Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ben.

...Who’s calling? He doesn’t know. Pieces of a peaceful dream slowly lift away.

Ben.

Yes? Who’s calling? Don’t they know it’s impolite to wake someone from a pleasant dream?

Ben!

Just leave. Let him have his peace. Leave him to his devices, to the silence and darkness surrounding him.

“Ben!”

‘Shut up. Shut up, leave me alone. I had such a wonderful dream and you ruined it! Can’t you see?’

“Ben!”

Shooting up with a barely held back gasp his eyes slowly focused on his surroundings. Leaning over his desk with both arms crossed is Darren, his best friend since kindergarten. His friend's face is drawn back in a scowl, a really fierce look if it wasn’t for the splotches of discolored skin on his face. Vitiligo, a rare skin condition. Uncommon for kids their age, especially seeing as no one else in his family ever showed a sign of having it.

“Finally, awake! Class has been dismissed for ten minutes, you’re going to miss the bus!”

Bus? What bus? All he knows about a bus is the one heading-

He straightens in his seat with a jolt, suddenly very much awake. “Home!”

He quickly scrambled to pack everything still lying out on his desk. Darren helped by grabbing his backpack and opening the right pockets for his books and stuff. The moment everything is packed he’s up from his chair and rushing out of the school. He just manages to spare a friendly wave to the boy waiting for his next class before he’s running down the hall to the stairs.

Ben takes them two at a time, jumping down once he’s at the ground floor and turning around so he can take the short route across the school grounds towards the area where the bus usually waits, for any students who need it.

He spots the characteristic yellow bus standing patiently on the other side, the last students who finished class boarding. He trusts his hand in the air so he’s visible past the other students roaming the grounds.

“Hey! Wait!”

A few of the teens already on board look his way to see who called before ignoring him, uninterested at his plight. The bus-driver looks up from where he’d been reading the newspaper and gives a motion to hurry up, a finger tapping his wrist watch.

The doors start to close behind him the moment he’s past them. Ben pauses for a moment to catch his breath before heading to an empty seat so he doesn’t fall when the bus jolts into a start.

The teen sits down with a relieved sigh, backpack positioned in his lap seeing as the seat next to him is taken.

“That was close. You do that often?”

“Huh?” He looks around before realizing that it was the girl sitting next to him who’d spoken up, her own backpack in her lap as well. “N-no, not really. Usually I’m here before the bus even arrives.” His eyes are drawn to the rather vivid color of her pack, a bright pink with contrasting red straps and faded stickers decorating the front.

Her grip tightens slightly over the old item. “That early? I can’t even imagine doing that every time.”

He shrugs, forcing himself to look her in the eyes -blue like ice yet warm- to assure her he isn’t about to steal her pack. “Not every time. My parents don’t have a set schedule for work so usually the one who has a free day tries to pick me up. Otherwise it’s the bus that brings me home.”

She hums at his answer, grip not changing a bit. The small flicker of guard he’d seen in her eyes disappears, though.

He looks away as the moment stretches, assuming the conversation is over. He looks across the bus, spotting a few familiar faces - students who take the bus more regularly - before he looks through the window to see where they are on the bus’s track. The familiar sight of the town main street assures him he’s got time.

...

“You live far?”

“Hmm?” His brain tunes back in from where it had started to slip into a daydream he quickly forgets. The girl is looking at him, pack moved from her lap to the floor next to her feet. “No, not far. I live in Cail Street.”

“Cail Street? Isn’t that after Clover Cross? I have the stop before that one.”

Ah, at least that means that the moment she has to step off his stop won’t be long. “Paldin Street, right?” She hums, nodding her head. His lips pull into a small grin. “What’s life like having the Minister of Agriculture living next door?”

She chokes on a laugh. Everyone knows what life would be like with Minister Cromwell as your neighbour. She clears her throat a little before answering. “Loud, with all those protesters at his front door. And don’t even start about the tractors!”

Silence stretches a little before both burst into laughter at her joke. Once neither is trying to hold back anymore splutters and chortles they lapse into small talk about actual life in their respective neighbourhood. She explains how they really are the Minister’s neighbors and the drawbacks that hold, and he regales her with a few stories from back when the Callisto’s lived next door, people who genuinely managed to keep everyone awake at night with their constant shouting and arguing.

(“Really? All night?” “All night, I’m not even joking. Got arrested thrice for the noise alone.”)

He gets cut off in the middle of explaining an elaborate trap he and Darren had set up for their new neighbors when the bus stops and the girl -Ally- jolts in her seat, hand reaching for her pack on the floor.

“This is my stop! It was nice meeting you, Ben.”

He offers her an easy smile as he presses himself into his seat, giving her more space to maneuver. “Thanks, see ya at school!”

“I will!” And then she’s outside, running in the direction of her home. The doors close and the bus starts with a small splutter, the next stop at Clover Cross and then his.

He shifts his pack from his lap into the now vacant seat and takes a moment to rummage around the front pocket, extracting a candy bar that won’t take long to finish. He subtly lowers his mask and nibbles away as he waits for the bus to arrive, two more stepping off, and then it’s headed in the direction of his home.

‘I wonder what class Ally has.’

The door leading into the foyer closes behind him with a small click, jacket discarded on the coat hanger and pack slung lazily over his shoulder. He steps inside the living room and takes a moment to look around. Sometimes his parents are home but they don’t have the time to pick him up, more busy with meetings and paperwork. Ever since the epidemic things have been weird for his parents, both their jobs still figuring out what qualifies as home-based work and what doesn’t.

The fact that they’re still trying to get all the paperwork for the divorce settled only makes things more frustrating for them. He tries not to get involved, though. He’s seen more than enough of his biological father to last him for a whole life-time.

Entire house scanned he finds that they’re both not here, meaning that work needed them to be there personally. He mentally shrugs at that and puts his pack and mask away before heading into the kitchen for an extra snack. He finds the milk and cereal and fixes himself a bowl before heading into his room.

A messy bed is what greets him and he groans around a spoonful, remembering that he should really start cleaning up his mess from yesterday. He’d been a bit more focused on spending almost the entire night playing games. Or, rather, game as in singular.

When he flicks on his TV he finds the screen is still set on the main menu of said game from last night. He sets the volume a little higher now that he doesn’t have to worry about waking his parents and finally gets the enjoy the music he’d sampled a few times on YouTube.

Settling down on his bed after moving a few shirts into a pile he’s faced with the main menu of Little Nightmares II, the serene yet eerie sight of the beach leading into the Pale City causing a small rush of goosebumps as he’s reminded of all the events that are set to take place inside.

He’s still not over the way the ending had played out when he finally beat the last ‘boss’. He’d gone for an achievement run, meaning he spent about ninety minutes simply exploring the different levels alone, looking for secrets and trinkets. He only got a few, but at least he managed to find all the Glitched Remains scattered about, meaning he accessed the secret ending.

‘Although, a few extra scenes at the end can’t really be called a secret ending.’ He groused as he put the now-empty bowl away so he can grab the controller of his Xbox One. He flicked through the different levels of the game, still quite impressed with the way they managed to separate everything into different ‘chapters’ whilst keeping the levels themselves connected.

His parents always caution him about getting attached to fictional characters, and for the most part he tries to avoid doing that, but with this one he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for Six and Mono their situation. Forced to face so many horrible things in a world full with nothing but monsters, the least he’d hoped for was a happy ending.

Seeing Six drop Mono at the end only left him feeling bitter and cold. Watching as the game’s focus character slowly turned into one of the bosses, Thin Man, had the boy going for a loop as well. A part of him can see that there’s a form of logic in all the events shown in the game, but the rest is just frustrated at the fact nothing, not even the secret ending, gave any sort of hint or clue to a different end, a happy end

All it revealed is that the so-proclaimed sequel is actually a sneaky prequel to the original Little Nightmares, at least that’s what he gathered from the hidden scene.

It left him grumpy in the morning after he managed to snag four hours of sleep.

He sighed, going back to the final chapter. Maybe if he tried to do something else in that scene where Mono found Six? Although the game obviously shows that the next course of action is to hit the music box with the hammer, could he do something else instead?

A voice in his head whispered that he has homework to do, that he has to clean up his room and put his bowl in the sink. He hushed that voice by restarting the final chapter.

Mono is standing in the oh-so familiar hallway. There isn’t any ambient sound, just the distant music that reminds Ben of the frustration he got with the confusing doors of the Tower. Once they’re past the door and are inside the center he cringes and takes a moment to dial the sound down. He didn’t realize just how loud that music is, or the echoes when he has Mono jump down after climbing a twisted shelf.

Again, the door standing open closes before him. Grumbling slightly at that he instead has Mono go through the one that opened after the other closed. Would it be possible to outrun the door closing? He wouldn’t know, maybe if you cheated.

But he isn’t a cheater. So he continues by going up the stairs.

With some more understanding of how this works after playing the first time he manages to get through the door-labyrinth much quicker, solving the puzzles easily by following the music coming from Six’s music box.

(The same one she had in the Hunter’s Lodge. The same one he recalls from the original game. The one who’s music in the OST is literally called ‘Six’s Music Box’.)

Finally they arrive in the room where Six is. Again, seeing Mono react so startled at the way his companion has been deformed by the Signal Tower tugged at his heart, hands clenching around the controller. He wanted to go in there and smash that stupid tower to pieces.

Six hasn’t done anything wrong after all! All she’d been doing was surviving! What did she do to deserve this? What did she do to get affected like this, turned into the monsters she helped destroy?!

(She let him fall. That’s what.)

Hushing the traitorous voice in the back of his head he had Mono call out, urging Six to move into the center of the room. To see that she still recognizes him, still knows that the voice calling out is Mono... Why did she betray him like that?

Seeing the hammer lying in the suitcase that reminded him so much of the original game’s start, he knows why. There’s no other interaction around, no object to pick up or button to press. Using the hammer on the door doesn’t work, it bounces right off. And no way is he going to hit Six!

Is there... nothing else to do? He already has Mono set to hit the music box. Ben bites his lip, eyes going across every little detail.

There is nothing else to do.

He flinches when the hammer strikes the music box, temporarily transporting Mono somewhere else before the chase scene begins. Ben navigates through the hall with a bit more practices ease but in his head he’s cursing the way the game is set-up, the fact there’s nothing else to do.

The rest of the gameplay is simpler, at least when it comes to doing the boss fight. Every scream from Six, the times he does get killed and has to restart, the calls Mono uses to distract her so he can hit the box with the axe, all of it tugged and pulled at his heart as he remembered the interactions between the two characters.

Mono saved Six so many times, he put life and limb at stake just to help her survive. He should have some other way to rescue her from the Signal Tower, he should have! Why did the creators of the game do this? Why did the world of Little Nightmares have to turn out so cruel?

He’s almost finished, one more hit will end the battle stage. Six is distracted and he goes in for the finishing strike.

The sound of metal hitting metal reverberated through the room. He winced at how loud and high-pitched it sounds. He had the volume down, right?

(Crack.)

Two more hits is what it needs. Two more. Six is trying to protect it but a single call from Mono, echoing all around, is enough to have the monster-turned girl cowering. His lips pulled down at the very thought.

One.

(Crack!)

She’s further back, trying desperately to reach out and hold the now deformed and toneless music box. One more hit and it’s all over. He murmurs a small apology despite the fact it’s a game.

Two.

Crack.

She’s back to normal. The Tower is falling apart around them. They have to run-!

Crack.

-Wait, what’s that?

He pauses the game, glad that he still can. His eyes look around his room before falling on his door.

The door he thought he’d left open. When did he close it?

He gets up, game and controller forgotten for a moment. Walking to the door he notices that there are small scratch marks on the edges, although he wouldn’t know why or how they got there. Pressing a hand on the handle so he can open the door and let some air in-

...

-It won’t budge. He frowns and tries again.

‘...What?’

Nothing. It’s like the handle has turned into stone! Putting both hands down he tries again. And again.

“Hello? Mom, Dad? Anyone home?”

...No one. No one’s home. He didn’t hear the car driving up the driveway so it would make sense, but who locked the door then?

Crack!

His eyes flicker to the wall behind his bed, taking notice of a crack in the plaster, a crack that just grew. Swallowing down the sudden lump in his throat he moves over and presses a tentative finger against the crack as if it would magically disappear the moment he does.

But it doesn’t. He can feel the crack under his fingers. Frowning he brushes over it like it’s dust.

Still there.

‘What’s going on?’

He looks behind him at the TV, screen still paused. Yet... He’d paused it in the middle of Mono jumping, right? Yet now the main character’s already on the ground.

What’s going on here?

He slowly grabs the controller and puts himself on the bed so that he’s got the crack at his right and the TV-screen at his left. Keeping his focus on the crack he unpauses the game.

Craaack!

He jolts in his seat, not only from the thundering music playing from the game before he pauses it again, but also the way the crack grew bigger. Much bigger.

And, wait, is that...? He leans forwards and peers inside.

“Aah!”

He goes flying backwards when, from the flesh hidden behind his wall, a single eye opens and gazes at him with pure contempt. He lands on the ground with a thud and a groan, hand rubbing over his face.

He... he can’t possibly have seen that. This can’t be real.

Slowly getting up from the floor he faces the wall behind his bed, the wall he has posters of his favorite bands on, the wall where he’d written on when he was younger.

The wall currently bearing a gaping crack, exposing living flesh and an eyeball.

He gapes at the sight, bile rising up in his throat before he swallows to push it down. His stomach is turning at the gory sight. It’s pulsing, for goodness sake! There’s blood pumping through that stuff!

His foot lands on something that gives a groan like plastic and his eyes shoot down to see that he accidentally walked on his controller. He lifts his foot up and goes to reach out and grab it-

Creack!

-Only to flinch away when the floor splinters apart underneath, darkness swallowing the controller whole. He stumbles backwards and hits his desk hard, jostling the pencils from when he’d been drawing some fanart. His heart is beating a mile a minute and his head is spinning because this can’t be real!

He startles when the game unpauses and the music fills the air. His eyes are transfixed on the screen, watching as the characters continue like someone is still playing.

His vision flickers to the wall where the single eyeball is now focused on the TV.

‘No way, now way! This can’t be real! It can’t be!’

CRACK!

The wall cracks and doesn’t stop cracking. The floor continues to splinter apart revealing nothing but a vacant, empty abyss. Flesh starts pouring from the corners as the entirety of his room starts to crumble and fall into itself. The lamp on the ceiling is the first thing to fall down and disappear.

And he screams.

He screams because it can’t be real. He screams because he has no where to go. The door isn’t just locked it’s covered under blobs of pulsing meat. There’s no way out because suddenly the window is shrinking and beyond the glass is nothing but glowing pink light.

And the floor is falling apart. It’s falling apart and he’s losing ground fast.

He backs up and crawls on his desk, using the chair he usually sits in when reading or studying as leverage. The moment he’s seated on the wooden piece of furniture the chair starts rolling on its wheels and he quickly lets go. It falls into the black and there is no noise suggesting it ever hit the bottom.

He watches as his entire room disappears into darkness. Watches as his bed falls over the edge. Watches as the flesh pushes his closet over until it falls past him into pure nothingness.

Watches as the screen of the TV starts glitching, starts breaking. Static noise replaces the final music of the game. The screen is nothing but black and white noise. The screen is molding into the flesh around it.

The floor is gone, he can’t see it. What’s left must still be supporting the desk he’s on because it has yet to-

Creack.

-It’s tilting forwards. He can feel it tilting forwards! He crawls back as far as he can, back hitting something that isn’t solid and feels warm to touch. He’s frozen on the spot because he can feel pulsing behind him, can feel the ground underneath him disappearing.

He screams when gravity takes hold and drags him and the desk into pure darkness, the final sight he has being the massive eye looking down from the ceiling, shrinking the deeper he goes.

And then darkness swallows his life whole.

Chapter Text

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‘I’m sorry little one. This is not your world.’

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‘But you are needed to stop this torment of agony.’

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‘You’re going back; to where, I’m not sure.’

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‘I hope you will understand, one day, why I had to.’

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‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

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‘I’m sorry. Forgive me, little one. Forgive me.’

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‘Good luck. You’ll need it.’

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He awakens to the sound of waves crashing against each other.

Slowly he pushes himself up, fingers digging into the sand supporting him. He blinks his eyes as he observes his surroundings.

He’s right at the edge of a beach, the waves from before still going at their peaceful rhythm. As they lap over the sand some of the water remains stuck in tide pools surrounded by gray rock.

To his right the beach slowly fades away into grass, and beyond the small stretch of green, rock slowly reveals the impressive cliff towering high above him. He can just barely spot the leaves and branches of trees, a forest, leaning over the edge.

It takes a moment for the situation to dawn on the teen. The fact that this isn’t his room, nor the backyard his mom had spent years perfecting. As he gets up from where he’s hunched over the ground the memories filter back in, leaving him numb in his head.

...He’s stuck somewhere. And as he looks around, he has a sinking feeling he knows where.

‘I’m... I’m in the game.’

He swallows a lump that got in his throat, still not sure how to react or what to do. He starts moving without any real direction, taking slow steps towards the cliff side. He finds a rock that is positioned just right that he can sit down, so he does.

He lets out a stuttering breath.

His hands are wringing together in his lap, his entire body is wound tight like a coil. Somewhere in the back of his head Ben recalls the time he’d been eleven and he had a panic attack right before he was set to enter the stage, nerves shooting through the roof and leaving him numb and shivering.

‘Oh god... Oh sweet god...’

He slacks for breath, chest constricting. He grits his teeth as his head feels like it’s getting smashed in with a hammer. The palms of his hands are growing clammy with sweat and he’s shaking, he’s shaking because he’s in the game! He’s in the game and that means he’s in a world infested by monsters, monsters that won’t think twice to kill a child, to kill anything that moves!

Oh god. Oh god.

He’s hyperventilating, he knows he is. Yet calming down right now is the farthest from his mind, his mind that’s spiraling and falling and breaking apart. He’s breaking because this can’t be real, this can’t be how he’s going to die!

‘Wait, who said anything about dying?’

The thought causes his fast-paced breathing to stutter and he chokes for a second, mind utterly caught off guard by the intruding thought. As he coughs, trying to regain his breath, he can’t (doesn’t) stop himself from actually considering the thought.

Who said anything about dying? He thought about it but no one actually said anything about dying.

(Not like there’s anyone around to say anything.)

And despite how utterly grim of a thought it may be, it gave him a spark of hope. Because it’s a good thought, a logical thought. No one said he was gonna die in here, not even to mention that from everything he knows about the world of Little Nightmares, children have managed to survive here.

Children.

And he isn’t a child. He’s about four years older than the age where you’re still considered a child. He’s sixteen, a teenager. He’s smarter, cleverer, stronger.

So he has to survive. He will survive!

Panic attack sufficiently fought off and with a second wind fueling his resolve, he gets up from his perch and starts observing his surroundings. He can just barely spot the sun behind layers and layers of clouds, and judging from the position it’s at the giant fireball is rising. Which means that the sea is to the East and the cliff behind him to the West. His left is North and his right is South.

Internal compass sufficiently set the next Ben starts looking for is a way up. It’s the only direction that could garner some sort of result, seeing as the beach looks to keep going for miles and miles beyond the horizon. Looking up the steep rock wall, though, he can’t really see anything that could be an easier way up than just climbing and risking a fall that could break his neck, quite literally. He swallowed a frustrated huff and instead starts walking down the beachfront.

There has to be some way to get up, a cave or a ladder or something! He isn’t about to lie down and give up!

(Because giving up means dying, because he isn’t about to lie down and die!)

As the boy walks down the sandy shore, the only sound being the crashing of waves and sand crunching under his feet, his mind wanders even as his eyes remain focused on scanning the rocky side for anything that can help him up.

‘So... this is the world of Little Nightmares?’ He has to admit that, despite the way it’s always portrayed in the game, this is actually quite... peaceful. Granted the very fact he’s in the game gives everything an added sense of foreboding, of danger, but beyond that this is... nice.

He could almost imagine taking this very same walk across the beach in his world.

He doesn’t know how much time passes as he keeps walking, the sun isn’t proving very helpful with that and he unfortunately doesn’t have a watch or anything with him. His phone he’d left in the living room in his backpack, so that’s already a bummer.

He grumbles slightly when he trips over a rock and barely stops himself from face-planting in the sand, cursing whatever deity exists in this world for dragging him in here against his permission!

Not to mention the fact that-that thing had to destroy his room and scare him halfway to Mars! The nerve!

Frustrated he kicks a random can as he walks, but comes to a stop when it strikes something metallic. His eyes are focused on the source in seconds, scanning the object he hadn’t even realized was there.

A rusty old boat lying half-buried in the sand. The mast is small and made of wood and the metal of the hull is made out of different plates bolted haphazardly together. The entire thing screams at him that this isn’t a boat used by any of the monsters living on this world.

When he sneaks closer to take a better look he finds bed sheets and empty cans of food lying on the bottom. The sail is ripped but he can clearly see the stitches holding the different rags of cloth together. One even has little hearts printed on, faded and tattered at the edges.

He picks up the sheets and unfolds them from where they’d been piled together in one corner of the boat. A few have gaping holes in them or are soiled with dirt and grime, they’re discarded without thought. When he unfolds a very sticky one he almost chokes on the bile rushing upwards as he reveals a massive, truly massive stain of blood. It goes flying on the pile of useless sheets.

Swallowing down the pure disgust and horror at seeing the first prove of this world’s cruelty, he riffles through the last few bed sheets and finally, finally, finds one that looks to be in descent condition.

Grabbing one of the poles that makes up the mast he gives a strong pull and it comes off without any protest, the nail that had been used to keep it all together rusted from the seawater in the air. He puts the wooden pole in the sand -it’s almost as tall as he is- and holds it up with one arm, hands rolling up the white-ish sheet before wrapping it around the stick like a sack. He observes his spur of the moment handiwork and nods, hoisting the stick over his shoulder before moving on.

Above him a single seagull flaps its wings and calls out.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been walking before he finds the first sign of civilization.

Or, rather, old civilization. By now what’s left are nothing more but ruins.

It actually took him a moment to realize that the massive pile of rotting wood and broken mortar used to be a building. As his eyes followed the cliff-face going up he finds what must have once been part of the structure leaning precariously over the edge. From what he can tell it must have once been a beach-house of sorts that had been built over the edge of the cliff. There are broken supports sticking from the rocky wall, the only thing that used to keep the building from falling victim to gravity.

Rummaging through the pile of debris only results in a few splinters and a whole lot of chopped cursing. Whatever useful was inside has been raided years ago, leaving nothing but rotting planks and decaying concrete. Furniture is buried in the sand, a broken TV lying on its side. He found what once must have been the living room, the area now simply a large open space underneath the aging structure.

He notes this fact anyways, not about to ignore what looks like a viable shelter in case of... something.

Crawling out of the ruined house (and cursing up a storm as he does, stupid splinters) he pops out on the other side and takes a moment to breathe. After he’s certain he’s good to go he starts walking again.

When he’s a few meters away he looks back at the top of the cliff. His eyes trail the side and almost skim over the shadow moving past.

With a start he looks back, only to find nothing but the edge of the forest barely visible, not a single shadow in sight. His heart had started beating a mile a minute and it takes a moment for him to calm down.

‘Must have been something in the wind, right? No way that was an actual person.’

Right?

Shaking his head he moves on, eyes occasionally darting up to the top of the cliff as if expecting to see the same shadow again.

He doesn’t. Better be safe than sorry, though.

The next time he comes to a stop it’s because he finally sees something that could help him get off the beach. From a distance it looks a little like a bridge but when he gets closer he realizes it isn’t.

It are train tracks, but somethings weird about them. They end rather abruptly, as if cut off, the metal bending down near the end because the rest of it is leaning over the edge. To prove it used to be train tracks the very vehicle designed to use them is hanging precariously from the tracks, dangling a couple feet above the sand. It’s too high for him to normally reach even when jumping, but a rope is hanging from inside and it reaches all the way to the beach.

Stepping closer his eyes remain focused on the train. The rest of it disappears past the cliff-side so he doesn’t know what’s actually keeping the entire thing from rolling further down and crashing into the sand. He swallows nervously, unsure. This could get very dangerous if his extra weight ends up being the very thing that causes the entire contraption to crash.

Still, he doesn’t see any other way up. It’ll have to do.

Grabbing the rope he closes his eyes and gives an experimental tug, body coiled and ready to dart away. Beside causing the entire thing to give a heavy groan it doesn’t shift. He opens his eyes and looks up through the gaping hole in the end of the train.

The rope seems to be attached to the door at the end of the hall. A few of the seats near the end below are dislocated, one leaning against another that looks ready to fall.

Looking at it all he can’t stop himself from imagining all the things that could go wrong. With a frustrated growl he shakes the thoughts away, forcing a determined face even as his heart leaps in his throat at the prospect of climbing his way up like that.

His eyes shift to the bindle over his shoulder. How is he going to climb with that?

A few minutes later finds him steadily climbing up the rope, the stick in between his teeth. The taste of wood is horrible but he endures it for the sake of keeping the only method of holding items he has for the moment.

As he climbs higher and higher something occurs to him when he looks at some of the seats surrounding him.

They’re huge.

Like, if he were to have stood side-to-side with one of these the top of his head would just barely not reach the top of the seat. That huge.

He swallowed, mind imagining some of the creatures and how big they must have been to need chairs so big. Shaking his head he turns his focus back to climbing.

Once he reaches the door, he’s facing a dilemma. The rope ends here, and looking closer he can see that it’s been around for so long that the knot has shrunk down to the point you can’t distinguish any of it from the rest. No way to salvage that, then.

And the door it’s attached to is the only way for him to move on. Looking around a little he notices that the seats aren’t flush with the wall, instead leaving space for what looks to be coffers big enough to hold a human being. He lowers himself a little and starts leaning back and forwards, swinging the rope in the hopes of reaching the back of the seat to sit on.

A few dozen swings later has him reaching out with a foot, toe of his shoe brushing the metal frame before slipping. He curses the failure and tries again, this time reaching just a bit further that the front of his foot is on the metal before it slips.

Growling he puts all his weight into the next swing, the bottom of the rope slapping against the seats below as he goes back. The entire train groans in protest but he keeps going. Momentum carries him forwards and then he’s got a heel hooked over the metal. He grins in victory and pulls himself closer. The moment he’s halfway on the seat he spits the bindle out on the back and, in a moment of dare, tosses himself onto the back. The metal frame is hard and unforgiving as he lands but the jolt of pain it causes only makes his grin widen.

He made it. The first step to surviving in this dangerous world.

Standing up and grabbing his bindle he looks up at the door. He takes the stick in his hands and reaches out, the end tapping the handle of the door. He wedges it a little into the side before pushing. The metal groans in protest as the door slides further. Once he has a gap big enough for him to fit through he pulls the stick back and steps as close to the edge of the seat as he dares.

Looking through he can see that the next car is identical to this one, albeit less damaged. He tosses his bindle over the edge of the wall, the clatter of the wood echoing throughout the entire train. He winces at that, praying that nothing dangerous heard that noise.

The next moment has him crawling up through the gap, joining the bindle on the thick, metal wall. He takes a moment to breathe and relax before he’s moving forwards.

The rest really becomes a rinse and repeat. The seats in this car haven’t been dislodged unlike some in the previous one, so he can easily climb up onto one, toss his bindle on the next and follow after. A few times his foot slips on the metal and he’s left dangling on by his hands alone but he manages to crawl further anyways. Every time he jostles one of the seats the metal creaks a little, the train giving small but distinct groans as his weight moves around.

When he arrives in the next car, though, the boy finds himself stuck. Instead of the same car this part of the train seems to be designed for people to eat and drink at. The seats are arranged to have them looking towards the windows, tables between them and space per cubicle to allow access to the seating.

The real trouble? The bar in the center. The stools have all fallen down and knocked some of the seats askew, causing them to hang precariously on one of their legs. This in turn acts like a wall the teen can’t climb over, effectively keeping him stuck inside.

Ben frowns at the sight once he realizes his situation. He looks around, trying to see if there’s another way. Unfortunately the windows on the inside are almost perfectly flush with the wall, leaving him no way to use those to climb.

Except... one is open. The one next to him. He crawls over and peeks through. Looking down his eyes widen at seeing just how high up he is and for a moment he feels a little lightheaded. Shaking his head and forcing himself to look up he tries to ignore the reminder and instead see if maybe the outside offers an answer.

That’s when he sees that the car he's in has an additional piece of decoration the others didn’t have. A metal band wrapped around the frame. Were it upright and on the rail it would look like metal bars, but from this angle it’s like a convenient ladder. He grins and the sight and goes back in to grab his bindle before leaning back outside. He grabs the metal bar, braces himself, and jumps.

His feet land on the bar below him, almost slipping but he pushes himself against the train car and pauses to catch his breath.

‘Wow. That actually worked.’

Brushing off the feeling of dread from hanging so high above the ground he starts climbing, bindle once again between his teeth and wood on his tongue.

The taste of the stick actually reminds him that he only had some cereal before he got sucked into the game. He’s been here for, what, a few hours now? He isn’t sure about the exact time but he’s certain that back home dinner is waiting for him.

He’s getting kinda peckish. He’ll have to look for food soon.

Once he reaches the end of the improvised ladder he finds the edge of the cliff is actually right above him, within reach. Ben grabs his bindle and tosses it up first before following after, grunting as he lifts himself onto solid ground. He rolls on his back in order to clear the edge and stays there, happy to just lie down for a moment and breathe.

God, that was exhausting. How do those kids keep it up for hours on end? He’s got a lot more respect for them, that’s for sure.

Once he’s certain he won’t collapse from exhaustion he gets up, hand reaching for the stick. His eyes look over the rest of the train, following the cars before-

-Wow.

His eyes widen at the sight that greets him. He shivers slightly when he realizes exactly what he’s just done.

The rest of the train slowly but surely disappears into undergrowth and trees, plants crawled in and out, through windows and rusty holes. Thick roots cover the wheels, growing thicker as the trees become more packed. In fact, the entirety of the forest here seems to be packed tight, trees almost brushing and bushes covering the ground like a blanket.

If those plants hadn’t had such a tight hold on the train it could have easily come crashing down.

With him inside! Gods, he doesn’t even want to imagine...

Shaking that horrible thought away before it drives him nuts he starts moving. The train prevents him from going further south so he’ll have to backtrack his path, the only difference this time being that he’s above the beach.

(Even up here the crashing of the waves is still clear enough to hear. The forest is eerily quiet.)

As he walks he starts to see where he’d stopped before, the distant remains of the old beach house appearing over the horizon. His eyes flicker down to the beach, passing over a shadow-

‘Wait, what?!’

-he looks back only to find nothing but sand and faded footprints. His footprints.

Frowning he looks the entire beach over, but finds nothing. Okay, that’s starting to become a little frustrating, and scary. What is it with the shadow? His imagination or something darker?

He shudders at the thought. Turning on his heels he keeps going, quickly arriving at what is left of the old beach house.

From up here it’s actually very obvious the building used to be a vacation leisure spot. The style is almost tropical and the deck wrapping around even has a few beach chairs leaning against the decaying wall.

Again, everything is scaled up. What he saw below on the beach must have looked the right size somehow because the door leading into what is left of the foyer is almost thrice his height. He pushes against it but it doesn’t budge, either locked or barricaded. He huffs and goes around the house on the deck, the railing just a little above his head. It’s weird to have everything be taller than him, like he’s in the land of giants.

‘In a way I am.’ Ben thinks, remembering some of the monsters from the games. Big enough to grab a child in one hand and devour them whole. He shivers at that. He himself must be big enough that they’d have to chop him in half to fit him in their mouth.

Goodness, what is it with him today? He’s never been this grim of mind. Weird.

Well, he’s never been in a situation like this before, either. That might explain.

Well, that beach house was a bust.

The only thing he really found was that the place is surprisingly sturdy for something that’s falling apart at the seams. The windows were all too high for him to reach for some reason and the doors were all locked.

So now he’s just walking along the cliff’s edge, being mindful not to fall whilst also huffing in frustration.

He’s not just peckish anymore, he’s actually starting to get hungry. He has to find food.

Soon.

He looks over at the forest at his side, thoughtful. It isn’t as thick as it was near the train but for some reason the darkness hanging underneath the tree’s canopy gives him shivers. The very thought of going in there to find food is both logical yet frightening. He has no idea to tell what dangers lie in the underbrush or behind tree trunks.

But what else can he do? Going back down to the beach and try fishing is both futile and time-consuming. But maybe there are bushes with berries he can eat in the forest, or try and hunt down some of the creatures living in there?

The other option has him shivering in revulsion, though. He’s already adapted to a semi-vegetarian diet ever since he turned twelve and started deciding for things on his own. To suddenly abandon that just for survival’s sake seems wrong even though that’s the most logical next step to take.

(A part in him feels like he has a reputation to uphold, his status as a ‘civilized person’ in this horrible world.)

He files those thoughts away for another time and detours into the forest, shoulders hunching together as the shadows swallow whatever light he had in the open. The deeper he goes inside the forest the taller the trees seem to get, canopy thick and dark.

Some of their trunks are thicker than him, not just by a few inches but by several feet! He couldn’t wrap his arms around them even if he tried, the moss crawling up from the ground almost black against the brown bark.

He’s going slow, making sure to keep an eye for anything different. Any bushes he passes he checks to see if they have berries. He finds one with thorns but when he picks a berry -red and bulbous- it almost falls apart in his fingers. Overripe by at least a month, if not more.

Ugh, great.

Wiping his hand on his shirt he moves on. What he wouldn’t give for a flashlight right about now, if just so he can see where he’s going and not-

“Ah!”

-trip over roots, like that one!

Shooting a burning glower at the obnoxious root he keeps going, making sure to have an eye on where he’s walking now to avoid having a repeat. This place is dark!

He stops when he almost knocks into a tree, grumbling about how this is far too dark to make any sense. How could any plants even thrive under this darkness?

The answer comes almost as if he’d asked out loud when he reaches a part where the grass is especially tall. The moment he starts walking through he’s startled by the appearance of little lights flying away. His hand is griping his shirt right above his heart, feeling the organ beating against his ribcage.

As he calms, though, he notices what exactly had startled him.

Fireflies.

And not just a few of them. No, hundreds, if not thousands! His little brush with some in the tall grass must have awoken the entire swarm. Their light is stark against the dark of the woods, glowing so bright you could almost confuse them for miniature suns. His hand falls down at his side, mouth wide open and gaping in wonder.

‘Amazing.’

It really is amazing to see. He slowly walks around the place where they seem content to keep fluttering about, seemingly dancing in the dark. He’s so absorbed in the view that he barely doesn’t notice when he bumps into something, the object rolling a little when he hit it with his foot. He looks down to find a glass jar lying on the ground.

His eyes dart between the fireflies and the jar, and his mouth pulls into a wide grin as the idea already forms in his head.

‘Perfect.’

Chapter Text

Getting some of the fireflies into the glass jar hadn’t been hard, they didn’t exactly seem focused on getting out of the way when he snatched them up. The lid didn’t have any holes for air but that had been easily fixed after looking for a branch - much easier now that he has a source of light - and he poked a few in with the tip. Luckily they didn’t seem intent of leaving their new home, not like they could seeing as those holes aren’t big enough for them to escape through anyways.

He actually even went as far as to pick some of the grass of the large, tall patch and put it inside with them. The little things occasionally came to rest on the green blades of grass before lifting up whenever he moved the jar.

So now he’s walking through the forest, bindle over his shoulder and a glowing jar in his hand lighting the way. It helped with avoiding roots or tripping over branches, and this way he can also better look at the berries he did find.

So far none that were edible, a lot that looked very overripe though. Is he unlucky to have caught the time where the season for berries is passed? He isn’t sure, not having any kind of clock or calender around to check.

Although he’s starting to think he’s being followed. Just a little, nagging voice in the back of his head that tells him he’s not alone.

It’s kind of annoying, if scary all the same.

He stops when that feeling is especially strong, turning around and holding the makeshift lantern out to cast some light on the dark of his surroundings. Nothing looks off or different yet he swore something had been very close moments ago.

He huffs a breath, not sure if it’s one of frustration or fear. Right now the two are oddly intertwined, causing his chest to feel a little tighter and his muscles to wind up, ready to run.

This is getting ridiculous.

Turning back around he keeps walking, keeping his firefly-lantern just a little further out to illuminate his path clearer.

Just in case.

As he walks he starts to notice that he’s also going down slightly. When he looks up at the trees, though, they don’t seem very intent on following the same angle, instead staying level in height with the rest of the canopy. He frowns at that, not sure what to make of the foliage’s defying appearance. It’s weird and confusing and really isn’t helping him stay calm in his current situation.

He stops for a moment when he spots a part of the ground ahead is arching upwards. It kind of reminds him of a tunnel, but that doesn’t make much sense seeing as he hasn’t seen any sort of civilization around besides some discarded trash, all of it useless. Why have a road in the middle of the woods?

(All the same, why have random train tracks or a lonely beach house.)

He follows down the side and quickly realizes it isn’t a tunnel, at least not one designed for a road.

It’s a den. A den big enough to fit a grown human and more.

He frowns at the odd sight. What could make such a big den? He walks closer, curious to see what’s inside.

It’s made of dirt and rocks, the walls supported by roots and stone chunks piled together. The floor is uneven and it goes down quite a ways. He takes a few more steps inside and spots the end of the den.

But when he looks at the floor he can’t stop the shriek escaping his lips, feet stumbling back and causing him to fall down on his butt.

Bones.

There are freaking bones on the ground, piled up in a corner! One of them has the general shape of a human skull, just a little larger than his head.

He shuffles back, breathing heavy. He’d dropped his bindle from the shock and he quickly grasps for it before bringing the cloth sack close to his chest along with the lantern-jar. He buries his face in the sack, not wanting to see anything else like that.

Ben stays like that for a bit, just trying to calm down from the sight that had greeted him. Seeing those bones, cleaned of any muscle or flesh... Whatever creature lived here once must have been quite the ferocious predator, not exactly picky with what it eats. Those bones weren’t any bigger than him, though, so any prey it caught were about his size.

And one, at least one, had been a person. The thought causes a shiver to run down his spine and he quickly scrambles away as if that could spare him the memory. The sight alone will remain etched in his eyes for years.

He keeps going, his back to the den and any thought of using it for shelter cast aside and forgotten. No way, no fucking way is he sticking around to see what did that!

Jesus Christ, those were bones. Suddenly he isn’t that hungry anymore.

At least he wasn’t hungry for the next hour-a-half.

Now he’s downright starving.

The boy grumbled, cursing his bad luck on finding edible food. The path down has been slow and steady but now he’s starting to get desperate. Those overripe berries actually sound more appealing by the minute.

He stops for a moment and rests his back against a tree, the trunk so thick he could hide behind it and disappear out of sight easily. Looking up for a moment all he sees are twisting branches and thick leaves covering the sky, blocking any light from getting down. How late is it actually? He hasn’t seen the sun for a while. Is it already past midday?

He doesn’t know, and it frustrates him that he can’t even pick apart the time of day.

He sighs and prepared to move when something catches in his ears that doesn’t make sense.

Heavy breathing, close by. Not his, definitely not his.

Ben freezes, unsure what to do. It sounds like it’s coming from behind the tree but he’s afraid of what he might find if he turns around. His throat clogs up as the lump in his chest rises higher up, constricting his breathing for a freezing moment before he pushes it down with a stuttering swallow.

The breathing hitches. His chest constricts and his muscles go rigid like stone.

A single, heavy step presses down and he closes his eyes. Another follows after, slow and sneaking.

Another step. The breathing is moving closer. It reminds him of something familiar but in his current state of mind he can’t for the life of him figure out what or why.

Another step. He can feel something appearing at his side, the presence is large and oppressing and it keeps him from moving even a single inch. His hands feel clam and his forehead is getting cold.

Another step. And another.

It’s moving away?

The thought pushes him to open his eyes. The moment he does any breath he has hitches and dies on his tongue, eyes blown wide in pure terror.

The best description for the thing he’s seeing would be a monstrous hybrid between a fox and a wolf. It’s paws are as thick as his chest and could crush him in one go. The claws are sharp and glint slightly in the light of his lantern-

-Wait, his lantern! It should have given away his position moments ago! He’d completely forgotten in his freeze-up!

His eyes dart up to the creature’s face, ignoring the way it’s teeth are visible in a seemingly permanent growl with no sound, a few shaded darker with what is likely blood. When he finds the thing’s eyes he’s almost shocked from the pure luck he’s got alone.

It’s blind!

Where normally eyes would sit it instead has healed skin covering their spot, scarred from what seems to have been a fight with another of its kind. Its muzzle has a few scratches as well.

It’s sniffing the air and for some reason doesn’t smell him. Maybe because he’s still against the tree? The smell of the woods could be enough to cover his own scent. Not like he has a very heavy scent seeing as he’s showered this morning. Thank god for that.

Ears swivel around on the thing’s big, clunky head. It might not smell him but he’s pretty sure it will him hear him the moment he makes a peep.

So he waits. And waits.

After what feels like hours (and were only a few minutes) it keeps moving, large bushy tail passing by. It’s stark greyish fur, matted and tangled, makes it almost disappear in the dark of the woods.

Getting past this thing won’t be easy.

The boy lets out a small breath of relief once it has disappeared fully, moved on to do whatever-the-hell monsters like that do in their off time. He doesn’t feel daring to move just yet, but at least he won’t have to keep his breath like he’s underwater.

Alright, so it’s blind and can’t seem to smell him. The latter might depend on proximity and the other smells around him but the former is already a life-safer. It might be adapted to living in the dark but he’s got a source of light to guide him through the forest.

It’s those furry ears he’s worried about. One sound and it’ll probably be on him like a rabid dog. And those teeth looked sharp. A quick end doesn’t seem to be an option.

Not like he’s planning to get himself killed, heavens no!

He sighs, hand rising to hold his head for a moment. If he can’t get past this thing he can forget finding food. Chances are higher he’ll end up being the next meal on the menu.

What to do?

He looks down at his feet, taking a moment to look at his shoes. Already they’re getting caked by dirt and mud, the ground is a big soggy in some spots and the grass already has started to color a few bits green. Any step he takes will probably make a sound.

What if he takes his shoes off, though?

Ben grimaces at the idea, uncomfortable in the thought of exposing his feet to the elements. Rocks and sharp thorns could easily scratch them up and infection could outright kill him if he isn’t careful. He has socks on but they probably won’t last long against something like a sharp edge.

But what else can he do?

The boy weighs his options and in the end sighs, reaching down after putting his bindle and lantern away to remove his footwear. He pulls a face at the grime on the bottom, blades of grass and bits of dirt stuck in the edges.

It feels weird putting his foot down on the ground without a shoe on. His sock is already getting wet and dirty but it’s the fact that the ground is cold that has him shivering.

Testing his theory he takes a step with batted breath.

Nothing.

Not even a sound as his foot brushed through the grass! It actually works!

He sighs in relief and removes his other shoe, putting them inside his sack (finally proving useful) before moving on. He’s slow to make sure he can stop whenever he spots that thing.

It’ll need a name though, he can’t just call it the Thing forever.

‘Big and ugly, definitely a wild animal. A beast.’

He’ll call it The Beast.

He hates The Beast.

This is the fourth time he had to stop and keep quiet as it passed by! The first time had been a startling experience, forced to remain as still as a statue and avoid contact. Even when it passed it didn’t smell him, though, so that’s already a reassurance.

The second and third time had been just as scary but less startling. It seems to be patrolling its territory, so he guesses. If it is than that means that the moment he’s outside said territory he should be safe. Relatively speaking, seeing as he’s still in a dark forest crawling with all manner of ghastly creatures. So far The Beast has been the only one but he can imagine there are a lot more.

Now it’s a bit of an annoyance, being forced to keep still as the large vulpine wolf creature walked by, sharp teeth making his skin crawl. From one side he’d spotted blood coating some of the sharp fangs but when it had come back the second time it passed around it had shown him its other side, and that’s when he spotted something even more gruesome.

Skin, sticking just between some of its teeth. He’d almost broken his frozen state that very moment to throw up, just barely keeping it in with a forceful swallow. His stomach didn’t stop churning around in disgust for a bit after.

He suppressed a shiver, The Beast still close enough to hear any movement. His socks are cold and damp from the soggy ground, leaves and grass sticking to the fabric. He wants nothing more but to find a river and wash his feet but he hasn’t heard anything close to running water the entire time he’s been in this godawful forest!

It doesn’t seem to end! How can a forest this dark not have an end!

Unless he’s been walking around in circles... No, he’s pretty sure he’d recognize something if he had been. He means, who can miss passing a fallen tree as tall as your are? He wouldn’t.

Right? Oh god, he’s so tired right now. He hasn’t had a bite to eat in ages and his stomach has quite literally rumbled a few times to remind him of that. Luckily not when The Beast was around but his luck is going to run dry at some point.

It finally disappeared and Ben slacked a breath of relief, shoulders falling and bindle dropping to his side for a moment. He puts it back once he’s calmed his racing heart and he moves on to try and find the exit to this forest.

