Long Way To Happy {The Creatures AU}

Chapter IV: The Red Handed

As I approached the front office, a hand grabbed me by the neck. The force knocked me on the ground, then a shadow stood hovered over me.

"What are you running from?" Kootra sternly asked, more so demanded, of me.

"Sly..." I raspingly spoke, rubbing my neck and trying to get my breath back. "H-he told me to... come get y-you. Nova is hurting him... p-please help him."

He sighed heavily, waking towards his desk and grabbing something I couldn't quite see. Then he looked up, past me, and spoke to someone I didn't even know was in the room. "Kevin, take her back to Seamus. He can watch her while I fix this."

I turned my head to see a pretty tall and very thin man standing in the shadows behind me. He nodded to Kootra, then grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. Now I could see him better; Thin face, dark choppy hair, and one scar that ran through a white eye.

He wasn't too big in size, but he still terrified me, as did the rest of these freaks. Kevin turned over the arm he had grabbed, revealing a mark I didn't even know I had. They branded me? Seriously?

There was a little fox burned into the side of my arm, with a series of little x's under it. It surprised me it wasn't painful, but I suppose you get numb pretty fast living here.

Kevin wordlessly began walking and I followed. He was escorting me out of the building... Shit, I really don't hope he's taking me to that psycho I saw in the storage room before. Unfortunately, I think he's the only other one that lives in the medical wing.

C'mon, Annabelle, you have to get over fear. It's not like the rainbows will come out anytime soon. You're living in an insane asylum, get used to it.

I sighed to myself, looking at Kevin head to toe as we walked. He was so quiet.

"What's your case?" I asked. "Why are you here? You don't seem-"

"I am." He interrupted. "I see things, things you wouldn't believe me if I told you. No one else believes me, so why should you?"

"I don't really have a choice but to believe you. Not like I'm going to walk out on you. I kind of can't." I responded, rubbing the back of my neck.

He abruptly pushed the door open, giving me a look to say, drop it. So, I did.

We walked back to the shock therapy room, or what once was. As he opened the door, a cold breeze hit me and I shivered. The room was dark, and very uninviting. Then again, is anything here warm and comforting?

All I knew was, I did not want to walk into that room. Kevin gave me a gentle push, making me stumble in.

"Seamus," He spoke into the darkness. "Nova and Sly are at each other's throats again. Kootra wants you to watch over Sly's new pet until he gets back."

"Thank you, Kevin." He muttered, taking a step into the light.

My heart began to race when I realized it was the crazy bloody handed man from earlier. However, I could see him easier this time. He had a scar like Kevin's, except there were three, like something had scratched him. In fact, that's exactly what it looked like. His eyes were silver, and there was a little blood smeared on the right side of his pale face.

"Calm down, I won't hurt you." He said as I heard Kevin leave.

I trembled. "How'd you even know I was scared of you?"

"I heard your heartbeat speed up the second you saw me. Learn that as much as Nova or Dex, or any of us, would like to hurt you, we can't and wouldn't. Come sit down, I haven't got a chance to look you over yet." Seamus spoke, gesturing towards the exam table next to him.

I sat where he asked, looking down at my hands. "Will Sly be okay?"

He snit as he grabbed a light. "You should be more worried about Nova."

Seamus shined the light in my eyes, giving me spots in my vision for a moment. I looked at him worriedly, but he made me open my mouth to examine the back of my throat before I replied.

"You've got a bit of a sore throat going on back there. Otherwise, you look fine. Nothing major going on, although if you're going to survive around here, you really should learn to calm down." He told me. "Ash had the same problem when she first came here, but she did much better when she accepted this as her permanent home."

"So I guess I'm never leaving then?" I asked.

"No, but despite a bit of a rough start, we aren't all bad. There's just a bit of a full moon type of thing going on right now."

I sighed, glancing up to the ceiling, then back down. "Your comment about Sly... No one has told me why he's here."

"There's a good reason we all live where we do. Aleks, Dex, and Nova are kept near Kootra because they get dangerous. Kevin and Ze stay there because they can't be alone. Spoon lives in the garden 'cause all he wants is to be alone, and we keep Dan locked away because it's honestly hard to keep a straight face on when he's around."

"Why?" I curiously asked.

"It doesn't matter. The point is, Sly and I live here because we share the same talent, and the others don't like being around that much gore all the time. They prefer it in small doses." He explained.

"I'm still lost." I replied, then asking a possibly regrettable question. "What's so bad that you guys do?"

He gazed away for a moment, then muttered, "You'll find out soon enough."