As you can imagine, from there on out, things got worse. Around every corner, I was looking for Eddie. I was expecting him to pop out from anywhere. I made Waylon investigate the kitchen for a little while longer, seeing if we could find anything useful, which of course we didn't. So I lead him back through the gymnasium and into some sort of locker room. That was when I heard a door open and a familiar song being sung louder and louder as it got closer and closer.

"When I was a boy my mother often said to me, get married son and see, how happy you will be~"

"Fuck." I glanced up at the lockers that blocked us from sight. No more hiding. Not in those. I can't risk one of us being hauled back to the chopping block, literally. I crawled with Waylon around corners and into the shadows. It seemed safe after a few minutes, after Eddie had stopped singing. I hadn't hesitated to hum along with him to calm myself down. I stood up and traveled the halls of the Vocational Block carefully. I knew there was some sort of chapel around here that Father Clarke had set up a while back. We could escape through there.

There it was.

"Holy shit. Is that..?"

"Just ignore it." Eddie, like he said, had made himself a bride. She was as beautiful as an ugly, dead man could get. It wasn't surprising. I mean, Eddie was a man of his word… but this was fucked up. But then, I saw something glimmer in the bride's hand. It was a key, most likely a substitute for a ring. I pointed at it, "Look! Go get it."

Waylon looked at me with a disgusted expression.

"I'll do it then. Fucking idiot. Go hide somewhere."

It's been a while since I called Waylon stupid. I guess I've been trying to go easy on him. But that'll never do. The moment I reached for our means of escape, I saw the shadow of an angry man standing at the end of the aisle. "Filthy sluts. You're like all the others, you don't deserve my children!" He rushed at me faster than I could escape. I saw stars as he tackled me and pinned me to the wall. "You don't even deserve to live."

"Please…"

His hand slithered around my neck.

"D-don't… please, don't."

I felt his fingers grip at my throat. "You fucking whore." His breath was hot on my face.

"Eddie, s-stop." I felt the tears coming. Oh God, no.

It was getting harder to breathe as he choked me more and more. "Why would I ever trust you with my children?"

"B-because you're an idiot."

He sneered.

"I-I told you…" I gasped for air, "…that I fucking hate kids. Please. P-Please Eddie…"

I saw him swallow and watch my face turn purple. I suddenly felt his hand release me and I remembered going unconscious before hitting the floor. The impact made me regain consciousness, and I gasped for air. Waking up, I heard his voice above me.

"…arling! Darling! Oh my God are you hurt? This was a mistake! I'm sorry!"

"E-Eddie?" I coughed. I felt him pick me up into his lap and pull me close.

"Darling! Oh thank God you're alright. I'm so sorry! Please… Don't tell me you hate me!"

"N-no, Eddie. I'm just… out of breath." I was in shock. Everything seemed as back to normal as it could get at this point. It was like something out of a movie, that sense of relief. I pressed my head to his chest. I didn't know when he would forget about me again. He looked back down at me. I felt a few teardrops fall from my eyes. "Please don't let me go. N-not again, Eddie."

"Darling…" Hugging me tighter, he rested his chin on my head.

I felt the tears run down my face and I tasted them when I licked my lips. Salty, but ever so blissful in that moment. "Eddie… Is that really you in there?" I spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb the silence that swathed the room.

"As much of me as I have left."

"Come escape with us. Eddie, we can go home now."

"I can't. Not anymore. Besides, I have no home."

"You can come with me. We'll live with my mom. Eddie, everything can be alright."

He shook his head. "You and I… we're as broken as people can get. But I'm worse than even that. And I can't stop myself, Darling. The Walrider is in my head."

"No."

"Run. Run away from me, and remember me when I was…" He pondered for the correct word, " trustworthy."

"Eddie…" I was becoming panicked. I told him I'd take him with me. "Eddie, I can't do that."

"Get away from me." He pushed me out of his lap gently.

"Eddie, you can fight this. You don't have to be consumed by Murkoff's bullshit. I can take you away from here. We can get you therapy and then you can have that family you always wanted!"

"I'll never have a family, dammit! Don't you see? I'm ruined! Fucking ruined by these god damn machines! You don't understand."

"No, I do!"

"You don't. You fucking slut." He slowly stood up, towering over me.

I blinked. "Eddie." I backed myself against the wall, slowly sliding up it to stand straight.

"All of you are whores!"

"Eddie, don't do this to me." I was beginning to back away from him and move towards where Waylon was hiding.

"No one understands! You all want to run away from me!"

"No… no." Tears stained my entire face. I inhaled, eyes still fixed on Eddie. "Waylon, run."

The techie looked at me through the gap he was hiding in. "What?"

"Fucking run!" I shouted at him and bolted away as fast as I could. I knew mood swings had begun to come over Eddie when he had suffered about three years of on-and-off therapy, but it was always terrifying to experience first-hand. And now he had a knife. He was armed and he would kill.

I wish I had had the nerve to destroy Murkoff back when Eddie was still "trustworthy". Whenever that was. I would have broken out years ago if I was more gutsy then. I would have willingly dragged out the man that woke up right next to me every morning, even if that meant sleeping on the floor of his cell. I would have willingly taken him from Murkoff, ran, and never looked back. Now he refused to leave. Fuck, if my heart wasn't hurting now, then I didn't know what pain was. I felt a bruise forming around my neck. His hand. A bruise shouldn't feel like it has sentimental value. But if that was the last touch I'll have from him, then dammit I will tattoo that bruise onto my neck if it kills me.

Fuck you, Murkoff. I'm coming for your asses.

0000

IM REALLY FUCKING PUTTING OFF THE STORYLINE OF THE ACTUAL GAME BECAUSE ;_;

But ok this is here for feels and such. I hope im not writing Eddie too wrong. Lol but im glad to see this has gotten so much positive feedback. I expected it to crash and burn since it was like one of the only Outlast fanfics with a male OC. Thanks guys the suggestions are really helping me get ideas. I'm sure no one will be disappointed 3

-Hollow