Chapter Text
Andrew remembered how he died. He remembered them coming with pitchforks and fire. He remembered being terrified and running as fast as he could but tripping over the roots of the trees and being caught. He remembered being caught and dragged back.
He remembered the villagers yelling slurs at him, calling him a monster and a freak.
He remembered pain.
He remembered the sharp snap of his bones breaking under cruel fists and feet.
He remembered choking on his own blood.
He remembered the villagers picking up his broken body and throwing him into the grave he’d just finished digging for the service that was meant to take place three days later.
He remembered laying there, barely able to breathe and in so much pain that his body slowly shut down.
He remembered watching night slowly turn to day then back to night again, unable to make a sound as his lungs could only just bring in enough air to keep him from suffocating.
…
He remembered it was the cold that got him in the end, that snow had started falling on the second night and covered his body- his mouth and nose.
In a way, he’d gotten his wish to be buried in Laz Cemetery. But-…why.
What did he do that was so bad?
Why was his existence so wrong?
He only wanted to live.
He wanted to have friends, to have a single friend who understood him.
He wanted-…
Death was empty. Blackness until suddenly he was opening his eyes again in a room he’d never seen before. There had been a letter in the room, the only other object besides the table he had been laid upon. The letter said four words.
Come to Oletus Manor.
-
Andrew laid in the bed given to him at Oletus Manor. He’d been in the manor for a month but had not been called into the ‘games’ yet. He didn’t care. He would prefer to never be called. This was enough, he was…alive? He was alive again, had a comfortable bed, a clean room, and food he could eat.
He was always so hungry…
Maybe it was how he died. How he was already so hungry when those people came and then starved for two days before the snow came and buried him. He couldn’t stop remembering but he was used to the hollowness the memories brought. Sometimes he would cry again but that was becoming less and less.
There was a sound coming from the door that made Andrew flinch. He slowly blinked and got up, his robes shifting as he made his way to the letter that had been slipped under his door. He picked it up, looking over its contents.
Hello Grave Digger. You are the Hunter for Noon’s trial. Please come to the dining room before the start of the matches.
Andrew slowly blinked and let the letter fall from his purple tinted fingers. He went to his dresser and pulled on his gloves then grabbed the black veil that had been given to him. He sighed in relief at the sight of it.
Better that no one could see his face or eyes.
He carefully pinned it in place then made his way to the dining room. He heard the sounds of other people but avoided every area that would let him meet anyone. He slid into the dining room and saw a singular chair and a shovel that was leaning against it. Slowly, he sat down, taking the shovel into his hands.
He closed his eyes, breathing slowly as he waited. He could hear the other door opening and closing four times. Voices trickled from the other side of the room, one male voice and two females. The fourth didn’t speak. The three talking seemed to be good friends, chatting merrily.
If he had the ability, he’d be jealous. But his chest- his heart only felt hollow. He kept slowly breathing, luxuring in the way he could breathe so easily.
Then there was the sound of glass breaking and Andrew’s eyes fluttered open.
He shuddered as he saw a church, a graveyard. It wasn’t his- it wasn’t Laz but…
He blinked and a tear slid down his pale cheeks.
…He started walking.
-
Naib flinched as he fucked up on a ‘skill check’. His hands trembled for a moment, the sound a little too close to the sound of gun fire or a bomb going off. He took a breath, unwilling to let himself be so weak as to fall into his PTSD again. He kept working on the cipher even as he figured that the Hunter was already on their way to him.
Yet, there was no pulsing in his chest, no ‘heartbeat’ even after a few minutes.
Naib frowned then noticed movement in the corner of his eye and quickly whipped around. His lips pulled back to snarl at whatever survivor was trying to sneak up on him but froze.
He didn’t recognize the man.
