Chapter Text
The killer started to stir after Jake’s last trial. While he waited, he sat by the bed, making sure nobody came in. Because of his status as a loner, the others didn’t see his absence as abnormal. He hasn't gotten the chance to speak to Jeff since Dwight broke the news, he heard that Jeff was quite upset, then was immediately pulled into a trial.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Jake asked as the killer’s eyes opened.
At first, the killer was bleary eyed, looking around dazed, then sudden clarity, as his fist met Jake’s cheek. Jake fell backward, holding his face, as the killer breathed heavy, seemingly recognizing Jake, he lowered his eyes to the ground.
“Fuck, sorry, I don’t know what…” The killer glanced towards the outside, “did I make it?”
“Yeah, you did.” Jake said, still rubbing his cheek. “Hell of a punch you got, nearly as hard as David’s. Do you remember your name?”
“My name is Frank.” Still getting his bearings, the killer, now Frank, sat up scratching his head. “You said we’d figure out what we’d do next later, how many people know I’m here, and does he know?”
“It’s just me, Dwight, Claudette and Jeff so far who know who you really are. The others don’t know you’re here yet.”
Frank sighed and glanced away.
“All of us were living life before we were taken, do you remember what happened to you?” Jake asked.
The blond seemed to hesitate, opening his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He buried his face into his hands, and shook his head. “I-I can’t. I can only recall my family, but everything else is gone.
“Gone?”
“Yeah, it’s fucking gone. All of it. Before I talked to you, I didn’t even remember the last time I even talked, my head was gone.”
Jake sat before Frank, taking in the information. He wondered if the other killers were the same, if they were being mind controlled by the Entity, at least the more human ones. He couldn’t be too sure about the monsters, like the Dredge. “What made you ask about Jeff? I mean I’m sure you’ve seen him before.”
“I think it was him saying my name, and pleading with me not to kill him.” Frank said, “Shit reminded me of something, like deja vu. I can’t tell if it’s from killing your friends, or if I did something heinous in my past.”
“We should probably discuss this more when Dwight is back,” Jake stood up, “I can get you some extra clothes, so you can change into something more comfortable.”
“Whatever makes it easier to make me fit in.”
Jake exited the shelter to go rummage through his collection of things he found in the fog for a hoodie of some kind, and hopefully pants that would fit Frank. Now that he wasn’t under the influence of the Entity, he looked smaller, and more fragile. If Jake didn’t know, he’d assume he was a survivor. As he started to return, he heard a familiar yell coming from Claudette’s place, and he started running to see David holding his nose, and pinning Frank to the ground with his free hand.
“David!” Jake dropped the clothes, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Eugh, he punched me,” David said, quickly letting go, “What are you doing in there?”
Frank glanced at Jake, and stood up, dusting off his pants, and he put on a nervous expression, “Where am I? I-I just woke up here.”
David scratched his head, looking guilty for a second before turning to Jake, “I’m not great at explaining things, where is Dwight?”
“Well, he’s in a trial last I checked, you can go and I can do the heavy lifting.”
Once David trekked away, the two men let out a held breath, and Jake tossed Frank the clothes. “Is your first reaction to punch everything you see?”
Frank rolled his eyes and bitterly held the clothes to his chest, “Fucker suprised me, grabbed my shoulder.” He sighed, “I’m going to have to go through the whole ‘I don’t know what to do’ act, aren’t I?”
“Probably, anyway, I dug around and found a new pair of jeans and that hoodie, I hope they fit.”
Thankfully they did, and once Frank was wearing them, he looked like a young adult, one who should be attending school and living life. That thought sent a pang of sympathy through his heart, and Jake silently promised himself he’d figure this out, and help get everyone back home. He was broken from his thoughts as he noticed dark fog surrounding his feet, the sign he was being summoned. Usually only one or two trials go on at a time, and there were already two. This struck him as strange.
“Jake?” Frank called his name nervously, and he looked up to see the same smoke surrounding Frank’s legs.
“Shit.” Jake’s head disappeared into darkness as he started to fall, and he landed in snow.
--
Frank landed face first into snow and he rolled over, groaning. The snow soaked his new clothes, the cold seeping through. His breath was visible, and he instantly knew where he was from the building he lay in front of. Deciding not to waste time, Frank stumbled onto his feet and started walking. It was his first time in a trial, and not feeling the urge to stab. He felt oddly peaceful at the sight of his home, and he cautiously entered the main lobby. He ran his fingers across the ice cold couch, he got the sense he and Julie sat here often.
Heading upstairs, he took a deep breath, the cold air was comforting. His peace was interrupted as a rough hand grabbed his shoulder, and on instinct he swung his fist, but this time it was caught. Standing beside him was David, still with a bruised nose. “Be quiet, and follow me.”
Frank dropped his hand, he decided he was going to work on not punching people, and he nodded. To sell the act, he had to follow David like a lost puppy, while it wasn’t very appealing, he had no better option. As they walked down to the lobby’s generator, he wondered where Jake ended up, but his thoughts ended fast as he felt pain run through his body, and his heart quickened. Frank gasped as he fell, getting caught by David who let out a grunt.
“It’s the damn Doctor.” David grumbled, and pushed Frank onto his feet. “Grit your teeth when that happens, do not make a sound, got it?”
