Chapter Text
Rans POV (it’s like this for the majority of the story)
I wake up. At least I think I’m awake, but I can’t tell, the first thing I do is check if the dreaded mask is still medically stuck to my face, I try to lift my hands to my face but they’re restrained, to what seems like a bedpost, I look around to get to know my surroundings but I can’t see even five feet in front of me. I yell out but no sound escapes, I feel my throat is torn up and rough. It’s dead silent, I can’t hear anything, and can only feel the thump of my raising heartbeat. My head is killing me.
I try and move my legs but they only move a small amount. It must’ve been ten minutes of trying to think of ways to escape through my fogged mind, I break through the handcuffs or ill play dumb until I’m healthy enough to power my way out, as I decide what I should do next my plans get interrupted when I feel the presence of someone entering the room. They walk towards me and I can feel the thump of there feet on the floor coming closer, the person stands in front of me for a moment and I think they’re trying to talk to me but I can’t make out any of the words, just soft rumbles. I’m confused and scared, I close my eyes not knowing what was coming next, and flinch at the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. I'm scared of whoever this is, for all I know it’s a Showfall employee bringing me back to the cabin or the mall, maybe nursing me back to good condition before making me star in another one of their fucked up films. I start to physically panic, I feel my chest heave up and down I try to look at the stranger but I still can’t see or hear. I feel the hand on my shoulder retract, and I calm for only a second, I hear more muffled words that I can’t even begin to decipher, I can’t breathe and feel as if I’m about to die, my body is seizing, I feel the stare of the person on my body, and I try to breathe. I feel a hand on me once more and I feel a subtle ***- - - *** I go frozen and my eyes widen although it does nothing for my actual eyesight, this person knows. This person has seen. I slowly regain my breathing although I am still shaken, I feel safer although I still can’t trust this person. I see a blob of color wave past my eyes, I feel stray tears roll down my face from my outburst as I try to focus on the blob as it stills in front of me, and I realize it’s a hand, a hand with such defined scars the I can see them through the blurry whiteness surrounding me. My eyes start to adjust a bit more, and I can see the figure of a person may be a couple of feet away from me, I look down and I can make out the same varsity jacket I wore at Showfall.
This doesn’t feel like Showfall tho, though the jacket is stained with blood and the atmosphere around me feels warmer than the cold mall, and the stranger is handling me with too much care (although the bar is low) for it to be some random employee. The blob that I can piece together as a person brings their hand to my face, as it gets closer it becomes more clear. Bigger hands, broad and as I saw earlier, scarred. The hand touches my face and I wince but minimal sound comes out, my face feels like fire, it burns as the rough fingertips touch my cheek.
I try to raise my hands once more to swat the strangers away but they get caught, and I realize my hands also have bandages on them. I detect another vibration, this one sounds more like a mumble, they have a low voice from what I can tell. the stranger moves away from me and I soon feel hands on one of my own. the soft click on my wrist of the handcuffs loosening is freeing as I go to instantly move my hand. I go to feel my face, scabs and scars are all I feel. I raise my hand in front of my eyes, and I can see my bandages. I touch my eyelids, and I touch my nose, I try to touch my ears. That’s also when I realize I have no idea what I look like, it’s something that lives as a vivid memory, the cover of a book that has no pages, just a title is all I have and it’s not even the one I picked, this thought makes me sadder. When I go to touch the space where my ears once more I feel scabs and dried blood, but no actual ear, just a mound of flesh in its place. I feel multiple spots where there are circular scabs and more tears reach my eyes, I am supposed to be dead. The box should’ve killed me.
I start to sob, this whole situation is so incredibly out of my control, I’m frustrated by the fact no sobs are actually being heard, I’m crying silently, not able to be comforted because I can’t tell anyone I want to be, I try to bring my knees to my chest but it’s difficult from how achy and sore they are. I feel the person grab my hand and I try to swipe at them, or the general direction of where I think they are. My attempted assault was short as the person was much stronger than I was, I cry harder as I sense them cuff back my wrist to its original place, they say something as I try to tell them to uncuff me. Tears fall in defeat while the stranger backs away from me. Why couldn’t they let me die!? I think to myself, I feel myself choking on my saliva. I thrash around and look at the figure, they don’t say anything and they don’t do anything. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was still at Showfall and maybe I’m destined to be their puppet. The thought makes me curl in on myself as best I could without moving my legs too much. I tired myself out to the point where I feel my eyelids go heavy and my head lulls back onto the surface I lay on.
