Reagent 26835

Selene Spicer. Heal Rig enthusiast. ( banner: artist-kid-12 ) ( gl0wwurm’s мышь ) nsfw 🔞

[2young2die]

An Outlast Trials Reagent RP/Ask blog. NSFW is fine and will be posted under a cut. Comments will probably be responded to OOCly. I have small head canon things relating to her and my interpretation of Night Hunter but that’s the only way I really deviate from the in-game lore. He’s such a minor character that I don’t think it matters but you’re free to block or whatever if it bothers you. I’m just here to write and have fun at the end of the day.

If you have any questions feel free to ask in DMs or on my main.

main blog: @gibbs88

lore

visuals

music + prime asset ver

RPs

prime au: @thedemonhippie

[gloomy-deer]

Hang in there! It will be ok.

[nevver]

Owe you a coke, Rob Hann

[nevver]

Cruel summer, Summer Wagner

[charnel-grounds]

John Brosio, “Queen of Suburbia” [Preliminary]

oil on canvas, 2020

[2young2die]

(( ficlet I wrote at work because i miss my hetslop otp. mild nsfw.))

The sound of Night Hunter’s ragged breathing was the only thing she could focus on beyond the rush of blood in her ears.

Yet again, he’d interrupted her Trial. “Distracted” her. It was their routine, and the only thing she looked forward to anymore.

“Мышь,” He rumbles, lowering his ruined mouth closer to her ear. “You’re dripping.”

The closest thing to intimacy they had was this. Selene held in his lap while he worked his long fingers inside of her, her jeans and underwear shoved down around her ankles. She lets her head drop back against his shoulder and he takes the opportunity to sink his jagged teeth into her throat, biting just short of lethal. He always knew exactly what to do to her, for better or worse.

The sensation is explosive, and her whole body seizes up. In this moment she’s truly alive, truly acknowledged. The grades don’t matter. Nothing else matters. All that matters is staying alive long enough so they can do it again.

“I love you,” She murmurs, as he laps at the wound. He doesn’t say anything, but she’s stopped caring. She finds his free hand and squeezes it, and he doesn’t shove her away—that’s enough.

[gl0wwurm]

Domestic Horrors Pt 4

@2young2die

Night Hunter made a noise of disgust. She was delusional. They had never truly 'kissed' in the traditional sense. It was teeth and pain and blood. Whatever that was wasn't 'kissing'. Far from it.

"You're crazier than I thought." he laughed bitterly.

She seemed almost 'normal' before. Not like some of the other Reagents who were either catatonic or deranged. But now, he could barely recognize her. She was ruthless and detached, and he wasn't sure if he respected it or feared it.

"Need to clean this." Night Hunter mumbled and started to untie his wrapped arm.

It still throbbed whenever he moved it, but the gauze had staunched the bleeding at least. The wound was caked over with dried blood, and the puckered skin around it was a painfully ruddy. He really should clean it.

"Hmmm..." he hummed contemplatively and glanced around the bathroom. "I need vodka. Something strong."

[2young2die]

Her dark eyes turn downcast as he seems disgusted with her. He’d never had an issue with using her body before… maybe it was just because she was being sappy. Oh well! She didn’t see anything wrong about love.

“I’ll go look for some alcohol. Be careful in here,” She murmurs, patting his knee where it juts up out of the water. The tub barely had room for an adult man, let alone the two of them.

Selene gets up out of the water, her tired body protesting the slow way she stands in order to avoid splashing him. Huffing softly, she pads out of the bathroom and through the house, bare feet almost instantly getting dirty again from the old orange carpet.

In the kitchen she finds a high cabinet and leans up on her toes to open it, finding several bottles of whiskey inside. She’s never really drank anything but beer, but they look kinda expensive, so maybe they’re high proof.

Unscrewing the cap on one of them, she sloshes it over the still-warm bite mark on her shoulder and immediately hisses, slapping the countertop with her free hand. Fuck, that hurt. But at least she felt awake again.

“Okay Sova, I think this’ll help,” She calls, padding back to the bathroom with the rest of the bottle of brown liquor.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter stepped out of the tub once Selene had left. Water rolled off of him and onto the tiled floor below. He scoffed at her concern. Be careful? What was he going to do? Drown?

