Hello everyone! This will sadly be the last chapter, but I hope you've enjoyed the story and enjoy the ending.
Thank you all for being patient with me for this chapter.
I hope you enjoy, Merry Christmas, and peace out..~
Waiter and the man ran through the floor, not looking back in fear of what may of been lurking there.
The man was beginning to become tired, running without much of a break here and there.
Waiter on the other hand though was full of energy, and granted he had been running too, but he couldn't get tired as easily for a number of reasons.
Hearing heavy footsteps clanging down the stairs behind them, Waiter's heart sunk as he knew Follower would be upon them soon enough.
Nothing he could do or say would convince him to stop, and he knew that.
"FASTER!" Waiter screeched to the man as they ran through the halls.
Garbage crunched under their heavy feet, and they almost tripped a couple of times.
"FASTER!" Waiter hissed again, not having the courage to look behind him.
"I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN!" The man replied back, having trouble catching his breath.
Waiter's gaze shifted from the man's back down to the lighter in his hands.
"Burn him... Burn him..." He heard a voice whisper in his head.
The red lighter looked almost hypnotizing, with a potential for such destruction.
"WAITER!" He heard the man scream. His thoughts were broken as he whipped his head back up, realizing he had stopped in his own tracks.
The dragon lifted off into flight, flying down the hall as fast as he could to meet back up with the man.
"How many more floors until we're out?" The man asked, glancing back at him.
"About two..."
Their footsteps grew more heavy and painful as they continued on, now hearing the heavy hooves not far behind.
"He's going to get us..." Waiter mumbled, flying faster and glancing behind him.
His pupils shrunk, horrified.
There he was, eyes pitch black, now red pupils.
His target was them, and he knew he wasn't going to allow any survivors.
"RUN!" Waiter yelped, shoving the man in an effort to make him go faster.
Follower was now only a few feet away from them, and with Waiter being behind the man, he knew he'd be the first to go.
"Did you really think you could escape me?" Follower asked, a demonic grin on his face.
Waiter didn't respond, instead he stopped flying, and swiped at him, much to his surprise.
"Ah, fighting back now.. Are we?" Follower growled, quickly snagging Waiter by the throat and slamming him against the wall.
"K-KEEP GOING!" Waiter choked out, seeing the man give a quick nod as he ran on.
Shaking his head, Follower sighed. "It's a shame... You really could've been one of us.. You could have been useful... But now- You're gonna die..."
Waiter let out an ear piercing scream as he felt his stomach being torn into, and his stuffing pulled out.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"
Chuckling, Follower slammed him to the ground, shaking his head as he put his hoof on top of the smaller puppet.
He shifted his weight onto him, smiling when he saw the pain he was in.
"That's right... When I'm finished with you you're go-"
Out of the dark Greeter slammed Follower to the ground, shrieking and screaming as the two swiped at each other.
The pink bird bit at the bigger puppet, managing to rip him up here and there.
"YOU STUPID BIRD!" Follower screamed, making a fist and punching him in the side of the face.
The bird went flying off of him and yelped as he smacked against the wall.
Waiter, who was now only able to shakily stand to his feet, saw the two several feet away.
Follower loomed over the bird, rips in his body, and stuffing showing.
"So... This is what it's come to..?" Follower asked, looking to Waiter.
The dragon held one of his arms close to his stomach, holding the wound and breathing heavily.
"Two traitors and a pure..."
Greeter sprung up, latching onto Follower and managing to slam him to the ground.
"Pure? You're no pure.. You're far from it.." He snapped, glaring at him with nothing but hatred In his soul.
Follower went to lunge back up, but Greeter slashed at his face, hooking one of his claws into one of his eyes.
The bigger puppet screamed at the pain, squirming and kicking furiously as he felt the eye being ripped out of socket.
Greeter looked at the eye that was entangled in his claws, flinging it off into a pile of garbage.
He saw a black substance coating his claws, not knowing fully what it was.
It wasn't blood.. They didn't have that. They didn't have any bodily liquid that he could think of..
"What is this..?" He asked, looking down at Follower.
Lying on the floor, holding his hand over his eye in a great deal of pain, Follower shrugged, glaring at him with hate.
"Well, there's about to be a lot more of it spilled!" Follower grinned, springing up suddenly and smacking Greeter against the wall.
"Waiter!" Greeter shrieked out, yelping as Follower ripped into his stomach, grabbing clumps of stuffing and pulling them out.
