Nothing was stranger than hearing the sounds of your own flesh squelch and tear as a ridiculously sized hook penetrated right through your shoulder like it was butter. But such was their twisted predicament, so he figured he would at least try to get used to the tribulation. Surely it was possible to become accustomed to this agony, right? Well, he was willing to find out. Not like he had much of a choice.
Jake focused hard.
He would not make a sound. Not a single sound. He refused to so much as whimper as he dangled there, watching the Wraith ring his blood soaked bell and disappear, off to go torment one of the others. He waited a moment, already having a plan locked in his head as the shimmering mass of the Wraith was soon out of sight.
He took in a long, deep breath that ached against the grisly hook in his shoulder. Concentrate, Jake.
Gradually he began to swing his body back and forth while grabbing onto the metal chain suspending him. With a first attempt, Jake jolted his body up and tried to unhook himself- however it seemed to only lodge the thing deeper in his flesh. He gritted his teeth together so hard they may have shattered apart into a million pieces. But he didn't groan, not even once.
Concentrate.
He took another stab at it (bad pun) and swung back before using the muscles in his abs to really get some momentum, gripping tightly at the top of the cold chain and thrust up and out. When his feet landed on the ground, Jake couldn't help but let a smirk reach his lips as he actively worked on ignoring the searing hole in his shoulder. Success.
Now that he hurdled over that obstacle, there was something that had been bugging him ever since the first trial. He turned around, evaluating the hook with great interest as his eyes walked up and down it for a few passes. Kneeling beside the base of it, Jake reached into the front of the support beam where a narrow slot was. Not really being able to see inside, he just sorta felt around for a moment. Webs, dust and dirt… but then his fingers graced a rather hefty pin at the very bottom.
"Aha!" Jake cheered, mentally applauding himself. He yanked on the pin with a head full of triumph and-
Thump!
The hook fell straight down onto his back, making him nearly break his vow to stay silent through the pain even though this was so mundane compared to the torture he'd withstood before. After taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes momentarily to compose himself from that one, he stood back and admired his handiwork. The metal hook laid on the ground, glinting in the light in a less threatening way now that it was disarmed.
Beside it was his flashlight, which he'd dropped right before getting hooked. Picking it up he flipped the switch and found that the batteries were already dead. Wow, that didn't last long at all…
He flopped the thing back to the grass and turned, deciding to explore the junkyard and hopefully see some more action.
Something about survival just sent a thrill through Jake, even if it meant he was running around and hiding from monsters. They were invincible after all, they just had to make it out each time. How hard could that be?
"How did you get into botany?"
They crept through the darkness, Claudette holding her hands out to lightly caress each plant that passed by them. The slightest golden rays coming from the campfire hardly helped her to identify what she was looking at but it would have to do.
"Uhmm," She hummed while kneeling down in front of a short bush with little purple flowers, plucking a few of the stems off. "I don't know, really. I always loved biology but botany was where I just- just felt motivated. I was that weird kid playing with bugs and dissecting plants apart on the playground… not playing kickball or hopscotch or anything like that."
Standing right beside her and making sure they were safe, Jake smiled while relating to the botanist's words.
"You weren't weird." He told her sweetly. "I loved- still love all those things too."
Something changed in Claudette's body language, her shoulders coming down as she turned and looked up at Jake. In the dim light he could see a mixture of surprise and appreciation in her features, softening the worried wrinkles in her face for just a moment.
"Really?" She asked him. He nodded like it was no big deal.
"Yeah of course." He told her, kneeling down as well to help her pick more of the stems off the bush since her hands were getting a little full. As he got closer, he realized just what she was harvesting. "Comfrey. These will do the trick."
Claudette beamed a grin at him, marveling at their shared knowledge before she decided to see how much more they had in common. "Let me guess… you hated school too?"
Jake made a silly face, dumping a few Comfrey stems and leaves into her outstretched palms. "I didn't just hate it- I despised it all to Hell."
"Hah, at least I wasn't the only one." The relief in her voice almost sounded genuine, like she actually thought she was the only person to have ever disliked school.
"But wait," Jake backtracked. "You said you are going to college in Toronto. What changed?"
"Well, I mean… I didn't like normal high school classes. Like English and history and geometry- it was all so boring. It was hard to make myself care. But I managed with the help of my mom." The girl explained, crouching over to a new bush to harvest from.
He made a knowing sigh. "Yeah, my mom has helped me a lot too."
Jake was too busy picking more plants to realize the way Claudette stopped beside him. She glanced over in concentration, really analyzing his face. He just had the same lonely and sad look behind his eyes- that same feeling she had deep down in the pit of her heart. Something about seeing it within someone else made her depressed but also happy… because that meant he understood her. Someone actually understood her and she didn't have to explain anything to them. He already knew.
