Chapter Text
CHAPTER 1: FATEFUL ENCOUNTER
10:36 PM, 12/18/####.
Deep in the forest, there was nothing but trees surrounding the enclosed area. It was winter when around this time, everything was quiet. The moon shone brightly, letting out a mellow hue that somewhat brightened the forest through the open gaps between the leaves. The night was calm and the breeze was very light. It was snowing too, not harshly but in a soothing way. Big and small animals, pests, and other bugs were either silent or hibernating until the warmth returned. The silence was loud and comforting throughout the forest as there was nothing to disturb its peace. It was an ideal setting for someone seeking solace in the relaxation that nature offered. Until, a woman dressed up in what appeared to be a torn nurse's outfit with a pin attached that revealed their name: CARETAKER. She showed up out of the blue, appearing to be in distress. Inspecting her closely, she seemed to be caught in an incredibly unforgiving situation given how she looked. Her white shirt was cut out to partially expose her stomach, revealing a cut on her stomach from the assault, and the lower half of her body, the pants were entirely torn off from the thighs up. It seemed to be a miracle that she could even walk.. Her right leg was in extremely critical condition as it looked like it had been completely mangled, only being held up by some bandages that weren’t secure enough to stop all of the bleeding fully. Her posture and walk were practically limped over because of her leg, almost tripping over herself a few times. Her breath was very heavy and ragged as she dragged herself through the snow, which left a trail of a deep shade of crimson red that came from her poorly wrapped leg. Only adrenaline kept her up, her head was spinning as she was on the verge of passing out due to the chilling pain surging through her leg which sent painful stings throughout her entire body. Every time she lunged through the thick snow, she was reminded of how her friends would want her to keep going. She knew that if she did pass out then all of her efforts would mean nothing to her mates who sacrificed themselves to save a mere nurse.
8:18 PM, 12/18/####.
Before Caretaker ended up where she was, Caretaker and her group accidentally got caught up with PURSUER. A bloodthirsty killer with hollow green eyes that could only be described as an incredibly bony, tall entity that inflicted fear into all of its victims with just a howl. A terrifying creature that massacred many and made sure to leave no trace of them behind, which tends to eat ALL of its victims. Unfortunately, Caretaker went into Pursuer’s territory with Loveshot and Taunt in search of her medication after Taunt borrowed it on a hike and lost it. Caretaker needed the medication to help the others in case of an emergency so the group threw on their winter clothing and walked to the site while Caretaker dragged Taunt along to earn her forgiveness by at least helping out in the search. It was weird for the medicine to be in an unknown spot in the forest but Taunt directed them to the unfamiliar area to begin their search. The area had snow that almost reached their kneecaps and the air surrounding this place had a strong scent that reeked of trash mixed with a dirty metallic smell that made all of them cover their noses. On the other end, minutes after they entered the premises, the strong smell of ‘fresh meat’ rang out through the air, triggering Pursuer’s senses. Pursuer knew when a person infiltrated its personal space because of their almost supernatural-like senses and tonight, it sensed that this would be a great feast.
9:20 PM, 12/18/####.