The dragon's eyes widened at the horrific scream, and looked up, trying to fight of fainting.
"R-Run! Save the man-" His pleas were cut short as Follower picked him up, and slammed him down onto the ground.
The little dragon scurried off into an old room, his vision becoming more blurred as he tried to push his body harder.
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE COWARD!" He heard Follower scream.
He stumbled to the bed, crawling under it and taking shaky breaths. He closed his eyes tightly, praying that he didn't see which room he had gone into.
All went silent, and he took a slow, shallow breath as he opened his eyes.
His heart sank when he saw Follower's hooves across the room.
Slowly, he was approaching the bed.
Looking at the wall that the bed was against, Waiter's eyes light up as he scrambled over to the vent.
He reached up, silently pulling the vent off of the wall.
"GOT YA!" He heard Follower scream, as he saw the bed fly off of the floor.
Quickly, Waiter scrambled into the vent, sliding down it as he closed his eyes in relief.
There was no way Follower could ever fit down the vent, even if he tried.
He was safe. As he felt himself come to the end of the slope, he took deep gentle breaths.
Resting was his best option, anything else would get him killed.
Shakily lifting his hand up, he looked at the lighter that he had managed to hold onto.
He knew Greeter was most likely dead... And he didn't have anything to go on for.. In fact his existence was painful.
"I'll burn the place from the bottom up.." He told himself before he lost consciousness.
The man was now on the first floor, still running for his life.
Some guilt was building up inside of him for leaving Waiter behind, but he knew he really had no choice.
Staying behind would've gotten himself killed too.
He knew that, but he couldn't help but feel guilty.
But he also knew that dwelling on that would get him killed.
He needed to have one focus and one focus only...
Getting out alive.
Whatever happened to this building, the puppets.. It didn't matter much to him.
He heard something screaming from several floors up.
The sound of it sent chills down his spine, and he shivered as he continued on.
His heavy feet weren't helping matters any.
"Gotta get out.. Gotta get out..." He kept muttering under his breath as he approached the exit.
Follower growled as he barely missed grabbing onto Waiter.
He heard him slide down the air vent and turned around, knowing he wouldn't be able to continue chasing him.
His original objective returned to his mind. Killing that man.
He darted out of the room, taking off down the halls as fast as his hooves would carry him.
Waiter opened his eyes. He had to keep going, or else Follower would get the man.
Struggling to roll over, he began crawling down the vent. He looked at each vent opening, seeing the old abandoned rooms.
He saw the occasional rat or cockroach, but there was no sign of the man or any puppet.
He continued on, one of his hands in a fist, holding the lighter tightly in his grasp.
Burning down the place was his only hope to help the man escape, and for he himself to be free.
He looked down, seeing another drop in the air vent.
Taking a deep breath, he slid down the side of the vent wall.
Once his feet hit the cold metal bottom, he looked up, seeing his own breath coming out of his mouth.
He had to hurry.
The man darted to the exit, pushing on the door.
Nothing.
He tried pulling on it.
Nothing.
Kicking.
Nothing.
He backed up and rammed into the door.
Nothing.
The sound of footsteps were approaching rather quickly.
Looking around panicked, he saw there were no windows on this level.
Perfect..
The man turned and saw the Follower standing at the far end of the hallway.
His red pupils piercing his soul.
"Sins.. Must be.. Taken care of.." He growled, taking a slow, calm step towards him.
The man turned and began banging on the door once again, trying his best to get it opened.
"Sins.. Can't.. Escape.." Follower growled, a blank stare on his face.
"COME ON!" The man grumbled under his breath, kicking at the bottom of the door.
"Sins... Will be.. Made clean.."
Follower was now only several feet away from the man.
"Sins.. Can't run.."
Another pair of footsteps were heard, Follower spun around and came face to face with Greeter.
The bird lunged at him, latching onto his face and clawing and biting at him.
"GET OFF!" He screamed, kicking the pink bird off.
Waiter heard screams, and knew that he had to hurry.
He came up to a vent door, and kicked it out. He found himself outside...
It had been so long since he'd been out there.
But none of that mattered to him.
He jumped out onto the cold alley streets, and scurried over to the door.
Jumping up, he knocked several boards off the door with his claws.
The boards were sent flying in several directions.
Suddenly the door swung open, the man stumbling out.
Waiter gave him a weak smile, pacing up the steps that he had just fled down.
