Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Gentle swaying of the waves was always a pleasant start to the morning. Deep under the surface of the water, the comfort of morning light was obstructed by crashing waves. Even as the ocean blue took away one of the simple joys of life, it gave another, the sound of the sea.

…

There was a lot to get used to when the Prime defenders first moved to the base.

William had been hesitant at first, the idea of being so far under sea level made him nervous. But seeing the light in Dakota's eyes as Ms. G herself suggested it- he couldn’t muster up the courage to say no.

So in ocean blue they were living, for a couple weeks now actually. Simple life turned into constant ‘hero training’ or whatever, and sure he had signed up for this- but did it really have to be this much training??

The sound of water moving just outside was what woke him up that morning- what woke him up every morning. William tossed and turned in his bed, trying his best to throw an arm over his eyes and call it a day- but he knew that wasn’t going to work. It never did.

After 30 minutes of desperate attempts, William slowly rolled out of bed, glancing at the clock on the wall. 9:37. Some crumbs of breakfast should still be left, right?

With the quick grab of his normal hoodie and the easy slip on shoes, he was heading down the hall to the dining room. It was the same routine, every day, all the time. Good thing William was good with a routine, otherwise this would get really tiring really fast.

William walked down the hall, hearing conversation from the other side of the door already. A voice rose above them all though, Dakotas yelling which meant breakfast wasn’t over yet. If it was, he would probably be at training, right?

Approaching the door, William reached into his pocket half hazardly, grabbing a keycard and tapping it against the small device on the wall with no problem. Like always, the door made a small ding noise and opened by itself, revealing everyone gathered in the cafeteria.

At one table sat Vyncent and Ashe, Dakota choosing to stand at the edge of the table so he can easily go back and forth from the table to the kitchen assumingly. Another table held Lightspeed, Wordsmith, and Bookworm. Lightspeed and Wordsmith looked mid conversation with Bookworm quickly flipping through the stack of books he had next to him.

The cafeteria looked strangely empty, but William decided to shrug it off. Most of the heros in this program had gone home for Christmas anyways, so it made sense that it felt a bit emptier than normal.

William swung by the table where his friends sat, the conversation becoming more clear as he got closer and closer. “… I mean- I’m just saying we can start early!! Get some extra training in!!”

Dakota swayed back and forth, obviously holding back some energy while Ashe just shook her head slightly “Kota you heard what Tide said, it’s better if we wait for him to come back.”

Oh. That’s why it felt even emptier, there was no Tide. Or Mark, for that matter, but that was mostly normal for him. William barely saw him around, the only guaranteed place he’d ever be is in the dining hall during dinner- and that was just to socialize with his daughter, no one else. The only reason he even came was to monitor Ashe though, so no one is ever surprised when their social advances get strange looks from him.

Tide being gone was a bit weirder though, especially when it was already past the time where Tide would drag the prime defenders to the training room. Yea. Weird.

William was broken from his thoughts as Dakota finally saw Will, waving over quickly and completely forgetting the previous conversation topic. “Hey Will! How’d you sleep!!”

“I slept fine, like normal. What were you guys talking about?” William questioned, slumping down in the seat next to Vyncent. Vynce seemed slightly preoccupied at the moment with his own food, but peaked their head up and gave a small nod to Will.

Ashe sighed, placing her head in her hands as the other gestured to Dakota. “He’s trying to get us to train while Tide isn’t here, I say it’s better to just wait and enjoy the well deserved break”

“I wanna start bright and early like always!! Besides- Tide would be super duper proud of we stepped up and took initiative!” Dakota placed both his hands on the table, leaning forward to Ashe- making some sort of point.

“Tide told us to wait, it shouldn’t even take that long anyways Kota, we can wait” Ashe placed her hand on Dakotas shoulder- pushing him back down into a nearby seat as he gave in, folding his arms and huffing quietly.

William looked between them, confusion building on his face “wait, Tides gone? Where did he go?” Which caused both of them to glance over- both opening their mouths to say something before Vyncent interrupted them.

