Chapter Text
F/N felt pretty cold. Well, normal, right? He likes to blast the A/C to it's full capacity at night. What can he say? He likes to sleep cold. His blankets were fluff and thick enough to keep him nice and cozy despite his pajamas consisting of a random T-shirt and some shorts.
But the cold was..strange. it wasnt the aggressive chill from the A/C, it wasnt freezing. Or not the typical freezing, anyway. It was just weirdly chilly. Like being in a forest at night. And suddenly his bed felt a lot less comfortable. F/N groaned and he sat up, noting he actually wasn't in his bed at all. He blinked and looked at his own arms and then legs. He was glowing slightly, everything in the weird clearing of a forest was…where is he? He felt weird.
‘…am I dreaming? Obviously, I am..that's strange that I can tell though..when was even the last time I've had a lucid dream before anyway..?’ F/N thought before noticing that rock, that spiky rock. It was in front of him maybe only 2 feet away.
F/N sat up more and he reached out to grab it but the sound of something pistoning forward rung his ears, he blinked as a black tendril grabbed his wrist like a vice. F/N didn’t even feel himself gasp, immediately retracting his wrist. The tendril let him go before making its way to the rock instead.
A rushing spike of anxiety and fear hit F/N. “No—!” He launched forward and snatched the rock from the tendril. The tendril snapped around his wrist again and began dragging him forward.
F/N grunted loudly, for a dream it sure as hell felt real. He just clutched the rock as hard as he could into his hand as he kicked against the tendril. His vision was blurried, not exactly being able to figure out the tall frame whom the tendril belonged to.
F/N yelped when he felt himself being lifted off the ground, being face to face with..a..creature..he couldnt exactly call it ugly considering it didn't even have a face, but yes, F/N would still call it horribly ugly.
F/N thinks the creature was staring at him, again, it had no face he couldn't tell but the front of its head was pointing at him. F/N wiggled in its grip, legs kicking uselessly. He was only being held up by the arm that had the rock meaning at least his other one was free.
“Wh-what the fuck..” F/N heaved and winced as the grip on his wrist tightened even more. His dreams aren't usually this livid. F/N felt the tendril try to pry the rock out of his hand.
‘Over his dead body….’ A voice that wasn’t his own rung in F/N’s head.
With a sudden burst of strength F/N grabbed the tendril with his free arm and clawed at it as hard as he could, the tendril disintegrated like old paper and dropped F/N.
F/N's pretty sure he dropped at least 10 feet down, immediately wincing once his body hit the floor. He let out a shaky breath from the pain but scrambled to his feet as he stared at the creature. Now close up it looked like a lanky man..a lanky man who was 10 or more feet tall..with a suit…?
F/N shook his head and turned around, running away as fast as he could into the forest, away from the clearing. He felt the weird static poking the back of his head grow stronger but he tried to push through it. Times like this he was thankful he took track, and now without any extra weight (ehem..his backpack) he could really got at full speed even if his hip was sore from the fall.
What the hell. F/N thought you had control over your own lucid dreams. He sure as hell wasnt ordering his mind to cook up whatever scenario this was. And the forest seemed endless.. every corner took another one appeared, he thought he saw the same trees he did from seconds ago only to see different ones next to them. Almost tripping more than 6 times on random roots of trees or random stones lying about. Not to mention the forest was full of fog….
F/N barely dodged a massive black tentacle that snapped right past his head missing only by an inch. He yelped and stumbled backwards against a tree. This one was less like those thin tendrils from before, he was pretty sure this thing was as thick as his waist.. well, not that F/N was anything big either but the tentacle was still imposing.
He took a few steps backwards before turning around to continue running, clutching the rock hard against his chest. After what felt like a straight hour of running F/N thought he saw a glowing white tunnel at the border of the forest. Panting, F/N slumped in on himself for a second or two before barely dodging another tentacle again. The static in his head bordering a full on migraine.
He pushed himself off his feet and started running towards it. Maybe he would wake up once he went through that.. well, if only he had watched his footing more carefully.
F/N felt his foot get caught up on another root this time not being able to catch himself. The air was knocked straight out of him and he whined, curling into himself for a second before scrambling back up. He was close, so, so close to the exit just a few more steps away and honestly combining the blinding light from it and the head splitting static in his head he felt like he was dying. But before he could take a step he remembered the rock. He wasnt holding it anymore.
F/N stared at his empty hands then back to where he fell. It wasn't in sight…
“..no..no no..” F/N shook his head and scrambled to look for it. Why? It would just be in his drawer when he woke up anyway. He just had to get it. He saw it scattered on the ground, reaching out to grab it F/N snatched it from the ground and started to stand right back up but heard the familiar sound of something shooting through the air. F/N snapped his head up seeing a tentacle come this way, this time not so lucky as to dodge it. Not fully anyway.
F/N rolled to his side and the tentacle only managed to graze his side. Even though it just barely touched him he still felt it slice through his side. F/N screamed, though less like a scream and more like a loud raspy sigh from all that sprinting, and clutched at the wound, quickly feeling liquid pool.
“Wh-why..what the-..hah..fuck wh-why is it hu-hurting so much..?!?” He mumbled and closed his eyes shut, feeling dizzy apart from the static. F/N looked down at his side and saw a big gash at his side. Easily 8 inches long. At least it wasnt too thick..but..it wasnt blood pooling out of it. Not exactly. Sure there were was some blood here and there but..
A weird black liquid was oozing out rapidly from the wound. It didnt fall down like the blood was, it floated upwards almost like a sentient being. F/N tilted his head upwards, the liquid seemed to form into some form of humanoid figure.. the tentacles were retracting at the sight and he felt the static throbbing his mind slowly wash away by a piercing silence. F/N groaned and still clutching the rock to his chest he turned over and began dragging himself to the exit before feeling something pick him up and throw him right to it… what help.