If it even has any. Yikes, if it doesn’t, he’s screwed.

‘Happy though, Ben. Really happy. Ugh, even my subconscious is growing tired.’

And isn’t that a joy and a half?

Grumbling to himself he keeps moving, unaware of a lumbering shadow slowly following after him. It’s only when he takes a moment to stop and examine a bush with some blue-ish berries that he realize he isn’t alone.

The boy straightens and goes still, hairs at the back of his neck suddenly as stiff as needles. Something behind him takes a deep breath before letting it out, the wind it creates sending a shiver down his spine that he can’t quite hold down. Ever-so-slowly he turns his head to see what is behind him.

Expecting The Beast, ready with it’s jaws open to take a bite out of him, he was wholly unprepared to face a much smaller yet just-as scary version of the same creature sitting right behind him. His eyes widen and his blood runs cold.

‘I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!’

It reaches out and opens it’s jaw and he closes his eyes, braced for the pain sure to come.

‘I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m-’

A wet and slobbery tongue runs over his face and his eyes pop open in surprise, darting to look at the large wolf-like creature sitting in front of him, tail wagging merrily behind the enormous puppy and tongue hanging outside, panting.

‘...What?’

That was... Not what he’d been expecting.

Slowly he wiped his face before cautiously regarding the enigma standing before him. Scanning the thing over - seeing as it isn’t immediately going to devour him whole - he realizes that this puppy-version of The Beast has eyes to see, unlike the bigger one prowling around. This one also doesn’t have a permanent snarl edged on its muzzle, instead looking for all intent and purposes like a smaller, less battle-hardened version of the wolf-fox hybrid.

(Wox? Folf? Yeah, no.)

He blinks his eyes at the large puppy before looking around, expecting it’s big daddy to appear and take advantage of the situation. Yet the forest is as dark as ever, no sign of The Beast anywhere.

His focus goes back to the Beast-puppy. He tilts his head and it follows. He snaps his face in one direction and it does the same.

It’s... tame?

Perhaps the larger one never got the chance to teach its pup what is prey and what isn’t? Or is it much younger, too young to learn about hunting yet? There’s so much he doesn’t know about this world and the creatures living in it that getting any sort of answer is really pointless.

He sighs, closing his eyes to steady his mind. Okay, so he’s got a puppy-version of the Beast with him that seems intent on following him. It’s daddy/mommy is somewhere in these woods, prowling around and perhaps looking for its pup. If he sticks close to the smaller one he could either win the large one’s trust or get killed. The former seems unlikely and the latter is undesirable in every way.

What to do?

...

He has no idea, does he?

Ben groans, dragging a hand over his face in frustration. His thinking process is horribly affected by his hunger right now and he can’t think of what to do with this puppy-Beast sitting here like a lost, well, a lost puppy!

“You wouldn’t happen to know where I could get some food, would you?” He asked rhetorically, not expecting any kind of answer. It tilts its head, tail still wagging away, but doesn’t do much else. Looking a little closer he can see that its eyes are a muddled mix of brown and green.

Right, okay.

‘What now?’

He sighs and turns around, moving further down the path he’d already been taking. He feels more than sees the large puppy trail after him, seemingly content to follow without knowing the direction the boy is going in. He tries not to think about the fact he’s got a creature big and strong enough to tear him to pieces right behind him with no way of telling what it’s doing or will do next.

Just knowing it’s there is enough to give him shivers.

Water! Food!

Oh good heavens he didn’t realize just how much he’d already missed this, it hasn’t even been a day!

Stuffing another handful of berries in his mouth he ignores the way they color the palm of his hand in a purplish hue. Despite the way they look like they’re overripe he quickly discovered they’re edible by the way the large wolf-fox puppy had pounced on the bushes, shaking the berries off the branches before lapping them up like candy.

He’d tentatively taken a few and eaten them. The flavour is somewhere along the lines of strawberry and oranges and despite the odd mix it tastes really good! Messy because of how much sap they release when broken but really good.

And the running water is a nice thing as well. Ben didn’t even realize he’d started to get thirsty until he, at long last, started hearing the telltale sound of running water. He’d sprinted towards the source and was surprised to find all these bushes at the edge of the river.

Now he’s just grateful he found something to eat.

Although it’s a moot point if he can’t find anything else for tomorrow. These berries, tasty they might be, are only going to take him so far. There’s a reason his diet is only semi-vegetarian. Meat contains certain vitamines and other stuff that’s really important for the human body and he can’t risk not having those in his diet from here on out.

Dying from starvation isn’t as bad as dying from lack of certain proteins and minerals that sustain the production of bone and muscle tissue, not to mention keep his oxygen intake optimal. You could run serious risk if you don’t get the right minerals and proteins with every meal.

And although he doesn’t know what these berries contain exactly, he can garner a guess it isn’t gonna be minerals like iron or zinc. That’s all meat-based.

‘I have to find something to hunt.’

But so far he hasn’t seen any wild animals roaming around. He knows from experience that rats exist in the world of Little Nightmares, even if they’re the size of a medium dog! Hunting those shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Finishing the berries still in his hands he walks up to the water to clean his hands from the purplish sap. A few drops have stained his shirt but that’s nothing compared to the dirt and grime already starting to gather from his time spent in the woods. His eyes trail towards the large mass of fur resting at the riverside.

The puppy had been a lot of help with finding out what’s edible berries-wise. Maybe if he kept the big lug around it could help with more? Hunting, if it knows how, or simply figuring out what’s edible around these parts. It apparently has enough instinct to recognize food, and seeing it started eating the berries its diet isn’t completely carnivore-based.

Now that he’s found a river he’s also finally got the chance to see past the canopy and look for the sun, the large body of water cutting enough of an opening to have the trees not overlap. Looking up he sees something he’d already started to guess. It has already gone past noon and the sun is now steadily sinking towards the horizon. Not genuine afternoon, but still relatively late for lunch.

‘Back home it must be night by now. Hope my parents aren’t too worried.’

He mentally winces at that. Yeah, they’ll probably be freaking out by now, scared he’s gotten in an accident or something. Hopefully he’ll find a way home, somehow, and he’ll think of a way to explain why he’d been missing.

Although that might take some time, seeing as he’s got no idea on where to look or what to do in order to get home. Right now he tries to focus in the most important thing: Finding civilization.

Perhaps he should look for the Pale City... It was, after all, the same thing that seems to control the Signal Tower that pulled him inside the game’s world.

But where would that be? He doesn’t even know whether he’s on an island or the mainland. So far the sheer size of these woods suggest the latter but it could very well be the former if the next thing he finds is the shore!

Now that would be bad. Real bad.

He pushes those thoughts aside and instead starts picking some more berries, this time putting them away in his knapsack. Unfortunately enough he hasn’t found much else of a container in the woods, only some shattered glass and a few walls made of worn brick. Whatever had once existed in place of these woods has disappeared long ago. The glass jar he’s using as a lantern must have been a lucky find.

Gosh, he’s had a lot of luck so far, hasn’t he? It’ll have to run out at some point, though.

As if to prove his point the human-sized puppy decided to pick the moment the boy leans in to drink some of the river’s water to get up and take a bath.

Right in front of him. With a jump that used enough force to create a small tidal wave heading in the teen's direction. The spray almost pushed him in the river, soaking the unfortunate boy all the way down to his underwear!

Ben spluttered and coughed as he pushed himself away from falling all the way into the water, brushing his now thoroughly wet hair out of his face to send the playful wolf-fox hybrid a withering glare.

“Come on! I didn’t ask for a shower, you know!”

It either didn’t hear him or doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about seeing as the young canine continued splashing away in the water. In order to avoid a repeat he quickly finished his drink before trudging away and look for a spot to sit down and try to knead the water from his clothes.

He wasn’t going to be dry for at least another hour or so, the temperature right now somewhere along the lines of mild, temperate even. Indoor temperature if you will. Cozy, but also very irritating when you want to get dry quickly.

Not to mention how utterly freezing the water is compared to the rest. He shivered as he took of his shirt and wrapped it a few times around itself to get as much water out of it as possible. When he unfurled it he at least got the answer whether the berries their sap can stain.

It can. Joy.

He grumbled to himself as he continued getting his clothes as dry as possible. For a moment he actually considered stripping all the way but he quickly tossed that idea into the imaginary trash bin. Oh no, he’s not going that far!

(Yet.)

Finally after what felt like hours he got himself reasonably dry. Looking towards the river he notes that the pup has finished with its bath and is now back to lounging at the riverside. He frowned, a thought entering his head, and took a risk.

He whistled.

It’s both not a surprise yet at the same time still is when it looks up from lounging to regard him with an intense gaze. He lifts a curious eyebrow as he considered the reaction.

“Tame, follows me wherever I go, reacts to my signals...” Ben mumbled, counting everything he understands about the pup so far. Although he’s starting to wonder if it even is a pup at all and not just some smaller, domesticated variant. Compared to some of the creatures living in this world the big canine is about as big as a labrador, maybe smaller.

The one he saw wandering in the woods, though, must be the wild one, adapted to the environment and feeding off whatever it can catch.

How lucky can you get?

He sighed out a chuckle, shaking his head at his own thought. Yeah, sure, luck. He’s starting to doubt the true merit of luck in a world like this one.

Giving another whistle and following up with a motion towards the woods, he watches what it will do. It gets up from its perch on the ground and strode over in the general direction he’s pointed at with his head, stopping a few meters away to sit down and gaze at the boy almost expectantly. He smiled at that before cocking his head slightly.

“I can’t just call you ‘it’, though.” He mumbled, considering. What could you call a big lug that seems more intent of playing ‘follow the leader’ than go out and hunt.

Unbidden a memory tugged itself free. He was ten and had been begging his parents to buy them a puppy for a little while. They hadn’t relented but they had asked him what he’d call the pup if they got one.

“Diego.”

The name rolled of his tongue almost without prompt and the way the large hybrid perked up, tail wagging even faster than it already did, it seems to like it.

That just begs the question... He looked down for a moment and quickly looked back up once he’s confirmed his suspicion, a hint of pink to his cheeks.

“You like that name, don’t you, boy?”

He was glad that when Diego pounced on him the canine was considerate enough to stick to licking his face instead of actually knocking him to the ground. That could have resulted in some serious bruises or worse if he hadn’t.

They’d been walking for a little while, following the path of the river. Ben had remembered that the best way to find civilization is to follow any source of water. Going up-river is more likely to reveal the source of the river than any civilization so down-river it is.

His clothes hadn’t dried out fully yet but at least he’d managed to get a decent amount of berries cramped in a small pocket inside his bindle.

He’d been grabbing a few rocks on the way and was absently throwing them in the water to see them make small splashes before sinking to the bottom when a sound had ripped through the relative silence of the forest.

A howl.

Ben’s eyes flickered to where Diego had stopped as well, but nothing suggested it had been the large canine that had howled. He gulped.

There’s only one other he knows of that can do that.

The Beast!

‘Let’s... keep moving.’ Ben thought with a shiver, picking up the pace a little. He has to trust Diego to follow, not willing to risk catching attention by whistling now.

As they kept going he noticed something different in the distance. The running water shifted from a steady current to thundering waves and when they reached the area it’s coming from he realized why.

Water rapids. They’d been going downhill for quite some time but right here it suddenly started going down in strides, leaving several sharp edges and quite a bit of rock and stone exposed to the elements. A few trees had managed to find spots to grow but for the most part it’s the first break in the forest itself that actually looked significant.

He breathed out an amazed “Wow” when something else caught his attention aside of the roaring water.

Growling.

He froze on the spot, eyes slowly looking around before he turned when he realized that Diego was growling as well. He spotted the canine looking in a specific direction and when he followed the hybrid’s point of view-

‘Oh no.’

-he found The Beast standing perched on a large boulder a small distance away, growling with its permanent snarl pulled back even fiercer than it already was before. How the hell it had found them he doesn’t know but at that very moment only one thought popped into the boy’s head.

Run.

Knowing that keeping quiet is pointless now, especially seeing as Diego hasn’t shut up yet, Ben whistled at the large canine before jumping down the first part of the rocky way down. The Beast gave a growling bark before following and that urged the boy to speed up, taking several jumps at a time to avoid getting caught on any slippery stone he can spot.

The only thought in his head is to run, run and get the hell away from the wild beast that’s after him.

He tripped over a rock and stumbled before suddenly having something push against his back and sending him over some slippery rocks without really touching them. He spared a quick glance behind him to find Diego right at his back, eyes wide and focused on his friend.

Knowing he’ll have to thank the big lug Ben instead put his focus back on running down. He looked to his side to find The Beast still trailing at their side, for some reason not having found a way to get closer just yet.

But that will change very soon, seeing as the rapids only go that far before evening out again into flatter ground.

Ben yelps when The Beast jumped closer and kicked a few rocks lose from their precarious spot nearby, causing a small landslide that had him dodging a few pieces of stone and getting some dust sprayed over his back. He huffed out a startled breath but didn’t stop running, companion at his heels.

They’re almost there.

His eyes scanned the river for a moment as they approached the level ground, trying to find something of use. They focused on something he’d seen a few times on the way down the riverside, fallen trees that have rotted to the point they’re almost completely gone. This one in particular looks very old and weak. It’s risky and could very well land with him in the water but not getting wet is really low on his priority list right now.

Survival is more important.

The moment they’re on relatively flat ground he whistles and starts running even faster towards the fallen tree. Diego follows behind him but unlike the teen he simply jumps into the water and starts peddling to the other side. Ben managed to spare a breathless grin at that before he’s on the fallen tree and crossing over the water.

It’s right when he’s close to the edge that an additional weight presses down, causing the wood to creak ominously. The boy doesn’t have to look over his shoulder to know that the blind monster is behind him. In fact the knowledge gave him that final push to jump the last bit and land on the pebbles of the riverside.

He stumbled and turned around as he backed up, seeing The Beast slowly step down from the tree that falls apart the moment the creature is off, the splintered wood disappearing into the steady currents. His heart was beating wildly in his throat and all his mind could manage were the basic instincts of not getting killed.

Somehow through it all he’d managed to keep hold of his bindle.

Diego slowly strode over to join Ben’s side and a small burst of appreciation made itself known in his heart even as it felt ready to leap out of his throat. The Beast looked between the two, apparently aware of both being there, and focused on growling at Diego.

Diego in turn started growling back, stance ready to fight and tail raised high. Through the haze of primal fear Ben managed to put a hand on the hybrid’s side, hand brushing through the fur as he pressed himself closer to his companion.

A fight with The Beast now is certain to end with both dead. There’s nothing around to use against it. He’d been hoping the tree would break under the thing’s weight but apparently it has a good sense of balance or impeccable timing because that plan failed.

Now all that stands between him and death is an animal he’d only met a few hours prior.

Yet neither have moved. They’re still growling at each other.

Ben swallowed the feeling of pure dread down for a moment and whistled, the only way he’s found so far to communicate effectively with the big canine. Diego seemed to respond, growl only deepening and stance going so dangerous for a moment the teen was worried he’d actually angered him.

A few tense seconds passed as the two creatures continued to growl, although The Beast is starting to seem... hesitant.

And then he stopped growling and drew back, tail lowering and stance shifting into something not-quite defeated but more resigned. It confused Ben as to why, not sure on whatever passed between the two large hybrids, but it did lift up his spirits a little.

And that little grew into a lot when The Beast turned around and wadded through the water before disappearing into the forest at the other side of the river. Diego doesn’t stop growling until minutes after his wild counterpart has disappeared into the dark of the woods.

The canine turned to look at his little friend, and all Ben can think of when he looks back at the companion he didn’t even think he needed was ‘why’.

‘Why did you save me?’

Diego, for all he seems like an intelligent creature, wouldn’t have a way to answer his question let alone understand.

A single bird popped out of a tree and started singing.

The Dark Woods slowly faded away behind him as they entered the expansive clearing. From a distance far away past the horizon the remnants of a train track passed through what could once have been flourishing fields and farmland but now is nothing but overgrown plains. A few ruins were scattered about, moss and plants covering the old brick and decaying wood.

Ben slacked a sigh of relief as he put away the lantern from where he’d been holding it. During the chase with The Beast he’d luckily been able to think ahead and put the fragile item in his bindle, and seeing as he didn’t hit anything during the run it hadn’t been damaged.

But with the (relative) presence of the afternoon sun shining over the abandoned fields he won’t need it. At least not until nightfall.

Diego dashed past, the canine currently being very intent on trying to catch any bird he spots. Ben grinned at that, seeing the big lug play, as if he hadn’t just had an encounter with a creature almost twice his size. He’d thanked his newfound companion with pets and he seemed to enjoy them, although right now he’s more focused on some birds flying by.

He still doesn’t quite know what had passed between the two animals during their growling match, but whatever it was it seems to have had more of an impact dan simply chasing The Beast away. As they’d moved on from the river to follow a dirt path he’d spotted, Ben noticed that life slowly started appearing everywhere in the forest. Birds chirping, squirrels running across branches and even a deer as tall as a two-story building walking by. The latter had shocked him the most. It was big!

He’ll definitely have to stick to the smaller critters for food if he plans to hunt soon.

And now they’re out of the woods with the first sign of civilization, abandoned it may be, giving the teenager some hope at finding the Pale City. Those tracks have to go somewhere after all, and even if they’re overgrown anything is better than wandering around blindly.

The only thing he’s really worried about right now is making sure to stay away from anything that might want to kill him. Not easy, he’s sure about that after his brush with near-death, but he still has to try.

Otherwise he could just as well forget going home.

Shaking his head clear Ben starts moving, giving a whistle to get his companion’s attention. Diego stops from where he’d been ready to pounce on an unsuspecting bird and gives a single bark in return before trotting over to join his friend’s side, bird startled and flying off into the gray sky.

As they walk through the tall grass, two companions in a dangerous world, the sun slowly starts to dip towards the horizon. Night is approaching, they’ll have to find shelter soon.

Tomorrow wil be a new day.

Chapter Text

What purpose would train tracks serve if they haven’t been used in literal decades?

That was but one of the many random thoughts popping into Ben’s head as he and his companion continued on their path.

The night had been uneventful, thankfully. He’d found a dilapidated building that still had half a second floor covering the ruined ground level, giving him a spot where he was able to set up camp. Looking around he’d only found a partly rotten mattress lying on the ground, the springs sticking out like spikes. A few sheets were left at the side and those ended up serving as his makeshift sleeping bag. He wrapped one around his waist this morning, seeing as it would take up too much space in his sack.

Breakfast consisted mostly of the berries he’d picked yesterday at the river. After some looking he did find a non-functional fridge with canned food inside, but when he’d opened one the smell had been horrible. No way was he going to eat that!

Diego ended up getting a proper meal, at least.

Now he’s simply following the tracks he’d spotted when first arriving in the clearing. From far away the Dark Forest really looks ominous, and a part of him can’t believe he actually made it through in one piece. In the distance he can see that the tracks disappear into a tunnel set in the side of another cliff. Beyond the edge he can actually even make out the tips of what look to be mountains.

At least that reassured him that he really is on the mainland.

But before they reach the tunnel there’s one final thing along their path, something he’d like to explore first before moving on.

A station.

It wouldn’t exactly offer a whole lot of stuff, he’s sure. Train stations generally only have as much as the travelers who use it need. Maybe if he’s lucky he’ll find a broken drink dispenser or a vending machine. Getting some bottles of water to drink on the go would be very useful, and a vending machine might have some imperishable food he could snack on.

And maybe, just maybe, it’ll have one of those archaic newspaper holders. It would offer the first glimpse into what the world really looks like, or used to look like depending on the paper’s age.

That’s the one thing he’s been starting to wonder about. What could have brought on such change to the world that everything around you looks like it’s out to kill you?

The answer might lie within his grasp. He’d be the first to find answers to the questions game-theorists have been asking for years about the world of Little Nightmares! Think of the possibility! The answers to questions so many have asked but were never solved!

The thought alone made him giddy and pick up the pace, whistling for Diego to leave a pile of bricks he’d found alone. The Vulpus Canine (a name he is proud to have come up with) gives a bark in response before joining his side. Ben chuckled at the hybrid’s enthusiasm and reached out to pet the guy’s fur. It’s gray and slightly tangled and dirty from sleeping on the ground but there’s a kind of softness to it, almost like there are dew-feathers hidden underneath.

He wouldn’t be too surprised if that really is the case. Some of the wildlife he’s seen so far has looked pretty crazy. He still isn’t over that deer from last evening, standing taller than a two-story house. What could grow that big?!

When they arrived at the station he already faces his first obstacle: The platform itself is taller than him. He climbs on top with a grunt and looks back, about to call for Diego to get up. The Vulpus is ahead of him, though, taking a few steps back before leaping onto the stone platform.

‘Show off.’ Ben thinks with mock indignance before turning his focus to the platform. Once again everything is scaled bigger, the entrance twice as tall as he is and windows standing high above. The doors are left gaping open, one hanging on by a single hinge. On the platform itself is nothing but a few rusty benches and some trash. Clothes, weirdly enough, are left lying on the floor like the people who’d been wearing them simply vanished without a trace.

A single screen that would have shown the times of arrival-departure for the trains is lying in a scrap-pile on the ground in front of the entrance, broken glass and electronics lying scattered around like a minefield. He manages to get past without hurting himself. Diego remains outside even when he whistles, whimpering. The teen offers his friend a sympathetic look before going further inside. If the big lug doesn’t want to go inside he won’t push the guy.

The place is profoundly rural in appearance and simplicity. It makes sense seeing as the surroundings have all the signs of once having been a rural community living away from the crowded cities. There’s a lot of wood involved in the furniture and interior of the main hall. The place where you’d normally grab your tickets is left ruined, the glass separating the two rooms shattered into shards lying on the ground, gathering dust.

Looking to his left he finds benches for waiting, some with clothes lying abandoned and a few broken in pieces. Above the center of the hall he can see a sign hanging from the ceiling. The letters have been scratched out, though.

On one wall he spots a clock that looks like it hasn’t run properly for years. Surrounding the clock almost like decoration, though, is the outline of an eye.

The first eye, one of many he’s bound to find in the world. Ben remembers that they theorize the eye stands for how no one is left unsupervised, how privacy doesn’t exist in the world of LN. He can understand that but something inside him says it’s more than that. That there’s something else to that cryptic eye you can find depicted on even the most mundane of items.

He files the thought away for when he has more answers. Speaking off...

No newspapers, unfortunately. A vending machine that looks archaic and is almost completely empty. It does have a few granola bars that are about the size of a tablet. He considers the lid, making sure there’s nothing blocking it. He looks at one of the benches standing at the side of the machine and gets an idea.

Jumping up onto the arm rest he gives the large metal frame a solid kick. It budges a little and the sound echoes through the hall. He pauses, waiting to see or hear anything that might have been alerted by the noise.

...Nothing so far, good. He gives it another kick.

The granola bars end up falling out after the fifth kick, landing on the bottom of the machine case. Reaching through the lid isn’t hard, he could almost fit right through had he been a little skinnier on the waist and more flexible. He opens one to make sure they’re not molded or gone bad because of their method of storage. Taking a bite to stave off hunger a little longer, his face contorts at the stale taste.

Nothing acidic or bad, though, just stale. He puts the other two in his sack before looking the station through a final time.

He finds a few empty bottles lying discarded near an overfull trashcan. Not in the mood to try and attempt dumpster diving just yet he ignores the trash and simply pockets the bottles. If it starts raining he can set them out and store the water for later use.

When he walks outside the station he finds Diego pacing the edge of the platform. Ben calls out and braces himself when he notices the Vulpus stand at attention before sprinting over. He almost gets knocked over by the happy licks alone and can’t help himself from laughing at his boy’s antics.

“Diego! Diego, stop! I’m fine, I’m fine! Down boy!”

Realizing that his friend is alright the hybrid calms down a little and gives him some reprieve from the slobbery tongue attack. Ben splutters as he wipes down his face, clothes a lost cause at this point to even try and clean them up.

“Geeze,” He chuckles softly, reaching out to scratch Diego under the chin. “You’d think I’d been gone for a few days from that reaction.” The Vulpus gives a small whine, lowering his chin for his friend to have better access. Ben complies with a soft smile, not able to resist something that looks so cute. “Sorry I scared you, boy. Won’t happen again, I promise.”

Yet when he turns his head to regard the dark tunnel ahead, he isn’t so sure whether he can keep that promise.

Whoever said you’ll find the light at the end of the tunnel really should learn just how long tunnels can be. He’s been walking for ages!

Even Diego his mood is dampened in the dark of the seemingly endless tunnel, ears flat to his skull and tail hanging slightly between his hind paws. Ben isn’t sure what to make of the hybrid’s reaction, still able to recall the show-off between his companion and The Beast vividly. Maybe because that was a known danger, one Diego might have faced before?

He isn’t sure, and right now that only serves to make his skin crawl and his back to go rigid like ice. The firefly-lantern in his hand barely manages to illuminate the tunnel from wall to wall. They’re walking in the center in case the walls are unstable.

Although if the tunnel were to start collapsing right now, chances are they won’t make it out in time.

The walls themselves are old and broken, cracks virtually everywhere. Bricks lie on the ground, the spot they used to be turned into gaping holes with dirt and rock slowly peeking through. Even in here plants seem to have found a way to live, moss growing on the edges and mold covering the wooden sleepers between the rails. Vine-like growth sporadically hangs down from the ceiling, sometimes growing so far down that Diego would have to duck to pass them. Luckily the center seems to be the least affected by everything.

Above all the noises are starting to get a little unnerving. At first it was simply the echoes of their steps going down the tunnel but now the steady dripping of water has joined the chorus, with the occasional shriek of metal getting bend slowly. The latter is what really has him on edge, nothing he’s seen so far could make that noise.

If a train is set to come through, unlikely bit still possible in this world, their best bet is to run to the edge and pray it won’t hit them. So far the teenager isn’t happy with the odds.

‘Although, what do odds even do when you live in a world full of dangers?’

He doesn’t exactly have the right answer to that.

Walking becomes monotonous, the dark of the tunnel and the noises accompanying their gait, as the unusual yet strangely familiar duo continues. A boy and his companion. Friends in the face of danger. Taking care of the other in whatever way they can whilst still focusing on their own survival as well.

There’s an echo in that considerable thought.

(As long as their fate is different.)

Eventually there’s a break in the monotony. A broken pipe runs across the ceiling, water pouring down and creating a big and surprisingly deep puddle. The rails are broken at the edges, rusted after the water had stripped the protective coats off. A few sleepers have been pulled out from underneath the metal and positioned to form a bridge across.

Ben silently sends a thanks to whoever did that, be they alive or dead. Crossing isn’t hard, the sleepers are still strong enough to support the combined weight of the boy and the hybrid animal. He almost slipped because his shoes have grown damp but a push to his back from Diego helps him right himself and avoid falling in.

After the small break things only seem to grow more broken-down. Parts of the ceiling near the wall are broken, allowing the dirt and rock from above to creep inside. Piles of material lie in the tunnel where these gaps are found. Any disturbance and it could potentially all come crashing down in one foul swoop.

Ben tries to ignore the thought, not wanting to rile himself up for no reason. So far nothing truly dangerous has popped up and he’d like to keep it that way.

But when did the world ever decide to humor him?

Distracted by observing the decay of the tunnel it takes Diego pulling him back to prevent the boy from walking right into water. He takes a moment to calm his racing heart and murmur a thanks to his friend before examining closer what is before them.

The tunnel -no, the entire mountain- seems to have sunken down at some point, the tunnel going down a few feet. Above him he can see the rock being held back by the shattered mortar and brick because everything is simply lower than the part they are standing on.

The dip has also apparently allowed this part of the tunnel to flood. Islands are scattered around a little, made of broken brick and rocky dirt. A few sleepers are floating on the water, although their solidity is questionable seeing as they’re covered in mold.

It goes on for quite a bit, the end not really visible in the dark. Still, there has to be one or else this is a dead end.

It could set them back days or even weeks if it is! The thought doesn’t sit well with the boy, frustration rising before falling with a slow exhale.

‘Keep it cool, Ben. Just go out and see if there’s a path across. Easy, right?’

(If only it was.)

Diego is able to jump the distance between some of the makeshift islands, but Ben has to jump on the sleepers to make it. His friend waits patiently for the boy to reach him before he’s jumping ahead. Seeing the hybrid take the lead actually feels reassuring, it means that they’re safe.

They’re already at the part where he can’t see the other side even with the lantern’s illumination when Ben finds Diego sitting on the next island, whimpering as the Vulpus observed the water. The boy frowned at the sigh as he took the next jump on a duo of wood.

It sinks slightly under his weight and the sound of cracking has him jumping prematurely. His feet land in the water, still on the island but definitely soaked. He was just about to get up and wait for Diego to jump the next distance when-

“Wha-!”

-his feet sink down deeper into the water, grabbed onto by something. Before he has the unfortunate fate of finding out what is in the water he’s grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled up, Diego growling at the effort before succeeding. Ben is left panting from the experience, eyes wide from shock.

‘There’s something in there!’

And it just tried to pull him in! He swallows, suddenly filled with a lot more trepidation than at the start. At the start all he was worried about is falling in the water and get soaked.

Now he’s worried about getting pulled down and drown!

Diego barks at the water and with the light from his lantern Ben can just make out a vague silhouette disappear. He lets out a shaky breath.

This suddenly took a turn for the worse.

He hasn’t moved from the ‘island’ where he’d almost gotten pulled down. His arms are resting on the stick of his bindle as he’s sitting on the rough ground, eyes blinking tiredly.

It can’t be anywhere later than midday outside, though, but the dark of the tunnels is tempting his mind with the blissful ignorance of sleep.

As if he could escape the nightmare this world has become.

Occasionally Diego would start barking at the water, a vague silhouette passing by underwater. A part of his mind hopes that in time the creature will tire and leave.

A bigger part tells him that’s false hope. He isn’t sure which side is right.

Ben sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He can’t stay here. Clearly that thing in the water won’t stop anytime soon and waiting until it tires is wasted time. And what can it do? As long as he stays outside the water he’ll manage to get to the other side.

Those sleepers aren’t going to hold forever, though. He’ll have to jump the moment he’s on one to avoid another tripped jump and risk getting worse than simply wet.

‘To get home. To escape this nightmare world.’

Resolve hardened he opens his eyes and stands up. He grabs his lantern and puts in the sack of his bindle, not wanting to have both hands occupied in the chance he needs to grab hold of something. Diego, noticing the movement of his friend, stops barking for a moment to nudge him with a low whine.

“I’ll be fine.” Ben murmured softly, rubbing the hybrid’s muzzle. “But I need you to guide me.”

He points in the direction of the next island and whistles, determined. Diego barks once, loud, and in the water he can see the vague figure flinch and sink lower. Ben grins at his companion’s ingenuity. ‘Good boy.’

The hybrid leaps towards the next island, scrabbling away from the edge once he’s landed. Ben takes a final, fortifying breath before he leaps onto the first sleeper. The moment he has both feet on the wood he jumps again, not wasting any time. He reaches the next island with only a bare glance down to see the silhouette, waiting.

It’ll find itself sorely disappointed.

The next few jumps are almost flawless, only one sleeper cracking apart but by then he’s already across to the next island made of rubble.

Here is where things get trickier.

The next pile is big and stretches long, but there aren’t any sleepers to use to get across for him. Diego still makes the jump, only having to scramble when his tails touches the water and the monstrous figure rushes upwards as if preparing to grab a bite.

It only strikes air, splashing water around. Ben would have found the display oddly comedic if he wasn’t focused on trying to find a different route across. His eyes scan the walls and stop when he spots a pipe, broken at one end and hanging down in the water. It’s a risky jump, he’ll have to grab hold of the metal and climb up as soon as possible to avoid slipping. It’s suspended from the ceiling by long metal bars, meaning it’ll also be a balancing act all the way across until he reaches solid ground. At least because the spot Diego is on stretches out into the darkness his friend will be able to keep up with him.

He bolsters himself the best he can, chanting encouraging words in his head to try and keep his courage flowing. Counting under his breath he jumps-

“Woah!”

-and grabs hold of the part where two sections of pipe are bolted together, grip like ice and heart beating wildly in his chest. One foot slips just towards the surface and he’s quick to start climbing. Ben feels more than sees the creature grasping at the spot where his foot had been, water splashing against the bottom of his trousers.

He pauses when he reaches the part where the pipe is suspended, catching his breath for a moment before getting up. The ceiling is incredibly close now, one wrong move and he could hit his head and lose his balance. His pace is agonizingly slow but he keeps one foot before the other, one hand pressed against the rough brick with bindle clutched tightly in his grip, and the other arm stretched out as to keep his balance secure.

When he reaches the part where the pipe turns around he looks down to find a large pile of rubble forming a perfect spot to land. He braces himself and jumps down.

“Au!”

Crud, that hurts!

Ben crumbles to one knee, bindle dropping to the ground with a clatter and lantern falling out a little. He hisses as he grips his ankle, twisted because his foot got caught on a brick during the landing. Diego is at his side in seconds, having followed all the way before quickly joining his friend. The hybrid whimpered softly, nudging the teen gently as to not jostle his leg.

Ben pats the Vulpus on the muzzle before hissing again, shots of pain going up from his ankle. Tears gather at the corners of his eyes as he tries to endure the initial pain.

Gods, it hurts. He’s twisted his ankle a few times during PE before, and it always hurts when he does. And unlike back home he doesn’t have the luxury of a compress and ice to lessen the pain. All he can do here is let time take its course and trust his body is able to repair any damage done.

This is costing him valuable time, though. And -as he looks across- it’ll hamper him with the final few jumps. Already he can see the tunnel going back up, water coming to an almost abrupt stop. They’re so close! Why did this have to happen now?!

“Au.” He hisses softly, hand rubbing over his ankle to try and relieve some of the pain. At least thanks to his shoe it wasn’t anything worse. A broken ankle is a lot harder to treat than a twisted one. All it really did was overstretch his muscles, and maybe twist the joint past it’s normal range. It’ll mend in a day, two tops.

But he can’t stick around for that long is this damp, cold place. He has to keep going.

Ben forces himself to stand up, grabbing his bindle and tucking his lantern back secure. Diego whimpers, brushing against his side. He doesn’t push the hybrid aside, allowing himself to put some weight on his friend for now.

“I’ll be alright, boy.” He murmurs, rubbing the Vulpus to reassure him. His friend doesn’t look convinced. He grins at the hybrid although a shot of pain twists into a semi-grimace. Damn, that stings.

He doesn’t have forever, though. He’ll have to keep going at some point.

He points at the next island and whistles, expecting Diego to jump. The hybrid looks at him and whines. He tries to offer an as reassuring look as possible before whistling again, gentler. ‘Come on, boy. We can’t stop now.’

He leans away so he isn’t using his friend as support, putting more weight on the hurt limb. He bites down as it shoots pins and needles through his leg and waits.

Diego whines a little before resigning and jumping across to the next island. He turns around and keeps a close watch on the boy. The care his buddy shows helps reassure some of Ben his worries and he straightens his stance, forcing down the desire to lean against the wall and relieve the pressure.

He jumps on the sleeper floating in between. The landing isn’t hard because of the plank’s quickly-failing buoyancy yet it still sends jolts of pain through his body. He can’t quite stifle a choked cry and pause to endure the pain.

The plank underneath him starts to fall apart and he jumps before he can fall through and into the quickly approaching figure’s grasp, landing on solid ground and almost tripping because of the pain pumping through his veins, nerves on fire around his ankle. He impacts something solid and furry and he sends a mental thanks to Diego for acting like a cushion.

It’s a lot softer compared to everything he’s experienced so far. He can’t help but take a moment to nestle deeper into the warm fur. The muffled sound of a heartbeat pumping, the blood flowing through the body supporting him, flows into his ears and Ben smiles.

He didn’t even realize that the knowledge that his first friend in this world is really, truly there for him could be such a reassurance to his fears.

For a moment the pain disappeared into the back of his head.

He made the final few jumps across with only a few cries of pain from the landing and then he’s lying down on the ground, leg lying slightly suspended on his bindle to try and keep his ankle from getting any worse than it already got from the overuse. Diego lies down at his side, blocking the teen’s view from the water.

He buries his face in gray fur and breathes.

When they finally step outside into daylight it’s almost overwhelming, light so sharp compared to the glow of a lantern in the dark. Ben grins despite the need of keeping a hand up to block the sunlight, simply glad and relieved to finally be outside of that hellhole.

After the flooded area the tunnel slowly started gaining back some of its integrity, and before long they’d spotted the light at the end. Despite the relieving discovery their steps were slow and measured, Ben leaning against Diego and keeping as much pressure of his foot as possible.

The hybrid was more than willing to let his little friend use him as a crutch, steps almost in pace with the boy’s. The bindle containing the lantern is held gently in his maw.

And now they’re on the other side of the mountain.

The train tracks turn around and disappeared past a corner, rocky cliff at their sides. In the distance past the edge of the thin plateau they’re on, the tips of pine trees signify the presence of a forest lower down the mountain side. It’ll be downhill from here on out, not like they’re not used to that by now.

The sun is already going down the sky, midday having passed during their travel in the tunnel. As if reminding him of this fact his stomach grumbles and Ben chuckles softly, grabbing in his sack to retrieve a granola bar. A normal one would be a bad choice for lunch but the size alone means he’ll have a full stomach by the time he finishes one.

Is it healthy? No, not exactly.

Does he care at this very moment? Nope, not one bit.

Chapter Text

The view, in a single word, is mind-numbing.

Or are those two words? Ben finds he doesn’t particularly care right now to figure out if it is.

Mind-numbing.

‘What the fuck...?’

That’s another way to put it. The sight of the Pale City is starkly different when you’re not at street-level, messed up in a sense that shouldn’t even be possible. From high above, even with the distance, you can still see the shape of the Signal Tower standing in the general center of the crumbling city. The way the buildings flow outwards, bend and twisted, gives the illusion of a flower blooming. Yet the beauty of any flower is completely lost to the gray of concrete. Mist covers the ground like a thick blanket, blending in with the darkened sky.

The Wilderness frames one side and the front, a lake separating it from the city. At some point the water stops and the forest is cut off by a highway heading towards the city. It crosses over train tracks and disappears into the distance to his left, hills and mountains blocking his view.

The train tracks lead towards what appears to be a train-yard, although from this far it’s a guess instead of an observation. It appears in a whole like a dark-grayish mass of concrete with dozens of tracks coming from several directions, either disappearing into the mountains or the woods.

It could have been a stunning view at one time, if the sky hadn’t been so gloom and dark. If a constant air of wrongness wasn’t flowing from the direction of the city. If the buildings weren’t so warped.

If he didn’t know that this is the place where not even time seems to matter. Where dangerous monsters live in every corner, of which hundreds are glued to their screens as zombies.

Where two children are fated to experience a chilling adventure through countless horrors.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and tries to focus.

Following the tracks through the mountains hadn’t been as hard as he’d expected. A few days have passed since their time in The Tunnel. Diego had been a great help to keep him alive, hunting down some small critters when they reached areas where the tracks are surrounded by trees and plant life instead of harsh cliffs. At some point one those cliffs inverted, instead of going up it started going down. The track from there on was located on a bench at the mountain side instead of nestled between.

Now it’s sloping down, the mountains fading into hills and eventually relatively flat forests.

Ben believes it’s safe to say he’s learned a thing or two from his time surviving in the wilds. He spent some time figuring out how to skin and clean a rat, only having to throw up three times when he got past the pang of hurt in his heart at being forced to do something like that to an innocent creature.

Yet cooking and eating the meat he managed to salvage, the scraps left for Diego to eat if he liked, was satisfying in a sense that felt self-accomplished. Like he’d achieved something few others at home could do.

(Not hard, seeing as he’s the only one from his world here.)

Aside of the more... gory bits, he also spent some time improving the tools he has. He turned some vine-like plants into a makeshift rope and wrapped it around the firefly-lantern, allowing him to hold it by a stick instead of having to clutch it by the bottom. His bindle has been improved with a sharp stone at the bottom end as a weapon of sorts, and the sack is wrapped less tight yet more firm, allowing more storage space whilst also preventing it from falling lose.

He reaches inside said sack and retrieved one of the bottles he had set out yesterday when it started raining, taking a drink of the clean water. He’d improvised some funnels to get as much water inside them as possible and by the end of the rainfall both were about three quarters full.

It had been a heavy storm, luckily no lightning and a little thunder in the distance.

He wonders how things are for those out in the city. Are Six and Mono inside yet? Did they even meet?

(Is he too late?)

He shakes his head, casting those thoughts aside. This isn’t the time to wonder about people he hasn’t even met, if he’ll see them at all. He doesn’t have a general plan yet, he’ll start once he is actually within the city limits.

His first stop before he’s there is the supposed train yard.

He whistles and Diego jumped out from where he’d disappeared into a patch of trees behind the boy, joining his friend’s side. A small scratch on his muzzle from where a wild cat the size of a person had struck is still healing. Ben avoided to rub there, petting the hybrid before pointing in the direction of the city.

“That’s where we’re going, boy. You ready?”

Diego adopts a battle-ready stance, growling low. Ben chuckled at that. Whatever shyness his companion had from danger had been washed away after his encounter with the wild cat. The creature would not be able to tell the tale of how the Vulpus had taken revenge for the attack on his friend.

The duo start walking down the tracks, Ben occasionally sparing a a glance in the direction of the looming city. The closer they get the stronger the feeling of wrongness radiating out becomes.

He isn’t sure how he would feel were he to purposefully walk in the direction of the Signal Tower.

(A part of him wishes to never see it again.)

Oppressive darkness.

Shadows flitted at the corners of his vision, swimming, screeching, looming.

A lumbering shape, big and heavy. It moves with a hobble.

Metal clashes together like blades, sparks coming to life before fizzling into void.

The darkness is growing, pressing harder and harder.

He feels himself losing breath, as if submerged underwater with no escape.

The shape steps closer, masked eyes regarding him with hatred darker than blood.

It reached out, metal fingers brushing.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

Ben gasped awake, cold sweat covering his body and sheet hot against his form. He kicked it off without thinking and stumbled to his feet, pressing himself against the rough bark of a nearby tree before slowly sliding down. His hand clutched his shirt, heart beating loudly under the palm and in his ears as if it’s trying to break free from his chest.

The details of his nightmare fade into the haze of the panic, leaving him with the feeling of fear without a source.

He brought a hand to his face, dragging it across to get some of the sweat off whilst his mind tries to find solid ground.

It hadn’t been his first nightmare. The night after The Tunnel he had a dream about a dark figure dragging him down into the water, Diego unable to get him. He’d woken up early and buried himself in the fur of his friend and stayed that way until sunrise, reassuring himself that he’s alive. They’re alive.

This wasn’t like those nightmares. This was darker, sinister, foreign in a sense that left him gasping for breath and his nerves strung tight like the string of a violin, discordant in the orchestra of his mind.

Slowly he calms down, heart coming down to a less haggard pace and nerves unwinding. The tension in his body bled out and he let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

God, whatever that had been, he’s glad it’s not real.

(Right?)

Shaking himself he looks up through the much thinner canopy of the forest, looking for any sign of the sun. None so far, and if his internal compass is right that means it’s still early in the morning.

He remains still like that for a moment, absorbing the feel of the cool morning breeze and the damp air of the forest. It’s really just a stretch of trees originating from the actual Wilderness, one part passing underneath the old highway. It gets cut off a bit ahead by the various train tracks before the trees carry on, unbidden.

From their walk here he’d spotted a tall fence surrounding the area ahead of the tracks. Getting past that won’t be easy.

But something tells him it won’t be the fence that will make today especially hard. He can’t put a finger on why or what though. It is very frustrating but the boy tries not to let that get to him. Frustration means mistakes and mistakes means risk.

And he can’t afford risks, not right now. Not when he’s so close to possibly finding a way home.

...Home.

He looked in the direction of his friend and companion, the large hybrid still peacefully dreaming on, unaware of the human boy’s plight.

Could he leave Diego behind? The answer seems so obvious, of course he can’t; but he also can’t take the Vulpus with him. Back home creatures like him don’t exist, if anyone were to see the hybrid they’d call the police. They in turn would call the government, and they would call scientists and they’ll take his friend away and then-!

-And then he’d be without the friend he made, the one friend who hasn’t betrayed him in some way. Who has always been there by his side.

Life... wouldn’t be the same without Diego.

Ben brushed his eyes, wiping the tears that he felt rising up. Come on, pull yourself together! This isn’t the time to consider something that might not even happen. Going home is as uncertain as the dangers looming ahead, there’s no point in riling himself up like that.

As the day slowly progressed Ben moved on to his morning routine. Some food and water first. Breakfast of the day is cooked squirrel, crispy and pretty decent even with his inexperience of cooking over an open fire. He was lucky the first bits of meat he ate in this world didn’t end up giving him food poisoning, half-cooked and still raw in some spots.