Over an hour had passed as they dug through the snow, but the group wasn’t able to find much in the cold snow. They were only able to find sticks that looked like they could start a campfire and dirty items covered in a dried liquid that they couldn't identify but the smell wasn’t pleasant.. Everything was buried underneath the massive pile of snow that had gathered here for days, leaving them unable to continue searching. It started snowing lightly and nighttime was approaching as time quickly progressed.. The group was unaware of what was gonna happen only moments afterwards. Loveshot was the first to make a sound, sighing loud enough for Caretaker and Taunt to stop and wonder what they had to say. They tipped their hat to let down some of the snow that had piled on their hat. Loveshot: “I think it’s time that we wrap it up, folks. I’ll lend Caretaker some of my medication in the morning if I have any more and try to get some more tomorrow afternoon. It looks like the snow might get heavy soon too.” They didn’t notice that it was starting to snow because of how long they’ve buried their head in snow so they both nodded at Loveshot’s suggestion and cleared their hats as well. Caretaker: “Yeah, my boots are starting to fill with snow anyway.. My medicine can wait cause we shouldn’t have much to do tomorrow anyways. Though, I think that when we get back, I should teach Taunt how not to lose stuff that doesn’t belong to him.” Caretaker seemed as if she was trying not to burst a blood vessel when she said that while she looked at Taunt with bloodlust in her eyes. Even if she was joking, she didn’t have Taunt in on it. Taunt cupped his hand together in prayer and started begging, sounding desperate. Taunt: “No! Wait, I’m sorrrrrryyy~~ Don’t hurt me when we get back! I’ll make medicine for you.. maybe. ([she heard that]) I'm sorry!!!” Watching Taunt whine was pretty funny to Loveshot. They watched Taunt do something completely rare: begging. It was kind of humbling to see him on the ground as he would usually make others do stuff like this to be a tease, leading them to laugh at him only slightly. Although Caretaker wasn’t moved, she sighed before giggling a little under her breath while Taunt looked and begged at her like a lost puppy wanting affection. “Alright. Just make sure that you don’t botch the recipe then and maybe I’ll forgive you. Make sure that you guys don’t leave anything behind cause we should get goin-“
*CRACK*
The crack caught their attention. No one moved from their initial spots at all but after a little bit of staring off to where the sound came from, they brushed it off. Until, Loveshot heard something breathing.. violently.. behind them. The sound of breathing made them turn around and upon turning, their eyes widened almost immediately and alerting the others of its presence with a scream. In the corner stood PURSUER, which far surpassed the height of a normal human, standing at around 7’4. Its face is completely white its body was black in contrast to this. The creature was very skinny and bony, appearing to be starved to the people but it was far from that. All of them recognized the figure far too late as it proceeded to let out a blood-curdling howl that left the group stumbling backwards and sent the snow flying into the back in its mist.
9:53 PM, 12/18/####.
Loveshot barely had time to raise their gun before its clawed hand slammed into their shoulder. A sickening crunch can be heard as its nails dug deep into their flesh, piercing straight through muscle and bone. Their scream tore through the air. Pursuer held on to them tightly, gaping mouth opened impossibly wide. Its breath reeking of flesh and decay as it leaned down, its teeth inches from snapping the head from their neck. “Hey! Over here, creature!” [Taunt shouted, charging forward without hesitation. He swung one of the thicker sticks that they found in the snow and hit the monster’s side, striking hard enough to make its head turn sideways.] “Get off them!” Pursuer’s head snapped toward him, the pale mask of its face twitching with a grimace on it. It released Loveshot, who fell limp into the snow, gasping and clutching their ruined shoulder as blood poured down their sleeve. Then it turned on Taunt. With another bloodcurdling screech, the creature lunged. Its arm sliced through the air, claws aimed straight for Taunt’s chest.. but Caretaker moved first. Caretaker threw herself at him, shoving Taunt out of the way. The Pursuer’s strike caught her instead, ripping across her abdomen and thighs. The real damage came to her right leg, which had been completely torn because of the attack. The pain immediately kicked in right after, making Caretaker let out a terrible wailing cry for help. Her hat flew into the snow and the torn uniform flared open, the blood splattered across the snow. She hit the ground hard, clutching her leg as pain ripped through her body. Luckily, she had emergency bandages with her and tried to quickly wrap her leg to try and stop the bleeding. Her panicked haze made the wrap messy and a little unsecured, it soaked up most of the bits but some still flowed onto the white snow. Pursuer froze for a moment, staring at the blood glistening under the moonlight. Then its whole body began to tremble with anticipation. It let out a low, guttural hiss that grew into a maddened shriek. The amount of blood spilled and its scent drove it into a frenzy. Loveshot staggered to their feet, their only good arm trembling as they lifted their weapon. “Caretaker, get out of here! RUN!” [They choked out. They couldn't afford to lose one of the few supports that they had. Taunt then turned to them, eyes wide. He knew what Loveshot meant before they even said it. Pursuer crouched low, ready to pounce on them again. The snow shuffled beneath both of Loveshot and Taunt’s boots.] “Go!” [Taunt wailed over his shoulder to Caretaker.] Caretaker sat up in the snow, hesitating about leaving them after being told the first time.. The pain was excruciating and it made her fight to stay conscious until she heard Taunt shouting at her. Snapping her back into reality, she forced herself up and made her way to the forest while dragging her damaged leg through the snow. Every step left a red streak behind her while the forest swallowed her figure as she limped into the dark. Behind her, the sound of bullets, shrieking, desperate shouts, and that monster's unholy laughter filled the air. The last thing she heard before everything went quiet was Loveshot’s voice. It was very calm, almost quiet as they said, “At least we bought you time.” — The sounds coming from behind frightened her. All she could do was wonder whether or not her friends would be alive after this.. After all, she couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this because she was the one who brought them to this place. The further Caretaker went into the forest, the quieter the noises became.
