn’t know what to say. What could he say? He couldn’t tell Danny it would be okay when it clearly wouldn’t, clearly already wasn’t, clearly was leagues past any point of return. But he also couldn’t say he didn’t get it; the way this place sapped memories away and eroded and twisted what was left… He could understand that.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
Danny shook his head, “I don’t care. The sooner we’re out of here the sooner I never have to think about it again.”
The architect hoped that was true, he hoped they could tear a hole in this place and make their daring escape and neither of them would ever have to remember what brought them here in the first place. And then… No, there wasn’t time to humor any thoughts of after . He needed his full focus on the right here and now, he needed both their focus.
“So where did you find him then?” Felix asked after a moment, “The Blight?”
“Find him? I was just lucky. Or unlucky, I haven’t decided yet,” Danny shook his head with the towel still obscuring his face like a particularly gruesome veil, “He was out in the fog. I tailed him for a little bit hoping he was going home and we ended up at Lery’s. He dropped the uh,” he motioned at the scrap of paper and Felix, with his hands free and relatively clean, picked it up to take a closer look, “whatever. You know. I grab it, he spots me. I only get out of there looking as good as I do because the doc finally fucking realizes someone’s smashing up all his stuff.”
Felix gave him a contemplative hmm before he looked up from the paper, “It didn’t seem like mister Blight was staying there then?”
“Nah, I doubt it. Maybe he was looking for something. Or he was just bored. Beats me.”
The note was on deeply yellowed paper, ink and blood and grime staining the margins and the scrawling handwriting bleeding darkness, but most of it was legible. Whether or not it was comprehensible was another matter entirely. Felix thought at first that it was in some language he didn’t know but after a few moments of reading it over he was pretty sure it was… some sort of formula. Ingredients, measurements, disjointed parts and pieces of something bigger.
“Is this relevant?” Felix asked and set the paper back down. He didn’t see anything important in it and he didn’t think the Blight knew any more than they did but Danny had risked his life to get it back.
The other man was sitting with the blood-soaked towel in his hand, staring down at it. He hummed, “Mmmm. Don’t know.”
There was silence between them. It seemed like all they had at this point were questions and pieces to puzzles other than the one they were solving. Finally Danny stood up- tried to stand up, groaned in pain as he moved a little too fast and fell back into the couch. Felix didn’t want to laugh at him while he was absolutely battered like this but the man was always so impatient and watching him still try to push himself was… what? A little endearing, maybe.
Danny rolled his eyes, “I have some stuff on my camera.”
“I’m sure,” Felix took the towel from him and gave it a good rinse in the bucket, “but this comes first.”
There wasn’t much Felix could do about the headwound aside from hope the other man wasn’t concussed but it didn’t seem like it was bleeding anymore so that was a good sign. His arm, the less broken one, on the other hand was covered in scrapes and cuts and a strip near his elbow looked like it had been- ugh- like it had been skinned nearly off. He couldn’t see bone but there was a lot of blood and shards of tile and glass peppering the wounds. And Danny wanted to just get up and walk around like this? Absolutely not. Felix didn’t care that he’d probably be fine eventually, he didn’t like the idea of it probably getting infected or probably starting to bleed again. He was going to do at least the bare minimum.
“Do you suppose you’ll be able to sit still long enough to heal?” he asked as he began the slow task of cleaning wounds once more.
Danny had a long moment where he seemed like he was really considering it, or at least really considering saying no. He sighed and shifted a little where he sat, “We’ll see.”
Felix gave him a short hmm in response. He had to stay here at least long enough to print whatever shots he got and then they’d have to actually go over them and see if there was anything useful for them to go off of. Then… Either they’d go off it or Danny would head back out, probably. Felix wished they had more man power but he knew realistically there was no way that could happen.
“I don’t suppose any of your more sociable associates would care to lend us a hand,” he asked jokingly, “We could start a little team. Or a union.”
Danny snorted, “Who we unionizing again, the Entity?” he narrowed his eyes and seemed to give it a little more consideration than he ought to, “Nah, I wouldn’t count on anyone helping us out. What about your little friends?”
“Absolutely not.”
