In The Jaws of the Maw (Six X Seven/Runaway Kid)

Midnight Mission

  Late into the night, Seven carefully squirmed his way out from under Six, trying his hardest not to wake her. He slipped out from under their shared blanket, and put on his blue sweater. A quick glance at Six was enough to tell him she was still asleep.

  I really shouldn't leave her. Seven thought. What if something happens? What if she has a nightmare and I'm not here to wake her up?

  Seven sighed and tried to push his doubts aside. Six had saved his life, so he wanted to do something nice for her. He looked around for the lighter, before realizing that it had been lost along with Six's coat. That made his mission all the more important. Armed with only the marker, eyes now adjusted to the darkness, Seven wandered off into the vents.

~

  In the shadows of her own mind, Six was once again running down a corridor. She was breathless and terrified, gasping with effort as she urged her tiny body to move faster. Faster. She couldn't be caught. She didn't have her lighter. It was too dark for her to see, and she screamed in terror as the ground from under her feet suddenly disappeared, and she began to fall. 

  The air was damp and dank, and carried the sickening scent of blood. Even in her imagination, the smell made Six feel woozy. As she fell deeper and deeper into the darkness, she began to notice the slime on the walls, and the odd jutting rocks.

  No, not rocks, she realized, teeth.

  Hundreds of sharp, jagged teeth lined the walls of her descent. Teeth that dripped fluids. Six didn't even want to consider what they were, or where she was falling to.

  SPLASH!

  Six hit the water with a jarring impact, and the familiar feeling of drowning began to set in. Which way was up? How could she get out of here?! Six began to panic, thrashing desperately in the water.

 Give in. The voice that wasn't hers was louder here, echoing cacophonously through the imagined cavern. You've drowned before, you can do it now. Don't fight me anymore. Give in to me, heir. I can grant you power beyond belief. Succumb to your hunger, and you will never drown again.

  Six now felt deeply uncomfortable. She continued to struggle. To fight the current that was dragging her down. But she was running out of breath.

  The world went black.

~

  Seven could barely make out the markings on the sides of the vent as he navigated to where he and Six had been earlier that day. The place where he'd nearly fallen to his death. As he looked down into the room he noticed three things. The first was that the room was empty. That would make his mission easier.

  The second thing was that Six's coat was right where it had been left, which also made things easier.

  The third, most important thing, was that there was another vent in the room. One closer to the ground. Now it was just a matter of finding his way to it. 

  After crawling back from the open vent, Seven turned around and eventually found a different path he could follow. He marked the way with the marker as he went and, by sheer dumb luck, found himself at the other vent he'd seen after a few minutes. He pushed the cover off and jumped down into the room.

  This is too easy, he thought as he retrieved Six's coat. 

  Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside. Seven barely managed to climb back into the vent with the coat before the room's door creaked open. He watched, terrified, as Roger entered the room and began feeling around.

  That was too close!

  Moving as quietly as he could, Seven crept back into the vent, and began slowly making his way back to the safety of the shaft.

  I wonder if Roger is looking for us now, he thought. If he is, that could be a problem. If we get caught, we'll be sent back to the nursery. Or worse.

  What was "or worse"? Seven shook his head slightly. He didn't know, and he definitely didn't want to know. 

  Roger wouldn't hurt us... would he? What will happen to me if we get caught? What will happen to Six? We can't let him get to us! I'll have to warn Six when I get back.

  Neither child had considered the possibility of being hunted. Trying to find a way out of here was difficult and dangerous enough without the threat of the janitor catching them. But there wasn't much they could do about that.

~

  In the depths of The Maw, a voice echoes. It is talking to Itself as it works. Manipulating the dreams of Its heir was indeed a difficult task, but it was also a task that helped It learn how to best control the girl who would become It's next host.

  She certainly shows more potential than my previous host, but her rebellious spirit is a concern. If I cannot break her, I could end up trapped again, and that isn't what I want. 

  Truly, this dimension was a good home for the spirit, but It did not like being contained on this ship. It also didn't like the way the line It had been stuck with for years had used its own power to trap it here. Thankfully, his current host had proven unable to produce an heir, and this had opened the door for It to formulate a new plan. One to set Its existence free of this miserable ship. Once released, It would plague the world, consuming all the souls it desired until everything was dead, and then It would finally be free from Its task. 

  Destruction is truly a thankless job, but someone must do it. If I do not destroy, I do not exist, and so I must destroy until there is nothing and no one left, and when I'm finished with this dimension I will move on to the next until all life and all worlds are void and barren. Then, and only then, I might find peace.