After that a quick patrol of their camp to check some of the traps he’d set up. Trapping was something he is just as bad at but the creatures around here are rather predictable. A rat got caught under the rock he’d set-up with another one, rope attached to a makeshift pulley that gets triggered by a small stick attached to the scraps of meat he’d put down. Lunch at least is going to be interesting.

Nothing else in the other ones, although one did get triggered but nothing got caught. He grumbles at that.

By the time he’s back at camp Diego is licking off the last bits of the food the teen had left out for the hybrid to enjoy. Ben whistles and his friend is standing at attention.

“We’re moving out, bud.” He explained, even if his friend likely doesn’t understand what he’s saying. He simply enjoys having someone to talk to, ward of the feeling loneliness this place creates. “Gonna need you to be extra alert, we’re in dangerous territory now.”

He wrapped the sack on his bindle a little tighter, making sure the rat is secure along with the bottles, his lantern and a pocket containing some berries for an en-route snack.

“The Pale City is full of dangers.” He continued on, hoisting the arguably weighty bindle on his shoulder. He turned to face the hybrid, who hasn’t moved from his attend position. “Keep your eyes and ears peeled, Diego. Anything could be out to kill us. You got that? Guard mode.”

At the last part the Vulpus drew back and growled at the non-present threat. Ben chuckled at that. It had been a little surprising to see his friend change like that but it was far from unwelcome.

‘It pays off to have someone guarding your back.’ He thinks, remembering the man-sized cat from the day before yesterday. It had initially been going for the teen but Diego had jumped in and saved his life.

He’ll always be grateful for that.

With another whistle he draws the hybrid’s attention and they start moving, heading back to the tracks in order to have clear ground and not risk something jumping at them from the trees. The walk itself is short compared to the ones from before, their first obstacle of the day standing obviously in their way.

Fencing block their path onwards. The ones covering the tracks look to have hinges so they can be moved out of the way but a sturdy lock and chain and no key in sight means that isn’t going to happen. The top of the fence arches across the ground, preventing climbers from getting across as well. Ben hums as he observes the fence and he grins when he notices that further towards the divide between the yard and the forest overgrowth is covering the chain-link fence.

The growth has practically flattened the overhanging bit, giving an easy way across as long as you’re careful not to slip.

He climbs across with ease and watches, a bit impressed, as Diego follows along before jumping down to the ground. He wants to whistle to make sure the hybrid is aware of where he’s going but they’re no longer in the relative safety of the wilds.

This is civilized ground, meaning there are much more dangerous monsters lurking about.

The yard is massive, and clearly hasn’t been used in ages, growth sprouting from between the rails and the pebbles covering the ground. A large building at the right-side, most likely the section’s house, obscures some of the view. An overpass goes between the end of the large building and a tower that seems to serve as an overlook on the yard. The angles of the building are very askew, almost looming over the yard itself.

Trains of different shapes and sizes, some looking almost comically malformed or cartoon-ish for some odd reason, covered what tracks are located in the yard. They’re so tightly packed in some spots that getting through is impossible.

He keeps going, making sure Diego is following.

The trains blocking their path are slowly but surely forcing them closer to the section’s house, though, and that isn’t good. Ben grits his teeth as yet another pass between two trains proves a dead end because of crates lying on the ground, piled up high and definitely too risky to climb.

‘At this rate we’ll be forced to go inside the building just to keep going.’

Minutes later he curses his own thoughts for jinxing him.

The space between the large structure and a very industrial-looking train is blocked thanks to a crane designed for maintenance work. The concrete block the bend and twisted metal mechanism is positioned on is too tall for him to climb and there is nothing around to give him a boost.

To his right the building opens up into a large shed, stocked full with rotting materials that are normally used for repair work. Ben curses his luck before turning to face the large open space brimming with stuff.

At one end is a door, but it’s blocked by a pile of sleepers that have fallen over. The other end reveals a small office space and a hallway, and in the silence of the yard he can just barely catch an eerily familiar tune coming from the office.

‘Veronica. Oh no.’

There are Viewers in here?!

He quickly presses himself against the wall, closing his eyes for a moment and ranting a string of curses in his head. Shit, there are Viewers here. As long as the TV he can hear remains working there aren’t any dangers but if he accidentally manages to turn it off?

He’s done for.

He opens his eyes and sees Diego sitting right in front of him, ears down and stance worried. Ben forces himself to take a deep breath and push his nerves down. There’s a TV, but does that have to stand synonymous for Viewers? Not every TV has a Viewer, he knows that much.

He hopes he’s right.

They walk inside, Ben shushing the hybrid when his footfalls echo in the room. Diego seems to understand and takes slow, measured steps as they keep moving.

A few sturdy crates are stacked together underneath the window of the office and he climbs on one so he can look inside.

It’s messy and dusty, desks stacked tall with paperwork that probably will never get done. The door inside from the hallway is standing open and a wire runs through towards the other side of the room.

It plugs into the TV positioned on the only empty desk on the room, the wood buckling slightly under the weight of the set. The antenna’s are bend and the screen slightly cracked, but it still shows the repetitive show of Veronica, music and all.

And seated in front of the television set, face distorted into horrible wrinkles and vibrating with jerky spasms, is a Viewer.

‘Fuck.’

Ben looks away from the sight, mumbling another curse under his breath.

Great, his hopes are dashed. If there’s one Viewer in here there gotta be more around. The guy is dressed in overalls and boots so this one must have been a worker of the yard meant to deal with all the paperwork and the repairs.

The entire section’s house could be crawling with them and he wouldn’t know which one is more risky.

He climbs back down to sit on the ground for a moment, taking calming breaths to clear his mind. Diego whines softly and nudges his shoulder. The distraught boy looks up and manages a smile at the encouragement of his friend.

He rubs the hybrid on the nose and murmurs a thanks before getting back up, mind cleared.

He has a plan.

His feet are silent thanks to the fact he removed his shoes and put them in his bindle. At his side Diego is sneaking, body low to the ground and ears ramrod straight and listening for anything suspicious.

Now that they’re in the hall he can hear the sound of several TV sets playing different shows, their hypnotic affect keeping the Viewers in the building content. Even though most doors in the hall are closed a few were left open.

One reveals a Viewer sitting on a rusty old bed, staring at a TV sitting on the one across the room. Ben his entire body feels wound up as he passes, unseen by the distorted person.

Another room reveals something akin to a kitchen, although the place smells dank and there are flies hovering above piles of rotten food. Ben gags and almost throws up but manages to force his stomach to behave. That doesn’t stop Diego from giving a disgusted whine, sensitive nose wrinkling from the horrible smells. Ben smiles at the sight. ‘You too huh, bud?’

The last stretch of the hall reveals what he’d noticed from afar. Worked in the ceiling is a trapdoor, meaning that there is a ladder leading to the attic. It will most likely lead past the shed towards the next section of the building.

That is the general plan.

There’s just one problem.

‘How the hell am I supposed to reach that?’ Ben couldn’t argue that this part of the plan he hadn’t thought out yet. The trapdoor has a string that would be easily accessible for one of these people but for him it’s just too high to grab even when jumping. It’s hanging around a metal peg stuck in the wall.

He looks the wall over and notices that there’s a vent not far away from the peg. The metal frame hanging in front looks loose, so all he’d have to do is find his way through the ventilation and push it down. From there it’s a matter of taking a risky jump and grabbing the string and pulling it down with the help of gravity, opening the trapdoor and letting the ladder down for him to climb.

Nodding at the plan he starts with the first part.

Finding a vent he can reach.

He turns around and almost bumps into Diego. Ben looks at his friend and realizes that the hybrid won’t fit. The vent already looks cramped for him but his friend here? He could get stuck in a tight spot.

“Diego, stay.” He points at the ground. The Vulpus whines but the boy is resolute, shaking his head and pointing at the ground. The hybrid whines and he sighs, considering for a moment before gently dropping his bindle on the ground by his friend. “Guard this, bud. Okay?” He heads in the direction of an open door and looks back for a moment to make sure his friend isn’t following.

Diego whines softly from his spot but doesn’t move, bindle at his feet. Ben flashes a reassuring smile before heading into the first room.

It’s a closet of sorts, with clothes hanging from hangers on both sides. They’re all the same working outfit, overalls and white shirts, boots standing or lying underneath. He looks it through but doesn’t find a vent opening. He does, at the other hand, spot the ventilation shaft running along the ceiling in the back.

The second room is a bust as well, stacked beds for people to sleep in the only thing he finds. Looking underneath one he spots something scramble away into a gap in the wall, though. It looked pointy and small.

‘A Nome? They’re practically everywhere so it would make sense.’

With that in mind he heads on to the third room, the kitchen. The smell isn’t any better, going inside it actually gets worse! He pinches his nose and tries to avoid inhaling anything bad. A chair allows him to climb onto the counter and he scans the room for an open vent.

He spots one in the wall, right above stacks of dirty plates. Ben grimaces but the fact it’s completely open is too good to pass up. He heads along the counter, avoiding some of the objects lying around like jars filled with weird goop and stuff (is that a frog?) and being extra mindful of the block of knives, one sticking out rather dangerously.

The stack of plates is standing in the sink, stagnant water about halfway inside and smelling of rotten fruit and month-old socks. He groans as the smell infiltrates his nose, stomach protesting, but he starts climbing anyways.

The stack wobbles slightly as he goes higher, some plates smaller and messing up the stack’s balance. The moment he’s on the top one he takes a running leap and jumps, landing in the open shaft on his stomach. He scrambles inside and breathes a sigh of relieve before looking back at the stack. It sways slightly, plates shifting a bit before it settles down.

Good.

The shaft is narrow, he can hardly even stand up without hitting his head and sending a metal echo down the vents. He curses and crawls his way through. He doesn’t find any crosses or junctions, only pausing when he’s above a grate that reveals one of the locked rooms, the sound of a TV playing speaking for itself.

He keeps going and eventually arrives at a corner. He turns and sees the loose vent from before hanging at the end. Ben grins, the prospect of a successful plan making him giddy inside. It worked! It actually worked!

And he did in somewhat of a Little Nightmares style as well, using the environment to his advantage. Wow.

He chuckles at his own thoughts and keeps going until he’s there. He puts a hand against the grate and gives it a tentative push. It budges but doesn’t allow him through. Ben brings both hands against the grate and forces his entire weight against.

Cling... CLANG!

It falls off and drops down to the ground, loudly. Ben grimaces as he peaks out, spotting Diego eyeing the vent. The boy whistles to catch the hybrid’s attention. Diego looks up and spots his friend. He gives a bark but doesn’t move.

‘Good boy.’ Ben reminds himself to give the lug a larger serving for dinner as a reward once they’re out of here.

As he directs his attention to the string on the peg, Ben is unaware of the shadow that has appeared at the start of the hall, big and heavy form gazing at the child trespassing in his domain.

The boy breaths in and out, prepping himself to jump and grab the stick. If he fails this he’s bound to break a limb from the drop, if not his neck. With a final burst of courage he leaps out and reaches for the string. He manages to grab the stick at the end and pull down, the string unwinding on the peg from the momentum. The moment it’s no longer wrapped around the metal sticking in the wall the boy feels himself drop like a sack, gravity taking hold. His arms strain from the jolt when he comes to a stop, and for one second he’s worried his weight and the drop wasn’t enough to dislodge the trapdoor.

A creak of wood has him looking up to see it slowly budge before coming free with a clatter as the ladder slides out along with it. Ben comes to a halt once more once the trapdoor and ladder have reached a stop, and for a moment he simply swings along with the string as he absorbs what just happened. Looking down he finds he’s incredibly close to the ground and he lets go, this time more prepared for the landing.

“Whoa!” Ben lets out a breathless laugh as he stands up fully, adrenaline coursing through his veins from the thrill. He looks towards Diego, a quip ready on his tongue only to die out once he sees that his companion is more focused on something else, teeth pulled back in a snarl yet stance conveying the desire to flee. He follow where the hybrid is looking and suddenly his blood runs cold.

A figure, big and heavy and definitely not friendly is standing at the start of the hall. He can hear the form’s labored breathing. It is so big that it blocks the light filtering from inside, and the glow from the boy’s lantern reveals something metal glinting where one of the humanoid’s hands would be.

‘Oh, crap.’

For a moment it seems like time has stopped, Ben swears his heart skipped a beat before speeding up like a bullet train. He dashes towards Diego and whistles shrilly, grabbing his bindle before running towards the ladder with a slide on the turn.

The form roars, a human-like roar that is far too deep to be natural. It’s guttural, like an animal yet still distinctly human.

It sends violent shivers down his spine and urges the boy to keep running, Diego hot on his heels. He climbs the steps two at a time as he goes up, from the corner of his eye able to see the form waddle their way closer at an alarming speed.

The moment his head is above the floor of the attic he’s looking around for anything to use. His eyes flash to a sofa lying precariously on slanted planks and the moment his feet are on the floor he’s running towards it, scanning the object to see what’s needed to push it down. He finds a crate and uses the sharp tip on the end of his bindle to help him get up on top, mind only half-aware of what he’s doing.

Diego barks as the Vulpus arrives in the attic, quickly joining Ben’s side. The boy is pulling down on a plank that is stuck underneath the sofa, and it is barely moving. The hybrid reaches his side and jumps on top of the plank, his added weight dislodging it and the sofa.

It goes sliding down the ramp the larger planks make and it goes crashing into the wall, kicking up dust and splinters but also effectively blocking the ladder to the attic.

Down below the monster roars and screams, hitting the ladder.

Ben slowly falls to his knees and his mind blanks out for a second, pure adrenaline overflowing his system. The terror he’d felt was too much, too overwhelming. His first encounter with one of the true monsters of Little Nightmares.

He stays like that for an uncertain amount of time, his friend curling around the boy as if that can shield him from the fear.

That was too close.

The attic is dusty.

Not surprising, seeing as it hasn’t been used in years. Old furniture and antiques from trains and stations litter the space. In a few spots he finds thick bundles of cloth and he tries to avoid thinking on what they might contain.

Ben has his arms wrapped tight around himself, bindle being carried by Diego for now. He’s still a little shaken up from their encounter. The odds that monster can get up here are unknown, there could very well be a second way into the attic he doesn’t know about, but that thing most likely will!

It frightens him in a way he’s wholly unfamiliar with, a sense of dread even worse than the one you experience when you have a brush with death. These monsters won’t be likely to offer a swift demise, more prone to torture your mind and soul into oblivion before finishing you off slowly.

He shudders at the thought, imagining a thousand ways this creature could drag out his death into agonizing slowness. His chest feels constricted and he can’t quite hold back a few sobs whenever he pauses, letting the anxiety inside wash out for a moment before moving on.

His resolve is firm but his mind is having a hard time keeping up, still too deep into the moment.

Diego whines, ears flat on his head as he looked at his little friend. The smell of fear coming from the boy has never been so strong before and it hurts the hybrid to see his friend like this.

He nudges the teen, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts.

“W-what?” Ben looks up from his mindless stumbling, eyes flickering around before landing on the friend at his side. “Oh, hey boy.” His voice is hoarse and he clears it to try and get some more pep when he speaks. “Everything’s alright.”

He fails miserably, voice cracking in a way that reminds him of the time puberty hit him hard. It’s embarrassing in an almost comical way and makes him chuckle softly.

Now if only he could force out the echo of that roar in his head...

They stop for a moment and he leans back against a post supporting the roof. Diego sits down and extends the bindle still in his maw. Ben cracks a smile and takes it back with a silent thanks.

God, that really happened, didn’t it? He had to evade a monster that was out to kill him. One that resembled something humanoid.

He sighed and looked past the post to see how far they are from the other side. There still a ways away but his eyes focused more specifically on a part he hadn’t realized was there. Built into the roof is a wall big enough for a door leading outside. Through the glass the hazy light of the outside peeked inside, casting large patches of white-blue on the floor.

His eyes widened when a shadow appeared to block the light. The handle of the door went down.

He quickly hid behind the post. He looked at Diego and panic shot through him when he realized the hybrid is too big to hide here. He quickly waved his hands, not able to whistle or risk getting found. The Vulpus seemed to understand and rushed to hide, disappearing behind some crates that are open to reveal dozens of shoes sitting inside.

The moment the door opened he went still and plastered himself against the pole, praying to whatever deity is watching over him to make sure he isn’t found. The bindle is wrapped tight, blocking the light of his lantern from shining through beyond a small glow.

‘Oh god help me now.’

The door creaked as it opened, heavy footsteps coming inside. It closed with a clatter and the unknown creature let out a deep breath. It walked, the steps sounding like it’s hobbling.

It was slow as it walked, passing behind him and causing the poor boy to freeze, body coursing with adrenaline and skin going clammy.

It stopped. Metal hitting wood and the sound of something getting tightened, as if it’s doing something, filled the air.

Curiosity sparked in his fearful mind despite him trying to dampen any thought from forming. He wanted nothing more but to wait and see if it’ll ho away but the curiosity burned in his mind and he couldn’t stop it.

Ben carefully looked past the edge of the wooden pillar, ready to hide if it even looks in his general direction. His eyes widened as, in the light coming from the window of the door, he got his first sight of a true monster.

It was dressed in an old conductor’s uniform, a malformed version of the iconic train conductor’s hat perched on a far to thick head, the gleaming skin pulled taut at the end like a mask. The straps for a pair of goggles peaked from the side. One arm of the uniform is splattered and ripped, full with holes that reveal the grotesque burned skin underneath. When it looked to the side he could see the goggles covered under soot and some of the skin as well, and the mouth appeared to be permanently open. It’s teeth were yellowed with age and abuse, a few missing and all crooked and far too long to be natural.

The metal it’s working at resembles a prosthetic of sorts, twisted metal bend and shaped into the general appearance of a hand. It’s using a screwdriver to tighten a few of the screws holding the fingers together. The stump where the object would connect looks like it got charred and chopped up, a literal hole where the business end of the prosthetic would fit.

He quickly went back behind the pillar, stomach churning in pure revulsion. The creature resembles some kind of twisted conductor, overweight and scarred. The mask, something he knows is important in the world of LN, looked far too realistic to be made out of something like rubber.

It seems to finish with its task, and in the silence he can hear the gruesome way it puts the prosthetic back on, flesh squelching and slopping as if there’s still blood in the hole he saw. Something like bone clicking into place sends his stomach turning upside down.

And then it’s moving again, leaving. The door opens and closes and the shadow disappears into the outside.

Ben lets out a stuttering breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, sliding down and resting his head against the hard of the wood. He leaned his head on his knees and tried to stay focused, not let himself pass out or something. That had been too close once again and it’s killing him.

He allowed his stomach to settle as he rested, only mildly aware of Diego joining his side and lying down, eyes focused on his friend.

The hybrid’s presence helped keep him a little more focused, mind not really drifting and more floating outside himself for a bit as it slowly came back down from the surreal.

‘So, that’s the Train Conductor.’

The thought should have been funny, the name so silly yet fitting. But all it did at that moment was send shivers coursing through him as reality crashed back on his mind like a tidal wave.

If that thing catches him...

He’s fucked.

Chapter Text

The way the attic comes to an end is so abrupt Ben almost doesn’t notice he was walking right towards a dead end. Diego grabbing his collar and pulling him to a stop was all that stopped him from walking face-first into the old wood of the building.

He’d been distracted the rest of the walk through the dusty storage space, mind still not fully over the fact he had two close encounters now with the Conductor. Seeing that monster in all it’s human-like yet revolting glory had been a shell-shocker to his head.

He didn’t realize the scale or the severity, the feeling it gives you, one of dread in a way that was far too close to home.

Because that thing could have once been a person, a human being with friends and a family. One who enjoyed his job and might have had children.

And if you aren’t careful you could turn into a monster like that. Into one of them.

(He could name one example. A number is all it takes.)

It brings a whole new level of reality to this whole situation, something that just crushes any hope you have. He felt numb in a way that’s frightening and he can’t seem to find a way to break this spell it cast over him.

A smile suddenly feels so hard to achieve.

He tries not to focus too much on that, instead scanning the floor. He finds the trapdoor buried under piles of shoes and starts tossing them away, Diego helping by pushing the box they’d fallen out back upright.

Once clear he grabs a hold of the ladder attached to the sliding mechanism and jumps. With every jump the wood creaks and jolts a little further down.

The fourth jump has it falling open, ladder rolling down and pushing his stomach up for a second before it stops to a halt against the floor. He shakes his head and swallows down the feeling of his breakfast rising up from the temporary vertigo.

Diego clambers down the ladder and joins him on the ground. He takes out the lantern from his bindle, the room they’re in extremely dark.

They’re in a storage room (why so much storage?) and there’s a door at the other side. He walks up to it to see if he can open it, pushing against the old wood.

No such luck, there’s a lock keeping the door shut. He goes through the storage room to see if there’s something to pry it open lying around but all he finds are boxes after boxes full with cans of food.

Useful, but not right this instant.

He keeps looking and pauses when he finds a hole in the wall and light at the other side. Peering deeper inside he sees something, another room. The hole is big enough for him if he crawls on the ground.

Ben turns around and has Diego stay on watch. The Vulpus complies after some prodding and then he’s on the ground with lantern at his side illuminating the makeshift tunnel.

Whatever made this made it for a purpose, perhaps to escape the room? The tunnel has been dug out in the ground underneath the wooden floor of another room. At the start it dips down towards this level, at the end going back up to allow access to the room at the other side.

When he peers through the hole to see where he’s arrived it takes a moment for him to blink against the light. This room is properly illuminated.

And above all, empty.

At least, empty of any threats. For the rest it appears somewhat lived in. A large raincoat is draped across a chair, the chair sitting in front of a desk with papers lying a little over the edge and an unknown book.

The hole exits underneath a bed, rusty metal frame supporting a mattress that seems to be in somewhat decent condition. A nightstand that’s weirdly tall even in here holds a lamp, the source of light in the room.

A door at the opposite side of the room is the way out but the handle is too high and there’s no way to get closer.

Ben has a bit of an idea who might be living here, and that has him scanning the room a second time to spot something glinting on the nightstand. He looks it over and starts using the space between the different shelves to climb up.

Once up he finds that the glint is a key. There are, in fact, several keys lying on the nightstand.

‘And one of them is for the lock in the storage room!’

He grins at that and grabs one before climbing back down. Taking the tunnel to the room he pops back out in the storage shed. He can’t reach the lock by himself but after stacking some cans on top of each other he manages to reach it.

The first key is a bust, too big to fit.

He goes back and grabs another key, tossing the one he’d tried before on a pot standing next to the lamp.

The second key is too small. Not surprising, it didn’t seem right but he wants to try every last one to see which one works. You never know.

Still, he uses the first two to rule out a few more. That leaves him with three keys to try. He grabs one that looks very ornate and climbs back down and into the tunnel.

Halfway into the tunnel, though, he hears something. He pauses to listen closer.

Something is walking above him.

He gulps, glad that there’s a sturdy wooden floor separating him from whatever is above him. He crawls on and pops back into the storage room.

Third key is a bust as well, it fits but doesn’t go in all the way. He grumbles and heads back.

The fourth key looks a little rusty and the key-shape is strangely complex. Ben climbs back down but the moment he’s crawling inside the hole he hears something that has him rushing into the tunnel.

The door opening.

From inside the tunnel he can hear something hobble in the room. Something inside him knows that only one thing in this place hobbles but he doesn’t want to admit to it, doesn’t want to think back on the sight that greeted him in the attic.

That human-like face and shape, the intelligent action, so different from the feral behaviour of the other creatures he’s seen so far.

He pushes the thoughts away and heads towards the storage room.

Diego by this point has grown tired of seeing him do the same thing and is lying down on the floor, the bindle Ben left with him secure between his paws. The boy cracks a small grin at the sight, far too adorable to not raise his mood.

He tries the key.

‘Dang it!’

Doesn’t work. It would fit but the complex key-shape prevents it from actually going inside.

So the fifth key should be the right one.

In the room that’s likely now occupied.

Great.

He sighs, head banging against the wooden door. A part of him wants to lie down and take a rest, let himself have a moment of respite. Yet he knows that as long as the key allowing access inside this room is out there there’s a possibility a monster (the Conductor) will use it to get inside and find the two of them.

And then they’d be cornered. He could escape through the hole but the room at the other side is a dead end as well, not even mentioning the fact that Diego wouldn’t fit and so likely would be the first to go.

And he won’t allow it. He won’t allow that to happen.

Grumbling about his own stupid luck and whatever else there’s to blame for his situation he gets back down and enters the tunnel.

The moment he’s under the bed he knows he’ll have to be quiet and sneaky.

Two booted feet stand in the room, shuffling a little as the being moved around doing, well, something.

Metal scraping over wood has his breath hitching in his throat and he goes rigid still.

...

It doesn’t know he’s here!

Ben slacks a small breath of relief, trying to stay quiet and not draw attention. He shuffles over the floor and reaches the end of the bed where the nightstand is located. Peeking from between the frame of the bed he sees the Conductor holding some papers in it’s hand.

It puts them down on the table and grabs the chair, moving it a little before sitting down. The wood creaks under the weight but it’s made to be sturdy and endure heavy use. With it’s meaty hand it reaches out to grab the book lying on the desk, opening it on a page and apparently being content to read.

‘It reads?’ He hadn’t even considered the possibility that there are creatures out here that do things for their own leisure that actually are, well, reasonably normal.

Still, this is his chance! It has its back to him. As long as it stay focused on reading he can go out and grab the key he needs.

He crawls out and slowly climbs up the shelves, heart beating in his ears all the while. One misstep and he’s done for, one mistake and he’s dead!

‘Come on, come on.’

He finds the key and quickly grabs it, depositing the one he’d tried before. He’s trying to be fast yet quiet, but the moment he turns around to start climbing down his hand reaches out too far and-

Cling.

-sends a key sliding against another. In the relative quiet of the room he hears the deep, ragged breathing of the Conductor stutter. He starts climbing down fast, jumping down the moment he’s in the clear and rushing down the bed.

He can’t hold in a scream of fright when a metallic hand reaches down, scraping over the floor and trying to find whatever had disappeared underneath the bed frame. Before it can grab him he’s inside the tunnel and hastily crawling to the storage room.

He couldn’t go any faster even if he tried.

Ben took a moment to simply breathe and relax from that scare in the Conductor’s room before he moves to unlock the door. He’s relieved beyond believe when the key fits and turns, door clicking to prove it’s unlocked.

He jumps from the pile of cans to grab the handle, putting enough force to get it all the way down. The door swings open slightly and he drops down to peek outside.

They’re at the back of the building, piles of rails and sleepers and a few skeleton train cars all that’s in this part of the Yard.

He pushes the door further open so they can go outside. He spots something at his left and sees a staircase leading up to the overhang connecting the section’s house and the mysterious tower. At the top is an open door leading inside the bridged area.

He looks back to make sure Diego’s following now that the door is open. Thinking fast he whispers his friend’s name. The hybrid comes outside at his whispered call and Ben grins.

Liking a name is one thing for a domesticated animal, to obey to said name and respond to it is something completely different. It’s a sign of trust, of understanding. To know his friend trusts him like that is a relieve.

His relieve is short-lived, though, because the moment he starts looking for a way out of the Yard the sound of feet crunching on rock has them both turned to the corner of the building, the hulking form of the Conductor appearing.

‘What?! I thought it was going to stay in its room!’

Apparently not.

Diego lowered in a threatening stance, growling deep. Ben his entire body froze up before every alarm started going off. His eyes flashed to his surroundings, looking for an escape, any way to run and get the hell out of here!

And that’s when he saw the wrench, being held tight by the Conductor.

He gulped.

The Train Conductor roared, charging forwards at a speed that should’ve been impossible with the way it hobbles!

They ran, Diego whimpering when the hybrid realizes that there’s no way to win a fight like that. As the two take off there’s only one way to go, the other one requiring a detour that at this very moment could cost them their lives.

Ben whistled once, shrill and desperate, pointing in the direction of the stairs. Diego barked and sped up, running up the stairs with only a little bit of scampering because the wood is slick in some spots.

The moment he’s on the stairs Ben is leaping up the steps, quickly getting out of the way of the Conductor. The hulking monster miscalculated the distance between it and the stairs and stumbles, legs impacting the bottom steps and sending it slightly sprawling over the staircase. Ben took advantage of that to speed up.

Wrong move.

He slipped over a slick patch and fell onto the steps, yelping from the impact. The air had been kicked out of him a fair bit and he struggled to get up. Diego is already at the top, barking incessantly.

When he feels the looming behind him he puts all he has into getting up, just barely avoiding the metal hand of the Conductor slamming down on the spot he’d been. The wood cracks and splinters under the slam.

The moment he’s with his friend they’re running inside. Ben turns to see if the door can close and curses profusely when he sees that it’s chained to the wall.

The Conductor’s head appeared above the stairs and he keeps on running.

The hall crossing between the section’s house and the mysterious tower is littered with cardboard boxes, some empty and other filled to the brim with bells of all things. Diego jumps into one that’s leaning over the edge and it comes falling down, gilded bells falling down and onto the ground in a cacophony of ringing. Ben flinches slightly from the noise but keeps going.

The door ahead is open, chained as well. He throws his luck out the metaphorical window.

The Conductor is still hot on their heels, growling and roaring as he navigates the minefield of bells.

Ben and Diego stop when they enter the tower, forced to because the center is open, only the edges having a floor. There’s a staircase leading up and down on either side respectively. The railing is big and he could have easily fallen through if he hadn’t noticed.

His eyes look between the two stairs and then down, expecting a ground floor. All that greets him looking down is a dark, empty abyss. Where the base of the tower ends ragged rock continues down.

Diego bark and leaps out of the way, prompting Ben to do the same albeit in the opposite direction. Just in time because the wrench of the Conductor slams into the wood between them. A yelp escapes the boy but gets cut off when he has to avoid another attempt of the psycho creature, only separating him further from his companion.

The Conductor focuses on the teen, ignoring the hybrid. Ben is forced to run up the stairs leading to the top of the tower, Conductor so close the boy has to dodge swipes and getting crushed under the power of the wrench serving as a weapon.

When he’s stumbling upstairs, able to get same space between him and the Conductor, he finds that it was all a trap.

The windows are all too high for him to reach, the platform ends where the stairs cut through them and there’s no way higher. When he looks to the center he does find out the purpose of the tower.

It’s a bell tower, a massive cast-iron bell hanging in the center with a rope attached to a peg in the wall.

Ben looks back at the stairs where the hulking monster is hobbling up, much slower as if already aware of the inevitable. He looks down the railing to the platform below.

He can’t make the jump, it’s too far down.

He’s stuck!

‘No, no, no! This can’t be how it ends!’

He looks back at the Conductor approaching, mouth gaping yet somehow he swears there’s a sadistic grin hidden in there. It’s fingers flex on the wrench and the teen gulps, backing up until his back is pressed against the brick wall. It’s rough against him through his shirt, soaked slightly in his own sweat. His body is like ice, so cold and frozen on the spot.

There’s no where to go. This is it.

‘It can’t be, I still had so much left to do. A life to live, friends to make, finding a family to call my own!’

Yet here he is, at the end of the line.

Expecting the final swipe of a wrench Ben is unprepared for the monster to instead reach out and grab hold of him with it’s metal hand, prosthetic harsh around him and cutting slightly into his sides. The edges are sharp and the way it seems to almost crush him forces a lot of air out of his lungs.

He’s lifted up, bindle falling from his hands as vertigo sends him reeling when the Conductor turns around, heading in the direction of the railing and-

-and he’s going to drop him, drop him down the endless abyss!

He struggles against the iron grip, quite literally. His hands can’t get a grip anywhere without getting some cuts and his sides are really starting to feel painful, something is leaking and dripping down his side and a part of him knows it’s his own blood, seeping from the wounds the metal have made yet his mind doesn’t register anything past the pure, primal fear coursing through his veins.

‘This can’t be how it ends!’

A bark slices through the air, splitting the moment apart and causing both to turn their head and look towards the source. Diego appears from the stairs, growling so fiercely that for a moment the hybrid looked like a smaller version of The Beast, muzzle pulled back and teeth gleaming in the light. He’s sprinting towards the Conductor and the moment Ben realizes what his friend is planning to do his stomach soars upwards.

Yet it plummets when, as Diego jumps up and clamps his teeth in the charred arm of the Conductor, the hand gripping him lets go.

And there’s no ground under him to catch his fall.

The final sound heard by both, one that would’ve send chills through any normal human being, is the quickly fading scream of the teenage boy as he goes plummeting down.

And down.

And down.

Into the darkness below.

‘I didn’t intend to make you suffer.’

Ɐuმԍʁ ʍᴉɼɼ pԍ λonʁ ϝooɼ·

‘I didn’t want for you to fight for your life.’

ʁɑმԍ ʍᴉɼɼ pԍ λonʁ ʍԍɑbou·

‘Now I have no other choice...’

Mʁɑϝμ ᴉƨ ϝμԍ ƨᴉu oɻ boʍԍʁ·

‘Forgive me, there is little else to be done.’

Ɐʍɑĸԍuˋ cμᴉɼqˋ ɑuq ʁᴉƨԍ nb ϝμʁonმμ ϝμԍ pɼooq·

‘Good luck. Farewell. I’m sorry.’

...

They-them-he awakens with a gasp of breath, as if he hadn’t had air for years. It-what-he stays motionless, mind a jumbled mess of thoughts of which half don’t even make sense. He, who, his name is... his name is Ben.

His memories fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle from there out and he closes his eyes for a moment as thousands-hundreds-too many thoughts whizz past him like a locomotive without breaks.

He groans, shaking his head to clear the miasma-cobwebs-confusion in his brain. Conflicting thoughts are slowly filtered away and sealed as if they are poison and his mind doesn’t fully understand what’s going on.

His last memory is of falling, falling until darkness claimed his soul and pulled him under. Then... pressure, something pushing down on his chest, constricting his breathing. His body is sore in places he didn’t even realize he could get sore.

His hands are lying in something wet. It’s dark and he can’t quite see past his own nose, surroundings so black and empty like he’s in a void.

And then he blinks and the black recedes slightly, revealing what looks like the bottom of some ancient well. A bucket, old and rotten and falling to pieces, lies in a corner with a vodka bottle inside. Some other bits of trash lie in the other corners as well, some moss the only sign of life besides him.

How... How did he survive that?

He moved to get up and his hands feel like they’re inside something viscous, movement slow in the thick fluid. He looks down to see what the heck they’re lying in.

But it isn’t just his hands, he’s sitting in the liquid and from this up-close it looks like...

Blood.

He startles up, stomach taking a few horrible turnarounds on the way up. He groans and lifts his hands to reveal them soaked in the life-giving liquid. He shakes them, as if that could clear the substance away. It only sends some splatters on the front of his shirt.

The puddle he’s been lying in isn’t deep or massive, just about his size and shape...

His size and shape...

‘Darkness, engulfing, a light at a distant tunnel. Claws like static pulling him down, down, down into the nothing-’

Ben gasps and stumbles, mind bombarded with flashes of memories that are hazy yet as clear as glass.

‘A voice, chanting, words that made no sense yet were encompassing. Meanings hidden in the dark-’

He groans hoarsely, breathing growing heavier as the force of the visions left him paralyzed. His body is trembling and somewhere in his mind he’s aware of his hand holding his forehead. He’s going to look like a mess.

Yet right now he wasn’t even of sound mind to care.

‘Pulsing darkness, red flowing inwards. A force so strong boiling up from within-’

His teeth gritted together like stone and his tongue feels like sandpaper in his mouth.

‘It forces itself up, up and up and up and then it appears-’

They-them-he feels light yet heavy, floating yet falling. Something inside him feels like it’s ready to snap.

‘Rage eternal, anger more profound than words. Wrath of cosmic scales pushed up and flowed over.’

When he opened his eyes he realized that he’d missed a detail sitting down here with him. In the darkness of the abyss he hardly hadn’t noticed.

A single TV, screen shattered to pieces yet the electronics inside still sparked with remnant power. The dials were covered in bloody hand-prints.

Looking down at the glass shard his reflection stared back at him. Black hair disheveled and ragged at the edges as if ruffled a thousand times over. Blood from where his hand had pressed to his face still covered the skin yet revulsion is farthest from his mind. Brown eyes like wood, cozy and soft should be staring back yet at that very moment all he saw was a red haze pulsing like water where his eyes are located.

And all his mind could comprehend at that very moment is Rage.

The Conductor tried to kill me, killed me in cold blood. Diego is up there, alone and in danger! He needs help! I have to do something!

His face settled in a glare so fierce, so dangerously close to that of a monster that animals would run. Yet in his current state of mind Ben found he didn’t care one shit.

He looked up and around and spots the rope connected to the old bucket. It goes up a long distance.

Determination and that same, unfathomable sense of rage pushes him to grab hold and start climbing.

Somewhere inside him, a coil was thrumming with energy, static charge crackling off the cord like it’s electric. Energy he never had before had him climbing faster and faster, hands wrapped around the rope so tight his nails dug in his skin and left red imprints behind.

He’d hit the side of the hole sometimes because of the rope swinging from the effort he’s putting into it, but Ben simply bit his lip and moved on, energy unlike anything he’d ever felt before humming under his skin and leaving him vibrating with power, with strength.

It was addictive.

He reaches the wooden post where the rope is wrapped around tightly and climbed on top. Looking up he sees the base of the tower. Now that he’s closer he can hear something else as well.

Whimpering.

‘Diego.’

His lips pulled back in a snarl and he grabbed hold of some rocks sticking out of the wall. His skin is getting scratched and roughed up but he doesn’t care. He grabs hold of the small lip of rock before the brick of the tower starts and he hauls himself up. There’s a platform, half-broken and a bit further away.

He jumps and grabs the broken wood, splinters digging into his skin but he bites through it and scrambles onto the old floor.

The stair leading to the next floor is in front of him. He takes the steps two at a time but stops halfway when he finds a metal rod stuck between them. He grabs it and pulls it out with a single move, the rod is bigger than him but the weight means nothing to him.

He keeps going, the whimpers getting louder along with ragged breathing. A new pulse of rage thrums through him and something inside his mind almost felt giddy at the thought of revenge.

When he’s on the next floor he spots Diego, hidden behind some boxes and whimpering, muzzle slightly scratched up and a leg being held off the ground. The Conductor is trying to move the boxes but the bells inside are heavy and it’s slow going.

The hand holding the rod goes tighter and before he even thinks about it a roar escapes his throat.

Those goggled eyes turn to focus on him and Ben feels satisfaction at the sight of seeing the monster startle, disbelieve hidden behind those sooty goggles. He marches forwards with purpose, feet digging so hard into the wood it creaks from the force.

He swings his rod and it’s met with the wrench that had been so close to crushing him. It looks like nothing now, just a flimsy weapon with no aim. He twists his hand and the rod is freed before getting thrust upwards, sharp tip striking flesh at the edge and sending the Conductor reeling back, startled.

He pulls back and swings again with a vicious roar, avoiding having another stalemate with the wrench and instead striking the arm that isn’t charred. The tool-turned weapon goes clattering to the floor.

He looks up from underneath his short bangs, hazed eyes conveying pure rage, unfiltered and only getting stronger.

The Conductor stumbles backwards and hits the wall, wounded arm clutched to his chest and bleeding. Something behind those goggles suddenly turned fearful

Ben grins, all teeth and spite, weapon slightly stained with red.

He charges forwards and leaps unlike anything before, weapon raised and aimed. The Conductor tries to dodge but the unfamiliar feeling of fear has the creature pinned.

The metal rod sinks deep into the creature’s chest, piercing uniform and vital organs and spraying blood in pumping splutters, coating the floor and everything else around in dark red. Ben huffs through clenched teeth, wicked grin twisted just like the rod and he turns his hands, only sinking it deeper into the dying creature. His feet press into the fat and flesh underneath, feeling the stuttering breath start to fade.

He feels powerful, he feels invincible, he feels like he could take on the world!

He-!

-he hears a whimper.

Hazy eyes turn away from the bloody carnage, spotting the source of the sound. Through rage-filled mind Ben barely manages to recognize the form of his friend.

Diego is still hiding behind the boxes, whimpering. But the hybrid’s eyes aren’t focused on the dead figure.

They’re focused on him.

His hands slowly let go of the rod and he drops down, arms falling limply to his side as the haze covering his eyes fades. They reveal horrified brown, the muddled thoughts of anger and rage falling away to reveal the true severity of what just happened.

Ben slowly looks to his hands, coated in layers of blood. His clothes are splattered and soaked in some spots and cuts riddle the palms of his hands, a dull echo of when they got injured pulsing in his nerves. Behind him the mass of dead flesh falls down with a thud.

His knees buckle out from underneath him, the feeling of sinking, sinking deeper into weightlessness slowly filling his thoughts.

‘I... I... What have I done?’

He’d killed in cold blood, murdered a creature. Justified or not that should never have been his first choice, his first course of action! He should have escaped, should have distracted the Conductor and helped Diego as they made a run for it.

But instead... Instead he killed that creature and he enjoyed it. He shuts his eyes and tries to push back the vicious thought, the feeling of being unstoppable just too much for him to bear right now.

That wasn’t him, that couldn’t possible have been him!

Yet the evidence slowly seeping through the gaps in the wooden floor speaks of a whole other story.

‘What have I done?’

The fence surrounding the yard has a hole leading into The Wilderness.

Be,n is standing before the opening, numb to the bone and still stained with the evidence of his crime. His eyes are lifeless, a feeling of despair ruling over his thoughts.

‘Monsters don’t deserve happy endings. Monsters deserve to die.’

So what about him? What about the monster inside him?

Diego slowly approached his friend, a soft whine escaping the Vulpus Canine. Ben slowly turned his head, eyes starting to brim with tears.

“I’m a monster.” His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. Diego cocked his head as if he didn’t understand. “I did that, I... I killed that thing. I... I never took a life, never intended to.”

His eyes drift towards the bell tower, where a single fresh corpse is left to rot.

He looked down at the bindle in his hand. He had just enough mind to grab it before they left the scene of the murder.

His murder. The one he did with his two hands.

Tears slowly fall down his cheeks and Diego whines, muzzle reaching out to nudge the boy. Ben startles from the act and pulls back like he was burned. The hybrid whimpers softly, confused.

“I... I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve any of this.” Ben his face contorts and twists in something ruled with anger yet overcome by guilt, heart aching in a way that he can feel in his soul. “I don’t deserve it. I’m a monster, monster’s deserve to die!”

His breath hitches as tears continue to flow.

“I deserve to die.”

Diego whines once, loud, pressing his muzzle and almost his entire body around the boy. Ben is so startled from the reaction that he drops his bindle, wood clattering to the ground. The lantern inside already was cracked from the first drop, a part in him that’s small and still aware hopes it isn’t broken now.

“Why?” He managed to choke out the question, desperation seeking for an answer, a justification for something. His actions, his feelings, the situation in general? “Why? Diego, why?”

The hybrid can’t answer, doesn’t have the words or the right intelligence to give a proper answer. All the Vulpus is able to do is reach out and lick away the blood covering his friend’s face, action so tender and soft that the tears only start flowing harder.

Once his face is a lot cleaner Ben buries it in his friend’s fur, the softness like dew feathers a reprieve from his own self-destructive thoughts. Surrounded by a companion who, even after seeing the monster he became -can become- stayed loyal is enough to have the boy break down and start sobbing.

His shirt is soaked in sweat and blood, his trousers are dirty and his shoes are filthy. His heart is in a million pieces but with every soft lick to the back of his head and the beating of his friend’s tender heart some of them are being glued back together.

And he isn’t fine. A part of him is willing to acknowledge that he is far from fine. And it’ll take along time for him to come anywhere closer.

Will he ever be the same again? No, probably not. He died and somehow got revived and now he has these strange powers and his mind is tainted, tainted with a darkness he never asked for. Something tells him he knows who did it, even though he is far from certain and still skeptical on the reasoning.

But in that very moment all he wanted to do was take a bath, dunk himself in the water of a river and clean his clothes before moving on. He knows there’s something waiting in te forest ahead. An adventure to follow, monsters to fight.

And two lost souls to meet.

Chapter Text

It’s the only working TV in the entire forest.

It shouldn’t be working, every other one he’s seen so far is either non-functional because they have no power or because they’re broken, but this one is still working against all odds.

There’s no wire, the age of the material itself should have been enough for it to stop ages ago but for some unknown reason this one, specific TV set stubbornly keeps on going, screen nothing but white noise.

Ben huffed out a breath, having given up to find some of the logic behind this world a few days ago. Now all that he’s really going to do is mentally mark the location and make sure that he doesn’t stray too far.

The fact it’s working, the only TV in this small clearing, is the only hint he has as to when he is in the timeline of the game.

Before the events are even set to begin.

Surroundings memorized the best he can he starts heading back to where Diego is sitting under the shade of a tall bush, leisurely relaxing. A part of him wants to lie down and join the hybrid in a nap but the much louder side urges him to stay aware, stay focused.

They’ve been in the woods for more than three days now.