Without bothering to dry himself, he donned his filthy clothes again. They still reeked, but they were the closest thing to familiar in an unfamiliar world.

He eyed the liquid suspiciously. Under the varying hues of green projected by his goggles, it almost looked like window cleaner. Even trying to decipher the label was no use. Fucking English letters shaped all weird.

"What the fuck is that? Вода?" he asked, although his tone made it sound more like an insult.

[2young2die]

Selene sets the bottle down on the closed toilet lid for him and then begins to gather up her own clothes, intending to wash them. The sheer amount of blood caked into her shirt looked way too suspicious as far as she was concerned.

“It’s alcohol. Whiskey,” She explains, unbothered by his hostility. She really should be used to it at this point.

“We don’t really have vodka over here in America,” She adds, then heads into the kitchen, beginning to dump her filthy clothes into the sink along with a healthy little pile of dish washing powder. Soap was soap at this point.

Stuff like this kept her mind busy. The nap—or whatever it was—had helped somewhat but she was still bone-tired. And she knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to go find Sova something to eat.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter took the bottle by the neck and shook it experimentally. He'd never had whiskey before, at least from what he could remember. The only choices back home were vodka or kvass. And water if he had extra money.

"Черт. This is the good shit then." he snorted, before taking a swig.

Some of the alcohol poured out between his exposed teeth, directly onto the misshapen flesh around it. He hissed at the pain, but it burned good.

"It's strong. Good." he concluded before pouring it directly onto his wound.

The pain was red hot like an inferno brewing right under his skin. It was a different kind of agony compared to the chronic one from the metal embedded into him. It was sharper and left him lucid, as if he had plunged into an ice bath. He liked this kind of pain. One he could control.

"You got another rag, мышь?" he called out from the bathroom.

[2young2die]

Selene scrubs at her clothes until her arms are sore, emptying the sink of rusty water until it finally stays clear. Washing the blood and grime out of her clothes felt like washing away memories. She knew they weren’t good ones, but it was still bittersweet. She’d had these clothes since Sinyala. Sinyala was where she met Night Hunter.

Lucidity makes her head spin. She wasn’t normal anymore. There was something wrong with her. There was another person living inside her skin—a person that made her do things and kill people and feed them to a man she loved but he hated her but—

Her vision crawls with black tendrils and she grips the sides of the kitchen counter. What was she going to do? What could she do?? Did Murkoff do this to her or had she always been like this???

Sova’s call to her from the bathroom makes her shiver and her mind immediately quiets, going docile, the panic smothered by his accented rasp.

Nothing mattered except the two of them together.

Мышь. Maybe he wasn’t too mad at her after all.

“Sure, Sova,” She replies, as if nothing happened, padding back into the bathroom to find him a washcloth. The sharp scent of alcohol makes her nose itch, and something buried at the back of her mind squirm.

“Did it help?” She inquires, handing him the ‘rag’ with her usual nervous smile and the hopeful lilt to her voice.

[gl0wwurm]

"I suppose." he answered back absentmindedly.

Night Hunter took the old washcloth and tore it until it resembled a strip of bandage. He wrapped it the same as before but was pleased he wouldn't have to stuff the material into the wound like before.

The lingering aches and pains were intensifying with time again. Without whatever meds Murkoff had been pumping him full of, the maddening thrum of pain caught up to him all too quickly. Some moments he could ignore it Most times, it became unbearable, overtaking him in waves. Right now, he was drowning. He tilted the bottle again into his torn maw, gulping down the alcohol and letting it spill out from between the scarred skin.

Back home, there were many men who let alcohol consume them. They were broken shells, walking aimlessly like ants in a circle. Night Hunter was no stranger to these vices, although he wasn't too keen on the drink's sedating effects. There were better ways to bury the pain. Ways he had learned in Sinyala. But this would do for now.

He glanced outside from between the slits of the blinds to confirm it was nighttime, and the dark meant he could hunt again.

[2young2die]

Selene fidgeted a bit nervously as Night Hunter seemed distracted. It was risky, but she gently squeezed his shoulder (the one without all the scars), then walked back to finish up with her clothes. They were still wet, so she’d probably still be walking around in a towel for a while. Like a movie star… if she was that pretty.

