A.N. Just wanna say, thanks to all of you who reviewed, fav'd and followed! I'm surprised the story seemed to have an audience so quickly! I'm relatively new to DBD, so if there's some fandom jokes I miss out on/should've made but didn't, please let me know.

"Well, like it or not. We have a baby now… this raises a LOT of questions… and unfortunately, I doubt many of them will ever be answered…"

"Agplh?"

Claudette smiled warmly at the baby girl, now tentatively named; 'Hope Dawn Linda-Brandy Jade Ivy-Ryūjin Zoey Loretta-Lion Golder Filip Dart Hoffman-Hopper-Carpenter Excalibur' (Claudette didn't know why the campfire agreed to let everyone give the girl a name, but hey, it made everyone feel included, and those were just the names she remembered.) but everyone had (more or less) settled on 'Hope' being the first name for the girl. Sure, it was kinda tacky, but when you were being hunted every day, you'd take what you could get.

Presently, Hope remained wrapped in the blanket they found her in, the stuffed raccoon tucked close and keeping her company. Claudette knew she should be terrified, mortified even, over what has happened, and that someone so young would be subjected to this terror… but at the same time, she was a light where there had been nothing but darkness for so long. She couldn't help but smile at the tiny baby, even if there was an ever-growing sense of fear about the future, or even the baby's purpose.

"No scars, no birthmarks, no messages…" Claudette remarked, holding the girl close. She had inspected her for any sort of hint at where the baby would've come from, but there wasn't anything that they couldn't tell from a distance, for lack of a better term. "Heck, no Hexes from what I can tell, either."

"So, when we go t'sleep, the little tyke won't kill us all then, is that it?" David asked with a raised brow. He was skeptical over the legitimacy of the baby, and even more skeptical over why a baby was here… but like many of the Survivor's questions, they couldn't be answered right now. Claudette was walking around the campfire, showing Hope to everyone and helping the little girl understand that these people were her friends. More than a few times she stopped, either because a Survivor wanted to meet Hope, or vice versa.

At the moment, Hope seemed fascinated with Zarina's scarf, and was absent-mindedly batting at it. The reporter was a bit surprised and more than a little awkward when Claudette passed her the baby, but she quickly seemed to warm up to her, to some degree.

"Hello, little one." The reporter smiled, laughing gently as Hope continued batting at her scarf. Hope looked up at the reporter with a curious, wide-eyed expression. It was hard to tell what exactly (if anything, to be honest) she was thinking about, but still.

"Abblath?"

"Heh, fair enough." Zarina smiled, passing Hope back to Claudette. The Canadian Botanist kept walking around the fire, keeping a tight hold on the baby, not sure how she was feeling about all this. Where did she come from? Were her parents looking for her? Who were her parents? All just another trio of questions she unfortunately wouldn't get an answer to any time soon.

Claudette passed by Yui, who looked at Hope, then looked away dismissively. Claudette frowned, but decided not to press this matter. Not everyone would get along, but this was a baby! "Whatever." Claudette mentally rolled her eyes.

"Heya, kiddo." Ash smiled, pushing Hope's knit hat up from her eyes. "I've been dealing with this since long before you were born, you just stick with me, and you'll be just fine."

"Didn't you get set on fire from a generator explosion last trial?" Jake asked.

"And if you ever wanna hear something funny, just listen to Jake getting impaled on a hook, it can make dolphins go deaf." Ash added, not looking to the other Survivor.

"Again, you're thinking of Dwight, not me." Jake countered.

"What did I ever do to you?!" Dwight demanded, annoyed everyone seemed to be ganging up on him.

"I dunno, but if I said Meg, she'd punch me." Jake shrugged, and was then punched by Meg.

"Stop being mean to Dwight. That's my job." She ordered.

"Okay… There's some blankets, baby food, bottles and diapers." Tapp reported, looking through the basket Hope had been found in. "This should hopefully last us a little bit… but I can't say I know where we'll get more."

"Well, Laurie and Steve should be helpful for taking care of her." Felix commented. "Not gonna lie, I don't really know much about babies."