In that time he’s already noted where the house of The Hunter is located, spoiled at least a few dozen traps and found countless broken TV’s, of which a large amount come from a massive pile he’d located in a small valley of sorts. Beyond that he found crumbling facades, either overgrown or lying faded on the ground, one even had some trees growing through the empty windows. He swore he saw Nomes skittering around but they seemed hesitant to make friends with him.

He doesn’t blame them. Ever since the... the Yard, he feels different, like there’s something inside him that wouldn’t hesitate to kill anything in sight without reason.

It’s hard, sometimes, to find the difference. To spot the line between Ben and this twisted, enraged ball of pure rage and contempt. Sometimes he can’t find it at all and those moments are spent clawing at the bark of trees as every shred of his form tries to get rid of the charged energy surging through him. It’s like the power of his emotions fuels the energy and at the end he’s always mentally exhausted.

His nails broke the first time and his hands had been a bloodied, splintered mess yet after some clean-up and wrapping the wounds in cloth it healed in a matter of hours, leaving his skin slightly scarred but perfectly fine. The nails grew back in a day.

Diego never strays far when the poor boy has these episodes, staying close yet out of his line of sight. A deep part of Ben feels content in those moments, glad to still have a friend even when his mind is a muddled mess of negative emotions. Another part, too big and too hurt right now to make sense, feels nothing but guilt at the knowledge that his only friend has to stay out of sight to avoid becoming a target.

The poor Vulpus hasn’t been having easy either, having to heal from injuries The Conductor inflicted. He still can’t run so well on his left paw but it’s getting better.

Ben knows he’s having it difficult right now,dealing with these foreign feelings and the sensation of not being in control, but that won’t stop the senseless feelings in his heart from existing. Acknowledging the issue is one part, dealing with it is a whole other pie.

Huh, he could go for a pie right about now. Comfort food is something he’s been craving as of late but he has to live with rats and the occasional squirrel.

(He almost killed a bird once, the poor thing injured and helpless. Diego had pulled him away and kept Ben at camp the rest of the day, the hybrid protecting the boy from himself.)

He grabbed in his pocket and pulled out some berries he’d picked yesterday, putting a few in his mouth before biting down. They’re a little bitter, the season for berries really has passed by now, but right now he cares little for taste, as long as it’s edible food.

The sun is slowly disappearing into the horizon, the day is coming to a close.

Ben whistles when he passes Diego. A single ear rises up at the noise and then the hybrid is lazily waking up, yawning to reveal sharp teeth that have seen some use lately. The sight of the Vulpus stretching makes Ben chuckle slightly, mouth twitching at the corner. A real smile is still hard to achieve but any positive emotion is welcome.

Their camp is small, just a little hole under a big tree with a small campfire inside. Diego doesn’t fit inside but the hybrid isn’t opposed to sleeping outside, acting as guard over his friend. Although at this point Ben doubts he’s completely helpless, he appreciates it nonetheless.

He bends down and crawls inside, sitting down and putting some extra wood he’d gathered on the way in the crackling fire. It stirs and grows with the added fuel, the warmth nice in the cool of late evening/early night.

Warming himself slightly to the fire he grabs the meat he’d cooked prior to heading out. It’s still a little warm but isn’t overly hot. The edges are slightly charred and he ignores how it resembles-

He bites down a little harder than needed and chews. It tastes good for something scavenged from a raccoon caught in one of The Hunter’s traps. A much better fate than what the crazed mass-murdered would’ve done to the poor creature.

He takes another bite and rips it off. He isn’t sure if it’s been the recent change of diet but his teeth have gotten a little sharper, especially at the edges.

A whine draws his attention to a face looking inside and he remembers. Ben offers his friend an apologetic look as he grabs the raw pieces he left out and tosses them at the hybrid. Diego catches the slab of scrap meat in his jaws and happily munches on his own dinner.

In the light of the fire and with the moon rising outside they finish dinner and prepare to sleep.

Tomorrow is a new day.

An hour after midnight does not count as ‘tomorrow’!

Ben grumbles as his sleep-addled mind tries to focus on the noise that woke him from a dreamless slumber. He looks up over the smoldering embers of the campfire to glare outside where barking is filtering through the opening.

‘Diego, what’s so important you have to wake me up?’ He complains without really thinking, blinking his eyes tiredly. Just as he’s set to go back to sleep he startles upwards, mind finally comprehending after the slow start. ‘Wait!’

He climbs outside to find Diego pacing the entrance of their camp, barking when he passes it. The moment the hybrid spots his friend he rushes over, whining as he circles the boy.

“Diego, what’s wrong boy?” He asks in a whisper, concerned crease on his face. The hybrid whines, looking in a certain direction further in the woods. Ben pats the Vulpus reassuringly and follows the direction his friend is looking in, concerned yet confused.

The latter lifts when a shot echoes through the tall trees, scared bird-call following after.

His hand clenches at his side, lump in his throat. It isn’t unusual that The Hunter would go out at night and try to catch something, but that were shotgun shots. There’s little out at night that should warrant the need.

Little aside of-

‘SIX!’

The memory of the prequel comics to LN2 flashes in his head, the one that revealed how Six ended up in the clutches of The Hunter playing out almost like a short movie before his eyes.

He rushes inside their camp to grab his stuff and pack his bindle, everything put together in a matter of moments and then he’s back outside, urging Diego to find the source. The hybrid complies without any whining, the determination of his friend settling down his own anxiety.

They’re running through the woods in the direction where gunshots occasionally ring out, echoing down the woods before fading into the silence of night. It’s cold and the wind bites in his skin through his thin clothes but Ben doesn’t stop, doesn’t tire.

He’s bound to feel the aftermath in the morning, though.

(He did the first morning after it.)

When they arrive at a small clearing there aren’t anymore shots to follow. Ben looks around, the full moon casting a powerful glow that serves as a good way to see right now.

He spots the figure of The Hunter, a figure he’s seen from afar enough times to recognize it, walking away with something squirming clutched in his hand. Ben takes a step forwards-

-and shakes his head, discarding the thoughtless act with force. Going after them now is foolish, he can’t fight The Hunter in his own current state! Not to mention the dangers of a fight at night, the source of light as dubious as the chances of success.

Something snaps behind him and he’s turned around in a flash, Diego at his side and growling at the source. There’s nothing to suggest anything had been there but Ben knows better. There are many places to hide in a forest, and he has a good idea who is out there.

They keep looking at the spot near a tree. After a bit of looking Ben spots the stick that had snapped and he follows it up to find a thick and long branch reaching out, the moon almost framed by the bark and leaves.

He looks back down and his eyes widen when he spots something brown, a different brown than the tree’s, sticking out slightly from behind it.

He grins and relaxes slightly, putting a hand on his friend’s neck and rubbing calmly. Diego calms a little, growl less threatening and more acknowledging.

Something peers out and hides away so quickly he almost didn’t catch it. His grin widens slightly, a chuckle brewing in his throat.

“Come on out.” His voice is soft, not a whisper but not loud. It carries through the air to the figure hidden behind the tree. “We aren’t going to hurt you.”

A paper bag peeks out from behind the tree. At the sight Ben can’t hold back a small chuckle. At the sound the figure leans a little away, obviously very distrustful.

Ben finds he can’t blame the kid, there’s a lot out there that you can’t trust.

Minutes pass slowly, the figure slowly appearing from his hiding spot. Once Diego spots the little boy his growl stops all together, a small whine escaping that prompts Ben to scratch the hybrid behind the ear to reassure him. The teen whispers small encouragements, not moving an inch and staying as non-threatening as possible.

The small smile on his face feels like lead but he keeps it up, focusing on the good side and keeping the bad out of his head (for now).

Finally, finally, the little boy is out of his hiding, shoulders hunched and body tight as a coil. It doesn’t take a social expert to know that he feels utterly out of his element, and Ben his already badly-mended heart cracks a little. He’s met kids this age, volunteered with helping the lower grades keep an eye on the playgrounds. Every one of those children had been full of life, full of energy and trusting of those older than them.

The picture of a boy, not older than ten he’s sure, hunched together like a skittish animal, this close to running if you just move in a wrong way, and distrustful of someone who is only half a decade older than him, is so wrong.

The anger bubbles up but doesn’t make it through, fizzling out in the face of his determination to gain the boy’s trust. To be a light in the dark, no matter his own issues.

He slowly lowers himself to his haunches, pausing when the boy flinches away to wait for him to relax a little before he keeps going. Once he’s on eye-level he looks into the boy’s eyes (or the eye-holes in the paper bag in this case) and offers an as reassuring smile as he can manage without looking false. It isn’t much, there’s little else he can do, but it has to be enough.

The boy slowly walks closer until there’s only half a meter between them. His shoulders are tight together and he’s wringing his hands but his feet aren’t set to run and Ben takes it as for what it is.

“Hey.” The boy startles slightly, apparently not having expected the teenager before him to speak up. Ben keeps his voice gentle and small, mindful of the dangers that are still out there in the child’s eyes. “You seem lost.”

He almost doesn’t notice that the boy looks over his head at the hulking form of Diego. Ben his smile gentles, understanding.

“He won’t hurt you, Diego’s a good boy.” He reassures, gently reaching out to pet the hybrid under the chin. The Vulpus pants slightly, content, and lowers down until he’s lying flat on the ground, less intimidating. The boy relaxes a little more. “Are you lost?”

The kid shakes his head, the act so minute Ben almost didn’t notice if he hadn’t been observing the boy so intently. He pretends he didn’t notice and asks again.

A whisper, small and broken and barely audible is the answer he gets. His smile falls a little at that.

“A little louder, please.”

“No.” The boy’s voice cracks, not having had any use in what might have been years. It’s still less than a whisper but Ben can actually make out the word this time.

“What’s a little boy doing here in the woods?” He asks further, keeping up the act of not knowing. He knows pretty well why, the reminders are literally scattered throughout the forest.

The kid shrinks in himself and stays silent. Ben wants to repeat his question but closes his mouth as he reconsiders. Being too insistent can push the half of an inch of trust he has out of the court.

He goes for a different question instead.

“Alright then, what’s your name?”

The boy looks at him and Ben realizes that there’s gonna have to be something in return for that answer to be given.

“Well, I’m Ben, and the furry guy here is Diego.” He pats the hybrid for emphasis, the big lug panting happily from the attention. “Now who are you?”

A few minutes pass, either from hesitation or simply distrust Ben isn’t sure. The mask is a hindrance for him to try and read the kid and he hates the fact, hates that there’s even a need to hide his face from the world.

He almost misses the whispered answer.

“Mono.”

Ben cracks a grin, genuine and small. “Nice to meet you, Mono. You want something to eat?”

A rumbling stomach was all the answer he needed.

Watching a TV that shows nothing but white noise should be boring. It should be annoying.

But Ben always found solace in the noise it creates, serene in a way that others don’t seem to understand. Back when his parents still owned that hand-me-down from the grandparents he’d turn on the channel that never worked and just listen to the gritty tune, never ending in it’s existence. The sound of the universe.

Even now, with a child sleeping next to him, simply listening to the sound is helping his mind to remain calm and quiet. The energy he feels on a near-constant basis has quieted to a dull thrum in the back of his head, still there but calmer. Less insistent.

It’s not going to last. He knows that the moment Mono wakes up it’ll stop.

So he enjoys the calm and quiet a little longer, mindlessly petting Diego as he observes the broken white on the screen.

What could have ever drawn the Viewers into this, though? Yes, for him it’s a soothing melody, but the Viewers are addicted, are hypnotized husks of what they once were all because of the broadcast running through these TV’s. Is he unaffected because technically speaking he isn’t an adult?

Or could it simply be Mono, his presence suppressing the Broadcast and keeping him safe? Who knows.

He almost manages to stop himself from jolting in his seat from surprise when the younger boy startles up, clearly having been affected by the nightmare he had. The TV shuts off with barely a click of sound, screen dark and the sound filling the air replaced with the natural chorus of the woods at night.

“Nightmare?” Mono startles, again, clearly not having expected the teenager to even still be around. The small smile on Ben’s face tinges slightly with sadness but he tries to keep it hidden away. “What, thought I was gonna leave?”

After seeing the boy literally devour the cooked meat he’d been given by the teen? No way in hell was he going to leave after seeing that.

(And an ending that has to get fixed.)

Mono doesn’t answer, simply looking at him with an unreadable expression. His body language betrayed nothing and it irked Ben that he couldn’t get a proper read, that all he has to go off are subtle cues and hints in order to know what the kid’s feeling.

The younger boy gets up, his movement waking Diego from his late/early nap. Ben frowns as he watches the boy look around before starting into a chosen direction.

“His house isn’t that way.”

Mono freezes, slowly turning to look at him with what is either an aghast look or embarrassment. For either one, or both, Ben cracks a grin, pleased he at least got that much roused up.

Het gets up with a sharp whistle, groaning slightly at the ache in his back. He catches Mono flinch from the corner of his eye and ignores it in favor of grabbing his bindle and patting Diego, who has gotten up from his spot at the given cue.

Still, he notes to try and keep his whistles softer as to not startle the boy any further.

“There’s only one place here to go.” He continues, looking around to find the memorized markers. Once orientated he starts walking. “You coming?”

Mono hesitates, clearly unused to having someone around who’s taking the lead. Ben wants to reassure the poor kid that everything’s going to be fine but he knows for a fact that with all the future events before them, nothing is going to fine for a long while.

Finally the kid chooses, sprinting to catch up with the older boy.

The path he’d picked towards the Hunter’s Lodge is specifically meant to be the one he knows Mono would’ve taken. Why the boy was heading in a different direction he isn’t sure, an after-effect from his presence, perhaps? Nevertheless, they’re now on the right path. There are going to be traps on their way, but none he knows the kid could’ve solved on his own.

(But having some help couldn’t hurt, right?)

As they go, Ben slowly but surely starts slowing down until he’s more in line with Mono, the boy not noticing because he’s more focused on their surroundings or on the path ahead. Diego, fast runner he already is, pauses ever so often when they lag behind.

The obstacles in their way are easy to traverse, Mono proving his physical strength by jumping a distance that Ben isn’t sure is easy for all kids his age. He makes it with little trouble and Diego simply goes around, climbing up the pile of rotting bait in the corner as if it isn’t infested with flies.

“Ah, boy, you really had to?” Ben complains when Diego comes asking for some petting, nose pinched as he smells the trace of the old meat and gunk. “No treat for you.”

Mono silently observes the teen and his... pet (right?) interact, not used to seeing something so open and friendly. Even his own attempts of kindness had been met with rock-hard resistance from any of the kids in the orphanage, but these two share it so... freely.

He almost feels like he wants to... join in.

Should he?

His train of thought is cut off when Ben calls out, waving from an opened trap stuck in the ground underneath a tree. Going inside reveals a short tunnel appearing on the other side of the tree, roots hiding it from view. Diego has to literally crawl on hand and knees to get through, at least a head and a half taller than the younger boy. Diego jumps over the supposedly blocked path and joins the two on the other side, Ben uttering a small “Show off” before receiving a lick to the face with a splutter.

As they keep going they pass a hung-up trap filled to the brim with the rotting corpses of people, flees hanging around left and right. They walk past it with pinches noses, Ben mumbling a few choice words under his breath about The Hunter. He’d seen the trap from a distance but didn’t realize just how disgusting it really looked until now.

‘What if I’d been earlier and triggered it before they could?’

Ben shakes the thought away, even as his heart shudders with a pang of guilt. He forces himself to focus and catch up a little with Mono, the younger boy evidently not planning to wait around for the teen.

They keep going, passing a spot where they have to take a small leap of faith before moving on. Climbing over a trap-box they go through a second tunnel, the roots at the end much thicker and needing the two boys to squeeze through in order to get to the other side. It’s a somewhat steep slope down, a large fallen tree at the bottom that they have to climb (Ben remembers having to dodge it when it fell), The older boy first on so he can help Mono over and then jumping down. Diego always keeps up with the two, jumping obstacles and passing what they can’t with practiced ease from years spent living in the wild.

They keep going.

Ben regards the noose hanging from the tree with a frown, eyes trailing to the small cliff ahead. He whistles softly and points at it when Diego arrives at his side. The Vulpus gives an understanding bark and goes to settle against it, paws raised and almost reaching the top.

Mono needs some encouragement on the way up, Ben showing it’s safe by climbing over the hybrid’s back and getting up. He offers a hand to the boy when he’s almost there and Mono grabs it after a flash of uncertainty.

The next few obstacles all lined up are easily passed, traps lowered and chasms crossed. The first sign they’re getting closer, a trap with a heavy log as counter-weight, is avoided with ease after Ben almost steps in it before having Diego pull him back. The teenager thanks his friend with a scratch to the chin as they move on.

They’ve still got more traps to dodge.

The Hunter’s home is imposing in the woods, tall and barely illuminated by the moon. They’ve crossed quite a few traps in order to get here, though, and Ben can’t help himself but feel a little proud to have gotten this far.

(He still remembers his first run of the game, falling in traps that seem to obvious now.)

Things are different, seeing everything from this new perspective. Details he missed or simply would never have seen because in the game everything to your right simply disappears in an endless, digital void. The entire forest continues on in the distance, a single tree standing somewhat separate. Hanging from a tall branch is a broken swing.

Traps are scattered in the front yard, if you can even call it that. Ben swears he sees something in one but a small call from Mono has him joining the boy on the porch. The door is locked, understandable, but the window isn’t hard for them to climb through with the large chest providing support.

Through the window they arrive in the kitchen, the smell of burned meat and rotting food almost like a miasma in the air. Ben chokes on his breath for a moment and waves a hand as if that could spare him the smell. Diego whines softly, ears lowering to his head as they enter.

Mono doesn’t look perturbed in the least. The thought doesn’t settle well in the older boy’s stomach when he notices.

Ben eyes the fridge with a sense of disdain as they walk deeper into the house. Something tells him that opening that thing is asking for trouble so he ignores it, even if the thought of chilled food sounds so appealing right about now. Living off whatever you can find in the wilderness is easier but the quality is something it has a lot to improve upon.

Mono is standing still in the hall and Ben almost knocks into the boy. He opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong but shuts it when something filters into his ears. You can barely hear it but it’s there.

Music.

‘A music box.’ Ben looks around a little before he realizes (and remembers) that it’s coming from the door leading into the basement. It’s ajar, old traps blocking it a little from closing all the way.

Diego means to walk in the direction of the sound but he can’t fit through the gap. Ben walks up to his friend ans pats him on the back.

“It’s okay bud, stay here. Guard mode.”

Diego gives a small growl of acknowledgement before turning around and settling himself before the opening, ears peeled and eyes focused, teeth revealed slightly in an inaudible snarl to ward off anything dangerous.

Mono passes the two almost unnoticed, but right the moment he starts going down the stairs he’s alerted by footsteps following down. He looks back to see Ben stepping down as well, a frown on his face that says enough.

“You’re not the only one who wants to help.” Ben utters softly, eyes looking in the direction of the closed door where the music is coming from. He knows who’s in there and, although a secret in his head alone, he wants to change the way this part goes the best he can.

There had always been something about how the two met that irked him, and he wants to change that.

“You know them?”

Ben blinked, surprised that Mono had actually spoken up, even if his voice is smaller than his frame. He wants to crack a grin but instead shakes his head.

“No, but I wouldn’t leave anyone in the Hunter’s clutches for long.” The smile he pulls is grim and a little scary, the anger he feels for the monster his practices channeled into the gesture. “It isn’t pretty.”

Mono nods his head at that before the two walk the small distance down. Looking at the door shows that it has seen better days, better days that have been decades ago. The aging wood is rotten and broken in various spots, especially at the bottom, but somehow the lock is still working fine. Ben peeks through the wood and spots the figure of the little girl, hand turning the switch of the music box round and round, keeping the soothing music playing.

He steps away and looks around the basement room, noting the various potato-sacks piled up on one side along with a table and an antique sowing machine. He mentally grins. ‘So that’s where the guy got his mask from.’

A snapping sound has him looking at Mono, who glares at the broken handle in his hands, originating from a meat-cleaver stuck in the side of a chest. The sight is enough to make the teen actually grin, amused. It doesn’t matter if it’s real or virtual, that scene always is amusing to watch. A meat-cleaver against a wooden door, would that really have work?

When he watches Mono walk into the side room, though, he realizes with a start that there is, in fact, something down here that can get through the old wood. He rushes into the room and stops to a halt when he finds the younger boy pulling at the axe, trying to get it down from it’s spot on the side of a trap.

“Mono!” He whisper-hisses at the boy but he doesn’t listen, the kid and the axe coming down to the ground, the latter with a small clatter that has Ben wincing slightly. “Really?!”

“It-” The younger boy grunts as he lifts the handle of the axe up, moving to walk out only to stand face-to-chest with the teen. He looks up and Ben is sure there is a small glare hidden behind those eye-holes. “It should work.”

“Yeah, and scare her half to death.” Ben retorts with a glare, eyes shooting to the sharp blade of the axe. A few instincts inside him are currently screaming at him to take the dangerous weapon from the boy’s hands, the picture so unreal and not right that it has him a little riled up. He breaths out, working down the flash of anger before he does something rash. “Let’s warn her first.”

The way the younger boy looks surprised, like the idea hadn’t even occurred to him, has Ben questioning the kid’s intellect a little. It is, after all, the most obvious thing to do, right? Warn her before you come crashing through the door with a freaking axe on your shoulder?

Shaking that thought away the two head over to the door, Mono putting the axe down (to Ben’s mental relief) whilst the teen peers through the gaps in the wood to observe the locked-up girl. As far as he can tell she’s well and truly lost in her own little world, and he actually finds himself a little hesitant to call out to her.

Something creaking above them reminds him of where they are, though, and the hesitance disappears.

“Hey!” At his call the little girl startles, looking up and around. “Over here!” Her eyes focus on the door and even hidden behind those long bangs, Ben can feel the distrustful glower aimed at him. “We’re breaking you out.”

At that she tilts her head a little, confused, but for what Ben isn’t sure.

“Get away from the door.” Mono joins in, voice a fair bit hoarse at this level. He has to if he wants the girl to even hear him. “Okay?”

She’s hesitant to trust but Ben repeats the warning and she seems to get the memo, backing up with music box clutched in her hands. Ben makes sure she’s far enough before stepping back and giving Mono a nod. The boy already has the axe back in his hand and with a swing that would’ve impressed several body builders for sure, he sends the blade cracking the wood.

Three swings later has a hole big enough for both to get through in the door. Ben stays back and watches the staircase with some concern, waiting for Diego to start barking or for the footsteps to start coming closer. Neither happen.

Just as he turns the teen is almost knocked over by the form of the little girl, rushing past and up the stairs at an impressive speed. Ben blinks and looks to the stairs, and he can hear the moment she stumbles into Diego, a startled yelp from the hybrid echoing from upstairs.

Mono rushes past him, having recovered from getting knocked over by the distrustful girl. Ben calls the boy’s name but he doesn’t respond, heading up and vanishing past the door. The teen sighs, shaking his head. He thought at least that would change.

Knowing that this part doesn’t have them going far beyond the attic he walks into the room that served as Six’s room/prison. He looks at the wall and is surprised to see only a single tally mark, the different drawing he had seen in this place all missing for some reason. It sparks a flash of hope in his chest.

His foot hit something metal and he looked down to find the music box, left abandoned. He regards it with contemplation, eyes going between it and the bindle over his shoulder before he shrugs and grabs the item, putting it away in the sack.

‘You never know.’

He heads back up, finding Diego looking further down the hall yet rigid, unsure whether to follow or stand guard. Ben pats his friend on the side and whistles softly, motioning his head into the room down ahead.

Something is making noise in the house, and Ben decides that the best course of action right now is to simply follow and make sure those two don’t end up getting themselves killed.

(Because death is still a possibility in the game, so it’s also possible here.)

The sight of the stuffed-up family still manages to send shivers down his spine, and he quickly moved on to climbing the shelves before he reaches the ventilation shaft.

He finds the ladder leading up to the attic already released, sound coming from up above to show that the two are busy with finding the key. Ben wants to go up but he stops at the bottom of the ladder.

Upstairs is an attic, an attic a little similar to the one in the Yard. The place where he first saw the Conductor.

His hands trembled slightly on the wood, breathing growing a bit quicker.

The creaking of a door has his head whipping around. His heart spikes before falling when he sees that it’s just Diego, having found a way inside without having to go through a vent that’s too small for him. The hybrid walks over and whines softly, nudging the boy with concern. Ben sighs, glad to have someone around to help ground him.

“Hey bud.” He reached out and scratch the Vulpus under the chin, earning some happy panting, an adorable sight on the oversized hybrid.

Creaking wood alerts the duo of someone coming down the ladder. Ben steps away to make space, spotting Mono to be the first to climb down, the glint of a key on his belt showing that the mission had been successful.

The moment he’s down he notices the teen waiting and his stance shifts a little, suddenly looking sheepish.

“You’re still here.” The boy utters softly, part disbelief and part normal relief. Ben arches an eyebrow, a little offended by the assumption.

“Course I am. What else should I be doing instead?” He looks up at the sound of a startled intake of breath, spotting the little girl halfway down the ladder, eyes trained on the teen. Ben offers her a small grin. “Hey you.”

She doesn’t budge and his grin falls a little, understanding yet not exactly pleased with the sight he’s got before him. In the light of the moon outside he can see the girl’s frame a little better and, just like Mono, it’s too thin and fragile to seem healthy. He pushes down the bubbling anger, knowing full well that trying to avenge every single thing this world has done to these two kids is impossible and stupid.

After a little staring match the girl slowly comes down, entire body spun tight like a spool of string. Ben opens his mouth but closes it when he finds that he doesn’t have any words to say, nothing to really justify his presence or why she should trust him.

He isn’t sure on where his own trust lies with Six, to be completely honest.

“Hey.” The two snap out of whatever has passed between them in the silence, looking at where Mono has unlocked the door. He motions to follow.

Six follows first, Ben making sure that Diego is actually going to follow and not get distracted before heading over to the open door.

The landing in the pile of pelts is uncomfortably soft.

Ben grits his teeth as he looks around the room, his eyes flashing red. Luckily it’s hidden in the dark of the room, he wouldn’t know how to explain his ‘condition’ to the distrustful kids. They’d run away, or worse.

Diego whines softly as he pulls his leg free from underneath what looks to be a wolf’s pelt, ears flat to his skull and tail flicking nervously between his hind paws. Ben pets his friend as they pause for a small breather, reassuring the hybrid despite his own internal worry.

This is the part that could go wrong in so many ways. The sound of something furred getting ripped apart in the next room has his nerves on edge. He looks over to where the two kids are looking around the room, bodies tense and legs shifting as if ready to run.

They have to keep going, though. No time to stop now.

The hulking form of the Hunter is standing at the table, hands ripping apart whatever unfortunate animal fell in his trap this time. If they’re doing this they have to be quick yet silent. The three humans crouch low and Diego flattens himself to the floor, crawling on his stomach and using the pads on his paws the best he can.

Every rip in the air has them flinching slightly, the notion of being the next victim on that table running through their heads, unaware of just how in sync they are at that moment.

Ben just manages to spot the moment Mono reached out and took Six’s hand. She looked startled and uncomfortable and once more his heart cracks slightly at the thought that physical contact is something the girl isn’t used to anymore, or ever has been.

Still, as they sneak past after Six hushed them -as if they need the reminder- the air feels electric, charged with energy and tension so palpable you might actually manage to cut it with a knife if you tried.

Their sneaking comes to a stop at the only way out, a wooden plank on a rusty hinge the only way out. The smell of rotting flesh and gore attacked their noses the moment they managed to push through, the fall down every bit as disgusting and Ben remembers it to be. Some of it sticks to their clothing and Diego shakes himself of the bits of decayed flesh.

And then the door is opening, the Hunter standing in the opening with lantern shining and gun aimed. Ben doesn’t even have to shout it, they’re running the moment they spot the weapon. The first shot is a misfire, splintering the fence into bits and pieces.

Ben barely manages to fit along side them, as they hide behind the first crate lying scattered around. The next shot destroys the side and they’re already running for the crate ahead. Diego is further ahead near a dip in the ground, either being ignored or too far out of range for the Hunter to consider shooting the hybrid. He barks when the Hunter prepares the next shot and the crude crate they were hiding behind gets grazed instead of splintered to bits.

The last crate, furthest from the rest and most definitely not going to hold up against the power of a shotgun, serves as their final hiding spot before it’s blown to smithereens. Ben pushes as they get up and run, pushing the two ahead towards the hiding spot where Diego has already disappeared to.

And then they’re jumping down and quickly getting themselves as far away from the open view as possible. Ben presses himself against his friend, eyes flashing to where Mono and Six are huddled together in the corner.

Above them the ragged, muffled breathing of the Hunter remains, light of his lantern shining in the dark, searching for his prey.

Ben tightens his grip on the sack of his bindle, mindful of his own lantern so it doesn’t reveal their location. The fireflies inside have seen a lot by now, he’s sure.

The Hunter moves on, looking elsewhere. The trio slacks a collective breath of relief.

Ben peaks out from their spot, watching the Hunter looking around. The tall grass around him would serve as a fine way for the two kids to stay hidden but he knows for a fact that him and Diego would stand out like a sore thumb. He looks back at the two as they catch their breath before regarding his friend.

“Diego.” He whispers out, catching the hybrid’s attention. The Vulpus crawls closer and licks the side of his face, wanting to be sure his friend is safe. Ben chuckles softly at that and pats his muzzle to assure him before continuing on. “Ready for a little game?”

He growls and Ben quickly shushes the hybrid, eyes flashing to the Hunter. He doesn’t look like he heard but the teen glares at the Vulpus reprovingly anyways.

“Ben?”

The teen looks in the direction of the two kids, Mono keeping himself before Six like a barrier as the younger boy sneaks closer. Past those eye-holes the teen can see the unsure look, silently asking him what he’s planning.

“Just run when he’s gone.” Is all Ben has to say before he looks over his shoulder, seeing that the monstrous serial killer has yet to move from his watch spot. He grabs hold of Diego’s fur and with a jump he climbs on, patting the Vulpus’ side to make sure the hybrid is going to manage. Diego shifts but carries the older boy’s weight just fine.

The two children look at him with clear surprise, Six her mouth actually gaping a little before she manages to recollect herself. Still, her head goes between the strange duo and the Hunter before realization dawns on her face.

The same expression appears hidden under his sack when Mono watches the two take off, Diego barking loudly and Ben shouting demonotizing words about the Hunter. It catches the monster’s attention and he starts shooting, but with Diego’s nimbleness -despite being weighed- down the shots miss.

The Hunter chases after the two, leaving his post empty and the path ahead free for the other duo to traverse safely.

As they head on, spotting a hole in the ground, neither child manages to fight down the feeling of gratitude and fear for the duo that just risked their lives to allow them safe passage.

He’d done it one other time, and that had simply been to see just how strong Diego really is. Ben didn’t expect the hybrid to manage and keep him on his back all whilst running through the forest with a monster on their heels , though.

As they run around, surroundings whizzing past and his stomach doing somersaults with every sharp turn, gunshots echo behind them as the Hunter chases after the speeding duo.

‘I have to find them.’ Ben realizes, eyes flicking around as Diego pauses at a section where the path branches off in three directions. It takes him a moment before pointing in the direction of what looks to be something of an opening. ‘I can’t leave them like that.’

Diego stops when he notices a trap lying in their path, the raven on top startling away. At one side the ground is raised with rocks leading up, and on the other stands a wooden building that must have been here for decades and hasn’t seen any form of use in all that time. Ahead the forest slowly turns the path into a bottleneck.

Ben curses, but a voice calling out has him looking around before he spots two familiar figures on the ground above.

‘We seriously went around in a circle?’

His next thought is cut off when a shot whizzes past, hitting a tree and this close to crazing the duo. Diego whines and Ben looks around before noticing a hole in the side of the building. He points and the hybrid quickly heads through it. More gunshots follow after them, but aren’t aimed at the duo inside.

Mono and Six rush towards the structure and start climbing, using a TV hanging down as shelter before moving on, entering the building in the rafters above. Ben spots the two from down below, trying to find the exit as he knows that the Hunter will manage to get inside.

The board under Mono’s feet snaps in half and for a moment Ben swears his heart stops.

It starts beating again, like a butterfly, when he sees that Six caught the boy before he could truly fall down. She pulls him up.

The wood behind him blocking the way in shatters and falls to pieces by the Hunter literally shouldering through it with brute force.

“Diego!” The hybrid rushes forwards at the startled call of his friend, slipping through a gap just big enough for the both. They come out on a wooden walkway through a murky swamp, water nothing but goop and slime and other nasty stuff. The smell is unbearable.

Some of it is on the floor and the Vulpus slips, sending both him and his passenger falling into the goop. Ben rushes upwards, spluttering and spitting out the foul, truly repulsing slime. He looks around and finds his bindle floating in the stuff and he grabs it, holding it tight under his arm so he can’t lose it.

Two startles shouts has him looking up and paddling out of the way through the viscous liquid, the two children falling down from where they’d been chased past a window and down the overhang of the building. The duo are submerged in the goop and Ben is covered under some more from the splash they’d made.

The moment they’re above the slimy water the door of the building is smashed open and they’re forced to dunk themselves in the vile liquid once more, hiding away from the Hunter’s lantern glare.

A minute ticks by, the glow casting shadows over the swamp but beyond that nothing else.

Finally he moves on, allowing them to rise up, the two kids slacking for breath after being submerged for so long. Ben can’t really stop a cough as the smell enters his mouth through his nose, the taste even worse than the stench. ‘After this is over I’m taking a bath, or twelve.’

But first they have to get past the maniac with the gun.

Wadding through the gunk of the swamp requires effort, the stuff so viscous it’s almost borderline solid. Every movement results in a new barrage of disgusting scents and even when he pinches his nose Ben can smell it, a horrible mix of rot and decay and just pure repulsive scents. Everything that might smell bad seems to have been dunked in the water and left to stew for years. Even the flies in the air, filling it with their incessant buzzing, seem inclined to stay away from the surface.

Going under in order to cross a part of the walkway is beyond gross and Ben has to coax Diego under just to get them across, the hybrid’s fur stained to a point that it might very well have become impossible to get rid of it in any kind of bath or shower.

‘At least no animals will be inclined to eat us with this smell.’ He thinks wryly as they hide behind the large stump of a tree, the Hunter ahead and lighting up the swamp with his lantern.

A small part where there’s an old, rotting tree-trunk with a heart carved in allows them some reprieve. Ben looks at it and back at the swamp before he gets up and puts himself against it. The two kids join him and after sharing a look they push against it, the wood slowly cracking and breaking, the log falling down into the sludge below. They jump in, Diego following after with a wrinkle of his muzzle.

The Hunter shoots blindly when he spots the falling log, bullet whizzing way past and striking a tree in the distance.

They manage to get across unscathed (besides some scratches from climbing rock and old wood) and keep going, hoping that this is their final encounter with The Hunter.

Ben knows it isn’t, already thinking on the next part. It’s the final stretch before they can get out of the Hunter’s clutches.

(But should he let them? Should he allow two children to take a life like that?)

They jump down the small distance and arrive on a large clearing. Ben looks around to see where the Hunter is but his eyes widen when he realizes something.

The crates that normally are there to provide cover are all stacked next to the old shed, the door closed. His heart starts racing as he realizes that there’s no way for them all to get across the clearing without catching the Hunter’s attention.

‘We have to run for it.’

The two kids are already sneaking on, trying to not startle the two birds that are pecking away on some rotten flesh. Ben puts his hand to Diego’s side, having the hybrid help him as they quickly sneak closer.

The birds startled at the sudden presence of the hybrid predator, cawing and alerting the Hunter to their presence. Ben is only mildly aware of everything as he shouts for them to run, praying that their speed will spare them from getting hit.

Diego starts barking, running ahead and doing circles. At first the teen isn’t sure what his friend is doing but when the Hunter shoots and misses by a mile he understands and sends his gratitude out to the hybrid.

The kids are at the door, pushing against it. Whatever is blocking it is heavy, though, and they’re not making any headway. Ben starts moving again, intent on helping them inside so they’re at least safe for a moment before-

A shot rings through the air, a pained yelp trailing after.

Ben his head snaps to the source, eyes wide and mind coming to a completely stop. Anything he’d been thinking about grinds to a halt as the only focus in his eyes is the fallen form of Diego, the hybrid whining and keening in pain. Blood shines from the shot wound in his side.

‘No.’

Rage surges upwards, directed towards the Hunter currently reloading his gun. The large part inside the teen that’s been freed desires vengeance, to coldly snap the maniac’s neck and have him rot.

‘No, you didn’t. You’ll regret that.’

The logical part, the one still able to focus in the presence of two young souls in danger, redirects the boiling fury under his skin to the knowledge of a much better weapon inside the shed.

They-them-he dashes over to the door, putting his weight and more into the wood. Whatever was behind it is send rattling aside and the door snaps open, the two children stumbling inside. Ben is only numbly aware of his surroundings, not in control of himself as he gets up onto the crate and grabs the gun hanging from the wall.

It clatters to the ground, almost hitting Mono. The boy looks at the gun and then up at the older boy, understanding the use but not sure if they should. Ben jumps down from the crate and grabs the part where the trigger is, lifting it up the best he can and making the decision. It’s heavy even now, strength restrained as his mind struggled for self-control. To try and surface from underneath the waves of anger.

Six, who has bolted the door shut, scrambles over and grabs the barrel of the shotgun, lifting it a little higher but not high enough. Mono joins her side after some hesitation and together they lift the surprisingly heavy and big gun up, aiming at the door.

The Hunter is already breaking through it, trying to get inside. He leans back a little so he can thrust his arm through the hole he made, reaching for the door handle.

BANG!

Beeping in the ears is all that remains.

Chapter Text

The waves lapped at his toes, shoes and socks left further up the shore where they won’t get wet. His feet dig mindlessly in the sand.

He’s numb to the core, only a little bit aware of the two kids looking out over the expansive lake, whatever is on the other side hidden behind thick fog and mist.

Ben knows what’s on the other side, saw the buildings and the dangers within. Yet at that very moment none of those thoughts rose up to make themselves know, his own self hidden underneath a veil of pure hurt.

Diego didn’t make it.

The shot of the Hunter had been dead-on, ripping through the hybrid’s side and shattering ribs and leaving his guts for the world to see. The sight had been gruesome and Ben had urged the two kids to stay in the shed as he’d gone outside to check on his friend, ignoring the Hunter’s corpse with a level of disdain he didn’t know he could feel.

Even after he’d pulled the trigger nothing inside him felt willing to say anything about how he should feel about it. There is nothing but a cold rock where his stomach should be, and his heartbeat feels faint, distant.

Like it’d been ripped out and locked away.

Ben found he didn’t quite care at the time, sobbing over the body of the one true friend in his entire life. After some time the duo joined his side even after he’d told them to stay inside, Mono rubbing his back and Six placing a few flowers that grew in a corner of the shed next to the hybrid’s head.

A true burial wasn’t an option without the proper tools. In the end they took whatever rocks they managed to find and piled them over the loyal companion, Six’s flowers left on the top.

Even now his mind is still going back on it, trying to see if there had been anything he could have done to save his friend. Stop the Hunter from shooting true.

Nothing came to mind, brain simply an empty hole of despair.

Not even the rage he’d felt after seeing what had happened could provide an answer.

Rustling made him turn his head to see Six looking through his bindle, the one item that somehow has survived throughout everything. The lantern cast a faint glow over the area, enlightening the girl’s face to reveal eyes as red as blood hidden behind her dark hair. Those eyes widen in surprise when she fishes out her little music box from the sack.

Ben his mouth pulled in a mockery of a smile, the sadness too much right now to allow any amusement he should have felt shine through. “Thought you’d want it with you.”

She looks at him, back to the music box, and back to him. Something in her eyes shone with cautious gratefulness before they were hidden under her hair, the girl shuffling down to sit on the sand, hand already turning the handle.

The air filled with music, and Ben felt his cheeks grow wet again as the tune pulled at his heartstrings. He spent a few times in the past (before this, before he became a part of this world) just simply listening to the same little song, enjoying the way it’s so relaxing. So soothing and calm.

She might not even realize just how much it means to him to have something of comfort nearby, something to pull him free of his own thoughts. He must look pathetic, mourning his loss, taking it so to heart. Yet right now he doesn’t care, shifting a bit closer and pulling his knees to his chest before resting his cheek on them.

Content to simply listen, and feel, and remember.

Mono looked at the old door in the sand and then at the two sitting at the shore. He debated with himself before he sighed and walked over, joining them in the moment.

Loss is never easy to handle, and from what he’d seen Ben and Diego were close, must have been travelling together for quite some time to be so close. They trusted each other, relied on each other and never went somewhere without the other being there as well.

To lose someone that close, even if they weren’t human, is hard.

He could understand that. Six, to some degree, understood as well.

Yet understanding is different than feeling it.

Sitting at the lake shore, the waves lapping softly at their feet and the sound joining in with the music playing from the little metal box, for a moment serene calm settled over the world.

In the far horizon the sun, hidden behind layers of clouds, slowly started rising.

The door Mono had found, old and broken and slightly molded, still served well as a raft. The waves were enough to keep them going.

Ben sifted through the sack of his bindle, making sure he has everything with him that they might need. There were some berry bushes at the shore he recognized so he’d picked plenty for on the way. Six’s music box was tucked away along with his firefly lantern. The glass was a little dirt at the bottom, the cracks really hard to miss. But it’ll serve it’s purpose.

Any meat will have to be caught in the city. It won’t be easy to keep three mouths fed but what determination still persisted inside the boy wants to make sure they get through this alive.

He can’t fail this. Diego isn’t there to help him, so he’s the one with all the responsibilities. He’s the only one keeping an eye on these two.

He can’t fail this. He won’t allow himself the option. There’s no time for the pit in his stomach so he builds a wall around it and blocks those feelings off.

Past the fog the towering buildings of the Pale City slowly came into view, crumbling and twisting as the signal broadcasting through the world warped whatever it touched. The sight in itself is imposing, the looming forms of these tall structures a foreboding sight. The sand of the approaching shore rides up the side of the concrete structures, as if the beach is trying to gain more ground from the massive city.

The cracking and folding of brick and mortar echoed in the air as one of the menacing buildings sank a little further to the side. Ben swallowed the lump in his throat.

They arrived on the shore, the door sinking in the white sand. They got up and started moving, heading towards a door opening being illuminated by a single light. Even though it’s morning the thick fog and clouds in the sky prevent the sun from shining down, casting everything in seemingly perpetual dark evening.

Walking inside a gust of wind passed the trio, closing the door behind them with an odd gentleness. Ben looked at it with suspicion. Although it doesn’t look like it, something tells him that the way out won’t be through that door anymore.

The room they’re in is vast, the floor above broken and open, revealing three completely destroyed TV sets hanging down from their cables, one holding a suit like a weird type of noose or coat-hanger. It’s empty, no one around to wear it. There’s an odd familiarity to it that has Ben shivering as they move on.

He never really liked the way everything holds such depression, such anguish. Even simply watching the way this place is falling apart gives him shivers.

Somehow Mono is leading ahead, Six holding his hand as they go. The sight, despite everything else, was cute and Ben found himself lacking a phone or camera to take a picture and store the moment.

Through a hole in the wall they arrive in one of the city’s many backstreets, littered with clothes and wrapped cardboard boxes. What light there is is dim and barely enough to see with. Ben pulls out his lantern, the yellow glow stark against the atmospheric blue hue created by the clouds and fog.

To their right a makeshift wooden wall blocks the way further, and their left seems to go on for miles, something that looks like a dress shirt floating down like a feather in the distance. Ben looks up as if he could see where it’s coming from but even with his lantern it’s simply too dark and obscured to see anything but vague outlines of the buildings surrounding them.

The building right before them seems promising, though, so they climb through the open window to get inside and keep going ahead. Inside they find something that reminds Ben of a café or bar, a kitchen set-up behind the counter. The stools that usually would serve as seating for customers are filled with empty suits and other types of clothing.

As if the people who’s been wearing them were snatched away into thin air. It sends a shiver down his spine. Six looks through the place with a frown, pausing near a pair of trousers hanging down to the floor to tug at it.

It comes falling down with a cloud of dust. She waves her hand to direct it elsewhere, coughing as some gets in her mouth and lungs. Mono is at the door leading further inside the building, waiting with a foot slowly tapping the floor. This place gives him an odd feeling and he doesn’t like it.

Ben gently nudges the little girl, jolting her from her coughing. He nods his head ahead when she looks up at him through her too-long bangs. She looks a little longer at his face before heading over, the older boy right behind her if a bit confused. He isn’t sure what she’d been looking for in his face, nor if she found it or not.

He wonders if he could cut her hair when they find a safe place to take a break. And once he finds a pair of scissors. And a mirror.

The next room is strange in on itself, a pile of TV’s with one wrapped tight in a rope made of the cables, the pile in the center of the room. Looking up Ben can just barely see the next floors, the entire place open like it has been gutted of many parts and turned into this weird skeleton of a room. The first floor has a TV that’s attached to the rope as well, reminding him of a pulley system.