11:09 PM, 12/18/####.
The adrenaline nearly wore off at this point. Caretaker started to feel the pain hit like a bullet train after running for what seemed like an eternity.. She started to take notice of her surroundings being deep inside of the forest, no sounds other than the shuffling of her two feet. She was helpless and all alone with no one to help. But nothing was around to potentially chase her anymore.. The silence caused her muscles to relax to ease the pain and because of that she finally stumbled and tripped over herself, face-planting into the snow. Determination wasn’t one of her strong suits. She didn’t want to move at all. She came to the reality that should’ve died back there with her friends who she had practically sacrificed to the beast.. “I… ca-can’t.. let myself.. live..” She muttered into the snow before coughing violently, letting blood escape from her mouth. The adrenaline had fully worn off with her thoughts racing faster than she could process them as she submitted to the cold. ¿WHYDIDYOURUN?¿HOWCOULDI?¿WHYDIDILISTEN?¡THISWASYOURFAULT!¡YOUREACOWARD!¡YOUSHOULDVEDIEDWITHTHEM! .ihopethatIwoulddiehereandnow.
These thoughts made hot tears stream down her face. Her face started to grow numb other than where the tears fell because of the harsh coldness caressing her face. All she could do was cry and hope that she didn’t wake up to see tomorrow because that's what she deserves.. right? Her eyes sealed shut, finally losing consciousness in the freezing cold. She lied there, her body subconsciously shaking from the cold and made small twitches every now and then. The injured leg had most of the bleeding stopped but some remains still dripped into the snow little by little, creating a small pool of blood beneath her leg. At this rate, she was on the verge of succumbing to death. The night was still young though.
A figure emerged from the trees that surrounded the forest. It was still a blur but as it kept walking, more of its features showed itself. It was a yellow entity that appeared, Its head was a square with only one eye? Its joints were disconnected the closer you’d look. The torso was rectangular but its right side had a point coming out of it, making the torso look uneven. It was tall, standing taller than that beast at around 7’5. The unknown figure appeared to look like a messily constructed robot made up of sand and dust that looked much tougher than it looked. The halo and wings were a bright white on her head, although they had a dim light to them which made it harder for others to see it. Its clothing matched that of a greek goddess: a yellow colored cloth with white outlined on it that covered her top and bottom half. It wrapped itself around the top and waist to only be cut off near the left leg thigh of this construct and continued down as a half-robe to the left thigh. It looked heavenly.. like it wasn’t from this world. The construct noticed Caretaker lying in the snow with her mangled leg bleeding into the glistening white snow. It kept walking towards the body until it was right under its feet, leaning down to examine the girl in front of it. She wasn’t dead but she would be if she didn’t receive any help. The construct looked at her leg.. a disgusting sight to behold. It watched the girl lie helplessly in the snow before it knelt down and scooped Caretaker into its arms before making its way back from where it came from.