Demo flicked through the book for a second time, the old and faded pages covered in writing. He took a swig from his bottle before turning another page. He sat on a wooden stool by the kitchen bench, stacks of books next to him. He heard footsteps and looked up. Sniper was standing in the doorway. He had transformed into a wolf last night and had gained bags under his eyes. He shuffled past Demo without a word and forcefully opened the fridge. He shuffled through the contents like a rabid animal.

Engineer was right. Sniper was getting more aggressive. Trying to fix his mistakes was difficult. Especially when the mistake was turning his friend into a beast. Medic wandered in, a stack of books in his gloved hands. He placed them down on the kitchen bench before raising an eyebrow at Sniper's aggressive behavior.

He left without a word, leaving Demo with Sniper. The match was in an hour and it was Demo and Sniper's turn to cook breakfast. He got up before stacking the books together and putting them down in the corner beside the 21-inch black and white TV.

He tapped Sniper on his shoulder. Sniper looked up, milk gripped in his hand and an egg in the other. "Sniper. We gotta make breakfast before the match, laddie."

"You do it then." He snarled before shoving what he had been holding into Demo's arms before rushing out of the room.

"Ach! I swear Sniper If I wasn't trying ta rid ya of yer curse I'd hurt ya!" He shouted after the lanky Australian.


Sniper silently watched as his teammates ate. Due to avoiding responsibility, he was made to sit on the couch by Soldier. Nor was he allowed to eat. The match was starting soon anyway and Sniper wasn't fussed. He had deer jerky back in his van he could snack on.

Once they had finished, Sniper ran off toward his van. He grabbed his rifle, his submachine gun and his sharpest kurki. He grabbed a handful of jerky and stuffed it into the pocket of his vest. He put his hat on before he left his van and headed towards Respawn. He sat down on the metal steps that were closests to the exit to the battlements.

He slipped a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. He heard his teammates arrive above him and someone clambering down the stairs. Scout slide down next to him.

"Hey Snipes." He said, fixing his hand wraps. There were bags under the young runner's eyes. His eyes were puffy as if he had been crying for an extended period of time.

"You okay Scout?" Sniper asked.

"Uhh yeah.. I guess." He replied.

"You don't look alright."

"I got some bad news."

"Oof. Really now?"

"My Ma passed away. Accident they said." Scout said before his hand gripped tight against the baseball in his hand.

"It's okay, mate. It's okay." Sniper replied trying to console the younger man.


The speakers blared that someone had taken someone's intel. Sniper didn't notice it. Crouched down, he aimed his rifle across the bridge. Water dripped off and onto the other bridge below creating a sandy and muddy waterfall.

Scout flew under the waterfall, his yells of complaint barely reaching Sniper's ears. Sniper smelt gunpowder, blood and smoke. He slipped his hand over his belt and grabbed his submachine gun. Without turning around he shot behind him. He heard a quiet yelp of pain. Sniper stood up and turned around. Crumbled on the ground was the BLU Spy.

Like a rider with a horse with a broken leg, he shot the Spy in the head causing him to die. Sniper grabbed his gear and walked away from the battlements. He walked into Respawn and went over to his small cubby where his weapons were located. He put his rifle and submachine gun back before picking up a bow and arrow. He grabbed his red and white bone patterned bandana and slipped around his neck. He grabbed a pistol from Scout's cubby before leaving Respawn.

He slandered down the metal stairs all the way down till he hit the sewers. Sniper barely went down here but he waded through ankle deep water before emerging by the bit of earth that connected to the bridge below the other bridge.

He slipped behind the metal cover as the BLU Scout ran past towards the sewers. He snuck behind the young BLU and shot him in the foot with the pistol causing him to tumble face-first into the mucky water. He looked up and spat the water out. Sniper finished him off with an arrow through the eye before moving on.

Sniper continued across the bridge, avoiding the waterfall and picking up the health kit that was floating around in the center. He tossed it off the bridge before he stepped into the enemy sewers. He continued till he heard people approaching. He slipped behind the boiler as a pair of BLUs clambered down the metal stairs. He heard a muffled reply to a question as well as a female voice asking about tactics. It was the BLU Pyro and Medic. Sniper snuck out of his hiding place and aimed an arrow at the Pyro's head. He let the arrow fly as it sunk into the BLU's skull. They flopped to the ground as the Medic began to panic at the sight of her fallen teammate.

Sniper revealed himself from his hiding place. Shock turned to anger as the Medic pulled out her melee weapon. She swung it forward attempting to kill the RED. Sniper pulled out the pistol once more and shot her in the ankle and one of the cords of her medi-gun. She crumbled to the floor and against the stairs. She was still gripping her ubersaw as Sniper knelt down.

