Trapped

Chapter 7

Hope let out an irritated grunt when she felt her cheek start itching and glew a dark red. It happened to be a tally mark and took her exactly twenty seconds to disappear only to reappear in a small clearing to be stuck still for the other survivors to join. Being in this area always made her nervous because she felt like something was watching her; bloodthirsty.

Though, this time she didn't feel it which made her confused and a bit uneasy. What's going on? Hope wondered. "Hey!" Luna's voice made Hope look over to see her beaming. At least she had a familiar face to go into trial with. "How y'all doin' this fine evenin'?" The country girl, Kate asked.

"We're pretty good! Who else is joining us?" Luna asked. "Not sure." Kate said with a frown. Then Jake filled the last spot required and gave a small smile. "This is definitely a decent squad." He said with a wink. "Knock it off." Luna groaned, rolling her eyes.

Kate and Jake both pulled something out of their pocket, making Luna curious. Kate had something that looked like a cake with someone running for a door while Jake had secretly pulled out a cloth. Luna only caught a glimpse of the item and it made her even more curious when she couldn't see it.

They had walked up to the fire and dropped the items in the hungry flames and the fire burned brighter. "What did you guys do?" Luna asked, looking at them. "We put out offerings. I put an escape cake. I get more bloodpoints for this game, even if I don't escape." Kate said with a smile. "I put on to spawn with another survivor, I already used up my shroud of binding." Jake explained.

"Bloodpoints?" Hope asked. "Well, every trial you're awarded with two different things; bloodpoints or iridescent shards. Bloodpoints are used for upgrading your skills, getting items and offerings. You can also put them into having your perks teachable. With iridescent shards, you can just take about anyone's perk without having to wait for them to show you, with a fee of course. Though, the other option is saving them up for clothing and such." Jake explained.

"Who is responsible for the clothing?" Luna asked. Kate laughed, shaking her head. "The *Entity*! Do ya believe that? The thing actually has taste or it don't, it made Nea look so trashy with one." Kate said with a chuckle.

Before Hope or Luna had a chance to say anything back the darkness had came back. Silent. So silent Luna heard herself breathing and heartbeat that started to slightly quicken. Cold. The cold pierced her arms like icicles and even made it difficult to even breath. Then fear jolted through her body.

"**You're a sore sight~**," Luna couldn't move, it wouldn't let her. "**I won't hurt you dear~... Not yet anyways**." Luna could see the shadow just climb and slither around her, like a snake. Slithering around and behind her neck, then slipping through her jacket sleeve before standing only inches away from her face.

"Wh-Who are you?" Luna squeaked, her body trembling . "**Come on child, you know **exactly** who I am.**" Its breath wasn't hot like a dogs but icy cold, making her hair stand up and goosebumps ran up and down her arms.

"L-Leave me alone." Luna whimpered, her eyes darting back and forth wishing she could move, to run away from this. "As you wish... for now."  Luna was then allowed to move and to see, causing her to fall onto her knees, holding herself. 

"Luna? Luna!" Luna barely heard Hope's yell from the distance but didn't move. She felt like it was still there, climbing all over her. It only brought her back to memories that she tried so hard to buried only for them to threaten to resurface and spill over.

"Luna, what's wrong??" Hope's voice was suddenly in front of her and calmed her down a bit and allowed Hope to help her up. "I-I seen it! The E-Entity! H-He-.." Luna whimpered, tears threatening to spill and her body shook. Hope instantly pulled Luna into a hug, her body stopped shaking after a few seconds and relaxed.

Hope and Luna then began noticed their heart picking up and the loud, footsteps that came straight for her. "Split!" Luna hissed, taking a hard right behind a wall and ran straight into Kate. "S-Sor-" Luna quickly moved her hand over Kate's mouth and put her finger up to her lips. "The killer's here." Luna whispered and lowered her hand to look around. The killer and Hope were nowhere to be found.

___

Hope had ran away from the area Luna was in to make sure she had a chance to escape and do gens. Though she also wanted to keep Evan on her until they were in a decent spot. She ran to the corner of the map before turning and stopping; Evan looking down on Hope.

Something was off and Hope could tell; he wasn't acting like the other killers they faced. He was upset but didn't want to show it. He refused to confront his feelings so he remains a victim to his own emotions; to his own person. "Evan," Hope's voice alone made Evan stop and swallow hard.

Evan knew she wasn't stupid as he had originally thought, running into a corner and trapping herself; no. She had drug him out here so she could talk to him where no one else would mess with them.

"What do you want?" Evan hissed, defensively. Hope flinched at his tone but brushed it off and stepped towards Evan. "I know you don't wanna be here so.. why are you here?" Hope asked, looking up at Evan.

He went quiet before Hope heard a sob that escaped his lips, shaking his body. Hope walked over and hugged him, causing his body to tense up. Evan never had this kind of experience before. He is so used to Herman hugging him, a fellow killer but hugging a survivor; it was an all new experience. Hope was putting her life in danger just to hug him, just to make sure he felt better.

Evan wrapped his arms around her small, frail body. He hugged her tightly but did his best not to hurt her. For once, he didn't want to hurt a survivor but wanted to hold them tightly. This made him forget the mori that he had brought to release all his anger.

"I don't deserve this." Evan told her, his head on top of Hope's. "Don't say that." Hope ordered, tightening her grip, which only caused Evan to chuckle. "What's so funny?" Hope asked, looking up. "Oh nothing." Evan only smiled.

Hope's eyes widened when she realized that she actually seen him smile. His mask had fell down to the ground and what she saw was a broken child trapped inside of a man's body. A killer's body.

Tears were trailing down his cheeks, skin rough from the scars. One scar in particular had started from his chin and went through his lip and up to his left eye. His face was dirty, dried mud and dirt clung onto his face.

"Hey, hey it's alright." Hope told him, using her thumb to wipe away the tears, bringing some mud and dirt with it. Evan flinched at the sudden movement and it being so close to his face but in the end let her. "No.. No it's not. It's never 'okay', not here anyway." Evan told her, defeated.

Evan sat down, leaning his back against the border of the small place the Entity put them, his head in his hands. Hope sat down besides him, looking at him before giving him another hug. "If it makes you feel better, you can tell me." Hope offered, making Evan look up at Hope's reassuring smile.

Evan was extremely hesitant before he took in a deep, shaky breath and spilled his heart out to her. He came clean about his path and admit that she and Herman was the only one who knew what he's went through. Also throwing in that Herman has been through much worse that he has but that wasn't Evan's story to tell.

Hope just sat there, her heart being ripped and stomped on when Evan told her his story. "Evan.. I- fuck.." Hope looked at him with tears in her eyes, which made Evan confused. "Why are you crying?" Evan asked, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder only for Hope to hug him again.

"Y-You're not alone, okay? You have Herman and me! You'll never be alone, I won't let it." Hope told him, her head buried in his shoulder. She cried with Evan, further proving the fact that Hope would be there for him. They sat there, both crying until they ran out of tears and eventually wore themselves out.

"Thank you." Evan said rubbing his eyes and grabbed his mask. "It's alright Evan. Just know that the past is history and tomorrow is the future. Make your future worth living for."