“Do you wanna keep driving, or wait here a bit longer? I’m not sure if any of these other houses still have people who live in them,” She muses, moving to peek out of another window.

It was a lonely stretch of highway, but she could make out maybe a few more houses with their lights on. At least they might be in better shape than this one. Hopefully they didn’t have any—

Whatever she was thinking of, her mind blanked it out. She scratches at her hair, then tousles the damp curls. Weird.

“Never mind… I see a few. Anyway… it’s up to you, Sova. I guess I can be bait again.”

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter was itching to get out. He still had some fresh meat. The old man was still laying near the front door, and the child...Despite him coercing Selene to murder it, he still felt heavy at the image of the tiny body laying under the bedsheet. His chest tightened in an unfamiliar way.

It wasn't his fault. His mind started to thread a dangerous line of thoughts. It was the old man's fault for keeping the kid around. It was Murkoff's fault for creating him. No... It was her fault. She pulled the trigger. Not him. Never him. The child blood was on her hands.

He ground his teeth as if the additional pressure in his head would push the thoughts away. The burn of alcohol in his chest only heightened the pain there.

"Хорошо." he said absentmindedly. His thoughts were far away, ruminating on that pink room littered with toys. "Хорошо...You choose a house. Make them come to me."

Killing wouldn't change the past, but it could bury it for now just like what alcohol did for the broken men wandering his home town. He supposed they all has their own demons they were running from. His were just clad in rubber aprons and sterile white and full of stupid questions. (Is the therapy working?)

[2young2die]

She could tell something was bothering him, and not in the usual way. She’d been around him long enough to know what was his usual agitation or being mad at her for something. He probably wouldn’t tell her, or just yell at her again, but she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t keep trying.

“Sova, are you…?” But she simply trails off, his words just enough of an order. Outwardly she goes still, but inwardly she can feel herself dissolving, falling into a bright green sea.

Part of her knew (somehow) that something was waiting for her at the bottom. Multiple somethings. But she couldn’t drown yet. She had work to do.

The green water is bitter and acidic on her tongue. It hurts, but she’d gulp it down if she could. She settles for a taste and it makes her chest ache. With longing, with emotions she barely recognizes anymore.

Outside-Selene plucks the bottle of whiskey from Night Hunter’s hand, takes a swig, then kisses his ruined mess of a mouth. Her tongue licks his, then his exposed teeth and gums. Like a caress. Like she’d do to the rest of him, if he allowed it.

“Dinner will be ready soon, darling,” She coos, then sets off outside and down the street in just her towel, bottle in hand. He might punish her for that kiss later, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.

Make them come to me. Easy.

The single gulp of alcohol was making her head fuzzy, but she manages to make it to the first lit-up house. Knocks like she’s supposed to be there. Suddenly there’s a man standing there—older than her but healthy. Sova will like him.

“Hey, you wanna party?” She slurs to him, grinning. Was this how she used to be, in a life she could barely remember? She can’t stand herself, but she keeps smiling.

The man just stares at her in dull shock. Was she crazy? Injured? His eyes flicker from her barely concealed body to the bottle in her hand. His wife was asleep. He should wake her up.

Selene’s grin falters. He was looking at her. He wasn’t Sova. She didn’t like it.

The bottle of whiskey shatters against the man’s face and he falls backwards with a yelp, face streaming with blood, burning from the alcohol.

“God, you people up here cry a lot. Was I ever like that? Geez,” Selene rolls her eyes, beginning to drag him back across the road by his leg. He kicks and thrashes and she drops him, cursing, then stomps at his face.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter harshly shoved Selene away. Sex was far from his mind at this point, clouded by pain and something else he refused to acknowledge.

"Just get on with it." he spat at her as she left.

His mood soured the longer he had to go without any bloodshed. Now alone in the humble house, Night Hunter started to pace. It was dangerous for him to be alone with his thoughts. The more time he was with them, the longer he could ruminate and plunge into a darker place (where that child was. dead with only a thin sheet to cover it. did it have parents? would they come? what he done. what had he done what had he done what had HE DO-).

