Chapter Text
You'd imagined yourself at the mercy of some beast, but you never thought it would be like this. Being chased by a creature you thought didn't exist wasn't part of your weekend plans; you learn something new every day. Now you were running with a twisted ankle and a large scratch on your left side.
Blood was leaking from your body, not an exorbitant amount, but enough to make you feel dizzy. This was all a nightmare. How could a simple camping trip end in such a disaster? Your friends were probably dead; you were one of the only ones who managed to run and hide.
Now you were trying to get out of the woods without running into that thing that had ruined your weekend and your life. Your breathing was ragged; you were trying to hold back tears from the pain and shock of everything that had happened in the last few hours. The darkness didn't help your escape; carefully feeling your way forward, you didn't want to look back.
The sound of the wind approaching at high speed and the frantic footsteps made you try to move to your own rhythm, ignoring the pain throughout your body. You couldn't hold back any longer, and tears streamed down your cheeks as your sobs grew louder.
You were going to die.
In such a stupid way.
All because of wanting to connect with nature.
And now that ended with the death of people you loved and probably with your own.
Your body could no longer go on; your lungs burned, and all the blood you'd lost made you feel like you were about to faint at any moment. You were leaning against the tree when you saw him. He looked a little taller than you, and pinkish-red fur covered his body. He stood in front of you, motionless, his face expressionless—or at least that's what you could make out with your blurry vision.
You tried to keep running, but your body finally hit the cold ground covered in leaves and branches. The last thing you saw was that figure approaching you. Then darkness enveloped you, the cold set in, and the pain in your body brought you back to reality.
You opened your eyes, but everything was dark. The cold seeped into your entire body; for some reason, your clothes had vanished. You got up from where you'd been lying—probably on the floor—and tried to adjust your eyes to the darkness. Little by little, you began to recognize some of the furniture. You walked slowly, careful of the furniture and because of the pain in your body.
You heard a noise coming from elsewhere; it sounded like someone was moving something. In the dim light, you could just make out a door. It was risky trying to escape, but honestly, you had nothing left to lose. You approached the doorknob, checking if it needed a key, and were surprised to find it unlocked.
Slowly and trying to make as little noise as possible, you left the room. A light was coming from the end of the hallway. You decided to go in the opposite direction from where the light and the noise were coming from. When you reached the beginning of the hallway, there were some wooden stairs that you could barely see because of the light filtering in from the room where the noise was coming from.
As you were about to step down, you scanned the bottom of the door for any threat that might prevent you from leaving, and decided to take the first step. The wood creaked; the sound was louder than you expected, and because of this, the noise in the back room stopped for a moment. You heard footsteps approaching, heading in your direction.
Adrenaline surged through your body, and despite your aching ankle, you hurried down the stairs as fast as you could to escape. At the bottom, in what appeared to be the main hall, a door was slightly ajar. You quickened your pace, feeling a jolt in your ankle. Just as you were about to reach the doorknob, arms caught you and lifted you onto the shoulder of someone whose face you couldn't see clearly in the darkness.
You squirmed in his grip, but it only made it tighter. You screamed at the top of your lungs, begging him to let go, to stop hurting you. All you could see was his back. He was a man with an unusual skin tone. You'd seen him before; you knew him from somewhere, but you couldn't remember where. The man headed for the stairs and climbed them without loosening his grip.
When they reached the room at the end of the hall, he went inside and closed the door. The light blinded you for a moment before you could take in the room. The man lowered you from his grasp and threw you into the air. The surface was soft, but that didn't stop a cry of pain from escaping you as you hit your left side. You were on a bed; it was a bedroom, and the man in front of you was staring at you with his piercing golden eyes rimmed with blue. For a moment, you stopped breathing as you looked at him.
His expression was unreadable; he was just standing there in front of you, looking you up and down. For a moment, you had forgotten that you weren't wearing any clothes, and with all the shame in the world, you tried to cover your body.
"You're hurt, you need to rest. You won't recover if you keep pushing yourself." The man crossed his arms, his gaze never leaving you as he spoke.
"Who are you? What am I doing here? Are you going to hurt me?" The questions came rushing out of your mouth. You were scared and exhausted from everything that had happened. You didn't know how much time had passed, but you guessed it wasn't that long because the pain had barely lessened.
The man went to a wardrobe in the room, set aside some clothes, chose one in particular, and handed it to you. You took it, not wanting to anger him for fear of the consequences.
"I don't have any clothes in your size, but you can use that until I think of something." You put on the floral robe I had handed you; at least that would keep you a little warm for now.
Silence fell; the man had not answered any of your questions, he simply ignored them as if you had spoken to him in a different language.
"Are you going to kill me?" It was better to accept that you weren't going to make it out of there. So it was better to hear it now and crush all your hopes.
"You're always so annoying with your questions. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already." The man seemed irritated as he answered your questions. It wasn't your fault that this whole thing felt like some kind of twisted horror movie.
— I'm sorry — you said in barely a whisper, you still didn't have enough confidence that he wouldn't hurt you for making him angry.
You heard a sigh and then felt the bed sink thanks to the extra weight that was now beside you.
—Were you with those people back in the woods? — Your gaze shifted to the face of the man who was now lying next to you, covering his face with his forearm.
— Were you nearby? Did you also see what attacked us? — Even breathing hurt at that moment; all the effort you had made earlier was now taking its toll.
You lay down next to him in bed to rest, feeling like you might faint again at any moment.