….
F/N woke up with a gasp, sitting up immediately before letting himself fall back into the bed with a groan, bringing the palms of his hands to his eyes. “What the fuck… what the fuuuuck was that dream…” he whimpered, his heart beating fast. F/N shifted before wincing, feeling a sharp sting on his side. He blinked and pulled the blanket down, his eyes widened at seeing red liquid pooling beneath him on the covers and already having stained his shirt.
“Wh-what the—“ he shut his mouth and scrambled off the bed, fuck it hurt. It hurt a lot. He shook his hand and held the wound with the other before making his way to his parents’ room. Obviously they weren’t there but he wasn’t there for them, they had some first aid kit in their bathroom F/N was pretty sure.
As he walked there he couldn’t help but think what the hell caused that wound. And how he would have to wash his sheets… whatever. He… had a weird dream, didn’t he? He was in this.. foggy forest with some.. thing. F/N ruffled his own hair, he was already starting to forget. But he felt like he got hurt in the dream, maybe.
Rummaging through the bathroom he eventually found the first aid kit and pulled it up on the counter… shouldn’t he call an ambulance instead? It was bleeding, it was kinda long too… F/N shrugged. He was fine. He knew how to treat these things.. sorta, he dipped his toes in nursing in his sophomore year. The thing was if he remembered it…
It’s fine, he just had to stop the bleeding first, right? He grabbed one of the gauze pad packets from the kit and tore it open with his teeth. He pressed it tight against the gash for around 10 seconds maybe, pulled it back and winced at how bloody it was. He wondered how he wasn’t getting dizzy from the loss of blood. He pulled it aside.. it was still bleeding a little but whatever.
Next, disinfect… he looked over the kit and rummaged until he found antiseptic wipes. He was about to apply it before pausing. Wasn’t he supposed to start on the edges first? Oh it’s fine it probably didn’t matter anyway. F/N stuck his tongue out but immediately bit down on it with a hiss when he pressed the wipe against the wound.
“Ow, ow, ow.. ooow..” he leaned against the counter, opening his mouth only to let out a choked breath. He did this maybe 2 or 3 times and it hurt a little less by the last time. He discarded the wipes right next to the gauze pad. F/N wiped his forehead with a huff. How did he get this anyway..? Was this yesterday? Had to be, he definitely did not have this when he fell asleep yesterday.
‘Did I sleep with a damn knife or something? Wouldn’t be the first time, probably.’ He thought bitterly.
Tearing open another gauze packet he put it down on the counter, looking over the kit again he fished out some ointment tube and squirted a generous amount on the gauze pad. Maybe too much but hey there’s never enough protection. F/N snorted at his own joke.
“Dork..” he mumbled.
F/N applied it gently to the wound. It was still stinging from the wipes but the ointment soothed it slightly, leaving behind just a dull throbbing… F/N wondered if he would be a freak if he said he enjoyed that feeling, a little. Or maybe a lot. Rummaging through the kit for the last time he grabbed some bandages and haphazardly wrapped some around his waist to keep the gauze pad against the wound before throwing it into the kit. F/N sighed and took a small step back, staring at the wound, at himself in the mirror…
Eh, it’s a job well done. It’ll do until he comes back home in the afternoon from school.
‘Talking about school…’ F/N walks out of the bathroom, not bothering to put tne aid kit back in its spot or even clean up the mess. He walked over to the nightstand next to the big bed in the middle of the room and kneeled down…
“7:47… eh.” He shrugged. That’s enough time to calm down for a little bit. Was he going to clean up the bloody gauze pad and wipes in the bathroom? No. Was he going to put the first aid kit back in its place? Also no. What was he going to do? Well he felt hungry, so. F/N tapped his stomach and turned around to make his way to the kitchen.
He would just make himself some toast, hopefully not burn it, and eat some dragon fruit. He was out on the yellow ones unfortunately but he still had some white ones and pink ones left. He would just buy some more over the weekend anyway..
F/N dropped some toasts in the toaster and pushed the lever down as he turned around to open the fridge. Looking over briefly before grabbing one of the small milk cartons.. strawberry flavor. He shook it and tossed it to the counter before reaching inside to grab one of the dragon fruits stored in it. They always tasted better when chilly. Ripe or unripe F/N generally kept them in the fridge anyway.. he closed the fridge and placed it gently next to the milk carton. Taking one of the clean plates, a spoon, and a knife from the dishwater he waited for the toasts to be done to put them there…
F/N hummed, staring at his breakfast… pink dragon fruit, plain toasts with strawberry milk.. eh, good enough. Better than nothing, right? He didn’t feel like searching for the butter or the butter knife anyway. He moved the food to the dining table and plopped down. He probably should’ve went to his room to grab his earbuds and phone to have at least something to listen to while eating. For once the usual silence of his house was actually eating him alive. He tapped his forearm absently before grabbing one of the toasts and taking a bite out of it… eating plain toast? Looking back on it he’s definitely a freak.
Finishing that quickly he opened the milk carton and drank it all down in one gulp. Placing it down F/N licked the small residue from the corners of his mouth before picking up the knife and carefully grabbing the dragonfruit. He had to careful— this was pink dragon fruit. A singular stain would leave his clothes looking like a bloodbath for weeks. Both because it was stubborn to get out and F/N just didn’t wash his clothes throughout enough— he wasn’t dirty or anything! He was sure he smelled good he actually takes care of his hygiene.. he just didn’t care enough to remove every singular stain on his clothes. Feeling his thoughts haze away again F/N snapped his focus back to the fruit.
