Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kate's POV

When I first arrived at the campfire things seemed very somber, which I’ve come to realize is pretty much the natural mood of this place. The four I’ve come to know as Feng, Jake, Bill, and Quentin were waiting for their trial to begin once the ones who were out at the time returned. They were the last to acknowledge my presence, only giving me pitiful looks and nodding. No one said anything to me, but I could feel their eyes staring at me and especially at my guitar. Whenever I think about that, I still wonder what their stares held. Curiosity? Jealousy? Maybe both? I’m still unsure, but they tracked my every move, from me sitting near the fire, to me fixing my hair.

I felt like a threat that they were trying to figure out how to handle, and now I see that was basically what I was. Along with me came a new monster, one that was familiar to me and only me at the time, and one that no one else knew how to deal with.

Once Dwight, Tapp, Ace, and Meg came running back, the tension seemed to lessen slightly. When Bill’s team was about to drop their offerings and walk off, Ace stopped them. The two seemed to have a silent conversation and stared at the flames for a few seconds before they snuffed out instantly, leaving us in near-complete darkness. The embers in the trees helped our eyes adjust faster, and Dwight called everyone to sit near the fire pit.

“Hey uh..I’m Dwight.”
The scrawny and timid looking man told me, trying to be as welcoming as he could be in a place like this.

“Kate Denson, nice to meet you.”
I replied, standing and shaking his hand.

Conversation suddenly seemed so out of place in the Fog, almost like it was forbidden. Dwight looked at the others next to him, and they all introduced themselves one by one.

“Meg.”

“Detective Tapp, pleasure to meet you.”

“Ace Visconti, don’t wear the name out.”

“..Hm? Oh, Quentin.”

I waved and smiled at all of them, trying to seem less intimidating and trying to put their names to each of their faces. The last person to introduce themselves practically whispered their name.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name.”
I said, looking around to see who it might’ve been.

“Sorry..my name’s Claudette Morel."
I saw a lean figure wave in the darkness and I returned it, but the sentiment of the moment didn’t last long.

“Alright, cool, now we all know each other, but what we don’t know is what this new killer is like. Care to indulge us, Kate?”
Laurie, the blonde girl in 70s attire said in a harsh tone that took me aback slightly.

“Laurie, c’mon, she just got here, most of us didn’t want to jump into things right away after our...whatever it’s called.”
Piped up Claudette, a seemingly shy girl who didn’t like to speak much.

“I agree, Claudette, but we need to know some details and so does she if we want to do our best in the trials. Let’s just rip it off like a bandaid, and then we can relax before the trials begin again. Alright?”
Tapp told her, speaking less like an authority figure like I’d imagined and a bit more like a father figure to her.

Claudette simply sighed and nodded in response, letting the interrogation of my experience continue.
I had known what they were referring to before they even got into it. Tapp did most of the questioning, which I assume everyone let him handle since he was a detective and all, and could get the most valuable information.

“Alright, Ms. Denson. Let’s start off with how this killer looks and it’s..behavior.”

“Well um..it’s a clown with a heavily painted face. Black eyes. Purple and bloodied suit, has a small knife and some gas bottles.”

“Gas bottles? Can you elaborate on that more, please?”

“From what I’ve seen, they’re these old cork bottles with some sort of mixture inside. He kinda shakes them and tosses them around. Sometimes he’d use them to see if I were hiding somewhere, sometimes to herd me or slow me down, sometimes just to be a real pain, but he’d always have to shake them again at some point.”

“I see. Now, this mixture, the gas? Does it have any effect on you?”

“Oh, most definitely. If he’d hit me with the bottle, it’d hurt, but not do any damage. It’d make me run a lot slower for a bit longer too. Now, if I’d just run in the gas? By God, it’d be terrible, I could never hold in a scream if I came in contact with it. It stings my eyes and lungs, it’s very unpleasant and dizzyin’.”

I could hear some people shifting uncomfortably, some leaning in, morbidly intrigued, but I know they were all strategizing as well.

“Mmm. I’ll assume we’ll see some new properties soon, but why don’t you go ahead and tell us about the place you two would..run around in, for lack of a better term, hm?”

I nodded and described the torn and beaten chapel, as well as the garishly bright caravan in front of it, completely devoid of cheer and very out of place.
A few more questions were thrown around from Tapp and the others, and I tried to give them as much information as I could, since keeping things in mind is pretty hard when you’re being chased and hunted and all that.

“Well, unfortunately, Ms. Denson, this isn’t the end of this conversation. We need to tell you about the other killers that reside here, so you’ll be somewhat prepared to face them. I’m sorry you went through what you did, but we don’t really get breaks here.”

“No, it’s fine, go ahead and tell me.”
I responded, adjusting my sitting position to be a bit more comfortable.

Tapp motioned his hand and “the original four” came over to talk to me. They told me about the killer’s “original 3” and how it’d be best to avoid them. This continued for a while, with nearly every individual survivor coming up to me and describing their killer ‘counterpart’ and how to best distract or hide from them. It was a lot to take in and remember, but I was assured that they’d try to help me during trials as best they could 'till I got the hang of 'em.

At this point, the fire was slowly coming back to life and things got a bit calmer. I got more questions about my life before the Fog, about things I liked and about my tattoos. Of course, it came up that I know how to play guitar and sing, and I got the usual bombardment of
"Can you sing something for us?"
but I was glad to oblige, and so I propped the guitar on my lap and began.

"Rise and shine, work hard, carve out your name,
Take aim, pull the trigger, hit the bull's eye for fame,
Know the value of faith, an' family, and don't you complain,
Open wide, your windows of opportunity."

Even the hardest of faces seemed to soften, and I think I even drew a few tears outta some of them. We all seemed to forget where we were for a few good moments, and then it was back to the trials.

