Tony fell to his knees, his fists pounding into the floor.
"NOOO!" His breath was fast and shallow, a cold sweat on his brow. Slowly clenching his shaking hands into fists, he began continuously pounding them into the floor until he ran out of energy. Slowly slumping forwards, he let himself fall onto his side. After a few long moments, he heard Clint's voice shouting from his phone that still was lying in the doorway. Staring at it blankly, he stretched his arm out to grab it, slowly bringing it to his ear.
"-me what's going on! Tony, where's-"
"He's gone," Tony interrupted quietly, causing Clint to go silent. "He's… He's gone. I couldn't…"
"Tony, where are you?"
"I couldn't reach him in time… I couldn't… I couldn't save him I… Wasn't fast enough…"
"Tony," Clint repeated firmly. "Tell me where you are."
"I DON'T KNOW," Tony yelled back, gripping his phone tightly. "I don't fucking know! I can't see! There's fucking doors and walls, Barton. Doors and walls."
"Okay, okay! Calm down! We're going to find Bruce, we just have to-"
"If you mention that fucking basement one more time," Tony warned, his eyes narrowing as he slowly sat up again.
"I'm back where we split up," Clint offered, ignoring the threat. "Which direction did Bruce go?"
"Besides into thin air?" Tony scowled at nothing in particular. "Left."
"Left! Okay," he paused. "Tony? Just… Stay put and keep talking, okay? Keep talking so I know you're still there. I'm not losing you, too."
"Talk? Talk about what?" Tony scoffed, pushing up off the ground to stand.
"Errr… Anything. I don't know."
"How about what I'm going to do to that thing once we find it? Especially if Bruce is-" he stopped short, a lump forming in his throat. Closing his eyes tightly, he leaned heavily against the closet door.
"Tony? Tony, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here. Calm your tits, Barton."
"Alright, well you just suddenly cut off, so…"
"Whatever, it wasn't anything. I'm fine."
"Okay, okay. Anyways, yeah, go with that. What're you going to do once we find it?"
"Find a way to catch it. Trap it. Then once we get out of this hell-hole, I'm going to take it to my workshop. Test on it. Torment it. Break it. But, of course, keep it alive. That way, it'll-"
"You might want to chill out a little, Stark, you're starting to sound pretty psychopathic."
"Fine," Tony scoffed, crossing his arms and opening his eyes to the dark hall in front of him. "I'll kill it. I'll find a weapon. Maybe take one of the brooms from this closet. A little ammonia, maybe. Bleach. And I'll kill it."
"I really don't know if that's better, but…" Clint sighed. "I mean, we are probably going to have to kill it. The bleach really isn't a bad idea, though."
"You think?"
"Alright, you're still..?"
"Standing in the doorway of the closet. Yeah."
"Can you hear me talking yet?"
"I've been hearing you this whole time, haven't I?"
"Not through the phone, smart ass."
"No."
"Okay…" Clint paused. "God, how long are these hallways?"
"Too long."
"No kidding… Have they always been this big?"
"Are we still talking about the hallways?"
"...You're making a dick joke now?"
"Someone had to." Another pause.
"Wait. Say something again."
"..Something again?"
"I heard you!"
"Oh, shit!" Tony's eyes lit up slightly as he realized there was a faint echo in Clint's voice. "Yeah!"
"Okay, okay, shine your phone down the hall! So I can see if you're down this hall or around the corner yet!" Tony quickly turned on the flashlight, shining it down the hall.
"Can you see it?" He squinted, trying to see further down the hallway.
"I- No," Clint grunted softly, taking a quick, pointless glance behind him before jogging forwards and around the corner. "Wait! There you are! Two seconds!" He grinned slightly as he took off running towards Tony. Though as soon as he was within 20 feet of Tony, his flashlight went out. "Tony?!" Clint ran faster, slowing down quickly and running straight through where Tony had been standing and into the closet. His breath catching in his throat, he spun around. "Tony?!" Exiting the closet, he fumbled with his phone, turning the flashlight on and looking around frantically for his friend. When he saw nothing but an empty hall in front of him and an empty closet behind him, he glanced at his screen. Tony was still on the phone. Practically slamming the device to his ear, he prayed for a response. "Tony! Tony, are you there?!"