Placing the blade of the knife at the top he began cutting down, splitting the dragon fruit down the middle. Watching redish pink juice pour from it immediately, again, F/N tried not to let it stain his skin or clothes as split the dragon fruit fully in half and rested the knife against the plate. Grabbing his spoon F/N chuckled to himself, yeah, this really was his breakfast.
…..
Morning was relatively calm despite the rough waking up. F/N forgot (he does that often, huh) about the wound on his side. It throbbed here and there but seems like his patching up skills were good. He dressed up as usual and grabbed his backpack to go to school, though before leaving he made sure to check up on that spiky rock..it was safe and good still in his nightstand drawer, and now he was at the bus stop. Listening absently to his friends arguing before he felt someone shake his shoulder. F/N looked up from his sketchbook and took out one of his earbuds.
Maya talked to him briefly and..something something about a vacation trip. He wasnt listening, as the wound on his side had suddenly turned up to a 8 on the pain meter. He winced and slumped a little bit more on the pole he was already leaning on.
“Hm? You good, F/N?” Maya's eyebrows furrowed, showing slight concern as she inched closer. F/N nodded.
“Ye-yeah..just bruised myself walking into the stairs this morning. No biggie.”
“Again?”
“…err, yeah?”
Maya just sighs and shakes her head, looking a bit serious for once which made F/N's sheepish smile drop to a frown.
“You have to take care of yourself more, F/N..”
“I am, im just a bit of a klutz here and there.” He waves his hand dismissively. “So uh, what were you saying again? I didnt catch.”
Maya's face crumpled slightly into a grin before laughing.
“Sure.”
The two talked until the bus arrived and everyone at the stop got in though rather than his usual spot F/N scanned the bus until he spotted that familiar boy..alfonso, F/N smiled and made his way over to the seat sitting down next to him comfortably. Alfonso tensed up before noticing who it was.
“O-oh, hi, F/N!”
“Heya.” F/N waves. “Tough morning today, you?”
“Well I almost got lost on the way here so..”
F/N snorted before seeing alfonso shrink slightly. He cleared his throat and shook his head with a reasurring smile. “Happens to the best of us, I got lost finding my way here on my freshman year too, ya know. Totally normal!” And lost F/N was, probably around 8 to 7 times in a single month during his freshman year..hm.
“yeah it's just.. neighborhoods are quite big nowadays..and complicated..”
“Honestly..hmm..oh, hey, alfonso?”
“Yeah?”
“Want something? I have a lollipop.” F/N grinned as he took out the cotton candy lollipop from his pocket. He had remembered it when he was maybe a good 3 minutes into his walk to the bus stop with maya and had to drop his backpack and sprint the way back to go get it but all good, he had it now for alfonso.
“O-oh, really? For me?”
“Yeah! I dont like it much, so.”
Alfonso nodded and took it before putting it in his backpack. F/N tilted his head at that.
“You not gonna eat it?”
“Oh well my mom doesnt like me eating candy so early in the day. Ill eat it during lunch as a dessert!”
“Huh.” F/N blinked and leaned back on the bus seat. He couldn't imagine a parent being that much in your life. Or being in your life at all… he chewed on his inner cheek for a bit before shrugging.
“Welp, good call. I guess it's not so healthy anyway. So what do you like to do in your free time, alfonso? Im sure we have something in common. You look like a cool guy who does sick stuff.” He nudges alfonso with his elbow lightly, a friendly toothy grin on his face. Alfonso blinked before chuckling shyly and nodding.
“We-well I guess i do have some hobbies..”
“Really? Tell me.”
…..
Alfonso does know sick stuff, huh? F/N wondered while leaning against some of the lunch tables. Lunch period. He wouldn't get to see alfonso though as freshmen and sophomore have a different lunch period than juniors and seniors but oh well. F/N waved absently at his friends who went to sit over at his table. Honestly F/N rotated tables often due to how many friends he had..was he even at the right one today? Oh whatever, yeah? Nobody there cared. He spent basically the entire morning guiding alfonso around the school and in their little tour guide he learned that alfonso actually liked to skateboard and do spray paint. Sick stuff, F/N might just need to see him do it sometime. Though what also happened throughout their little tour guide was the throbbing on F/N's side quickly turned into full on stinging and aching. It was quickly becoming unbearable.
“Hey, F/N. Want this?” One of his friends said, holding up some chocolate milk.
“Nah, im good.” He shrugged. “I gotta go real quick anyway.”
“Aweee, why?” Another one whined. “We're just about to start playing uno!”
F/N's eyebrows furrowed. “Uno? I thought they confiscated your cards?”
“Nah jackson help me get them back!!”
“oh uh, well nice going. Seriously gotta go. See ya.” he waved his goodbye and turned around to leave the cafeteria
F/N winced, picking up the pace to the bathroom in the front office. It was the closest to the infirmary so if the wound really was looking like shit he could be close to a place that could actually treat it..but F/N wasn't so eager to the potential questions on how he even got it because, he wasnt even sure himself. And the more he thought about the origins of the wound the more his head hurt..he tried to not linger too much on it.
F/N finally made it to the bathroom and slipped right past the campus officer ‘heh, sucker’ and snuck inside the bathroom. He closed the door quietly behind him. The bathroom was pretty big, probably incase anyone with mobility issues or aids needed it or something so F/N had space and a mirror to work with.
He took off his jacket and hesitated on putting it on any of the bathroom surfaces before noticing a hanger and..well hanging it there. He sighed and stepped closer to the mirror, grabbing the hem of his shirt to slowly lift it up over his head and putting it on top of his jacket. F/N did the same to other 2 shirts he was wearing underneath, because who was he if he wasn't wearing 3+ layering of clothing?