“Tide went outside the base to figure out some ‘weird activity’ happening. Ms. G apparently saw it on the saddle light or something” without anymore time to question what a ‘saddle light’ was, Vyncent shoveled another spoonful into his mouth, slurping up what seemed like a… was that a rats tail?? How the hell did Vynce get rats—

“YEA!!! He’s out doing super cool hero stuff and we should be too!!” Dakota snapped back, not moving from his spot in the chair. The solid determination brought a smile to William’s face- even if was just stupidly stubborn.

“I kinda agree with Ashe.. my arms still hurt from yesterday's training- or maybe that’s from last week- I don’t know, it’s been a lot of training—“ Vyncent interrupted William, softly elbowing him in the side “If it hurts it means it’s working so that’s a good thing”

William flinched, giving Vyncent a joking death glare as he pushed his shoulder away, hiding the snicker under his breath. “What I was saying, it’s been a lot of training, maybe a 30 minute break is what we need—“

Again William was interrupted- frankly it was comedic at this point- by the door to the entrance sliding open, and standing there was Tide. He had an arm wrapped around his stomach, and he was still soaking wet head to toe, but as soon as he saw the people in the cafeteria, he smiled. “Kids! I see all of you are finally up!”

Dakota's face lit up and he was at Tide's side immediately, grabbing his arm and dragging him over to the table- a hopeful glint was in his eyes as he looked up at Tide. “Yea! So we can train right?”

Tide blinked for a moment, as if he was trying to focus his eyes a bit before laughing and patting Dakota on the head “how about you give me a moment to get myself cleaned up, then we will get back to the regular schedule” and with that, Tide gently pushed Dakota back to his seat and b-lined it for the dorms.

There was a short silence from the prime defenders table, all of them relatively confused at the rush. That was before Dakota followed after, waving his hand and opening the door for Tide with his keycard.

The silence continued before Ashe let out an exasperated sigh, resting her forehead directly onto the table. “There goes my way back to my room”

William snapped out of whatever thought process he had about- well- that situation- too turn back to Ashe “have they still not given you your own key?” Only met by another, more dramatic sigh muffled by the table.

“No, they haven’t. I know they're busy off planet and stuff but- can’t they get a girl her keycard?” Ashe glanced up from her spot, clearly done with the whole situation about ten times over. “I mean you can cut it up to that— have they seriously been gone that long though? We signed all the hero paperwork stuff a couple weeks ago- you should be registered by now”

“Right?? But- you know, it’s fine. Sharing Kotas isn’t all so bad.. until it goes running off.” Ashe lifted her hand to point to the door, Tide and Dakota already out of sight. William couldn’t help but laugh a bit and then look over to Vynce.

“You’ve been awfully quiet today. Everything alright Vynce?” Williams' voice seemed to bring Vyncent out of whatever silent trance he had found himself in. “Yea, yea I’m alright. just instincts flaring up again, that’s all”

Vyncent wasn’t human, the tail that gently flicked back and forth was proof of that, but furthermore it came with some.. side effects? Is that what he should call them? Fauna was a lot different then Prime in a lot of ways, the most major difference was how dangerous normal life could be. To survive a danger around every corner, elves had developed instincts to send emergency signals to their brain at anything even a little suspicious.

So coming to Prime where everything was just.. generally less dangerous fucked with Vyncents fight or flight a bit. When they first got there, he was constantly on edge, waiting for something to jump out at them. Hell, Vynce even admitted that when Dakota was extra loud, THAT triggered some instincts— so them being a bit wonky wasn’t too weird.

Even so, William rested his head onto his hand, eyes turning into a concerned glance as he nodded gently “about what? We could probably fix it”. The offer only made Vyncent shake his head, forcing a laugh out before rubbing his face. “It’s already been dealt with Will, don’t worry. Tide leaving so early had me worried- didn’t want him hurt is all”

William nodded, reaching over and rubbing Vynces shoulder “Alright.. well- I’m here if you need anything, ok?”, and Vynce gave Will a reassuring smile. “I’ll be ok. Tides back now so it should dial down soon”

“Can you two have your slow burn elsewhere?” Ashe said sarcastically, even as she was trying to hide her smile. Williams hand launched off Vyncents shoulder to instead be held in front of them- waving widely as Vyncent sat in confusion. “Ohhh nononononono Ashe!!” “What? I’m just saying how it is!” Ashe started into broken snickers, going back to her breakfast.

