Breaking Free

That You are a Thing

Hunter thought the idea of hiding at Hexside was dangerous, but Willow said that it was probably legal for him to stay. He also did not want to return to the Owl House after everything, so he guessed Hexside would be his home for a while.

Hunter looked around the area he would be living in now. It was the school's Paranoratorium, Willow had said. Dust caked the floors, as if witches hadn't been in there for years, and cobwebs linked the corners of the room all together.

His first night there was when he found the school's library. He was still shaken up by the event and reading normally eased his nerves. He would normally do that after Belos would threaten to replace him. Sometimes, he found it idiotic of how he didn't see all of the bad signs Belos put forth against him.

But for once, reading at the midnight hours didn't ease those nerves of his; if anything, it made him even more agitated. He even felt like fainting at the sight of it all. Many books littered the shelves that all talked about the same thing. Each one he found spoke of them-of grimwalkers-and he gathered them all up and hid them behind the stage.

Each and every night was filled to the brim with words swimming through his vision. From how to create one, to the many, many ways witches would disassemble and torture them, saying of how they weren't real and only faked their pain, it all made Hunter's stomach churn for the worst. He had to keep a garbage can by the books he'd read and slept on after that.

The books lied, didn't they? He could feel agonizing and searing pain from before, and he could feel his mind think and his joints move. He was real.

At least, that's what he told himself.

The only good thing Hunter found out was that he was made of Palistrom wood. And with Belos apparently not only feeding on the magic contained in the wood, but of him also needing to have made grimwalkers multiple times, it's no wonder why the wood became rarer by day. But it did also explain how he was able to communicate with Flapjack better than other witches he'd seen on his patrols. The wooden cardinal would chirp rapidly around him, and he would understand every single word.

But after that first night, he decided he would never tell Willow of who he was. He should tell her the truth, though. She even explained to him on their way to the school more about friends, and how friends should be able to tell each other anything. After everything the girl had done, it would at least be a way to pay her back by telling her the truth. Yet, she also said that friends don't have to tell each other everything.

So, he didn't.

Willow had promised that she would drop by the room whenever she was able to in order to drop off a meal for him. And they would talk as he ate; the secret filled books laying only mere inches away from them behind the curtain. Dread filled his stomach, besides the food, as she would tell him about her day, and all he could do was nod and listen. He only mumbled during her visits.

He would have to hide his lies with a shaky smile. He knew she'd noticed them. She never said anything, but he knew she knew. And the few days he'd been here felt fearful and crushing to lie right in front of her.

But when she would leave for the day, and return back home to her family, a sense of terror would find its way to his mind once more. His body usually shook with fear and any sudden noises would make him flinch. Even with Flapjack by him, endless dreams (Could he even call them that?) of the past Golden Guards plagued his nights. Flapjack could only do so much to comfort him. And he missed her.

Whenever Hunter thought of Willow, something he didn't understand would happen, and his entire body would feel warm, and not like the lava or fire he'd trained around when he was younger. He would sometimes stumble a bit if he was walking around, or even standing, at the near thought of her. Flapjack would also give him a look whenever he rambled on about her, even going as far as to pecking hearts into the stage's wooden flooring. Stupid bird.