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Hunter’s entire body trembled, clutching his other arm with his good hand as magic coursed through his veins making it feel like he was going to explode. It was an almost dizzying feeling, one that he could shake off for a little bit, but soon even his knees were unable to hold his own weight. The sigil on his wrist burned and he couldn’t move his arm in fear of the pain it would surely cause. He felt like a toy stuffed too full of cotton, a tingling feeling causing his fingers to go numb.
It crept up his neck, unwanted spasms causing his limbs to twitch as the world around him seemed to fade into a realm of nothingness. His right ear was ringing, just a pure void where he was supposed to be able to hear. It was almost as if he was underwater, everything around him muffled in a blurry haze. His mouth tasted of blood when he dug his teeth into his bottom lip to keep from whimpering.
There was a tightness in his arm which made his joints stiff and his heart pound wildly in his chest. He shivered, blinking a few times to rid the black spots that crept from the corners of his vision. Hunter’s heart pounded so wildly in his chest that it felt like it was going to burst.
Suddenly everyone was looking at him with an almost expectant gaze. He tried to say something but only a pained squeak left his throat. The sounds around him faded into the background, he knew that his friends were talking and that there was a conversation going on, but his thoughts were swimming and he couldn’t move.
Hunter felt Willow, or maybe Gus, help him to his feet to drag him away from the Collector’s careless steps. Their grip was tight on his elbows, hurrying to the side to allow the child to pass.
And then, almost as soon as the intense feeling started, the vice grip loosened as the spell ended. Hunter slumped forward with enough force that nearly took Gus down with him. A tingling feeling spread from his right arm where the coven sigil was now faded into his skin.
Everything was happening so fast, fast enough that he could barely process what was going on. His mind worked slowly and he could barely process what was going on. Within minutes, even the ground was crumbling beneath his teeth, throwing his balance which was already unsteady, even more off-kilter.
A choked breath spilled from his throat and he steeled himself so he wouldn’t pass out from standing so quickly. Splatters of guts and muck coated the floor, making Hunter’s boots slick as he stumbled. Panic tightened in his throat and it almost felt like he couldn’t breathe. A strong hand continued to grasp at his elbow, pulling him along as they ran through the doorway.
Everything from there was a blur, Hunter’s nerves were too shot to fully realize what was going on until water was splattering against his face, sticking his hair to his forehead and causing him to shiver. He blinked, eyes wide as he stared at Luz standing on the porch of a dilapidated house.
Silence.
That was the only thing settling between the five of them. The rain pelted their skin not with a burning hiss but with almost the exact opposite. It made Hunter tremble, shivers running down his spine as he took a breath.
His arm was still numb and when he tried to move it to push himself up to his feet, he found that his fingers refused to even twitch. He couldn’t even feel the ground beneath his palm, the pressure of his gloves barely even a sensation on his fingers.
It was a side effect of the spell, he was sure of that. The feeling would fade away soon, that’s what he told himself to keep from panicking.
“My house is nearby,” Luz finally said after a long moment of just staring off in the distance, her voice small and shaking, “we can… we can go there.”
So that’s where they went. No one else had any objections. No one else knew much about the human realm enough to have knowledge of where they could possibly go.
Hunter held onto his arm, pins and needles still tingling up his joints as his veins glared against his skin with dark discoloration. It no longer hurt, but the stiffness was still there, and if he pinched his skin, he couldn’t feel it.
Gus stood close to him, almost pressed against Hunter’s side as they walked. Hunter would have wrapped an arm around him if he had two working arms, but for now, he had to settle with the closeness, anxiety rumbling in his chest and causing his breath to hitch.
They were almost at Luz’s house by the time Gus had stopped crying, his tears wiped away by the rain. He was exhausted. All of them were. Hunter’s feet dragged in the mud, all the blood and guts from earlier washing off his form the longer they walked. It was refreshing in a way, but not enough that he could bring himself to speak or say anything that might be helpful.
