Chapter Text
Jon can tell something is following him.
Everywhere he goes, he sees someone out of the corner of his eye. Things keep getting misplaced, moved by something, and every time he comes into work or back home, a fresh brewed cup of tea is waiting for him, just the way he likes it.
He’s tried all sorts of things to escape whoever’s following him. He takes a week off of work and goes abroad, not even wasting time packing or going home, or booking tickets ahead of time, in case he tips it off, but it simply doesn’t matter. At furthest it’s a few days behind.
He tries his best to ignore it, but he can’t shake the oppressive dread.
It finally becomes impossible to ignore when he’s being mugged in an alley way, and someone drops down and murders his muggers.
He tries to get away while they’re distracted, he really does, but he doesn’t even get two yards away before being tackled. They roll a few times, and when they stop Jon finds his wrists and himself pinned to the ground.
A boyish grin lights up above him.
“Martin? But I- we thought you died months ago? Wait, hold on, have you been following me this entire time?”
Martin’s smile widens and Jon can see an unnatural sharpness to his teeth.
“Course. I tried to forget about you but well... I couldn’t.”
Jon lets out a shaky relieved laugh.
“I- good lord you scared me, I thought you were going to kill me.”
Martin doesn’t say anything, doesn’t make a move to let him up, just keeps smiling, and anxiety twists in Jons stomach.
“You- you aren’t going to kill me, right?”
Martin lets out a little hmm of agreement.
“I was hunting you.”
Jon tenses.
“And you caught me.”
“Yes, suppose I did.”
“What does- what does that mean for me?”
“That I won, and you’re mine now.”
Martin gets off Jon at this, but doesn’t let go of his wrists until he picks him up and throws him over his shoulder, causing Jon to yelp.
“Wait, wait wait. If you, if you just keep me then... then the hunts over right? And there’s no fun in that s-so you should just let me go.”
Martin thinks over it for a second.
“You know what? Sure. When you escape, we can start over, but there’s not much point in me winning if I just keep letting you go, so your mine until you get away, and I’ll leave you plenty of opportunities, and when we reach a certain amount of time, that’ll be the end of the game.”
Jon shakes at this and closes his eyes tightly.
“When? And what, what happens, when the game ends?”
“Takes the fun out of it if you know how many times, you should fight just as hard each one. But, I figure, if I keep hold of you for a year or so, I’ll just keep you and save myself the work. No more catch and release.”
“And if I win? If I stay away for a year?”
“I’ll leave you alone, but you won’t.”