As the nervous energy finally settled, William decided to walk off and grab breakfast. By the time he got back to the table with his half cold plate of food, Tide and Dakota were sat back at the table. There was a quick sigh of relief before he settled back next to Vyncent, now also next to Tide.

Tide was now dressed in more casual clothes, nothing with how he was previously done up in his full hero get up. It was nice, a return to simplicity. Heavens knew they needed it.

Well it was a return to simplicity for about 5 seconds, shoving food in his mouth just to be given a strong pat on the back from Tide, coughing a chunk out back on the tray and suddenly he was a lot less hungry.

“Finish that up William! Then we can move onto training for the day! We’re running behind schedule so we need to catch up!!” Tide removed his hand before clasping them together, standing and stepping away. “Meet me in the training room once you all are done!”

William sighed, poking his food as Tide made his way to the other side of the room, watching as Dakota followed after like a lost dog. The energy that has been building up in his limbs was obvious- and William thought that if he kept Kota waiting for any longer then he might just explode—

William quickly shoveled the food into his mouth, getting up and going to follow them, Ashe and Vyncent doing the same just as quickly.

And just like that, they fell into the same routine. The same schedule, and same everything. Training, lunch, schooling- And suddenly it was dinner. It blended together like always, the same day.

Over and over again.

Which was fine, obviously. William wasn’t getting affected by it at all. Obviously.

And like all the other dinners they have had, he sat at the end of the cafeteria tables, being pushed together for Ms. G's recommended ‘dinner socialization time’, or whatever she said. Whatever it was, he found himself looking over across the table as Lightspeed and Dakota chatted loudly back and forth- everyone else actually enjoying the food.

Honestly it looked like Lightspeed was trying to enjoy her food- but Dakota kept bombarding the poor women with questions.

Other than that though, Ashe and Mark were speaking gently at the very end of the table, ignoring the rest of them. Further inward was Wordsmith and bookworm, sitting on Lightspeed's side of the table- reflected on the other side being Dakota, Vyncent, and Tide.

And finally, at the end of the table, sat William. Trying to enjoy his dinner in peace after a long day of being chased around by Dakota, listening to passing conversations.

“...I just rewatched that one!! That's my favorite movie of his!! That or the one with Ms. G as a cameo, she's amazing.” Dakota emphasized, leaning back in the cafeteria chair as far as it would physically go. Lightspeed nodded along, taking her time with the food in front of her as she gave Dakota a smile. “Those are some good choices Dakota, have you ever watched the revamps they released a couple of years ago?”

Dakota took a second, as if he was looking back into his mind for a moment before Vyncent elbowed him gently “We watched that one for movie night Kota, before we left for the base” “OHHH, Ok! Yea I have! I mean it was good, but I didn’t really like the new actor they used for Origami.. And Ms. G wasn't in it”

Lightspeed's smile evolved into a full snicker, her hand going to cover her mouth as she was mid chew, “You- You know that you can call her, right? You don’t have to just watch movies with her in it.” The offer was met with a shrug and then “I know!! But I don’t have time to go to the library just for her to be off planet when I do…”

“Just leave a message. I’m sure she will get to it eventually.” Wordsmith's voice cut through the conversation, catching both of their attention. Quickly, Dakota threw his hands on the table and stood from his seat. “I tried that with Harlem and he gave me a custom voicemail! You're so smart!!” and with that, Dakota was gone. Lightspeed blinked slightly, trying to catch herself as she stood and followed Dakota. “Dakota maybe after dinner-” and Lightspeed disappeared as well.