"Waiter! Come on!" The man urged.
Waiter simply shook his head. "No..."
The man gave him a slightly shocked look. "Why?!"
Waiter walked into the building, giving a simple shrug and sighing.
"I'm ending this.. Nightmare.. I have nothing to go on for.. I don't have a soul anyway.."
The man stood there, panting and catching his breath. "Well.. T-Thank you... Waiter.."
The dragon nodded, looking at the boards he ripped off.
He also saw a hammer not far from them. "Board up the place.. I won't let Follower escape..."
The man nodded, watching as Waiter slipped inside the building, turning to him and nodding.
Slamming the door shut quickly, the man began to board up the old building.
Turning to face what was in front of him, Waiter saw Follower and Greeter clawing and biting at each other on the floor.
He held the lighter tightly, holding down the button. His pupils locked onto the flames.
"W-Waiter.." Greeter choked out, as Follower loomed over him, tearing into him.
Waiter and Greeter's eyes locked, as the pink bird struggled to draw breath.
"D-Do it.."
The dragon wasted no time in quickly running down the hall, dragging the lighter on the wall as he ran.
"NO! YOU IDIOT!" Follower roared, trying to snatch the dragon up as he ran by.
The dragon jumped over his arms, extending his wings and taking off into flight.
Failing to catch him, the angry puppet turned to the injured bird and growled, stomping down hard on his neck, hearing a quick yelp of pain before Waiter went limp.
Waiter flew up the stairs, lighting the old wallpaper on fire as he flew on.
He came to the second floor, still setting everything on fire as he went.
Looking behind him, he saw the fire spreading rather quickly. The flames spread among the trash scattered on the floor.
Smiling, knowing that it was all almost over, Waiter continued on.
Looking up, he saw Follower charging for him through the flames.
His eyes widened as he went to fly up to an air vent, but he felt the puppet grab his wing.
Letting out a loud scream, he squirmed as he felt his wing being torn off.
"You're a sin.. A sin.. You.. You're the sin..." Follower muttered under his breath as he finished tearing the wing off, dropping it to the ground.
He slid his hand over to his other wing, beginning to tear at it as Waiter kicked him, sending the puppet back into the flames.
Waiter hit the floor, whining in pain as he reached for the lighter.
He needed to light as much on fire as he could, and quickly.
Before he could get it to light again, he turned to see Follower emerging from the flames; his body alight.
"S-SINSS..." He snarled as he latched onto the dragon, having a death grip on his legs.
Waiter was surprised to see Follower lying motionless as the flames swallowed him.. Almost as if he was wanting it to end.
Waiter took a raspy breath, feeling the flames now traveling onto him.
He cringed in pain, and took one last look up at the old building that was now filled with smoke.
He did it.. For once he saved someone... Innocent or not- Sin or pure... He did it..
And he felt sleepy... He didn't feel pain.
The feeling was nice... Comforting...
Like he was going to sleep in a nice warm bed...
Though.. He'd never wake up...
He smiled as he drew one last breath, closing his eyes.
"I'm... Pure..."
The man stood and saw the building going into flames.
"You did it.." He muttered, smiling a bit.
Hearing the sound of sirens, he knew that signaled his exit.
"Maybe we'll meet again.. Someday.. You clever dragon.." He smiled, rushing off into the alleys, narrowly missing the cops.
"That's how my story goes..." A man laughed, taking another sip of his drink.
Another man who sat next to him in a stool laughed. "Ha! Had too many shots, buddy?" He chuckled, taking a rather big drink out of his cup.
The man merely shrugged, looking to the left of him, seeing another man sitting there wide eyed.
"You think I'm bloody crazy too.. Don't ya?" He sighed, taking the last drink of his alcohol and wiping his mouth.
Without waiting for the man to respond, he slammed some cash on the counter and walked out, pulling his coat on before vanishing into the blizzard.
The man who sat wide eyed turned back to his own drink, pushing it away and sighing.
The other man who got a good kick out of the other man's story chuckled, looking to the scared looking man.
"What's gotten into ya? You don't believe him... Do you?"
"No..." The man said, pulling out a old black and white photo out of his coat pocket.
The photo depicted him and three puppets.
Waiter.. Greeter.. And Follower.. And in the middle of the picture stood himself.
"Not at all..."
The other man who was laughing moments before, turned to him, taking another drink out of his cup. "What's your name anyway?"
"...Tim..."