One of the walls has an open spot. Too high to get there by yourself.

Six and Mono are already ahead of him, the girl offering the boy a boost up and through.

With Mono on the other side this leaves the teen and the little girl to wait and see. Something like a box getting hit sounds through and then it stops before a loud bang echoes through the place. It has Ben wringing his hands as he waits for a signal.

“Hey!”

The two startle slightly from where they’d been waiting and look around, Ben the first to spot the younger boy waving from the floor with the TV at the edge. Mono points at it and then up and the older boy gives a thumbs up to show he understood.

“Six.” She looks to him at his call and he motions to the TV wrapped tight, lying on the pile of other sets. She nods slowly and they climb on top, Ben grabbing the rope tight and preparing himself for a sudden lift up. Six doesn’t look like she’s as ready and he takes her by the shoulder and puts her between him and the rope, a quick instruction on holding tight being given. She squirms under his hold but doesn’t push him away.

“Ready!” Ben calls out and Mono nods before walking behind the old TV and giving it a mighty push. It goes falling down and with a jolt the one the duo is standing on is send upwards, coming to a halt a floor higher than Mono. Six jumps off after Ben allows her to leave her spot between him and the rope, legs shaking slightly but still stable.

He jumps across and almost has his knees buckle as vertigo passed through for a moment. He sighed once it’s gone and nods at Six, the girl standing in the open doorway and looking at him, uncertain. She tilts her head from side to side slightly before heading to the broken staircase where Mono is already going up.

Ben ponders on the act a little. He can’t quite figure out what she’s trying to convey in those little motions, they’re different from what he’s used to recognize as body language. And as long as she stays so quiet the chance is high he won’t figure it out anytime soon.

Does Six even know how to talk? He knows in the games she makes small noises, some recognizable as words, but she hasn’t as much as uttered a single word around him.

‘Or is it something else? Distrust even after the chase with the Hunter? I really don’t know.’

But there’s no time for that. Mono calls his name and he keeps going, following the two across a narrow plank that’s broken, taking a small jump across and then they’re on the other side.

They pass a noose holding nothing but empty clothes, the same weird sight of what’s been left behind by the people of this city giving the three a moment of pause.

Mono peeks through a hole in the next door, checking to see what’s on the other side. Six tries to look through as well and in the process Mono has to lean further in.

Ben watches their antics with a small grin. Yet when Mono tilts forwards and falls through the hole, he remembers exactly what’s past the door.

‘THE TV!’

Its static sound turns on the moment Mono is at the other side of the door, the screen of the only TV in the whole room turning on to show white noise. The sound is oppressive and so powerful that even outside the room it pounds in the heads of Ben and Six, painful for the latter and agonizingly familiar for the former.

The older boy groans, hands holding his head like that could help fight the feeling of something forcing itself into his skull, knocking and pounding and pushing. He looks through squinted eyes as Six tries to get through the hole in the door, small noises escaping her to show she’s feeling it as well.

He helps her through, fighting the feeling of his brain seemingly getting crushed. They stumbled through the hole and that’s when they spot Mono.

He’s leaning against the TV, the screen showing nothing but static for them but a familiar hallway for the younger boy. He has a hand against the screen and from it waves are barely perceptible in the static noise. The feeling grows stronger the closer they get but they keep going anyways.

“Mono.” Ben grits out the boy’s name but he doesn’t respond, not even when the teen grabs the kid’s shoulder and shakes it. Six takes hold of Mono’s waist and she gives it a tug.

Nothing, he doesn’t budge an inch. She huffs and tries again, keeping it up. Ben looks at her and the boy and then he’s grabbing Mono’s shoulders, pulling as well. They groan and grunt from the effort.

For a few moments it’s like they’re trying to pull out a brick from a wall, but the more they pull the louder the noises grow and the white screen starts to waver. For a flash of a millisecond, barely enough for any of them to notice, the hallway becomes as clear as day on the screen before it pops and goes dark, Mono getting dislodged from whatever was holding him there.

The three go stumbling down to the ground, a little pile-up on the floor, groaning.

They remain like that, simply absorbing what just happened. All kinds of questions rushed through their heads, different for each person.

And even with the knowledge of the game, Ben feels just as confused as the kids do.

Breakfast is...

It’s an awkward affair. Before this Ben didn’t even think to consider that these kids have learned to eat only when they’re starving. He had to explain the concept of regular meals to children who should know better, should understand even this basic act.

Of course unlike him these two never had responsible adults around to teach them. Ben isn’t sure on either their back stories but he’s is pretty sure that Mono doesn’t even know what a parent is, like, at all.

The thought has his blood boil and he takes a moment to relax and calm down before helping the two to some berries.

They’re messy eaters but he doesn’t blame them, mouth just as smeared with sap because the ones he picked are bulbous and sticky, their taste like jelly in the mouth. He isn’t sure but there’s something different about the two after they finished eating (Mono giving Six just a few more after she finishes hers), like they’re more energized. Less fragile.

Mind you, they’re still fragile in his eyes. Their frames so thin, frail, like a single misstep could result in a broken bone. He knows they’re stronger than they look, Six can hold Mono’s weight with one hand and Mono can lift an axe three times his size with ease.

Yet that doesn’t mean the world around them hasn’t adapted to finding other ways to break these poor children’s backs. They’ve already seen enough, been through enough.

The scratches and little scars on their legs and feet and hands and perhaps simply everywhere testify of a life spent surviving on the edge, walking that paper-thin line of life and death.

And these kids aren’t even at their teens, still have three years -more or less- to go before they’re considered teenagers. And even then he’d still be three years older than them. Now he’s around six years older, a little less with Mono but you get his point.

Kids. Children.

Somehow it only sinks in as they stand before the gates of The School, the smaller duo regarding the playground with a weird kind of fear.

Ben doesn’t like the look and before they’re even planning on how to get through this place he wants to change that. Of course they won’t do anything that they think might be dangerous so he decides to take the first step.

And that’s by playing the only game/sport he knows he’s good at.

Soccer.

The ball is a little off, too big for a real soccer game, but he makes do after leaving his bindle at one of the goals, giving the ball a good kick and sending it towards the opposite goal. It hits one of the poles and he hisses, wincing slightly. Bad kick.

The two kids look at the teen like he’s gone mad.

Yet as Ben continued to play all by himself, occasionally getting a goal and a few times almost sending the ball flying when he riles himself up a little too much, those looks shifted into something else. Something curious.

Mono is the first to crack and walk up to the older boy as he’s preparing to try and get a goal from all the way on the other side, softly asking what he’s doing. The smile Ben gives the boy is the most genuine the teen has managed and, even if it’s hidden under his paper bag, the younger boy can’t stop it from infecting him a little. Ben explains the game the best he can and passes the ball to the younger boy.

He then proceeds to reveal to both himself and the older boy that he’s a natural, striking three goals in a row. Ben laughs at that and reaches to give the kid a ruffle on the head before thinking better and tapping him on the shoulder.

Six joins in a little later, terrible at aiming but incredibly strong in her kicks. The game isn’t like soccer, not at all, and definitely not when Six starts cheating by having Mono aim for her and let her do the kicking, effectively teaming up against the teen.

Ben knows it is. He lets them keep going anyways.

Tired after their game he leads them over to the swings he saw. There’s a measure of distrust once more but that lifts much faster when Ben sits down and swings around gently.

He explains in a soft voice how a swing works, that you are free to go at it casually or try and reach as high as you can. Mono proceeds to try and go higher with the tire swing, sometimes reaching a point where it almost looks like he could fall but he doesn’t. Six watches it with something like anxiousness, hands wringing slowly behind her back.

Ben notices and gets up, allowing her to take the swing. She manages to get herself going but she doesn’t try any higher or faster. Her size is a hindrance with this one, though, and she comes to a stop too often and Ben can already see the frustration rising.

He gently walks up behind her (because the first time he tried Six almost hit him, because Mono tenses up when the teen does, because he knows what it’s like) and gives her small pushes to keep her going whenever the swing starts fighting back.

At some point Six doesn’t try at all, simply letting the teen push her along. He keeps quiet and lets her have this moment of peace. Softly, almost inaudible if he wasn’t so close, she’d giggle and he can hear Mono whoop softly whenever he reaches a new height.

And for a second he was able to forget about all that has happened, the loss and the pain. For a second there weren’t any dangers and no risks.

(For a second the world felt right, it felt warm. For a second they were safe.)

But at some point, around after he helped them with the seesaw that’s rusted in the hinges, there’s a knock in the alleyway. The three freeze at that sound and look to where it came from, waiting to see what might appear from the dark corners of the city street. Nothing comes.

After that they’re too high strung, too tense, to keep going with the pretend. With little effort they climb the rope leading inside the school building.

But when they step inside Six gives Mono a little push, almost sending the boy falling but he catches himself before he does. Had she done this in any other situation he might have growled, might have pushed her back and walked off.

Instead the little boy chuckles softly and gives a push back that’s half-hearted at best. It doesn’t turn into those typical ‘you push I push you push’ between two friends but it’s something else. Kind. Playful.

Ben grins softly at the sight as he climbs into the room through the open window.

They’re in a hall, the type you’d find in a typical old-school, um... school. Coat hangers on the wall have backpacks and the occasional raincoat draped over. Books are left scattered around, some held inside binders. Ben hesitates as he looks at the bags, bindle on his shoulder a comforting weight. He shakes his head and keeps going.

One of the trash bins is smoking, a burned book and a charred walking cane still inside along with lots of ash. They walk past it with a little dodge to avoid inhaling the smoke.

There’s a switch on the wall and before Ben can stop him Mono jumps up and pulls it down. The lights go out with a click and he curses, pulling out his lantern and revealing the scowl on his face, aimed at the paper-bag boy. Mono shrugs, sheepish. Six shakes her head and almost slaps her forehead.

There’s light filtering through a picture of the Teacher.

Getting it down isn’t hard, a can from a nearby dorm enough to knock it down and reveal the hole hidden behind the framed picture. Ben crawls through last, barely fitting through the hole but he manages. Somehow he doubts he would’ve fit early on in his journey.

He does feel oddly light at times.

The sight of the hidden room has them pause, Ben gawking slightly at the chair with rope still wrapped around. He remembers being locked up in the school bathroom and hurries the two kids along to jump on the trapdoor in the floor. Bullies their actions should never be allowed to grow to such heights. If he didn’t know better he’d walked up to the principle and done the sin of being a tattletale.

But this place has no principle, only a Teacher with an extremely long neck.

The trapdoor gives way once the young duo figure out that they have to jump in sync.

The space underneath the floors would’ve been incredibly dark if it wasn’t for Ben’s firefly lantern. Still, seeing the rot and decay hidden underneath isn’t exactly a welcome sight. The pipes above their heads drone with the pressure of fluids and/or gasses. Oddly enough a bell is lying randomly in a corner.

Ben flinches at the sight and goes on ahead. Six stares at the gilded trinket and then at Mono, who shrugs and keeps going.

There’s a large open space with broken platforms leading lower down. At the bottom is a vent with a grate that isn’t bolted in. Ben grabs the grate and pulls it free, revealing the ventilation shaft leading onwards. Mono and Six go through first with Ben taking up the rear, his size once again working against him in the small, confined space. The teen is relieved that he has yet to develop any claustrophobia from all these small spaces they’ve been forced to go through.

The hallway further ahead is far from confining.

The moment they’re all dropped down from the open vent they freeze at a sound coming from somewhere in the dark hall. It sounded like porcelain getting dragged over wood or stone, and reminds Ben of nails on a blackboard but heavier.

When they reach a fallen over locker another sound has them freezing on the spot, ducking down. It sound like skin getting stretched and pulled. Ben peers over the locker and his eyes widen when he catches a glimpse of a human-shaped shadow around the corner of the hall. A door closes with a protest from the old hinges, the shadow disappearing.

Footsteps echo down the hall. They stay put for a bit before moving on, silence once more filling the air.

But that was close.

These Bullies, for all that they’re worth, aren’t the best at making traps.

At least that is the first thought popping into Ben’s head as they duck under the heavy fluorescent lamp crashing down and hitting the wooden table blocking their path. Six looks at the toy duck in Mono’s hands and back at the lamp with a glare and a huff.

“Duck.” Ben chuckles softly, the edges thinned with tension. “Funny, or it should be.”

None of them are very amused.

At least with the lamp here they can jump up and over the tables.

Those Bullies have been at the edges of their sight for a bit now, their traps and trickery forcing the trio to take different routes through the school halls. Their traps are obvious, if still dangerous. Ben had been lucky to spot the suspended locker and pull Six back before it managed to crush her like a pancake. She’d been frozen for a second and when they moved on, climbing side-turned lockers, she stuck a little closer to the teen, eyes darting up as if those stupid bullies would try another trap like that.

Ben wanted to reassure her but he knew that this next part is important, something else he’d like to change. He won’t allow her to be taken.

The hall ahead has another obvious trap, the light revealing a rope suspended between two low shelves. Mono and Six jumped over it with ease.

Bun jumped across as well, but unlike them he landed on a specific board that stuck out a little.

It snapped in half along with some other planks and the teen only managed a shout of surprise before he fell down. The drop wasn’t high but it still hurt like the dickens when he shook off the daze and a flashback full of red and black static. He looked up and spotted the duo staring down.

He waved his hand at them to show he's alright. “Go! I’ll be fine.”

They share a look before nodding and moving on. Still, Mono lingers to make sure the teen is really fine before following after Six.

Ben allowed the glare he’d been holding back to surface, eyes flashing red in the dark beneath the floorboards. With a grunt he got up from the floor. He made sure nothing in his bindle had broken and curses when he sees even more cracks in the glass jar holding the fireflies.

He sighs. Welp, there goes his plan of rescuing Six. He hopes they'll be fine.

‘I hate those Bullies.’ He thinks with a small growl, bindle tossed on his shoulder as he moves on, lantern out to illuminate the path ahead. Already he can see the space grow smaller up ahead. ‘Hate them. Always have.’

He hates all bullies, has for a long time now. Even before he started playing Little Nightmares he hated them. Despised their trickery and their incessant laughter as they spoiled someone’s lunch or embarrassed someone in front of others.

He hates them. And the ones here are even worse.

His early school life never had been easy. A school staff that seemed ignorant of the bullies causing trouble and too strict in their punishment. Apparently, a few years later, it would come out that the principle of their school was more focused on reputation and prestige than the care and well being of his students. When the parents found out the school quickly saw a drop in students, and eventually the regional schoolboard had to jump in and take charge to prevent the place from getting shut down all together.

When he was transferred to a school a little further into the city where his parents were planning to move, things changed. Bullies were still a bit of an issue but they were a lot milder and were caught more often and punished accordingly. The teachers were nicer and the principle cared for the students, even the troublesome ones.

That’s around the point he met Darren.

Ben chuckled softly as he ducked underneath a support. Thinking back he can kind of understand why him and Darren had such a rocky start in their friendship. The boy, back then eleven, had a ‘girlfriend’ who was very controlling. Ben didn’t realize it until his friend confessed about all of it a week after he broke up with her.

Somehow the rest of their class knew but never even thought to explain this to the new guy. He never got around to asking why, or ask for an apology. Class and exams and stuff pulled him in and before long the incidents were forgiven and, in part, forgotten.

But he always thinks back on them. Always lets those memories affect his mood or how he treats Darren. Perhaps that’s unfair.

Maybe it’s time he leaves it alone and start trusting his friend more.

(If he even finds his way out of here.)

Letting that thought fade into his mind he stops before a vent. He pulls it free with only a little struggle and when he jumps down he’s surprised to find himself inside what looks like an office. A bookcase reaching as high as the ceiling practically made up one side of the room and the rest is occupied by an oversized desk and a... a wheelchair?

This is the first piece of modern furniture he’s seen in this entire place!

Actually, scratch that, if you look at the room from the middle everything has a resemblance to a modern day office, the only difference is the stark shift of age in the walls, floor and ceiling. The lamp hanging from above has a little chain string to pull at and turn it on or off.

Th door is locked but he sees something metal glinting on the edge of the desk. Climbing up with the wheelchair is difficult because it keeps on rolling as he moves but he manages to get on the desk in the end.

He grumbles when the metal turns out to be a paperclip that’s so big it could fit around a person.

He shudders slightly at the mental image and keeps looking around the desk.

Pencils taller than him and a ball-point pen lie scattered around, an overturned cup holding some more miscellaneous items you’d find in an office. The desk has a portion where you can fit notebooks in and one of the books sitting in it has something written on the side.

And it’s written in English.

‘Wait, hold up. Hold the phone!’

English? In the world of Little Nightmares? Okay, sure, the game’s base language is English but he has yet to see anything written in this world that comes to resemble the common written word!

And here he finds a book with an English title!

His curiosity is too much. He isn’t even thinking about it as he pulls out the book and puts it down in the middle of the desk. He grabs the cover, a simple embroider pen and the title, ‘Notebook’, underneath the pen. Flipping it over is a little struggle in itself but he manages to wrench the book open.

The first page is almost empty bar a line in the center, and written in delicate cursive on that line are two words.

‘My Diary.’

His curiosity peaks. He flips to the next page.

Chapter Text

Ben was quite surprised to find the next page completely filled out, the words packed together in a way that almost looked rushed. Despite that their appearance was the same delicate cursive.

“Dear diary, I have decided to start writing things down in the hopes of maintaining a part of my humanity-”

“Wait, what?” He frowned, rereading the first line to see that he didn’t misread anything. But the sentence didn’t change. He looked at it again to make sure but nothing was wrong or written incorrectly.

Confused, he continued reading.

“-a part of my humanity, in case things are going to change even more. It all started About two years ago when the weirdest thing happened. A massive tower, completely black and broadcasting an unknown signal, appeared in the center of San Voltes.”

“No one has found an explanation as to the tower’s appearance, but in time we have started to figure out the purpose of the broadcasts.”

“The signal warps and distorts reality, reshaping it to something that is both surreal yet similar to our own world. Technology is affected differently than the rest of the world, anything more advanced than a black-white TV slowly falling apart. We have been forced to return to the way the world worked in the 20th century.”

“But that’s not all that has changed. The city, once vibrant and lush, has slowly started compacting itself. Buildings change and warp into taller versions, scaled up at least thrice or even four times our normal size. Plants die out under the oppressive signal, and any open surface is replaced with cobblestone roads and paths. In one spot a normal bus stop has become massive yet the space around it is even bigger, almost weirdly so.”

“Nothing about it makes sense, yet in other ways it does. People have been adapting to the changes the best they can.”

“But that is where the biggest change of them all has begun. The people, us adults in specific, have begun to grow in size as well. Not just getting fatter but simply bigger, taller.”

“Weirder.”

“Proportions have slowly fallen out of sync, parts of ourselves becoming shaped in odd and unusual ways. The blame lies with the signal coming from that black tower, but so far no one has found a way inside.”

“Trying to destroy it has proven futile, anything trying to do so falling apart into static particles that fade away like ash, the object disintegrated to dust.”

“Even our minds aren’t safe. Those who have a TV in their home seem to grow addicted to watching the screen, attempts to pull them away resulting in violent lashing out. Already some have actually fallen so deep that they killed someone just for trying to drag them away from their screen!”

“Those like us who have tossed our TV’s out the window are not left unaffected, though. People have slowly left their homes, but those who remain seem to fall deeper an deeper into their jobs.”

“I hope that soon someone will find a solution. The kids are growing scared.”

And that’s where the first part of the diary ends.

Ben frowns as he rereads the first ‘day’ noted in the diary. Whoever was writing apparently managed to stay aware of the things going wrong, noting them down in the hopes of staying themselves.

He wonders how long they managed to hold on to that part of themselves. The next part might have the answer.

This one already had a lot of answers in on itself.

(He doesn’t like what it’s implying.)

“Dear Diary, a few weeks have passed since I last wrote in here. In that time we have been losing contact with the rest of the world. Normal broadcasts on TV no longer work, all that is available now are these old black-white shows with scratchy vocals. Some simply play this creepy music and others are just pure static.”

“Without news about the outside our city has slowly started to turn into a world all on its own. Those who haven’t locked themselves in their homes or were locked away for ‘safety’ are losing their mind. A few have simply gone silent and looking for them has become the least of our worries.”

“We are the final ones who have managed to elude insanity, although barely. I have been put in charge in keeping the children safe, the school I used to work at now serving has a hideaway. We keep our eyes and ears peeled, praying for someone to come and safe us.”

“The tower seems to have grown. At night we hear screams in the air.”

“We’re scared, the children are scared. I’ve managed to scavenge some toys near the hospital in the hopes of keeping them relatively calm.”

“We’re losing hope.”

It ends there, much shorter than the previous. The mood definitely has grown somber.

Still, the mention of the school he’s in gives him a clue as to what happened. And the fact that whoever had written these entries worked for the school is also very useful to know.

The pieces are falling together. Yet the puzzle doesn’t look like something he wants to know.

But his curiosity is too much, has reached too far to back down now. He needs to know more. He flips to the next chapter.

“Dear Diary. It took me a month but I finally remembered where I left this stupid notebook.”

“Things have been hectic. As terrible as it sounds we’ve lost some of the kids, not to mention Roger the janitor has vanished. We aren’t sure if any of them are alive, some went missing near the hospital and others were taken by this man wearing a sack for a mask and a heavy button up raincoat. He looked like some kind of fisherman or something.”

“But there is also some good news, relatively speaking. One of our own found a boy near the edge of the city. Apparently his home, a nearby town, disappeared overnight. All that remained were ruins and the old train station. He was malnourished and frail but as long as some parts of the city remain functional we won’t run out of food and water anytime soon. Luckily the fridges in the cafeteria still work.”

“We aren’t sure who’s out there maintaining these things, though. Sometimes we find something broken yet the next day it’s fixed. The buildings are starting to grow dilapidated but nothing has fallen apart so far.”

“One of the young kids found a porcelain doll. It’s incredibly realistic but the head always seems to pop off. I’m worried one of them might try and fit their head inside it.”

“We’re running out of clothes for the kids to wear, though, all the children stores are being raided by someone else, we’re not sure why. The school uniforms seem like the only way to go.”

“I’ve been hearing whispers from some of the other adults, they’re thinking about running away. I don’t want to risk our group falling apart but the dangers in the streets have been growing by the day.”

“The shadows are hiding monsters. No one dares go to the train yard after those rabid dogs we saw.”

The writing is starting to grow less refined, not just rushed but also sloppy. Why, Ben isn’t sure but what he does know is that the more he’s reading the more the anxious string in his stomach is coiling up.

He’s almost scared to read the next entry. He flips the page anyways.

There is no delicacy in these words.

“Dear diary. I didn’t even realize I’d been writing in here until one of the ‘students’ showed me this notebook. In the end I decided to keep writing, even if I don’t remember what else I’ve written in here.”

“Things have been... different. I at last found the one who’s been making those porcelain dolls. It’s quite a surprise to see the Doctor work so painstakingly on the dolls despite his thick fingers and hunched back.”

“We’ve forgotten our names by now. The kids have found comfort in reading the books lying around in class. Memories are growing hazy and reminders are almost constantly needed to stay on track. The cafeteria lady is growing more suspicious. I fear she wants to hurt the kids.”

“I won’t let her. The Principle already tried to kick me out after I used my ruler to slap some of the kids trying to go outside. I sent him out to look for some supplies even though we have everything we need right here.”

“He didn’t come back. Too bad.”

“We’ve been cleaning up the mess we made of the school building. Those windows don’t have to be boarded up, as long as we stay inside and follow the Rules. No TV’s though, I won’t have the Broadcast turn one of my kids into those empty husks living in their homes, glued to their stupid screens.”

“I don’t know why anyone of us wanted to leave here. Maybe because we were scared.”

“What does it mean to be scared? I don’t remember.”

“I enjoy teaching the kids. My students are always nice to me. One even gave an apple, although I wonder where she found it...”

“What was I trying to say? I don’t remember. I’ll go and check on class.”

Ben gulped. Suddenly it made a lot of sense who wrote this diary.

The Teacher.

The next entry isn’t just rushed, it looks like whoever had been writing was frantic. It isn’t the Teacher’s hand writing either, smaller and with mistakes scratched out..

“Dear Dai-Diary, I’m scared.”

“Miss Margaret is acting weird. Ever since Tommy kicked Jerold she’s been growing stricter. Her ruler keeps on hitting our desks and I don’t like the way she turns her head at us.”

“Should her neck even stretch that way? I don’t know, I don’t remember much from before the Tower appeared. Recently Miss Margaret has shown more intera-interi-interest in the Tower. It’s weird, her lessons don’t make much sense anymore but it’s all we can do.”

“I don’t like the cafeteria lady much, though. She’s even scarier, always talking lowly about us, saying we belong in her pots. Some of the bullies were talking about giving her a ‘just dessert’. I don’t like them either.”

“I want my mommy. Where’s mommy?”

The rest of the next sentence fades into a dragged-out line, scribbled and definitely not intentional. The kid who had been writing in here must have gotten caught. By who he probably will never know.

He has a name. The Teacher had a name.

Ben isn’t sure how he feels about this.

The next entry is again in the Teacher’s hand-writing, somehow the child who had been writing in her must have made her remember.

“Dear Diary. The kids are growing out of hand! Not so long ago I caught some of the boys putting rat poison in the Cafeteria Lady’s soup. Of course she didn’t notice and when she tasted it she got poisoned. I was forced to put her body in the freezer.”

“I need a way to discipline them. I’ve been talking with the Doctor during my breaks and he thinks he might have a way to fix them. He promises they won’t turn out like his other Patients.”

“I’ll have to take his word on that. I have more important things to do. A man in a suit has shown up and he wants to talk with me about a place he’s made for his daughter. He calls it The Nest.”

“Silly name if you ask me, but I’m still interested. It serves like a school of sorts and that strikes my mind. My teachings about the Tower have been falling flat, tests not good enough. Maybe teaching the little girl about being good will get me somewhere.”

“She likes to play pretend, almost all the time really. If I can show her how she can play pretend better things might work out.”

“Her daddy is a nice man. I wonder what flowers he likes? If I can find any. Maybe the Hunter could help me with that.”

“I have to go now, classes to teach. Some of the boys asked me about the anatomy and I think I might be able to show them more. I’ve always been interested in that kind of lessons, hands on and active.”

He shudders, flipping the page to reveal that this was the final entry in the book. Without much beyond some struggling he closes the book and drops down the desk.

He needs a moment.

‘This... This changes everything.’

Leaving the office took a little bit of, um, maneuvering.

The wheelchair allowed him to actually get to the lock in the door. From there he had to use one of the large paperclips to work out how to actually get the lock to click. Normally a key is used for this but seeing as there isn’t one around he had to get more creative.

It took him five tries. Five.

Luckily those paperclips were a bit stronger than normal ones. Hard to bend though. He had to put some extra strength into that.

But finally the door clicked and when he pushed the handle it opened. On the other side he found a dark hallway and a staircase leading up. For some reason the office he’d found is located underground. Doesn’t exactly make much sense.

Why does he even question this world’s logic? By now it’s rather clear some things aren’t meant to make sense. It’s all madness personified, the creation of whatever entity is in control of the Signal Tower.

Still, a little bit of an easier way out wouldn’t hurt right about now.

Ben still isn’t sure what to do with all that information. Obviously there was a time where the students in this building were actual children and not these porcelain fakes. Whatever happened to the kids, the Doctor was responsible. He growls at the thought of whatever that mad scientist might have done to all those poor kids.

He already decided that the Doctor’s fate is not something he’ll try to fix. Whether that’s him or the anger speaking, Ben doesn’t care right now.

He has to find a way out of here. Find Six and Mono and help them escape. Or, if they already have, find where the Hospital is located. He should find them on the way there.

(If they’re still, ya know. Alive.)

The stairs lead further up, ending at a double door, one open because of a box blocking it from closing. When he passed the box he looked inside and found what looked like gym shoes sitting inside.

When he walked into the room his footsteps echoed off the massive space, the walls so far away it almost feels like a museum instead of what it really is.

A gym hall.

A very rundown gym hall. From the looks of it this place hasn’t seen use in years. Material for different sports lie scattered around, gymnastic equipment stacked in several piles that look strangely intentional.

He looked around before spotting a door through which outside light was shining through. Ben smiled at the sight, relieved he won’t have to go through the entire school to get outside. Still, he sticks close to the wall in order to avoid getting caught in the mess in the center. Not every part of the wall was clean though and so he had to do some zigzag maneuvering.

He cringed at the smell in the air, the stench of sweat that must have been stewing inside this place for god knows how long. It only pushed him to pick up the pace.

He pushed the door open with a little effort and sighed in relief when he finally walked outside. An overhang protected him from the rain falling outside. He looked up, not surprised but still a little startled with the rain falling down. Of course thanks to the mist he never managed to see the clouds and know if it would actually start raining.

He worried his lips a little as he looked around. Hopefully Mono and Six will take a hint this time and stay under cover until it stops raining.

Somehow he has his doubts.

And even though he’s no longer inside the building the school still hasn’t truly let him go yet. He’s outside, but the entire area is surrounded by towering apartment buildings and wooden fences of small back yards. A running course goes from one side of the gym building to the other, disappearing around the corners.

He looks to his left where the actual school building still seems to continue on, connecting with the other structures. That must be the part where Mono and Six were forced to go through. If he can find a way there...

He’s crossing the open outdoors area to inspect the fences and buildings, looking for a way he might be able to get inside one. His eyes strayed to a lonesome tree, old and dying with only a few leaves still stubbornly clinging to the low-hanging branches. They’re brown and rotten.

But the branches still look solid, and it grew on a bit of an angle. One branch in particular stands out, close to an open window of an apartment complex that towered high into the fog.

Looking up results in the rain hitting his face, though, and he curses the fact he doesn’t have anything to protect himself from getting soaked. Maybe he should’ve taken one of those raincoats hanging in the school halls.

Well, nothing he can do about that now.

He starts climbing the tree once he’s made sure his bindle won’t drop, clutched tightly between his elbow and shoulder. His arm smarts a little from the odd angle but he makes do. The bark is rough yet slick against his hands and he hisses whenever a splinter stabs the skin like a needle. Luckily he’s a bit more experienced with this and doesn’t slip. Back at his old school climbing trees was the only way you could really avoid getting pushed around (sometimes literally) by the bullies on the playground.

The teachers never really cared, not even when it ended up with some kids walking home from school with a broken limb from falling.

He never had the bad luck of finding out how that feels like, and he isn’t planning on letting that happen now.

Jumping through the window he lands in what looks to be a kitchen.

Or used to be one. The floor is flooded with water leaking through cracks in the ceiling. An old microwave is hanging precariously from it’s wire over the edge of the counter, sparks flying where it’s touching the water.

One step in that and he’s toast. Literally.

Ben carefully walks on the counter, looking around for a way out. The kitchen is huge, a double door fridge and two stoves in the central island revealing a much larger use than simply cooking family meals. He stops when he arrives at what looks like some kind of maintenance chute or something in the wall, the door broken. It’s open because of that and looking down he can see the little lift. Perhaps not a maintenance chute but definitely a way down. The lift is attached to a thick and strong looking rope.

He rubs his hands together, the tips of his fingers colder than the rest of him. A shiver runs down his spine and for the first time it isn’t because of fear or terror. His clothes are a fair bit soaked, the tree hadn’t provided much cover from the rain.

If he isn’t careful he might get a cold. And in this city, that simply won’t do.

He grabs the rope and with a sling wraps himself around it. He slides a little down before catching himself with the heel of his shoes, not about to have his hands go from ice cold to burned like a crisp from the friction.

Instead he takes careful steps down, making sure that there’s nothing in the way. Down below he can see light stream in through an opening, flickering slightly and growing brighter and dimmer in specific intervals.

When he’s finally down and able to look through the gap between the wall and the lift, he realizes why and wants to bang his head in.

“Fuck, not again.”

Viewers are scattered around what turns out to have been a restaurant, at least back in the old days. In several corners are TV sets hanging from the wall, each playing a different broadcast but all serving the same purpose of keeping the twisted people in an eternal trance as they’re drained of everything they’re worth.

The ones standing are dressed like old school waiters, aprons and all. On the tables are plates that once held food but has turned into mold and fungus over time. He grimaces at the smell that assaults his nose when he breathes in.

‘And they don’t have a nose anymore.’ He laments softly as he climbs down a cart standing near the chute access, landing on the ground with nary a sound. The burst of envy is short-lived though when he spots several chairs with empty clothes draped over them. He’d rather smell the horrible food than experience whatever does that.

Getting caught by these Viewers would be a horror show in itself, though, but getting past them is much easier as long as the TV’s keep working. He avoids tripping over some wires leading a set that’s standing on one of the tables, looking very much out of place in a restaurant.

He reaches the entrance/exit of the restaurant with only a few tense moments when one of the Viewers gave a spasm that had him freezing up before relaxing and moving on.

Ben pushes the door open and slips through, shuddering a little when it turns out the entrance has a bell that it rings when the door closes. Flashes of red in his vision have him slack in a breath before he’s forcing it out slowly.

‘There’s no time. No time. I have to find those kids.’

He isn’t letting them handle the next part on their own like with the school. He simply can’t. Not after everything he’s seen and been through.

At least when he looks around and realizes that the street before him cuts off into a horrendous looking ravine he knows somewhat where he can find them. It takes a bit to find a convenient looking wooden bridge across the gap, the rain and mist combining in such a way that seeing anything is getting almost impossible. He sneezes and starts moving, not about to stick around in the wet and cold.

The little side alley isn’t hard to spot, nor the large trash containers sitting under an open vent. Packages and rubble lie scattered around and it takes him a moment to spot the two small figures huddling together under the inadequate roof offering some level of protection from the weather. The rain only seems to come down faster.

“Hey!” He calls out and is relieved when the two jolt up and look around, walking out of the shadows and allowing him to properly see the two kids. Mono and Six don’t look much better than before the school, the latter especially in this weather. She’s shivering and Ben bites his lip as he walks over, not wanting them to stray from the small shelter too much.

“Ben.” Mono croaks out his name with relief and only now does the teen realize that they must have been waiting for him, huddled together after their entire ordeal. Ben speeds up and crouches down so he can pull the boy into a hug, leaving his bindle on the ground in favor of having both hands free.

It’s a little surprising and the kid goes rigid in his hold but the older boy doesn’t care, suddenly just as relieved to see that they’re still here, still alive.

“You’re alive.” Neither knows who said it and they don’t ask, just glad to know they’re on the same page. Ben looks up from where Mono is slowly relaxing in his hold to regard the girl who has had to endure possible hours of torture from the Bullies.

“You alright?” She startles a little and looks at him, eyes hidden under her wet bangs conveying her question on whether he’s asking her. “Yeah, you. Are you alright?”

She nods but it’s jerky and not just because she’s shivering. Ben frowns and lets go of Mono to reach out and softly grab her hand. The one Mono hasn’t, the one that looks like it’s scratched up from something sharp, like shards.

‘Porcelain shards. The Bully.’ Some part of him wants to shiver at the knowledge that Six went that far, that she shattered a Bully with her bare hands but the larger part doesn’t care. She’s safe and right now that matters more. Means more. Her actions don’t say anything about who she is, just how she felt at the time. He can imagine, a similar feeling broiling inside him on a constant basis.

Slowly her hand wraps around his and he gently pulls her closer, bring her and Mono side-to-side. He lets go and before she can shuffle off grabs the two in a protective hug, bowing over them and acting somewhat like a shield against the rain dripping off them.

They’re stiff and cold in his grip, muscles rigid and their bodies coiled springs. He can almost feel the adrenaline still pulsing through their veins, unable to drain away as long as they remain so alert and wary. He won’t begrudge them that but too much for too long is bad for one’s health and they need this after their encounter with The Teacher.

It takes a bit for them to start relaxing, for the muscles to slowly melt under his grip. He can feel them lean into him now, and he can almost imagine the two have their eyes closed, content to accept the act of kindness for once in their lives. Even Six, who hasn’t said a word to him and has always been more distant and cold seems to take refuge in his arms.

“I’m here.” Ben murmurs softly, not wanting to break the mood but still have something to add. “I’m here and I’m not leaving. You’re safe, you’ll be okay. I’ll help you whatever way I can, I’ll keep you guys safe. Alright?”

He feels Mono nod against his shoulder. He smiles and softly reaches out to pat him to the back of his head, hoping the touch is comforting despite the bag in the way. His eyes trail to Six, the girl huddled in his hold but still full with tense energy, refusing to let it go. She hasn’t moved or given any hint that she understood what he said.

So he does what he thinks is the right thing to do, the only way he knows to help her.

He starts humming. It’s a little off and he can’t quite get all the notes but despite the broken tune it’s still hauntingly familiar. She tenses a little more in his hold but slowly she looks up, and for the first time he isn’t looking at a mask made of hair but instead he sees eyes as red as blood framed by a face so starkly young and underfed it doesn’t belong. Her wet hair is sticking off to the sides from where she’d put her face against his shirt and for the first time he sees the face of a scared little girl, not a distant and cold child or a monster in disguise. He almost breaks off his humming at the realization.

But he doesn’t, stays resolute in offering her the feeling of safety she needs. He knows the music box is in his bindle, that grabbing it would’ve been an option but he doesn’t because that would mean letting them go and he can’t do that.

Because right now they’re scared, even if they won’t admit it. They’re scared because that was close, because the Teacher is horrible in a way that he understands. Because she’s an adult but the Bullies she teaches were once children too. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out and he’s sure they have too.

So he holds them, humming the soothing tune as they remain huddled in the rain. They should be shivering, soaked to the bone. Yet neither have ever felt this warm and cozy in their entire lives.

Chapter Text

They keep moving.

Ben doesn’t ask what they’ve been through, doesn’t need to but also understands that it’s a sore subject. He wasn’t there for them and now that it’s settling in he can’t help the guilt pulling at him like chains, trying to drag him down into a sea of boiling rage.

He fights the pull with every step, keeping close and trying his best to help keep them sheltered. Unfortunately the blanket of his bindle is already soaking wet so using that isn’t an option, and Mono’s jacket is too small to fit all of them, even too small to provide Six with some means of cover without needing the boy to take it off. So they march on, looking for a place to stay out of the rain.

Crossing the ravine was easy if nail-biting. It looked endlessly deep, fog hiding the bottom if there even is one. The buildings leaned over the edge, giving it an even creepier vibe than it already had. Once on the other side they speed up just a little to put more distance between them and the school.

Passing an alley Ben almost startles when something appears from thin air in his peripheral vision. Mono pauses to look inside and backs up a little from the sight.

The fitting way of describing it would be some kind of glitched silhouette, broken and falling apart. It looks like a child, staring down at a surprisingly still intact paper boat.

Ben gently nudges Mono along to where Six is waiting under some temporary shelter, not taking his eyes off the Glitched Remain until they can’t see it anymore. He isn’t sure what they are, the remnant souls of children taken by Thin Man or the Tower or some other weird paranormal horror, but he doesn’t want Mono interacting with them.

There’s no achievement here, no secret ending to win, by gathering them all.

Entering inside the shelter they find a small room, clothes and packages lying in heaps and piles. Rain still comes in through a hole in the roof but it’s surprisingly dry outside of that. Mono pushes a few of the packages lying around to block the entrance, shutting out some of the biting cold wind.

Ben walks further in the room. He’s so set on making sure everything’s safe he almost doesn’t notice the flash of bright yellow lying on the ground. He pauses to look at it closer and his eyes widen when he realizes.

The yellow raincoat. Six’s coat, the one she got from the other girl...

Six seems just as surprised to see it lying here as he does. He crouches down to grab it and rubs the material under his thumb. It’s dry and a little insulated. The outside is really like the rubber you find in all manner of raincoats but the inside is actually softer, a thin layer of a yellow-ish fabric lining the inner coat like a cotton blanket.

He hands it over to her and she tentatively takes it from his hands, rubbing her fingers over it almost reverently. He wants to smile but there’s a feeling inside him that is fighting the desire, breaking it down into nervous wariness.

There’s so much to this coat, more than he might ever realize. The stories it could tell... The horrors it’s seen...

(The horrible tragedy it was once destined to see, deep below waves and metal bowels.)

Six puts it on and wraps her arms around herself for a moment once it’s secure, feeling the warmth yet somehow something else as well. She reaches to pull the cap up but pauses and looks at Mono and then Ben. Neither have made a move to keep going.

“Are...” Her voice cracks, disuse beyond some whispered calls obvious. Ben rights himself and has to force himself from staring at her, shocked beyond believe to hear her talk for the first time. Mono doesn’t show it outwardly but he’s gone solid like ice at hearing the girl’s voice beyond soft whispers. Her voice is small and gentle, yet so broken at the same time from lack of use. “Are we... staying here?”

Ben observes the small storage shed, the rain leaking in to create a puddle of drinkable water. He considers the small noises, skitters and pitter-patter feet behind a wall. Mice or rats, either one is fine.

It’s been a long day, and it isn't even over yet.

“Yeah.” He clears his throat, pushes away the uncertainty and trying again. “Yeah, we’re staying here for a bit. Rest up and eat. It’s probably already past noon.”

That seems to pacify her concerns and she nods, moving over to Mono to see what he’s doing with some of the packages. Ben looks at the two kids a little longer before he puts his bindle down and reaches inside to pull out his lantern. The glass is cracked so bad it could shatter at any moment so he places it down gently, the light offering some meager warmth and respite from the drab cold outside. Luckily no water got inside the old jar, but the bugs inside look subdued from the cold.

Mono adds to the warmth by bringing the ripped cardboard from packages that are dry and piling them together before using a stone and a piece of metal he found lying around to strike sparks. It lights up at the third try and the fire adds to the makeshift coziness. Ben would’ve made a joke about camping indoors if he didn’t know for a fact it would go over the twp their heads.

He takes his bottles out and offers one to each, allowing them to have a drink. Six guzzles hers down in a flash and gently hands him the empty bottle back. He considers it and refills it from the rain pouring down before handing it back to her. Like he thought it doesn’t take much for her to empty it once more, this time more satisfied.

They eat up the last of the berries but Ben’s stomach grumbles nonetheless. He unwraps the sack from his bindle, the stick and sharp tip turning it into a simple yet effective spear. He finds a hole in the wall hidden behind some boxes that look chewed on and with some patience he spots something gray peaking out. He jolts forwards and impales the rat right in the head, not even allowing it a startled or pained squeak before it’s dead.

Cooked meat goes well in with the two boys but Six takes it with slight hesitance. That concerns Ben a bit and not for the first time he wonders if maybe there is more to the first game than just a curse or the Tower. Perhaps...

Perhaps Six is different even now. It should send shivers down his spine but he acknowledges the possibility and leaves it at that. There’s so much worse out there, so much horrible things that he’s seen that this seems almost like nothing.

(And isn’t that funny, to find these thoughts to be normal.)

Waking up from a nap is different than from actual sleep. When you’re napping you aren’t actually sleeping, you’re still aware of your surroundings and can still think. You just... shut yourself down for a little bit, letting your body and mind rest up and let darkness take over your thoughts.

Time is still meaningful, still passes like normal. Mono is already back up when Ben gets up from where he’d been resting on a pile of clothes he’d turned into a makeshift bed. Six is still lying on her own little pile, right next to the one Mono had been using.

“Ben?” Mono calls out softly, not willing to have Six wake up just yet. The teen nods to show he’s listening even as he repacks his bindle. “Where... where are we going?”

Ben pauses at that, not sure what to give for an answer and a little surprised the kid asks him now. He can’t just say ‘to the Signal Tower’, no that would surely freak Mono out right now. ‘The hospital’ also wouldn’t be wise, that would mean the teen knows more about the Pale City than he makes to believe.

“Forwards.” He settles on, simple yet clear. “We’re going forwards, wherever it’s safer.”

“Is there anywhere safe here?”

He fights with himself to not give away anything. Safe is relative in this place, he finds, and absolute safety is never guaranteed. Compared to this place his old home is much safer but that isn’t an option until he knows a way back.

“Safe... It depends on where we are.” He utters softly, pulling the knot of the sack tighter until it won’t go any more. “We’re safe here, but not for long. Staying here isn’t a good idea at all, there is too much around us to be safe, so we have to keep going. To find somewhere secure to stay until we move on again.”

“Oh.”

They don’t talk any further, Six her yawning interrupting them as she gets up and rubs her eyes. The trio clean up what the small camp, leaving no sign of ever having been here, and then they’re moving on. Six gives Mono a boost to unlock the door and then they’re walking through the empty store. Outside it’s still raining but Ben notices that Six doesn’t put her cap on until they’re set on heading outside in the wet and cold.

Like it’s really just there for that purpose, not to hide her face.

He wonders what made her decide there’s no point in doing so.

(He wonders what it’ll take for Mono to do the same.)

The streets are just as soaked as when they stopped to rest, the rain not having let up even a little. It’s getting closer to the afternoon and Ben is worried that at this rate they might be forced to sleep in the hospital or not sleep and keep going until exhaustion becomes too much to handle.