He cocked a snarky grin as he looked at the defeated BLU. He kicked the weapon out of her hand before she could use it. He shoved her into the water causing the murky water to splash skywards.

"Kill me already." She begged.

"Nah. I'd rather see ya suffer. More entertaining." He replied. He leaned against the railing as he watched her attempt to repair her ankle with her broken medi-gun.

"You're different from the last time we spoke." She calmly said as she wrapped some torn fabric around her ankle.

"Things change. Anyway, enjoy a slow and painful death!" Sniper said as he pulled out his kurki. He slit her across the chest causing thick amounts of blood to begin streaming out. He walked up the stairs without looking back.


Sniper smeared the blood off of his weapon. Some of it had gathered on the tip of his finger. He licked it off before continuing on his way. RED had won. He flicked the light switch on in the RED intel room. A sentry was deactivated in the corner and an abandoned mechanical lounge chair had beer bottle scattered around it.

Demo charged into the room with a loud cheer, a crate of beer in his arms. Sniper turned around as he watched Demo peer at the empty bottles. "Demo. Stop lazing around. Don't you have something better to do!?" Sniper snapped.

"Calm down, laddie. We won. I've almost found yer a cure." Demo replied, taking a seat in the abandoned lounge chair.

"Well maybe I don't want a cure."

"Laddie. Stop. We've talked 'bout this. Don't let the lass change your opinion of everything."

"If everything goes back to normal she'll still be in my head!" Heavy and Medic entered the intel room, Engineer and Scout following behind.

"Sniper. She will not." Demo replied.

"Shut up!" He growled before lunging at the demolitionist. Heavy had to grab Sniper before he tore out the man's throat. Sniper clawed at Heavy's massive arms like an animal, attempting to get free. Realise his attempts were futile, he stopped.

"Geez. What's wrong with Snipes? He isn't acting like himself" Scout commented. Engineer, who was standing closest, whacked him on the head. Engineer pulled him out of the room to explain what's going on as Medic tried to sedate Sniper.

"Let me go Medic." Sniper snarled. He was locked up in the cage again to prevent him from murdering one of his teammates.

"Nien. Vhen you act more like a human being I vill." Medic replied at him, going through medical papers.

"You don't care anymore do you?"

"Vell I vould if you vould stop acting like a kind." Medic yelled. Sniper sat there in slight shock. Medic wasn't one to yell often. Mostly he just yelled at Soldier. Sniper turned his back and curled up onto the floor.


I looked up. I was laying in the forest. The birch trees around me sat silently as the pitch black embrace of night appeared. The soft cooing of a bird could be heard. I gripped onto the grimmy ground, rotting leaves clinging to my body. I got up and brushed them off of me.

A sudden chill grasped the small woodlin hollow. I breathed out and the air mingled with my dragons breath. A bush of wiry red roses sat near me. Their thorns shining in the moonlight.

I gripped my other arm and rubbed them together as the chill got colder. A misty fog began to float in.

Casey walked into the hollow. She was a pale gray and looked like a ghost out of a fantasy novel. Her torn and burnt lab coat trailed behind like a bridal veil. She sat down on a fallen log nearby and looked at me without saying a word.

"What do you want Casey? You're normally not this peaceful and quiet." I said after a long silence.

"You see what they're doing to your, correct? They don't trust you anymore. They just caged you like an animal." She stated, her voice monotone.

"So what? They're my teammates."

"They'll never find you a cure, I can assure you that. Werewolf curses are very difficult to reverse. Unless you can find 'true loves kiss' and I definitely sure your not gay. Unless you want to accept my help, you're outta luck Lawrence. Clocks ticking."

"What's the deal?"

"I'll help you," She got up and started walking over to me. "If you let me have control."

"Control? Ha! As If I'd ever let you."

"Last chance, Lawrence. I know you more than they ever will. They'll just betray you."

"They'll betray me?" I gulped. They had been avoiding me more and more since the incident. Since Smissmas, the BLU's had been more vengeful. Even Scout seemed to avoid me even after he told me about the death of his mother. Demo and Engineer hadn't talked to me unless it was related to the curse. Did my team really hate me?

"Oh they will eventually. They'll probably be the ones to put a bullet in your brain once they think you're out of control." Casey cooed, fueling the raging fire of emotions.

"..."

"Unless you want that to happen? Are you ready to truly die, Lawrence? Would you like to know the feeling of your life slipping away between your fingers?"

"..."

"Of course, you could always accept my deal and avoid that fate. Clocks ticking yet again, Lawrence. Accept it now or face death like an old friend." The sky became a dark red like a new dawn.

"I accept." I grimily mutter.