Chapter Text
Hunter sat crouched in the small closet, his knees held tightly at his chest as his arms trembled from exhaustion. He tried hard to breathe as quiet as possible in his hiding spot as loud footsteps ascended the staircase below him. His uncle’s voice thundered in his ears, the awful roaring yell that kept him awake at night.
“Hunter!” his uncle called, but Hunter didn’t move, he stayed curled up as small as possible, praying to God that he would disappear, vanish into nothing before the man could get his hands on him.
His uncle’s footstep came closer and Hunter internally cursed himself for leaving the closet door a crack ajar, a small sliver of hallway light peeked through illuminating his shaking figure. He could see his uncle reach the top landing of the stairs through the crack. The man swayed a bit in his angry stupor, with one hand he held on to the stair railing for balance and with the other he clutched an empty bottle of scotch. The monster roared once again, calling his name, Hunter’s shakes worsened and didn’t dare breathe. His precautions did nothing, his uncle had noticed the door and made his way toward it. Tears pricked the edges of Hunter's eyes as his heart pounded frantically, the footsteps growing closer and closer. His Uncle's figure looming over the door blocked out the hallway light, encasing Hunter in darkness as a silent sob choked in his throat. His fingers curled around the edge of the door as another roar erupted.
“Hunter!”
Hunter woke with a fright. Springing up in his bed Hunter shook as cold sweat made his shirt cling to his back. He gasped for air taking in his surroundings, he was in his room, well his new room anyway, it was morning and little cracks of light peeked through his gray curtains where they couldn’t contain the bright morning sun.
“Hunter!” His heart jumped out of his chest as he heard a man call from downstairs, but it wasn’t the cold distinguished voice he knew to be his Uncles’, it was warmer and more drawling, Darius.
“Yes!” Hunter called back, his voice cracking as he still panted, he hoped Darius hadn’t noticed. Darius was a good man, kind, and understanding for the most part. He took Hunter in when…when it all went down. He respected the teen’s boundaries, and never pushed a topic Hunter wasn’t comfortable discussing. However, the man had a tendency to worry whenever something was even slightly off, not that Hunter could blame him considering his past home life before coming to live with him.
“Go ahead and get ready, you don’t wanna be late for school!” Right school, Hunter almost forgot, today was his first day at a real school. Hunter had been homeschooled all his life, sheltered within tall walls of his Uncle’s manor which he fondly referred to as ‘the castle’. For sixteen years, the only idea he had of what real school was like were from old movies he watched in secret and despite the doubt that people broke into musical numbers in the middle class, real school with other kids fascinated him. So when Darius offered to enroll him at Hexside high school Hunter jumped on the opportunity. Though beneath the initial excitement, there was an overwhelming sense of apprehension. Hunter had been practically hidden from the world his whole life, it would be a miracle if he wasn’t completely disconnected from the other kids.
“O-okay I’m up,” Hunter called back, he waited to hear Darius’ footsteps fade away from the staircase and to the kitchen. Hunter let out a deep sigh, pressing a hand on his chest, the slight pressure helped steady his heart. He knew he had no reason to be afraid of Darius and for the most part he wasn’t, the man had never snapped at him or said anything remotely unkind with the exception of his ever-present dry humor but even then he was careful with what he said. However old habits die hard and trust is earned.
Hunter threw his sheets to the side and turned to slide out of bed before gripping his arm in a hiss of pain. He had, once again, forgotten about the white cast that encased his right forearm. Despite the cast only being wrapped up to his elbow the entire arm was still sore and had to be worn in a sling for it to heal correctly. He rested his arm carefully on his lap as he reached for his phone on the nightstand next to his sling. The screen saver was the same one it was programmed with and there were no games on it, Hunter checked the time, 7:30 AM. He held his arm in the right position as he walked to his dresser. Setting the phone down on top of it he rummaged through the drawers where he had thrown his laundry, Darius constantly had something to say about Hunter’s organizational skills or lack of them, not surprising when the man color-coordinated his socks. Hunter picked out a simple band tee Darius had bought him and loose-fitted flannel he could snake his cast through as well as a soft pair of jeans that had holes at the knees. Hunter didn’t really understand why people would wear already ripped clothes but Darius had told him it was ‘stylish’. He got dressed and reached for the sling, gingerly settling his arm in so it rested at a ninety-degree angle. He stuffed his phone in one of his jeans pockets and looked around for his AirPods. After a moment of hunting through his sheets and nightstand, he saw where they had fallen under the bed, a little sigh of relief escaped him as he slid them into his flannel’s chest pocket. He grabbed the hefty bookbag from his desk chair before turning to the door. Hunter glanced in the mirror on his door as he turned the handle, the huge gaping cut that crept up his jawline caused him to stop. He had had it for almost two months now and while he was lucky to not need stitches it was quite the eye sore, especially now that his doctor instructed him not to put bandages over it to limit friction irritation. That meant he couldn’t hide it or the painful reminder of his past life including…that night. His cast would be removed eventually but the scar the cut left would be with him forever, taunting him with every mirrored gaze. Hunter tore his eyes away from the mirror to head downstairs to the kitchen. When he entered he could see Darius was already dressed for work, Darius was a lawyer at a well-known firm dealing with mostly business and company infractions. He wore a sharp light gray suit with a white undershirt, a sleek black tie, and a pair of brown loafers. The man always had an excuse ready to dress like a red-carpet celebrity. Not a single dread fell out of place as he leaned over the counter to arrange the fruit on a breakfast plate. He called himself a perfectionist, Hunter called him obsessive.