It's been what I guess is a few months now. Time is weird here, but that son of a bitch the Entity seems to take a liking to a few human traditions, which lets us know roughly what season it is. Some summer-like clothing dropped for a few of us as of late, so we could only assume it was sometime during the summer months. As wild as it is, I've grown used to this place. Not comfortable, I don't think that'd ever be possible, but it's dementedly familiar now. I'm glad me and my guitar can soothe the others from time to time, and that we're all just a weird family at this point. I've got bonds with some stronger than others, especially Jake, Claudette, and Jeff. Ace calls us "the hippies" or "the tree huggers." I don't think I'd want to imagine a world without these people, even if I do want my freedom. It all just comes full circle when I think about my actual family and how they must be feeling. But, now's not the time for those kinds of thoughts. I've got a trial coming up and some ass to kick.

Claudette's POV

I was one of the first four survivors to arrive here, which made trials before others came along so much more draining and harsh. It was so stressful to the point that I’d have breakdowns and panic attacks during trials, which never helped anyone but the killers. Now, things have settled. There are new people, new stories to be shared, new things to learn for our survival. Things at the campfire are more easy-going now, nothing compared to what the beginning was like. There was so much screaming, so many pity revenge acts, so much crying and death. I joke to myself that I wish the Entity would bring a therapist or counselor so that I could have someone to talk to, but I’d never wish this twisted world on anybody.

Besides, as depressing as it is seeing new faces here, I’ve made some really good friends, one’s I can open up to about many things. I still feel lonely, though. Everyone’s got their own little clique here. The adults usually hang out by the fire and talk, the rowdier ones are usually messing around in the forest, the “lone wolves” can even be seen together sometimes, usually getting items and offerings ready for trials. I’m almost always sitting alone, trying to brace myself for upcoming trials or just daydreaming.
Anything to keep my thoughts from wandering into the grey and suffocating place.

Speaking of, It’s my turn to tackle the next trial. Guess I should build my nerves before they’re gone.

Chapter Text

Claudette's POV

I quietly sat down at my "resting place" by the fire pit, holding a party starter so I could get myself out of a bad situation if need be.

“Hey Claudette, got any salve I could use? I plan on gettin’ on the killer's nerves a little bit more today.”
Kate asked, giving me a mischevious grin.

I went to a log nearby that held most of my tinctures, salves, and plants, grabbing a small thing of one for Kate.

“Thanks, hun. And don’t worry, I won’t tell that you were an accomplice.”
She joked as she took the salve and tucked it away, causing me to smile and shake my head a little.

“If you get camped I’m leaving you on the hook.”

“Aw, I thought we had each other’s backs.”
She continued joking as she tossed a bound envelope into the flames.

A moment before we laid down to begin our trial, she gave me a gentle smile and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, letting me know that she wasn’t planning on letting anything happen to us.

***

This match wasn’t all that tough, I guess the Spirit was just having a bad day, or maybe Kate’s trickery actually worked this time. She didn’t even have “No One Escapes Death,” which is odd, but a massive relief.

What’s bothering me though is something I thought I saw from afar.

When Kate first got here, I noticed that sometimes she’d be crying after she’d wiggled out of a killer’s grasp just in time. I’ve asked her if she was ok and told her she could talk to me if she ever needs to, but she just said she had gotten frightened and didn’t think she was gonna get off. That’s what we all chalked it up to, and we all assumed we were right when her breakdowns stopped after a while.

But, today, as I was doing a generator in the rotten fields, I heard her behind the tractor sniffling. I peeked around, hoping she wouldn't see me at the gen, but she just wiped her face quickly then ran off to find the killer again. I want to talk to her, maybe pry a little, but that could’ve just been her whimpering about her injuries. She did sustain a lot that round. I guess I’m just over worrying again like everyone says I do. I should-

Oh. Kate’s playing a few chords, maybe she’s gonna sing? It’s always nice when she does.

I walk over and lean against the log with her, noticing Quentin already dozed off on her other side.

She’s probably trying to help him get some rest, poor guy never seems to be able to. Well, I guess I shouldn’t waste the chance to get a bit of shut-eye either.

I lay down and curl up at her side, taking off my glasses and putting them next to me before closing my eyes and floating off into sleep.

***

“Hey, Claudette. You need to wake up, dude.”
I was shaken awake by Feng, who handed me my glasses when I sat up.

“What kind of dream were you having? You were gone for a while. Kate’s been taking your shift in the trials, about 2 or 3 of them.”

It took me a bit to process what she said as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and stretched.

“Is she ok?”

“Yeah..yeah, she’s out right now but she’s fine. So..why’d you sleep so heavily? We thought we were gonna have another ‘Quentin Situation.’ ”

She looked genuinely concerned, which made me feel bad about not having woken up sooner.

“Nothing, really. Just spent a while with the entity, I think. I can’t remember much.”

“Typical.”
She mumbled.

It seemed like she wanted to continue conversating so it wouldn’t end on an awkward note, but then we saw Kate come sprinting from the trees, sweaty and pale.
She stopped and took a breather, trying to get her voice back.

“Y’all!!”
She yelled, motioning everyone over to the fire as she still gasped for air.

Everyone came over, and I took a mental note that Quentin, Dwight, and Adam were absent, probably still in their trial.

Someone asked what happened and Kate spilled it all out in between breaths for us.

“You guys...remember when that- that thing with Quentin happened? Freddy..just like he said.”

She coughed her lungs out and Jeff patted her back, standing up so she could sit and stop shaking.

“What about Freddy?”
Feng asked, getting a response that everyone was dreading.

“We were..drifting in and out of sleep. There were alarm clocks. There were pools of blood and the souls of the damned.”

She sounded like a lunatic, but we already knew what she was talking about.

