Chapter Text
“S...”
“S… Six?”
“Six!”
Wakefulness slowly and harshly returned to the girl in the yellow raincoat. Agonizing weight pressed against her midsection. She wheezed, cracking open her eyes. Her vision was blurry and edged with darkness. A shape approached, and she raised her arms.
Mono grabbed her hands and pulled. She gritted her teeth as he tugged her out from under the debri. Finally, she popped loose, falling to the ground with a grunt. She tried to take a deep breath, but her chest throbbed each gasp. Mono’s gentle hand met her shoulder as he crouched beside her.
He didn’t say anything, simply sat with her as she calmed her nerves and caught her breath. When she was finally ready, he pulled her to her feet and attempted to let her lean on him. Unfortunately for him, she stumbled away from his grasp, shame burning her cheeks.
A shut door blocked their path. She crouched down and offered her hands, despite the pain in her chest and abdomen. Mono hesitated, just long for her to snap an irritated “oi!” He stepped into her hand, and she hissed as she tossed him up. Once again, he attempted to let her lean on him, but she pushed him away.
“‘M fine,” She hissed.
“Sure?” He asked, stepping in her path.
“ Yes .” She pushed past him, to which he gave an irritated huff. She stomped into the room across the hall, a bedroom. A fair amount of toys were littered about. She grabbed the wooden donkey that sat under the table. She vaguely wondered if it shrieked like the one at the hospital. She would not be testing that theory.
Mono, meanwhile, made his way to the bed. He pointed at it as he turned back to Six.
“Rest?”
“No. Fine.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
He sighed and lowered his hand. “Nevermind. Come.”
She followed him as he led the way to the only other room in the apartment. The familiar buzz of a TV hummed in her ears. She paused at the door, eyes narrowed at the familiar blue glow. Her hand reached for Mono, only for the TV to shriek and both children to cover their ears.
“ Hey! ” She snapped, but it was too late. In a trance, he stumbled toward the TV. “ Stop! ” Agony accompanied each step as she followed the stupid boy. He had already pressed his hand against the screen, static flowing along his arm. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, but he didn’t respond.
With a grunt and gritted teeth, she wrapped her arms around his midsection and pulled . Her teeth shuddered in her skull, her limbs buzzing with pins and needles, until finally Mono came loose and the pair of them fell to the floor.
She sat up after him, her face twisted with pain. A sound caused her to raise her gaze, and for a brief moment an image flickered on the screen. She reached for Mono, tugging on his sleeve, but he ignored her. Stumbling to his feet, he reached for the glass and took a step forward…
Only to double-over in pain as static screamed in their ears. Six stumbled back, scrambled to her feet, and ran . She didn’t wait, didn’t turn back, didn’t even call out for the boy. He’d be fine, as he’d been every time before.
She took a sharp turn into the bedroom and scrambled under the table. It didn’t even cross her mind that it was a poor hiding spot. All she cared about was the ever-approaching steps of the monster, far too loud in her ears.
Mono burst into the room, his movements slow. She saw where he was going and didn’t have the chance to call to him before he stumbled over the toy she dropped carelessly to the floor. He landed on his face, already scrambling to his feet when the monster arrived.
It was like he was magnetized. The monster reached out its hand as Mono abandoned the bed and instead reached out for Six. She didn’t extend her hand -- couldn’t! It was like she was frozen -- and watched as he was stolen away.
The apartment stilled. In merely a moment, the monster and Mono both were… gone. Just gone. The girl stumbled to her feet. Where? Where could they have gone?
She half-limped half-ran to the TV, its speakers humming a taunting tune, and slammed her fists against the glass. Nothing happened, so she did it again, and again, and again. The static flickered and buzzed, taunting her. She gritted her teeth and began clawing at the glass instead.
No matter what she did, the TV didn’t respond. No monster came crawling from the static, no image showed itself on the screen, and no Mono showed up to tell her that he was okay.
She struck the TV until her knuckles were red and her fingers were bloody, streaking red across the glass. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. When had she begun crying? She scrubbed at her cheeks, painting them red as well.
Finally, she dropped to her knees and leaned against the TV. A low hiss escaped her as she clutched her abdomen. Each breath caused pain to stab through her ribs. Her hands ached and throbbed with each beat of her pulse. Darkness danced at the edge of her blurring vision, and no matter how much she tried to blink it away it continued to persist.