Now fully shirtless F/N turned slightly so his side would be facing the mirror. The bandages didnt look soaked with blood, that was good, right? F/N winced, fingers trembling at the edge of the bandages before unwrapping it carefully. The gauze pad undedneath it slipped almost immediately as the bandage was taken off. F/N watched it drop to the floor before looking up at the mirror and the wound.
…
Eh. well it didnt look bad. No reddening, no fever, nothing. Gross to look at? Sure, but it certainly wasnt nothing to write home about.
‘So..why..did it still hurt so..’
“Damn much...” F/N finished quietly but out loud.
It didnt look anything bad, he could just treat it at home and take some medicine. Yes, home. He needs to go home. Theres no way hes sitting through class the rest of the day with that ache in his side. He knows he likes the throbbing dull but this is just ridiculous.
He could just sign himself out early. As a senior you had certain privileges here and there..he's already 18 he can do whatever the hell he wants. F/N grumbled. The gauze pad had already hit the bathroom floor and too bloody anyway to reuse, he just picked it up with two fingers and dumped it in the trash can and just re-applied the bandages.
If only he knew how he got that damn wound..seriously? He can't remember how he got that gaping 8 inch something wound?! His memory issues are going to be the end of him someday..no, they ARE the end of him. He sighed shakily and just tugged on his hair before washing his hands. As if his life was scrambled enough. He cant be making a habit out of this he cant..
Putting his shirts back on and his jacket opened the door to the bathroom, he was already in the front office so there wasn't much walking to be done. F/N wandered inside and the lady there, Mr. Derrick perked up at him
“Oh, hello, F/N! Anything you need today?”
“Im signing out.” F/N said shortly. Just wanting to go home already.
“Huh? Did your parents call you in or—”
Anger flared in F/N's chest. His parents? Here? For him? Yeah right.
“No, myself. Just tell me what I need to fill.” his tone borderlined impatience now.
“You dont need to get that tone with me, young man.” Mr. Derrick sighed, but got the files ready.
F/N signed everything quickly and quickly went to look for his backpack, he just left it outside the office and made his way to leave the school.
The dreadful long walk back home did dread on him, though. F/N dragged a hand down his face, muttering a curse at perhaps himself or the gods above or the universe entirely. The stars aligned just perfectly for him to be here this day this place this moment in his life, yeah?
40 minutes of straight walking. How fun. Made even more miserable by the wound on his side but F/N felt it had soothed slightly.
The first 20 minutes were chill enough. He spent most of the walk scrolling through things on his post. He had texted maya he wouldn't be there in the afternoon, that he had signed out early before turning off his phone and slipping it to his back pocket with a sigh.
Maybe admiring the scenery would help him relax. He was in some regular neighborhood. Not his own, obviously he still had another 20 minutes to go. This one was peaceful and a bit isolated. He saw a few kids here and there playing or some random adults walking their dogs. Nothing usual, well except..
F/N paused as he turned a corner and saw a.. a grey truck? A pretty rusty one at that. It looked a bit out of place in that suburban neighborhood… had F/N seen this truck before? The windows were so dark he couldnt tell who was inside it or if there even was anyone there. His gaze lingered for a second and he thought he saw two figures before quickly snapping his gaze elsewhere and continuing to walk.
Just shy of 5 minutes later F/N saw the same truck again… he squinted his eyes at. Yeah fuck that, F/N spun right around and walked the other way, it was fine, he knew a shortcut. Well, it would cost him maybe like 10 more minutes to arrive home but no biggie.
20 minutes later he probably was 10 minutes away from his house..? He wasn't even sure anymore. F/N cut another corner and—oh! what was that? A…truck.
F/N stared at it. The same truck. He was definitely being followed for once he can agree on something 100% with himself. Not wanting to take more ‘shorcuts’ and also not knowing anymore F/N cursed under his breath and started running to his home. He just wanted to go home. Why did life treat him like this?
…a few minutes of straight running later F/N finally arrived..’home sweet home’. He kicked the rug with those stupid letters as he stepped in, slamming the door shut behind him. In his adrenaline he completely went numb to the gash on his side but it very quickly reminded him why someone shouldnt run with a fresh wound.
He hissed through his teeth and just dumped his backpack on the front of the door and made his way quickly to his bedroom. He might as well shower before applying new bandages and treating it..though ooooh how much F/N hates showering with any form of injury.
He stripped himself down and turned on the water, he usually likes scorching hot but common sense had it that his wound wouldnt take it so well so he settled on some lukewarm water. Leaning more towards the warm side. Okay..this was going to be quick. Real quick. He wasnt about to stay dirty though, quick enough to not have to linger with an open wound in the shower, but throughout enough where he would actually get clean.
….
One quickish shower and some bandaging up later F/N was laying in the comfort of his own bed. Of course, the blood stained sheets were quickly discarded on the floor waiting to be cleaned..someday, most (un)likely. F/N hummed absentmindedly as he flipped through channels on his TV. It was only 2pm, he still had the entire day ahead of him. What would he even do? Maybe sketch some more. He hasnt started anything new since the hatchets drawing. As he settled on a simple cartoon show F/N turned the volume up and sat up in his bed, puling his sketchbook into his lap. He reached out to grab some chips from his nightstand before grabbing his pencil.
This was kinda sweet, actually. An entire day full of nothing but mindless TV watching with drawing and eating junk food? Yeah, sweet. Maybe getting the injury wasnt so bad. Yeah. F/N felt his bitterness from earlier calm down. Maybe he should stop being so dramatic.
F/N felt his phone buzz next to him on the bed. He scarfed down another handful of chips before picking it up, just a text from his…mom. Hm.
“F/N? Honey? We got a text from the school. You signed out early today, everything's good?”
F/N stared at the message on his screen absently before swiping to the homescreen and clicking on it. He lingered slightly. Fingers freezing above the keyboard before he typed out a “Yeah. Im fine.” and sent it.