Wordsmith sighed and stood up soon after “Well now that those two have dismissed themselves, me and Bookworm will be off. We have some of our own business to attend to.” The mass standing made Tide raise a hand, shaking his head and trying to stop people from leaving. “Hey, wait just a minute, we will get our work done tomorrow, for now we should sit and enjoy dinner-”

Tide's words were ignored as Wordsmith left the table, motioning for Bookworm to follow close behind, leaving only Tide, Mark, Vyncent, Ashe, and William sitting at the table. Mark and Ashe had taken a pause in their conversation for quite awhile, looking between the remaining few at the table.

As silence fell over the table, William blinked himself out of ‘listening mode’ and looked over. Both Vynce and Ashe looked a bit awkward, Mark frustrated, and Tide.. well, upset. Tides' hand was pressed to his temple, looking as if he was nursing a headache and his mouth was twisted into a frown.

“.. well. If everyone is tired from the day then I suppose it would be a good idea to turn in for the night.” Tide stood, grabbing the leftover plates and slowly moving to the kitchen area once more, William quickly getting up after him to turn in his own plate.

If he was being honest, he was happy for the early turn in. Sure, he didn’t exactly sleep well anymore, but the limited alone time really started to mess with him. Sometimes he just wanted a little peace of quiet without someone standing right next to him.

But seeing Tides frown made him feel a bit bad about feeling so. He knew he just wanted them to get along like a family, but- it was a bit much. That’s all.

“I’m gonna head to my room- I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” William muttered, instead of stopping by the table after throwing his plate in the sink he went straight to the door. Tide watched him walk away, and as he stopped to unlock the door- Ashe and Vyncent walked close behind, leaving Tide and Mark in the dining room.

Without much more dely, the three of them walked down the hallway. It was silent, the only noise being their footsteps and Vynces tail hitting his own leg over and over again. William glanced up at him to investigate further, and an anxious look was all over Vyncents face.

“…instincts still?” William mumbled, making Vyncent jump slightly as his view snapped back to William. Vyncent took a deep breath, shrugging as his arms went up to wrap around himself.

“Yea.. yea. I’ll get over it, Will. I promise.” Vyncents eyes drifted back forward, avoiding eye contact. The exchange caught Ashes attention, shoving her hands in her pocket as she spoke up. “Vynce, do you want to watch a movie tomorrow? Maybe get your mind off things?”

William looked between them, giving a hopeful smile as Vyncent nodded. “Sure- that probably will help. It really isn’t a big deal though I promise.”

They came to a stop at the point where they would go their separate ways, Will bumping against Vyncents side. “I mean if your sure.. we’re here if you need us”

Vyncent lifted his arm, wrapping it around Williams shoulders and pulling him into a hug before doing the same with Ashe, the insistent flipping of the tail calming down a bit “yea!! Ok!! Yea. We’re all good.. uh. Make sure you guys get some sleep??”

Vyncent gave an small awkward smile before walking forward and grabbing the doorknob too his dorm, quickly walking in and shutting the door.

William and Ashe gave each other a quick glance of concern- that was a bit sudden, but Vyncent was anxious so it made sense. William cleared his throat and smiled a bit at Ashe, giving a soft wave.

“Goodnight, Ashe. See you in the morning” “Night Will.”

And they walked their separate ways. William walking into his room, getting changed into his pajamas, and finally laying face up in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

And here he would lay for the next couple of hours, fall asleep, and then wake up. And do it again.

And again.

And again.

Until.

There was a soft crash from outside his room.

Chapter Text

One thing about the waves is that they don’t just disappear when you try to sleep, not down here. Instead, the same water that would be so cruel as to shake you awake would be the same that lulled you to bed at night. The same hands that cared so much, tainted by the hatred of simply waking up.

…

But William didn’t wake up to the waves today. Instead, as he stared at the ceiling- not being able to tell whether he had ever even drifted off to begin with, he heard a thump from outside his door.

It was loud enough to make William sit up in his bed, looking at the door and listening for another sound. It didn’t come, the silence becoming a flavor of deafening.

William looked towards the clock, and it glowed the numbers 2:52. Almost three, who is awake at three am??