Exhaustion was beginning to claim her. She must’ve dozed, no matter how hard she tried to avoid it, for the moment she opened her eyes the room was nearly-pitch black and the downpour had grown to a thunderstorm. The room shuddered with each crack of thunder. She stumbled to her feet, nearly falling over until she righted herself with the help of the TV.
Each step was utter agony. Her pain had worsened during her nap, now burning in her muscles and bones. What little strength she had gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
When she opened her eyes, something skittered before her. She gasped and attempted to rise, only to convulse and fall back to the floor. Something whispered from a corner in the room. Her gaze slid to the voice.
The room was just barely bright enough for her to make out two shapes, small and skinny, with strange silhouettes. One of them dropped to their hands and feet and crawled toward her. She bristled and swung her fist at them, causing them to pause. After a moment, they skittered back to their companion.
The duo muttered amongst themselves. Finally, the second approached Six, much slower than the first. They raised their hands to their shoulders, showing that they were unarmed, other than the pair of scissors hanging on their back.
“It’s okay,” They-- he said. “Friends. Can you stand?” He offered his hand, though all Six did was glare.
“Can stand,” She hissed through gritted teeth. She took a deep breath, then struggled to her feet. A quiet wheeze escaped her and she wrapped her arms around her abdomen. The first figure approached, and now she could see they were wearing the pelt of a rat.
“Slow,” She hissed, baring yellowed teeth. “Too slow.”
“Rat,” Said the boy, warning held in his tone. “Be kind.” He turned back to Six, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Can you walk?”
“ Yes! ” Jeez, how useless did these two think she was? She took several stumbling steps, before both children snagged her as she began to pitch forward.
“You’re injured,” He said, wrapping his arms around her. “Come on, we’ll bring you somewhere safe.”
“Can walk!” She snapped, trying to wrestle away from his grasp. The girl, Rat, grabbed her shoulders and forced her to still.
“Liar,” She hissed. “Weak. We carry.”
Carry? Six thought, baring her teeth. She shook her head, trying and failing once again to wrestle away from the children. They led her to a loose floorboard despite her squirming, dragging her through the spaces between walls and under floors until they were outside. The sky was beginning to brighten with day, although the rain had yet to let up.
“Come on,” The boy said, leading the way along the sidewalk. “We’ll bring you to our hideout. We have food and bandages.”
Food and bandages? It was a tempting offer, but Six wasn’t willing to trust these two just yet. She shook her head, growling and squirming faster. Rat hissed and gnashed her teeth.
“Stop it! Being stupid!”
“Rat, jeez!” The boy whisper-yelled. “Don’t be like that!”
“True, though!”
He huffed. Slowly, he walked around to Six’s front. “You don’t have to, but it’s safe there,” He said. She blinked and shook her head.
“Liar.”
“Ah…” He blinked for a moment, brows furrowing with thought. “What if we find a safe spot for you and bring stuff to you?”
“Bailey!” Rat hissed. He-- Bailey shushed her.
“Does that work for you?” He asked. Six pressed her lips into a thin line. He was trying to compromise, obviously. She supposed it was the best option. Finally, she nodded. He smiled.
“Alright. We’ll head toward the hideout, but if you see a spot stop us.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and began leading the way. Rat did the same on the opposite side, and Six found herself rather unhappily in the middle.
The duo dragged her along, whispering to each other and gesturing to any sturdy-looking buildings they passed. She heard their entire conversation, obviously, though her only contributions were huffs and glares. So chatty. At least Mono knew to keep his mouth shut while they traveled.
It seemed they traveled forever, although it couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes, before Rat and Bailey paused. Six growled as they examined a building across the street.
“‘Shelter’,” Bailey read. “It’s a shelter. Maybe it’s safe?”
“Will scout,” Rat said, splitting away from the group and skittering toward the building. She disappeared into the shadows the moment she pulled the pelt over herself and dropped to all fours. Bailey and Six followed at a much slower pace and took shelter in a nearby alley.
Six groaned and pulled away from Bailey. She leaned against a wall, clutching her abdomen.
“What happened?” Bailey asked, approaching slowly. She huffed and turned away from him.
“Building fell. Got caught.” He hissed sympathetically. After a moment, he padded to stand in front of her.
“Where are you hurt?” She frowned. Wasn’t it obvious?
“Chest. Breathing hurts.”
