Cat and Mouse
(This takes place in the past, back before y'all stumbled into Thorezille and changed the status quo ;] )
“Marqeeez!”
Gracious’ voice bounces off the walls of the cavern, a cheerful, sinister song that shakes you to the very core.
His footsteps reverberate, making it near impossible to figure out where exactly the patron is in the cave.
He likes hunting you here.
He likes when you have places to hide.
You press yourself deeper into the crevice you’ve found, hand clamped over your nose and mouth to stifle the shaky breaths that threaten to betray your location. The scent of wet stone permeates the crushing grip you have on your own face, the faint dripping of stalactites helping you count the seconds passed.
Just wait him out. That’s the goal of this, isn’t it? The carrot he’s dangling over your head? Lord knows you wouldn’t let him prowl after you like this without one. No, you needed an incentive, and he knew that.
So you just have to avoid being found. You have to avoid it long enough to win, and you’ll go back to your horrible, soulless hive with all your blood inside where it belongs.
“Oh, Marqeeeeez!”
Easier said than done.
You can hear purring somewhere to your left. Faithful. God, he’s sick. They both are, but at least Gracious can pretend to be normal. Though, maybe that’s worse.
He sounds closer, you think. It’s hard to tell. He’s already walked by you once, skin lit up like a beacon. He didn’t see you. At least, you don’t think he saw you. Maybe he’s just prolonging the chase, enjoying the tension and fear he’s wrought.
To think you had wanted to meet the man.
It’s hard, during these wretched games of tag, not to think about how you got into this mess in the first place. You can’t help questioning if you could have done something different.
If you hadn’t told Theo to cut them out.
If you hadn’t shunted the blame for that decision onto him when they arrived.
If you hadn’t lied.
You slink further into the shadows, careful not to scrape yourself on the stone. Even that would sting like being stabbed, thanks to Faithful’s abilities. And god forbid you draw blood. One whiff of that and you can say goodbye to any hope you had of riding this out.
Speaking of Faithful… There’s a faint swishing coming from his direction. Fucking hell, is he wagging his tail? You want to puke.
Your heart is pounding. You wonder briefly if he can hear it. His senses always seem heightened to you, when he’s hunting. Why do you even bother hiding?
Well… You have waited him out before. Not by any of your own merit, of course. No, you have a pretty good feeling that any time he’s failed to find you, it’s been by choice.
Something to keep your hopes up.
And you guess it worked. It’s become a bargain, in a roundabout way. Act like prey and maybe, just maybe, he’ll let you off the hook now and again.
He’s fucked in the head, for real.
You wonder, again, if your heartbeat is audible. Even if he does find you, and he will, you can’t let yourself be caught this quickly. Otherwise he’ll flex some of that endless generosity and let you find another spot to hide, which is always so much worse.
You still shudder at the thought. Being pinned by that man, his strength far exceeding what should be possible for someone of his caste… Seeing the light glint against his fangs, watching that ravenous thirst be overtaken by the urge to play. It’s enough to make you ill.
Like a cat with a mouse, he’s not content just to catch you. It has to be fulfilling.
It has to be fun.
Wait.
Where did his footsteps go?
You press your hand more firmly over your face, threatening to cut off your air supply entirely. You can’t hear him. You can’t hear him! Fuck, you can’t hear him!
When this happened the first time he elected to chase you, you had assumed he was taking a moment’s pause to collect himself and survey his surroundings.
You soon learned, however, that he hadn’t stopped at all. No, Gracious doesn’t stop. He merely lightens his footfall. Moves with such delicate precision that you lose track of him entirely.
That can only mean one thing, right?
He knows where you are.
There’s a pressure building in your chest, the unmistakable weight of fear settling into your lungs. He could be anywhere. Why the hell did you box yourself in like this? You’re smarter than that.
Not that it matters. Old man’s faster than you anyways. You swallow the lump growing in your throat and push a shuddering breath out past your hand. Half of your brain is begging you not to panic, trying its damnedest to convince you that you can’t let fear take over.
The other half reasons that there’s not a damn point. Fear or no fear, Gracious will be doing whatever he sees fit. This town is his, as is everything in it, he once reminded you. You’re not even a person to him.
In fact, if it weren’t for Theo, you get the feeling your life could be much, much worse. Redivi might not give a shit about you or Hirsch, but he does care for Theo. Immensely. And he’s determined not to push the boundaries of what his son will take lying down.
That’s one good thing, you guess. As long as he cares about keeping Theo happy, things will be better than they could be.
And you really don’t want to imagine how this could be any worse.
The cavern has become unbearably still, the silence permeated only by the contented rumbles rising from Faithful’s chest and your own blood pounding in your ears.
“There you are, Marqez.”
You jump, whipping your head towards the voice to find the man himself staring at you, eyes wild and hungry. Gracious smiles, taking extra care to flash his fangs at you, and you let out a frightened cry, stumbling backwards as best you can in the confined space you’ve tucked yourself inside.
He looks positively giddy.
“As always, Marqez, I thank you for your contribution.”
You open your mouth to shout, to beg, to plead, but before you can get a single word in, the world in front of you fades away.
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Monsterfuckers
I made a choice, baby
to die addicted to the night
don't play like you can save me
because I can't be saved
I don't want to be saved
I've never been all right
when the monster in your room
is in your bed
you forget the blood
the doom
the dark's been
freed from your head
to climb on top of you
inside of you
to hold you down
while you hold them up
to all the
bullshit that you've been through
who really gives a fuck?
we're all fucking monsters
in one way or another
there's something getting
under your skin
we're all hiding monsters
lying undercover
it's not upsetting
it's the only way to win
made of shadows, made of fear
the loneliness
that was inside
just a memory
a nightmare gone
another day gone by
abandon the lies
we were fed
about the dark
bring it home instead
it's taken my heart
we're all fucking monsters
in one way or another
there's something getting
under your skin
we're all holding monsters
pining for each other
there's no forgetting
what was I saying again?
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