A/N: Hey readers! ImpulsiveWeaver here, and I am back with another story. This one is from the popular video game, Dead by Daylight. I've played this one for many hours and I love it. But I should say that Dead by Daylight is not my property, and neither are any of the characters, themes, or anything else in this story. Now that that is out of the way, let's begin!
When Morning Comes Ch. 1
Claudette shivered and moved to sit closer to the fire. The eternal fire that never seemed to die or need feeding. The fire that hailed as a beacon of safety and warmth at the end of each trial. A chance to recover and regain some of their hope that the Entity seemed to tirelessly consume.
Just like that fire, Claudette and the others never seemed to die or need feeding while living this hellacious cycle of chase, capture, and impalement. Claudette shivered again and this time the others seemed to notice. Jake shouldered his jacket off and wordlessly held it out to her.
"Oh! Thanks Jake, but I'm alright. I'm just...warming up, that's all".
Jake nodded and put his jacket back on without a word. Claudette gave him a small nod back as thanks before turning her gaze to the rest of the survivors. Until now, Quentin, David, Laurie, Nea, and Meg had been discussing possible techniques to evade the killers when being chased, while Dwight, Detective Tapp, Ace, Feng, and Bill were trying to find a pattern in which location the entity chose to spawn them through previous trials.
Dwight had noticed her contemplative gaze and excused himself from their discussion. Walking over to her, Dwight had regained his nervous look that so constantly plagued his features. Though Dwight's skittish behavior dominated his appearance most of the time, Claudette noticed that he always stood a little straighter or forgot his nervous ticks when he was helping the others.
The others had noticed it too. In addition, they had noticed that they always seemed to be at their best when Dwight was there to support. No one knew why, but it had become increasingly obvious as they partook in more and more of the Entity's nefarious trials.
Dwight had been oblivious to the subtle boosts he gave to the others, of course. Claudette almost smirked to herself as Dwight stopped in front of her and knelt down.
"Are you...doing alright Claudette?" He said, nervous but determined.
"I'm alright Dwight. I'm sorry for worrying you," Claudette replied.
Dwight looked at her for a second before nodding.
"Ok then, just thought I'd ask," he said before returning to the group to continue their speculation.
Claudette inwardly sighed. She was definitely not alright, but she couldn't let Dwight and the others know. If they knew, they'd only worry about her. And Claudette knew she'd never forgive herself if she became a burden to the group, as if she wasn't already.
Claudette tried to calm her nerves as the futility of the situation began to drag her down yet again, and her fears that she tried so hard to shove down nearly resurfaced yet again.
How long had she been here? Days, months, years? Time was impossible in the Entity's realm, and the trials had begun to blur together the longer Claudette had been here.
Was this her fate? To be hunted countless times and forced to suffer just as many? Would the sum of her life amount to just being food for this cruel...THING that haunted the skies and feasted on her hope?
Claudette now fought to keep her composure in front of the others, but her sorrow only continued to grow as she eyed he other survivors.
Did she really ever help the others when they were in the trials together? Claudette clenched her fists as she remembered all the times she had slipped up on a generator and had gotten herself or one of the others hooked in the process.
Claudette squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered her one true fear.
What if they were better off without her? How many more trials could they survive if they didn't have to pick up Claudette's slack? Was that all she was? Just dead weight?
Claudette's facade finally shattered as a sob forced its way out of her throat. Claudette opened her eyes to try and explain away her sudden outburst, only to realize that the campfire was gone. And instead she found herself yet again dropped into another trial.
Claudette's sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Now was not the time to dwell on her fears. There wasn't enough time. Claudette blinked her eyes and scanned her surroundings.
She had spawned in a forest with trees towering around her. A thick fog blanketed the landscape, giving Claudette a limited range of sight. This was fairly common, as the Entity purposely engineered the area to intensify the trial. The air was cool, and light drops of rain fell through the tops of the trees. If not for the circumstances, Claudette might have actually enjoyed he scenery. But she'd seen it more times than she could count, and immediately recognized it as the domain of the killer they named the Huntress.
Trying to determine her position, Claudette looked to her left and immediately spotted a generator nestled underneath one of the enormous trees. Glancing back to her right, Claudette scanned for any signs of activity before crouching down and slowly make her way to the generator.
Once there, Claudette knelt down even further and began the slow process of hooking up the wires and tightening the bolts on the machine.
As hard as she focused, Claudette never seemed to be able to work as quickly with the generators as Feng or Bill, and she wished she had someone like Dwight here to help her with it. She always seemed to relax more and work faster when Dwight was there to help her.
By the time she was done, she heard two more generators spring to life through the haze. Hurrying to finish her own, Claudette quickly bolted as soon as soon as it was done. Moving as fast as she dared, Claudette quickly ducked behind a tree as she heard the sound of humming approach through the trees.
Claudette crouched low and tried to calm her nerves as her heartbeat began to rise in volume, and risked a glance toward her recently finished generator as the Huntress materialized from the fog.
Inspecting the generator, the Huntress released a frustrated growl before scanning the area around her. Claudette pressed herself as close to the tree as she could, praying she hadn't been seen.
The Huntress appeared not to have spotted her, and moved toward one of the other generators close by. Letting out the breath she had been holding, Claudette relaxed against the trunk of the tree.