"Actually, that's a good point. Who here knows how to change a diaper?" Dwight asked, realizing something. There was a bit of an awkward silence, then the hands began to rise. Steve, Jeff, Laurie, Ash, Kate, Yui, Nea, and Adam. "Huh, more than I expected…"

"Just saying, if anyone wants me to do diapers for them, you've really gotta pull your own in the next trial we're in together." Steve remarked flatly, while Nancy rocked the little girl in her arms reassuringly. The tiny girl letting out a soft, happy coo. Nancy looked down to the end of the log she was sitting at, the old grizzled solider watching with an amused smirk.

"All right, let me see her." Bill conceded before doing something no one expected, or believed they would ever live to see.

Bill took out, and extinguished his cigarette. Not a nearly-done cigarette, not a third remaining cigarette, but a smoke with more than half of it left, and he extinguished it of his own volition, and didn't light another one immediately before being handed Hope.

"What I wouldn't give for my old M16A2…" Bill muttered, having had this thought many, many times about how much easier (and maybe even fun) the trials would be if he had his old assault rifle. Even if it was just to show that limp-legged cowboy what a REAL rifle was… but now he felt like he needed it for reasons he hadn't felt in what could've been years. How long had it been since he was working with Zoey, Francis and the others?

"Look, this is probably an extremely screwed-up question… but I'm asking it." Ace remarked, watching from the other side of the campfire. "Is she… gonna be in the trials with us?"

The whole campfire went quiet, the horror of the implications settling in deeper than it previously had. Yes, Hope had been found in a trial, but did that mean she would be in the later ones as well?!

"Like, I'll be optimistic, but I don't think she knows how to fix a generator." Ace added to his previous point. "I'll also be optimistic and say I doubt the freaks would kill a baby. Or at least, I really, really hope so."

"Freddy would." Quentin muttered, clearly remembering some bad memories. "And they're lucky if he just killed them…"

"Hm, thanks Quint. You're always great to have around here, you should write a book on positive living." Ace muttered. Quint shot him a look that wasn't angered, but rather deeply pained, and scarred, and the gambler looked away when he saw it.

"I hate to say it, but you've both got good points." Jeff muttered, looking up from the stew he was working on for the survivors. Somehow, the Entity supplied some utensils, equipment and other basic survival needs for them… some days.

"Why do you hate saying that?"

"Because you're an idiot." Jeff shrugged, and Ace gave him a flat, annoyed look. He and the artist had a love-hate-bromance to put it mildly. Heck, it almost seemed as unpredictable as one of Ace's dice rolls on what their standing would be each day, but they somehow made it work. Another few minutes later, and Claudette brought Hope over to meet Jeff.

Jeff blinked, then smiled slightly when he saw Hope looking at his chest, pointing absentmindedly. "Ah, you like Motörhead? Good to know you've got good taste, even when you're this young." Jeff smirked, setting Hope down next to him as he scooped up some stew for the others.

"You know she's probably just reacting to the colours, right?" Nea asked.

"Yeah, but it's good to start them young on this kinda stuff. Rather than that horse sh-" Jeff began but stopped himself, feeling a few glaring at him. "That… stuff that the Trickster performs."

"Ugh. Are we not gonna be able to curse now?" Jake muttered, annoyance in his voice as he realized something.

"She's a baby! We can't start teaching her that!" Meg said.

"She doesn't even know what we're saying!" Jake countered.

"Just curse in another language." Ash shrugged. "If she doesn't know English, no way she'll know what we're saying in other languages."

"あなたはばかげている." Yui said flatly. Ash blinked, then raised a brow.

"What?"