Felix looked over Danny’s arm now that the blood was scrubbed away and most of the debris was removed. He didn’t think anything needed stitches but it still made his skin ache in sympathy, the sooner it was all bandaged up the better. When he pulled the gauze out of the med kit, though, he knew there wouldn’t be enough. Looking over the rest of the supplies turned up about the same for everything else, too: the pack of sterile wipes was long since gone, the tape had a few inches left, the little bottle of hemostatic agent had basically been empty on arrival, there was hardly any thread left to speak of.
He did what he could with what he had and covered the worst of it but, “I think I’ll have to go to camp after this.”
They both knew he’d have to go back sooner or later but the longer he stayed here the worse he knew his return would be. Especially if he was just dropping by to take supplies, especially if he wasn’t staying to help the other survivors. Even if he knew he was going through hell for the greater good no one else did and it was more frustrating every time he had to make up excuses.
“I’ll have everything ready by the time you get back. If we’re lucky we’ll figure something out.”
Felix nodded and they went their separate ways. Or rather Felix left the other man to finish cleaning up while he showered and changed back into his civilian clothes. Thankfully entering the bathroom didn’t dredge anything up and he did his best to not make eye contact with the mirror as he peeled the Ghost Face’s shroud off himself. By the time he emerged warm and clean Danny had moved to his computer and was immersed in sorting through files.
Felix hazarded a peek over his shoulder but it looked like he was still in the process of moving the pictures from the camera to the computer, a task that as he understood it was more time consuming than it had any right to be. It’s not like this place was actually connected to electrical lines- if it didn’t really need power he didn’t understand why Danny’s old computer couldn’t just do things instantly. He wasn’t sure he could do anything about it even if he tried though, Felix could erect a building and fill it with simple furniture but a computer he’d never so much as heard the brand of might be beyond him.
“I’ll be back as fast as I can manage,” he gave Danny’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze; when he flinched but otherwise didn’t respond and he assumed the killer was absorbed in his work.
It wasn’t until Felix had turned to leave and was halfway to the door that he said, “I think it was the… something Hotel Bar, some kind of flower? Like some weird flower, not the kind you think of when you think about flowers.”
“You’re thinking about it.”
There was another pause. He wasn’t sure if Danny was making the effort to drop it and focus on his work or if he was… No, a few seconds later he added, “There wasn’t a hotel though. I know I thought that was weird,” he was tapping a finger against his keyboard, hitting one of the keys over and over in metronome, “It’s just so fucking irritating. It was important, I should remember. Right?”
Felix sat down on the bed. It seemed like he wasn’t getting out of here until this was over, whatever this was, and he knew that if he left Danny alone while he was in a particularly destructive mood he might go out and cause trouble before the survivor came back.
“Do you want to remember?” Felix felt like he was stepping on a landmine.
“Would you wanna forget why you like building shit? Or- or why you’re with your girlfriend or whatever?”
Felix’s fingers twitched and he responded before he really had a chance to think about it, “Jesus christ, because she’s pregnant! I’d forget that if I could,” he groaned and hung his head, pressing his fingers to his eyelids, “I don’t even remember what she looks like or how we met or how she likes her coffee. I just want to do the right thing.”
“Yeah,” Danny scoffed, “It’s always the right thing with you, huh? Must be working out real well, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
There it was. Felix was so careful, he had so much practice dealing with people, but when a bomb goes off what could he really do? The pressure plate was touching down and no amount of good intentions can pull a firing pin back up.
“I’m here ,” he was standing now, “because no one else can help me with this. Do you get that? Not the other survivors, not another monster- you could put a knife through my chest at any moment and I’d still have to come back to this awful hotel room to keep working.”
Even after everything he’d been through taking Danny’s place in the trials, after all of his friends and acquaintances he’d hurt and killed, the thought that this could turn into a physical altercation never crossed his mind. He slammed the door behind himself before Danny could say anything else and gave the awaiting darkness of the fog only a second of consideration before he walked into it.