Luckily it’s only for a little bit before they’re in front of a wall, a single vent the only way through. Ben pulls it free and lets the kids go ahead before following after. As cramped as ever, he really has to force his joints in awkward ways in order to keep up with the two. Had he been in front he’d be slowing them down even more.

The two are tense as they drop down the shaft, and Ben doesn’t have to ask to know why. Their last escapade through vents had been harrowing he’s sure, with the Teacher right on their tails.

The building on the other side of the vent is so unassuming, so generic like everything else that if it wasn’t for the overturned gurney at the side you would have never guessed the building before them is a hospital. The street keeps going to their right but just like before the best course of action is to go forwards and brave the dangers.

Getting inside through the open window is a piece of cake but once they’re inside the atmosphere drops by several degrees.

It’s cold inside. Colder than you’d expect.

Ben curses under his breath, suddenly feeling very much like he’s under dressed. Already his nose is starting to feel runny and his skin is shivering with goosebumps. He tries to ignore it in favor of keeping an eye on their surroundings, watching for any unknown threats. The kids are exceptionally close to him this time around and he can’t find it in himself to complain, not like he was going to.

The air is dry, the stale and chemical smell is horrendous and the carts and shelves standing around piled up with old bandages and hospital clothing are not encouraging. Metal hospital beds block the way forwards if you were too big to crawl underneath. The hall reaches a T-junction and they keep going, ignoring the fenced-off hallway and the silhouettes of wheelchairs and perhaps even figures sitting inside.

As long as nothing is screaming or growling or chasing after them, they’re fine.

The double door ahead should be able to be pushed open. Six and Mono aim to do so but Ben grabs them and pulls them back.

“Hey.” Six protests softly, wiggling free from his grip. She looks up to glare at him but Ben glares back down at her and shakes his head. He steps forwards and with a swift kick sends the doors flying open-

-and revealing the echoing abyss beyond.

Six her eyes widen and she pulls her hood back a little so she can take a better look. Leaning a little beyond the open door she sees nothing but darkness below and a faint blue glow above, nothing to suggest it’s inside or outside beyond the lack of rain or wind.

Mono has a very similar reaction, just as taken aback by the sight of the endless drop they could have fallen in hadn’t they been cautious.

(Both realize almost at the same time that Ben is truly keeping to his word that he’ll keep them safe.)

Beds hang down from above, so many of them. The ones ahead lead upwards, and you can just make out what looks like an elevator door on the other side, up high next to a trio of beds.

Climbing up is precarious, the beds bouncing slightly as they jump over and walk or climb on them. The knotted sheets are tested by Ben first before he lets them come up, making sure they can handle the kids their weight and more. From there it’s jumping across, Six making it across much faster than Mono.

Still, they reach the door and get inside.

Ben notices the power-box near the floor and he grabs the battery once he’s sure the duo are through and out of the way. Once it’s removed the elevator door shuts tight. It’s suddenly a lot darker in the hall and they quickly move forwards.

The battery powers the door in their way, allowing them passage. Ben murmurs in confusion to himself about how it’s strange they haven’t depleted yet but a call from Six has him following.

The elevator they jump on moves the moment they’re on and screeches as it lowers down, the attached point between the elevator and the metal wire holding it up definitely not going to hold for much longer. Ben shouts at them to open the vent ahead and the moment it’s open he’s pushing them all inside, just barely in when it snaps and the elevator cart is send thundering down with metal groans.

They stay there for a moment, close enough that their ears hurt a little. Hurting ears turn into physical flinches when it hits the bottom with a boom so loud it surely must have awoken every single creature in this facility and outside.

That definitely was a loud dinner bell. Ben would have laughed at his own reference if he wasn’t sweating and panting from the close call.

‘Too many.’ He ponders for a moment, closing his eyes and swallowing to regain himself. ‘Far too many close calls.’

He isn’t wrong there.

They leap out of the vent into the next room. It’s unnaturally dark, only a spot illuminated by a flashlight lying abandoned on the floor. Ben pulls out his lantern and balks at the sight of the fireflies inside barely lighting up the jar itself. Whatever is causing this pure darkness is also affecting the bugs their bioluminescence.

They’re forced to rely on the flashlight in Mono’s hand. Ben keeps close to the boy and makes sure the duo are holding hands so they can’t lose each other. Ahead of them is a way out of the room and he keeps them marching, having seen the outline of an eye painted on the wall before Mono had checked the light to see if it can be turned on and off.

The more he’s with them the more he wants to minimize the horror they’re seeing around them. He knows the duo have seen their fair share of terrible things but he wants to spare them the added horror of seeing things repetitively.

So far he isn’t doing a whole lot of good.

The halls are just as dark and Ben makes sure they’re not lingering on anything. The stale and chemical smell is only getting worse and there are hints of rotted flesh slowly adding to the mix, but not the kind they found in the woods of the Hunter.

It’s heavier, bloodier. Like it came from something bigger than animals.

And so far the only thing that’s been bigger than any animal are the humanoid monsters they’ve seen all around.

Ben doesn’t want to consider that thought and nudges Mono along from looking at an IV hanging connected to an empty bed, mattress pressed in like it’d been used many times over by passing patients.

And not just passing through.

Blasted aim!

Ben grumbles and relinquishes the can they’d gotten from the old vending machine to Mono. He aims a lot better and has the door open in a single throw. The teen wants to grumble more but he knows what’s ahead and he wants to try and see if he can change this.

The moment Mono walks into the waiting room static booms into the air like a fanfare, broken and ear-shattering loud. Ben and Six are forced to press their hands to their ears but the sound is literally pounding in their heads.

Still, just like before they follow after Mono and find him with a hand pressed against the screen and body hunched over it like he’s barely keeping himself upright. Six shakes her head and fights against the oppressive white noise screaming in her mind and stumbles closer to the boy with the paper bag.

Ben joins her at Mono’s side after he manages to fight off the anger pushing upwards like it’s trying to connect with something. They share a squinted look and together they reach out and grab the boy to pull him back.

And like before it’s like they’re trying to break apart a solid wall, the noise growing louder and louder in their heads and sending quakes through their bodies. Six lets out a small scream of effort as she puts all her weight and strength in trying to drag Mono away from the screen.

And just as unexpected, in a single flash of gray and black on the screen, it lets go and they’re send tumbling over each other into a small pile. The sound and screen of the lone TV shuts off without anyone pressing the off button.

They stay there, reeling from the familiar event. Six grits her teeth and pushes Mono from where he’s lying on her side and gets up.

“Why?” She turns on him the moment he’s somewhat coherent and the force in her voice startles him. Ben is just as surprised as the younger boy at the sudden anger rolling off her. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” Ben mentally winces for Mono's sake as he sees the frustration in Six her eyes grow.

“That!” She waves a hand at the old TV set, flinching away from it slightly when she finds herself a little too close for comfort. “Why?”

Mono opens and closes his mouth but he can’t give an answer, doesn’t seem like he has one that could satisfy her. Ben frowns at the display and then looks at the empty screen before getting up, dusting himself off a little and making sure his bindle didn’t end up knocked over from where he’d put it away.

“Why does anything here have to make sense.” He utters softly, but still loud enough for them to hear. Attention now drawn to him it pushes the rest of his thoughts outwards into words. “Why do they wear masks? Why are they so focused on their screens? Why do monsters exist? Why are these things all around us?” He motions at the mismatched mannequins they hadn’t even realized are around the TV, torso’s too human-like to be made of plastic.

Ben sighs and hauls his bindle over his shoulder. “Why is the world so cruel? Can you answer any of them?”

Even though it was a rhetorical question Six still gives a tentative shake of her head, unsure whether she even had to or not. He doesn’t give an answer if she should have, settling on finishing his thought.

“Don’t ask about that what no one can explain. Some things just happen and we’ll never understand why.”

Although deep inside him he has a feeling he knows why Mono is always pulled to these screens, to try and reach the end of the hallway they can’t see. He knows what’s behind the door but he can’t tell them, can’t without having to explain too much that he himself has no answer for.

So he stays quiet and instead starts looking around for a way out of this place. Six and Mono share an unsure look but the latter quickly looks away like he was burned. Six her face wrinkles slightly with the unfamiliar feeling of guilt when seeing the hurt in Mono’s action and she reaches out to take his hand, not knowing how to convey her apology without looking weak.

Mono squeezes her hand and she returns the gesture after some hesitation. She repeats it another time to reaffirm herself.

Half a floor higher a powerbox with two empty slots is the beginning of a difficult path forwards.

Their journey through the hospital has been a rollercoaster that surely would have even the most hardiest of people puking near the end. Ben found he was more than ready to empty his stomach by the time they found the first battery.

It hadn’t been easy solving the strange myriad of puzzles leading them there. And when they finally managed to unlock the next door they found only one person could go in and retrieve the battery. Ben introduced the duo to rock-paper-scissors and in the end Mono lost and went through the broken door with a boost from Six.

And then they waited. Ben looked around the dark hall full with racks holding boxes, and those boxes are full with mannequin parts. He shivered at that and after some small deliberation they decided to wait in the room that actually has a working light in order to have a good view over their surroundings.

Ben regarded the discarded mannequin parts lying and hanging around with revulsion and steered clean away from them, the look of these supposedly realistic fakes just triggering something in his mind that felt wrong about them.

Six mindlessly kicked a few, bored out of her mind as they wait for Mono to return. Underneath that boredom though is actual concern for her friend.

Her friend... When did it become so simple to believe of him as her friend? Not willing to humor the thought right now after her outburst from earlier she looked down at a mannequin arm lying on the ground and pondered on the way it looks. How real are these arms meant to be? Do the joints only bend as far as normal ones would?

Before she could ponder further and let the darkness pressing in on her mind (one made of static and a metal box) take over, a gentle tune has her looking up to see where it’s coming from. She spots Ben leaning against a wall where he’s the farthest from all the plastic limbs and ligaments. He’s humming, but it isn’t her song he’s humming.

It’s something else, something equally soothing and weirdly familiar in a way that has her actually clearing her mind just to try and remember, but there’s nothing in her head that reminds her of the song.

Still, it was a nice tune. Not like her music box but definitely nice.

Had she been able to read Ben’s mind she’d find out he’s actually humming the main theme of the second game, trying to keep his mind off worrying about Mono. He still sort of remembers that for the first battery the boy has to fight some kind of demonic hand and in order to not think about that too much he’s keeping himself busy by humming the LN2 theme.

He remembers hearing someone add lyrics to it, but he can’t quite recall where... In fact, he can’t exactly recall that much anymore of his old life back home. Without anything familiar around him to remind him, the boy is slowly forgetting the things he loved and hated, the things he knew and the people he met. His parent’s faces are growing hazier every time he thinks back on them.

It scares him a little. He rewinds the theme in his head and keeps on humming.

He doesn’t notice Six sitting a little away but close enough so she can hear the notes and try to follow along. Her voice breaks slightly as she hums, too soft to really be heard but still enough for her to calm down.

The plastic arm is completely forgotten.

By the time they have the first battery in it’s late in the evening, or at least so Ben would assume from his internal clock and the way the two kids are starting to get a little sluggish in their movement. He calls for them to stop for today and rest.

They look at him like he’s mad and Mono starts counting a few reasons why they have to keep going, why they can’t stop now they’re so close-!

“No.” Ben stops the boy before he can fall into a rant, apparently already tired enough that the filter between his mind and his mouth is slowing down. “You’re tired, she’s tired, we’re all mentally and physically exhausted. Moving on now will only result in one of you getting yourself killed because you weren’t fast enough to spot the danger.”

Mono huffs behind his paper bag and crosses his arms, in that moment looking starkly like a little kid having a tantrum over a toy. Six seems to share in Ben’s sentiment, giggling behind her hand at the boy’s antics. ‘Apparently her own filter is slowing down as well.’

A tantrum in the end isn’t what it turns into, but Mono still disagrees even as they pull a mattress from a nearby room and put in the large waiting hall. Ben finds a storage room that has seen better days but there are some cans of food in there and after some prying he gets a few open. Their dinner consists of beans and carrots and Six eats with forced bites and chewing, her face betraying her grave dislike of the situation. But she couldn’t deny that the very thought of eating something regularly has her stomach asking for more.

Even if that stuff is vegetables... Eww.

Ben has to forcibly keep himself from laughing as he watches the two be kids in such almost stereotypical ways he can’t help but find it endlessly hilarious. But at the same time it’s so wrong to be able look at them and not realize that they’re just that, kids. Children who should’ve been playing with friends and begging their parents for new toys, not feeling content over regular meals and hardly knowing what it means to have fun.

It takes a little but Ben manages to find a blanket and with some messing around he gets it draped over the mattress like a tent with the help of some broken bed frames, offering them extra comfort and a shield from the old fluorescent lights buzzing above their heads. It isn’t that bright in here but it helps, hides away the awful world around them.

Under the cover he finds he can speak a little freer and when they’re finished eating the teen softly begins telling stories about his life outside the Pale City. He recounts the adventures he and Diego had, voice cracking slightly whenever he mentions the hybrid’s name but able to smile past it as the memories return.

The two kids are enraptured in his story telling, the way he immerses them into those moments something almost magical. Ben holds back a few details and he covers the events with the Conductor in as minimal description as possible, completely steering what happened in the bell tower around so he doesn’t have to relive it and they don’t have to learn the horrid truth.

Six and Mono hardly notice, too absorbed in the story to care. When he comes around to the moment where he first met Mono there isn’t anything else to say, and the two kids look scandalized when he tells them that was all.

For a moment silence hung in the air.

“Sometimes... I wonder if my parents will still recognize me.” Ben utters softly, leaning on his knees and mind halfway into fading memories. He’s still sound of mind to keep certain details quiet but he keeps on talking, tired mind uncaring at the emotions bubbling in his stomach like hot water. “I wonder if they’re worried about me, or if they really care. My real dad was a monster, I hated him, so I was glad when Mom decided to look for someone else, someone better.”

The two kids shared a stunned look. They’d always wondered a little why Ben is so different from the other kids they’ve ever known, why he’s so much older yet still so nice and kind and caring.

Apparently he’s like that because he actually knows what it’s like to have a happy life. At least for a bit.

Silence rung out once more but is broken almost just as quickly by Mono’s voice, the boy uncharacteristically subdued.

“I never knew them, my parents.” He’s sitting semi-lotus, hands fiddling with a button from his overcoat. Even with the paper bag over his head he doesn’t look at either of them. “I grew up in an orphanage. Our caretaker wasn’t nice, it was mostly just us kids taking care of each other. One-... one day there was a fire, no one got hurt but... Something changed. I don’t remember how I got away but one moment I was running and the next I was lying in a room, a broken TV behind me.”

Mono stopped there, shaking his head and looking away. Ben swallowed the lump in his throat. He vaguely recalls the comic that showed the fire Mono mentioned but he always wondered what it really meant. Now he knows.

Six looked at the boy, hunched together and apparently finished with talking. It felt like she should speak but for a moment she wondered whether they even deserved to know. One look at Ben, the teen his face showing just how much Mono’s story affected him as he reached out and touched the younger boy’s hand, gives her the answer she needs. She swallows down the feeling in her chest, the one that felt like her eyes will start watering, and she opens her mouth to speak.

“Mommy and Daddy yelled a lot.” Her voice cracked hard on the two words, like their meaning has been lost in the years and now they’re just hollow, broken. She’s looking at her hands, unable to look them in the eyes and still not fully sure if she should continue. She does anyways. “If I talked they’d scream at me, tell me to stay quiet. There were some kids living around but they never talked to me. I think they hated me.”

She grits her teeth, the feeling growing in her chest too strong to fight. Her eyes slowly grew wet and she brushed at them with the sleeve of her -no, not hers, the other girl’s- raincoat. She’s unaware of the soft look from Ben or the broken yet understanding one from Mono.

“One day this strange man knocked on their door. He asked if they had any kids and they said yes and handed me over. I... I was scared.” She sniffles, body slowly curling in herself as the suppressed memories returned in full force. Somehow she didn’t feel like it was wrong to admit she was scared. “He took me to this place, he called it The Nest. There was this awful girl who pretended to be a queen. But...”

Her hand gripped the raincoat. A small part of her knows she can stop at anytime, knows that neither would press her further in her current state. Yet the filter between the memories and her mouth was gone and the words spilled out like the tears in her eyes.

“There-there was this other girl, she wore a yellow raincoat and... She was nice, she saved some of the other kids that were stuck. I followed her, watched her trying to escape. If it wasn’t for her... I might not have gotten away.”

She sniffled and reached to brush away the tears but her arms felt weak and all she mustered was hugging herself, curling in. She jolted slightly when a soft hand brushed her cheek and she weakly looked up to find Ben a lot closer than he was moments ago. His face was tender yet sad, understanding in his brown eyes that looked so warm and inviting as he wrapped his arms around her. She squirmed slightly in his hold, not wanting to be cuddled like a kid, not wanting to look weak. Yet there was nothing forcing her to stay. He simply held her.

The internal war was quickly decided. She broke down and allowed herself to collapse in his arms, sniffling and keening as the feelings overwhelmed her. She always kept them at bay, never letting herself remember in selfish fear of losing herself to the memories. Yet here in the teen’s arms, tucked away under cover and all the dangers around them temporarily forgotten, she finally allowed all that she’d been bottling up flow out.

It hurt, oh it hurt. Yet at the same time it felt like a pressure on her shoulders was lifted slightly. For once she can allow herself to feel and not worry about survival. Because these arms will protect her, these arms are kind and caring and would never harm her.

And when Mono joined them, wrapping his own arms around the two to complete the hug, home suddenly became something tangible.

And sleep came like a blissful blanket on her cracked and broken mind.

Sleep did not come quickly for Ben, alas.

He watched as the two slept, curled together like two toddlers in a crib. Mono had at some point in shifting in his sleep taken hold of Six’s hand and her fingers instinctively curled around it protectively. He wonders if that was really all it took, the chance to be open and not have to fear for their safety or their lives.

In the game all of these events happen over the course of one go, no breaks or anything of that kind. Maybe that’s also part of the problem, that in the game these two never actually got to know each other, that all their trust was built on the other his or her ability to help them survive.

No wonder Six let Mono fall at the end. What trust she had was lost in the final fight and there was nothing holding her back. There was something else as well, he knows there is, but at this moment he doesn’t particularly want to think about it.

He unwrapped the sack of his bindle, gently placing the items it held in a secure spot near him before unfolding the checkered blanket. He gently places it over the two and they snuggled a little deeper when it settles, relishing the warmth.

He sniffs, rubbing his slightly runny nose. God, he needs his rest or he’s going to fall over and faint tomorrow. His hands linger after he let go of the blanket, hovering over the two children.

They’re so small. So young. So emotionally fragile.

He brushes a finger over Six her hair, still swept aside but already starting to fall back in front of her face. He might be able to find somewhere in this place to cut her hair, he just doesn’t know if she’ll let him. Seeing her face, seeing her be so open with them had been a welcome surprise and he hopes it’ll stay like that tomorrow as well.

His other hand lingers on Mono’s shoulder, knuckles scrapping against the ripped edge of the paper bag. Will the boy truly keep it on until his encounter with the Thin Man? A part of him hopes not, wants to gain the trust and have the kid realize he doesn’t need to hide from the world.

Leaning protectively over the two children Ben feels older, more responsible than he’s ever been before. He already lost so much when he was forced to survive in this horrible world, but with two kids under his wings he’s slowly been letting himself grow attached again. But this time it isn’t because he feels pity, it isn’t because a part of him feels like he’s responsible for their suffering.

It’s because he knows the truth now. He knows that Six isn’t heartless, just hurt from all the suffering she’s faced and unable to trust anyone because no one ever seemed to care, and the one who did care is gone.

He knows that Mono would never intentionally grow up to become a monster, he’s a boy who simply wishes to be there for his first friend, he doesn’t want to be alone again.

Together they’re not monsters, they’re not uncaring or heartless. They’re children who have seen too much of this horrible world and were slowly disappearing into the gray. But they’re not gray. Six her raincoat is a bright yellow even under the dirt and grime it collected over time. Mono his overcoat is a warm brown past the age and wear.

Her eyes are as red as blood, inherited from her parents, Ben is sure about that. His are brown like his overcoat but with speckles of black and white like an old TV show, a hint at the power he holds and never asked for.

They’re broken, hearts in pieces and minds scarred.

Ben blinked slowly, exhaustion and the time of day pulling at him to sleep at last. Before he retired to his side of the mattress, though, he reached down and place a kiss on both their heads, ignoring the fact Mono’s is covered.

Huddling on the other side, still a little cold yet with a warmth inside his heart that he never felt before, the final thoughts before his sleep is that he’ll always be there to protect his kids.

And darkness fell over his soul.

Chapter Text

The plan was simple for today. Retrieve the second battery and get out of this place.

Somewhere along the way... things didn’t turn out so great.

It all really changed the moment Ben realized that the opening through the barred door, the one Mono was originally going to use to get through, wasn’t the only way past it. It took some breathing in and holding yourself as thin as possible but eventually all three of them were through the (slightly bend outwards) bars and walking onwards.

The next door was blocked by a mannequin. The only thing around was a switch so they pulled it. Whatever it did caused the light above them to flicker and die.

The mannequin moved, startling them so hard that they almost got caught until Mono directed his flashlight at it and it froze as if petrified. After they managed to relax from the jump-scare they looked for a way past it. It took some patience but Ben slowly helped them walk around it and sneak backwards until they were through the door. The moment Mono’s light wasn’t directed fully on the haphazard mix of bandaged flesh and old plastic it moved again, trying to go after them before getting stuck in the thin opening of the door.

And that was only the first one. Ben decided to bring out his firefly lantern and although it wasn’t as effective as Mono’s torch it still helped them get past the rooms and halls filled with mannequins with only a few moving after them before getting a light shone on them to keep them at bay.

It was when they were going down a hallway that everything went to hell.

“Run!”

They needn’t him tell them that twice, the kids already running, Mono shining his flashlight uselessly at the hands breaking through the walls and doors. They’re grabbing wildly at air in the hopes of catching either of the kids. Ben was ahead of them, swinging the sharp end of his bindle at any that dared try and reach him. He put extra force into one that nearly caught Mono, sending it smacking into the wall with a sickening crack.

The turn in the hall was a false hope when one of the doors busted open to reveal a dog-pile of mannequins crawling over each other to reach for the trio. One of those horrid Patients was ahead of them, no feet to aid it but still crawling towards them to block their path.

Ben dodged one of it’s arm and dug the stone tip of his bindle into the torso, earning a burst of smells erupting from inside. It was a mix of rotting guts and too many chemicals and it had him reeling, pulling his makeshift spear free. He hit it’s hands away as they passed, avoiding getting caught by them by pulling back the moment it looked like it was trying to grab for something.

The next part of the hall had beds lying around, blocking the easy path forwards. Mono crawled under and pointed his flashlight at the approaching flood of bodies, momentarily freezing them and allowing Six and Ben to reach him and keep going. The moment he’s sure they’re past him he gets up and follow after, keeping his flashlight aimed at the mannequins whenever they dare move.

Still, it only had so much reach and every step allowed them to keep crawling closer.

Another one at the end of the hall forced Mono to turn his light on it to spare Ben another encounter. Said teen was busy helping Six climb up faster towards the vent. The moment she’s on the filing cabinet Ben went back and grabbed Mono by the collar, pulling the boy along before he ends up getting himself killed. He needs both hands to climb so Ben temporarily takes the flashlight (the lantern would hardly do them any good now) and keeps it shining on the mass of plastic and real limbs as it remained frozen in the light.

“Ben!” Six and Mono called down at him and he nodded before following after, climbing quickly and avoiding a hand by a bare inch. The duo go ahead through the vent into the adjacent room and when the teen is able to jump down to join them he almost slips.

The floor is wet. Looking around has them realizing this is some kind of communal shower. A box filled with yellow soap bars, wet and soggy, proves their assumption. Another box like that blocked a vent but when Mono proposes to go through there Ben shakes his head.

“Not every vent is a path ahead.” He explained softly, glaring at the obvious vent like it did something horrible. He knows what room is through there and he won’t have the kids see something like that. Not now that he’s starting to realize just how important his job is.

“There’s a door here.” Six uttered softly as they further explored their surroundings. “It’s closed.”

“But we can jump that.” Mono said hopefully, looking at the opening above them before he looks between the two of them. His enthusiasm is short lived when Ben observed it and pointed at himself and then Six. “Oh, right. Too heavy.”

“And I can’t jump that high.” Ben states with a small chuckle. His eyes drift to the wheelchair and it’s current occupant. The light above them is keeping it frozen but he’s sure that pulling the switch in the shower room will allow it to move. ‘Freeing the wheelchair would allow for us to push it over and use it to climb through.’

He explained the plan and although they questioned why that’s any better than going through the vent (“It just is, believe me.”) they agree it’s a good idea and they prepare to execute it.

Mono and Six position themselves at the switch and Ben keeps an eye on mister fake-face. He looks at them to make sure they’re in position and, once satisfied, nods and turns his focus on the mannequin.

The duo jump up and pull the switch, shutting off the lights.

All the lights.

The moment they’re all off it’s moving, leaping from it’s seat and reaching out to grab Ben. The teen is faster than the horrid patient though and dodges the grab before running off into the communal shower. It chases after him, quickly passing the door between the two connected rooms and Ben shouts for the lights.

Six and Mono pull the switch again, turning on all the lights and freezing the mannequin. They look over and pale a little at the sight of Ben, the patient’s hand down and centimeters away from grabbing the teen. He looks at himself and then the frozen mannequin and slacks a heavy breath of relief.

Too close, once again.

But with their obstacle out of the way they can keep going, pushing the wheelchair over and using it to get into the next room.

The next room is unnaturally dark. When Mono shines his light through it you can hardly see across to the other side.

Dozens of mannequin patients are littered around, standing or lying or sitting. Any one of them, if not more, can be the alive kind, just waiting to reach out and grab one of the trio. Ben ushers the two as close as possible and takes the torch from Mono, not willing to let him hold the responsibility for this one.

“Stay close.” He whispers, afraid that even a single loud word could have all of these things moving. He hears something rattle and quickly points the light at one of the mannequins, freezing it on the spot. “Don’t run off.”

“Why would we?” Six retorts tersely through her teeth, eyes darting around and pointing at something that moved. Ben directs the light and spots another mannequin right before it can move again. But that leaves the other one open to keep going.

“Because,” Ben flickers the light between the two patients even as they start picking up the pace. He can hear the rattling of more starting to move about, quickly outnumbering them. “Would you stick around if one of us got caught?”

She seems to think on it even as they’re quickly making their way towards the exit, bordered off by planks. Mono looks at the two like they’ve gone mad talking in the middle of their current situation. Neither would have a good answer to give him on why they’re doing that. “I don’t know.”

Ben isn’t sure whether that’s reassuring or not. What is reassuring though is the moment they’re past the badly blocked-off room, plastic arms sticking through and trying to reach but unable thanks to the solid wood holding them inside the room. The trio slack another breath of relief and Ben hands Mono his flashlight back.

“Well,” Ben looks around the room they’re in. A power box a bit higher is holding the battery they’d been looking for. A nearby switch is connected to it and an electric chair standing in the middle. “Getting back should be a breeze.”

It isn’t.

After finally figuring out how to get past the prison-like door keeping them in that weird room they’re now inside the elevator they’d been trying to access. Unlike what they’d been expecting it goes down instead of up, not reassuring in the least.

The place they arrive in looks even worse than upstairs, gurneys with bodies lying on top of them lining the hall along with the various shelves packed with pieces of fake limbs, some hanging down from the ceiling. A bit like the hospital above but unlike there it clearly looks like this place is meant for dead bodies only.

A morgue, Ben realized with a barely hidden shudder. The idea of such a place existing underneath a hospital is eerie and foreboding.

Not to mention that they’re now in the Doctor’s territory. He doesn’t know what he’ll do once they face the monster that can walk on the ceiling like some overweight spider. The imagery in on itself makes his stomach turn and he’s glad that breakfast had simply been the leftovers from yesterday.

The hall comes to an end and they’re forced to climb an old bandage to keep moving, jumping through the opening in a cel door. Ben wonders why they even have these kinds of doors in a hospital, you’d imagine them to only get used in mental institutes.

He can’t think much more on it. The next room is full with dead patients and fake limbs torn apart. One wall is completely covered by those places where they store the dead bodies in, what did they call them again?

Before he can think back to remember a shout from Six has his focus turn to where the two kids are. His eyes blow wide open at the sight of a hand crawling out from wherever it’d been hiding, quickly heading for the two. They dodge and Mono grabs a pipe lying randomly on the floor, brandishing it like a weapon.

A knock has Ben’s focus go to one of those body-storage shelves, the metal door shifting like something inside is trying to get out. A think plank keeping it closed slips down but before it can get busted open Six is pressing herself against it.

Ben his eyes flicker between the two before he runs over to Six, hands working on unwrapping the sack of his bindle. He presses his back against the metal and grunts when it jolts with force from whatever is inside. He could probably keep it in there all by himself if he wants to, but letting the anger run loose has never been his desire so he keeps it locked for now. Instead he trusts the sack into the girl’s hands, surprising her.

“The door.” He points at the door leading out, a few boards blocking a hole at the bottom. Mono dashes past it for a moment, avoiding getting caught by the spider-like hand before flinging the pipe down on it with a sickening crack of bone and flesh.

Six looks between the teen and the door and nods, brushing some hair out of her face before rushing over to the door and grabbing for the first board and pulling.

Ben can tell that it’ll take her time to get them out of here so he instead makes sure the sack with their stuff is safe with her before brandishing his spear-turned-bindle and stepping away from the door to let, whatever is inside, out.

It’s another hand but before it can even gear up to attack he brings his spear barreling down on it with a ferocious grunt, impaling the hand and revealing the aged blood still somehow pumping inside without a heart. He draws back and does it again.

And again. And again.

By the time he’s certain it won’t attack, fingers curled together like a dead spider, he lets himself breathe and look at the other two. Mono is helping Six remove the last board, pipe left lying on the second hand.

He moves over and helps them with the final board. The two kids look at him and the bloodied spear in his hand and he sighs, grimacing slightly when he realizes some of it got on his hands.

“Diego wasn’t always there to safe me.” He uttered softly as he accepts his sack back from Six. She’s looking intently at him but unlike what he’d expected there’s understanding in her gaze. Mono seems to share her thoughts, standing close, almost like he feels safer like that.

Ben isn’t sure what to think on that, so instead he turns the spear back into a bindle and gently nudges them to keep going.

They still have a little ways to go.

Heart in his throat.

That’s the best way to describe how it feels like when they’re hiding from the Doctor.

Ben grits his teeth, every nerve in his body strung tight like a wind-up toy and ready to explode. The floor seems to shake even though the bulging form of the once-human creature shuffled forwards at impossible speed across the ceiling, heading towards one of the beds in the room and grabbing at implanted ligaments to see if they’re holding well.

In a way that should sound somewhat reassuring. The manner it’s done in, though... This is nothing like a real doctor would treat his patients. Cold and uncaring, simply experience pleasure of the act and nothing else. He laughs sometimes, breathy like he’s choking on something. You could almost confuse it for sobbing if the swollen lips weren’t pulled back in a horrible defacing smile.

Ben his eyes are focused on where the two kids are grabbing an item they can throw at the button that accesses the door out of this place. He’s keeping an eye on the monster above as well, making motions with his hands to direct them and warn them when the Doctor is too close. His nerves are on edge, ready to act if the creature spots the two so he can go and protect them in any way he can.

It’s the only thing him and his anger can agree on. If the Doctor dares go for the two now, he’s toast.

(Not like he won’t be sooner or later.)

The duo find a toy block and quickly grab it before heading back, pausing with batted breath whenever the mad Doctor is above them. Waiting for him to move away and give them some breathing space. The smell coming from him is pure sterile chemicals and nothing else, not even a hint of the bloody things he does to his patients. That’s the most disturbing thing of all, that he smells like pure chemicals, clean and healthy.

Well, healthy in a hospital’s manner, not an actual healthy state. Just, like a doctor who has a phobia for cleanness.

Ironic considering the mess his facility is in.

They’re waiting for him to turn his back to them. Looking into the other room reveals a bed where they can hide under, and that is exactly what they’re going to do. Mono aims and tosses the block, hitting the button first try and triggering the door with a mechanical beep. They’re running through, hearing the way the Doctor seems to go mad at the sound and is shuffling towards them with such force and weight that the room actually is shaking. His movements are thundering heavy, as if gravity is simply reversed for the monster and it are his footsteps they’re hearing.

They’re under the bed and holding their breath as he examines the room. For a moment they’re so tense that you could almost mistake them for statues but once the humanoid creature is gone, huffing and puffing as he leaves the room, they relax so hard that Ben actually drops to the floor from sheer nervous relief.

“Lets never do that again.” He begs, breathless. The duo nod along with him, apparently just as shaken from what happened as he is. They take a moment to calm down from the tense situation before they head towards the filing cabinets leading up to a vent in the ceiling.

They’re in the ceiling unlike an actual vent, ahead there are holes in the tiles being held up by the frame under their feet. Ben his eyes widen and he audibly curses, blaming himself for having jinxed them.

As they keep moving the sound of a door opening comes from below and suddenly a fat hand reaches around one of the tiles nearby.

The Doctor is right underneath them, moving about and using the gaps in the ceiling to have a better grip.

It’s nerve racking once more as they move along, waiting whenever he reaches around so they’re not at risk of hitting him and altering him to their presence.

Nothing happens, they move on to the next room.

The door out is locked, but when looking around Mono spots that one of the mortuary fridges -ha, that’s what they’re called!- leads to another room. Rock-paper-scissors decides that Six gets to be the one going through and looking to see if there’s a key around.

As they wait Ben observes the room, nose wrinkling slightly at the sight of the gurneys holding the bodies of what surely used to be patients. He isn’t sure how many of them in here are actually from before the Signal Tower. A few? Some?

All of them? No, that seems ridiculous. No way was that mad Doctor good enough at the start to not make a mistake and kill his patient in the middle of surgery or something.

“Ben?”

He jolts slightly, turning to look at Mono, the young boy sitting on the edge of the slider from the fridge, waiting for Six to give the signal.

“Yeah?”

The boy is leaning on his side against the casket meant to hold the bodies. He looks at the teen, the cautious way he’s conveying his inner curiosity only sparking a similar on in Ben.

“Are you... alright? I-I mean, with the hand, you, uh... you, uhm...”

“Got a bit out of hand?” Ben supplied, a sad sort of crooked smile on his face. The boy seems a little surprised at the teen’s bland honesty (and unintentional pun) and gives a slow nod. Ben sighs, shoulder falling slightly in defeat. “I was scared. Still am scared.”

“Of the hands?”

Ben shakes his head, a hand reaching up to fiddle with the stick of his bindle, twirling it back and forth. “No, those things don’t frighten me as much they horrify me. Honestly... I was scared for you guys.”

That draws a surprised sound from the boy, his entire body going straight with a jolt. “You... you were scared, for us?”

The teen nods.

“Why?”

Ben chuckles softly, eyes darting around the room as if looking for a distraction. But he isn’t. Mono deserves to know how he feels. “Because I care, Mono. I care for you and Six. I gave you my word, I’ll protect you no matter the cost.”

“Why?” It appears that wasn’t enough of an answer, disbelieve coloring Mono’s words like a rainbow.

“Because... You’re so young, so small. Fragile. I know you can take care of yourself!” He quickly amends when he notices the way the kid’s shoulders rise with indignance. “That’s not it! But... I’m the older one here, Mono. I should be the one risking his life to get you to safety, not the other way around.”

“Then why aren’t you in there?”

Ben has to give it to the kid, he’s smarter than he looks like. “Because you would’ve protested, would say you can handle it and go in without me knowing. It’s better to know where you guys are and worry than not know and worry even more.”

Mono hums at that, neither confirming not denying Ben’s claim. He’s glad for that, he wouldn’t have known what to say to either one.

The rest of their talk doesn’t come, Six calling out to get pulled back out. Mono complies and he’s handed the key, Six brushing off her raincoat as she steps out. Ben just manages to catch her shivering slightly in revulsion as she turns her back on the mortuary fridge. He doesn’t ask, knowing what had her shivering like that.

Being surrounded by the dead without knowing if they’re truly dead is nerve-wracking, it’s the feeling he gets whenever he looks at a gurney and expects the body under the cover to jump up and grab them. He turns his thoughts away from that and focused on the two kids their safety.

The key is put in place and the door unlocked, allowing them to keep going.

The battery, for some reason, was lying next to the body fridges.

His hands are clammy and scratched up from where he’d dropped down and pulled the switch, taking one of the patients off their life-support and distracting the Doctor.

Now they’re rushing to get out of here. Six is jumping on the tips of her toes, waiting for Mono to put the battery in. Ben is scrambling through the room to catch up. Behind him he can hear the panicked, manic huffing and breathing from the spidery pig with a degree.

He wonders if his degree is still valid in this world. The thought is random and cast aside with all the other panic-induced jumble of thoughts as he exits the room just in time to hear the Doctor’s calls grow even more frantic when the cell door opens with a mechanical beep.

‘Must they make that noise?’ He wonders bitterly even as they’re pushing through the opening of the door, the hall ahead stacked with shelves that in turn are full with body bags. The sight is horrible, seeing so many people that were once alive. The thought is forced aside in favor of running.

Running and ducking, avoiding the approaching threat, turning corners and pushing the deafening sounds further in the back of their heads. He’s gaining on the kids and fast and the moment he’s near them he’s grabbing their hands and pulling them along. He doesn’t care if they’re barely keeping up, there’s no time to waste.

The Doctor is pushing the shelves over to get to them, causing a domino effect that has them ducking even more to avoid getting crushed. With a jump they’re past a random staircase and he lets go to let them all slide under the beds ahead before rushing forwards as much as their crouched position allows.

Metal screeches and bends behind them, the beds getting flattened like pancakes under the mad Doctor’s weight and force. He’s not on the ceiling, having forgone that in favor of putting his entire weight into trying to crush them.

The next room has a man-sized cremation furnace. Ben his eyes focus on the object and for a moment he’s able to pull a smile of relief-

-and then a hand is grabbing him from behind by his bindle, another one quick to grab hold as well. The stick snaps in half in the burly hand and Ben feels like the air is getting squeezed out of him like a bottle of shampoo. He can hear his name getting called but in that moment nothing is registering.

All that his mind could understand in that moment is that once he’s gone the kids will be next, they’ll die and there’s nothing he can do.

Nothing but unleashing the boiling rage that has been bottled up for the entire journey. For a moment his mind turned blank as everything congealed together, all the times he pushed it down and forced it aside to keep calm boiling together into pure wrath.

‘ We -us-I came this far! I am not going to be denied!’

With a roar that would’ve made any predator proud he opens his mouth wide and bites down into the hand holding him tight. The taste of flesh and blood is terrible on his tongue but he puts every ounce of force his jaws can handle into it, practically ripping the finger apart.

It’s enough to force the creature to let go of him, howling in pain at the bite-wound. Ben drops to the ground and he huffs gruffly, standing up slowly to look up at the monster.

His eyes were nothing but a haze of red fog. The duo flinch back at the sight, surprised and horrified at the display. He told them a lot about his time before meeting them.

He never told them about this.

Ben isn’t of mind to realize what he’s doing, the power coursing through him intoxicating. Memories flashed by, searching for weaknesses to exploit. The memory of the diary he found in the school rose, unbidden, reminding him of the Doctor’s involvement with turning all the children there into Bullies, porcelain dolls with no free will but the one used to terrorize their fellow classmates.

The rage in his mind only grew heavier, pushing down on the humanity inside him. Basic instincts grew sharper and more refined and his entire body coiled itself like a predator would. All that his mind could focus on was the wrath directed at the creature before him, recovering from being bit and looking like he’s preparing to strike back.

‘Oh, no, that won’t do.’

That’s the final human thought in his mind before he’s pouncing on the spider-like monster, nails scratching and teeth biting. The Doctor lets out a startled wail of pain as he staggers back, never having expected such a small creature to have such ferocious power.

Ben is all predator and wrath, jumping away from grabbing hands and ripping into the once-human’s uniform and the flesh underneath. He’s fast and agile but the Doctor is still strong in his actions. A single lucky backhand sends the boy hurdling through the air and smacking hard into the door of the cremation furnace. His head is hazy from the hit and he’s blinking his eyes, anger and rage momentarily forgotten from the impact. Through his dazed eyes he can see a figure with a square head dragging him away just in time to avoid a white blur, that instead lands inside the furnace.

The door is closed shut and a switch is pulled. Ben watches it from the ground as fire blooms to life, body suddenly sore beyond reason and his mind fading into unconsciousness. The hit he took was harder than he thought, or he exhausted himself with his reaction. Coherence is barely present and already fading like his mind.

Before darkness can claim him fully his eyes spot a flash of bright yellow and then nothing.

Chapter Text

When Ben came to it was to soreness all over his body and a throbbing headache. Taking a moment he tries to recall what happened before he passed out.

Flashes of red and white, nails poised like claws and teeth bloodied has him running his tongue through his mouth and tasting the fading copper.

Brown and yellow has him sitting up with with a jolt only to send his head spinning and his stomach reeling. He swallows down the urge to puke and lets himself recover a bit from the start before looking around to see where he is.

The actual waiting hall of the hospital is what greets him.

He’s sitting on one of the benches, the seat cleared of anything dirty like the others are. He slowly looks around the room and spots two lumps lying on the floor near his seat.

Lying under the blanket of his bindle sack are Mono and Six, the two cuddled together for warmth and safety. The sight should’ve made him smile, happy to see their bond growing stronger.

But his mind is void of everything but shame.

He failed. He let his wrath get the better of him and now they’ve seen what he really is. The thought itself invoked a surge of anger but he forced it down with such blatant guilt and shame it actually send his mind reeling and he has to stop and breathe, before he tears himself emotionally apart.

There’s nothing left to gain here, not like he’d been trying to in the first place. Nothing left for him to do now but give a prayer and hope that they will let him guide them out of the city to safety, and then leave. He doesn’t care if he has to beg them, as long as he can redirect them away from the Signal Tower they’ll be safe.

That’s the least they deserve. After all of this... he doesn’t expect any favors.

He sighs and slowly crawls down from the seat to look around their makeshift camp. A small campfire is hidden behind a few metal suitcases and he’s pleasantly surprised to find what seems to have been the leftovers from dinner. At least he managed to convince them regular meals are worth the effort.

The broken stick of his bindle lies together with everything he’d been keeping inside the sack, pushed under one of the seats. Six’s music box looked like it got quite a beating and he winces, considering the possibility she tried to play it and it broke.

His fault. All his fault.

The lantern that served him so well is shattered to pieces, the bottom and top left in a small pile along with a few of the bugs lying inside, dead. The spare rope he keeps around, short yet useful when needed, is the only thing that managed to survive the journey even if it’s a little frayed at the tips.

He removes the small bundle of gray hair he’d tucked away around a small portion of the bindle’s stick, clutching it close to his chest. His heart felt like it was getting constricted, the pure agony of knowing he failed his best friend too much for him to bear. He promised he’d be more responsible, that he would do the best he can and more to protect these two.

He failed, but not in the way he’d feared. He failed to protect them from his own darkness, and now he’ll pay the price.

The very thought that once they’re awake he’ll lose the two he’s come to care so much for had tears gathering in his eyes and he rubbed them away before they can fall. He doesn’t have the right to feel sad about the incoming loss.

He did this to himself. Wallowing in his internal despair is all he will allow himself.

He sighed out the sadness and put the wrapped fur in a pocket of his pants, the small, barely noticeable weight a silent comfort in his emotional turmoil. Getting back up he slowly cleans up what was left of their evening cooking, putting the leftovers aside for later. His stomach grumbles for a bite but he restrains himself. That’s food for the two of them. He doesn’t deserve it.

He doesn’t deserve being here.

He waits once he’s finished, eyes staring blankly into space. He’s replaying the memories, looking back on his failure. Every motion, every act he did that had been fueled by rage sends a sharp dagger through his chest and when he reaches the end it feels like he’s going to be sick. He swallows down the desire to do so and rewinds the events back to the start. They’re a little hazy at times but he can still recall everything in vivid detail.

And so he watches again, eyes closed and chest heaving with restrained sobs.

And again.

And again.

And again.

By the sixth time he reaches the end and prepares to turn the mental dial a noise has him shift in his seat, looking in the direction of the two kids. Mono is the first awake.

The boy yawns as he gets up, stretching a little to get rid of the morning stiffness and slowly looking around. When those black eye-holes in his paper bag settle on the teen’s form Ben feels like those empty eyes are staring deep into his rotten soul.

“You’re awake.”

The bland tone shatters his heart but he simply nods, unwilling to let them see how much their reactions will affect him. For a moment they’re simply staring the other down and then Mono gently wakes up Six.