About two hours passed, and it was certainly weird. Usually when a new Survivor showed up, there was a period of solace and compassion, and then strategy. They'd discuss skills, talents, and what they could bring to help. But this time? It was a baby. Although, Steve had recommended using her full diapers as weapons, something which (while no one wanted to say aloud) wasn't a terrible idea. The first hurdle had been getting her to eat, as for some reason, Hope had decided nothing looked good, and it took a few tries to get her to eat… anything. Eventually, Cheryl had gotten her to start eating, and that was enough for her to be stuck on 'dinner duty' for the evening. Honestly, Cheryl kinda minded (she wasn't huge on kids), but Hope ate rather obediently, and didn't put up much of a fuss after she started eating and seemed to realize food was awesome. After dinner, she had been passed around some more as the Survivors got to know their newest member. Eventually, Hope had clearly gotten tired, and she was returned to her basket, where (hopefully) she'd sleep for a few hours before waking everyone for food, a change, or just because she could.

"All right, she's down for now." Meg sighed, looking to Hope, asleep under a blanket, holding her stuffed racoon.

"I think she's got the right idea." Adam remarked, sitting down with his back against a tree. "I'll take second watch." Despite the fact it had never happened, the Survivors would still post someone on watch for an hour or so each night to ensure the Killers or something else didn't try and come get some easy sacrifices. It had never happened in all the time they'd been here, even as far back as when it had been pretty much just Dwight and the Trapper, but again, better to be safe than sorry. Gradually, the Survivors decided sleep was a good idea, as a trial could start at any time, and they wanted at least some degree of rest. Although, in the past, whenever a new Survivor was thrown to them, the space between trials was longer for a bit, just to give them a chance to figure out what the heck was going on. Laurie stayed up for a bit, gently rocking the basket back and forth to keep Hope in a peaceful sleep. Saying nightmares were common around here would be like saying grass was green, and Laurie didn't want Hope's first night here to be full of nothing but bad dreams. Sure, that was an inevitability, especially if the Entity was twisted enough to stick her into a trial – a fact Strode sadly believed to be very, very true – but for now, it was best to let her have any degree of innocence she could.

"Good-night, sweetie." Claudette smiled, sitting on the other side of the basket, and slowly letting sleep overtake her.

There was a low moan, almost like a gong sound, and the entire campfire shot awake. They knew this sound all too well, it was impossible to sleep through. When that sound went off, it meant a trial was starting. How long had they slept!? Who knew, and now, it didn't matter. Any offerings burned would hopefully grant them a bit more luck, and with everything happening around them… they'd need it. There was a cold wind, and then everything seemed to return to 'normal'.

"Sound off!" Bill called, snapping back to his military days as he lit his smoke. It could be a little annoying to those who weren't chosen at random for the trials to have to do this every single time, but everyone knew he did it as a way to help everyone gather their surroundings.

"Hey…"

"Yo."

"Mrgh…"

"I'm here!"

"Groovy…"

And so on, and so on. After about twenty seconds, Bill nodded to himself.

"Looks like it's Ace, David, Feng, Kate…" Bill began, listing off who wasn't present, until his cigg fell from his mouth in shock as his eyes fell to a corner of the site, and an ice-cold terror hit everyone at once. One which Claudette voiced (or rather, screamed) aloud.

"WHERE'S HOPE?!"

Bong… Bong…

The Wraith struck his wailing bell twice with the skull and spine he carried with him, making himself invisible to anyone who happened to be nearby. He found himself standing near the rotten fields of the old Coldwind Farm. If he was honest, it was probably one of the few places he didn't mind ending up at, even if it was for a trial. That probably had everything to do with the sky not being blood-red, pitch-black or some other sickly colour, and rather being a somewhat pleasant dusk (and on the rarest of occasions, slightly blue). Even despite the bloodstains that would often coat the land before the trial was over, there was something almost relaxing and serene about being here. He stopped, holding his ragged breath for the sound of anything, be it a generator being fixed, wood falling, or even grass rustling, anything that could send him on the hunt… and after a few moments, he was rewarded with the electrical explosion of a nearby generator backfiring. Not wasting any time, the Wraith set off, cloaking once more, the solemn tones of his bell echoing across the farm. He moved with a speed and precision of, well, a killer. Not just that, but an experienced killer. Someone who had been down this path more times than they could count.

