Mameigwess - dekubaku

Chapter 2

Katsuki stumbled up the pathway to his house, eyes drooping with tiredness and shoulders sagged forward.

All the life had been sucked out of Katsuki's body and he wanted to curl up in his bed and forget this night had ever happened. The bite on his neck stung, as well as all the other cuts and scratches over his torso, and his ass was throbbing. He walked with a limp that he knew Kaminari and Eijiro had picked up on but was thankful they hadn't said anything.

The street was starting to lighten up with an orange glow of the morning sun. The wind had settled slightly and the bitterness of the freezing cold night air had started to subside. It was more peaceful now, but Katsuki looked back the forest that loomed over their small town with great fear. The thing that lurked behind those trees was sinister, pure evil, yet it saved him.

But that was in the past now. Katsuki was alive and never going back to those woods again. That was a fucking promise.

The door creaked loudly as Katsuki slipped into the dark house. Everything was quiet. Good. His parents were still asleep. He kicked off his shoes and hastily, but quietly, ran up the stairs. He swung the door to his bedroom open and walked over to his bed, trying to manoeuvre out of his ruined jeans as he did.

Katsuki fell into his bed in an exhausted heap. He looked over to the clock on the side table that read '3:48' in big green numbers.

The way the green glowed in the darkness reminded him of the glowing viridian of the wendigo's eyes. Grimacing, Katsuki turned over in his bed and yanked the covers up over his form. He didn't care if he was getting blood, dirt and fuck knows what else all over the fresh sheets, he just wanted this hell to be over.

But it wasn't over. It never is.

Katsuki jumped when he felt cold air hitting his skin. Goosebumps formed and his hair stood on end as he jumped to his feet, shakily. He looked around frantically, eyes wide in fear.

Trees. Trees everywhere. Why was there trees? Why was there fucking trees?!

The sky was dark and the air freezing. It felt numbing on Katsuki's skin and his ears hurt as the frosty wind danced around his head teasingly. It whipped up leaves off the floor as whisked them gently through the air.

Katsuki raised his hands to grip his head involuntarily, but froze when his hands grabbed onto something hard. The texture was coarse and there was lots of little ridges over the surface. Katsuki felt up and down the foreign things on his head.

It felt like a punch to the gut as realisation dawned upon Katsuki. Antlers. They were antlers, just like what that godforsaken thing had.

"What the fuck..." Katsuki wheezed, eyes stinging with fresh tears and throat burning as he choked on oxygen.

The calming whirl of the leaves dance became rapid and daunting as they flew higher than before and swirled around Katsuki's body in an intimidating display. The wind became forceful, pushing Katsuki's hair in front of his eyes as it slammed against his body.

The torn fabric of the destroyed t-shirt and filthy jeans hung loosely around him, and Katsuki realised that they were way to big for him. Or, rather, he was too small for the clothes. His body was skinny, too skinny. He looked like a skeleton, a corpse left to rot in a grave. The grey, lifeless looking skin was pulled tightly over his bones and he swore he could faintly see what little muscle there was underneath.

But he was tall. So, so tall. His trousers only reached mid calf and his top only just covered his belly button. It hasn't been like that before, had it?

Katsuki raised his hands to look a them and watched in horror as they morphed before his own eyes. All the muscle and fat vanished and left behind nothing but bone protruding from rotting skin. His veins bulged out grossly but were not their usual colour. They were dark, like the blood in them hadn't moved in years. It was coagulating into a thick, clumpy liquid that sat uselessly under his skin.