| Plaything | Antisepticeye x Reader

Chapter 9

I scamper out of the way, just missing being crushed underneath it. The beast lands, disturbing some of the stones, then begins to sniff around. It finds the patch where I had fallen, picking up the scent of my blood. I quickly move away, looking for a way out of here. I find a small space in between two large boulders. It seems to lead to a large stone corridor with a high ceiling. As I squeeze through the two boulders, a sharp part of the rock cuts into my arm deeply, and I release my own growl of pain.

Blood begins trickling down my arm. A single drop hits the ground, and the beast's head instantaneously snaps in my direction. It begins making its way towards my body, which is still sandwiched between the boulders. I begin moving more quickly, pushing myself harder. I break through the other side just as the monster reaches where I had been before. One massive paw claws at my arm through the gap, making the gash in my bicep larger than it was before and adding two more deep cuts. More blood drips from my arm.

I take off down the corridor. There aren't any doors or exits lining the walls. Only a single, iron door at the end of the hall. It has a glass window, and appears to be heavy. I hear the monster pounding at the rocks behind me, trying to break through the wall to get to me. With each hit, the entire corridor shakes, making me trip over my own feet.

What sounds like an explosion erupts behind me, and large bits of the rock wall fly out in front of me. One hits me in the head, and I collapse. Though my head's foggy and my arm is bleeding more because of the exercise of sprinting, I force myself back onto my feet and towards the door at the end of the hall.

Now that my movement is heavily impaired, I've begun stumbling. Still, I've got a decent head-start and the beast is slowly following my trail of blood. It begins to pick up speed as it becomes surer of my location.

I make it with time to spare, then labor to close the door. Here lies the problem. My limbs are weak from blood loss and dizziness, and it takes much longer than it should to pull the metal door closed. The door locks into place an instant before the beast reaches me, shaking as the thing beats its fists against it.

After stumbling back from the shaking ground, I drop to my knees in exhaustion. My breathing is heavy and labored, and sangria liquid continues to flow from my arm. It coats the floor around me. As I look up I notice two things: 1) The beast has decided to leave and 2) Some kind of dark fluid is leaking from the edges of the ceiling.

Trails of mahogany fall from the places where the ceiling meets the walls, sliding to the floor. A metallic scent hits my nose and I realize what it is – blood. It begins to seep to the other parts of the ceiling, dripping down from other parts and meeting the pools on the floor. After a few minutes, the blood pool reaches up to my waist.

I stand so that it's only mid-shin, going to the door. I look out of the window, seeing the beast still present. It paces in front of the door.

Okay, that's a no, I think.

I begin to pace as well, wondering what to do when I leave. After a few minutes, I can't even pace. The blood has risen to my waist again, and is increasing even faster than before. I move back to the door, sloshing through the red. I decide that the excess blood may throw the beast of my trail, so I try to push it open. It doesn't budge.

Frantically, I summon as much strength as I can and ram my shoulder against the door. Still nothing. The monster, hearing my struggle, turns to the door. It listens intently, but doesn't do anything.

The blood is up to my chest one moment, then rises to my neck the next. Rapidly, it meets my nose, and I'm forced to tread to stay above it. My head meets the ceiling, where smaller droplets fall, as if it's raining wine. As the blood rises even higher, I take a deep breath, then swim back to the door.

I pound against it, but I can't do much while swimming. When my lungs begin to get tired, I try to return to the surface to take another breath of air.

What I hadn't realized, was that the room is now completely full of blood. There's no gap between the surface and the ceiling. I swim back to the door, trying to break the glass. I don't even make a scratch.

My limbs become heavier, and I can feel myself sinking to the bottom of the room. When my body hits the floor, I don't have the energy to get back up. Lungs burning, I struggle to keep holding my breath.

At least let me pass out before I die, I hope.

Dreams don't always come true. I feel myself involuntarily take a massive breath in seconds later, filling my lungs and airway with the thick liquid surrounding me. I cough, and my lungs constantly try to shove the blood out and find air to take in. That's not gonna happen. The panic is terrible. There's just no air. Soon, however, I feel the pain begin to dim, replaced by a cold, numbing sensation running from the tips of my extremities. It then closes around my heart and then, finally, my mind.

I wake up, gasping. I'm on my back, shaking horribly. My lungs take in the oxygen surrounding me gratefully, unbelievably overjoyed by what is often taken for granted. Tears had formed in the corners of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. I try to slow my breathing, reminding myself that there's plenty of air, now. My body eventually accepts this fact, and my breathing returns to normal, along with my rushed pulse.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "Plaything" as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and votes are super appreciated. Thanks for reading! ~Blue