The Beast in the Basement

A Bit Stressful

It's been about another week; Banehound's leg is still broken and since he won't accept any more help, he stayed on the couch. When he had to go to the bathroom, the men weren't going to just let him go on the couch so they brought him his bucket from the basement. They emptied it more frequently than they had before only because of the smell. During this time Banehound figured out how to work the TV and flipped through channels almost constantly, usually landing on nature shows and oddly cooking shows; it was very annoying when the men were trying to sleep each night.

Of course, since it's been a week Banehound was growing hungry again which meant that Mason and Will would have to get him more food. The only problem is, however, could Banehound kill his 'prey' with his broken leg, they think not and that means they have to kill this time. Neither of the men were looking forward to this, but it had to be done.

Although, since Banehound can't kill in his state, Mason was hoping they could skip this meal and maybe the next depending on how the beast's ankle is feeling. Banehound wouldn't be happy and both Mason and Will knew he'd find ways to express his anger if he can't kill them; whether it'd be doing his business anywhere in the house but where he's supposed to, clawing up furniture, or just being incredibly irritating, but it seems that the beast has other plans.

"We had a deal, Birdie!" Banehound shouted at Mason, "You have to feed me otherwise I'll kill and eat you, or maybe I can knock you back to your senses by eating your mate instead!"

"How do you plan on doing that if you can't even stand?" Mason argued, "Your ankle is still broken, besides, eating would only put more stress on your ankle because of the weight. So it'd be best if you just ate smaller things for now, like chickens or rats or something. Have you tried fish even?"

"Fish? Chickens or rats I've had, but fish? No, I haven't tried that before. But that's not the point here! The point is is that you need to feed me humans not farm animals; it was part of the deal we made, Birdie, there's no way around it." The beast huffed after his statement, glaring at the man.

Mason didn't want to do the monster's biding, but it seemed like Banehound is willing to take the pain if it means getting to rip someone apart and feast on their flesh. Either that or his ankle is healed and he's just lying about it now. The man walked out of the room, avoiding the beast's harsh gaze, and to his bedroom where Will was seated on the bed 'browsing the internet' Mason knew what he was really doing though.

Will looked up from the laptop screen at Mason then asked him how it went after shutting the device. Mason sat down next to Will and explained how Banehound simply doesn't care if he hurts himself more since he wants to eat so badly. The blonde hummed, placing his laptop on the nightstand and said, "I have to leave for work soon."

"What!" Mason panicked, "Can't you call out? There's no way I can do this without you."

"I wish I could stay and help you, but I already called out four times this month. If I call out again, they'll probably fire me and considering what we do, we don't want that happening."

Mason sighed, "You're right, but what do I do? Last time was pretty much sheer luck!"

"I don't know... I'm really sorry Mason Jar, just try to do what we did last time. Hopefully, things'll work out."

Just then, Will's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled out his device and looked at its screen, frowned then said sadly, "That was my 'work alert'. If I don't start getting ready and leave, I'll be late for my shift." He moved to the side of the room where the closet was and pulled out his black and brown uniform as he continued talking, "Listen, Mason, I know you can do this. Just try not to overthink it like you tend to for a lot of things."

Mason didn't say anything just stared at the floor with a downcast expression. He felt Will put a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't look up. No words were spoken as Will moved away to get changed and Mason left the room to prepare for his own 'work'.

After Will had gone to his car and drove to the café he works at, Mason had placed some rope, a roll of duck tape, and a wooden baseball bat on the counter in the kitchen. With his arms on the counter and his shaking hands while holding his face, tears rolled down his cheeks and his arms. He kept muttering to no one in particular, "I-I can't do this. What if I screw up? I can't screw it up, I'll go to jail or-or worse!"

Mason lightly hit himself on the head with his tightly closed fists and he had a small conversation with himself, "Damn it, Mason, you're overthinking things again! But I overthink everything... No! I told Will I wouldn't overthink it this time. I-I just have to learn to roll with the punches like him. Will almost never thinks things through before jumping into action. I like that about him, always so adventurous, but kinda reckless too... ugh! I just have to be more like him in this situation... and-"

"Who the hell are you talking to, Birdie? There's no one else here, unless you've gone crazy." Banehound said limping into the kitchen with his arms crossed and ears flat, obviously a little agitated for whatever reason; probably because he has good hearing and all he's been hearing was Mason's panicked ramblings the past few minutes. The beast's harsh gaze seemed to lessen in intensity as Mason hesitantly removes his hands from his tear-streaked face.

The man sucked in a shaky breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to look weak in front of the monster. Banehound may be the stronger out of the two, but Mason wasn't going to let himself get beaten down further than he already has been by the beast. He said to him, rather confidently, "No one, Banehound. Go sit back down, you still shouldn't be walking around. I'm gonna be going out in a few minutes to get you your food, so don't even think about whining."

"Whoa-ho there! Seems like the little bird became a slightly bigger bird. Finally putting your foot down I see?"

Mason didn't say anything as he started grabbing the items off the counter. The beast rolled his eyes and limped back to the living room. The man could hear the TV turning on and the blur of voices, music, and other sounds as the beast flipped through channels again. Mason said, "Not exactly." When he received no response and was sure the beast couldn't hear him, he said under his breath, "when I do put my foot down, it'll be when I finally kill you."

Once Mason had collected his tools in a duffle bag, he made his way to his car, now with a newfound confidence in each step. It's almost scary how he's suddenly more prepared to do what he's about to do: kill people. He put the bag on the passenger side and sat in the driver's seat then started the car, hearing the engine roar to life.

Suddenly, his phone dinged, telling him he got a text. Before taking the car out of its parked position, Mason took the device out of his back pocket and looked at the text that showed on the screen. He widened his eyes with a small gasp. The message was from Will and it read "I'm coming home early. I'll explain when I get home."

Mason quickly tapped away at the screen and sent, "What? It's only been about an hour. Isn't your shift normally like six hours?"

"Something happened, I'll explain everything when I get home."

Mason shut off the car immediately; Banehound can wait, this was currently more important than take-out. The man worried what this was about.