Determined to check, William slid to the edge of his bed, dropping down and grabbing his keycard from his desk. His hand went to the handle before pausing slightly, turning and flicking on the light to his dorm, only slightly burning his eyes in the process.

It was gonna be dark in the hall, he knew that for sure, so this might be the only source of light he has. Yea. Not a scary idea at all. Or that was the paranoia speaking.

William finally grabbed the door handle, letting the warm light flood into the hall. It looked normal for the most part, although the lights didn’t reach far enough to color the darkest corners of the hallway.

A hesitance built up inside Will, maybe he should just turn back. Go back to sleep. It was probably nothing right? What’s the worst it could be?? Would he even be able to go back to bed if he didn’t investigate it though? Didn’t see what was lingering in the shadows?

No. Will was kidding himself if he thought he could stop the pull of curiosity that built up inside of him. He took one step, then two, and finally just hurried out of the safety of the bedroom light, instead walking towards one of the nearest walls.

Williams' eyes had trouble adjusting, a fuzzy scene that he couldn’t really place is all he saw in front of him. Like an old tv with too much static for imagine to cut through the screen. So instead of seeing it first, he heard it.

A consistent drip finally became clear too William, something so soft that it couldn’t have possibly been the clattering he heard beforehand, so what was it?

The question still sat at the back of his mind, begging for William’s attention more and more, but a bigger issue arose. Where was the drip sound coming from? Was some wall in the base leaking and letting in sea water?

Another step forward found Williams' foot in a puddle of warm liquid— making him jump and stumble back several feet, back into the safety of the light. As he did so, the liquid followed, staining the floor with a trail of.. red?

William stared at the ground. The light had revealed that he left behind the proof of his scared stumbling with dark red footprints. He didn’t breath, his whole body freezing up as the dripping sound continued.

Coming to his senses wasn’t an easy thing to do, but once he did, he took a couple more steps closer to his dorm- closer to the light, and stuttered out a quiet “what the fuck..-“

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, there was a crash- a struggle in the same corner he was just approaching. Through the darkness, there was shuffling motion, a moving mass shrouded in the dark that began to cut through clearer as Williams eyes finally adjusted to the light.

Almost as if it was waiting for William to do something, to say something, it dragged across the floor towards him. William was about ready to run away, to sprint to the library, to make the call to send the heros down her asap, until he heard its voice.

“William? Where are you going? You shouldn’t be awake, it’s late.”

Tide.

William stopped in his tracks, feeling his heart drop all the way down to his feet as the thing continued to move closer and closer. The voice sounded too clear to be the same creature making the choking sounds in front of him. It was too real. That was Tide.

“William?”

It got closer. Slowly coming into the slightly faded light. William couldn’t help but look away- down, to the side, anywhere other then the amalgamation of flesh that slowly scooted towards him.

“William. What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

With what seemed like all its strength, it dragged itself towards William, leaving that same trail William’s footprints did- only this time, it was a long solid trail, almost like a snake.

William really should get a better look at it. Should see what he is about to probably die too. But he couldn’t. He cant.

“William, look at me, I’m here.”

His eyes snapped over it, ripping the bandaid off as fast as possible to make eye contact with one of its many pairs of eyes. The look was quick, almost not enough, but it was disgusting. A pound of nothing but flesh, pressed together into a ball like some sort of fucked up meatloaf.

Its back had a large bump that shivered with each mockery of a breath, expanding enough to show the blueish veins inside of the thing. But it all came to a head as he looked down its face- and coming to the stunning realization.

The voice was coming out of its mouth.

Of his mouth.

Was that…

No. No it wasn’t. William was insane.

Nevertheless, he turned and started sprinting down the hall, meeting its gaze was enough to break the frozen state his legs were in enough that he stumbled backwards towards the door.

“Wait William—“

The voice— Tides voice??- was cut off by a choked gurgling sound, coughing violently as wet droplets hit the back of Williams neck. By the time the thing was done coughing up whatever was stuck in its throat, William was at the door, completely bypassing the wall by turning intangible and sprinting through the doors.

