Chapter Text
Michael felt like he was drowning. His lungs burnt, and his mouth tasted like acid. He couldn't see anything thru the dark water around him. The vile liquid flooding his sense left him wanting to vomit but unable to.
A scream of agony echoed around him. If it was his or someone else's, he couldn't tell. The noise reverberated in waves thru the deep red dragging Michael down, down,
Down
Michael fell to his knees, gasping for air as he gripped a hand tight. The acrid red bile still covered his hands, crawling higher up his arms as he tightened his grip.
'You're too late!'
Michael held tighter, pulling the hand closer. He couldn't be. He was shown this for a reason. He had to fix it or it was his fault.
You're too late.
Michael yelled out in grief, chest burning in pain. He could feel the flesh ripping as he held the person too tight. Michael pressed his forehead to the open wound, sobbing in desperation. He had to stop the future.
He had to.
You're too late.
Michael sat up enough to try to hold the wound shut, only to find it no longer in front of him, but embedded directly over his heart. Torn open for the world to see the failure, the fake that he was.
His chest was empty, no heart in it to be the source of the pain. Decayed shells of stolen ones sat inside him, trying to fill the space not made for it. The carefully labeled with color coded sections heart torn to shred. The other burnt to a crisp.
Michael tore them from his chest, trying desperately to use them to patch the chasm ripping open in front of him. The pools of red were strangling him now. Threatening to drag him under into the rancid bile once more.
"You're too late." Kit's empty eyes frowned up at Michael, pushing his hands away. "Don't save me."
Michael sobbed in pain, staring at the open chest, just as empty as his own.
Michael was drowning in the blood on his hands.
Michael shook awake, coughing until his lungs burned. He rolled out of his bed, half falling onto the floor as he raced to the bathroom to throw up. The cool tile across his back did little to soothe him as he tried to muffle his sobs.
His back ached from the hard floor when he finally pushed back to his feet. The cold water on his face and rinsing out his mouth did little to soothe his hammering chest. At least he wouldn't need an x-ray to know he did in fact have a physical heart. The thing felt like it was trying to rip itself out thru his throat.
Michael sighed as he stripped his bed, the sheets and comforter soaked in sweat. He was thankful he had been tangled enough it hadn't reached the mattress. Michael was too tired to go find clean bedding, laying instead on the bare mattress.
Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Kit bleeding out. Jentry's voice screaming out in agony from Kit's mouth. See Kit bleeding out on Jentry's floors. See the horrific sight of 'Jentry's skin being ripped off of her.
Michael clutched his stomach, fighting back the urge to vomit once more. He took deep breaths, counting the seconds until the churning stopped. Michael squinted into the dark, grabbing his phone from beside him.
Michael blinked the spots from his eyes as the screen momentarily blinded him. He tried to ignore how badly his hands were shaking. His fingers froze above the screen. He stared at the time along the top edge. The four seemingly mocking him. Taunting him with the reminder that it'd be selfish to bother them.
The mockery stung sharply across his face as his screen fell directly into his chin. Michael swore under his breath, cupping his bottom lip. He was almost scared to close his mouth. If he tasted even a hint of blood, he knew he'd end up right back in the bathroom.
Michael sighed, rolling onto his side to prevent further assault from his phone. It was just a dream. He knew it was only a dream. He hoped it was only a dream.
"Are you up?" Michael texted. It was a stupid question. Of course no one was awake at this hour but him. It was four in the morning on a school night. Who would-
Michael barely managed to not scream as his mind was jolted back to alertness by his phone ringing. Michael held his breath, muting the ring to listen for any sign he woke his parents. Michael sighed in relief, answering the call once he was sure it was safe.
"Everything okay?" Kit whispered, his phone's glow only amplifying the hollows of his eyesockets, making his white skin seem to glow in its own right. It was eerie, in a beautiful way.
His voice betrayed him in how tired the guy was.
Michael frowned, guilt sinking in once more. "Yeah- Sorry.. I didn't mean to wake you-"
"If I minded, my phone would be on silent." Kit assured.
Michael chuckled softly, relaxing as he held his phone, held Kit, a little closer.
"Visions?.." Kit worried.
"Just nightmares, normal ones- Well... As normal as we get."
Kit chuckled softly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah.. Just..... Needed to know you were too."
Michael watched Kit's eyes widen slightly. He couldn't tell if there was a blush or if the shadows were playing tricks on him.
Kit smiled softly as the surprise passed, adjusting his phone to show the thin scar from his healed wound. "Still good."
Michael sighed in relief. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really? Kind of?... It's more like.. Well- I don't know what it'd be like for you I guess. It's not that it hurts on its own? But like, it's lost some of its give and stretch? I feel it tugging if I bend too fast."
"Makes sense. Human's scars get like that a bit too." Michael assured. "It usually gets easier the more it heals."
"That'll be nice." Kit panned his phone back up to his face.
"How's the new family stuff going?" Michael asked, not willing to hang up just yet.
"It's- weird. Not bad, just... Weird. I'm not used to needing to let others know where I'm going or when I'll be back. Finding stuff cleaned up or not where I left it keeps making me jumpy if I just woke up, until I remember other people live here now too."
"I can see how that'd be an adjustment." Michael nodded. "You are allowed to kick them out if you don't like it."
"I don't dislike it, I guess? I just have to get used to it more. It's nice sometimes, not just hearing silence around the house. They make finding food easier too."
"Yeah?" Michael smiled at that, relieved to hear Kit hasn't just been starving after leaving Jentry's.
"Animals tend to run from me before I can even get close, which can make hunting a bit hard. Especially anything large enough to actually be worth the effort. If they don't run, they attack- Survival and all."
Michael nodded in understanding.