A minute passed before she answered.
“Everything's good? Good to hear! There's food in the fridge ready to be cooked. Call us if you need anything. Some food, some snacks.”
“K.”
F/N but his inner cheek before putting his phone down again next to him, leaning back on the bed and against the pillows.
….
Later that same day F/N was looking at his fridge. It was now 8pm meaning..dinner! Well dinner was usually at 6pm but F/N was playing some games then so.
He had..hm. chicken. Meat. Pork. Fries. Soup. Huh, a lot of stuff actually..why not.. F/N panned to some fried rice in the corner. Oh he's just going to reheat that then.
After popping it into the microwave, pouring himself a glass of soda, because who needs juice or water right?, and a plate he served himself his dinner. Some reheated fried rice with a glass of soda…most would expect a wealthy kid to have fancier dinners but F/N was a simple man.
This time he did have his phone so F/N could watch some youtube videos while eating his food, much more enjoyable. He wasnt sure how long the fried rice had even been in the fridge for but it tasted good as new. And in just 10 minutes he was done with his meal. He licked his lips and patted his belly before pausing and letting his hand trail more towards his side, where the wound was.
It had calmed down over the course of the evening and just occasionally ached here and there but nothing bad. For some reason he felt the impulse to press down on it before waving his hand and standing up, taking his phone with him upstairs to his room.
It was still relatively early but F/N felt sleepy regardless. Tired and sleepy. He didnt do much for the day but for some reason felt exhausted. He entered his room and turned off the lights. The TV which he did leave on being the only light source on his roo. F/N hummed and sat down on his bed. He didnt feel like changing into his pajamas so he just went to sleep with his regular clothing. Putting his phone on the nightstand table F/N took sight of the drawer again. The rock.
He blinked and reached down to open. Yup. Still there. Things were slower now, F/N felt like he could really maybe just pause and think what was so hypnotizing about that rock..
He grabbed the remote and turned the remote off. Leaving the room in darkness save for the moonlight peeking in through his half open curtains. F/N grabbed the spiky rock carefully and closed the drawer. He rolled over to his back, one arm behind his head while the other held the rock to his face.
The rock didn’t feel synthetic, he already agreed on that. It was perfectly spherical in a way, aside from the spikes which also seemed to be symmetrical on both sides. F/N drew on imaginary line down the middle to count each spike on both sides… 6 spikes on the left side, 7 on the right. Interesting. It seemed like the spikes exploded from the core of the rock, like if something inside it was too strong to contain. Could that even happen? He knew metamorphic rocks, igneous rocks, and.. Sedimentary rocks. Though none of them really described this rock here.
Maybe he shouldn’t have slacked off in 6th grade science. Or 7th grade science. Or 8th grade science. Maybe he shouldn’t have slacked through the entirety of middle school, honestly, but oh well. He did good on tests so it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, it’s night, right?
He could just search it up. For he felt too cozy in the bed to get up, plus, Google searches are deceivingly simple. Last time he just searched “George Washington’s farewell letter address” and somehow ended up in a kink website. Funny how that works.
Touching the ends of the spikes lightly with his thumb F/N felt they weren’t actually sharp at all, again, he already thought that but looking fully on it now they were completely dull.
So, this mundane rock that was just slightly weird has been infesting his mind for maybe around 2 days now. Strange, right? He just feels a weird tethering to it. F/N sighed, letting his hand with the rock drop to his chest as he relaxed fully into the bed. His eyes felt heavy. Really heavy. Maybe he should just stop thinking about the rock. About the rock. About the wound. About his parents. About his friends. About his memory. Yeah, he should really stop thinking about all of it and go to sleep. He can just think about it tomorrow. Probably.
F/N closed his droopy eyelids and fell right deep into sleep.
….
F/N hummed softly, staying stiffly still aside from his legs swinging slightly. This was pretty comfortable, yeah. He wasn’t sure where he was but it didn’t quite matter.
He thought he smelled burning or maybe cat urine. Meth, how nice. Though he doesn’t think he’s had it.. had it.. what has he had before? F/N tried to think back but his thoughts only went forward. He hummed again and watched a pink cat with green ears float past him.
“Kitty.. sweet.” He reached out to touch it but the cat disintegrated into ash. “Awe.” He waved the ash away. Aside from the cat many things were also floating in place. He was looking down at a horizon, maybe. The ends were a red while the top was a blue… or something. F/N outstretched his hand. Looking down below the horizon was a city. And a forest. And a few mountains. Oh, was that a waterfall? F/N opened and closed his hand a few times. His head felt a little light. While his mouth felt dry. Maybe he should get water.
“Having fun?” F/N blinked at an unfamiliar voice. But he thinks he’s heard it before. F/N turned to see a humanoid figure sitting next to him. A handsome man, he thinks. It had long red hair that faded into green. It had big fangs and paper white skin. Geez, he should really get some sun or a tan or something.
“Not really. I mean, I’m fine.” F/N shrugged at the man.
“Hm.. fine, would you say you like feeling ‘fine’? How would you like to feel?” The man probed more. F/N pouted a little, watching a star fall down from the sky.
“…I mean I just feel fine.. but.. I would like to continue feeling this way. Calm.” F/N mumbles, barely feeling his lips move. Numb. He was feeling numb.
“Havent you stopped to think what could make you..feel this way more?”
“..no I guess not.” F/N scratched his cheek, feeling like he's using all his energy just to lift up his arm.
“I think I know how. Want to hear?” The man spoke again, letting silence fall for a few seconds. But he carried on without having F/N respond.
“Maybe you should live life more carelessly. Enjoy the moment more.” The man said slowly, F/N felt the words echoe in his skull. Ouch.