Bong… Bong…

He struck, and there was screaming, and there was blood. He drew a finger across the end of his blade, cleaning it as he set off against the limping Survivor. He didn't know her name, and he didn't care. Outside the trials, she may have had a name, a personality, a story to tell, but here? She was nothing more than a sacrifice for the Entity. They ran, then whimpered, sometimes they cried, but in the end, they all bled. She did what many of the Survivors did, dropping some planks of wood and then running in circles around a few bales of hay, keeping him unable to reach her. It was… annoying, honestly. Now, the Wraith didn't blame them, he didn't think he'd be totally okay with being sacrificed if he was in their position, but there were so many better strategies to getting around this, or outright escaping his pursuit.

Another strike, another scream.

He picked up the girl, blood pouring from the wound, and began floating towards the nearest hook. This was… acceptable, in a sense. It was expected, there wasn't anything he could do, he had to hunt, to sacrifice, repeat. The weight was shifting aggressively as the girl struggled to get free from his grasp, but it never faltered. Sometimes they'd manage to get out, either through sheer willpower, someone blinding him, or a lucky strike that seemed to come from nowhere. But that wasn't the case this time. The hook impaled the girl though the upper chest, and she screamed. It was a pained scream, justifiable after what she went through, but then the Wraith heard something else…

Crying.

Confused, but assuming one of the Survivor's was having a mental breakdown, possibly a newcomer (and secretly, Philip couldn't blame them), he disappeared with two strikes of his bell and began to make his way across the trial grounds towards the sound. Some of the survivors had gotten better at holding back their pained cries, yet others used sounds as distractions, but this didn't sound or feel like either.

"Hey!" The girl suddenly screamed, suddenly having far more energy than on impaled on a hook might have had. "HEY! Look at me, you, brunt bastard! Don't you turn your back on me, you… you freaky-!" Feng just yelled the first offensive term that came to her mind. She didn't know if it was offensive or not (it wasn't that one), but she assumed it'd get his attention.

The Wraith stopped, turning and feeling disgust and genuine anger bubbling in his gut. Sure, she probably meant the common use of the term, but that word… it had power. Power used to harm him, to harm his family, and he HATED that word. With one more swing, the girl screamed as a massive gash appeared in her chest. The Wraith didn't care if the Entity claimed her or not… he just wanted her to suffer. He assumed one of the others was where that crying was from… well, he'd find them, and he'd drag them back, and kill them in front other, just to make her suffer.

"NO!" Feng screamed as the wraith began to walk away once more, his body langauge much, much more aggressive. "COME BACK HERE AND KILL ME, YOU FREAK OF NATURE!"

The Wraith kept walking, ignoring the other sounds of the generators and Survivors scrambling.

The crying was getting louder, which meant he was getting closer.

"…this doesn't seem like a Survivor…" He thought. The Wraith had seen grown men break down into tears while here. Heck, his former boss had been crying and begging for his worthless life before Philip did the world a favor and removed that monster from its lands, but this was different.

He came to a stop, and his twisted jaw practically dislocated itself as it dropped to the ground in shock. There was a baby lying on the ground, crying as only a baby could. The Trapper had said there was a baby, and in his time knowing him, Evan wasn't much of a joker, but the Wraith had honestly believed this was some sort of sick, demented joke the Entity was playing on them… and he realized, he was right.

"Why?" The Wraith thought, remaining invisible as he looked down at Hope. "Why?! Why would the Entity do such a thing?! Why bring someone so small?! Am I supposed to kill this child? Does the Entity truly expect me to do such a horrific thing?"

For a few moments, the Wraith just looked at the girl, uncertain of what to do. Was he even supposed to touch her? Typically, any contact he had with the Survivors was vicious and bloody, but he didn't want to hurt the girl, she was far too small. He didn't feel mercy or sympathy- well, no. He did, just not the way one would expect. Those feelings were long burned from him, and most of those present in these trials… perhaps, confusion, was the better term, or apprehension. The Entity very rarely spoke to them, and hadn't said a word about this, so what was expected of him?

