In the Light of the Moon

23: The Game Continues

Being sat in a stuffy car wasn't how you'd expected to be participating in this find and rescue mission. Your heart ached against the words circling in your mind: 'worthless', 'bother', 'expendable'. It didn't help that you also felt it was your fault that Charlie was now staying behind, too. Her eyes lingered, longingly on the entrance to the mill as everyone else hustled inside. She had been quiet the whole time. Looking over to check on you every now and again and patting your back whenever the choking became heavy, almost suffocating you. She was smart to think that asking you how you were or just talking in general wouldn't help and opted for physical help instead.

A basement window from the mill swung open ten minutes after the beginning of the raid. You and Charlie snapped your heads in unison to the new commotion and saw that Bobby was the one to open it. Claire hopped out first and helped their newly-found youths escape out of it. All of them desperate to get out, but their bodies not fast enough to keep up with their racing need of freedom. Shielded eyes and quaking breaths made their way closer to you. Without thinking, you got out of the car and began to move closer to them, their desire to escape luring your desire to help further away from the vehicle you were told to stay in.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold it!" You felt arms grip your sides just under your own and your brow furrowed before realising they were holding you up. You looked down to see that your knees had almost hit the sharp gravel. "Just in time." You heard Charlie breathe a sigh of relief to herself. "You need to stay in the car, Y/N. You're not well." Charlie sounded even more worried than before and you quickly realised you weren't coughing anymore. You couldn't even feel breath entering or escaping your lungs. You signalled for Charlie to take you back.

You didn't have the energy or lung capacity to verbally communicate your desire to help, let alone carry the actions out, so you were sat back in the car again. Watching as Charlie joined up with the other hunters to get all the victims to safety. She came to check on you one last time, reversing the car a little further from the mill in case an emergency abort was issued, before going into the mill herself to help on the inside. You could feel little bits of your energy recharging after being moved a little further from the mill and you took the chance to breathe deeply, gathering up every last bit of air and energy as you needed, feeling a lot better than earlier. You were able to stand and help kids into the cars a little further from the mill now and you began to talk with them, letting them know they were safe. All of them said thank you, said anything, but one. You tried to ask them how they were, but no words would leave their mouth. Mute.

You guessed the trauma may be the cause (if it was environmentally caused at all). They held their arms out to you, you smiled sweetly before crouching beside them and hugging them. You spoke to others in the car with them, learning that their name was Tayo.

"They're big on hugs, always have been... The not speaking is recent, however." Fay told you, a school-friend of Tayo's. Their face dipped to their hands briefly before raising their head to look at you again and then look past you, their eyes going wide and an arm raising past your face. A single finger directed to an inaudible scene behind you.

Sam. You could see Sam. or.. what was Sam. He looked angry.

"Stay here." you told Tayo and their friends. They nodded and you closed the door, standing and facing the mill in shock. He was just inside of the entrance, fighting with three hunters there. Your shock became worry as you realised no one had emerged from the mill in over twenty minutes before the worry quickly switched to anger and strength as you watched Charlie get hit and thrown out through the windows of the front doors. Your feet carried you swiftly, you completely abandoned caution to the wind as you ran to Charlie and checked her pulse. She was fine, just unconscious. You quickly realised that was the case for every hunter scattered around Sam. You saw red as he began to saunter his way over to Jody, knowing he was going to make his rounds of collecting all of them up and feeding on them. Not every hunter was here. Rufus, Bobby, Jody, Ellen, Garth and Ash were the only ones here. You knew you needed to warn everyone else. You suddenly remembered someone mentioning a word that is known by every hunter here and didn't hesitate for a second.

"POUGHKEEPSIE" You screamed as you lunged at Sam. Footsteps reverberated on every wall of the building in that moment, but you didn't get a chance to see everyone safe. You'd ran in and ignored your body's signals to stop. Your body weakened and black spots took over your vision but not before you watched Sam's- the Djinn's lips lift up in a smirk. You hit his chest hard and everything cut to black.

I'm back!

Finding a job is hard. I hope everyone is doing well <3