Quentin’s nightmare had come true.

Kate's POV

I had become the bearer of bad news and I hated it.
I couldn’t focus on the questions everyone was asking, the forest just kept spinning around me.

“Hey- Hey, hey! Give her some space. Let’s just wait for the others and they’ll all tell us together. Let her get her bearings.”

The ground came rushing towards me, and I suddenly felt someone’s arms around me.

“Hup..let’s get you somewhere private.”

Jeff was carrying me off somewhere else, and I could see someone running up to follow him out of my peripherals before tears filled my eyes and blurred my vision.
I felt myself being leaned against a tree away from the fire. There was a bit of whispering before Jeff walked away and left someone else with me.

“Kate..”

I couldn’t place the voice right away, but when she got close and I collapsed into her arms, I realized it was Claudette.
As much as I didn’t want to cry, I couldn’t help it. I turned into a mess of tears in her arms. I must have sobbed for about 2 full minutes before I finally began to calm down at the sound of Claudette’s humming. I don’t know when, but I eventually fell asleep. I woke up later, still under the same tree. I heard some nearby laughter and decided to walk over, knowing that only one other person knew about my breakdown.

"Hey, Kate, take a seat."
Jane said, patting the empty spot next to her.

Oh, sweet Jesus, I hope Claudette hadn't told anyone about what happened.
I took a seat and yawned, listening to the others talk about funny things that had happened in their trials and tell jokes.

"Kate's one lucky son of a gun, she got to bring her sweet guitar. All the Entity let me bring was a pack of smokes, not even a drop of liquor"

"Oi, speakin' of, hand me one."

The sound of my name caught my attention. Some people are still dwelling on that?

"Actually, some bourbon sounds damn good about now. Wish I'd been holdin' a bottle instead."
I said, taking the cigarette Ace offered and thanking him. I lit it using the fire and just zoned out of their conversation for a while.

"Hey, Kate. We're going into a trial and need a good runner in case it's Freddy. Are you feeling up to going against him?"
Quentin asked, motioning over to the others that were gonna join him.

"Yeah, gimme a few to grab some things."

He nodded and walked off as I stood up, offering my smoke to the others, which they all declined. I decided to keep it and bring it with me into the trial.
Once I got my things ready, I went up to Claudette out of instinct. She was the only one in this group of 4 that I was very comfortable with.

"Kate..are you sure?"
She whispered, trying to avoid looking at me.

I squeezed her hand in turn, and she gave me a nervous smile, finally looking at my face.

"I know I'm supposed to focus on Quentin, but I'll try my best to keep you alive too."

I thanked her and we trailed behind the others into the woods.

Chapter Text

Claudette's POV

"She was our runner!"

"He had dying light, Claud!"

"But we only had one gen left when you went down! We were set for the rest of the trial!"
I bit my tongue to keep from talking too much.

I knew I was somewhat in the wrong, and I understood why Quen was so upset, but we had all made it out alive despite Freddy's antics.

"I-"
He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself a little so the others wouldn't hear our arguing.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I was afraid for Kate. I wasn't trying to neglect you."
I apologized, trying to patch things up so we could move on.

Despite all the involuntary sleeping I did last trial,  I was still tired, and I knew Quentin was too.
All he did was nod and walk off without saying anything. Well, nothing I could hear at least. I just stood around, not knowing what to do for a few seconds before deciding to see if the patch of primrose buds I saw a while ago finally bloomed.

As I grabbed Laurie's glass shard and began walking off, Kate left her conversation with Jake and David to come with me.

"Yeah, just keep practicing those chords, I'll be back!"
She yelled at them as we walked before she turned to me.

"Mind if I come with ya? I'll teach you guitar if you teach me how to make better favors."
She asked, laughing at herself a little.

"Yeah, but it'll require quite a bit of blood. Are you fine with that?"

"You say that like if I haven't lost gallons in trials."
She stuck out her tongue and gave me a cheeky smile, making me roll my eyes and laugh.

"Thankfully it's not like that. The Entity only lets you use so much."

"The Entity, huh?"
She mumbled and trailed off. It seems like she wanted to say more, but kept it to herself.

"So, how did you figure all of that out?"

"Uhh..I think it was around when I first got here. I had escaped a trial and was making my way back to camp, but I tripped over an oak root and skinned my knee near a patch of flowers. In front of my eyes, the flowers grew a bit more before some embers patched up my wound. I kept experimenting and giving blood to random plants here in the woods, and that's how I found out about offerings."

She looked like she didn't believe me for a bit, but I guess she figured it was one of the lesser weird things here in the Fog.

We continued talking as we walked to my favorite area of the woods, mostly about Kate's life as a singer.

"Aaand, here we are. Primrose proper-"
My sentence was interrupted by Kate grabbing my arm and yanking me up from my crouching position, pulling me behind her.

"Wha-?"
She shushed me softly and kept staring into the fog ahead, the thing we called The Boundary.

I squinted to see what she was looking at and saw a very faint figure encased in the fog.

"Claudette, find me something to throw."
She whispered, keeping her eyes on the silhouette.

I frantically searched the ground and trees, finally finding a jagged rock and giving it to her.

"Hey, jackass! I can see you, you know! Who are you!?"
Kate yelled, keeping the rock pointed at them in one hand and my hand in her free one.

There was no response.

Just as I was about to suggest we leave, she threw the rock into the fog at them.
They stepped to the side, avoiding any collision with it, and eventually took a few steps further into the fog after standing there for a bit more.

Neither of us did anything for what seemed like hours.

"Claudette, hun, are you ok?"
Kate asked, her voice low and cracking a bit.

I hugged her back, letting out a shaky breath that I didn't know I was holding. I couldn't respond because I had no idea what to say, I was still reeling from what just happened.
She turned around and hugged me properly, swaying side to side to rock me.