“Oh…” His face scrunched up. “That’s not good. When we find a good spot, you should take it easy.”
“ No,” She hissed, shaking her head. “Not safe.”
“We can make it safe, y’know. That’s what we did with the hideout.”
“No place safe. Always danger!”
He frowned and sighed. “Yeah, okay, there’s danger everywhere, but some places are safe enough to rest.”
Rest, huh? Could she really rest right now? Judging by the slowly lightening sky, she’d been asleep all night. That was plenty of rest!
Bailey must’ve taken her silence as a bad thing, because he soon piped up again, “Just ‘cause you were asleep before doesn’t mean you need more rest. You need to be careful when you’re injured.”
“I’m fine!” Six snapped, practically bristling. “Don’t need rest.”
“Okay, okay, jeez!” He yelped, holding his hands up in surrender. “You don’t have to rest, just eat or something. Jeez…”
They stood in silence for a while. A rat came scuttling toward them, and Six was about to scare it off when it stood on two legs and strolled right to them.
“Empty,” Rat reported. “Mostly. Sounds upstairs, but bottom empty. Beds and food machines, too.”
“Great!” Bailey chirped. He grabbed Six once again and began dragging her to the shelter. “Food and rest! Perfect for us!”
Before Six could argue, Rat came up on her other side. The duo resumed dragging her while chittering amongst themselves.
After crawling through a small hole in the stone wall and creeping through several dark rooms, the trio finally came upon a bed area. Six was helped onto the bed, much to her annoyance and agony. Rat and Bailey sat on either side of her.
Now that they were somewhere with light, Six could get a better look at the kids. Rat looked just about how she expected: long, ratty hair that hid her eyes, pale skin, and a dirty nightdress that might’ve been pink at one point. Bailey, however, didn’t look like any kid she’d seen before. He had strange red hair and grey-green eyes, his skin was covered in dark freckles, and he wore a faded purple sweater that seemed to actually fit. Not only that, but he’d made himself a holster to carry around scissors.
“Can we see your chest?” Bailey asked, breaking her concentration. Six leaned away, only for Rat to catch her shoulders.
“See where hurt,” She said. “Make you better.”
“No,” Six hissed, ripping away from Rat’s grasp. She wrapped her arms around herself, glaring at her ‘companions’.
Bailey and Rat glanced at each other, then leaned away. “Alright,” Bailey said. “I’ll… go get something from the machine.”
He hopped off the bed and went padding off into the unknown. Rat snorted, then turned back to Six.
“You were at TV,” She said, leaning forward. “Did you watch?”
Six scowled and shook her head. “ No! Don’t watch! Know it’s bad.”
Rat nodded. “Good. TV bad. Turn people to monsters.”
“I know.” How stupid did this girl think she was? Any child knew what TVs did to people.
“Something happened there.”
“What?”
Rat nodded again, her expression grim. “Something bad. Electric surge, or something.”
Six narrowed her eyes. “How… do you know?”
“Felt it. Skin tingles. Heard it, too, but not as good.”
Alright, Six had to admit it. She had no idea what Rat was talking about. And quite frankly, she wasn’t particularly sure she wanted to figure it out.
Thankfully, Bailey arrived to save her from this conversation, carrying a bag of food. He clambered onto the bed and passed the bag to Rat. The two of them must’ve gone through the routine before, because Rat immediately held it down as Bailey went at it with his scissors. A few moments later, it was open and the three of them were able to eat.
They ate in silence for a while, before Bailey unfortunately started conversation, “So what happened in that room?”
Six looked up, frowning deeply. If Bailey saw her expression, he didn’t care, because he elaborated, “You were hurt and the TV was covered in blood. I just wanna know if we should be careful in the area.”
“Hurt myself,” She grunted, hoping that was enough for him.
It wasn’t.
“Did you… see something?”
“What?”
Bailey’s gaze grew fearful, and his voice quieted as though they were being stalked.
“Did something come out of the TV?”
Six pulled away from him, her brows knitting together. That was answer enough for him.
“It was the man in the hat, wasn’t it?”
“Who?”
“The man in the hat who lives in the tower.” Bailey swallowed thickly. “He takes children and makes them static. Did he try to take you?”
She didn’t respond, her stomach beginning to churn. Her appetite suddenly lost, she curled her hands against her stomach.
“Story,” Rat spat, knocking Six out of her spiral-to-be. “Just a story. No tall man.”