When her eyes fall on the teen they sharpen like knives and for the first time since meeting them fear rushes through him. He’s always known that Six is different than Mono, less restrained and more active in showing her emotional state. Right now he could only compare her rage to his own. He can’t tell which would be worse.

Although right now he doesn’t have to, when she marches up to him and delivers a slap that has his cheek stinging and copper blooming anew in his mouth he can safely say hers is worse.

Not like he didn’t deserve it.

Mono had gotten up, startled at his friend her reaction. Ben couldn’t say the same, he actually felt lucky that a slap was all she did.

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Her shouting was fierce but not loud enough to garner outside attention. He kept his mouth closed and head bowed, afraid anything he’ll say will only further fuel her anger. Her entire body is tense, like she’s physically holding herself back from hitting him again. “Why?! Why didn’t you?! I thought you wanted us to be honest!”

He did imply at that, didn’t he? Then why did he hide this from them? The answer gnawed at his throat but he remained quiet, letting the girl ride out her anger on him.

“You lied to me, to us! How much more did you lie about?!”

Nothing much, nothing but that one stupid detail and a few others. He shouldn’t have, should have trusted them.

“We trusted you! You said you’d protect us, keep us safe! Was that keeping us safe?!”

In his heart it felt right but in his mind he knows it had been foolish on his part, to let his stupid powers take control of him. He’d been bottling up so much that all it took was one stupid error on his behalf and he’s going berserk.

“You’re a monster!” He is a monster. “You weren’t thinking!” He hardly had the willpower to think. “Were you trying to get yourself killed?!” No, not really, all he had eyes for was revenge.

“I should kill you!”

“Please do.”

His voice was bar a whisper, but it cut through the air like a lash. Six her rant broke off into useless stutters, the words not processing in her mind. Mono has gone deadly still behind her.

“W-w-what?”

“Kill me.” He whispers, broken beyond repair. His heart has turned into nothing but an empty void, the pieces left scattered to the wind. Every word she’d said had cut him open and his guts are spilling out. “If that’s what you want than kill me. I know what I am.”

Slowly Ben looked up, revealing the tears streaming down his face and snot hanging from his nose, the look awful and conveying every shred of his internal hurt. He had tried to contain his emotions but the cutting words had shattered his mask.

“I know. I lied. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it a secret. I was scared and acting stupid, I though you wouldn’t understand and leave me. I wanted to protect you, not just from the world but from myself as well!”

He got up, hand wiping his nose as he sniffs, the tears falling like a waterfall down his face. His mind is a whirlwind of emotion and compulsions that don’t make sense. He’s lost it.

“But all I did was hurt you! All I did was ruin what trust I had! I know, Six! I know that everything you said is true, that I failed you! Don’t you see?!”

He waves a hand through the air, not sure what the purpose behind the act is beside giving his body something to do, something to focus on. “I lost my best friend! I’m stuck in a world that tries to kill me for existing! My heart has been torn out and my mind left in pieces! I can’t even look at a stupid bell and not remember how it hurt when I died!”

The two reel back from the exclamation, shocked beyond believe. He... he died?

“I fell down a pit and I died! And then, then I woke up and all of a sudden I was like this!” He smacks his own chest, not really sure what he’s trying to point at. His heart beating frantically in his chest? The aches in his body? The pulse of rage boiling under his skin? “A monster! I killed one of those things with my bare hands! Killed one of the very creatures I turned out to be!”

“And it hurts! Every day, waking up, knowing I have to keep myself constrained to avoid doing it again! At times I hardly know who I am!”

A sob rips through his throat, his legs feeling weaker the longer he keeps standing like that.

“I hate myself! I hate myself so fucking much! But then-, but then...”

Another sob, his legs are starting to shake.

“Then I met you.” He weakly motions at the two children before him, eyes wide and shocked. Had he been of sound mind he’d have noticed they’d taken a few steps closer. “And suddenly... suddenly none of that mattered. I had two precious little lives to protect and all I could think of was how much I hate this world.”

“You’re kids, children. Not even old enough to drink. Yet you’ve seen so much, so much more than I’ve ever had to endure. I vowed to myself I’d protect you, especially after Diego died! All of those responsibilities fell on to me.”

His legs couldn’t take it anymore. They buckled under the sheer force his own crushing feelings and emotions. His arms hung limply at his side as the tears dripped down and soaked his shirt and pants, creating a small puddle on the linoleum floor.

“And I failed. I failed you all. I tried to protect you from the monster I am but here we are.”

“So do it, kill me. Spare me the pain of having to see you leave me behind like a burden. Just get it over with. I can’t stand the thought of knowing I lost you to my own stupid misgivings. Kill the monster I am.”

And he hung his head, wailing sobs wracking his shoulders and shaking his frame. Tears dripped down like his eyes are broken faucets, a small puddle at his knees.

Six and Mono were left stunned, speechless, shocked beyond words. Never in their entire lives had they ever expected to stand before such a display. The raw hurt and pain, the self-loathing and trauma. They’ve seen a lot of things, yes, but never something like this.

Monsters, ghouls, horrible children. Nothing compared to the broken teenager kneeling before them. All the hope he’d given them had been his own, every piece of kindness a shred of his heart, all the trust a fragment of his mind.

He’d given them everything, and even then he held up the facade. The appearance of a seemingly normal teen. All because he believes himself a monster.

But would a monster cry? Would a monster hate himself? Would a monster beg for his own death?

(Maybe some, but that’s how twisted this world is.)

Not the monsters they know. Not the ones that try to kill them on a near-daily basis. No monster would go out of their way to protect two small kids from the dangers they have to face in the outside world. No monster would grieve over the loss of his closest friend.

Ben believes himself a monster, but is he truly?

The answer looked so obvious, even if he doesn’t believe so himself. Slowly their shock turned into heartbreak, the coils in their bodies relaxing. Six bit her lip, she wants to take back every word she said because he’s wrong, none of what she said is true. Yes, he lied, but he did so to protect them from what he believed would scare them. Yes, he put them in danger sometimes, but he never does so intentionally. And yes, what he did with the Doctor had been stupid but clearly it had been the final straw on his back.

Ben isn’t a monster. He isn’t a bad person. He doesn’t deserve to die.

He’s hurt, in pain. And of everything they know, they understand that the most. Because they know how it feels to hurt, to feel like you’re not yourself at times.

And so they did the only thing they that could help, the only thing that could convey how they feel. In true turn of events they did the very thing he’d done for them.

Two pairs of arms wrapped tightly around his torso, stunning Ben as he startles and looks up. Their heads rest on his shoulders, hands clutching at the back of his shirt. He opens his mouth to ask what they’re doing but the way they’re holding him so tight like they’re unwilling to let go...

It says more than a thousand words could convey. More tears boiled up in his eyes and somehow he manages to wrap his arms around the duo, resting his own head on their touching shoulders to try in vain to contain his sobbing.

In his chest a single light of hope finally came to bloom.

His bindle, as much as he wanted to, was not salvageable. In the end he wrapped the sack around his waist and over his head against the rain, the broken items left behind.

It took him about half an hour to regain his composure enough to whisper his thanks in their ears. It isn’t enough, probably never will be enough, but it was all he had the energy for.

They ate breakfast slowly, Ben softly telling them what truly had happened when he faced the Conductor. He knows he still has a lot to make up for, their trust will take some time but at least they don’t hate him.

When they asked him if he lied about anything else he couldn’t give them an right answer. He knows there are things they won’t understand no matter what they might say, and he gently explained as much. Six looked ready to backhand him again but Mono seemed to understand the silent plea of the teen and accepted it. He pulled the girl with him and softly explained it to her and when they joined him to see what could still serve a purpose she’d apologized.

Ben shook his head, saying she shouldn’t be sorry. He wants to tell them but he simply can’t, there are so many questions he has that still aren’t answered and without them he could never truly explain what happened.

She seemed to understand and nodded her head.

Now it’s hidden under the cap of her raincoat, the rain outside a dreary sight to return to but still much better than the gray-tone white of the hospital.

Their path ahead luckily led them to a rundown apartment, relatively dry compared to the outside. Music coming from a TV put them on high alert as they climb up the stairs. Ben fingered the rope hanging around his belt, hands flexing into fists. His outburst against the Doctor has helped cool down the anger inside him but he knows it won’t take much in his current emotional state to get him riled up. He explained as much and asked the two to leave him alone if he starts going crazy again.

They were very reluctant to agree with him but the way he spoke, so serious and almost begging, made the duo crack and accept his command. He hates having to do that, especially now, but they’re still trying to head onwards and he doesn’t want to hurt them, again.

Unfortunately so far Ben hasn’t seen a single way for them to turn around and leave the city. It gnaws at him to think they might be forced to... no, he can’t even humor the thought!

The room at the end of the staircase gave them a jump scare, one of the twisted Viewers falling down through the floor and running off to the next room. They stayed hidden behind the door a little longer before deciding that the coast is clear to move on.

In the next room, presumably a living room, they find the same twisted man with his head stuck in a TV, screen shattered and electronics sparking with electricity. The sight made them shiver.

No creature they’ve seen has ever been suicidal. It’s unnerving to say the least.

The only way ahead is by walking and climbing the ledges outside the window, using the overhanging roofs between the buildings to keep going. Ben dared a glance down and immediately looked away.

It’s nothing but blackness all the way down. No sight of an actual ground to hit.

As if this place isn’t dangerous and creepy enough.

Mono and Six are the ones keeping ahead, Ben following along. He doesn’t trust himself to guide them right now and they are kind enough to take some of his responsibilities over for a bit.

(“You’re hurt, you need time to heal. We can take care of ourselves.” “I’m trusting you then, Mono.”)

It feels different, like they’re carrying way more than simply being the ones deciding where to go. If this is how Ben felt they’re not surprised he broke down at some point.

This is only a piece of how he feels and already it’s leaving them slightly overwhelmed. Imagining how he felt with all of that and more seems impossible.

The next building is dark and has a few more Viewers standing in the hall, hypnotized by the sound and view of the TV sets scattered around. They sneak by just in case, being extra careful not to let anything catch them off guard.

When they walk inside the bathroom after Six helped Mono open the door, though, for a moment they freeze when they spot a figure sitting in the bathtub, TV sitting precarious close to the edge. If there’s really water in there then a simple nudge would be enough to kill him and the Viewer doesn’t look the least aware of it.

Truly gone to the wind, only empty husks that desire their screens.

The next room after they crawl through the vent has an elevator and Ben can’t help but groan.

“Another puzzle.” He sighs, shaking his head. The duo chuckle softly at his expense and he sends a mock glare their direction. “You get to solve it.”

That has their laughter die down quickly.

When they walk outside through the broken wall, a feeling rushes over them like a cold shower. Their minds reel at the feeling of something pulling yet pushing at them like invisible chains.

The view would’ve been imposing, but with this foreign feeling coursing through them the Signal Tower looks both inviting yet appalling. Ben shakes his head, the horribly familiar feeling of static in his head shocking him free and urging him to grab the two kids. Six jolts as if pulled from a dream and Mono vigorously shakes his head like he’s trying to get rid of something in his mind.

“That is the reason everything here is the way it is.” Ben utters with pure contempt, aware enough right now to guide them towards edge of the roof and jump the distance towards the next building. They couldn’t have gotten out of view quick enough even if he’d been pushing them forwards. The moment it’s out of sight the trio shiver and shake, the feeling in their body bleeding away with the rain.

Ben manages to make the jump across towards the fire escape with a leaping start and there he waits for Mono and Six to use the coat-hanger on the pulley rope to get themselves across as well.

Climbing up using ladders and pipes eventually has them find an open window inside the building, offering them shelter from the rain once again. The building creaks and groans from age and wear and Ben doesn’t like it one bit.

The moment Mono jumps down from a few planks boarding off a hole in the wall wood and mortar starts crumbling and falling down, furniture that somehow served as a support for the rest of the structure falling down.

“Run!”

The door in their path is pushed down with force and Ben grabs the two by the hand, once more pulling them along as they’re being chased. The building is falling apart all around them, floors crashing in and walls collapsing with monumental power.

The floor ahead of them falls apart. There’s no where else to go but to jump.

Ben tries and he only manages to grab hold of the plank at the edge. It breaks under his weight and he’s send falling down along with the other two.

For a flash he’s back there, falling down deeper and deeper towards his demise.

The floor under him only registers once he’s already lying on it. He opens his eyes to rock and rubble falling down around them and he closes them again, begging whatever deity exists that they’ll survive this. He doesn’t know where Mono or Six are, the dust and deafening sounds of the building crumbling around him is drowning out even his own thoughts.

Minutes pass. The crumbling slowly calms down until it all settles. He waits a bit longer before daring to open his eyes and assess the situation. He isn’t caught under anything, so that’s already good.

Slowly getting up his back protests at the use after his drop. He mentally demands it to shut up and he breathes in. His breath turns into a coughing spree as the dust manages to get in his airways. He waves a hand to get it out of his face and let him look without having to squint his eyes.

Mono’s torch is lying a little bit further in the floor, broken beyond repair. He spots the boy’s brown overcoat on a pile of dust and rubble, a single plank lying on his stomach. Before Ben can consider going over to help, Mono startles up and groans, hand reaching to massage his shoulders.

“Mono?” At Ben’s call the boy looks in his direction. Seeing him still relatively intact is a great relief, but they’re missing someone. “Where’s Six?”

Mono shakily brings his arm up to point behind the teen. Ben his eyes widen slowly as he fearfully turns around.

The gasp that escapes him actually makes him choke for a moment and he coughs hard before scrambling up and heading to their poor friend, quickly being joined by the younger boy.

Six is stuck between planks and rubble, a heavy couch resting on the broken floor above her. Ben stops and kneels before her, hands shaking in the air and mind not able to comprehend what he’s seeing.

No, she can’t be... This can’t be how it ends...

When she shifts and groans a shot of pure joy shoots through him but Ben quickly pushes it down with concern.

“Six?” She shifts a little and manages to look up at him. He reaches out and takes the cap of her raincoat, pulling it down. The sight that greets him is just as bad as he thought.

A cut on her forehead is bleeding profusely, streaming down the side of her face and having slightly stained the cap. When he looks her over more he can tell her legs are pinned and her stomach is at least partially stuck as well. She's looking at him but there's no recognition in her eyes, just pain.

“Mono.” The steadiness in his voice feels fake but his mind is too determined to care, all the other feelings in his heart getting shut of for pure, raw efficiency. Something inside him makes a complete 180°. “Grab hold of Six.”

“But...” Mono’s protest trails off, eyes flickering between the teen and his pinned friend. His hands are clammy, he wants to do something but doesn’t know what. Ben seems more certain but he can't forget the hospital...

“I need you to trust me, Mono.” Ben looks to his side and into Mono’s eyes. He’d caught sight of them a few times when he really looks past the sack over the boy’s head. He can see the fear, the terror. He doesn’t want to do anything that could hurt Six more than she already is. “Can you do that? I need you to trust me.”

Trust. Wasn’t that something he had to win back? Then why is he asking for it now?

Mono knows why when he looks at those brown eyes, so similar yet different to his own. They’re hard yet still caring, determined yet concerned. Ben knows they’re on a timer here and they have to act fast or Six will only get hurt more.

The boy nods his head, trying to look as determined as he can get. Not hard for him but still a feat in itself in their current situation.

Ben nods in return and redirects his focus back on Six. She looks pretty out of it, eyes flicking between them but not showing much along the lines of recognition. He gently reaches out and touches her cheek and she groans. ‘The pain is overwhelming her, so much so that she can’t think or feel properly.’

Too long and she’ll only get worse.

“Grab hold of her hands.” Mono only hesitates a little before grabbing the girl’s dirty hands with his own, tightly. “Okay. Now, on the count of three you pull.”

Mono wants to ask why, wants to be certain on what they’re doing. But he’s trusting Ben, like they did so many times before. This is no time for questions.

Ben puts himself in angle like so that his shoulder is against the wood pinning Six down and his arm is resting bent together on the wooden floor she’s lying on. He takes a deep breath and dips deep into the anger, purposefully pulling it up. He pulls every memory that angers him, every moment he wanted revenge and wanted to hurt someone. He pulled all of it up to the surface.

He never did this before, never consciously reached out for it. He expected it to push and push and beg for more but it seems content with what he’s offering.

His eyes haze over, the same red fog the two have seen before. A flash of recognition appears on Six her own red eyes and that is the last thing he needed.

With a groan so loud it could surely have woken up the dead he forces his arm to bend and extend, pushing down on the floor whilst also forcing the planks under his shoulder to lift up. He’s effectively turned his entire arm into a car jack made of flesh and bone.

His body protests harshly at the unwanted act, the wood digging into his shoulder and all the weight he’s trying to lift pushing to stay down. The only thing keeping him going is the pure willpower and rage pulsing through his veins.

He lost his best friend. He won’t lose anyone else, especially not like this!

“One!” He pushed more, groaning as the weight shifts and starts lifting.

“Two!” Creaking and groaning alerts them to the fact the pile of rubble can’t take much more. They have to act fast.

“THREE!” They-them-he puts everything inside him into his arm, forcing the debris up high enough that it isn’t pinning Six down anymore. Like he’d asked Mono pulls and with a little bit of effort he has the girl unstuck and is dragging her away to safety.

Ben draws back with a pained groan once he’s sure they’re safe, letting the rubble collapse into itself. He falls back from sheer exhaustion as his actions slowly start to sink in.

His arm feels like it just went through a compressor, every muscle ached and cramped and his bones feel like they’ve been splintered.

His eyes go to where Mono is looking over Six. He can’t see it from here but she looks relatively unharmed beyond some bruises under her clothes and a whole lot of pain. Already she’s starting to move again, apparently recognizing Mono enough to pull him in for a sideways hug.

He smiles at that before he blacks out.

Chapter Text

Overexertion. His entire body simply went through too much in too little of a time span.

His arm still smarts even after they decided to recover a bit from nearly getting crushed under a collapsing building. There’s a door out of the ruined room but none of them have yet to consider opening it and leaving this place.

Six is slowly getting her feeling back in her legs. They still hurt, oh do they still hurt. But at least it’s simply bruises and nothing worse. The cut on her forehead was easy cleaned up and a shred of Ben’s shirt is acting like a bandage.

Now they’re simply lying on the floor, letting everything that happened sink in and let the adrenaline fade away.

Ben is certain that before this the duo would have simply marched on, not taking a single moment to pause and let it all settle. Let themselves relax and recover.

Only once they’re all ready will they continue now.

“Thanks.”

He looks up from where he’d been playing with the rope around his belt, surprised that Six already has the energy to talk.

He manages a small, genuine smile. “You’re welcome.”

She shakes her head, shifting a little in Mono’s hold so she can better look at him. It’s like the space between them and the teen is too big for her.

“No, that’s not... Thanks, for everything.” She ducks her head a little, suddenly looking awfully shy. “For saving my life.”

Ben pushes himself up a little straighter, body protesting and ignored in favor of having a better look at the young girl. The way she’s shaking, just a little. The way she won’t meet his eyes. The way she’s nervously fiddling with the edge of her raincoat.

His smile pulls a bit more into a grin. “Six, you’re the nicest girl I’ve ever met. Of course I’d do anything to safe your life.”

At his proclamation she looks up, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. She furiously shakes her head, curling in a little.

“No, that’s not true!” She looks the teen in the eyes and he spots the tears waiting to fall. “Before all of this... I would never, I mean... I want to trust you. You saved me! Even... even when I did nothing to deserve it.”

He hums before answering. “All life is sacred.” That catches both the kids their attention. Ben shifts slightly so he’s at his proper height when sitting. “All life deserves to live, no matter their actions. Everyone deserves a second chance. No one has the right to decide if someone dies, only if they’ll live to see another day.”

“That’s what my mother believes, and I believe in that as well. You didn’t have to do anything to convince me to safe your life. I’d have done it a million times before and I’ll do it a million times over.”

Silence rings clear in the air after his heavy words sink in. Mono shifts a little, suddenly uncomfortable leaning back and he sits a little straighter.

“Is that...” He reaches up to put a hand on the back of his neck, uncertain. “Is that why it hurt so much when you killed the Conductor?”

Ben wasn’t expecting that, nor the lump it created in his throat. He swallowed, head feeling a little lighter. “Y-yeah, mostly. I also, just, n-never took a life before that. I never thought I’d have to take a life, period. It... it really shook me up.”

They noticed, the fact he can’t talk about it without stuttering and looking utterly broken is a big give away.

Silence rings in the air once more, but this time it’s also charged with something. Tense energy radiating from all three of them.

“I’m scared.” Mono admits softly, arms hugging himself a little. Six shifts so she’s pressed closer against the boy, grounding him. “What if we don’t find somewhere safe for the night?”

“What if one of those things gets us?” Six adds softly, pushing herself even closer in search of comfort. Mono wraps an arm around her.

“What if’s are dangerous.” Ben utters softly, catching their attention again. With a groan he forces himself up and he manages to walk the distance between them before settling down on his knees before the two scared kids. “You could ask a thousand of them and never have an answer for any one. You shouldn’t focus on the ‘what if’. You should focus on the ‘what when’. Only that which is certain to happen deserves your full attention.”

“That isn’t saying it’s wrong to be prepared for the unexpected, but you shouldn’t let it control your every move.”

“Now,” He reaches out and grabs their hands, pulling the duo up with him. Six is a little unsteady but with Mono’s help she doesn’t simply fall over. The adrenaline that could’ve pushed her to keep going after almost getting crushed to death has faded, leaving her body exhausted and hurting. “How about we keep going and find somewhere safe?”

Yet what they found on the other side of the door was not a pleasant surprise.

The moment they were looking around the rooms connected to a central hall Ben knew something bad was going to happen. The children’s bedroom already gave him chills but the moment they walked into the living room everything changed.

He completely forgot about the third TV.

The moment they walked in front of it the same, oppressive sound started pounding in their heads. The static on the screen wavered and flowed like water. Mono groaned as he pressed his hands to his head as if that could block out the noise.

The draw was too powerful.

Ben called out for the boy, gritting his teeth as he tries to fight the familiar sensation pulling and pushing against the anger inside him. Before the pull felt almost natural, but now it feels artificial, wrong. Like the part inside him that isn’t normal is no longer connected to the static buzz flooding the air and compressing everything around them.

His senses are muddled like they were dunked in mud and murk. Moving is hardly possible and he can’t get to Mono fast enough. Six is leaning against the sofa, just like him experiencing the horrible feeling of something screaming at the world in nothing but white noise.

The moment Mono has his hand pressed to the screen the feeling recedes slightly, enough to allow the two some more movement. They share a look and know they have to pull the boy back. Six because she fears of losing him and Ben because he knows what could happen if Mono succeeds.

Both move closer, Ben almost tripping over the carpet before getting caught by Six. They share another look and nod. Determination shines in both their eyes as they force themselves further. The closer they get the more it hurts to hear that sound pounding and screeching in their heads like a broken TV. Looping indefinitely.

They grab hold just when something in the noise shifts, almost imperceptibility. They hadn’t noticed it before but it sounds almost like a light bulb bursting.

The static on the screen is shifting, changing. The fading image of a hallway is slowly taking shape. It’s moving as well, a door at the end coming closer and closer. Where Mono’s hand rests they’d have seen the shape of the young boy running to the door.

The duo start pulling, trying to draw Mono back. So far they’ve managed but this time it feels different, like whatever is keeping Mono stationary has grown stronger.

It’s taking too long. They’re not making any headway. None of Six her erratic pulling at the boy’s waist is doing anything and Ben doesn’t feel any give in Mono’s shoulders. It’s taking too long.

The shape of a boy jumps up and grabs hold of the handle.

Somewhere in the moment Six has started wrapping her arms more around the boy, trying to get a better grip. Ben can imagine that in her mind she’s screaming, screaming hard and loud as they’re trying to get Mono back.

And then it’s like everything had been on pause and someone pressed the play button. The trio stumble back as the strong pull lets go. The fall is cushioned by the old carpet but that isn’t what’s on Ben his mind.

The third TV... They weren’t in time...

‘Oh no.’

The two kids sit up, Mono with a gasp. Ben his eyes are focused on the screen of the TV as he slowly sits up, already moving to get up and grab the two. Dread is pooling in his stomach like acid.

On the screen the image of a tall, thin man congeals together. The static has shifted into a drumming drone, almost sounding victorious. Six startles back from the sight, eyes flashing to Mono before she’s scrambling around to get to him. Ben is slightly in the way but she reaches out to grab the younger boy by the hand. He moves out of her way, as if in a trance.

The form disappears, the light in the room dimming and going bright. The static on the screen is wavering more and more, the edges growing darker.

Ben gets a hold of the two kids and pulls them up. He wants to run, wants to get the hell out of there but the very sight that he’d dreaded is pinning him to the spot, only able to shift on his feet. Mono is drawn to the screen, reaching out just when out of nowhere two massive hands press up against the screen, like there’s actually someone on the other side.

There is, Ben knows it. They have to get out of here.

Six is trying to grab Mono, her other hand tugging at Ben. The teen looks like he’s been frozen and Mono looks like he isn’t aware of the others their presence.

With a glitching sound the noise peaks, reaching levels and tunes that literally hurt the ears. It makes Ben flinch and back off and Mono curls into himself from the sheer pain. It’s like pins and needles, like burning coal and scorching fire in his head.

And then the hands aren’t pressing. They’re reaching.

The TV screen blacks out, nothing more but a gateway for the monster walking out. The sight sends Ben’s heart racing whilst his mind has simply whited out for a second.

Mono groans as he curls to the floor. The pain is already receding but he isn’t aware of the danger yet.

Six is pulling fruitlessly at the two, but she hasn’t run away yet even when every fiber in her being is screaming at her to run tail and get out of there. She might have done so in the past but she isn’t about to lose the two most important people in her life!

Her hand manages to grab hold of Ben’s pants, right on the spot where the pocket holding Diego’s lock of hair is. When she pulls it draws the comforting touch away from the boy.

It’s like an electric shot when he doesn’t feel the small touch to his leg. He looks down to see why and finds Six frantically pulling at him and trying in vain to grab Mono. He stumbles back, drawing Six behind him and reaches out to grab Mono from where he’s uncurling.

Somehow Thin Man is only halfway through the screen.

There’s still time.

“Run!” He screams out, dragging the two kids back from the danger and pushing them behind him. “Run!”

Six grabs Mono’s hand and the duo listen to the one who’s been there for them almost the entire journey.

They run.

Ben glares up at the tall form of the man with a fedora hat, taking slow steps back and not making eye contact. He feels slower and his hairs tingle like they’re charged with electric static. His eyes shift to the door for a moment, relieved to see that both kids are gone.

His eyes turn back to Thin Man. He wants to run but something is pushing at him to stay.

He’s certain that when Thin Man turns his head to regard the teenage boy standing before him there’s a scowl hidden under the shadow of that fedora hat. He manages a cocky grin.

Not today.

All he remembers before he pulled the rope from his belt and tossed it out of the open door is something pulling at him, drawing in his very soul, and then static blackness.

When he wakes up he expected to feel empty, like something’s missing.

Instead he feels weirdly whole, like he went through a wash or something. He can’t put his finger on how or why, he just knows there’s something strange about it.

Ben slowly opens his eyes. He blinks as he stares up at the ceiling of his old bedroom.

Was it... all just a dream?

He groans as he gets up from bed, blinking his eyes against the brightness of his room. He looks around, seeing that everything is still in place. The TV is displaying the starting screen of Little Nightmares 2.

He slowly gets off the bed, standing in the middle of the room, his room. It doesn’t feel that way. He looks around again. The weather outside is still the same, nice and shiny.

Was it all a dream? Some stupid, meaningless dream?

He presses a few fingers to his cheek. It gives a small throb of familiar pain. Tasting and touching the inside with his tongue he can feel where the skin had broken slightly from Six’s slap.

No, not a dream.

His eyes shift into a glare. When he looks back at the window he finds nothing but a powerful pink-purplish glow staring back at him.

He’s inside the Tower.

“Astute observation.”

His fingers curl into a fist. So similar yet warped by age and static is that voice, he doesn’t have to ask to know who’s standing behind him. The ceiling has grown immensely tall.

“Thin Man.” He spits out the name like it’s poison, turning on his heel and finding himself face-to-face with the massive adult man. He’s sitting in a chair, hands resting in his lap.

He looks far too self-accomplished for his own good.

“At your service.” The tall creature states with a cruel twist of his lips, tipping his hat a little before settling back in his chair.

“I guess the Tower isn’t interested in using me.” Ben states slowly, eyes going around the room. Every time he blinks or looks away something more is warped and deformed. The dresser has grown as tall as the ceiling ans his bed is floating now. The walls have aged and cracked and the floor is moldy in the corners.

His room is fading as the illusion loses purpose.

“No, not particularly. You were nothing more but an obstacle that had to be removed.”

His frown only deepens at the obvious jab. Trying to rile him up. Yet for the first time he finds he isn’t about to explode in rage.

In fact, it feels like his rage is waiting.

Well he won’t leave it waiting for long.

“Then why am I here? How did I get here?” He tosses an arm out, motioning at everything around him. “Why have me go through all the trouble for nothing?!”

Thin Man’s face draws back in a frown. “You believe I brought you to this world?”

“Who else?!”

He hums, considering, before shaking his head. “I did not.”

Ben falters, suddenly a lot less sure of himself. So, if Thin Man isn’t the one who saved his life and who brought him into this world, then who did? “But... But who then, and why?”

Thin Man chuckles, full of static and faded notes of distant songs. “Have you ever wondered why the Signal Tower appeared here?”

Ben opens his mouth but when nothing comes out he closes it again. It’s a good question, as much as he loathes to admit it. There’s is so little he really knows about the Signal Tower. He knows the man before him is deflecting to answer but he’ll humor it.

Not to mention, here is someone who holds all the answers to his burning questions. So many things that were nothing more but guesses can finally get answered! Still, depends if Thin Man will even answer them willingly. His face settles in a fierce glare.

“Then tell me.”

Thin Man chuckles and waves a hand. Ben feels himself get pushed down by nothing but electric current jolting his senses and then he’s sitting on a chair that’s much to big for him, just like how the one for the man before him is too small for his oversized stature.

“The Tower, can you make a guess as to what it is?”

Ben ponders on it. He’d seen the eyes, the flesh and gore hidden behind these walls of mortar and wood. He frowns as he properly settles down in the chair with great reluctance. “Some kind of living transmission? I’ve always wondered on why it uses signals. They exist outside of time, at least that’s what some people have guessed.”

“You are very close, but not quite right. The Signal Tower is an Entity, an Eldritch God if you will. No human word could truly describe what It is, but those are the most suitable.”

A creature from beyond the cosmos. An Entity that exists outside of human perception, outside of the three dimensions. He knows enough from playing horror games to know the many meanings an Eldritch God can hold.

It suits the Signal Tower perfectly. He concedes with a nod.

Thin Man his smile is sharp and angled, full with malice and not an ounce of respect. Ben doesn’t let it affect him, he knows things that he’s sure Thin Man won’t expect.

“It chose Earth because it could taste the fear, feel the anger and rage. The sins and desires of the people living on the surface. The world had been held in war and bloodshed and it relished in those feelings, it wanted more.”

“So it manifested in a tower, so it could feed of our feelings and emotions.” Ben continues, the hidden analyzer inside him putting the puzzle pieces together. “The people only grew more fearful from the unknown, fueling it to grow stronger. Allowing it’s broadcasts to slowly warp the physical world.”

“Until the entire planet was one living horror show.”

Ben hums softly, leaning his head back against the chair. The floor under him feels shaky and he doesn’t want to consider what is hidden beyond the corner of his eye. Extra dimensional entities exceed human comprehension. They’re walking dangerous territory by even talking about It in such an open manner. “But then why are you here? You’re effectively a host, right? Allowing it to keep control.”

“Effectively, yes. My powers allow the broadcast to continue existing, allowing in turn the Signal Tower to continue existing. The structure itself lies outside of time itself, a Breach that reaches back as far as the creation of the universe.”

“But it made a mistake. The world of horrors outside is slowly killing itself. There aren’t as many people left who understood the meaning of fear and anger then in the past, so it was losing strength. It was dying because it took too much, demanded too much from the world. That’s why it needed a host, a way to remain in control and keep itself alive. That’s why it needed you.”

“It fell to the one sin everything alive is perceptible to.”

“Greed.”

Silence hung between them as Ben absorbed what they’ve already deduced. He can see the purpose, the meaning and the history. Yet there’s something missing.

“Who was the source of your power?”

Thin Man chuckled, and this one actually held hints of cruel amusement hidden past the tinkling of bells and other noises. It’s strange to understand what the man says even if his voice is nothing but a mixture of signals and broadcasts congealed together like an amalgam of failed transmissions. Yet the original voice, aged and hardly ever used, is still hidden behind all those noises.

“My parents, of course.”

“You don’t have any.” He points out with a frown, leaning a bit forwards in his seat. He’d felt something brush his ear and whisper, but it sounded like garbled words to him.

“Oh, but I do. You see, not everyone fell so quickly to the whims of the Signal Tower. Some remained, stubbornly trying to understand what they’re dealing with. They figured some of it out and thought they found a way to destroy It. It fought back, and they fought back in return. A feedback loop that damaged the Signal Tower and left one of them with static in their head.”

“They absorbed some of the Entity’s powers. And eventually passed it on to their child.” He murmurs, eyes glancing up. The Thin Man hadn’t even twitched when Ben mentioned his parents, but the teen didn’t need to see the signs to know they’re there. “Their child, drawn to a tower without knowing what they were doing. Pulled inside, driven to insanity and then used as a host.”

“Exactly.” The tall man grinned, all teeth and 3D glitches and Ben his own mouth pulled down with disgust.

“But it has a problem once more. It’s host will eventually die out of old age, so it needs a way to sustain a steady stream of them. It’s broadcast exists outside of time, and the host can use these to travel wherever he wishes. It repeats the pulling it did in the past but this time it puts the room holding the original host at the end of the hall.”

“Who wishes nothing more but to go out and prevent the events that brought it inside here in the first place.”

Ben allows his thoughts to settle in the silence that ensues. He’s missing something, something important... His mouth hardens in a line, hands coming together to settle in a single fist in his lap, when he realizes. “Where’s Six?”

The Thin Man remains eerily silent. Ben his frown deepens and his teeth are gritting together.

“Where’s Six?”

Nothing.

“Where is she?” He stands up from the chair, not caring when it floats upwards to join the cloud of miscellaneous items that once held value to him. The mockery of his old room is a sore pin in his eyes. “Where is she?!”

Suddenly, in a haze of static and a screech in his ears, Thin Man is standing before him, looming over him with ash-like particles floating from his hands.

“She won’t hurt us-me again. You managed to set me back but I’ll get her in the end and then we-I’ll finally be free.”

“No.” Ben shakes his head, not moving even as the threat of being torn to shreds glares him in the eyes. The shadow of the fedora hat no longer hides the static eyes drilling into him. “You’re wrong. You won’t set yourself free, you’re only condemning yourself to the same loop, over and over! A self-fulfilling fate.”

Glitched and warped, time seems to lack meaning when a hand appears around his body, waiting to squeeze and pop off his head. Yet he remained glaring.

“You’re only fighting the inevitable. You think you’ve figured it out but you haven’t. Grabbing Six won’t stop him from coming, won’t stop the betrayal and the fall.”

The hand is touching his skin and body, the two fingers wrapped around his neck close to snapping it off in the blink of an eye.

“You’re wrong! You’re running ahead of yourself, letting your emotions control you!”

The pressure should’ve been cutting off his air yet he still managed a final sentence.

“Don’t be as dumb as I was, Mono!”

His shout echoed, bouncing off infinite walls and halls and doors and seemingly sending Thin Man reeling back in pain. Ben slacks in a breath, relieved his own actions hadn’t brought him his own demise.

Dying once was more than enough, thank you.

“I’m not Mono!”

Ben pins a glare on the boy pretending to be a man, a haze of red overtaking his brown eyes as his rage finally settled in like a soothing drone. His mind is in equilibrium, the will to make Mono see reason and his own rage at what the boy has done creating a balance that might never come again.

“You are. Just like all the others were. Just like the infinite timelines of Mono’s before you! You’re a boy pretending to be a grown man, a child pretending to be a monster. You’re throwing a tantrum over the fact you weren’t allowed outside, angry over a friend betraying your trust!”

Ben marched forwards, every step sending a small shockwave through the ground and leaving splinters in the wooden floor. Thin Man takes a few stumbling steps back, taken by surprise by the sudden fury standing before him. Something old and unfamiliar blossoms in his chest like a parasite.

“You think revenge is the only way, that Six deserves everything you hold against her! You never stopped and asked yourself why. Why would she do such a thing?”

Thin Man's back hits the wall but Ben doesn’t stop until he can’t crane his head any higher to remain holding eye-contact without straining his neck too much. Blazing red burned harsh into empty static.

“Here’s why! Your trust was built on nothing but usefulness, and the moment she saw how much you and Thin Man looked alike she became scared. You were discarded like an old toy because that was all she saw you for, all you made yourself look like!”

“You never paused to talk, never waited for one another. You allowed the pull to control you, allowed your inner feelings, your endless questions, drive you to ultimately pushing away the only friend you ever had!”

A shiver ran down the man’s spine and whatever grandeur he held himself with was gone like snow for the sun. Protests hung around him but never found the will to be spoken.

“You did this to yourself, and you put the blame on an innocent girl! You hurt her, pulled her soul free from her body and left her hungry for anything that might satiate her! She was forced to face horrible dangers and become the very monster you condemned her to be!”

“A self-fulfilling fate!”

Thin Man opened his mouth but no sound came out. He tried a few more times before he managed a meek, small response. His voice was but a hum of garbled messes and his original voice, aged and broken and corrupted.

“How do you know that for sure?”

Ben his grin was all sharp teeth and wrath. “Because I played the game of your destiny. I watched as you went against obstacle after obstacle, pulling the girl you didn’t know with you into horrible dangers only to drag her back out of ‘em. I watched as she suffered under your journey, as your friendship became an illusion. I watched the distance grow and her trust in you fall. I watched as you shattered her only warmth in this cold world and selfishly asked her to safe the one who tormented her into becoming a monster!”

“I watched it all, and I did everything I could in my power to undo your mistakes!”

He waved a hand out, the static in his head pulsing out like a command. As if the world in that moment obeyed to his every whim countless screens came to life in the air, displaying the different events Ben knows are important.

Not being the one to pull the trigger. The moments they paused to eat and drink. The hugs and encouraging words. The kindness and trust growing. The bond strengthening. The past recounted, the failure forgiven.

All of it and more was plain to see, on display like a trophy. Yet there was no pride in his stance, only contempt and disgust.

“You think yourself a man, in control of everything just because you grew up. You believe you’re in the right and everyone else in the wrong because you’re an adult.”

“You’re a child, Mono. You never grew up. All you ever did was wallow in your anger and despair and allowed the Tower to control you like the puppet you are!”

He closed his hand in a fist and hit the chair the tall man had been seated in, sending it crashing into the wall with a resounding echo of shattering wood. The screens around them fizzled out in fragments of pixels.

“Well not this time! I vowed I’d protect those two, and those vows mean I’ll protect them from themselves as well, figuratively and literally!”

Ben turned around and pinned the man back under his red hazed glare before he could even think on glitching out of the room. His entire body radiated the desire to strike the one before him down a notch.

“You will not hurt my kids.”

He looked ready to pounce, ready to take down the Thin Man without any weapon beyond his bare knuckles. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’d managed to do so, somehow.

The chair falling on his head and knocking him out cold was a surprise and a half.

‘Oh, what hit me?’

When Ben came to, it was to utter darkness.

With a groan he pushed himself up from the floor, head throbbing where the chair hit him. He looked around as if expecting to find the thing that knocked him out but he sees nothing but pure blackness. He rubbed his head before bringing it in front of his eyes

He can hardly even see his own fingers before his eyes. Not a light around.

“Ws abg hrtty.”

He blinked in surprise, eyes darting around. Those words, garbled they were, came from somewhere. He slowly got up and took a step forwards. His feet didn’t make a sound, and it feels like he isn’t walking anywhere even though he is. It’s like he’s in a dark room with no way to know where he’s going.

“Yho wnrgk’t sukkiled tg costrant hkl.”

It’s like someone is slowly turning the dial of a radio, trying to tune in better on the transmission. He paused, a nagging feeling at the back of his head. He turned around.

Where darkness had been before now stands an ornately decorated table, an old-school radio from the 80’s on the table. Suddenly it’s like he could see, although his vision didn’t go much further past the table and his own body.

He walked up to it and tentatively pressed the on-button.

Static and garbled words on repeat greeted his ears. He grimaced and took hold of the dial, slowly turning it back and forth to try and find the broadcast.

“He has Six. He has Six. He has Six-”

When he finally got the repeating sentence -the voice was a weird mix of male and female- it gripped his heart like a vice. He looked at the radio and couldn’t hold back a breathless “What?”

“Thin Man has Six. We tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat and pressed down on the anger slowly creeping up. It went back down without protest.

“Who are you?” He asked softly, not sure why he’s even asking. It’s just a broadcast, but then why did it tell him what he feared the most? Why is he in this dark place?

“We are the ones who brought you here.”

Well, at least he finally got that answered.

“But, why? Why bring me here?”

A garbled sigh. “We watched for an eternity as the loop continued on repeat. As Mono turned into Thin Man and Six succumbed to her inner darkness, taking the roll as the new Lady of The Maw.”

“We were tired of seeing them suffer. We tried everything to stop it but nothing worked. Until one day we found another world where everything we know exists in the form of a videogame.”

“And you thought pulling some random kid would fix things?” He asked, stunned and a little aghast. “That asking him wasn’t an option? That explaining him what the hell he was supposed to do wasn’t necessary?”

“We didn’t know what would happen, there is so much we can’t do without risking the Signal Tower finding out and suppressing us like it’s done so many times before-”

“Well you did a fucking good job of it! Do you even know what I went through? The things I’ve seen? I’ll probably have trauma for the rest of my life!”

“We are sorry! We didn’t mean to!”

“Didn’t mean to?! I fucking died! I died!”

“We brought you back!”

“And made me a monster in return!” He hit the table, sending the radio clattering onto it’s back. Yet the transmission didn’t waver.

Silence and the small grit of static in the background hung in the air.

“You have to save her.”

He chuckled bitterly, defeaten. “I’ve been trying to this entire hellhole of a journey. I helped build her trust with Mono, made sure they really can depend on each other. I helped her realize she doesn’t need her music box to feel safe.”

“But none of that will mater if the tower succeeds in turning her into a monster. It's all over.”

He dropped his head on the wood, tears pricking at his eyes.

“...It hasn’t succeeded yet.”

Ben slacked in a breath, slowly daring to look up. “It hasn’t?”

“It’s trying, offering her everything she’d want. The box is playing but she’s keeping her ears covered.”

His mouth was gaping. He’d expected that the moment Thin Man took Six everything was lost. But she’s fighting the Tower’s influence, fighting against the desires trying to take hold.

There’s still hope.

“There’s still a chance.” He whispered, hopeful for the first time since he came into this world. A bit too hopeful. He’s quick to grow suspicious. “Wait, how can I be sure I can trust you?”

“Because you gave our son a friend.”

His laugh could’ve been identified as sounding hysterical.

Chapter Text

Running around ultimately seemed useless, but he needed a distraction in order to stay sane. Running is all he could really do, holding the radio under his arm as the beings on the other side try to get him back into the Tower.

“I should be exhausted by now.” Ben notes, part confused and part awed. His eyes glance around as he considers the infinity of directions to take. “Hungry, thirsty. How can I even breathe?”

“This world grants whatever is desired by those within. You need air to breathe so there is air. You need energy to run so it keeps your body energized.”

“Then why can’t I wish for a way into the Tower?” He chose left, one of the countless lefts he could take. The point of the act is useless but it keeps his mind on track with the situation. He can’t afford to pass out from simply having nothing to do. A body at rest desires to remain at rest, and all that.

“The Entity keeps a close watch on those who enter and leave. It is meticulous in it’s plans. Has had an eternity to perfect the loop.”

“And I just became the first to throw the figurative wrench in the cogs.” He keeps running, feet landing on solid black and his destination the space beyond spaces.

“Not the first to try, but the first to succeed.”

He laughs at that, it only sounds mildly hysteric this time. “I’m messing with a being that’s older than creation. And for what? The sake of two souls that will eventually wither and die?”

“Death is mercy compared to the eternity in the loop.”

Right, that’s a good point. “And you have a son to rescue.”

“Correction, we had a son to rescue. Now we are merely helping the one who will show him and his friend the world.”

He pauses at that, not just to choose a new direction but also to consider their phrasing of words. “Had?”

“We lost the right as parents the moment we died and left him in a world of dangers.”

He scoffed and picked right, running off into the empty void. “You fought hard to be with him, didn’t you?”

“We did. It costed us our lives to safe him.”

“And yet you’re still here.”