Jake and David were at the perimeter of the forest chopping wood, Jeff was etching something into a log near a path, Claudette and a gaggle of other survivors were working at a table Felix had vague memories of helping build. As soon as he realized he was looking over where everyone was like he was trying to infiltrate the camp, taking note of positions and where people might move to next, a knot twisted in his stomach. He already knew coming back here would be trouble and all the stupid things he said to Danny were still echoing around in his head; he thought he needed a moment to gather himself but that moment had turned into what must have been an hour of lurking out in the fog, catching glimpses of everyone else as he considered an entry point. He just needed to… go already.
Finally he sucked it up, steeled himself, and emerged along the river bank. Nearly immediately he spotted Adam further upstream, he was doing laundry and hadn’t noticed Felix yet. Far from the worst person to run into first all things considered.
When Adam did finally look up enough to notice the other man he flinched and pressed a hand to his chest before shaking his head, “You cannot be walking out of the fog all quiet like that, man. Nearly scared me half to death.”
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just me though,” he shoved his hands in his pockets, “I feel like I’ve been gone longer than I meant to.”
“No doubt. Half the camp think you’re dead. Elodie, she been going out looking for you.”
He didn’t want to hear that. They might not see eye to eye and he might still resent her for what happened when they were kids but the thought that other people were putting themselves in danger because of him still didn’t sit well, it was just one more thing added atop the pile of things that were wearing him down.
“She’s not looking for me, she’s just looking for trouble.”
Adam shrugged and pulled another bloodied shirt from the pile he was working through, resuming his task at hand while they talked, “She been having no luck out there. In the fog, I mean. How about you?”
Felix groaned and rubbed his face, pressing his fingers against his eyelids until he saw stars, “That is the question, isn’t it?”
“That is why I asked it.”
What could he possibly say? Not the truth, god not the truth. Adam wouldn’t understand, if he believed Felix at all, and he didn’t want to cause any more trouble than he had to. He took a deep breath and shoved his hands in his pockets as he stared out towards the fog.
“There sure is a lot out there. I just wish I could make sense of it,” there was a long silence held together by the gentle flow of the river and Adam slowly scrubbing away at the shirt.
Felix bent down and grabbed something from the basket of dirty clothes. The least he could do was help, or maybe the most he could do was help. He didn’t want to spend too long at camp but talking to Adam made him feel more grounded and he could always count on the other man to be level-headed.
“Things are always… moving. Rearranging,” he continued, eyes focused on the cold water flowing over the fabric in his hands, “If only there were some kind of blueprint but I think that’s just not possible here.”
Adam nodded along, “You be looking around all sorts of places, huh?”
“As best as I can.”
“I am surprised you can find your way through the fog. You and Elodie both, always out getting up to things,” Adam held a wet shirt up to the moonlight, turning it over in his hands to inspect the faded stain he’d been washing away, “Maybe you talk to her and see if she has any ideas.”
Felix frowned, “Is she here right now?”
“Freshly back from a trial even,” oh. Right. So much had happened that the trial felt like it was a week ago but it couldn’t have been more than a few hours, “You might catch her before she leaves again if you are quick about it.”
Did he want to, though? Could he even look her in the face after what he did? Either way he did need to get moving. He stood and stretched before wishing Adam a good night (as if it would ever be morning) before heading closer to camp. It only took him a few steps to decide that he didn’t want to talk to anyone else and that he just wanted to grab what he needed and go. He knew it wouldn’t shake out like that, he’d definitely run into a few people one way or another, and he just had to hope it wasn’t going to turn into a whole thing. He could hear chatter in the distance and with what they’d done to camp he could see where most everyone was. He had to say, he could see the practical application of the spiderweb pattern but he felt so exposed on the clear cut paths. He didn’t miss what he had to do while wearing Danny’s costume but he sure did wish he could wrap himself in shadows right now.
“Felix!”
He froze, his face wrinkling with annoyance, before regaining his composure and turning to greet Kate. He gave her a half-wave, “Long time no see, as they say in the states.”
She chuckled and shook her head, her curls bouncing as she came to a stop in front of him. A bruise dotted with red pinpricks of blood colored her cheek from where she’d ran into a tree during the trial, her fingers were covered in tiny cuts and burns from working on generators. Christ, he had to act surprised.