Luz led them onto the porch of a seemingly innocuous house, one that Hunter would never be able to tell apart from all the others. She rapped her knuckles against the door with a desperate surge of energy before stepping back, Amity saddling up against her side.
The hour that went down after Luz knocked on the door was a flurry of panicked explanations, bandaids and ice packs, and a lot of tears. Hunter sat off to the side, allowing Luz to talk with her mom and for the others to get the first aid that they needed. He would be fine.
He curled his right arm to his stomach, pressing it close to his body to keep it still. The feeling still hadn’t returned and the overstuffed sensation that tingled throughout his limbs made him want to gag.
“Oh, Hijo, your arm,” Mrs. Noceda’s attention was suddenly turned to Hunter, causing him to startle. He looked up from the floor, eyes widening slightly as his ears twitched.
Hunter opened his mouth to say something, only a small squeak coming out as he looked down at his arm.
It looked bad, yeah. Dark veins that trailed up his limbs, and he was sure that his veins were like that on his face as well. Branch-like scars covered the right side of his body making for a pretty grotesque image he was sure.
“What happened? Is it broken?” Mrs. Noceda was in front of him now, hesitating to reach out, but wanting to help nonetheless.
“No… it’s…” he licked his lips, his voice sounding much smaller than it usually was, “it’s…”
If he said it, Hunter felt like he was really accepting everything that happened. If he said it out loud that meant that all that stuff really happened and that it wasn’t just some sort of dream that he could pretend wasn’t real. So he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence.
“It’s from the draining spell,” Luz picked up from where he left off, she held herself stiff on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest as she leaned against Amity.
Mrs. Noceda looked back and forth between the two of them, her eyebrows furrowed with worry. She clearly had no idea what to do and Hunter didn’t blame her. If he was in her situation, he was sure he would be even more lost.
“Okay, will you allow me to look at it? See if there’s anything I can do?” She asked cautiously, holding her hands palm up to Hunter. He looked at her with a tired expression, his chest barely rising and falling with each shallow breath. But after a few seconds of contemplation, he nodded.
When Mrs. Noceda took his arm, he wanted to immediately jerk back. Even if his skin was numb, the phantom prickles of her touch caused a pit of anxiety to settle in his stomach. Hunter was sure that he was going to faint. He didn’t like that he was cornered between the couch and the wall, with Mrs. Noceda right in front of him. If he needed to get out, he would be unable to.
“Are you able to move it at all?” She asked, completely oblivious to the internal turmoil that Hunter was going through.
He let out a pained squeak, trying to move his fingers but was unable to. So Hunter shook his head.
Mrs. Noceda extended his elbow, and pressed her fingers against his palm to straighten his curled fingers, all the while looking at Hunter with an expectant expression. He shook his head again, forcing his breath to slow. This was someone he could trust, if Luz trusted her then he was sure she was okay. But the feeling of being trapped reared its ugly head, twisting his tongue and making it hard for him to process what was going on.
It took everything in him not to push Mrs. Noceda away. He didn’t want to make her mad, not when she was being so nice to him.
“Can I remove your glove?” Mrs. Noceda’s hand was wrapped around Hunter’s wrist and she looked at him with a worried expression. He was too scared to say no, so he nodded.
Hunter could very barely feel when she removed his glove, only able to notice from the slight lack of pressure from the leather. His fingers were wreathed in veiny scars and countless other healed cuts. A constant tremor took over his hands and pins and needles prickled enough that he just kept his gloves on since it helped somewhat. But his fingers were slightly curled and the prickling feeling was still there on his fingers. Mrs. Noceda smoothed her hand against his palm, rotating his wrist and his elbow, doing anything that might help get circulation back in his arm.
Nothing seemed to help.
“It might be an aftereffect from the spell,” Luz slid off of the couch, scooting over to where Hunter was sitting, “it should wear off soon, right?”