“Stuck in Limbo, purgatory. Souls condemned to haunt the realms of infinite time and space.”

“And using that infinite time to protect your son. You’re still acting as the parents you’ve always been.”

“But now that the chance of the loop finally coming to a close is so near, we believe it is time to pass on the torch.”

Ben freezes in his tracks, the shock and surprise at the implication stealing his breath away. “W-what?”

“You have done much to protect our son and his friend, Benjamin Mallsburg. Once he is safe our souls will finally find peace in our eternal existence. We wish for him to know the joys of being a child, of having a loving family. Please, be the parent we could never hope to be. Teach him about life, show him the world, raise him as your own.”

“I’m sixteen!” He defends, although in his own head it sounded much stronger. He starts running again, needing something to keep his mind clear. “Not even out of high school yet! I don’t have a job, not a lot of money to spent or a place of my own! Not to even mention the amount of paperwork -of which I’m sure half would have to be fake- it would take to allow me the right of adoption!”

“Time is meaningless between worlds. You could go back and spent all the time you need to prepare yourself, and when you return it will have been like you were never gone at all.”

He has to admit, that does sound very helpful and tempting, but still... “I-I’m no father.”

“You called them your children.”

He did, didn’t he? But that was in a burst of anger. He might have been in control but it was simply an impulse, a selfish wish.

“I... I don’t deserve it. A-after everything, all the stuff I dragged them through...”

“The fun you taught them, the hope you gave them, the trust you earned?”

“And lost.”

“All parents make mistakes, Ben, but you have the plus of already knowing what a child needs.”

“Because I used to babysit my cousins.” Still does, even thought they’re already getting close to the same ages as Six and Mono. “I had to, those were the few times I could have some respite from... from my biological father.”

“And that too works in your favor. You know what a real father should do.”

He does, the things his own dad did wrong have taught him a lot about raising children. The care and respect they need and deserve, the patience and open mind required. How to have fun, how to be comforting, how to teach a valuable lesson.

It’s always been a hidden thought, a deep desire that he kept the closest to his heart. The hope of one day having a family of his own and proving he’s better than Mark, better than the man who had dared to call himself Ben’s father.

His resistance is crumbling to the desire of being the person they need.

“But... would they even accept me?”

“In this cruel world you have been their one constant, the one to protect and keep them safe. You are the oldest, the one true adult they’ve ever known. They see you as their parent even if they do not know it yet.”

“Why me?” He stopped, not because he’s tired but because for this he really needs his head as clear as it can get, and running demands a bit too much thinking for that. “Why bring me here? What did I do to prove that I could change things?”

“You tried to change the end of the game.”

And was that really all they needed to know? That he was willing to go through the torment of the game’s final boss fight again just to see if he could change a scripted ending?

“I... I...” He closes his mouth, swallows the lump threatening to burst out of his throat. The decision is so easy to make compared to accepting it. “I... I would be honored, um...”

“Just calls us the Signalers.”

The Signal Tower loomed above the crumbling streets below. Debris lies scattered around, the broken buildings at the side not nearly as imposing as the seemingly infinite height of the structure.

Mono gulped and winced when it pulled at his ribs. They’re either broken or bruised, either one would make sense after the hit he endured after the tram car came to such an abrupt stop.

The distance, once so long it would surely have taken hours for him to walk, shrunk down to that of a mere dozen steps at the will of his mind.

It felt both wrong and right to have these powers, so similar yet different to the Thin Man’s own. He tries not to think on it, too focused on his current goal.

Getting Ben and Six out of the Tower.

The door opened before him, welcoming yet hesitant, almost jittery like it isn’t sure whether it should open or not. He ignores it in favor of walking inside.

The same hallway he remembers seeing every time he entered one of the TV’s is what the young boy finds. There’s nothing slowing him down this time, no static screech or thumping drone. Just a faint melody, so eerily familiar it has his heart ache.

The room on the other side defies every known law of nature and physics.

Objects floated around aimlessly, defying gravity. Furniture stood bend and twisted, warped and deformed even more than they would already be on their own. The ceiling is so far up, if there even is one, that he can’t see it past the pink-purplish glow encompassing everything. His footsteps echo like stone drops.

Mono looked at the open door ahead, the symbol of an eye painted above, and quickly hurried over.

It closed with a click that echoed almost indefinitely before fading, cutting off his next route. He looks around, almost expecting one of the many doors to open.

One does.

It isn’t the one he’d expected, weirdly enough. He isn’t sure why he expected another one to open, honestly.

When the door opened it opened, flinging around so hard that it hit the wall and almost made an imprint in the concrete with the force alone, wood splintering from the impact. The glow beyond wasn’t there, instead nothing but pure darkness was found past the threshold.

From the darkness a familiar form stumbled inside, blinking against the light inside, even though it isn’t that bright.

Mono is sure he could have fainted from sheer relief.

“Ben!” His voice echoed and he didn’t care, running up to the boy and grabbing him in a hug that actually sends the two stumbling. The teen managed to catch them before they actually fall.

“Mono.” He chokes slightly on his voice, wrapping his arms around the boy. God, he didn’t even realize just how much he missed seeing the kid, and it hasn’t even been that long. “Thank god you’re alright.”

“You’re alive.” The younger boy choked on a sob, hands grabbing hold of the boy’s shirt so hard they could almost rip right through it. His chest protests at the movement but he doesn’t care, too relieved to be bothered. “I though- I thought...”

“Hey, hey, hush now. I’m here.” Ben shushes softly, rubbing the boy’s back and bending down slightly so he can press a kiss on the kid’s head. It’s then that he realizes. “You’re not wearing your sack?”

Mono shakes his head vigorously. “I-I don’t need it. Who cares what the world thinks? All that matters are the people who I love.”

Ben chuckles softly at that. “That’s right. I tried to show you so many times... I’m glad you finally understand, Mono.”

“Now,” He gently extracts the boy and looks around the room. The door behind him is still vacant and he’s pretty sure going through there won’t get them where they have to go. “We have to find Six. The Signal Tower is trying to hurt her but she’s fighting back. We don’t have much time.”

Mono nodded and brushed away the tears, looking around just like Ben did. None of the other doors look like they’re going to open. “But how?”

The teen looked at the boy, and for the first time he sees those brown eyes with black-white speckles without a mask obscuring the rest. The face looking back is so young and frail, yet the kid’s mental scars are almost visible in the way he looks, determined yet oh so worried for his friend.

It sends a new vigor through him and the teen straightens his back. “We’ll find a way, we have to.” His eyes stray to the various items hanging around, the furniture lying bent against the walls. He looks at the staircase above them, the only place lacking actual doors. He grins. “How about I show you something fun?”

Mono tilts his head, confused. “Fun?”

“Yeah, fun. It’s a game called hopscotch.” He walks up to the thin and tall dressing drawer, grabbing hold of the drawers and using them to climb up. Mono follows after, confused but slowly piecing together Ben’s plan as he observes him. “It’s very simple. You just hop-” He hops onto the top of the dresser and turns so he has the wall to his back. “-from one place to-” He jumps and grabs hold of the first item in front of him, a toy duck. “-another.” Like he thought it simply remains floating, holding his weight easy. He grunts at the effort of keeping hold but he remains floating.

Mono slowly starts to grin as he realizes what the older boy is doing. There are plenty of items floating around, and they lead high up, to and past the stairs.

“That does look fun.” The boy states, chuckling as he climbs up and joins Ben. The teen chuckles along as he starts swinging, preparing to grab the next object.

“It is fun!” Ben exclaims as he soars forwards, grabbing hold and putting himself leaning over it. The stairs already look a lot closer. “And the fastest way to the top.”

And so they played, going from one object to the next until the stairs are no longer far away. Ben grins as he leaps forwards and lands on the stone. He gives a whoop of victory and turns to grin wide and earnest at the young boy. Mono laughs and jumps forwards, almost hitting Ben but managing to catch himself and instead hug the teen.

“Thanks Ben.”

He pats the kid on the head. “Happy to help, kiddo. Now, how about we grab Six and get out of here?”

Going up the stairs ahead, suddenly things didn’t look that scary as they were before.

Navigating the halls wasn’t hard, the music playing guiding the duo through the endless doors and looping halls with ease. The eerie yet soothing tune remained the one constant in the labyrinth of hallways.

Still, Ben kept the relative silence between solving the puzzles needed to keep going filled by talking about small, seemingly meaningless yet nice things. The joys of playing with his cousins, how it’s like to go to a (normal) school, the small times between the struggles of his parent’s divorce when his friends (especially Darren) helped him cope.

Mono was entranced at hearing the tales of every day life. By the time they reached what Ben is sure will be the final hall the kid couldn’t stop an awed whisper.

“I wish I had a life like that.”

Ben chuckled softly, and a little bitterly, shaking his head. “My life was far from nice, Mono. I went through some bad times. Maybe not as bad as this world, but certainly not nice.”

“But,” He paused and settled a hand on the boy’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to give you and Six the youth you deserve. I didn’t want to give any false hope, but I believe there’s somewhere where you will be safe. Both of you.”

“Really?” Mono’s face lit up at the mere thought, but he frowned when he realized what Ben also meant. “But why did you think it’d be false hope?”

“Because, until recently, I wasn’t even sure how we’d get there.” Ben shakes his head at the knowledge of just what he had to endure just to find out how to go back. “But now I believe I know a way.”

“That sounds nice. I’m sure Six would agree.”

“Well,” Ben clicked his tongue, hand pressing against the door at the end of the hall. “You’ll be the one to tell her, then. A surprise.”

When they opened the door a whole different surprise awaited them.

Standing in the middle of what looked like a warped version of a children’s toy room, an oversized version of the music box Ben had spared a moment to bring along stood alone. The handle is turning on it’s own, playing the same soothing melody.

Sitting in a corner of the room, huddled in a bend and twisted suitcase, is Six. Her hands are pressed tight against her ears and she’s shaking, tears spilling down her face and mixing with a faint trail of blood from underneath the makeshift bandage.

The sight was heartbreaking. Ben his lips twisted at the sight and he took purposeful large steps across the room, giving the music box a kick on the way. It didn’t stop, and he knows that if they’re to get out that thing has to go.

But first, the poor girl.

He gently settled himself on his knees and looked back to see where Mono is. The boy is looking around the room with a frown and when he sees the teen looking he shakes his head. This isn’t his to solve.

Ben knows for a fact that Mono will gladly break the thing that’s tormenting his friend, though. He nods and turns his focus back to the crying girl. They’re tears of hurt and pain, and sadness he’s sure as well.

He gently reaches out and puts a hand against the little girl’s cheeks, scratching softly. Six startles as if burned and her eyes blow wide open, her entire body coiled to run high. She pulls back and looks ready to hit him.

Yet when those red orbs meet loving brown the tension bleeds from her body and a watery smile, broken and small, blooms on her face.

“Ben.” She whispers his name almost reverently, arms shaking to hug him but unwilling to let the haunting melody take hold. Her voice is filled with choked-back sobs and Ben can’t hold himself back when seeing just how much torment she's dealt with.

He reaches out and captures the girl in a hug, dragging her closer until she’s resting in his lap, face pressed against his chest. He hushes softly, running a hand over her hair whilst the other caresses her cheek.“Shh, shh... I’m here Six, I’m here.”

“I thought...”

He shakes his head, cutting off the thought before it could even settle in. “I’m here. I’m real, I’m real and I’m not letting you go. You hear me? You’ll have to push me away and lock me in a dark room with no windows to even try and stop me.”

Six chuckles softly, the sound mixed with barely-suppressed crying. “I know.” She buries herself deeper in his hold and Ben gladly wraps an arm around her to hold her closer. “You promised, didn’t you?”

“I promised.” He places a tender kiss on her head before rubbing his cheek over her hair. “I promised and I intend on keeping my promise.”

And he has so many more to make and keep. But that’s for later, right now they have a tower to escape.

Gently he extracts the girl. She tries to stay close but he shakes his head and grabs her wrists, prying her free without removing her hands from her ears. He’s going at it as softly as possible as to not alarm her. When she looks up at him with a broken, confused face he reaches down and presses his forehead against hers, looking her deep in the eyes.

Beyond those red orbs he expected to see a rainbow of emotion brewing but for some reason they looked vacant, empty. He tries not to think on the how and why and instead focused on making sure she’ll be alright.

He’d silently promises to himself he’ll do all it takes to be the parent she deserves, if she’ll have him.

“Six, we have to go but for that we need to destroy the box. Can we?” Even though he knows for a fact the music is sure to haunt her dreams for years to come, it still holds a deep spot in her heart, as broken as that might be right now.

She nods her head, desperate to finally have the awful tune stop. Ben smiles softly and nods in understanding before pulling back so he can look at Mono.

“Mono?” The boy perks up at being called, turning to face the teen. “Think you can break the box? There’s a hammer lying here.”

He nods and quickly jogs over, grabbing hold of the hammer and dragging it towards the box with purpose and barely-concealed anger. Six her eyes had widened when she realized her friend is here as well, and they remained focused on the boy even as he prepares to strike the playing music box.

“His sack...”

Ben chuckles and looks at the girl from the corner of his eye. “He doesn’t need it anymore.”

At that she manages a small, understanding and slightly proud smile. “Good.”

The air resonates with the strike of metal against metal.

Turns out, having the one who normally was meant to guard the most important object in the entire building with you and not turned into a vicious monster takes out a lot of the trouble of a boss fight.

Not a fight even, just a final act of providence.

When the box is finally crushed into a pile of bend metal, the room around them is so distorted and broken you could hardly even call it a room, silence finally greeting the trio. Six is relieved beyond words when she pries her hands off her ears, the melody that once felt like bliss but eventually turned into torment finally over.

But they’re not done yet.

The flesh and gore and eyes pouring from the walls prompt them to start running, the halls breaking apart as the illusion fades and the true appearance of the tower is beheld before them. They’re jumping and dodging falling rubble, trying to get out of this place.

Ben once more finds himself at the rear, Mono and Six keeping up somewhat with each other as if scared they’ll lose the other. He shouts for them to keep going, wanting to reassure them he’ll make it.

Ahead of them the doorway opens up into the endlessly tall section of the tower, an elevated walkway leading towards a screen in the wall. Everything is crumbling, walkway included.

Six and Mono keep going, side-by-side, and make it across right as it starts crumbling behind them. Ben is trying to push himself but the energy he’s expended today is finally catching up with him.

The floor disappears under him right as he performs a final leap of faith.

Two pair of hands grab his own and he flops uselessly in the air. He looks up at them, at the two he’s spent so much effort on helping. These past few days, short yet so full of events and happenings, are reflected in the way they’re touching shoulders like friends, the way they share a meaningful look.

The way they pull him up with only a few grunts before they’re all lying on the cold stone, the light of the screen cast down on the trio.

For a moment, that’s all they want to focus on. The feel of the cold floor, the hard stone underneath them.

The groaning and continues crumbling of the building around them doesn’t give the chance. Ben gets up with a groan and helps the two up. Mono grabs Six her hand and the girl grabs Ben’s and then the boy is pressing his free one against the screen.

It’s a testament to how much the kid wants them all to get out when, in a flash of static noise and electric charge, they’re send falling out of the next screen. It doesn’t shatter for some unknown reason.

They stay there on the floor, breathing and alive. All three of them.

Outside, past the walls serving as respite from the world, something akin to a building crumbling echoes far into the distance. It goes unnoticed for the most part.

Ben huffs out a breath and starts laughing. The two kids slowly look up at him, wondering why. He doesn’t explain, just keeps laughing almost hysterically, rolling over so he’s on his back with a hand resting on his shaking stomach, the other covering his eyes to hide the tears.

Six chuckles, unable to cut it off when it appears. Mono gives a breathless laugh.

Soon all three of them are laughing for no apparent reason. There is so much still left to do, so much they aren’t sure of or haven’t figured out yet.

But, for now, they’re content to laugh and laugh until they’re crying and their stomachs are hurting. For now, they push the hurt and the pain and the trauma away and simply laugh at life, laugh at the world, laugh at nothing.

Because they’re alive, they’re alive and for the first time in forever they feel alive.

And freer than they’ve ever been before.

The room they’re in is empty safe a few random items, a single couch, the TV they escaped through and at least a dozen posters hanging and lying everywhere.

The door hasn’t even been touched yet. None of them are considering leaving just yet.

Mono, with all the adrenaline and distractions, only now realizes just how much his body smarts from going through the Pale City with no help beyond the rope Ben had tossed out. Right now the boy is simply lying on the old carpet floor, riding out the soreness and trying to keep his breathing regulated. Luckily for him Ben has some experience from coping with bruised/possibly-broken ribs and showed him what to look out for. He wondered why.

(“My dad was not the nicest man. Let’s leave it at that.” “Oh.”)

Ben is sitting before the TV, eyes boring a hole into the screen. Mentally he’s daring whatever the Entity can still do to even try and sneak through in order to grab the younger boy currently resting. So far he has seen no response.

He’d like to keep it that way.

A small nudge has him looking over his shoulder. Six motions for him to move over and he does so. She sits down and turns her focus to the screen as well. Ben wants to ask what she’s doing but when he manages to get her attention she simple smiles and shakes her head.

The smile feels empty, void of true feeling. Only now does he realize that she hasn’t said much of anything since they got out.

He gently grabs her shoulder, TV momentarily forgotten. “Six?”

She hums. He shakes her shoulder a little more insistently and she turns around to face him. He observes her face, looks in her eyes.

She’s mentally there, he can tell that much. But there’s something missing...

“How do you feel?” She opens her mouth and he puts a finger against it, stopping her before she can answer. “Be honest. My friend always liked to say he’s fine even when he wasn’t.”

She clamps her mouth shut and thinks on it. Her lips twist uncomfortably and he can tell when she notices what’s wrong.

“I... I feel...” Her face shifts uncertainly. “Empty.” Her hands slowly reach for her stomach. “Hungry.”

He was worried about that. It didn’t matter he managed to give Six some time before the Thin Man caught her, it still had the same affect on her. He opens his mouth, not sure what he was going to say but certain to help, when something past her caught his attention.

He looks up and chokes on his breath. Six notices the change and follows his gaze. Her gasp is sharp and fast and she stumbled back against the teen.

Standing in a corner of the room, twitching slightly and very much out of place, is a glitched figure with a very striking resemblance to Six.

Ben remembers past the surprise. He remembers that this could be the same shadow-like glitched Six that lead Mono to the Tower. The apparition that remained after Six was taken. He swallows the anxious feeling, the uncomfortable knowledge that this could be the same Shadow-Six that watched the girl during her journey through The Maw.

They used to blame the shadow, before the second game revealed what probably happened before.

Slowly he stands up, taking careful steps closer. The glitching form doesn’t seem to be very aware of him, more focused on Six. The young girl is sitting hunched together, eyes fearfully drilling into the mimic before them.

Yet despite that there’s still a distance in her gaze, a coldness that wasn’t there before. No proper emotion, just the instinctual act.

Ben isn’t going to let it stay like that for long.

He crouches so he’s at eye-level, putting himself between Six and the shadow. It finally notices him, taking a jittery step back. He tries to form the most reassuring smile he can get.

“Hi.” It seems to start, the spot where he would imagine it’s eyes would be suddenly focused on him properly. “You seem lost.”

Mono, who’d been silently observing everything from afar with a frown of concern, couldn’t help the small intake as a sense of déjà vu rushed through him at those familiar words.

“I believe,” Ben licks his lips, looking for the right words. Say something wrong and he might scare it (her?) away, and that isn’t what he wants to do. “That you’re looking for someone.”

It gives a slow and twitching nod, form slightly shifting as it continues to glitch in and out of reality. He can just barely make out where the form of its raincoat ends.

“Well, she’s here.” He motions behind him at the guarded girl. “But I don’t think she knows what you are.”

It tilts its head, and despite the situation it works a small grin on his face.

He gently reaches out a hand. “How about I help you get whole again?”

It’s hesitant, hand slowly but surely lifting up to reach for his. He maintains his calm exterior even if his mind is going a mile a minute, trying to figure out what to do next. He has no experience dealing with lost souls (if it really is that) and he’s truthfully just making guesses right now.

Still, when the hand touches his, it sends an electric current through him and he can feel the moment it recognizes something inside him. The hold, cold and barely a whisper on his skin, grows faintly warmer.

He pulls it along, making sure to wait whenever it seems to seize up for a moment as if unsure again. He doesn’t rush, keeps his eyes on it whilst making sure that Six won’t run off as they come closer.

The moment he knows any closer will have the broken girl run tail he turns his focus to her, reaching out with his other hand. She’s less hesitant, willing to trust him but unsure what he’s doing. When he holds her hand it’s warm and soft, a little clammy from sweat and littered with small scars.

He brings the two hands together, making sure they won’t run off or disappear on him.

The moment static black shadow and calloused skin touch it’s like something passes between the two. Six her face lights up and a true, warm smile blooms. The shadow regains full form and underneath the hood he catches a glimmer of a smile before it fading like ashes to the wind.

When she looks back at him he can see the gratefulness, the understanding, and so much more. There is true feeling on her gaze, not just a distant, detached coldness. He smiles back in return, happy to know he managed to help her.

Behind them the screen of the TV flickers on.

Chapter Text

Silence is what remains, hovering in the dark of the room devoid of danger. A single door leaning open and two shapes heading off towards relative safety is all that echoes in the stillness.

The TV remains running, static screen barely revealing the faded after-image of a boy smiling from his room. It’s slightly warped and there’s something eerie about the modern TV standing in the back of the room but it’s a perfect capture of a final moment.

On the other side Ben his smile falters as he watches the old TV screen fade back into the wall of the room -his room- before vanishing all together. A single, barely noticeable crack runs through the plaster.

He only has to tap once in order to call it back. The Signalers assured him it will work. Time isn’t easy to manipulate, though. What will be possible years will only feel like weeks for the kids.

He doesn’t reach out, even if his heart at that very moment was crying out to return, to protect, to keep them safe. To protect the two he’s spent so little yet meaningful time with.

A static sound echoed softly in the back of his mind, a reassurance. If it ever changes to something else, if it ever gets disturbed, it’ll be a call out for help. Only when it’s needed.

He trusts Mono to know when danger becomes to great. They’ll be fine.

He has work to do.

It takes five years.

The first course of action Ben takes is getting his life figured out. Like promised it was like he’d never been gone, but people still notice the odd change here and there. His parents ask questions and he chalks it down to the divorce finally setting in and him being a little out of it. They accept the white lie with only a few concerned looks and he blocks all entry to his room.

The wall above his desk is adorned with a magnet board. The first thing he puts on the stark white plastic is a single word. A promise. A vow he swears to keep.

Home.

He begins working, planning. School is easy compared to outrunning monsters and he graduates with extra credit. College is figured out, finding his job of choice (something in programming) quickly taking up a majority of his time. He narrows down his possibilities with the mindset of someone on a mission. His parents believe he found his calling. His friends think he’s trying to outdo them all.

Darren is the only friend out of all who hears the whispered words in the dark, when secrets are spilled and truths revealed. His friend helps him through panic attacks and anxiety, through rage and sadness. Their bond grows even when the uniquely-toned boy finds his one and moves out of their shared dorm.

Ben finally mourns his fallen friend the day he finds a little puppy on the sidewalk, all gray fluff and long bushy tail. Diego the Second is adopted into his life and helps him handle the darker times with cuddles.

College slips by, but in that time he doesn’t remain idle. Spare time that isn’t spent on relaxing and living is spent on filing information and putting his experiences into physical words. He writes a diary worthy of a novel in order to keep the details burned in his mind from ever fading. Two hand-drawn portraits of a boy holding a paper bag and a girl wearing an old-style raincoat decorate the first page.

Once that’s done he has more work to do. His studies slowly lead him to looking into designing and programming games. He tries out by creating a few of his own and Little Dreamers becomes his first best-selling game, the theme based on a trio of friends walking through a world of warped dreams in order to find a safe place to life. It isn’t quite horror, a happy ending for every game he will ever make, but the money comes flowing in and it helps him move out into a proper house even when he visits the place he grew up and where his adventure began. His new house has a large backyard and a small playground behind the garage. His room is right next to a vacant bedroom and plans for a children’s room are secretly made ahead of time.

His parents question him about his love life, whether he’ll ever find the one. He ignores them and his friends and buries himself in his work, trying to get a job at a high-end gaming company (preferably Tarsier Studios) in order to have a steady income. He sees his family and friends less, doesn’t come out of his home often.

Darren comes knocking at his door one day, promise ring on his finger and a speech on his tongue that leaves Ben reeling and reevaluating his own life. He keeps his promise close to heart but allows it to open up more.

He meets Ally from the bus, game designer extraordinaire and the secret first fan of Little Dreamers when it was still in alpha, the one who submitted so much of the art that inspired the game’s final look.

He finds he likes her. She likes him. Dating is something discussed under warm lights and one day he shows her his diary/novel, the scars hidden under make-up and long sleeves, the tattoo of a single eye on his back that he never had placed, had stumbled upon one night in the bathroom after a shower. It’s burns slightly when touched and she presses delicate, believing kisses near the edges.

A ring is left for when they’re ready.

Static calls out to him one day, heavy and desperate. Surrounded by his two best friends and one future wife he taps the crack in his old room, revealing the door to a dangerous world filled with horrors and monsters.

They come crashing in like shadows, flitting past watching beasts and through paper-walled hallways. A geisha wearing a mask of shame is left dead by a shot through the chest, and a runaway boy is allowed the chance to walk free with weird-hatted little guys at his side. They cast human shadows and that’s alright, they’re still there and still living.

But now they’re free and the world outside becomes a little brighter.

The return is met with new promises, new decisions. Darren marries after his close call with the twin chefs and vows are thought through between Ben and his beloved. Ally helps plan for a future of four, their house gaining new trinkets and other needs he never thought about before.

Law is their next obstacle. Ben receives his mail of hire from Tarsier Studios the day after his 21th birthday.

The people working there, so many of whom had worked on the duo of games that once inspired and now fuel his passion and dedication, are treated with so much kindness and gratitude that they’re almost left feeling overwhelmed. He tones it down after a few days but aims to make close relations with the original creators of the two games.

Half a year before everything’s done he marches with three witness accounts and pages of proof towards the creators of LN. Disbelieve and concern are their initial reactions, until one of the less prominent workers says a few words that spark anger and rage. They are left shivering from the display of raw power and disbelieve is suddenly the farthest from their minds.

Contacts are pulled up, a few laws are broken out of sight. The files of paper that state the existence of two people who were never born are in his hands in the final month.

Never say that the makers of the games didn’t care for their ‘creations’.

A static screen is summoned once more, and on the other side a ten year old boy and a recently celebrated ten year old girl are found huddled under a table, eyes wide and teary as they are reunited with the one who gave them hope, gave them peace and love and care.

A world of horrors unspoken and dangers unrivaled are left behind, the screen shattering the moment they’re all through. ‘A final act of love.’ Ben states with hushed voice, the final truth revealed in the end. Apologies are made and promises reaffirmed and finally completed.

The magnet board, stack full with papers and research and promised words written in fading blue is taken down, no longer needed for what has been accomplished. Tacked against the front door of their new home is a single eye, a reminder and a ward.

After five years, they’re finally home.

But the real world isn’t like a fairy tale. A happy ending is not as easily achieved if there’s still a whole life to live. Adoption papers are taken care of in earnest, hick-ups along the way that sometimes have Ben crying, anxiety peaking and mind unable to discern between himself and the anger storming inside. Three pair of tender hands, two callused with scars and one holding a golden ring, support him through the tough days and lift him up on the hard ones. Good days are spent with family when work isn’t calling. In order to have the kids their papers not stand out to much they each are given a new name. A new start.

Six adopts her name Lucy with gusto, a part of her seeking to simply forget the reality of having a number for a name. Mono takes his name Markus with a grumble and a small slip back into wearing paper bags, but he’s coaxed out by his adopted ‘sister’ eventually.

Neither Ben nor Ally mention the tender hand holding, the shared looks, the definite closeness. They aren’t oblivious, they understand that the horrors they duo have seen made them dependent on each other. In the dark they discuss ways on being supportive, on helping in case these feelings don’t fade in the teenage years.

Little Nightmares is revived for a final new game after years of fans begging for more. It’s dubbed Little Nightmares III: Homecoming by those very fans and the name is officially taken up on a few months later. It stars two familiar faces, and although it isn’t the same like the events that happened in the real-life version Ben recalls, it still gives all fans the happy ending they’d been waiting for in all those years.

(After they’re properly introduced to gaming it becomes Mono and Six their favorite game to play. The irony is always mentioned and never gets old.)

But darkness is always there where there’s light. All of them suffer from nightmares, night-terrors and other things. Mono can’t be close to TV’s for long and Six fears that everything is a false dream. Ben still struggles at times with his anger.

Therapy is considered and swiftly thrown out the window when it becomes clear people wouldn’t believe them, let alone a therapist. Still, when Darren’s wife is finally let in on the secret she takes her extra degree of psychology and helps the group cope with the things they’ve seen and done the best she can. Familiar words are thrown around, PTSD one of the most frequent.

Ben learns that anger issues are the least of his worries, the way he’d singled out the emotion having had a negative side-effect on his personality. It isn’t quite having two minds, two personalities, but it’s close enough that there’s serious concern. He’s helped out in coping and eventually learns to accept this part of himself.

But not everything can be fixed. Six her Hunger -somehow never having fully disappeared- grows as she ages and food becomes a bigger issue when she’s caught raiding the freezer, eating raw meat. It hasn’t gotten out of hand yet but Ben made sure to keep a back-up plan ready in case whatever curse has struck the girl ends up getting worse. There are several theories tossed around on the how’s and why’s and eventually they decide to simply leave it at ‘The Tower’ and move on from there.

(Mono is caught trying to use their TV to find a way back and fix Six’s Hunger. He’s chastised but Ben shares small words about missing the moments of peace and quiet he shared with Diego.)

School is a little bit of an issue, two kids who don’t know how to be kids and socialize would stand out like crazy. Instead they receive homeschooling until they’re ready. The adults agree high school should be something for them to experience at least, to have some normalcy once they’re older and less scarred.

Life moves on. They all grow up.

Ten years.

It almost feels surreal for Ben as he marks the date on the calender. Ten years. Ten years since he first fell down into an empty abyss and woke up in a world of virtual horrors brought to life. Ten years since he found and lost a friend. Ten years since he discovered the family he’d never dreamed off and loves like his own.

There’s a party set for the day after tomorrow. It’s going to be small and intimate, just the six of them. He chuckled at that. Mono is sure to try and get a rise out of Lucy with that one.

The boy, now a teenager in his late fifteen, never quite adapted to his new name. Even though his old resembles a number he explained it never really bothered him. Mono likes his name.

They still call him Markus in front of the public eye, but in the privacy of their home Markus becomes Mono and he seems so much more free whenever they use his original name. Ben isn’t sure on what to feel about that, there’s still so much they haven’t figured out in full and some of those things might never get addressed because they’re so minor compared to the rest.

Madeline would call him out on that but she isn’t here right now and he likes to keep these thoughts to himself. He places the red marker away and admires the Hello Kitty calender Lucy roped them into buying for this year. It’s one of the few items around that are actually girly-girly, and if you were to ever ask Lucy about them she’d deny ownership and kick you in the shin.

A tomboy for sure, but one that knows how to be kind and caring when it’s needed. Mono can attest to that with the amount of hugs he’s gotten.

And the small kisses in the dark. Although in time they’ve adapted to being considered siblings Lucy and Mono never stopped having this closeness even as they grew as independent people. It was a tough subject at one time between him and Ally, whether they should support or denounce this tentative relationship between the duo. They were so concerned it was all built on trauma and co-dependence and would crumble apart as their kids grow up.

Madeline helped lift their fears when they asked her about it. She helped them look past the trauma and see the genuine care and love the two share. Although it’ll be up to them in the end whether they start dating in secret or remain siblings on paper, the kids will have their parent’s support through and through.

He just hopes they won’t try and keep it a secret from the adults. Secrets are dangerous in their family with their experiences and Ben had made sure that the number one rule in their house is to never keep a secret if it’s important.

“Dad! The camera’s not working!”

“Try turning it on!” He called back, grinning when he heard a startled laugh and a ‘thank you’. He still couldn’t keep himself quiet on the subject. Mono had taken to being a cryptid investigator of all things in his down time after he started learning about Creepypasta and urban legends. His videos are well made even if his editing can use work. At first it was something of a joke among them, that a kid born in a world of horrors is chasing fictional ones.

That was until that one time Lucy went along (she likes to pretend she’s one of the urban legends) and they stumbled across an old store. Looking inside they’d been greeted by a grin made of bloodied teeth and cartoon-ish large eyes. The star duo managed to evade the creature and get out, Lucy biting one of the large gloved hands that had tried to grab them. It didn’t pursue but the fact it happened suddenly raised a lot of questions.

Neither Ben nor Ally had been pleased, the former scared that somehow the horrors had slowly started seeping into their world. He forbid Mono from any more cryptid outings until they got to the bottom of it all.

In the end they never figured out whether it was the universe taunting them or simply something about their own world they never knew. Nevertheless in the end Mono started going outside again with his camera ready, but this time he also kept Lucy nearby and a phone in one pocket. The other holds a lighter and a few other items that might be useful.

Sometimes the trips result into nothing but boring footage. Other times he finds clues. Only five videos on his channel so far have actual footage of an encounter with some of the dangerous beings that apparently roam their own island in the sea of the cosmos.

Mono’s online viewers are left in the dark of the sixth encounter where he actually got hurt and had to call for help. The camera had picked up the entire sequence in which Ben came barging through the window to save the boy, gun at the ready and eyes so hazed with rage that no editing could get rid of the imagery.

(None of them mention the moment where Lucy had gone wild and ripped off one of the creature’s stalk-y fingers and bit off flesh like a rabid dog. It had hurt the person she loves and that was all they want to think about.)

Mono whizzed past after giving Diego the Second a pat on the head, his camera in one hand and the other holding a crowbar. Ben paused at the last one and called out for his son to stop.

“Dad?” The now 26 year old adult arches an eyebrow and points at the obvious item in the boy’s hand. Mono looks down and he has the audacity of looking sheepishly back up. “Precaution?”

“Where are you going?” A crowbar for precaution would make sense but for that the teen normally brings a hammer with him. Even after everything Ben doesn’t trust the kid with an axe. No, the crowbar is for something else.

“The... the old theme-park? Forums have been booming with the mention of something called a ‘Slenderman’ wandering around!”

His eyebrow only rises further, not from surprise or anger but simply the mention of something he hasn’t heard much about in a while. “Slenderman? I believe he’s an old Creepypasta who’s normally set to live in the woods. I think you might have yourself a faker.”

Mono huffs. “I know, but they were wrong about Bloody Mary weren’t they? You have to call her name five times in order to summon her.”

Ben shuddered slightly at the reminder of the one video that had been filmed in their home. It’s one of the Five on Mono’s channel. It all worked out in the end but they had to replace some expensive furniture (read: one TV) after the entire ordeal was over. At least the camera never caught what Mono had to do in order to get rid of the well-known urban legend. They wouldn’t have been able to explain how he did what he did.

Still, Ben shook his head. “I told you, no breaking in to places. You’re going to get yourself and Lucy arrested if you go in the old theme-park, Mono.”

“Lucy isn’t here!”

The adult man walked up to the door and opened it, startling the girl on the other side leaning against it and sending her knocking into her adopted brother. They fall down in a small heap and he picks the crowbar from where it fell on the ground and puts it aside, to be returned to the shed later.

“Hey dad.” Two fake blue eyes look sheepishly up at him. He grins back with amusement.

“Hey Lucy, how was practise?”

She chuckles weakly as she got up, pulling the boy who broke her fall up with a single motion that almost had him hitting into her before she caught him. Sometimes she still underestimates her own strength. “Good, I scored a few goals but for the most part it was like any normal game. I can’t wait for when the season begins.”

Lucy, to their surprise, had been the one to take up soccer in her spare time instead of Mono. With practise she became a much better aim, but even then she’s still figuring out how to play in a team. Luckily her experiences with Mono opened her up to working with others. The old her would have scoffed at the idea and walked off after biting your hand. Now she’s working her way up into becoming something of a semi-pro. Ben and Ally try to be there when the season’s running.

The games she and Mono play in the backyard are legendary, though. Much better than any old soccer match.

Mono rubbed his back, groaning slightly as he recovered from playing for temporary crash test dummy. “I told you to wait at the garage.”

“You were taking to long, you dolt. Practise is shorter on a Saturday, remember?”

Ben sighed and tuned out their bickering. Honestly, they’ve adapted the strange role of being an old married couple a bit too well for his taste, and that wasn’t even the plan in the first place. Although it can easily pass as siblings being siblings he catches the hidden innuendos far too often for it to be something siblings would do.

“You don’t even know what it’s like to travel by TV!”

“I got grabbed and pulled through one, you almost saved me from one! Don’t you remember?”

Silence. Cold silence is what greets her question.

Mono works his lips but no sound leaves. He frown and tries again but it’s like the words are stuck.

Lucy her angry look shifts into one of genuine concern. “You remember, right?”

“Y-yeah, I do it’s just...” Mono groans, hand going to his forehead. His head is pounding as the memories come to him in jitters and hazy detail. “I remember but it’s... hazy. Faded. Just lots of... static.”

That has the two in the hall freeze and straighten. Ben is at his son’s side in a flash, feeling the boy’s head and checking his eyes. No static in his pupils but they’ve gone black-white. He brings the teen close in a hug, rubbing soothingly over his back. He’s rigid like a stone, body almost unmoving. A feel like electricity arches where they’re touching.

“It’s okay.” Ben whispers, sensing the episode coming and trying his best to keep it as minimal as possible. Lucy walks over slowly, placing a tender hand on the boy’s shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “Just relax, stay focused.”

“Mono?” Six calls his name, to be sure he’s still there.

“Y-yeah?” The teen’s voice is gritty, like he swallowed sandpaper. The end cuts off like a switching channel. It hurts their ears but they stay close, keep him warm and safe. The boy feels colder in Ben’s arms and he tightens his grip a little, wanting to make sure his son doesn’t accidentally warp somewhere else in the house. The source of his own powers acts like an anchor towards Mono’s abilities and it helps, sometimes, in keeping him a bit more aware.

Part of the kid’s mind is nothing but static screens and looping songs that played on old sets. Normally this part is small and barely noticeable but right now it’s fighting for dominance, trying to grab a hold and pull him down.

Even with the Tower destroyed the creature it housed is still having an affect on the kid, trying to regain its cut puppet and rewind the strings.

None of them are going to let that happen.

“L-L-...S-Six?”

She nods. Even after all this time she still has those moments where she raises her head whenever someone speaks the number, the one that once was her name. It’s the one Mono had cried out when she was caught and the one he mumbled in his nightmares. Even with her new name a part of her will always remain Six, the girl wearing a yellow raincoat. “I’m here Mono.”

“You d-d-dropped-”

“No.” She’s quick to shut off that thought, they all know it’s nothing but the other timelines that once existed, affecting his mind as he battles with something outside their world. “I didn’t drop you. We jumped together. We pulled Ben up. We’re safe.”

He nods slowly, jittery. Small particles are floating from his hands and from certain angles it’s like you’re looking at a 3D movie version of the boy.

If his eyes turn static they know he won’t be himself, that it won’t be Mono who’s in control. It only happened once as far as they know but Darren still sports the bruises he got when he wrestled the possessed boy down to the ground.

But beyond being pure black and white they’re still his eyes, still able to carry feelings and emotions. Still alive.

It takes a few minutes for the episode to pass, Mono’s eyes returning to their soft brown.

When Ben lets the boy go the kid is immediately wrapped up in a tight hug from the younger girl. He returns it with a stuttering sigh and relaxes in her hold.

“Thanks Lucy.”

“Anytime you dork.” She squeezes him a little more, face hidden in his shoulder to keep the tears falling from showing. Mono still feels his shoulder grow damp but he stays resolutely silent, letting her ride it out. Her voice doesn’t stammer but the emotions are clear to hear. “You okay?”

“B-better. Thanks.” His hands stray to her hair, playing with the small braids she put in the tips like a small ponytail. He remember asking what they were for and she told him they reminder her of someone she knew. He didn’t ask after. “Love you Lucy.”

“Love you too.”

As he watched the exchange from a distance Ben could tell they were going to have to have a talk about their relationship earlier than he thought.

“I swear it’s one of the oldest myths around, everyone has heard about Bigfoot.”

“Technically speaking he’s called Sasquatch and when I look at this photo I’m really curious if it wasn’t some fever dream or something. I think there was this one guy in the woods who looked a lot like this.”

Ben shrugged, not exactly having something to say on that. They’d been talking about old myths that made it into the modern world and one of them is the all-time favorite, Bigfoot. Eventually, after some research, Mono discovered that a nearby forest was somewhat famous for having had several sightings of the hairy creature.

If he wasn’t allowed to go to the old theme-park than he’d at least go into the woods to see if there’s any basis for those sightings. Ben wanted to argue but he knew that it’s relatively safe compared to other encounters.

He still can’t look at paranormal shows the same way, always wondering if there’s some validness to all those claims. Sometimes he wonders if one day this becomes a new field of science, to find the darkness hidden in the world and catalogue it. Mono would make for an excellent candidate for a job like that if his cryptid channel doesn’t do enough.

After some more discussing with Ally when she got home from work it was decided that, even if it’s safer the woods can still be dangerous in their own right, and somewhere in that discussion Ben managed to convince their kids to let him tag along. When asked why he defended he wants to be sure they don’t get into any serious trouble with the park ranger.

(A part of him is actually curious to see the behind the scenes of Mono’s regular videos. He’s one of the many thousands who have subscribed so far.)

The woods slowly got closer as they walked through empty fields. The trees are small compared to what they had once been used to, and none of them can shake the weird sense of wrongness when entering. The scales feel off yet they’re as real as you’ll get.

Ben remembered noticing this happen many times before. Whenever he walked into a building even months after he first returned it all felt small and cramped, too little space, walls and ceiling too close and everything simply looked too small.

Claustrophobia from growing used to large open spaces. Comical in away that actually had the others laughing until they couldn’t. Even Ben had to admit it sounds silly, but that’s what he felt at the time.

And still does, on those rare days. At least he doesn’t feel so confined in his own house like when he first started living there.

It’s around afternoon, the sun slowly inching towards the horizon and painting the sky in different hues as it goes. That had been the first thing that truly startled the kids when they arrived on Earth. The sky is blue.

They were so used to the grayness, the dark fog and the thick clouds. The sun was but a vague circle in the air but here it’s a fiery orb of yellows and oranges and it hurt to look at directly.

Everything looked too bright compared to the world of LN. Ben, still familiar with the way his (old) home looked like, managed to get past it after a few days but even now Lucy and Mono have those moments where they just stare at something colorful and have that baffled look in their eyes.

(There used to be distrust, fear, mixed into those looks. He’s glad there isn’t anymore.)

Ben watched just out of camera-view as Mono filmed the woods, talking about the history of Bigfoot and the old sightings that are almost half a decade old now. Lucy sometimes would bring something she found and talk in this dark voice about whatever purpose it might have served in Bigfoot’s life. Some of them made the two guys crack up and Mono had to fight hard not to start laughing at some of the ridiculous things Lucy is coming up with. Ben chuckled under his breath at her jokes.

And then they reached a part where the trees were taller, the canopy thicker. Something felt off and Ben frowned as he shuffled closer. The duo noticed the change as well and Mono uttered something about how this isn’t connected to anything Sasquatch related to make sense.

For some reason Ben couldn’t shake the familiarity, the sense of darkness and oppression. The light looks like it’s getting drained out of the area as they go deeper. It isn’t dark per say but everything almost has an added grayscale and it makes him nervous.

They stopped at some point, Mono suddenly rigid like ice. Lucy stood at his side and reached, instinctively, for his hand. His grip was firm as he took it, pulling her slightly closer. Her fingers fumbled with the old yellow raincoat wrapped around her middle.

The camera stopped filming. Mono softly called out for Ben to join them, voice cracking.

As he walked closer something odd started appearing past the small incline. As Ben arrived at their side his eyes were wide and his hands balled together, a surge of fury boiling up but feeling overwhelmed by the pure disbelieve and horror.

Past the incline it dips back down, almost like a crater. The trees at the edges are so tall they’re almost towering next to the trio and the canopy around the spot is thick enough to block whatever light could get through from above. Rocks and pieces of concrete are reaching out of the dip, jagged and clawing.

Resting in the center, angled and rusty, is what looks like the top section of an old school broadcast tower buried in the ground, metal thick and bulky yet looking decades old. Overgrowth crept up the side like tentacles winding. The tip glowed with a faint pink hue.

It pulsed, alive, the oh-so familiar look of the item on top of the Signal Tower a terrible sight to behold.

Ben found he suddenly understood why all those urban legends and myths had started appearing. It wasn’t natural at all, like they’d started assuming. When he pulled Six and Mono into his world...

He pulled the horrors of Little Nightmares with them.