He abruptly turned his thoughts outwards. Yes yes, he could take his time butchering the old man now just to fill the time.

The kitchen was bare but not filthy. A meager collection of cutlery was placed out in the open, sheathed in a wooden block. Night Hunter grabbed the largest one and tested the sharpness on the pad of his thumb. The skin split easily. Good. Unlike his machete, this blade was sharper and precise.

He dragged the old man into the kitchen and started his bloody work.

[2young2die]

There was almost something comical about the sight of a half-naked woman and a grown man fighting in broad daylight. What few houses there were along this stretch of highway stayed shuttered. Nobody cared to look out on what was going on. Selene was blessed. Or cursed. Probably a bit of both.

She missed her shoes. Her bare feet weren’t enough to smash his face in, and he wouldn’t stop crying. This was what it was like to be an Ex-Pop, she mused. No wonder Night Hunter was mad at her all the time.

Even without shoes her body weight is enough to push the glass shards into his face. There, that’s what she needed. They’d probably get stuck in her feet too, but at this point she barely had any feeling left in them anyway.

The floor traps. No matter how careful she was, she’d end up stepping on one anyway. Then she’d scream and Coyle would find her, and he’d laugh—

Fingers grab at the towel she’s wearing, ripping at it, then her legs. It’s blind groping, not intentional, but it still makes her freeze up. She’s choking on cigarette smoke, on the reek of hot leather. Coyle always smelled like roadkill that’d been baking in the desert for a few days.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Selene shrieks, so loud that it makes her chest burn. She gouges at his eyes with her fingers, his face. She just didn’t want Coyle touching her—

You’re not following orders.

Her body freezes up again and she blinks hard. What was scarier than Coyle? Sova being disappointed in her. If she just killed this guy, he wouldn’t like it.

“You’re… you’re lucky,” She mumbles, licking her dry lips, then starts dragging him back to the house that Sova and her had taken. Blood was caked up to her wrists. The man wasn’t trying to grab her anymore, his fight reduced to broken sobbing as gummy tears leaked out of his mangled face.

“My boyfriend wants to eat you. At least you’re worth something.”

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter looked up from his work at the front door opening. Light poured into the dark house as Selene stepped in, still only wearing her towel, and dragged the meat in like unruly cattle.

The whole house reeked of blood and guts and all the smells that came from it. Across from the front door, blood spread on the tiled floor, coagulating into a thick gel in the grout. The stench was overwhelming, almost physical, as if it clung to every surface like lichen.

"Fresh meat." Night Hunter breathed excitedly.

He stepped away from the body of the old man or what was left of him. It was just a carcass now.

The man on the floor started to struggle again, most likely smelling the carnage around him. He flailed his arms and legs, lashing out at anyone or anything close to him.

"Stay away!!" he shouted. "Help! HEEELLL-"

Night Hunter cut him off with the sole of his boot crushing the man's windpipe.

"Так шумно. Meat doesn't scream."

[2young2die]

The carpet was an obnoxious orange color, but the coagulating blood was already beginning to turn it a less offensive shade of brown. Selene wrinkles her nose as the mess squishes between her toes. So much for taking a bath.

“Wish you talked about me like that,” She murmurs dryly, jealous of the exhilaration in his voice. She was less than meat.

Less-than-meat makes her way into to kitchen. Her clothes were finally dry, so she puts them on, the familiar weight comforting her somewhat. Her task was done for now, so she could… sleep? No, she wasn’t tired.

Even so, she could feel something pulling at her consciousness from the back of her mind. Sleep. Rest. No, she didn’t want to. She couldn’t just keep literally sleepwalking through everything.

Her eyes land on a clean knife in the kitchen sink and she picks it up, wondering. Maybe if she cut herself. Just enough to feel something.

Before she can stop herself, the blade is being raised higher to her throat. It’s her own hand doing it, but she can’t stop it. She can’t say anything. Would Sova even help her if she did, or would she just end up as another meal for him? At least then she’d be something.

She knows George is dead, but suddenly he’s the one holding the knife, not her. She can only blink, trapped in her own body.

“You killed me,” George mutters, his face a sloppy mess of gore, his body still missing chunks where Sova had feasted on him.

