who lives; who dies; who tells your story

o c h o

published the rylex one shot earlier so don't be afraid to check that out : )

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fuck, my head.

ryan sat up from his place on the floor and put a hand to his temple. he spent a few seconds gaining his composure and then painfully looked at his surroundings.

there was nothing here. only a small, static television about five feet in front of him. without warning, the screen changed and he was face to face with a man wearing a feline mask. it was only covering the top half of his face but the boy still found himself unconsciously cringing away.

"what? cat got your tongue?" he cackled horrendously. the quality of the television turned it into a terrifying noise.

"what do you want from me?" the only emotion behind his voice was the hoarse portrayal of his words.

"not just from you," ryan's stomach lurched at the answer, he's got the others. the boy didn't have time to process the information before the man continued.

"i realise you and your friends know who i am," he stopped, prompting the skinny boy to ask a question,

"why wear the mask then?" it was barely a whisper.

the man grinned, "i was hoping you'd ask that. you see - you already had enough evidence to report me and i'm certain to go to prison anyway. i thought i'd have a bit of fun before i go,"

those few sentences sent chills up ryan's spine. the man continued,

"so i bought you and your little friends here and i thought we could play some games." he suddenly dropped his smile and his voice became grim,

"it's you're turn first,"

oh god.

the boy paled. what kind of sick fuck does this?

the man suddenly got closer to the screen, his bright blue irises glinting coldly,

"don't you wanna know what we're playing?"

it didn't sound like much of a question but ryan reluctantly nodded his head anyway. he knew better than to defy someone like him,

"it won't be much fun for you though," the man frowned, "no worries, i'll make sure you enjoy the next one,"

the next one? holy shit.

"all you have to do, ryan, is sit there. right there and don't try and stand up. i won't be very happy if you do that,"

the threat was clear in his voice.

"do you understand? tell me you understand," ryan could hear the aggression creeping into his words,

"i understand," he murmured, trying desperately not to scream for help. this man was obviously smart, screaming would be useless in the long run.

the boy was suddenly submerged in darkness. he was vulnerable here and had no idea what was going to happen.

stay calm, stay calm. deep breaths. it's only the darkness, that itself can't hurt you.

but everything hiding inside it can.

oh jesus. no, i can't her anything. i'd hear if footsteps were coming and then i'd know. don't freak out now.

all he could hear was his own breaths and quickening heart rate. ryan had slowly began to calm down when he heard it.