Monster [Hetalia x Insane!Reader]

They had said it was depression.

There were a million things it could have been. ADHD, bipolar, maybe even autism. But no. They had been certain it was your everyday, run-of-the-mill depression. Depression that could be cured within two years by weekly therapy and heavy doses of prescription antidepressants.

You glared at the blank white wall in front of you as if it was the very counselor who had said those words. It was cold as the truth you had come to face.

They had LIED.

* * *

Eight Months Earlier

The final bell had just rung on a Wednesday. You smiled as you scrolled down through the texts on your phone. Your Dad had sent you a message saying that both him and your Mother would be out until late tonight. You liked your parents, but didn't like the fact that they were constantly peeking over your shoulder when you sent a casual text to a friend. The fact that they wouldn't be home gave you an oppurtunity to do whatever you damn well pleased. you responded to your Dad's text and opened your list of contacts. Selecting 'Alfred', you began rapidly typing a new message.

It took about fifteen seconds, but eventually your phone buzzed happily in your palm.

Wasting no time in meeting one of your best friends, forcefully yanking your backpack over your shoulders and raced towards the front entrance of your school. About half of the kids had already made their way out of the building, so that saved you a bunch of trouble in your haste. You busted open the front door with your elbow, almost doing the same to your arm in the process. Your shoelaces snagged under the soles of your shoes and caused you to hit the concrete with your face.

Luckily, Alfred's warm hands pulled you up by your torso.

"You okay, dudette? That was a HUGE fall!"

You giggled. "Of course I'm okay, Alfred!"

He broke from a look of panic into a smile. "Good! Ready to eat?"

"Yeah! I'm hungry as hell!"

He let out a chuckle. "Let's go!"

You collected yourself and walked with him to the McDonalds in the nearby plaza. Thinking of what just happened, you were surprised that an onlooker hadn't pointed at you two amd insisted that you were in a relationship. Nobody seemed to care that you were best friends with a boy.

Nobody cares...

Those words made you stop right on the plate of concrete you were on and stare blankly forward, as if paralyzed. Your heart pounded in your ears, and all logic was strewn away. The air suddenly seemed cold, and you lost track of what was happening in the world around you. It didn't seem to exist anymore. Only you and all the taunting bullies you couldn't see but definitely hear were present. It was as though you were witnessing a horrific, gorey event, and all you could do was....well, witness.

"(name)!" Alfred's voice shattered your empty state of mind like a hatchet through glass. When you regained your view of reality, he was about ten feet ahead of you.

"C-coming!" you sped ahead to his place on the sidewalk, only to see his usual goofy expression had turned dreadfully serious.

"So...." he seemed unable to look you in the eye. "...I heard you had to pay a visit to a counselor. How'd that go?"

You sighed. "She says that I'm depressed."

Alfred gasped. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

You looked down. "You don't need to be sorry..."

"Don't say that, dudette. I do.That must be really tough for you!"

"I guess, yeah..." you forced a pathetic smile.

Alfred seemed to hesitate a bit, as if searching for a new piece of conversation, then his face beamed up.

"Hey, there it is! Race ya!" he began to bolt towards the heavily self-advertised food establishment.

"Wait up, Alfred!"

The McDonalds was only mildly crowded, mainly with students from the nearby college and nobody you recognized to be from your school. Alfred ordered a Big Mac for himself, a Snack wrap for you, and a Coke for each. You sat down at a table next to the PlayPlace, and Alfred tried to work out a source for your condition.

"Have any of your relatives died?"

"Not that I know of."

"Friends?"

"Nope."

"Pets?"

"I've never had a pet. My Mom is allergic to anything with fur."

Alfred frowned, puzzled. "Well, I guess some people just...have it, y'know? No reason or anything..."

"Probably." you pushed yourself up from the table. "I just need to go to the bathroom, okay?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Okay. Don't disappear."

You smiled, it vanishing the second you turned your head away from him. Mentioning your depression made it come back up and empty your body of any feeling. Your feet felt heavy as pushed open the door to the girl's bathroom. Rather than closing it yourself, you waited impatiently until the door closed itself before you pushed the button on the nickel handle to lock it. You didn't actually have to use the bathroom. You just needed some alone time to digest the information. Propping yourself up against the wall, you closed your eyes.

When you opened them a few seconds later, the world had an eerie feeling of change in it. You looked around. Same walls. Same linoleum floor. Same one-person bathroom. Suddenly, you felt the air shift above your head. You looked up to see a bronze pocketwatch attached by no visible means of support to the ceiling, gently swinging back and forth like that of a hypnotist's. At first, you hesitated, unsure of what the thing was or what to do with it. You were positively sure that the thing hadn't been there just a few seconds ago. If so, how did it get in the room?

Your curiousity got the best of you and you reached for it, getting up on the balls of your feet to make yourself taller. Before your skin even brushed the likely cold metal, the pocketwatch seemed to turn completely grey, and in both a visual and auditory burst of static, vanished into nowhere. After a moment of surprise, you lowered your hand, and shook it off. Maybe the chemicals in the food were getting to you. You sighed and moved up to the sink, washing your hands even though you had barely had touched anything. A random pang made itself pronounced in your forehead, and you jerked your head up in both surprise and pain. After watching your face writhe in pain in the mirror for what cod've been up to minutes, you noticed something dark poke out from under your bangs, which had fallen over your forehead. You effortlessly scrubbed them aside, only to find something nasty underneath. A word was tattooed in a Comic Sans font on your forehead, in all caps. The shock took ahold of you quickly before you felt the world spin, then flash into nothing but black.

PATHETIC.