“I killed you,” She replies, simply, the blade getting close enough to graze her throat. Maybe she should let it happen. Maybe—

“—leaving me, мышь?”

A much more important voice cuts through whatever’s going on in her brain and she suddenly finds the strength to fling the knife away. It ends up embedded in the wall, and she grips the edges of the kitchen counter, feeling like she’ll puke. Neon green light swirls behind her eyeballs but she manages to stay standing. She didn’t want to fall asleep yet. She wasn’t done.

She was hungry, actually. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ate.

As if nothing’d happened, Selene meanders over to the fridge. She wanted something hot, but a sandwich would have to do.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter ignored Selene as he continued to torment the helpless meat. He took the time to play with the pressure he applied against its windpipe, reveling when it sputtered and struggled. It continued for a few cycles until the prey underneath him lay there limply, unmoving and unconscious.

"Черт. They don't make them like they used to." he muttered, disappointedly.

Usually, he was more violent with his methods, butchering prey without a care about when the next one would come around.

Night Hunter scowled, cursing quietly to himself. If they were still in the trials, he wouldn't have to restrain himself like this. He wouldn't have to preserve his fun for later like some beggar.

When Selene slammed the blade of the kitchen knife into the wall, it earns a grunt from Night Hunter. No questions, just acknowledgment. He had no idea what was festering in her. All he noticed was how she seemed to fall into a fugue at random, and how her eyes would glaze over and her normally clumsy gait would become a graceful glide. She seemed otherworldly as if possessed by something he couldn't name. It intrigued him to see what she would evolve into.

"Nauseous, мышь?" he asked in his annoyed tone reserved only for her. "What? You feeling sorry for this worm or something?"

[2young2die]

“No,” She murmurs, simply, grabbing some deli meat from the fridge. She tosses it onto the counter, then rummages around until she finds bread. There was also peanut butter and jelly in the cabinet.

Of course. Something easy for kids to eat.

Kids? Why was she thinking—

The sudden memory of what she’d done before they even came in the house hits her like a flash bang and she has to hold onto the counter for support.

Killing adults was one thing. She knew it was crazy to even make distinctions, but the kid was innocent, they—

“Why did you tell me to shoot them?” She murmurs, then exhales slowly, trying to keep herself composed.

“You’re playing in that guy’s guts, you eat people, but shooting a kid is too much for you? Huh??” She suddenly shouts, voice cracking. So much for composure.

“Had to be this one fucking house…”

Sniffling, she scrubs her face off on her shirt and takes her half-made sandwich to go sit outside on the front porch. She didn’t want to be in the house right now, she didn’t know what to do anymore, but she needed some fresh air.

The sandwich was bland, but she reluctantly munches it down, even as it just makes her feel sicker.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter fell uncharacteristically silent. Her words cut deep into him, lacerating him deep into where he was still human. The pink walls closed in on him again. The toys on the floor loomed over him. And the child, still shrouded in white linen, was laying ritualistically in the center.

For a second, a wave of immense guilt washed over him before being replaced with cold fury. Why did she remind him? Why was she blaming him? She brought him out here, out of his cage where he should've been kept, trapped like the monster he was supposed to be. The child was just...

"Сопутствующий ущерб." he murmured. The word stuck to his tongue like tar. "Это был сопутствующий ущерб."

It reminded him of the snow again and all the bodies buried shallowly underneath. The war-torn city, smoke billowing from broken windows, and corpses scattered on the streets, turning blue from the cold. Men, women, children. Blood and ash in the air. Blistering cold. Starving. Strange Meat. Leningrad.

He felt ravenous.

Night Hunter stared at the meat on the floor, then to the butchered corpse of the old man. He wanted fresh meat, but he had to conserve (for the winter). He grit his teeth unconsciously as the hunger in his guts started to eat away at him.

Suddenly, he fell to his knees and whatever string that was holding him back snapped into two. Night Hunter bit into the man's neck. Blood pooled out from his jagged teeth further staining the horrifically orange carpet. He couldn't stand it anymore. This all-consuming thing in him. Whether it was guilt or hunger, he didn't care anymore.

As he ate, there was banging on the door.

