ALL TOO WELL || druig x reader

chapter three: three days later

Sprite had said that Druig used to joke about how much you loved large settlements; cities; towns; bustling urban spaces. It was only when you got to New York City that you realised they'd both been right.

On a whim, you'd booked it across the World to one of the largest cities on the globe. It was a no-brainer when you'd decided it. And now; strolling through the cold November streets, on your third day in the city, was just another day where you felt more at ease.

Away from Sersi and Sprite. Away from them knowing.

You grabbed a coffee from a small stand by Times Square, clutching it in your cold palms and sipping at it slowly. This was nice. This felt like freedom. But that's what you thought every time you moved somewhere.

When you left first, you landed in what was now Italy. The Roman Empire had been amazing to witness first-hand. After it fell, you travelled parts of what was now South America, the Middle East and Africa. You'd lived over most of the globe by the time the 17th Century had arrived. That's when you settled in England, moving cities every few years until you'd lived on every square inch of the island— and then you moved to London in 2018.

Secretly, it had always been your favourite place. You'd been somewhat of a nomad, a wayward traveller, in other places, never securing proper friendship with another. Until Heidi came along.

You tried not to think of her standing next to you now, looking up at Times Square with you. Laughing at the flashy adverts and idiots on the street. You knew she'd love it.

You rolled your eyes and sighed. "Arishem, kill me," you whispered, as a sort of prayer. You didn't mean it, nor did you think Arishem was ever listening to you. It didn't matter if he was—you wouldn't follow him blindly anymore. Not the way you did when you were young.

You walked further into Times Square, until you were almost surrounded in a bustling sea of Christmas shoppers and tourists. You stepped forward, and accidentally bumped into a man.

"Sorry," you apologised quickly. He turned to you slowly.

"Behind you," he said, his face blank.

"What?" you asked, your brows furrowed.

A man to your left turned to face you suddenly. "Behind you," he said, as you whipped your stare onto him as well. You took a fumbling step back when you realised—their eyes were gold, their faces as expressionless as slate, their minds being controlled by an outside source to say these words.

"No," you whispered. "No, no, no,"

"Behind you!" a woman screamed in your face suddenly, causing you to fall backwards onto the cold concrete ground. As you did, you were battered by the sudden stomps of running feet. Civilians rushed forward, their mouths spouting yells of concern and screams of terror.

As you lay on the floor, you twisted around behind you—

Arishem, maybe you did hear.

The deviant saw you before you could move, running at full speed and crashing through humans to get to where you were. Instead of the other way round, like it used to be, it was going just for you.

There was a moment when you held your breath, accepted this fate, because there was nothing you could fucking do. You couldn't supress the emotions of a deviant, you couldn't calm it down to a lulled sleep. You knew how to fight; people, yes; but not a creature of this size.

You were done for.

You closed your eyes.

Arishem, let him be happy.