"Do you want to leave?"

I thought for a bit, deciding not to in the end.

"The others will be upset if I return empty-handed."

"Who cares? They'll understand once we tell them what happened."

She had a point, but I still didn't want to go without something.

"Let me just get some primrose and then we'll leave."

There was silence before she broke the hug and motioned to a patch of flowers.

(!!!)
I knelt beside some primrose and took the shard of glass from my back pocket. I rolled up my sleeves and cut into the back of my forearm, letting the blood drip onto the flowers, which began to thrive off of it. The entity sealed my wound once I had bloodlet enough, indicating that the flowers could now be picked. I wiped the shard clean and then used it to cut the stems, taking 6 blossoms in total.

(!!!)
"Alright. I've got enough for two offerings. One for each of us if you want one."
I offered her 3 blossoms, trying to lessen the tension at least a little.

She gave me a small smile and took them, thanking me.
We started heading back to the fire, though, for a while, the conversation seemed a bit forced and awkward.

"Hey..I didn't mean to be rude or rough back there. I was just scared and wanted to get you away in case something happened."
She stopped walking and looked me right in the eyes as she apologized, looking a little embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Oh, no. No, you're fine, don't worry."

I couldn't hold eye contact with her for long, it just felt strange.

"Are you sure? I know I don't like being manhandled, and that's kinda what I did to you."

The memory of her crying by the tractor came back.

"What? No, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, you were just looking out for me."

I just realized I haven't thanked her for handling the situation.

"Uh, th-thank you for that, by the way."
I added rather quickly before she said anything else.

She blinked and looked confused for a second before laughing.

Did I say something weird?? Was it weird to thank her? I was just trying to be polite-

"Claudette, honey, you say thank you a bit too much."

She kept laughing and I felt my face heat up.

Was that possible?? I should say sorry-

"Don't apologize. You do that a bit too much, too."

I looked at the ground, extremely embarrassed at this point.

"I'm not trying to be mean, hun, but I remember when you yelled 'thank you!' while running from Myers because I took his attention away from you. You're very sweet and gracious, Claudette, don't change."

She put a hand on my shoulder and smiled widely at me, making me short circuit. I really had nothing to say to her.
She continued walking and I followed, remaining quiet before a thought I had slipped.

"How are you like this here?"

"Hm? Like what?"

Shit, I hadn't meant to say that out loud. I might as well explain.

"I mean...you're always hopeful and kind here. A lot of us have kinda just given up on that already."

She was quiet for a bit, probably thinking of what to say.

"I know we can get out. I stay hopeful because I think that, once you let hope go, you're just giving up on everything. And I know that's what that asshole Entity wants. It's pulling so many strings here, even strings we can't see. It wants something, but, whatever that thing is, it's definitely not hope. And I'm not here to hand over things on a silver platter."

I was in awe of her words. That's what I really liked about her. She was so headstrong, she was like a storm you wanted to see but never wanted to be in. Her strength was never misdirected towards the wrong people, and that was so admirable.

"If neither of us has a trial right now, I can teach you a few quick chords as per our promise."
She said, following me as I walked to give Laurie her glass back.

"Ah. I'd rather just hear you play, honestly. It's so soothing."

She smiled and asked if I had any requests for her.

"Just..whatever you feel comfortable playing."

We sat down a little ways from the campfire and she strummed a little tune, playing till she was called upon for a trial. She handed me her guitar to take care of while she was gone, and I noticed that she had intwined the primrose I had given her between the strings.

Chapter Text

Kate's POV

It felt so nice to finally get a break from running and Freddy. A little weird, but nice. It was decided that I'd jockey this round because I had so many brand new parts stashed away. I finished up the 3rd gen of the match and ran towards the shack, finding Nea already working on the gen among the trees there. I looked around cautiously and began working on the generator with her while keeping a lookout for the Wraith.

"So uh.."

I jumped at the sound of Nea's voice, turning my attention to her.

"I heard that little song you were playing for Claudette before we left. Mind playing it again when we get back?"

"Sure. How come?"

The sound of a bell ringing made us to jump into action and run, causing the generator to explode.

The Wraith began chasing Nea since she was dead on her next hook, completely ignoring me.
The generator to the storehouse popped, and, against my better judgment to aggravate the killer, I returned to our generator, hiding behind it so the killer wouldn't break chase from the shack and come for me. It was a bit more than 50% done, and I figured I could get it before she went down, unless she got hit in the next few seconds. My heart pounded loudly in my ears as I focused on the frayed wires and killer shack at the same time.

Fuck. That was the sound of the pallet being thrown down. She's gonna get too far from here and I won't be able to catch up.
I got the 4th piston moving a little before I ran after Nea and The Wraith.
She had quietly jumped into a locker and lost him for a split second, giving me an opening.

I threw my toolbox at him, hitting the wall beside him and grabbing his attention with a few curses. He tried to ignore me and get to Nea's locker, but I charged him and dived at his legs, pissing him off enough to grab me by the shirt and put me onto his shoulder. As he did so, Nea stunned him with the locker doors, laughing and taunting him before running off.

Since I became injured by charging him, I was now his target.
I sprinted off towards the nearest pallet, which was really shitty, but bought me some time. Unfortunately, Nea popped the generator a second too late, just as I got hit through a window.
I kept taunting and using foul language even as I bled on the floor. After wiping his morbid weapon and purposely stepping over the window and onto my back, he simply stared at me, making displeased guttural noises.

"Your sorry ass wishes it could kill me right here, right now, but you're FUCKED."

His response to that was to put his weight onto the gashes on my back and hiss angrily.

A gong-like sound rang throughout the realm as the ground seared with embers beneath my body, causing me to grunt at the sudden heat. It wasn't enough to hurt now, but in a few seconds, it might be.