“You’ve seen better days. Trial?” he asked, touching his own cheek where her bruise was.
“Aw geez, you really know how to make a girl feel special. Don’t think I look half as bad as Dwight feels though, poor guy didn’t make it out in time and you know how that goes.”
Felix cringed. The image of black claws wrapping around him, bones snapping like twigs and blood gushing from every opening, was still fresh in his mind. He began walking again and Kate took a few long strides to reach his side.
“What brings Mister Big Time Architect back to our humble little camp?” she asked but as soon as she saw the look on his face she shook her head, “Sorry, that’s what Elle’s been calling you.”
“Of course she has. Maybe Miss Big Time Tomb Robber should mind her own business.”
“You know there ain’t no need for that.”
He sighed. She was right. As they reached the storage shed they could hear movement inside, metal on metal, and dull light peeked through the gaps between boards. Before Felix could open the door whoever was inside swung it open, nearly hitting him before he could take a step back. Feng held a lantern in one hand and a toolbox in the other; she looked like she was about to apologize but as soon as she saw Felix her expression soured. She kicked the door closed behind her and said something in Chinese as she passed him, rolling her eyes as she headed towards the campfire.
Felix watched her go before he opened the door again, glancing back at Kate, “What was all that about?”
He was expecting a “beats me” or “just a bad day” but Kate answered him with, “You gotta know you can’t just come back to take our stuff and then skip town again.”
The shed was more organized than the last time he was here. It looked like there’d been a steady supply of just about everything except flashlights, if the small box of them on a table was any indication, and he didn’t see the big deal if he just took one or two medkits. It wasn’t like he was burning the whole place to the ground. When he reached for one of the red and white boxes, though, Kate’s hand closed around his wrist.
“I mean it Felix. You start helping out around here or you’re getting cut off.”
She sounded serious. She was serious.
“Was this not enough?” he asked, motioning to the building around them, “Before I was here it was just lean-tos and logs.”
“We got new people coming in all the time. We work together, we keep this place going, we got each other's backs,” she let go of him to cross her arms, “Elle makes time to take a turn in the trials, I don’t see why you can’t.”
It always came back to Elodie. He didn’t get it, she was just a pushy graverobber who didn’t think about anyone but herself but because they happened to know each other, happened to come from the same place, people always had to compare them. He heaved an exasperated sigh and grabbed a medkit before turning to leave the shed and Kate followed behind him to continue the conversation.
Before she could get another word in, though, they were met with a group of people coming down the path to the storage shed. Zarina, David, and Ace followed after Elodie with Feng trailing behind them and no one looked happy to see Felix. Kate closed her eyes and held her position in the doorway. Felix glanced around, looking for an exit route should this turn into an angry mob situation. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that but…
Elodie’s eyes flickered to Kate before focusing on the blonde man in front of her and she gave him a stern look as she stepped forward.
“Felix.”
“Elodie.”
The air felt frozen between them. When was the last time they’d seen each other? No, Felix knew the answer to that even if she didn’t. When was the last time they talked?
Ace started to say something but she cut him off, “We need to talk.”
That was never good but he already knew that, he already knew there wasn’t an easy way out of this. Maybe he could cut it short though.
“We really don’t,” he chose his words carefully, “This doesn’t have to turn into a whole,” he motioned with his free hand, “thing. We can just leave it be. I need to go somewhere but I promise I’ll be back soon.”
“Yeah, back to take more of our shit,” Ace scoffed.
“Listen, what I’m doing… It’s important. And as soon as I figure it out we can-”
He was cut off by the sharp pain of Elodie’s hand connecting with his cheek and he reflexively reached up to grab her wrist, eliciting a hiss of pain when he squeezed her bandaged arm. The next few seconds were a blur. David moved, a fist flew into his face, the white hot crack of something breaking as his nose caved in in a way it shouldn’t. His vision went black as blood pounded in his head and everyone was shouting; someone was clutching his arm and pulling him and he shoved them away; something hit the ground and trees were all around him. And then he was running into the woods with whisps of fog reaching out for him to pull him into the murky darkness.