(I don’t know how to start new scenes so ran is just gonna wake up again)
Once again I wake up, still stuck in this bed. I sit up and try to stretch to the best of my ability hearing a couple of cracks when I straighten my spine, I look around, my vision doesn’t seem to be getting better anytime soon. I look down and my varsity jacket and old shirt has been replaced with a simple blue t-shirt, I like this color, it remind me of Sneeg and his sweatshirt, although I don’t remember liking the color while the mask was on. The shirt is dusty looking but it’s more comfortable than the restricting, blood soaked jacket. I turn my head and herd a couple pops, it felt relieving, but while my head was still turned I noticed a figure, stiff looking, like they were scared I’d notice them.
I vaguely see them grab for something, and after a moment I see the figures hand move closer with the same something in it, it’s a notepad. It’s has some words on it, I squint my eyes to try and read it better. Eventually I spell out “you’re safe”, I roll my eyes, that’s exactly what showfall would want me to think, what they made me think. I see the notepad retract and come towards me once more this time it reads “do you think you can write?”, I shrug my shoulders cuz I honestly don’t know.
The figure grabs my hand and I pull away, clenching my hand into a fist, the stranger seems to look at me, I untense my hand and look away as I feel them unlock my handcuff. The stranger places a pen in my hand and the notebook on my lap. I don’t remember any part of learning to spell but I sure as hell can, I write “fuck you, let me go” and as I write I might have misjudged myself, I forgot how to spell “you” for a moment. I remember seeing “the chat” briefly while I was.. I shudder, I don’t want to relive the moment, but the chat spelled thing’s different, like you as u and they said some words I don’t ever remember being in my vocabulary
I can feel the person get exited for some odd reason. I hear a faint “Sneeg!!” Come from the stranger and I do a double take, Sneeg?! As in Sneegsnag, as in, he’s in this building!? I detect a figure burst through the door, the door vibrates the room, they probably thinking something terrible happened. I’m 80% percent sure that they’re conversing so I quickly write “sneeg?” In scribbled rushed letters and hold it up, I see the person I know as Sneeg jump towards me and lock me in a hug, I start crying, and from the sudden wet spot on my shoulder I’d assume he is too. I can’t believe he’s alive, i think of the mask he had to wear on his own, I think if the carousel, I think about how terrifying it must’ve been for him to realize for the second time. He pulls away and I use my free hand to grab his shoulder, I move my hand to his face and pull him towards me to try and get a better look at him, soon my eyes focus enough that I can see him, I can see his face, I can see his eyes, I never realized they were green, one of his eyes looks heavily bruised and irritated, I see his nose and I see his smile, one that I have never seen, not a fake show smile they made him put on. I see his brown hair that no longer has any sort of hat sitting on it, I let go of his face and wipe my tears, this isn’t a moment to be sad, I think to myself.
A thought recurs in my mind, if this is Sneeg, I turn and reach in the general vicinity of the other person, I feel them grab my hand and place it on their face, I pull them closer and see none other than Charlie. The tears I wiped away appear once more, I do the same thing I did with Sneeg. I look at his eyes, now seeing them as blue, his nose, his smile, and his glasses. There’s no horns, no hospital gown, and no bulletproof vest, just a dark red long sleeve shirt.
Charlie try’s talking to me, I can see his mouth moving, I frown and grab the pencil once more as I write “Im sory I can’t here you” something about the sentence looks wrong but I can’t put my finger on it. I can practically feel Charlie’s frown while Sneeg looks confused. the two have gotten closer to me so I can partially see them but they also move closer together, it’s still a little blurry but clear enough. I can see Charlie grab the notebook and explain what I wrote to him, Sneeg frowns and Charlie writes on the notepad before handing it back to me “nothing at all?” It reads, “only little I could hear you yell Sneegs name” I write and pass it back to them, Charlie reads it to sneeg and a little hope spreads onto both of their faces.
I think for a second, where the fuck are we? I gesture for them to give me the notepad, “where are we, and what happened back at the mall?” I lift the notepad, Charlie translates and them him and Sneeg look at each other, I shake the notepad to emphasize how much I want to know. Charlie takes the notepad and writes, I watch him for maybe five minutes before he hands the paper back.
“We found you before the box closed, but we weren’t quick enough to fully stop it, sneeg pressed some buttons and it stopped right as it was about to fully close on you but we couldn’t stop it quick enough. We think that’s the reason you can’t see or hear very well, we think it pierced your eardrums and parts of your eyes, we think your eyesight might improve but we’re not sure about your hearing, but then we escaped, we’re in an abandoned house maybe a mile or two away from the mall, thank Sneeg for carrying you all this way while you where unconscious”
I nod, I feel terrible. Charlie placed a hand on my leg in a comforting manner, I think for many moments. It’s nice to have Charlie and Sneeg in my presence but at the same time it feels wrong in a sense. Where do we go from here.