Finally, he picked her up, and the girl seemed clearly frightened at being lifted into the air by some unseen force. The Wraith stalked through the fields of corn, approaching the old barn where a generator sometimes was. He could've sworn he heard someone exclaim "NO!" in a hushed, horrified tone… but he didn't see anyone. Unfortunately for the survivors, there was no generator in the barn this time, but that didn't matter too much to him. Finding a corner of the barn, he pulled a pile of hay down and created a makeshift-nest for Hope, and set her in it. Afterwards, he pulled a few hay bales around to keep her from climbing out. When the trial was done, or the others were sacrificed, he'd come see if she was still here. If she was, he'd try and find that cursed hatch the Survivors escaped through sometimes, or maybe he'd bring her back with him… but if he had to sacrifice her… well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it, and he hoped that was a bridge he wouldn't have to cross.

When Kate got Feng down from the hook, the gamer was in tears. Beyond the usual pain or fear, something bad had happened.

"What's wrong?! We heard you screaming!" Kate said in a hushed tone as she pulled Feng somewhere safe to patch her up.

"That baby, Dawn! She's here!" Feng exclaimed, then yelled in pain as Kate stumbled on the medical procedures and stabbed her slightly. "Gah! I think the Wraith is after her!"

"Sorry!" Kate muttered, having messed up the medical work before shaking her head in disbelief. "But… that… that thing brought a baby into this?! For what?!"

"I don't know!" Feng groaned, now patched up. "I heard her crying, and the Wraith left towards the crying, I don't know where she is, and I don't know what he's gonna do to her…" Kate bit her lip, this was bad. Really bad… but she had to think rationally, as well as compassionately.

"Okay… I don't know where the others are, so there's at least one other Survivor here with us, if Dawn isn't counted as one of us, then there's two more." Kate mused, she and Feng slowly making their way in the direction the Wraith had gone in. "I hate to say this, but the kid might be a trap, now."

"Huh?"

"Think about it." Kate frowned deeply. "If the Killers find her, they might try and sacrifice her. That's screwed up, but so is everything about this place. Or, they may use her. Put her someplace where we'd see her, and then when we try to get her back, they'd get us. Like with the Trapper, or the Pig."

Feng tensed somewhat. She wasn't sure what she thought about a baby being here, but… she couldn't just let a baby get impaled on a meat hook, now could she? Whenever her friends got impaled and sacrificed, she felt bad about it. Even worse when she tried to save them and failed for one reason or another. But was Dawn now just a tool to be used by the Killers? What was she supposed to do?!

"So, we're just supposed to leave her?" Feng asked, skeptically.

"No! No! Of course, not… it's just, we need to think this through…"

Despite being one of the newer faces in the trials, Felix already had a pretty good feeling as for what was expected/what he should be doing. He moved with speed and precision, and while he wasn't the best at fixing these outdated generators, he could figure it out when needed. He also had an odd advantage when it came to the Survivors, as he and Élodie Rakoto had met before this nightmare began. But now, amount of planning, cunning or skills could help with what was currently happening around him.

He saw a baby, Hope, he recalled her name, floating in the air as she entered the barn.

"Okay, either that baby has some sort of psychic power, or she's being carried… most likely by that Bell-Boy." Felix thought, forgetting the Wraith's name for a moment (and not really caring). But he felt a need to turn around and run, run in the opposite direction of that thing and find the furthest generator.

But then… he saw them. Lauren, holding a small bundle in her arms. It was for just a second, a second so brief Felix believed he was losing his mind for a moment, like when that twisted Doctor came after them, shocking their minds into insanity, but he bit his lip hard in response. Hard enough to draw blood, and he scowled. Not again. Never again.

He knew what he had to do.

It was about twenty minutes of blood, sparks and terror, but the Wraith was growing tired. Two of the four were dead, taken by the Entity, but the other two had avoid him thus far. The one with the glasses and that irritating smirk always seemed to somehow slip away unnoticed had done so for a time, but not this time, and the short-haired girl who angered him was (frustratingly) still breathing. As he passed by the worn-out barn, looking for any scratch marks leading to them, he paused and walked back towards where the baby had been left. It was quiet… had he fallen asleep? It wasn't likely she had gotten out, but then how did-

"It's gone."