“Yeah, but everyone’s heard of him,” Bailey argued. “Don’t you think he’d be real if everyone knows him?”
“Stooooory!” She repeated. “Stupid, too. Can’t exist. No TV man.”
“Seen him?” Six asked, raising her head. Rat eagerly shook her head, though Bailey hesitated.
“No one who sees him escapes,” He said. “He gets them eventually.”
“Always?” She asked, leaning toward him. Her eyes shone with intensity.
“Always.”
It was quiet for a moment. Six hissed a bitter sigh. “Hideout safe?”
“Yeah, it’s safe,” He confirmed. “We can go there once it’s lighter.”
“Good.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. Saving Mono would be harder than she thought if his kidnapper was also hunting her. She would do it, though. She would save him.
The trio headed out around midday. Bailey and Rat once again practically dragged Six along, much to her annoyance. She could walk , thank you very much.
They headed down a set of stairs, descending into the subway. The tunnels were lit by emergency lights, bathing everything in crimson light. There was a hole in the wall, underneath a bench. They squeezed through the hole and came into a small hideaway. Bailey lit a fire in the tin can resting in the center of the room, lighting it up.
It was a humble little hideout, just big enough to house four or five kids. Repurposed fabric acted as bedding, and tally-marks were scratched into the wall. Six sat at the fire, hissing with each movement. Bailey sat across from her.
“You can stay as long as you need,” He offered.
“Not long,” She said. “Looking for something.”
“For what?” Rat piped up from where she sat curled among the bedding. Six frowned.
“We can’t stop you, I guess. Just let us know when you leave. We don’t want to think you’re taken.”
“Taken?” Six asked, tilting her head. He nodded.
“By a monster, or the man in the hat. If this place isn’t safe anymore, we gotta leave.”
“Don’t want that,” Rat added. “Hideouts hard to find.”
Bailey nodded. “You understand right?”
Six nodded. Yes, she understood, but that didn’t mean she liked it. They might try to stop her the moment she mentioned continuing her search! It wasn’t really worth the risk, not to her.
“Rest now, leave soon,” She said, lowering herself so she was lying down. She did not sleep, simply relaxed, praying her aching chest would heal soon. It’d do her no good to be in utter agony with each step. Maybe she could return to the hospital, that’s usually where one could find painkillers.
She must’ve dozed, because next thing she knew Bailey and Rat were asleep. She struggled to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall. Each breath was a painful wheeze, but that wouldn’t stop her. After catching her breath, she slid out of the hideout and headed out of the subway.
Bailey said the Thin Man lived in a tower, and she could only assume he meant the looming monolith with a brilliant beacon at its peak. That was the most tower looking building she’s seen. If she wanted to find Mono, she had to go there.
First thing’s first, though. She needed to get to the hospital. Painkillers would make her life leagues less agonizing. If she remembered correctly, they passed plenty of pill bottles in there.
Fortunately for her, there were signs pointing the way. She wasn’t willing to wander only in the general direction of where the hospital was. As long as she kept to the shadows, no adults noticed her. (Of course, they were too busy watching TV to look, but it was better to be safe than sorry.)
Despite her slow, stumbling gait, she managed to reach the hospital within an hour. She clawed her way through an open window, her limbs shuddering and her breath catching in her throat at the exertion. It took her a moment to recover before she could continue, limping through the waiting room.
As expected, there was gauze and bottles all over the floor. Various pills were scattered about, though she wasn’t willing to try anything that was unlabeled. There were pill bottles in the Doctor’s workspace, but she also wasn’t willing to deal with an elevator.
She stumbled around, creeping through various doors and peeking into many rooms. It was only when she came upon where patients resided that she started spotting bottles again. She eagerly stumbled inside one of the rooms, paying no mind to the patient lying in bed.
With a groan, she clambered onto the tray next to the bed and began reading the label. She couldn’t read well, but maybe there’d be something recognizable?
She wasn’t given very long to mull over it. The light flickered, then went dark, plunging the room into blackness. The patient began to click and shift about. Without a moment of hesitation, she threw herself off the tray, regretting it only when she landed and pain exploded in her chest. The bottle crashed to the ground beside her, spilling pills all over the floor.
Six scrambled helplessly to her feet and stumbled away. The lights in the rest of the rooms and hallway had gone out, maybe in the rest of the hospital. She hurried toward the exit and fast as possible, though each step caused pain to shoot through her chest.