“Enjoy the moment..” F/N mumbled. “To stop living in the past..I can't exactly do that if I can't remember it anyway.”
“then forget about that too. Forget about forgetting the pasts. Forget about forgetting.” The man giggled.
F/N furrowed his eyebrows. That's what you want me to do? To feel better?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“..I dont want to. I don't want to keep forgetting it's..each piece I forget it's like losing another part of me..when I already have scarce parts. What do you want me to do?? Lose all of myself??” F/N groaned, shrinking in his shoulders.
The man stared at him, lips in a thin line. “Would that be so bad?”
“What?”
The man stood up and stood in front of F/N, bending down to his sitting eye level. “I said.” He paused for a second. “Would, that be so bad?” His hands went to cup each side of F/N's face.
“..why..hah..” F/N smiled a little, feeling… “why wouldn't it be?”
“why it wouldn't be good or bad?”
“…”
Before F/N mustered up another response one of the man's hands went up to his forehead and pressed his thumb to the center of it. “Unfortunately, you have to wake up soon.”
“u-uh? Wake up? Im already up.”
“Now.” The man pressed his thumb harder into F/N's forehead and as if his skin and skull were just dense water it started to push through. F/N groaned even though it wasn't too painful just deeply uncomfortable. His felt his vision blur before whiting. Losing feeling in all his limbs until he couldnt even taste, smell, couldnt use his vision, couldnt feel, and then he couldn't feel at all.
….
F/N grunted groggily as he woke up slowly. Still in the same position that he was in when he fell asleep. The rock still close to his chest.
F/N's first thought when he woke up was, ‘what a weird dream.’
F/N's second thought when he woke up was, ‘it's strange that I remembered it.’
F/N's third thought when he woke up was, “the room is weirdly chilly..is my window open?”
F/N's fourth thought when he woke up was, “is..that the figure of a man?”
And F/N's final, fifth thought when he woke up was, ‘..I..feel someone behind me..’
Despite the shadow peeking through his window F/N couldn't help it but turn around anyway, the looming presence behind him felt much more urgent. Certainly urgent it was, as as soon as he turned around he was met with the big figure of a man he certainly did not fucking know at the side of his bed. The man was tall, maybe. Probably bordering 6 feet. Wearing a weird porcelain mask with black lips and F/N couldn't even see the guy's eyes behind those black holes of the mask. He had a yellowish..orange-ish.. tan jacket…
F/N was frozen for a second before letting out a yell and scrambling off the bed, falling hard on his ass. What the fuck??! Who was this? Why was he in his house?? Did he leave the door open? What the actual—
F/N hissed through his teeth was the wound on his side brushed against his nightstand. It hurt like hell. He had already forgotten about the shadow in his window until he felt footsteps behind him and someone hoisting him up by the back of his shirt. F/N yelped and turned to look behind him.
He only caught the brief sight of a black mask with a frowny face stitched on it, how edgy. And an annoyingly squeaky yellow raincoat. Or jacket. Whatever it was, F/N struggled against the man's grip before remembering the other one right in front of him.
The man had moved, now barely 6 feet away from him and holding a—
A crowbar.
‘A fucking crowbar. Are you kidding me??!!” F/N thought panicedly before hearing a strange voice inside his head, one that felt a little familiar telling him—
‘Dodge. Dodge now.’
Listening blindly to it F/N snapped his head sideways, avoiding the swing of the masked man's crowbar.
Before the masked man could pull back his hand F/N snatched one end of the crowbar and tried to pull it back. The masked man let out a grunt and tugged backwards but F/N wouldn't let go.
“stop—ah you piece of shit—” F/N growled and with an unprecedented force of strength he somehow yanked the weapon from the man's head and pulled it backwards. Maybe a little too hard as he heard the end of the crowbar he wasn't holding hit the hooded man currently restraining him squarely in the head. F/N was immediately dropped and he scrambled back up and slipped right past the masked man and out of his room.
Where was he going? He wasnt sure but he was definitely out of there. He heard footsteps not too far behind almost immediately and when F/N felt a hand on his shoulder he whipped around and hit whoever was behind him with the crowbar, which happened to be the hooded man..again. the hooded man stumbled sideways and F/N could see the masked man.
His brain almost didnt process that the masked man was holding a lamp that was now being launched at him. He squeaked and sidestepped sharply and ended up throwing his side against the railings of the second floor, fortunately it wasn't his injured side, doesn't mean it didn't hurt like hell though.
F/N groaned but immediately pushed himself off and kept running. Damn the house for being so big. He dodged another flying object, really hoping they didnt find any glass or vases to throw at him. Dodging was one thing but avoiding broken glass and porcelain on the floor was another.
The staircase was in sight now. Close..it was close.. wow. Being chased with his life in danger, this felt..awfully familiar. He couldn't pinpoint why exactly.
F/N paused slightly, leaning against the wall as he stared down at the stairs, panting heavilg. Sure, his stamina shouldnt be that bad but to fair he just woke up..
F/N tensed up as he heard heavy footsteps behind him, he turned around to see the masked man again. Right. Behind. Him.
F/N squeaked and stumbled backwards, one of his feet slipping from the first step of the stairs and—
He didnt fall. The masked man's hand had shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt, catching him in time. F/N panted heavily. He felt like his heart was about to burst through his chest. Before he could fully process that he had almost fallen down the long slight of stairs, probably had cracked his skull open and probably end up dead or with even worse memory issues or that this horrifying intruder had just saved him the masked man's free hand raised into a balled up fist and it connected straight to F/N's jaw. Knocking him unconscious.