A flurry of emotions shot through him, and they all confused him. Why was he shocked? Why was he concerned? Why did he care? It was a human baby. Most likely, he was expected to sacrifice it, and that wasn't something he exactly wanted to do. If it was gone, good. That meant it wasn't his problem for the time being.

"But where had it gone?"

He wouldn't say he had a conscious. Much rather, he simply had a sense of wanting answers. Where had it/he/she (he couldn't tell by looking) gone? Had one of the Survivors found it? Most likely, it made sense; they looked out for their own, so they probably wouldn't leave a baby behind. Maybe she had just gotten out, found a small hole he hasn't seen and had climbed out to 'freedom' and was now crawling about the farm. Well, what now? Was he supposed to retrieve her?

The sudden explosion of a generator caught his attention, and he decided to leave this thought to the side, and headed back out to the hunt. It took a few seconds, but he saw her. The short-haired girl, the one he wanted to kill… reaching down to his belt, his hand slowly wrapped around a small skull, and he crushed it in his hand. A sickening feeling rushed through him, and he knew what it meant.

"Dona mihi sunt vires, ut eius vitae finem."

There was silence, then he heard a whisper in his ear.

"Bonitatem fecisti. Haec est ultima tua."

The Wraith narrowed his eyes and moved forward.

Bong… Bong…

"Oh, crap." Feng whispered, seeing the Killer standing before her, holding a bloody skull-hatchet. She tried to run, but the Wraith struck her, and she cried out in pain, feeling a burst of adrenaline, and she kept running. However, when the blood of a Survivor fell, a fury and lust may sometimes be awoken, a bloodlust that only the Killers knew of, and a hunger unlike any other struck. The Wraith gave chase, ignoring the nearly completed generator, closing the distance between the two, before being trapped on the other side of a pallet. He snarled in irritation, his lust for blood consuming his mind now. One strike, that's all it would take. He only needed to hit her once, then he could take her life…

A third sound caught their attention, and the Wraith, Feng and Felix found themselves in an unsavory position. About seventeen feet away was Hope, the tiny baby having gotten separated from Felix earlier, and now all of them were within distance of reaching her. In a tense stand-off, all three knew whomever acted first would either save or doom the little girl. Feng looked from the Wraith, to Felix, to Hope.

"Felix! RUN!" Feng screamed before charging had first into the Wraith. She grabbed at his axe and yanked backwards. The monster's strength far outclassed her own, but it distracted him long enough for Felix to dash forward, grab Hope, and tear off like a mad man. He knew what Feng was doing, and he didn't want Hope to see it. Heck, he didn't want to see it. The Wraith let out an angered bellow and ripped his weapon from her hand, and viciously back-handed her with it. The weapon cracked her jaw, knocked several teeth out, and sent her sprawling to the ground, moaning in pain. For a moment, he considered chasing the other Survivor down, but decided against it. The generator things weren't complete, he couldn't open the exit until she was dead, and the hatch wouldn't appear yet either… "Get… her… safe…" Slowly, the Wraith looked down, realizing clearly why she had done this. To protect the girl. The Wraith almost… never mind. The anger returned, the hunger for blood, and he snarled. He grabbed her leg and pulled her back, then viciously drove his weapon down into her back.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap…" Felix wheezed, feeling exhausted but refusing to run. From the screams of agony and sounds of crunching bone, he knew what was happening. Hope didn't, and despite his best attempts to cover her hears, the screams didn't go unnoticed, and she began to cry in fear. "Hey! Hey, hey, hey… don't cry! Please, like, please don't cry…" Felix muttered, hiding in the barn. He looked down at the crying Hope. "She's not gone forever, she's just… dead, for now…" Those words didn't seem to help at all. A few moments later, he felt he invisible shockwave and sighed deeply. He was all that was left… well, him and Hope. He paused, trying to feel the hatch opening… yet there was nothing. But that meant he needed to fix a generator still and then open the exit gate, while carrying Hope and being hunted by the Wraith! Ugh… this was going to be a nightmare. Felix didn't want to put Hope down, not even for a second, not with the Wraith out for blood and him not in the best shape. He looked at her once more, and saw something deformed in her pocket. Reaching in, his eyes widened in shock at the key he held. This was one of the rarest offerings the Entity would allow them to have! It would allow them to open the hatch! They could make it out! All they had to do was find the hatch, and then they were home free! "Hope… I think I love you…" Felix weakly laughed. His laughter seemed to calm Hope somewhat, at least enough to get her to stop laughing.