A pale blue light caught her eye. She changed route, bursting into the reception area where a TV sat upon the counter. Quiet static filled the room, but the stomping and rattling of dozens of patients overwhelmed the sound.
The young girl ducked under a chair and held her breath. The first patient that entered the room froze in the light, and the rest followed suit. Those out of the light clicked and rattled irritably, no doubt infuriated by the sudden blockage.
But she wasn’t safe yet. The TV could turn off at any moment. She shuffled out from under the chair, then clawed atop it. The counter was just out of reach. She’d have to jump for it, but the possibility her arms would give out was too great. Either she could squeeze past the patients or find an alternate route.
A sudden buzz forced her to choose quickly. Her eyes swept across the room, before spotting a vent grate in the floor. She dove for the grate, tearing it off and diving in the vent just as a shriek of static pierced the hospital’s ambiance.
It was all she could do to cower, clutching her ears and screwing her eyes shut. Static buzzed incessantly in her ears, no matter how hard she tried to block it out. And yet… there was no other sound.
Slowly, oh so slowly, she peeked out of the vent. Nothing had changed. At least, nothing she noticed. Cautiously, she crawled out of the vent.
The TV continued to buzz, the patients continued to rattle, and the darkness continued to persist. At least she could trust everything to stay consistent…
That is, until something clattered to the ground in front of her. In an instant, she returned to the vent and scrambled away from the opening. Her heart hammered against her injured ribs, the pain making her vision fade in and out.
In less than a moment, her strength gave out, and she was once again asleep.
Six woke unpleasantly, her entire body throbbing with pain. She grimaced as she shifted about in her attempt to leave the vent. After a moment, she went limp and gasped. Any attempt to move was met with utter agony at this point.
As much as she hated it, she knew she had to rest. She grimaced her teeth and wriggled deeper into the vent. If she was going to let herself heal, she’d at least be safe about it.
The next day was a mix of restless sleep and wishing she could get a move on already. Some time between periods of consciousness, the lights returned. She’d be able to navigate the hospital a little more safely, but she didn’t plan on sticking around.
Finally, she crawled out of the vent, hissing with agony. She leaned against the wall as she scanned the room. In the center rested what had startled her into the vent: a small, iron key. She stumbled toward it and picked it up. She could hold it in one hand with some difficulty.
Bailey had made a sheath for his scissors, right? Maybe she could make a similar holder. There was plenty of gauze she could use.
First thing’s first, though. She had to get out of here. Theoretically she’d be safe squeezing past the patients, however there was the possibility the lights would give out again. It’d hurt, but she’d have to climb over the counter.
She pulled the chair closer to the counter, stopping to wheeze every other step. Finally, she clambered atop the chair and hopped up to grab the counter. Her chest screamed with agony as she clawed her way onto the countertop, and it was all she could do to lie on her back and gasp for air.
After she regained her breath, she rolled onto her stomach and stumbled upright. She took her time dropping to the ground, but that didn’t stop her legs from buckling and sending her to the floor, the key sliding from her grasp. Her face twisted as she rose to her feet and went to fetch the key.
She returned to the patients’ rooms, which were all empty now. Another pill bottle rested on a tray. She clambered atop it and began reading the label, eyes squinted with the utmost concentration. Of course, she could barely understand what the bottle said. Something was written in red, and there seemed to be directions. Unfortunately, the only thing she really understood was a 1 printed in a box beside a moon, which did not help whatsoever.
Whatever. She’d just have to keep looking. She climbed down the tray (no way was she going to jump off again ) and began searching some more. Of all the bottles she found, there was one word that she saw the most: Ibuprofen. She assumed it was its name or something along those lines. Surely if it was so common, it would be for something simple like pain, right?
The question was whether or not it was worth it to test that theory. If she was wrong, she could end up worse than before. But if she was right, her pain would be dulled enough for her to rescue Mono.
If this was a normal hospital, she’d consider it the best place to test the drug. Unfortunately, it was not, and she doubted she’d be saved should something go wrong.
For now, she stuffed as many of the pills she could in her pockets, which turned out to be only one per pocket, and turned to find some gauze.
That was a little easier than finding the painkillers. Gauze was as commonplace as pill bottles, and there was no need to be overly cautious. She tore off a length of gauze double her height with her teeth and tied it into a sash. After tying the key into the sash, she was off.