"Hello? Hello?!" came a woman's voice and more frantic knocking "Hello? Is anyone home?! I'm looking for my husband!"

[2young2die]

Selene watches as the woman streaks right past her. She really was invisible.

Husband? Must be nice. Must be nice to have someone love you that much.

Her fingers twitch and she discards the last bit of stale bread from her sandwich, then wipes her hands off on her jeans before rising.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Selene murmurs, dispassionately. Despite her tone of voice, she could feel herself getting angry. She’d never really been an anger type of person—she was used to crying, or just brushing things off to hope for the best. She didn’t know what to do with anger.

The woman turns, clearly startled. When did she get here? Why did she look so unconcerned?

“Who are you?” She asks, backing away from the door. There was a trail of blood that led from her doorstep to this one. Her husband was missing. She didn’t want to think too hard about those noises she heard behind the door.

“I’m Selene.” Was she? She barely knew anymore.

“S-Selene, if my husband is there, I—“ Her words trail off into nothing, cold dread suffusing her chest. This other woman—there was something wrong with her. Her eyes were dead. The situation was confusing and weird. She vaguely remembered hearing something on the radio about some small town that had seen a spate of bizarre murders, but how could this mousy woman—

Husband. Husband. This lady was really rubbing it in, wasn’t she? Well, fuck her!

The shitty little pocket knife was still where she’d left it. Selene grabs the woman the same time she flicks it out and open from her pocket and stabs. Rips. This was the only way she knew to make the anger go away.

“You wanna see your fucking husband, you stupid bitch?!” She shrieks, then wrenches the front door open, shoving her inside as she keeps stabbing.

“Die together, then! Isn’t that fucking romantic?!”

There was a monster eating her husband. There was a monster eating her husband, and she was dying, stabbed for no reason by this lunatic fucking woman. Selene.

[unteriors]

W Prospect Street, Endeavor, Wisconsin.

[calcifiedred]

[worldscoolest]

Just received a very small batch of ‘Every Pill I Took: 2000 – 2001’ by Michael Lorenzini.

[jetsetbf]

[nikish-l]

[gl0wwurm]

Domestic Horrors Pt 4

@2young2die

Night Hunter made a noise of disgust. She was delusional. They had never truly 'kissed' in the traditional sense. It was teeth and pain and blood. Whatever that was wasn't 'kissing'. Far from it.

"You're crazier than I thought." he laughed bitterly.

She seemed almost 'normal' before. Not like some of the other Reagents who were either catatonic or deranged. But now, he could barely recognize her. She was ruthless and detached, and he wasn't sure if he respected it or feared it.

"Need to clean this." Night Hunter mumbled and started to untie his wrapped arm.

It still throbbed whenever he moved it, but the gauze had staunched the bleeding at least. The wound was caked over with dried blood, and the puckered skin around it was a painfully ruddy. He really should clean it.

"Hmmm..." he hummed contemplatively and glanced around the bathroom. "I need vodka. Something strong."

[2young2die]

Her dark eyes turn downcast as he seems disgusted with her. He’d never had an issue with using her body before… maybe it was just because she was being sappy. Oh well! She didn’t see anything wrong about love.

“I’ll go look for some alcohol. Be careful in here,” She murmurs, patting his knee where it juts up out of the water. The tub barely had room for an adult man, let alone the two of them.

Selene gets up out of the water, her tired body protesting the slow way she stands in order to avoid splashing him. Huffing softly, she pads out of the bathroom and through the house, bare feet almost instantly getting dirty again from the old orange carpet.

In the kitchen she finds a high cabinet and leans up on her toes to open it, finding several bottles of whiskey inside. She’s never really drank anything but beer, but they look kinda expensive, so maybe they’re high proof.

Unscrewing the cap on one of them, she sloshes it over the still-warm bite mark on her shoulder and immediately hisses, slapping the countertop with her free hand. Fuck, that hurt. But at least she felt awake again.

“Okay Sova, I think this’ll help,” She calls, padding back to the bathroom with the rest of the bottle of brown liquor.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter stepped out of the tub once Selene had left. Water rolled off of him and onto the tiled floor below. He scoffed at her concern. Be careful? What was he going to do? Drown?