“arghh…aaah..oh my God..” F/N groaned loudly, his head hurt like hell. His jaw hurt like hell. His side hurt like hell. Where the hell was he? Whatever he was lying on kept bouncing and swaying, was he in a vehicle or something..? He sat up and winced. The ringing in his ears intensifying before calming down.
He was..in the back of a car..or a truck. It looked weird. How did he get there…? He blinked and rubbed his eyes, looking down at his lap. The..that rock was there.. F/N reached out to grab it carefully. Once it was in his hand he felt the ringing ease away completely and the soreness in his jaw sooth up too.
Feeling somewhat better, that begs the question. Where is he? What happened? Wasnt he just.. F/N looked around, noting he was in the backseat of a car or a truck or whatever and in the front seat he saw…
A masked man. Driving.
And a hooded man in the passenger seat, leaning against the window.
…oh no.
It seemed like they were talking but once they noticed F/N was awake their voices rendered silence. F/N blinked. He slowly, quietly, scooted to the very edge of the back seat. Leaning heavily against one of the doors. He looked out the window..roads. Oh they were certainly nowhere even near F/N's neighborhood now. Though it was hard to say F/N thought he could see the exterior of the car. Truck. Whatever.
Grey. And rusty.
Grey.
And rusty.
“Are you kidding me—MOTHERFUCKER.” F/N rasped, yelling exasperatedly. “You— you were the ones following me??? You— oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” F/N crumpled into himself, almost feeling like he was about to hyperventilate before noticing the hooded man looking at him from the rearview mirror. Or at least it looked like it. Hard to say with that black skii mask.
F/N placed a hand to his chest, feeling it rise and drop rapidly. He tried to slow it down until he felt as if he was calm before gulping heavily. He looked at his other hand, still holding the rock. He slipped it into one of his sweatpants’ pockets before sitting up and scooting to the middle of the back seat.
F/N stared right back at the rearview mirror. The hooded man's head tilted almost imperceptibly. The masked man hasnt even bothered to look though. Well, obviously he was driving…
F/N gulped again. Scratching his neck…
“Uh.” He spoke up before even thinking of what he would say. He definitely knew what he wanted to say, curse these guys and their entire bloodlines out. But it probably wasnt the best.
“…err. So. Mind..telling me what this is all about?” F/N coughed. Neither responded. The hooded man was rubbing his left cheek slightly. Like it hurt. ‘Oh yeah. Guess I did deck him pretty hard earlier. Serves him right though.’
F/N clicked his tongue. “Not much of talker, arent you..? Yo-you know if you just want money you could just call my parents!! I have their phone numbers right here-”
“We're not here for money.” The masked man said in a deep voice.
F/N blinked. They didn't want ransom? Weird. Though he did guess he was somewhat grateful. He knew damn well he did not have either of his parents’ phone numbers memorized.
“..oh. so whats this about?”
Radio silence again.
“…im..sorry for decking you?” F/N started hesitatingly, looking to the side before staring at the hooded man. The ‘apology’ sounded more like a question. F/N bit his inner cheek before turning to the masked man. “Im sorry for taking your crowbar too..err..you know it felt nice to hold..haha..might need to tell me where you got it from..!”
Being met with no reply again F/N sighed shakily and slumped against the backseat. Biting the fingernails of his left hand anxiously.
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK. What the fuck. What did I even get myself into now?? These are the same guys from this morning..! Were they following me? For how long? Ugh im such an idiot I practically led them to my house! Would've this happened had I not signed out early?? Maybe If I had reinforced my door better? No they came in through the window.. I think.. did I leave the window open??!’ F/N's thoughts raced.
He looked out one of the windows. The road was completely emtpy. Well, aside from the big ass forest right next to it. Seeing the pine trees made F/N's heart drop even further.
‘I shouldve done something..but how?? I mean was i supposed to know i was going to be kidnap in the dead of night?? The moon is still visible..it's still night.. nobody would notice i'm gone until the next damn day during school!!! If only my parents were home.. if only they didnt leave all the time. Geez, not even halfway done with my senior year and I already went and got myself killed. Yep, this is it. Im dying here. By two freaky weirdos with poor fashion sense.’ F/N dragged both of his sweaty palms down his face.
‘I..couldnt even experience adulthood..but for what anyway? I probably wouldnt have functuoned anyway. With my stupid memory issues and gaps oh to hell he was going to die anyway what's it to him if it was earlier than expected? He should've..he should've just..if only-’
“If only. If only, if only, if only. Should've this, should've that. Snap out of it, F/N.”
F/N froze up, tensing more than he already was at a strange whisper in his ear..wha..where is coming from? It's..that voice again.. judging by the two men's upfront lack of reaction they couldn't hear it..
‘You have strengths. Youre social. Youre cunning. You can get out of this. Remember what you can do.”
F/N felt the whisper again. He blinked. Few seconds passed but he didnt hear it again…strange…he almost felt a little bit calmer after hearing that. Well, almost.
But…now with a clearer mind.. what could he do? He cant give up that easily..F/N looks around. Maybe..he could distract them so if he lunged himself up front and crashed the truck he could get out..
Eh, it was an ass plan. He was risking being killed by either totaling the truck or the rage of those guys for totaling their truck if he didnt escape. Where would he run to anyway after? He had no idea where the hell he even was.
But F/N didnt have time to think of anything better. He didnt have the clarity to think of anything better. F/N couldn't think of anything better.
His simple plan only had 2 steps. Distract the fools, and crash the truck. And step 3 could be hoping he wouldn't die or try to survive it if you counted that.
So, step one: distract the fools.
F/N cleared his throat, fidgeting with his fingers before speaking up again. “This is a pretty rusty car, huh? No offense. I don't know much about models but it seems pretty sick. I actually have a funny memory from back in my sophmore year. Back when kids were first getting their licenses and all that.” F/N waved his hand. “I still dont have mine, actually.” His eyes tracked the movement of the two men in front of him carefully. His hands were shaking so much..