After a few seconds, Claudette saw another generator's light stab the darkness. Getting to her feet, Claudette tried to remember where the remaining unfinished generators were. She was wrenched from her thoughts as a sudden scream tore through the air. Claudette's blood turned to ice in her veins as she recognized the scream. Claudette jumped to her feet and quickly sprinted in the direction the Huntress had taken.
Rounding another tree, Claudette skidded to a stop as the Huntress came into view. Laurie was thrown over her shoulder, and Claudette froze in horror as the Huntress threw the blond-haired teen onto the nearby hook. Laurie screamed as the hard metal dug through her flesh, and Claudette barely had time to register before the Huntress turned to look directly at her. Claudette couldn't see the huntress's face behind the hare mask she always wore, but Claudette knew her intentions as the Huntress began to reach for a hatchet placed on her belt.
Claudette's turned and bolted away as she heard the hatchet strike the tree just behind her. The Huntress had resumed her hummed lullaby, causing Claudette's blood to run even colder. Claudette put on a burst of speed as a log cabin came into view. If she could get to the cabin, she might be able to lose the Huntress inside…Claudette cried out as a hatchet tore into her shoulder. The pain was agonizing, but she had learned to put it in the back of her mind through practice. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she sprinted to the cabin faster than she had ever run before.
The siren of the exit gates droned through the air as Claudette climbed the steps to the cabin. If she could distract the Huntress a little longer, maybe the others could save Laurie and make it out safely.
Claudette just made it past the doorway before the Huntress's axe cut deep into her back. Claudette had been so worried about the others that she hadn't noticed how loud the humming had become. She screamed as she fell flat into the main room of the cabin. The humming resonated in her ears as the Huntress heaved Claudette onto her massive shoulder. Claudette only hoped that she bought enough time for Laurie and the others to escape.
The Huntress continued her melodic humming as she carried Claudette back out of the cabin and into the forest again. She tried to struggle, but the huntress's iron grip refused to yield, and Claudette did not have to wait long until the excruciating pain of being hooked coursed through her body.
The Huntress stepped back and almost seemed to examine Claudette for a moment before turning and heading off toward one of the exit gates. Her humming had become slightly agitated at capturing so few during this trial. Claudette barely noticed.
Claudette felt a slight sense of satisfaction despite the pain of the hook. She was sure the others could make it out through the gates in time. Knowing that they were safe, Claudette could at least tolerate it when the Entity's spider-like projections would skewer her body.
Claudette's satisfaction turned to dread as she saw Bill materialize from the fog. He was heading straight for her.
"N-no!" Claudette managed to gasp out through the pain. She tried to raise her arms to tell him to run, to save himself, but Bill kept coming. When he reached the hook, he wasted no time in lifting Claudette off.
"What are you doing?!" Claudette wheezed as Bill began to usher her towards one of the gates.
"Saving your hide, dumbass," Bill said through his cigarette. "The fuck does it look like?"
"You should've left me." Claudette felt tears well up in her eyes as she realized that she had managed yet again to put the others in harm's way. "Now none of us will make it."
Bill grunted in half-amusement. As the open exit gate came into view, Claudette saw Dwight crouching next to Laurie in front of the entrance. He kept looking around nervously and kept biting at his nails, a habit that he tried to rid himself off, but sometimes couldn't help in dire situations.
"Dweebus over there wouldn't leave unless we came to get you. Kid has got a fuckin heart big enough for all of us, but he's dumber than a sack of shit sometimes."
Claudette should've felt complimented at Dwight's determination to save everyone, but her mind only worried about how much more peril she had placed them all in.
Claudette stiffened at the sound of humming behind them. It was angry humming. Furious. Deadly.
As if in slow motion, Claudette turned to see the Huntress with her arm cocked back, hatchet poised and ready for release. With a quick and efficient motion. Claudette saw the hatchet snap forward towards the group.
Claudette's eyes widened as she realized who the hatchet was for. They had learned some time ago that it took two hits to bring each survivor down, and Bill and Dwight had both been unscathed during the trial. Which left Claudette as the only one that was sill injured. Well her and...
Claudette screamed as she realized that the Huntress's trajectory was off. The hatchet would miss Claudette by a mile, but the Huntress was too skilled to miss. She almost never did. The Huntress had picked a survivor that she knew would fall when the hatchet struck. And Claudette was not that survivor.
Still moving in slowed time, the hatchet continued towards Laurie. The survivor destined to perish in this trial, to be left behind. Sacrificed. Because of Claudette.
The tears began to come, and Claudette knew that she deserved this hell she was in. She had let them all down. She was the weak link, and now someone else would suffer from her inferiority.
No. Not like this. Claudette blinked back tears as she began to move, the hatchet still flying straight and true towards its mark. Claudette could not let them suffer, not in this way. Claudette turned as she moved to see Laurie's eyes go wide as she only just now registered that the hatchet was aimed at her. With her last bit of strength, Claudette managed to push Laurie behind her as the hatchet struck.
Claudette's chest erupted with blood. Her senses blurred, and she heard a faint scream through the pain and fog. It was a shrill piercing scream and Claudette thought it was Laurie, but Dwight had been known to shriek like that one occasion. Claudette almost smirked as her body hit the ground.
The pain should have exploded through her body, but Claudette felt strangely at peace as her vision began to fade, and all outside noises became muffled. She felt like someone had stuffed her head with cotton. The world tilted even as Claudette lay on the forest floor.
Claudette closed her eyes as the world went dark.