William stumbled into the hall, Lunging forward to just curl in on himself to take large deep breaths, trying desperately to catch his breath while ignoring the hyperventilation that slowly built up in his chest.

Though as soon as he took the first deep inhale- a heavy thud hit the door he has just left, causing him to take more panicked steps into the hall.

He couldn’t stop looking at the door- what was that??? It definitely wasn’t human, that’s for sure. It wasn’t like anything he’d seen before, and it made Will sick to even think about it, too think he made eye contact with the thing and whatever liquid coming from it touched him—-

Realizing that, his hand raced to the back of his neck, feeling the feeling of warmth on the skin and in his hair. Just as soon as Williams hand touched the substance- it moved away, shivering at the strange heat he felt.

Looking down at his hand only to see that it was stained this yellowish color, something you would see on an infected wound that has gone untreated for far too long. The sight, while sickening, at least confirmed that William wasn’t crazy and there was in fact something in the dorm hall that was using tides voice.

What in the fucking deadwood was going on. William thought that once he left that place, his chances of becoming a horror movie character were significantly lowered. Now he wasn’t too sure.

William continued to walk down the hall, looking forward to the next door, the one that lead to the dining room. A million thoughts were going through his head, but the main one was getting to the library to call someone. It was the only place with a working phone because of the lack of service this deep underwater after all- all he had to do was make it there.

And suddenly he was faced with the door, instinctively grabbing the keycard but pausing as he went to press it to the wall. What if there was more? What if it heard him?

Call it paranoia, or whatever deadwood did to him, but he put the keycard back into his pocket and turned intangible, walking through without a problem- which turned out to be a good idea.

The lights in the dining room were also off, this time there was no dorm light to rely on- just his own sight and how fast he could adjust to such darkness. Even in the darkness, he could sense something was wrong. There was a sour smell in the air, almost like rotting meat. It was a violent assault on his nose that almost made him gag.

Had the fridges turned off? That, and how fast could meat actually rot?? It smelled like rot kill, like something would be picking it off the bone for months before coming to this point.

Williams hand moved to his nose, opting to breath through his mouth ever so softly as his hand met the wall. He knew the library was on the left side of the dining room- he just had to make it there. Easy.

Easy until there was a soft crying sound. It started abruptly, and it was in the far right corner, but sure enough- the gentle sobs of… someone were somewhere in this room.

A part of him wanted to follow the sound, to check on whoever the crying was coming from, but at the same time.. that would be a horrible idea. William has watched enough horror movies too know the best move was to stay away from the creepy noises in the dark.

So with the background sound of that pained cry, William slowly followed the wall too the library door, making sure his footsteps weren’t heard. A few minutes left like forever, the breath William held in his chest burning through as his lungs begged for air, even if the air tasted like rotten meat.

Eventually though, without much problem, William made it to the library door and slipped through. The crying soon disappeared and he stood in absolute silence again. Will didn’t let himself think too much about, well, all of this- all he needed was the phone. That’s it.

The library was big, nothing professional level but much bigger than any library he had ever been in. Tall book shelves stood looming over him, creating stark shadows as a small candle lit flame stood at a desk.

The candle looked to its end, barely holding on to its flame with the small wick and the wax that had overflowed onto the table. How long had it been lit? Did Wordsmith forget to put it out?

William knew the lights automatically shut off during the night, and he also knew Wordsmith worked late, maybe a candle was the only way to get that extra light during the night?

Quickly, William approached the candle. It was a hazard without being watched over, no matter how small it was. Plus, Will was in serious need of some sort of light. It would make finding the phone much easier.

As soon as his hand grabbed the small candle holder, it burned a mark into his skin. William yelped and stumbled back, pulling his palm to his chest to nurse the pain. Without time to process anything other than the searing pain, there was a crash behind him.

William was stuck stumbling back and forth, stepping back closer to the lone candle light, using it to study the room further. Panic took over, making his eyes scan over the room quickly, only to see nothing.

