The Shapeshifter | Deleted Chapters

46

A/N: I'm very glad I originally rated this story as Mature, as this chapter starts to go in a slightly darker and a little more sexual route. Just take this as a pre warning before stepping on.

You had planned on checking back in at the killer's camp swiftly and seeing if Eric was there, but the Entity decided it was a great idea to drag you into a trial before you could even try.

You had never seen Coldwind before, so you had to admit that the place felt a little nicer than the other shadowy and dark maps. Just a little. The bright atmosphere was great, but the mountain of corn fields was just a tad bit irritating.

A chime rang out through the trial as you approached the shack generator. It didn't sound like anything you'd heard before. You shrugged it off and decided to glance around as you started working. Quiet footsteps were making their way around to the window.

Peering over your shoulder, a red biker jacket and puffy cheeks were visible. Claire hopped over the window and took a small breath before smiling your way.

"Oh. Hey." She waved a hand, moving to help with the machine. For a while now, you had noticed she was very antsy. That had only increased after the situation with Eric. Watching her brother get impaled had without a doubt left a mark on her.

You were split between trusting him and not. Normal Eric? Yep. Swell guy with a good sense of humour. Hell, he even had a similar music taste to you. But that little alter ego? Yeah, fuck that. Yui wouldn't shut up talking about him either.

"Claire?" You looked over at her. She hummed in response, but it was barely audible over the bashing and shunting of the generator's innards. You placed a hand on her shoulder, pausing from the repairs and in turn making her do the same.

Her blue eyes sent you swimming as she gazed back at you with a soft expression. "Are you okay?" You asked, worried about where her head was at. She glanced at the floor, her hand slipping away from the gen and lightly touching your own.

"I'm fine, honestly. What happened was just a bit of a shock..." Claire reassured. She tried to widen her smile, but only managed to make it look fake. You sighed, turning and giving her a small hug, forgetting about the generator.

You didn't remember when you had gotten so comfortable with everyone in this place. You didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Claire was a little taken aback by the sudden action, but melted into it, resting her head against the crook of your neck. Her breath was warm as she gave slow exhales.

The time you had both taken out of doing your objective was quick to stab at you with karma. Your heart fluttered for a second, but only faintly. The killer wasn't too close.

The two of you parted again. While Claire looked out of the window to try spot the killer, you looked out the door on the left. It must've been some exponentially shit day, because an attack came from the one door nobody was checking.

A blue rift of sorts tore open. There were unusual patterns on it, but you didn't get chance to inspect them as you only just realised the thing was there.

"Erm... what is that?" You stood up, backing off towards the opposite door while Claire put a hand on the window in preparation to vault away. Apparently this was her first time seeing it, too.

The anxiety in the room shot up from ten to a hundred as a glowing blue chain burst out of the rift. It looked like it was going towards Claire, but it curved at the last second and turned towards you. Bro, seriously?

The sharp edge stabbed through your shoulder, immense pain sparking through your body like none before. You quite literally lost your breath from the unanticipated burn that flooded your nerves.