"Pick me up or leave me here to be picked up, you son of a bitch."
I said, spitting at him as he pressed his weapon against my head and pushed it against the ground.

A few seconds went by as I recovered on the floor before this tree-looking jackass took his weapon off my head and compared the size of the skull on it to mine. The display of the morbid threat earned him some firecrackers for his troubles. I was yanked up from the ground before my eyes had even cleared from the fireworks.

"Keep going, keep going, I've gotcha."

Ash was running behind me, pushing me to the opened exit gate up ahead.

I saw the red stain behind us as the Wraith desperately tried to hit me down again.
Suddenly, I was shoved towards the gate, almost completely losing my footing as I ran.
Ash screamed as he took a hit for me, deciding to wrastle with the killer instead of run off.
Feng and Nea waited by the door to shield me.

"Where's Ash?"
Feng asked, ushering me to the edge of the exit.

Before I could answer, we heard another scream but didn't see Ash fall to the ground. He came running up, shooing us out.

"Ash, you crazy motherfucker!"
I exclaimed with a smile, leaning against Feng for support as he leaned against Nea.

"Evil can't take me down no matter how hard it tries."
He said smugly.

"Better hope you don't see that guy soon, or you're getting Mori'd, Kate."
Feng mumbled, adjusting herself under my weight.

"Nah, he'll try, but he can't do shit."
I replied, getting more and more nervous as the Boundary got closer, but not stopping.

The minute I stepped through, I was fully healed and walking back to camp normally with the rest.

"Oh yeah, Nea, why'd you want me to play that song again?"
I asked, suddenly remembering our conversation at Macmillan's.

"Oh, just 'cause it sounded familiar to a song in Sweden that I heard a long time ago."

I nodded, telling her I'd meet with her once I got my guitar.
I found Claudette asleep next to my guitar and I carefully picked it up and walked away, not wanting to wake her up yet.
Nea was under a tree laying on Meg's lap and talking to her about something, getting quiet as I approached.

"Hey, ya'll. Tellin' Meg about the trial?"
I asked as I sat down, positioning the guitar properly on my lap.

"Yeah, mainly about how you threw a toolbox."
Nea said, messing with one of Meg's braids.

I gave a small laugh and then started strumming the song they wanted to hear. Once I finished after a couple of minutes, I looked over at the two to see them both with their eyes closed. Thinking I had lulled them to sleep, I began to get up and brush myself off before I heard Nea speak again.

"Is that an original?"

"No, actually. It's a song by someone I look up to."

She nodded, keeping steady eye contact with me.

"Really? Who's that?"

I started to get the gist of why she was questioning me so much, but I answered regardless.

"Girl In Red. You know her, don't you?"

She gave me a sly smile, looking rather smug.

"So..is there a reason you were playing one of her songs for Claudette?"

I saw Meg poke her back, simply causing Nea to smile more.
I sighed, sitting down again and lowering my voice some more.

"Exposed like a sinner in church."

Meg snorted at that, laughing quietly.

"What do you want me to tell you that you haven't already figured out?"
I asked, twiddling with the Primrose I wrapped around my guitar strings to avoid looking at them.

"How long have you crushed on her?"
Nea pried, getting off Meg to let the poor girl's blood circulate and laying down in front of me instead.

"Not long? A bit before Jane showed up, I think."

It was weird seeing Nea giddy like this. She usually wasn't like this with anyone.

"When are you gonna confess? Maybe I can get someone to see if she feels the same way."

"No, don't. I want to find out on my own. I want..."

I swallowed a bit of my pride and finished my sentence.

"I want to strengthen our relationship. If she rejects me, I still want to be friends. She shouldn't feel more awkward here than she already does."

When I didn't receive a response after a few seconds, I glanced over, seeing the two of them giving me soft, knowing looks.

"So,"
Meg spoke this time, laying on Nea's back and ignoring her protests.

"When did you realize you caught feelings for her?"

"Well..it started with me wanting to break her out of her shell and make her feel a bit more comfortable here. Then I wanted to protect her as much as I could, I never wanted her to be in harm's way. And that turned into...wanting to hold her. Wanting her to lay her head on my stomach while I played with her hair-"

I realized I had begun to ramble too much and clammed up again, my face as hot as the campfire.
The girls swooned and squealed as if we were at a slumber party and I couldn't help but cover my face in embarrassment.

"Please tell me you'll keep this between us."

They assured me they'd keep my secret, hugging me and asking a few more questions before Meg got called on for a trial and Nea left to socialize with some others.

Chapter Text

Kate's POV

"Kate, you have a damaged photo? I wanna go to the resort."

Quentin asked, looking through his pile of things

"I'm pretty sure. Lemme see."

I walked over to my stash of items and, right there, as if it were waiting for me, was a defaced polaroid of who we've come to know as the Legion.

I grabbed it, yelling after Quentin that I had one, but stopped mid-sentence when I noticed what was underneath the photo. It had been propped up against the jagged rock I had thrown at the figure in The Boundary. I knew it was the same rock because the back of the picture I was holding had some chilling words for me.

"You dropped this."

My heart caught in my throat and I didn’t snap out of my daze until Quentin put a hand on my shoulder.

He asked if I was ok while I quickly threw the photo in the fire.

“Peachy.”

“So...you want the flashlight?”

I looked at the sports light in his hand and nodded.

“I’ve put double batteries in here for you, go nuts with it.”

He held it out to me and I asked him to bring it in for me.

“I have something else I want to bring in.”

I explained and he just nodded and went to lay down by the fire.

“Hey, Kate.”

I looked over to see Claudette walking towards the fire with Dwight.

“Sorry we took so long, we were getting some oak.”