Hunter looked over at her, chewing on the inside of his mouth. He just barely shrugged, a sigh spilling from his lips.
Mrs. Noceda seemed at a loss of what she could do, she frowned slightly, looking around the room at the five kids spread across the floor and couch. She exhaled sharply, a frown tugging at the corners of her lips and Hunter just tilted his head to the side, avoiding looking at her.
“Okay, I’ll try and find some clothes for you all so you’re not shivering and wet,” Mrs. Noceda stepped back away from Hunter and Hunter let out a sigh of relief, but soon her attention was turned back to him, “and I’ll see if I can find a sling or something for your arm so it’s not just hanging.”
Hunter forced a nod, his shoulders slumping when he was finally no longer trapped. He could see the door from where he was sitting, a placement that reassured him slightly. But the rain from outside kept causing panic to spike in his veins before remembering where they were.
The rain didn’t burn here. Just that fact alone was surreal.
Mrs. Noceda returned with a bundle of clothes in her arms, passing them out to whoever she figured they would fit. No one complained about the selection they were given, but Luz was hesitant to remove her jacket.
Hunter was handed a simple shirt with some sort of design on it and some shorts, along with a towel to dry himself off. He didn’t see what everyone else was offered before he tiredly sulked off to where Mrs. Noceda pointed him.
Getting dressed was difficult, removing his rain-soaked shirt and pants proved hard with only one working arm. But after toweling himself off, and taking a moment to calm his racing heart. Hunter moved to the task of putting the dry clothes on.
Shorts first, he managed to get that on with little struggle, but when he got to the shirt he had a bit more of an issue. His head got stuck in the neck hole despite the garment being too big for him. His ears twitched, catching on the hem and causing him to grimace as the chip in his ear still remained a bit raw from never healing correctly.
Returning to the living room, Hunter had calmed himself a little more, and even though his hair was still wet, he felt better than before. His arm was still tingly and he didn’t dare glance at what he looked like in the mirror, but he was no longer soaking wet.
That feeling seemed to spread through the entire room as he sat back in the same place as before. Gus and Willow looked ready to crash as they leaned against each other with tired expressions. Amity had her head on Luz’s shoulder as she blinked tiredly.
Hunter fell back into his own thoughts as the silence seemed to echo throughout the house.
Mrs. Noceda knelt down in front of Hunter once more, a bit more cautious this time as she held a thing of fabric in her hands.
“Here, I don’t know how much it’ll help but it’ll make getting around a bit easier when you don’t have to be worrying about a numb arm,” Mrs. Noceda smiled warmly, extending her hands, “I don’t know how well it’ll fit since it was from when Luz broke her arm but it might help.”
She was offering Hunter a fabric sling. Hunter stared at the object for a few seconds, opening his mouth to say something and then closing it when nothing came out. He wanted to say his thanks or to say anything at all. But his voice didn’t work.
So he nodded instead, hoping it conveyed what he was trying to say well enough. Mrs. Noceda nodded back.
The sling went over his shoulder and he was able to have his arm there without it hanging limply at his side. It felt… weird, but it was better than constantly holding his arm to his chest. His fingers still refused to even twitch when he tried to move them. The sigil on his wrist had faded to barely anything, but still, it glared at him.
“Thank you,” Hunter whispered, finally forcing himself to speak. Mrs. Noceda smiled and nodded, putting a tentative hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
The room settled into quiet once more, their injuries were taken care of and their clothes were being set out to get washed. What more was there to do when for most of them, their entire world had just been uprooted and upturned.
Hunter wiped his eyes with his good hand, shifting slightly from where he was sitting. His skin tingled and the veins just below the surface seemed to throb in a phantom memory of the draining spell.
No one spoke for a long time as the shell shock really seemed to set in. By tomorrow the aches and pains would really have set in, and the terror of everything that had happened would be realized. But at the moment, neither of them had any idea of what they were going to do. So they sat, tiredly basking in each other’s presence and processing the fact that they were alive .