Frank held his forehead, still reeling, but he nodded, and the two got to work. His senses were overwhelmed, along with the sound of the generator repairs, he could hear a girl screaming and the vague murmurs of something intelligible.
“Shit, that was Meg, Jake better get ‘er.” David mumbled before the two were hit with another wave of pain.
Frank jerked as the pain shot through his body, causing the generator to explode. Before he could realize what was happening, David grabbed his arm and started dragging him away to a locker. “You hide here, I’ll draw him away.” Frank couldn’t protest, as David opened the locker and pushed him in.
He watched David run out the building through the locker’s slits, and he slit down the backside into a sitting position. The murmurs were getting worse, and his heart rate was too fast. It was the same feeling he got when he chased survivors. He covered his mouth as another shock caused his knees to bang against the locker door, and he muffled his whimpers. He cursed at himself in his mind, stop being such a pussy Frank, you can handle worse.
He just hoped the Doctor didn’t hear him in the locker. As he was there, he grew more anxious, and he opened the locker to peek outside. The coast was clear, and he wanted to end the trial faster. The only way to do that was to fix that generator, so he crept forward with shaking hands and started fixing. He fumbled his way through, he barely paid attention to the others doing it as they were his victims. Now he had to recall what he could.
When he thought he was making good progress, another shock ran up his spine and his world darkened. He spun around and saw a figure standing behind him, the Doctor holding his bat. Frank swung his fist, and met nothing as the Doctor vanished. Frank collapsed backwards and pressed his back against the wall, “I’m going crazy, I could’ve sworn he was there.”
His heart rate was too fast, and his hand wouldn’t cooperate, leaving the generator worse than it was before. Then on the second floor, he saw the Doctor again, this time he got up and started running. To his horror, the Doctor made chase, and Frank found himself at another building. He frantically looked around for some kind of weapon, and found a broken window. Gritting his teeth, he picked a shard up, and spun around, thrusting his weapon. Instead of hearing the yell of a monster, he was met with Julie.
Julie gazed at him in horror as the glass was on her side, tears welling up in her eyes.
“No, I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t, I thought.” Frank dropped the glass and backed away. Julie didn’t move. “Fuck, I hurt you, fuck this, I can’t…I can’t-”
Julie stepped forward and rested her hands on his shoulders, and she led him to the wall and pushed him to sit down. She grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest, breathing deep and slow. Frank tried to follow her breathing, and eventually he felt his heart beat slow down, and the murmurs quiet down. He opened his eyes and looked up, not to see a blond girl, but the redheaded girl with braids.
“You back with me?” She asked.
Frank pulled his hand away, looking at the floor, his face heating up. He just lost his mind in front of another survivor, and this girl heard his voice before. “I’m sorry.” Frank said, pitching his voice up slightly.
“Right, David told me you’re a newbie.”
“The glass shard-” Frank began, but the girl hushed him, before pinching the glass with her fingers and pulling it out in one go.
“I’m going to be fine, you can call me Meg.” She pulled him to his feet, "There's a generator right outside, you do that.”
Before he could respond, she turned on her heels and ran out. Frank took a moment to breathe some more, wishing it was really Julie who was here. He missed his family, despite not having any m memories with them, it was just a sense of yearning that he couldn’t place. Frank slammed his fist onto the ground, and got up. Now wasn’t a time to mourn over his memories, he needed to help get Jake and the others out. As he turned to leave, he grabbed another shard of glass, and stuck it in his hoodie pockets.
Frank climbed out through the window and started the generator repairs, trying to keep his hands steady. Thankfully he wasn’t shocked again, and he wasn’t overwhelmed with sound. He connected wires, twisted, turned and flipped, trying his hardest not to mess anything up. Before he knew it, the generator roared to life, and Frank leaned back onto the snow, proud of his work.
Then there was a scream to his right, Frank looked over and through trees and walls, he saw Jake lying on the ground with the Doctor standing over him, using his foot to pin Jake down to pull his weapon out of his back.
Frank felt the glass poking through the pocket, and he ran. The Doctor saw him making a mad dash, all familiar things to him. Dashing with a weapon, making a beeline to the target. His distraction seemed to work, as when the Doctor headed his way to meet him, Frank turned on his heels to run into the building. Again, pain shot through his muscles, but he didn’t stop, and leaped through a window. Another shock jerked his body, causing him to slow down, and he yelled through gritted teeth. Then more pain exploded on his leg, as the Doctor swung, the very edge of his weapon hitting him
Frank was sent tumbling to the ground, and the Doctor’s hand wrapped around his neck, lifting him from the snow. Frank’s head hurt as the sound were too much again, but through the pain he found the strength to grab the glass and stab the Doctor’s arm.
The Doctor whimpered and he was dropped to the ground. Not wasting any time, Frank got to his feet and limped as fast as he could away. He didn’t get very far, his blood giving the Doctor a free trail. It wasn’t long before the weapon met his back. Frank writhed on the ground as another shock ran through his body. He couldn’t breath, or think, all he knew was he was going to die. This is how they felt when I killed them. Frank thought.
When the Doctor lifted him again, he couldn’t move. Frank’s world blacked out once a piercing intense pain filled his left shoulder. He drifted in and out of consciousness, hanging above the ground. I…must be hooked. Someone. Please get me out of here.