Without bothering to dry himself, he donned his filthy clothes again. They still reeked, but they were the closest thing to familiar in an unfamiliar world.

He eyed the liquid suspiciously. Under the varying hues of green projected by his goggles, it almost looked like window cleaner. Even trying to decipher the label was no use. Fucking English letters shaped all weird.

"What the fuck is that? Вода?" he asked, although his tone made it sound more like an insult.

[2young2die]

Selene sets the bottle down on the closed toilet lid for him and then begins to gather up her own clothes, intending to wash them. The sheer amount of blood caked into her shirt looked way too suspicious as far as she was concerned.

“It’s alcohol. Whiskey,” She explains, unbothered by his hostility. She really should be used to it at this point.

“We don’t really have vodka over here in America,” She adds, then heads into the kitchen, beginning to dump her filthy clothes into the sink along with a healthy little pile of dish washing powder. Soap was soap at this point.

Stuff like this kept her mind busy. The nap—or whatever it was—had helped somewhat but she was still bone-tired. And she knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to go find Sova something to eat.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter took the bottle by the neck and shook it experimentally. He'd never had whiskey before, at least from what he could remember. The only choices back home were vodka or kvass. And water if he had extra money.

"Черт. This is the good shit then." he snorted, before taking a swig.

Some of the alcohol poured out between his exposed teeth, directly onto the misshapen flesh around it. He hissed at the pain, but it burned good.

"It's strong. Good." he concluded before pouring it directly onto his wound.

The pain was red hot like an inferno brewing right under his skin. It was a different kind of agony compared to the chronic one from the metal embedded into him. It was sharper and left him lucid, as if he had plunged into an ice bath. He liked this kind of pain. One he could control.

"You got another rag, мышь?" he called out from the bathroom.

[2young2die]

Selene scrubs at her clothes until her arms are sore, emptying the sink of rusty water until it finally stays clear. Washing the blood and grime out of her clothes felt like washing away memories. She knew they weren’t good ones, but it was still bittersweet. She’d had these clothes since Sinyala. Sinyala was where she met Night Hunter.

Lucidity makes her head spin. She wasn’t normal anymore. There was something wrong with her. There was another person living inside her skin—a person that made her do things and kill people and feed them to a man she loved but he hated her but—

Her vision crawls with black tendrils and she grips the sides of the kitchen counter. What was she going to do? What could she do?? Did Murkoff do this to her or had she always been like this???

Sova’s call to her from the bathroom makes her shiver and her mind immediately quiets, going docile, the panic smothered by his accented rasp.

Nothing mattered except the two of them together.

Мышь. Maybe he wasn’t too mad at her after all.

“Sure, Sova,” She replies, as if nothing happened, padding back into the bathroom to find him a washcloth. The sharp scent of alcohol makes her nose itch, and something buried at the back of her mind squirm.

“Did it help?” She inquires, handing him the ‘rag’ with her usual nervous smile and the hopeful lilt to her voice.

[gl0wwurm]

"I suppose." he answered back absentmindedly.

Night Hunter took the old washcloth and tore it until it resembled a strip of bandage. He wrapped it the same as before but was pleased he wouldn't have to stuff the material into the wound like before.

The lingering aches and pains were intensifying with time again. Without whatever meds Murkoff had been pumping him full of, the maddening thrum of pain caught up to him all too quickly. Some moments he could ignore it Most times, it became unbearable, overtaking him in waves. Right now, he was drowning. He tilted the bottle again into his torn maw, gulping down the alcohol and letting it spill out from between the scarred skin.

Back home, there were many men who let alcohol consume them. They were broken shells, walking aimlessly like ants in a circle. Night Hunter was no stranger to these vices, although he wasn't too keen on the drink's sedating effects. There were better ways to bury the pain. Ways he had learned in Sinyala. But this would do for now.

He glanced outside from between the slits of the blinds to confirm it was nighttime, and the dark meant he could hunt again.

[2young2die]

Selene fidgeted a bit nervously as Night Hunter seemed distracted. It was risky, but she gently squeezed his shoulder (the one without all the scars), then walked back to finish up with her clothes. They were still wet, so she’d probably still be walking around in a towel for a while. Like a movie star… if she was that pretty.