There was only silence. Until-
"No- Tony!" Clint faintly heard Bruce yell from somewhere on the line.
"Bruce?!"
"You will never get away with this," Thor warned. Clint swallowed hard, realizing he was unheard. There was a deep chuckle.
"But I already have…" Clint's heart dropped, hearing the creature's voice with his friends. There was more silence, followed by the sound of footsteps.
"Tony," Bruce whispered after a few moments. "Tony, wake up!"
"Bruce, give him a minute..." Was that- Steve? Realizing he was holding his breath, Clint exhaled harshly, holding his phone so tight to his ear that it was practically a part of it.
"But he-"
"As long as it's not in here, Tony'll be fine." Natasha. She was still alive! They all were! Now all Clint had to do was find where they were, avoid the monster and escape with them, and they would all be-
There was a sudden sharp prick to the back of Clint's neck, causing him to collapse onto the floor, dropping his phone. Blinking slowly, he watched the light of his phone grow dim with what was left of his vision. The pain in his neck went from a dull pain to a paralyzing icy sting, spreading quickly throughout his entire body, making it hard to breathe. He felt his body being dragged across the floor as it slowly went numb, his vision fading completely into darkness.
Reviews:
GabycatStark13: OH HELL NO! BRUCE! Im pretty sure that the monster is Slenderman's brother or cousin. Your fic is the only one of Horror/Suspense that I read. And I love it, so much :D
Ahhhhh that makes me feel so special I love you 3 Also, yeah, not going to lie. Slenderman was absolutely what I had imagined first, but I figured I'd make my own thing hahah
ilikehats2: (Hands cover mouth) I'm so happy this chapter was posted.. But I'm so sad! I can feel Tony's heart breaking at the freaking reality that his best friend might be dead. *turns angry with grief* God sakes Banner, did it never occur to you to just follow their advice, even you said yourself that it was a bad idea and you had to "die" ((because I don't know if your dead yet)) before saying I told you so! Clint better run, Tony's gonna kill him because this was his idea... Also, Where are the police? If this Fury suddenly pulling the worst joke on them to teach them all a life lesson? Did they just realize, "Hey that was HAWKEYE on the phone... I'm sure whatever's going on the avengers got this handled." Or maybe they seriously believed it was an April fools joke.
Holy review oh my god 3. And yeah, Bruce was kind of like... Under a trance, almost. So he wasn't exactly paying attention ;) ALSO yeah Tony was kind of pissed. The policeeeee... Well, I'll get to that.
gblack7: Okay, I've followed this story for a bit and it just keepa getting better! I can't wait for the next installment. Also, BRUCE WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? You know they are in trouble if Clint and Tony become the most rational ones of the team. I hope everyone's alive and well, but, still I'm biting my fingernails waiting to find out. If I could ask, how many chapters are left in the story? Also, it's storming and thundering dark right now. I probably shouldn't have read the most recent chapter... your faithful Italian reader.
Aww, thank you so much! (and Italy oh my god people are from all over the world reading this that's crazy) AND RIGHT LIKE IF TONY AND CLINT ARE BEING THE RATIONAL ONES, LIKE. OH BOY. I'm not sure how many chapters I'm going to have, yet, actually! I know exactly what I'm doing for the next, like, two, but it's not going to end there.
Alystaire: ASDFGHJKL I can't help but love how somehow fucked up this is but deliciously terrifying and good that I can't help but keep reading on and when I just saw that it ends on this chapter, OH MY JEEZ WHY!? UPDATE SOON
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: God, do I love terrifying the masses. 3