Forcing himself to open his mouth again F/N continued. “My friend, alex. He had failed his driver's test 4 times. His parents were exasperated and tired of bringing him everyday to school, because they werent zoned for any buses to our highschool. They were incredibly desperate and rather than continuing to spend money on tests his father and older sister decided to just teach him themselves. ‘You cant learn any better than from family!’ Alex told me his dad said.” F/N felt his mind drift to that month.
It was one of the few things he didn't or at least never fully forgot. “they were using an old truck, sorta like this one. Alex's family wasnt poor or anything, I’d say theyre upper middle class. But if things came to worse at least the car being totaled wasnt going to be a new one.” F/N looked out the window. As they continued to go on the forest only seemed to grow thicker and taller. It made him feel anxious, for some reason. But at least there would be more trees for him to crash into at least.
F/N looked back down at his lap. “It went well. At first anyway. They just took some circles around in the neighborhood, alex told me the entire time his dad was yelling his head off while his sister was oggling any guy that walked by shirtless.” F/N snorted slightly. “After that they decided to step it up a day later. Trying it at a park. Risky, if any police officer had stopped them wouldve been fined for letting someone without a license drive but oh well. The drive around the park went relatively well too.” F/N left out the detail about alex running over a duck. Yeah, neither of those men needed to hear that. He himself didnt, honestly. Poor duck.
“the final step was riding into a real road. Honestly, driving isnt too bad. Or so I heard. The real issue is learning traffic signs and being attentive enough to them… that's honestly why I didnt bother to try and get a permit or license..” F/N mumbled that last part. “So, anyway. They started with a pretty solid road. Before moving onto more busy ones. Alex was doing good. But cockiness got to him.” F/N felt his lips twitch upwards a bit before they fell. Alex..was..was he ever going to even see alex again? Or any of his friends..? He pushed the feeling down, it was doing things to his stomach and he wasnt about to throw up.
“He felt he had perfected it. Growing too reckless he snuck out one night to just go try out driving into a busy highway by himself. No license, and i think not permit either even. Obviously, he crashed the damn thing. No one got hurt, he only cracked a few ribs but it was still catastrophic nonetheless. I didnt see him at school for a full month. Whether he was grounded or suspended or maybe recovering from whatever whooping his parents gave him he never told me.” F/N shrugged. “They had to pay a pretty big fine for property damages. But they just dumped the car. As I said, it was an old one they didnt use. And even if they used it, it was messed up pretty bad.. like, really bad.”
F/N looked up again, to the rearview mirror. This time both the masked man and the hooded man were staring at him almost intently.
“…you know..it would be pretty bad if this truck..it crashed like that one too.” 3…
He looked to the side, the hooded man followed his gaze while the masked man snapped his gaze back to the road…2..
He didnt have much time before the hooded man's gaze would eventually fall back on him…1.
‘Oh, fuck it.’
“GO!” the whisper from before sounded again and F/N closed his eyes shut before snapping them open and he jumped forward, catching both of the men off guard as he took hold of the steering wheel and it twisted sideways, sending the truck straight into a tree.
The impact was immediate and because F/N wasnt wearing any seat belts he was hurled forwards and his back hit the windshield before the windshield cracked open, sending tiny shards of glass everywhere. Whether F/N cut himself or not he didnt matter. He didnt feel a thing. Barely registering the spinning of his head, his brain is probably scrambled up from being battered against his skull.
‘Oh, who am I kidding? My brain is already scrambled up.’
He only groaned momentarily before getting up, seeing the two men still disoriented he got up and rolled down the hood of the car. Suddenly feeling soaring pain on his side.
“Fu-fucking..fucking wound I swear..” F/N heaved, stumbling forward before looking around. Hearing the sound of the truck's doors slamming open he took off aimlessly. He just needed to lose sight of him.
Typically, two grown men should be able to outrun an 18 year old. Welp, F/N sure was lucky for those track lessons. He feels like hes been thanking them a lot recently.
In less than 5 minutes he thinks hes lost sight of them but now he was lost in the forest. Stumbling about and almost smacking his face into low hanging branches a few times F/N whimpered, the adrenaline wad still strong numbing the pain that would usually come from a car crash but the wound on his side was worse of all. Somehow bypassing the anesthetic effects of adrenaline.
F/N pushed himself off of the tree he leaned onto for a few seconds when he heard the sounds of dry sticks being crushed under heavy weight beneath them. Damn it. Damn those guys. They're stubborn.
“But so are you.”
F/N heard that whisper again. He shook his head and went back to running but his pace was considerably slower now. He noticed a cabin from a distance and limped-jogged his way to it. Kicking the door open he stumbled in and closed it haphazardly. F/N turned around and took a few steps back, facing the front door as if fearing it would burst down at any moment now.
He looked around. For a weapon. For anything. Feeling cold tingle up his spine and to his head F/N fell back against the wall. Barely holding himself up by his own noodly legs.
“..damn..damn it all. What..am I going to do..? Now.. hah.. hah..” F/N panted. Pushing himself off the wall for the last time before feeling his own eyes roll to the back of his head as he dropped forward, hitting the ground with a loud ‘thud’ that caused him to hiss slightly.
His vision blurred and the only thing he could see clearly was the door. The door that opened to reveal boots. Pants. An annoyingly squeaky yellow raincoat..or jacket..a..frowny..stitched mask..
“Fuck.” was all F/N could muster up breathlessly as the man approached him, a noticable limp to his walk to. Had F/N any strength he wouldve smirked at seeing he did leave a mark to the damn freak.
But he could do nothing as his vision faded out, and for the second time that night F/N felt himself go unconscious once again.