Nothing. There was nothing- where was it?? William knew he heard something, he wasn’t insane, but where had it come from? Could it see him?

The panic made his vision blurry, freezing once again in place. The pure fear of whatever was sitting in the dark overcame any curiosity that William had about the thing in the dark. It was just out of his reach, just behind a corner.

Or above him. That was a possibility. Especially feeling the drip of- whatever the fuck that was- on his head.

William looked up, slowly his eyes trailed what seemed to be a spider web of tendons, weaved together too hold up one big chunk of flesh. With ever second, it moved only slightly, as if a heart bumped deep inside its chest somewhere.

In the middle there was a soft glow, a dying light within the egg shaped flesh that seemed to be going out as quick as the dying candle light. It was memorizing, the lines of intricately decorated webbing reflecting against the light, drenched in some sort of fluid, yellowish and almost clear with how thinly it was spread across the thing.

The hypnotizing nature captured William, only being able to take in the spectacle before feeling something hit his chest with such force it threw him back against a bookshelf.

Books fell around him, and William tried to gain his bearings again. Whatever that thing was, it was messing with his head, distracting him from the real problem. Strings of muscle flew violently at the ground, connecting to the walls of the library with such force it broke through pieces of wall. The strings looked stretched to capacity, like anymore would make them snap.

William backed up further in the bookshelf— that must have been what hit him. Realizing that made him a bit queasy, quickly wiping down the front of his tank top with his hand. There was no telling where the ropes were coming from— just the knowledge that it didn’t actively grab William, instead throwing him across the room.

At least he didn’t have to worry about it grabbing him? Or it didn’t see him entirely- which is also good news. Though he did wish he could see it.

William shook off the thoughts that crowded his mind, instead getting low to the ground and crawling to the wall. He would just follow the wall until there was a phone, easy. The whish and thud sound created from the tendrils stayed in the middle of the room, so he was safe.

Every step he made was anxiety driven, every turn was coated with the fear of something being behind it. But there wasn’t, just the obvious.. whatever that was, above the candle light. And eventually, he turned the corner of one of the bookshelves, seeing the phone on the wall.

Here, there was a large table riddled with computers, right behind that was a large maintenance closet, and finally- beside that, was the phone.

William let out a sigh of relief, rushing his footsteps just enough so they weren’t heard and made it to the phone. With a rushed glance, he grabbed the phone off the wall and starting dialing the main prime base— praying that anyone was awake at this time of night.

With the light at the end of the tunnel just being revealed though, it was quickly taken from him, snuffed out by the loud beep of the phone- followed by the automated voice taunting him with “Connection to network failed. Please restart the network and try again.”

William pause, staring at the phone for a bit until his panicked thought process was interrupted by a flesh string crushing the wall next to his head. He jumped out of his skin, turning around to see exactly where the thing had come from.

It was large, towering over William and bumping into the ceiling. The meatloaf quality was the same here, but unlike last time, the face was clear. There was no question. Wordsmith.

Wordsmith's face that normally had an aura of slight annoyance was completely gone, instead, it was replaced by something of pure rage. It looked odd, and even as William watched this thing approach, he couldn’t help but think how wrong that expression was on him. He always thought that anger was the normal occurrence with him, but now he knew that wasn’t it.

No, something was wrong. Clearly wrong. Maybe it was the delusion trying to push through the fear, but even though he’s been seeing flesh monsters left and right- this concluded that something wasn’t right.

Right. Flesh monsters. One that is coming directly at him.

William tried to go intangible at the last second- being interrupted not by some piece of muscle going through his stomach and killing for a final time, but a hand yanking him by the arm into the maintenance closet behind him.

The door slammed closed, making his head ring only for another, louder thud hit the door. William took deep breaths, his adrenaline finally kicking in when it would have been too late. Whatever this was, was fucking with him. A lot. It made his normal flight response get put on hold with how interesting it was- no. Not interesting. Disgusting- like watching a train wreck. Not interesting.

The same hand that pulled him back grabbed onto his shoulder, spinning him around to finally face the person hiding in the closet. Ashe.