"But since those two can pass as actual animals, they can get in way closer. Being demons means they can eat things that wouldn't really be good for humans too. So, they can drag things home for me, and then they can enjoy it after I'm done."
"Jentry nailed it on the head sending them there, huh?"
Kit laughed, nodding. "There's growing pains, and we've had a few disagreements but... I think it'll work."
"I'm glad to hear it. None of us were really happy at the idea of you just... going home to be alone again."
"Honestly?.... Neither was I... It kinda scared me. Like, everything would just vanish while my back was turned."
"Like none of it was real, and was just a hallucination to avoid the cold reality of failure..."
"Yeah..."
The pair smiled at each other for a few moments in comfortable understanding.
"I should let you get back to sleep." Kit offered. "You look exhausted-"
"Please don't go-" Michael blurted before he could stop himself.
Kit frowned softly. "You need sleep, Michael."
"I know- I know, sorry- I should let you sleep too..." Michael mumbled, knowing it was the right answer. He couldn't hold Kit hostage over a bad dream.
"Did you know, you used to be able to send small children thru the mail?" Kit asked, propping his phone up beside him so he didn't have to keep holding it.
"What?" Michael snorted, hesitating on hanging up.
"It wasn't common, and you usually needed to know a guy. But it happened. Mailed myself once."
"You mailed yourself??" Michael laughed, following Kit's example and propping his phone up as well.
Kit gave a nod. "I'd had to deal with a whole street finding out about me, so needed to get the heck out of dodge. It was a small town, so the post man knew 'me' pretty well. My only in tact skin at the time was a kid- I think I'd made it like... four? It needed to be young enough to explain why I wasn't in school- This was like, a whole scheme man. I was playing kid, mom, and dad. It was way overboard and doomed to fail."
Michael chuckled, relaxing fully.
"Anyways- The whole scheme had fallen apart, and I needed a way out. But my older skins had gotten damaged and I didn't have time to fix it before people would notice the street was too empty and quiet. So, I put on my kid skin, grabbed some stamps from a neighbor, and walked to the post office. I told them my parents were sick, and worried about me catching it. So they were sending me to my grandma's."
"And they allowed that??"
"Well, yeah! They knew 'my parent's well and had no reason to not believe me. I ended up riding on a train with the post man for a couple days. When we finally made it to the right area, I wasted a few hours being 'sick' in a restroom to put his post route behind schedule. He took me to a little farm I'd seen the address of in some newspaper, and since he was behind, I told him I could walk myself to the door. Between the delay, and not sleeping well on the train, he didn't question it and let me walk off without making sure an adult let me inside."
"Dude." Michael laughed, shaking his head.
"Soon as he left, I took off in the other direction to go start my new life."
"You should write books man. Your life is wild."
Kit snickered. "I'm not sure that'd go well. Even if people assume it's all fake, someone would notice all the stories line up with actual, real life disappearances and mysteries."
"Right.... I'm sure you could twist them enough to hide it. You're pretty creative."
Kit shrugged, laughing. "Maaaaybe about some of the older stories that wouldn't still have documentation."
Michael grinned. "Dibs on getting to read the rough drafts."
Kit grinned back, trying to tilt his head despite the horns to look at the phone.
"What's the oldest skin you remember?"
Kit hmmm'd, nodding as he settled on one.
Michael smiled softly, eyes heavy as he listened to Kit's stories. Soothed by the reminder they were both okay. Kit was alive and well, talking to him like nothing had happened at all.
"I still have a soft spot for Jellyfish because of them..." Kit chuckled to himself. "It's amazing how people you only know for a brief time can leave such a mark on you, y'know?..... Michael?"
Kit pushed up onto his elbow enough to look to the phone. He smiled fondly to see Michael's eyes shut, mouth hanging slightly open, as he dozed off. Kit sighed in relief to see only a relaxed expression. Hopefully Michael's nightmares would stay gone. Kit laid back down, getting comfortable. "Goodnight, Michael."
Michael shivered as he blinked awake, patting around for blankets he couldn't find. Michael groaned, sitting up. Michael frowned to find his bedding all on the floor. He blinked in confusion, finally noticing the sound of snores from beside him.
Michael rubbed his eyes, glancing to his side. The night slowly returning to him as he stared at his phone screen, Kit's sleeping form still on the call. Michael smiled wide as he retrieved his phone and hung up the call. Despite the goosebumps still covering his arms, Michael felt warm inside at the gesture.
Michael rested a hand over his chest, heart hammering in his ears.
Shit.
Michael groaned, covering his face with his hands. What was wrong with him?? He could NOT have a crush on his Girlfriend's Ex-Boyfriend. Were they even dating? He had no idea. They'd gone to homecoming together, but so much had happened after. They hadn't had a chance to talk about anything like that. Kit was the priority for awhile there.
Michael glanced to his phone, groaning even louder to realize his phone had come unplug at some point during the call. Michael plugged his phone in and pushed out of bed, nearly tripping on the sheets by his bed. Michael ran a tired hand down his face.
Standing back up straight, Michael stared ahead at all the football awards on his walls. He ran a hand thru his hair, picking his phone back up.
'Need a ride to school? I need someone to talk to.' Michael stared at the text, thumb hovering over the send button. She had so much going on still. Should he really bother her with something as low stakes as a crush? She had enough going on, she didn't need to have him acting weird and not knowing why on top of it.
Michael sighed, hitting send on the text to Jentry. He set his phone down, double checked it was charging, and went to go shower off the night's sweat and worries. Michael sang softly to himself as he waited on the water to heat up.
"So we were cowards, so we were liars
So we're not heroes, we're still survivors
The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I'm tired
But dive in the fire, and I'll be right here by your side"