Thin, tall- though not tall enough to be a Hunter. They were dressed in robes that reminded him of a church and cinched tightly enough around the waist that Naib could probably touch his fingers around. Their features were covered by a black veil, only allowing him to see the tip of his nose down. Full but pale lips and a thin jaw. A willow or bamboo, that’s what the guy reminded him of, tall but slight and looking like a stray wind could shake him. The ‘survivor’ carried a shovel but it didn’t look like he was strong enough to even use it.
“Are you new?” Naib asked in his usual deep, rough tone and felt a tiny bit guilty when the man flinch.
Guy really didn’t look like he could fight a mouse let alone a Hunter. All he had on his side was height. Even then, Naib thought that it would just make it harder for the guy to hide.
The man nodded and Naib sighed hard.
“Figures, look-.” Naib stopped then sighed again, something about the guy making his long forgotten protective instincts rise up. He thought he got rid of that shit in the war. “Just, stick near me. The second you hear a ‘heartbeat’- a pulse running through your body, run.”
The man stood there and Naib had the faint feeling like the guy was confused. Then the slight man stepped closer and crouched by the Cipher, hugging himself. Naib almost wanted to tell the guy to work on the cipher as well but there was something so- lonely and small about the guy that even he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Naib shook his head and went back to work. He pinged his progress, hating that he had to work with others to figure out what the hell was happening. The other survivors weren’t his comrades, the soldiers he fought beside. It grated on him that he was even in this position.
The cipher ‘popped’ and the light stayed on.
“Cipher’s done, come on.” Naib said and looked back as the other ‘survivor’ stood up.
He could have sworn there was only one other guy beside him but he could only assume he heard wrong. Maybe the guy’s voice was just that high but the guy wasn’t talking so he didn’t know.
“Who are you anyway?” Naib asked, tired of referring to the guy as ‘other survivor’ in his head.
“………” The other survivor stayed quiet and Naib was quickly giving up on getting the guy to talk at all when the lightest British voice graced his ears.
“Andrew…” Andrew said, his voice whispery and soft, like a small animal uncertain of its safety.
Fuck, it was kind of cute.
“Andrew. Name’s Naib.” Naib said with a sharp nod, glancing at Andrew again before stopping before another cipher. Four ciphers were already done including the one he’d just finished.
Where was the Hunter? Were they in the basement? He knew some did that when they didn’t want to fight. Others were just friendly but too many Cipher’s were done for that to be the situation.
He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He wanted to finish this game as fast as possible.
“Next time, you’ll want to work on these Ciphers.” He told Andrew, “It’s the only way to get out. Run from the Hunter and finish the Ciphers. You don’t look like a kiter so try to avoid the Hunter the best you can. Do you know what you are?”
Andrew gave off a subtle air of confusion and Naib shook his head, “Don’t worry about it then. Just…Stick to someone. You can stick to me if I’m in a match with you. Be careful though, some of the other survivors are real pieces of work.”
“…Who?” Andrew spoke again and part of Naib wanted Andrew to keep talking. His voice was so soft… He quickly pushed that thought away.
“Campbell. Kreiburg.” Naib immediately said, “Both are selfish pricks.”
Then he chuckled a little because it wasn’t like he was the most giving either. He was a rescuer but it wasn’t because he cared for most of these people. Everything else was just boring.
“Riley is a real piece of work too. Annoying shit. There are others but those three immediately come to mind.”
Andrew nodded as if committing the names to memory and Naib huffed a little, a slight smirk on his lips.
Obedient boy, wasn’t he. That was cute too.
There was a loud sound of the siren blaring, telling everyone that the ciphers were done. Naib frowned, still confused as to where the Hunter was. He shook his head then jerked his head to the outdoor pews.
“Come on, one of the gates is over there.” He said, offering his hand after a second.
Andrew stared at his hand, those pale lips slightly parted. Gut instinct told him not to stop offering his hand so he didn’t. His gut never failed him before. After a solid minute of staring, Andrew slowly took his hand. It was…small- no, not small, slender. Andrew had slender hands and long fingers.
He wanted to see if his hands were just as pale as his face.
He pushed that thought away too.
