Lost in Transmission - Little Nightmares AU

Two Kinds of Shadows | 1

       I can't look away as the fire scalds its way across the Janitor's arm.

       My hands are shaking, even though I know that Six will be safe now. She has to be, now that she got out of the Janitor's grasp and is back on her feet again. The Janitor's arm isn't going to be okay after being burned like that. He won't be able to catch her again, at least not with that arm.

       Six scans the room. Even through the spy-screen, I can see what she has to do. If she pulls the bars off the cage that's blocking the door, it...it'll come slamming down, and...cut off the Janitor's arms.... Is that better than burning? I'd rather die like that than by slowly burning to death. Bleeding out seems quicker? I think?

       She has to see her escape. I know she does. If I can tell from here how she needs to escape, then she's already seen it. We normally think the same way. So what's she waiting for?

       I make myself step back from the screen. Without realizing it, I've been inching closer and closer toward Six, as if I could help her.

       From here, I can't do anything. This screen isn't a TV screen - I wonder if...no, think about that later, Mono! - so I can't travel through it to rescue her. I can't yell loud enough for her to hear. I can't run there because I don't know where "there" is. I can't swoop in and defeat the Janitor at the last second.

       I just have to stand here and watch and wait.

       After I yelled at Six to run, my powers have felt like they're ready to explode. My fingertips itch. I want to do something, anything. It wouldn't surprise me if my body started vibrating with all the things I'm feeling.

       I need to focus on something else.

       I try to guess what Six is thinking. She's looking at the corner of the room now, where there are some stacked cages. She's thinking... "How can I get out of here?" I wonder if she's trying to find another way out that doesn't involve her cutting off the Janitor's arms. The thought almost makes me smile. Maybe she doesn't want to hurt anyone, even the monsters. Yeah, she told me to kill the Doctor, but that was a while ago. Maybe things have changed!

       She steps closer to the cages. She's thinking about hiding in one of them...?

       Leaping into the air, she grabs onto a cage. She's...gonna...um.... Oh. OH.

       My breathing gets faster as I realize what she's going to do. Six pulls down the cage and it slams onto the Janitor's hand.

       It's crushed.

       I cover my mouth, holding back a gasp, but I can't look away. Drops of blood splatter the floor. Red puddles out from under the cage.

       Tria - I almost forgot the others were here, too - rushes past me with her hands over her mouth and goes out into the hallway. Akis hesitates, then follows her.

       I don't leave. I can't leave. I have to see what happens, see how it ends....

       And I see what Six is really capable of doing.

       It isn't long before she sets the Janitor's other arm on fire. I flinch. The Janitor tries to move, injuring its hand more. I flinch again.

       Then Six sets the Janitor's face on fire.

       That's when I realize what she is.

       She's not a monster. I know that. She's still the same kid, the same girl I traveled so far with, the same person who's rescued me and who I've rescued. That's something that I don't think will ever change. But she also killed a Bully, told me to kill the Doctor, and now this. That's more than fighting back. That's more than survival.