In his own world, Jake thought nothing much of the words he offered Claudette. He did understand her but wasn't having quite the same reaction to their similarities. However, he did appreciate the way she was willing to help them in any way possible given the time put into harvesting the plants for their benefit. It was commendable and he respected her a lot for it.
Mentally he vowed to put in as much care as she did in order to keep them alive, trial after trial.
See, that was the thing about Jake and Claudette. They both were too damn altruistic for their own good.
"Claudette! What the fuck?!" Jake yelled at the girl as he sprinted, watching her eyes fall shut while the Wraith squeezed her taut against him. He was so mad at her but flattered at the same time. She took a hit for him? This girl really jumped out in front of a razor-sharp blade and allowed it to tear through her body in a terrifyingly gruesome way… just so it wouldn't hit him?
She would not make it to that hook, or so God help him he would do everything in his power to return the favor.
So he ran alongside the Wraith with a good distance between them, turning and twisting to try to spot the hook that the killer was actively bringing her to. Soon he locked onto it, the glaring of its sharpness being only a mere couple yards away.
"Wake up!" He shouted at her as he quickened his pace. "I need you to try to wiggle off of him!"
There was no hope as her eyes fluttered for a moment before shutting again, bloody drool slipping out of her mouth. She wasn't in great shape.
"Fuck." Jake breathed out. He needed to get to that hook fast.
With a newfound determination, Jake clenched down and kicked some power into his legs, zipping right past the Wraith and Claudette to beat them there.
He slid across the ground with his hand landing perfectly into the slot at the base of the hook, his fingers wrapping smoothly around the pin at the bottom. He pulled back on it within a millisecond. The hook dumped to the ground, leaving an indentation in the plush ground.
The Wraith paused, its beady gaze turning to Jake menacingly. In one swift motion it dropped Claudette to the ground, focusing its attention on the man who still sat under where the hook used to hang.
Perfect.
A sudden fierceness traveled through his veins, getting Jake up and on his feet in a mad flash, ready to take on the Wraith. Just like that they were in chase, flying past the junkyard with the ghostly monster right on his heels.
There was a pallet to the left, immediately drawing Jake over to it like a magnet. He stood in the center of it, waiting until the Wraith drew closer, closer… then-
Wham!
But the killer backed away right when it would've collided with him, making Jake look frantically for an escape as the Wraith circled around to meet him on the other side of the pallet. Seeing no other option, Jake threw himself across the wooden planks just as the spinal blade thwacked against it, missing him by a hair.
He could do this all day if the Wraith forced themselves to keep looping around the same spot. He slid across the pallet again- narrowly missing yet another swing as they kept playing cat and mouse together.
However his luck would soon run out as the Wraith began reaching a speed that was unmatched, really gaining on Jake as he tried vaulting over the pallet for a third time. But a vicious hand reached out and latched onto his shirt, pulling him backward over the brittle planks and dragging him to the ground.
The Wraith let out what could've been a satisfied growl right as it started slashing apart Jake's shoulder blades. One, two- three slices later had left him no longer fighting back. His vow of silence was upheld as he couldn't even manage to scream, the pain was inflicted so quickly that Jake didn't even have a single moment to register what had happened.
Blood leaked out of him at an alarming rate. Even though he knew he'd be okay if he made it out, the anguish still was real and felt life threatening.
He lifted his head up, hearing the Wraith stalk across the dead grass toward Claudette. She laid there completely still in a circle of glistening crimson with her battered face obscured by the foliage. An explosion of shock found its way into Jake's gut as he worried if she was even alive- the sensation quickly leaving once he saw her twitch and groan upon the Wraith lifting her up.
From the ground, he tracked them as they neared the hook- wait a minute?
Jake had to do a double take, blinking hard and discovering much to his horror that the previously sabotaged hook was back up on its perch, welcoming the near lifeless Claudette with an agonizing embrace. But he had disabled it? Why was it back?
That wasn't even the worst part.
As Claudette's scream shredded through the air, a big tangle of inky black branches climbed up the hook and all the way to the top. Except it didn't just stop there as the dark substances snapped and raked forward which morphed into these long, clawing appendages that began putting a needle sharp pressure against Claudette's chest.
She shouted in fear at the sight of the demonic looking limbs, using her one free arm to push them off of her. It looked like her strength was wavering while she struggled against the weight of the jagged tendrils, hands all bloody and slipping up the pitch-like surface. There wasn't much she could do with her other arm caught in the sling, being partially held down by this new and freakish addition to their torture.