Naib held Andrew’s hand firmly and pulled the boy up. He blinked in momentary surprise as Andrew was even lighter than he thought. He pulled too hard and Andrew fell against him with a gasp. Naib put a hand on Andrew’s hip to steady the guy, not even stumbling. Andrew’s other hand pressed against his chest and- Naib looked up and froze.
He could see under the veil for a moment and his heart stuttered- but not from fear.
Pale hair and white eyelashes surrounding pinkish red eyes. It was- stunning. Angelic and Demonic at the same time but how could something so pretty be demonic? Or maybe it was demonic because it was so beautiful. It wasn’t even his religion but Naib couldn’t help but to think of the Christian Angel’s he’d seen in paintings.
But he also saw an old looking scar on that pretty face, an ‘x’ on Andrew’s cheek and a slash over the bridge of his nose.
Naib’s trigger finger twitched.
Just as quickly, Andrew flinched away, his hand going to his veil and pressing it against his face. He tried to pull his hand away too but Naib held tight. His gut said to pretend he didn’t see anything.
“What are you doing? Come on.” Naib said, tugging Andrew’s hand, “Let’s get out of this place. I’m starving.”
Andrew stumbled a little and Naib could feel the hesitation as the ‘survivor’ followed him. It took until they were halfway to the gate for Andrew to calm down and follow him closer. Naib held back a relieved breath and tugged Andrew a little faster.
“That’s the gate, remember it-.” Naib stopped talking quickly as he saw the two women he’d thought he’d heard before. He knew the other guy on the team was William, that football guy. So if there really had been two women on the team- who was Andrew?
Naib looked at Andrew and his heart stuttered at the tiny, cute smile on Andrew’s lips. The guy- the Hunter was staring at their locked hands. He couldn’t help but to squeeze Andrew’s hand and Andrew twitched like a startled rabbit. Naib swallowed hard.
“…You really are new, huh?” He said and Andrew looked at his face again. He saw Andrew bite his lip as he nodded.
“You were supposed to attack me.” Naib found himself saying and Andrew jerked again, the hand still holding the shovel pressing against his chest. Then Andrew shook his head quickly, so quickly.
“You don’t want to attack me?”
Andrew shook his head again, biting his lip even harder, to the point that Naib thought Andrew would bite right through it. He reached out, shoving his thumb against Andrew’s lips then between Andrew’s teeth. It made the Hunter make the cutest squeaking sound.
“Stop that.” Naib said, “You’re gonna bite through your lip.”
“S-…Sowwy…” Andrew tried to apologize, slurring slightly thanks to Naib’s thumb. Naib shivered as he felt Andrew’s tongue press against his thumb, wet and warm. He made himself pull his hand away, his own mouth watering a little as his thumb felt like it was burning. He didn’t wipe the saliva off.
“Why didn’t you attack me?” Naib asked, trying to distract himself from the urge to lick his own thumb. Andrew looked down like he was shy.
“…Nice…” Andrew murmured and Naib stepped closer.
“What was that?” He said though he heard Andrew. He could hear Andrew’s breath catch and something about this made his blood feel hot.
He knew exactly why.
“N-Nice…” Andrew stuttered, “You-…You w-were nice…to me…”
Andrew was trembling and Naib really wanted to see under the veil again. Was Andrew…blushing? It burned Naib that he couldn’t see.
“Oooi! Naib! Come on!” Tracy’s voice came, shouting over the distance. She couldn’t see Andrew as Andrew was being covered by a tree. Naib tsked, frowning. Then gentle hands pressed against his chest.
“G-go…” Andrew whispered, looking away, “You-…you said you were…hungry…”
“Food can wait-”
Andrew quickly shook his head then- fog. A message in their heads that the Hunter had surrendered. Naib’s eyes snapped back open in the dining room and he shot up from his seat. His gaze locked on the wall divider hiding who the Hunter was from them and jumped over the table to run over.
The chair was empty.