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I panic, which was not an emotion I wasn't familiar with, but one I would rather not feel at all times of the day, ever.
Yet here I was, sitting against the walls of the Maw, curled into a tight ball, trembling like a leaf in a violent storm, hyperventilating like I had been injected with four needles of adrenaline by the Doctor.
I was terrified, I hated being terrified even though I couldn't blame myself for being frightened out of my mind, I hate being surrounded by monsters every fucking day of my life yet here I was.
All around me on all my sides were several large leeches, the second disgusting pests of the Maw besides the rats, that we have to deal with whenever we attempt to escape the shitfeast that is the Maw.
They all hiss and squeak in every direction, some are directed at me while others are aimed at each other, no doubt fighting over the prey they had caught.
I gritted my teeth, curling my legs more tightly around me and wrapping my arms around my legs in an effort to stop my shaking. Through my terrified tears streaming down my cheeks, I watched the leeches with bloodshot eyes from nights of not sleeping, not that I could sleep in a place like the Maw especially given the circumstances, trying to search for a way out or any of my traveling friends.
However I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up as I didn’t see a way to escape the situation I was trapped in or any of my friends, hell even seeing the angry Quince or the unprepared Seven would’ve been a comforting sight. There was no one in sight, I was alone and probably going to be fucking alone till I die.
That is if the leeches would hurry the fuck up and kill me, but they hadn’t moved toward me yet, hell they probably hadn’t noticed me trapped against the wall as they seemed to be more focused on each other then me. Having no eyes must’ve had a role in this. I swallowed hard as my eyes darted around the small room I was trapped in, the noise didn’t bother them in the slightest, I was probably too quiet.
However I wasn’t about to question it further, I was focusing my attention on a way to escape my situation. I had escaped many horrible situations while back in my traveling group back on the mainlands, I was sure I could do it again. After all, I had escaped the All-Seeing Eyes and the Janitor after leaving the Nursery, right? I could escape the Maw this time around, right?
I tore my attention away from the leeches and the inside of the Maw, burying my face into my hands, trying to not cry in despair as that would be a waste of time. But I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face or the thoughts of being devoured and never seeing my friends again from assaulting my mind till it was the only thing I could think of.
I sighed softly, tearing my face away from my hands and back around the Maw. To my surprise, I spotted a hole in the floor with a cloth hitting the floor and even more surprising, I thought I saw Seven poking his head down into the hole, demanding to know why I wasn’t running for the nearest exit.
As I stared at the sight through my tears and a feeling of hope filled my core, could I get out of here? Could I escape this situation? Could I be with the boy I loved? I shook my head in some effort to keep the hope of escape down as hope was a rare thing to have in this world and sometimes never happened for any child of this world.
However, a chance to escape was a chance I was willing to take even if I would lose a limb. But I’ll just have to wait for the leeches to depart long enough so I could pull it off.