Lost in Transmission - Little Nightmares AU

Old Friends, A New Hunger | 1

      

       It doesn't take long for me to find Six.

       I see her walking, so slowly, close to me. She doesn't see me - I hid in a vent when the Guests came after me - and I guess this must be a good hiding place.

       Something is wrong.

       I know it the moment I see her. The way she walks straight toward the Guests instead of sprinting away, the smirk on her face that doesn't reach her eyes, and the fact she looks like she will kill you and you wouldn't ever have stood a chance against her.

       And what's behind her. Around her.

       It's darkness. Everywhere. Not just shadows, but blackness that looks like it's made of sinister claws, trapping Six in their grasp. They float in spirals around her. I can't tell if they're trapping her or if they're just there. She can't be controlling them, can she? Above her, the lights flicker. They spark and go out.

       I want to climb out of the vent and talk to her, but something holds me back. Seeing the darkness sent a chill through me.

       It's more than darkness. There's something dark about her, something dangerous. I don't know if I want to find out what it is. I don't know what happened, or what she's become, but it's not good - that much I know.

       At a table above me, a Guest looks back and notices Six. He tumbles off his seat and starts crawling toward her.

       She doesn't run. She doesn't flinch. She barely seems to pay attention to him.

       He doesn't make it far.

       Shadows fly out of him, straight toward Six. They vanish when they touch her; it looks like she inhaled them or something.

       The Guest twitches and crumples on the ground. Dead.

       My jaw drops. She did THAT?! Without even moving to attack him?!

       Six keeps walking. She walks past the body of the Guest without looking at it, and then she's out of my sight.

       Slowly - feeling shaky - I open the vent and climb out, walking like my legs are half-frozen to the floor. I follow behind her, staying far away as I watch her kill Guest after Guest; easily and without mercy.

       How can she do that? She couldn't before, not when I saw her after Seven.... I swallow. I'm not ready yet to think about him again. If she had these powers in the city, nothing could have caught us or chased us or hurt us.

       Her powers....

       I wonder if they're stronger than mine. I wonder what would happen if we fought. I wonder if this is how Six felt around me after I told her I killed the Thin Man - uneasy and cautious. If that's why she was scared of me...I can understand now.

       But I would never hurt her.

       Why don't I know if she'd ever hurt me?

       Should I really call out to her? What if she- NO, she's still my friend. She wouldn't hurt me. And whatever I feel isn't important. I'm here to stop her from killing any more kids. I have to protect her, and them.

       Before I overthink it, I take a quick breath and call, "Um, Six?"

       She stops walking. The darkness stops with her and circles. There's no more Guests. She killed them all, I shiver, noting the bodies slumped on the floor. Stiffly and slowly, Six turns around. The hood of her raincoat masks her expression in shadows - I can't tell what she's feeling, and I can't guess what she's thinking.