She held up some foul-smelling wood, then chucked it into the fire.

“Notice anything different?”

She asked, striking a bit of a pose while I looked her over.

“Oh wow, when did you get that?”

I had been so distracted by the rock and the note that I hadn’t realized Claudette rockin’ a somewhat new style. She was wearing grey boots with a black skirt and leggings.

Before we could have a full-length conversation about her new look we were called over to lay in our spots to begin the trial.

***

I opened my eyes to the beaten interior of the resort lodge, letting the fire warm my cheeks before deciding to find Claudette first then get the killer’s attention. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long, she was glued to a generator on the snowy hill next to the lodge.

“Claudy.”

She looked over at me and got off the gen as I crouched towards her.

“Are you cold?”

I asked, taking off my blue puffy jacket and wrapping it around her, not waiting for an answer.

“Kate, you’ll freeze.”

She argued, looking around to make sure we were still alone.

I only told her to keep it in a firm tone and she nodded, informing me that Dwight had come into the trial broken and she could see him being chased at the killer shack.

“Alright. Keep warm.”

I patted her shoulder and ran off towards the killer shack, seeing Dwight trying his damndest to run the killer around. What worried me most about this situation was the killer. It had been a while since I’ve seen the Wraith again, hoping I never would since the last incident. But, it was time to be a hero.

“Hey, douchebag!!”

I yelled, running up to the killer and dodging when he took a swing at me, trying to keep his attention long enough that Dwight could put some distance between them.

That proved to be a challenge though, as I was being ignored this time. I guess Dwight noticed that too because he yelled at me where he had seen an active hex totem at before he was spotted.

That did the trick.

The Wraith’s attention snapped to me as I vaulted the shack window and took off in the direction of said totem. The general area had lots of things to keep the two of us occupied until I decided to move the chase to the cabin. I was able to get through a hurdle before a Haunted Grounds hex was broken, exposing me. Better not test my luck too much this time.

***

The God-awful pain in my shoulder fled my mind when I caught a glimpse of my blue puffy jacket running towards me. Claudette's pained cry caused my heart's pace to quicken.

She's not gonna make it to me on time.

She got close and tried to fake saving me, but she didn't put enough distance between her and the killer when she tried to spin around him, thus getting her hit and downed.

My blood began to boil as he cleaned her blood off his weapon right in front of me.

He stared at her whimpering on the ground for a few seconds before grabbing one of her legs and dragging her closer to me.

No.

No.

"CLAUDETTE!!"

I screamed her name in anguish as the Wraith raised his weapon and brutally dug it into her back several times.

Quentin rescued me while she was being mori'd in front of my very eyes.

He had to drag me to the opened gate as I couldn't tear my eyes away from the vomit-inducing scene.

Every muscle in my body wanted me to go back for her, so much so that I fought against Quentin and tried to run back.

Both him and Dwight had to haul me out of the trial by my arms, and neither of them released me till they were sure I couldn't return.

Once I was free, I ran towards the Boundary, not waiting for the other two to catch up.

I shot through the fog and trees, not slowing till I saw the glowing light of the campfire.

"Claudette?"

I called out, rushing to her side.

She was sniffling and seemingly trying not to cry, covering her face as well.

"Go..go get Jeff."

"Why?? Hun, what's wrong? Let me help you."

I tried to gently take her free hand, but she simply pulled it away and insisted that I call Jeff.

It stung to be turned away by her, but I did as I was told and stayed at the main fire with Quen and Dwight while Jeff tended to Claudette.

I couldn't sit still while she was away.

I couldn't stop pacing, couldn't stop fidgeting, couldn't stop kicking things around. The others distracted me by challenging me to arm wrestle until she came back.

"Claudy..!"

I said excitedly, running up to her when she emerged from the trees.

"Hey, Kate."

Her tone caused my happiness to stifle.

“Listen..I think I want some time to myself. It’s not your fault, I swear, and I still consider you a really good friend it’s just…”

She looked like she was trying to find the right words.

“Just that..I haven’t been feeling good lately and I’d rather spend my time alone.”

Now it was my turn to find the right words. How do I address all of that?

Was she being honest about how it wasn’t my fault? What did she mean she didn’t feel good?

Was she going to be ok?

I nodded.

“I get ya. Can I..give you a hug?”

She seemed to relax and smiled, giving me a tight hug before we parted our own ways.

???

ʍɥıɹɹ' ʍɥıɹɹ' ʍɥıɹɹ˙˙˙
ʇɥə ʍɥıɹɹıub ɹəlɐxəp ɯʎ ʇəusə ɯnsɔləs ɐs ı pɹıɟʇəp ɟɹoɯ ɔousɔıonsuəss ıuʇo dıʇɔɥ qlɐɔʞuəss˙
ıʇ pɹəʍ ɯə ıu˙
qnʇ ʇɥə ʍɥıɹɹıub ɔoɯɟoɹʇəp ɯə˙
ı ʍɐs ɔɥɐsʇısəp lıʞə ı ʍɐs ɐ ɔɥılp˙
ʇɥə ɔɹnuɔɥıub ɐup ʇɹıɔʞlıub ɹədɹıɯɐupəp ɯə˙
ʇɥə ɥɐup ʇɥɐʇ sʇɹoʞəp ʎonɹ ɥəɐp ʇɥəu dnlləp ʎonɹ ɥɐıɹ ʍıʇɥ pɐɯɐbıub ɟoɹɔə˙
ıʇ ɟəlʇ lıʞə˙˙˙lıʞə ɐ ʍɐɹɯ ɥɐup ʇɥɐʇ ʎon ʞuəʍ ɔonlp ɥɐɹɯ ʎon˙
ıʇ sonupəp so ɟɐɯılıɐɹ ʎəʇ so pısʇnɹqıub˙
ıʇ sdoʞə ʇo ɯə˙
ʇɥə ɔɹnuɔɥıub oɟ qouəs' ʇɥə ʍɥıɹɹ oɟ ɯəʇɐl' ʇɥə qɐɹəlʎ ɐnpıqlə ʇɹıɔʞlə oɟ qloop

Chapter Text

No one:

Not even the entity:

Kate, watching Claudette sleep: [thinks about how many cats they'd adopt]

***

Claudette, around people:

Claudette, alone in the forest: where is my GIRLFRIEND??  Where is our LOG CABIN here in the WOODS???

