Lethean (William Afton X Reader)

彡[ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 52: ꜱᴄʀᴀᴛᴄʜ]彡

🎶Hold me now
It's hard for me to say I'm sorry
I just want you to stay

🎶After all that we've been through
I will make it up to you, I promise to
And after all that's been said and done
You're just the part of me I can't let go, ooh

The mall bookstore was probably the quietest place I've ever visited in this city. My legs were stretched on the carpeted floor, crossed on the ankles as my back leaned on the wall. Stacks of books supported my elbows while my hands held the edges of the thick paper texts. Hidden music played from the earbuds plugged into my ears and fortunately, I'm at the very back of the room which I think is the coldest part. Anyway, I like the cold and comfort of this spot.

I had to wait for three days just to go out of the complex because my nose keeps bleeding, so the trash bin looked like a cleanup of a crime scene. Don't ask me why I haven't fainted yet, it's probably because of the remnant that may be the reason why I'm conscious. It's too bad that the journal doesn't say much about the substance since it focuses much more on the time travel portion. 

William undoubtedly knows a lot about it, he made it in the first place for... reasons. But I can't just waltz in and say "Hey, I know we just met literally days ago but I got this weird immortality goo coursing in my veins, and since you're like the inventor of this, can you tell me more about it?"  He's gonna either give me a death stare or drive a knife through my neck because of this knowledge. Assumably saying that I'm actually (Y/N) can save me from suffering that fate, but that would mean it won't work. That's not the plan, and that's not the point.

It's suffering in silence, I guess.

I checked the time on my phone, realizing how long I'd been in this cozy spot, and packed up my notebook and pencil, along with a few pens for practice. My legs felt all wobbly and shit when I got on my own two feet. 5 hours of staying in one position without considering making any movement was a bad idea.

While I did go to the bookstore to practice and study, I also bought myself a little treat to pass time, even if there was a chance of not getting a moment once I do start the main course of the plan. Currently, it's just step one, the next will require me to concentrate like never before, and trust me, what comes after that is the difficult part. I need to trust lady luck on it.

Since I felt parched, I bought vanilla iced coffee from the nearby stall before I headed out of the mall. These dark clouds never left the metropolis; sometimes it's fair, sometimes it's not. Never have I heard the news or the radio tell us anything about a typhoon or a hurricane. Everyone would just assume it'll go away the next day. Yes, rainy days are comfortable but not when you're outside.

I was on my somewhat carefree and merry way back to the apartment when I heard hushed voices coming from the unlit passage just before the turn to the pedestrian crosswalk. Now naturally, a person would steer clear and I would too, but the voices sounded like they belonged to children, angry ones at that. A bottle shattering on the ground echoed from within, that's not normal.

I decidedly walked towards the ruined corridors and silently peeked from a corner. There were 5 of them, based on their silhouettes. The group was too far to hear their conversation so I just approached them like it was nothing. I'm not afraid of some kids.

"Well, this is nostalgic," I spoke before taking a sip of caffeine, getting their attention. Their ages possibly range around 12-15 years old, and they all looked like a bunch of assholes just from the way they dress. Two of those assholes were holding down one kid whose arms were gripped on the back to stop movement. 

Several pairs of eyes gazed upon me, and noticeably trembled upon the sight of someone very much taller and stronger than them. "What do you want, lady? Can't you see we're dealing with someone right now?" one of them mumbled.