The Wraith made its way back to Jake, picking him up too. As he was hauled away from the cries of Claudette he mentally degraded himself, hoping that either Dwight or Meg could save her since he'd failed to do so.
A muffled wail escaped his lips, not from the torn flesh of his back or the hole in his shoulder or even the slice in his belly, but for disappointing himself. He wanted to return the favor for the girl yet there she was at even more risk since he'd gone down too.
It was all he could think about, even as he was thrust onto the hook once again. It was now his turn to battle with the shadowy claws that ascended from the base.
This was not how things were supposed to go…
Sparks flew into Meg's face as she released the lever on the main frame of the generator. She learned from Dwight that they needed to complete five of the damned things in order to deliver enough power to the exit gates. Thankfully enough, that was the final one before they could get the Hell out.
Before she and Dwight could even stand up straight, a scream sounded off in the distance, seeming to be a little bit past the shack. A couple crows darted off into the sky, marking exactly where it had come from.
"Claudette," Meg whispered worriedly. Dwight pointed at her, gesturing to their left.
"Go get the exit open, I'll grab her." He directed the girl while hurriedly walking off.
Meg remained in place. "Wait, take this-" She handed the med-kit off to him. "It doesn't have a magical syringe or anything but her plant pouch is in there."
The man tracked backward and returned to her side, reaching for the med-kit. "Okay, thank you."
He went to walk away again when Meg interrupted. "I- if she's too hurt to explain anything to you, the plants with the purple flowers have to be chewed up and then put into the cut-"
"Alright!" He called, trying desperately to get to Claudette's aid with the new knowledge stowed in his head. But the girl still had something to say, she just was struggling to get it out.
"Dwight wait-" She watched as he painstakingly stopped in his tracks, turning to look at her, clearly wondering what was so important. The girl bit her lip. "Please be careful."
Something softened in his face as he shot her a nod, not offering up anything else as he finally retreated into the junkyard, med-kit in hand.
That was a bit unnecessary on her part but Meg was beginning to see these people as less of random strangers and more of friends that depended on each other for survival. She wanted to remind Dwight to stay safe because… well she needed him and the others. They had to protect one another. It was important.
With the melodrama aside, she hauled ass to the gate.
She yanked down on the exit gate lever, holding the pressure while each red bulb slowly lit up. One, two-
Bong! Bong!
"Shit!" Meg screeched as she quickly ducked, the Wraith's blade slamming against the exit gate switch causing a shrill noise to emanate from the contact. The missed shot hardly staggered his lanky frame, allowing him to quickly close the distance between his bloody weapon and Meg's speeding form. She had no idea where to go, having no pallets in sight or anything at all. Just a few crushed up cars and some heaps of garbage.
The Wraith swung for her and Meg could feel the blade catch her braid that flew back in the wind. That was so fucking close.
"MEG!" Hollered Dwight from behind her. Meg looked back, seeing him standing by the gate along with the bloody sight of Jake who held up an even worse looking Claudette by her waist. Dwight was finishing off the last of the gate switch, giving the girl enough courage to tank a hit from the Wraith in order to turn around and make her way back.
She came to a grinding halt, dirt and grass flying up in the air as she slid before launching back into the direction she came. The Wraith effortlessly mimicked her, being close enough now to throttle the girl with a swing of his blade. It tore through her the soft flesh of her hip, making contact with the pelvic bone. As much as Meg wanted to keep going after that punishing blow, she couldn't.
Dropping to the ground she heard the gate ding open, the metal scraping of the walls sliding over being a rather attractive sound that tantalized her while she helplessly laid beneath the Wraith's leering blade.
He brought his charred arm back, bringing it down in a fluid motion that branded her left side ribs with a grand looking gash. Meg couldn't help but scream as her hands protected the back of her head with her hands. This may have been it.
She could hear the movement of the Wraith preparing to deliver yet another hit when a pair of arms locked underneath her pits, hoisting her up off the ground. Meg knew it had to be Dwight as she struggled along, limping while nestled in him tightly and putting most of her weight on his side.
He cried out as the Wraith managed to relocate the destination of the blow right into Dwight's backside. But they were able to make enough distance before he could strike again, thus securing both Meg and Dwight the escape.
As they ran into the fog, Meg moaned and wheezed before feeling the lacerations disappear from her body, the pain ebbing off in a quick succession.
Even as her body repaired itself she didn't let go of Dwight, finding a comfort in him that made the transition back to the campfire a little more easy to bear.
Maybe things were bad… but they weren't the worst, she thought while her hand gripped the fabric of his shirt in a tight bundle, making her realize she really did not want to let go of him…