Kate, across the country: [plays off-key guitar]

***

(Ok, no more memes lmao)

Kate's POV

"Claudy!"

I called in a sing-song voice, looking around for her in the trees.

I wandered around, continuing to call her name before I finally found her sitting in a tall tree.

"Hey, that's cheating! Get down here, missy."

We both laughed, and she teased me in response.

"You know, I think it's quite lovely up here. What do you have down there that I don't?"

She raised an eyebrow, unable to hide the smile on her face.

"Your gift, for starters."

I teased back, wiggling the mystery box that I had repurposed.

"Oh, that's funny, I have one too. Wanna meet halfway?"

She motioned to the tree branch below and I told her it was a race.

There was laughing and little jabs at each other before we met on a sturdy branch and sat.

"Ok, let's reveal them on three. One, two, three!"

I shoved the too-big box towards her, and she held up a flower crown of sweet william with a vibrant rose on one side.

Without a word, I leaned my head down and let her fix it on my head, and she took the box gently, like if she'd break what's inside.

"This is beautiful, Claudy, thank you."

I told her, smiling wide. She became timid almost immediatly.

"I found what's probably the last moon rose, and thought you'd like."

She stared down at the box as she talked, not meeting my eyes.

I put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Open my gift."

I said once we parted, and she began to untie the withered twine with care. 

The wooden charm sat nestled amongst some grass I used for filler, waiting to be picked up.

"Is this..?"

She turned it over in her hands, tracing the leaf symbol I carved into it.

"It's a good luck charm,"

I explained, enjoying her reaction to it.

"Don't worry, I had Ace bless it."

She giggled, clipping it to her shorts.

"It'll come with me to every trial. Though, I don't think I'll need it much if you're with me."

I felt my face heat up a little.

Was she flirting?? Or was that just a compliment?

I didn' know what to say, but thank god Feng came to my rescue.

"Everyone, come look at Dwight!!"

She yelled with loud laughter, obviously making fun of him.

We climbed down, still giddy, and walked over to see...

Dwight in an elf costume.

Nea and David were making fun of him while Feng laughed nearby.

"Where the fuck did you even get that??"

I heard Steve ask, which prompted an elbow to the rib from Nancy.

"I think it looks great, it's really festive."

Jane said, ever the mother hen she was.

Me and Claudette exchanged looks, giving a short laugh in response to the situation.

"Hey, let's gather around and I'll sing a Christmas song, how about that?"

I offered, trying to take the attention away from Dwight.

It worked as well as I thought it would.

"Ooh, yes, that'd be amazing. Come on everyone, you heard Kate!"

Jane rounded everyone up towards the campfire and I ran off to grab my guitar.

I don't know when we stopped with the holiday songs, but we kept singing till our throats were sore and our hearts were warm.

***

Claudette, staring at a violet: ...Vibes.

Sappho, watching over her: Vibes.

Chapter Text

Claudette's POV

"How do you cope in a place like this?"

The question was quiet, only meant for Jeff's ears, but I was asking myself more than anything.

 He gave a somber huff, shaking his head as he spoke

"What I do isn't healthy. You? You really should take some time for yourself. The others will understand."

Now it was my turn to shake my head. Before I could reply, Jeff continued.

"You won't be a hinderance for dealing with your feelings. We all value you, Claudette. We don't want to lose you to this shithole."

I swallowed and blinked back tears.

Jeff heard, nodding and leaving after telling me he'd check in on me in a few.

Once he was gone, I ran.

I ran to the edge of the boundary and scaled up the nearest tree, going as far up as I was able to, tears streaming down my face but no noise escaping my throat.

My back securely against a tree branch, I sobbed, not even bothering to wipe my face.

Out of all the crashing waves of emotions, one rose to the surface: Anger.

The tears became as hot as the embers around me, my chest filling with the irrational sense to lash out.

Why do I feel like this? When was the last time I felt like this? When was the last time I could deal with these emotions properly?

I was alone, I could let it all out without consequence.

I jumped back down and picked up the nearest fallen branch, beating it against the trunks of trees while grunting angrily.

I picked up rocks and chucked them as far as I could, screaming at the top of my lungs.

It all felt so cathartic.

I collapsed onto the ground, laughing through heavy breaths after I had worn myself out.

The anger I had felt was replaced with euphoria and the deepening need t..o...ju s   t...

sleep.

***

𝙼𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑  𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝙸 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚠𝚘, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 ʇıɯə. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚝, 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜.

"𝙷𝚒, 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎."

𝙸 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛.

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍.

"𝙰𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝."

𝙸 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑. 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚜.

"𝙳𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎? 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕 ʇouıbɥʇ."

𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍.

"𝙼𝚛. ๏๒รєгשєг 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚓𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎."

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗-

"𝙷𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚒𝚏 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎."

𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚙? 𝙸𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎..  

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗."  

𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙸 𝚜𝚠𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍.

𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜.

 "𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚓𝚊𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚛𝚎-"

 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎.  

"𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎?"

𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝.  

𝙸 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚞𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎.  𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜.

 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘?

𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍. 𝙸 𝚜𝚗𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.  𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚟𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍.

