Chapter Text
Ezra wasn’t sure what had woken him up. It was almost like he heard something, but not with his ears: with his mind. He blinked sleepily, sitting up in his bed and rubbing his eyes. It was still dark, the middle of the night. He waited a moment, trying to figure out what had woken him up. He could only hear the distant roar of engines from the port and the occasionally mewing of lothcats digging through garbage outside.
With a small frown, he laid back down, curling up in his warm bed.
Then he heard it again. Like a small indistinct whisper inside his head. He opened his eyes and sat back up, looking around. “H-Hello…?” he said softly. He couldn’t speak too loudly. His insides felt cold and a horrible sense of dread was starting to eat him from the inside out.
The whisper got louder. It was beckoning him.
His belly was squirming with uncertainty, yet overcome by a need to seek out the source, Ezra lid out from his bed. He wrapped his arms around himself as he walked towards his bedroom door and slowly opened it. He cringed at the creak it made, and only opened it wide enough that he could slip out into the hallway. At one end was his parents’ bedroom, the door slightly open like it always was. But that wasn’t where the whisper was coming from. It was coming from downstairs. Swallowing down his dread, he slowly tiptoed over and sat down on the top step. From experience, he knew the stairs creaked if you stepped on them wrong. He scooted his butt down the stairs one step at a time, staying close to the wall where the least creaking would happen.
He got to the bottom and stood straight, looking around as the whispering in his mind got louder. He slowly walked into the living room, looking around carefully. “H-Hello…?” he called out again, a little louder this time.
“Hello, young one.”
Ezra squeaked and spun around. In a dark corner of the living room, a tall figure stood. Ezra couldn’t quite make him out, but he was tall, with his hands behind his back.
It was him... Ezra didn't know how he knew, but this person was the one whispering in his head. “W-Who are you...?”
“I am your future,” the figure said. The man stepped forward, his leg clanking as it hit the ground. “There is something special in you that is… of use to me.”
He stepped into the light flooding in from the window and Ezra’s eyes widened at the terrifying sight. The man's skin cragged with old age, his yellow eyes practically glowing. Black tattoos covered the man’s face and torso, sharp horns protruding from his head. As he walked closer, Ezra’s insides got colder and his brain practically screamed at him...
Run!
Ezra made a dash for the stairs when something grabbed his neck tightly, lifting him into the air. He flailed against the grip, but his arms swung through the air to find nothing. He was turned around and he saw the man had his clawed hand outstretched. The man's hand began to clench and Ezra felt his throat tightening. “MOM!” Ezra screamed. “DA-!”
The man moved so fast he practically blurred, his hand suddenly pressed tightly against Ezra’s mouth as he pinned Ezra against the wall. “Shh…” the man cooed almost gently.
It did nothing to calm Ezra. He flailed and scratched against the man’s arm, trying to call out to his parents, but all that came out was muffled screams. He cried in terror, his vision blurring with hot tears.
“Ezra?!”
He practically slumped in relief at the sound of his father’s voice, knowing his father would save him.
The horned stranger turned his head towards the stairs as the lights were suddenly turned on, his eyes flashing dangerously.
“Ezra!” Ephraim’s expression twisted in rage as he charged at the intruder.
But the man extended his other hand and stopped Ezra’s father in his tracks. “How unfortunate…” the man said, sounding almost bored.
The hand on Ezra was suddenly gone, and he fell to the ground with a gasp, coughing between sobs as he frantically crawled away. He could still hardly see a thing. He didn't understand what was going on. He just knew he had to get away.
There was a flash of red light, a sharp buzz, and a horrified scream.
Terror all consuming, Ezra managed to scramble to his feet as he ran. He pushed back the ottoman that blocked the entrance to the basement and jumped down, yelping as he landed on the ground and twisted his ankle. There were screams, another sharp buzzing hum... before all went quiet.
There was nothing but the harsh ragged pants of his own breathing. He limped to the far side of the basement and crawled behind the couch. He pressed his hands over his mouth to quiet himself… and waited. He was trembling uncontrollably despite trying his hardest to make himself stay still.
The silence stretched. The cold inside his belly seemed to expand, what warmth had been there having vanished with the appearance of the red light.
Then he heard it: clanking footsteps overhead, getting louder and louder until a shadow fell over the basement entrance.
Ezra squeezed his eyes shut, tears still rolling down his face. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. He just had to curl into himself, roll out of this nightmare and find his way back to wakefulness. He would run out of his bedroom and crawl into his parent’s bed, let them hold him and calm him, tell him everything was okay…
The couch was thrown to the side and Ezra cried out as he was grabbed by his hair and pulled up. “NO!” he screamed, trying to wriggle free.
The hand was back against his throat, squeezing so hard Ezra choked. His eyes widened in panic when he realized he couldn’t breath. He tried to gasp for air, but his vision blackened, the cold spreading all throughout his body.
He heard a small chuckle before losing all awareness.