"Gapluth?"

Bong… Bong…

"Okay… hold on tight!" Felix ordered, and took off running. He wasn't the most athletic man alive, heck, even among the Survivors he wasn't the fastest, but he had a plan. Run like heck! Using hay bales and old farm equipment for cover, Felix darted about the old farm, searching high and low for that hatch that could get him to safety. He didn't know where the Wraith was, he had cloaked himself for the time being, and that was part of why he refused to stay in one place for more than a few seconds. Sure, running around would make more noise, but it could also possibly act as a distraction at the same time.

In what was probably three of the most nerve-wracking minutes of Felix's life, he dashed about the realm, before nearly tripping over the metal door in the ground. With a deep sigh of relief, he hid Hope in a nearby bush and set to opening the hatch. It would take a few seconds, but then they'd be free, and that was all that mattered. He felt the murky hot air blast his face as it swung open, and he scooped up Hope, turning back to the-

Bong… Bong…

"Motherf-" He began, but screamed in pain when the Wraith's weapon tore through the back of his leg. He fell to the ground, roughly landing as he forced himself over to land on his back as not to harm Hope. The baby screamed and began crying again, and Felix looked to her, then to the hatch. He saw the Wraith cleaning his weapon, then pause for a second, looking at the both of them.

"Claudette… please don't kill me for this…" Felix whimpered, then did the stupidest thing he figured he'd ever do. He threw a baby. It wasn't a harsh throw, but the action seemed to surprise even the Wraith, who watched in disbelief as Hope was tossed into the hatch like a sack of potatoes. Even when the metal door slammed shut after the Wraith stomped on it, and the world around them began to decay, Felix's defiant smile was unwavering.

"Up yours, Bell-Boy." Felix grinned, flipping the Wraith off as he lay bleeding on the ground. "Do your worst." As the Wraith picked up Felix and carried him towards a nearby hook, Felix prayed to whatever (good) forces above there were, that Hope made it safely back to the campfire. As the hook approached, he closed his eyes, and laughed.

He had been here longer than most. He had seen more than anyone, both in and out of this realm. Torture, death, the beginning and end of life, he felt almost… robotic, for lack of a better term. There wasn't much the one known as 'The Observer' felt anymore.

Curiosity, at the eternal library he found himself trapped in…

Confusion, as to why him, and not someone else…

Caution, as to any attempt to leave this place may end… messily…

Contrition, as for the many things he had seen, but done nothing to stop…

Calculating, as he filled out the tomes and made notes for his… well, eventual successor…

Contempt, as for the life that was stripped from him, and when the whiskey he drank ran out…

But now, he only felt one thing.

Dismay.

There was a new life in the Entity's clutches, and he could only stand back and watch. But for the first time in what could've been hundreds of years, he wished he had done something about it… Slowly, he closed the book he had been reading, and set it back on the shelf, speaking for the first time in what felt like ages, even if it was only since the girl first appeared.

"I'm so sorry."

So, I ain't saying who, but both the Survivors and Killers have a WIDE array of thoughts on the newcomer. Some want to protect her, and others couldn't care less… Part of this will be somewhat head-canon-y to fill in some of the personality bits, especially with how the Killers and Survivors view the other members of their parties, but I think what I've got is a good set up. If you think I'm doing something wrong, let me know.