"õüýàå²áµæóúå²¾÷ûæ÷÷åá²¾÷ææ÷öçóþñ"  

"𝙼-𝚖𝚘𝚖?"

𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚝, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜.

 "¼÷à÷ú²ÿµû²¾ëðóð²¾åýü²úáçú"

 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛.

***

I awoke after some time, my body feeling so heavy, so weighed down.

It took a few tries to sit up, but I got there eventually, seeing that my head had been propped up with Jeff's denim jacket.

I stood, picking it up and stretching, my eyes feeling terribly itchy.

I rubbed them till the feeling went away, only to open them to more pitch-black darkness yet again.

Chapter Text

Kate's POV

I was doing all I could to distract myself from worrying to death about Claudette. She had been gone for a long while now, what I would assume to be two normal days. I joined nearly every other trial before Jane noticed and forced me to pace myself. After that, I started sparring and wrestling with David and a few others, and trying to write a new song whenever they were in a trial. Jeff has comforted me multiple times, and I even considered following him into the woods to see where Claudette was but dismissed the thought as fast as it came.

I couldn't dismiss the other thoughts as easily, though.

She hates you. You let her die. She doesn't want time to herself, she wants to avoid you. 

This is all your fault.

I strummed the wrong chord, bringing the tune I playing to an abrupt end.

I sighed heavily, putting my guitar down and walking over to sit with the 'adults.' Anything to get my mind off of what I did.

"You don't have to tell us, but you shouldn't bear this burden alone, either."

I caught the tail end of a conversation between Jane and Tapp, and he nodded to assure her, ending their conversation.

"Tapp."

Bill's voice seemed to make everyone jump, though he only followed up with a nod.

Tapp seemed to understand without a single word, and then Jane changed the subject.

"Hey Kate, I heard you're working on a song. How's that coming along?"

"Good, but I feel some writer's block coming on for the final verse."

"Hopefully you get through it or find some inspiration. When my father started experimenting with different methods of art, he often got in a block as well, so I know how frustrating it is."

She gave me a gentle smile with her warm wishes, and I deflected the conversation from me.

"So, your father was a visual artist?"

I asked, mentally smacking myself after since there was silently-agreed 'rule' that we wouldn't ask about each other's families.

Jane didn't seem to mind though, continuing to tell us about a project she helped him with.

"He held a gala for his works with that sculpture as th-"

She was cut off by another voice, and only then did we realize that two new survivors had walked into this realm.

"Hey, uh.."

The girl in the striped sweater didn't seem to know what else to say.

Jane stood, ushering them to sit down. She's handled the questioning of new survivors ever since she came here, sometimes with the help of Tapp in kind of a good cop, bad cop situation.

She introduced herself, shaking their hands and telling them serious discussion would begin after a few more people returned.

Nancy carried conversation and Steve soon seemed to follow her lead, both of them relaxing a little by the time the others came back.

Dwight gathered everyone around the fire, all of us waiting till the flames snuffed out.

"Alright, everyone, this is Nancy and Steve. Introduce yourselves one by one."

Names and greetings were thrown around, and Jeff ran off with a flashlight to find Claudette after it was through.

"If there are two of you.."

Meg began, the fear in her voice slipping a little.

Steve caught on, reassuring us that there was only one monster that got trapped into this hell with them. A monster they had fought before, something they called the Demogorgon.

We all would've let out a sigh of relief if that were good news, but, as they say, you don't count your chickens before they hatch.

"I suppose we'll fill in Jeff and Claudette when they come back. Tell us all you know about the Demogorgon."

They both took turns going into detail, trying to cover as much as they had found out before and after they'd gotten here.

"And that's all we've found out. I think the..."

Nancy trailed off, the thought of family probably just sinking in for her.

My mouth moved faster than my brain at the sight of her pained face, and the words fell out of my mouth.

"Time doesn't pass while we're here. Whoever you're thinkin' of, they're doin' just fine."

I was never one to give false hope, but some of us did cling to that theory. Some of us had siblings, maybe spouses or children, and thoughts of how they were doing seemed to be a permanently open wound.

What I said seemed to lessen their stress, and that's all I could ask for right now.

Jane skilfully changed the subject, telling them that Jeff should be coming back, and we continued with regular procedure, this time beginning with Nea.

***

I stood for the next trial with Steve and Nancy, glancing at Claudette, who leaned against a tree away from the fire.

"I'll join ya'll in a few, go on ahead."

I shooed my team into the woods, then walked over to Jeff, asking him if I could talk to Claudette, or if she still preferred to be left alone.

He looked over at her as well and told me he'd tell me how she felt about it when I came back.

In the meantime, though, it'd be best to give her room to breathe.

I nodded, thanking him for checking in on her, then ran off after my team.

Claudette's POV

I felt around my right side, making sure my glasses were still there, but keeping my eyes tightly shut.

Any form of light hurt my eyes too much, like if it was singeing them.

In fact, most of my body seemed to be more receptive to the heat, though that might be because I covered myself with Jeff's jacket.

I scratched and rubbed at my eyes every so often to see if it would get rid of the pain, but nothing worked.

"How are you holding up?"

My heart lept into my chest before I realized it was only Jeff.

"Could be better. So much better."

"I'm guessing you want some more alone time, then?"

I nodded, scratching the lids of my eyes again.

"Maybe till this whole situation with my eyes gets sorted out. I can't stand the campfire right now."

"Wanna try using bandages or something to block the light out?"

I considered it but shook my head in response.

"Not right now. Besides, I never liked holding eye contact much anyway."

Jeff gave a small laugh, telling me that it was good that I could still joke around when I felt like shit.

"Need anything right now?"

He asked, standing up.

I spent a few seconds thinking before giving my answer.

"Y'know, yeah, tell Feng to bring her bottle of nail polish, and tell me how Kate's been doing."