“Well good morning sleeping beauty,” he said as he heard Hunter shuffle through the archway.
“Morning,” Hunter murmured as he sat down at the kitchen island, a long haired orange tabby cat leaped on top of the counter. The cat took long sleepy strides towards Hunter, tilting their head for pets.
“Morning Wolf,” Hunter said, scratching behind the feline’s ear.
Darius straightened up, turning to place a plate down in front of him before swishing the hand to shoo the cat off the counter. Wolf jumped down with a disgruntled Tsk as Hunter looked down at the neatly arranged assortment of mini pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit. He ate as Darius cleaned the kitchen, careful to get every speck of mess off his marble counters.
“So how’d you sleep?” Darius had a tendency to speak in codes, most of which he thought Hunter couldn’t understand, but Hunter always figured out the hidden meaning. He wasn’t sure if every parent did this and Darius had adopted the habit or if it was just how he communicated. Nonetheless ‘How did you sleep’ was code for ‘any new nightmares I should report to your therapists’. Hunter kept his eyes glued to his plate, stabbing a slice of pancake with his fork.
“Fine.”
“Okay,” Darius said in that observational tone he used when he knew Hunter was lying, Hunter, knew he was watching his every move, noting every motion as he leaned against the counter.
Darius looked away fidgeting with the cleaning rag he was using, Hunter could tell there was something he wanted to talk with him about, and if Darius wasn’t coming straight out and telling him it meant it was something Hunter didn’t want to discuss. Hunter continued to concentrate on his plate so as not to provoke to seemingly unpleasant conversation Darius was avoiding, that was until the man slid a brightly colored sheet of paper by his elbow, in big bubble letters it spelled out ‘Hexside Clubs and Games, September 9th”. Hunter groaned internally looking up at Darius with a deadpan expression.
“A club fair?”
“It could be a good way for you to make friends,” Darius said prepared for Hunter’s opposition. Hunter wasn’t entirely a fan of social interaction or crowds or organized fun, he was different in ways Darius suspected weren’t entirely from his seclusion, but that was a conversation for another day.
“I’m not really the ‘club’ kinda person Darius” Hunter said in protest.
“Well, maybe that’s because you’ve never been a part of one” Darius retook the paper, flipping it over to read off a list of clubs. “There’s a book club, you like to read”
“I doubt anyone my age will wanna read Moby Dick or sci-fi fantasy from the 80s,” Hunter said using his knife to push around the remaining food on his plate.
“There’s also an art club, theater, mathletes,” Darius continued, before throwing Hunter a humored smile “Stamp collectors club”
“Oh yeah,” Hunter said with dry enthusiasm “Sign me up for that”
“Whichever one, it’s a good way for you to meet some new people,” Darius said setting the paper back down in front of Hunter, he gestured to the boy’s plate in a silent question of ‘are you finished’ to which Hunter replied by handing him the dish of half-eaten food, Darius walked over to the trash carefully scrapping the food off so the fork didn’t scratch the porcelain, he looked over his shoulder with a sly smile “Or maybe even a pretty girl.”
Hunter glared at him through his eyebrows, his ears turning faintly red as the man walked over to the sink with an annoying smirk on his face.
“Look Darius I appreciate it but you don’t have to try so hard,” Hunter said as the man washed the dish, Hunter laughed a bit as he mildly joked “I mean it’s not like I’m not used to being invisible”
Hunter regretted the joke when he looked up to see Darius had turned, giving him one of those looks that weren't quite sad, more like concerned or in worse cases worried. He often saw those looks when he said something wrong, like when he’d describe what life was like back at ‘the castle’ or asked Darius certain questions. The last time he had seen it was when Hunter had accidentally broken one of Darius’s flower vases while he was at work. Hunter had practically packed a runaway bag and was ready to make a break for it when the man came home early. When he found Hunter hiding under his bed shaking like a leaf he almost couldn’t hide the panic in his voice. After Hunter explained what had happened expecting the man to strike him, that's when he got the ‘look’ instead. There seemed to be quite a few ‘wrong’ things that seemed normal to Hunter but the ‘look’ made it evident that they were not.
Darius sighed, setting the wet plate on a drying board before walking over to the island, Hunter could feel his chest start to tighten the closer he got.
“Listen, kid” Darius leaned forward a bit resting his elbows on the kitchen counter, he tried his best to get on Hunter’s level when they spoke about the topic. “You’ve spent your entire life tucked away from the world, this is a chance for you to actually interact with people.”
“Hey I’ve interacted with plenty of people” Hunter grew defensive.
“People who aren’t twice your age.” He said simply, Hunter looked down avoiding the man’s gaze, as he fidgeted with his cast. As much as Hunter hated to admit it he was more afraid than opposed to talking with people his age, he had grown so used to only seeing adults, he knew how to talk to them and he was already mature for his age, with teens it was different, he didn’t know how he was supposed to act and the realization of that was hard to take in.
“Just,” Darius sighed, his expression softening as the teen’s real feelings began to show. “Give it a shot, okay?”
Hunter took a deep breath, letting it drag a bit as he exhaled. Wolf jumped back onto the counter, rubbing their face against the boy’s cast. Hunter stroked the cat’s soft mane of fur counting his breaths before finally looking up timidly. In a quiet voice he mumbled
“okay.”