“Do you wanna keep driving, or wait here a bit longer? I’m not sure if any of these other houses still have people who live in them,” She muses, moving to peek out of another window.

It was a lonely stretch of highway, but she could make out maybe a few more houses with their lights on. At least they might be in better shape than this one. Hopefully they didn’t have any—

Whatever she was thinking of, her mind blanked it out. She scratches at her hair, then tousles the damp curls. Weird.

“Never mind… I see a few. Anyway… it’s up to you, Sova. I guess I can be bait again.”

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter was itching to get out. He still had some fresh meat. The old man was still laying near the front door, and the child...Despite him coercing Selene to murder it, he still felt heavy at the image of the tiny body laying under the bedsheet. His chest tightened in an unfamiliar way.

It wasn't his fault. His mind started to thread a dangerous line of thoughts. It was the old man's fault for keeping the kid around. It was Murkoff's fault for creating him. No... It was her fault. She pulled the trigger. Not him. Never him. The child blood was on her hands.

He ground his teeth as if the additional pressure in his head would push the thoughts away. The burn of alcohol in his chest only heightened the pain there.

"Хорошо." he said absentmindedly. His thoughts were far away, ruminating on that pink room littered with toys. "Хорошо...You choose a house. Make them come to me."

Killing wouldn't change the past, but it could bury it for now just like what alcohol did for the broken men wandering his home town. He supposed they all has their own demons they were running from. His were just clad in rubber aprons and sterile white and full of stupid questions. (Is the therapy working?)

[2young2die]

She could tell something was bothering him, and not in the usual way. She’d been around him long enough to know what was his usual agitation or being mad at her for something. He probably wouldn’t tell her, or just yell at her again, but she wouldn’t be herself if she didn’t keep trying.

“Sova, are you…?” But she simply trails off, his words just enough of an order. Outwardly she goes still, but inwardly she can feel herself dissolving, falling into a bright green sea.

Part of her knew (somehow) that something was waiting for her at the bottom. Multiple somethings. But she couldn’t drown yet. She had work to do.

The green water is bitter and acidic on her tongue. It hurts, but she’d gulp it down if she could. She settles for a taste and it makes her chest ache. With longing, with emotions she barely recognizes anymore.

Outside-Selene plucks the bottle of whiskey from Night Hunter’s hand, takes a swig, then kisses his ruined mess of a mouth. Her tongue licks his, then his exposed teeth and gums. Like a caress. Like she’d do to the rest of him, if he allowed it.

“Dinner will be ready soon, darling,” She coos, then sets off outside and down the street in just her towel, bottle in hand. He might punish her for that kiss later, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.

Make them come to me. Easy.

The single gulp of alcohol was making her head fuzzy, but she manages to make it to the first lit-up house. Knocks like she’s supposed to be there. Suddenly there’s a man standing there—older than her but healthy. Sova will like him.

“Hey, you wanna party?” She slurs to him, grinning. Was this how she used to be, in a life she could barely remember? She can’t stand herself, but she keeps smiling.

The man just stares at her in dull shock. Was she crazy? Injured? His eyes flicker from her barely concealed body to the bottle in her hand. His wife was asleep. He should wake her up.

Selene’s grin falters. He was looking at her. He wasn’t Sova. She didn’t like it.

The bottle of whiskey shatters against the man’s face and he falls backwards with a yelp, face streaming with blood, burning from the alcohol.

“God, you people up here cry a lot. Was I ever like that? Geez,” Selene rolls her eyes, beginning to drag him back across the road by his leg. He kicks and thrashes and she drops him, cursing, then stomps at his face.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter harshly shoved Selene away. Sex was far from his mind at this point, clouded by pain and something else he refused to acknowledge.

"Just get on with it." he spat at her as she left.

His mood soured the longer he had to go without any bloodshed. Now alone in the humble house, Night Hunter started to pace. It was dangerous for him to be alone with his thoughts. The more time he was with them, the longer he could ruminate and plunge into a darker place (where that child was. dead with only a thin sheet to cover it. did it have parents? would they come? what he done. what had he done what had he done what had HE DO-).

He abruptly turned his thoughts outwards. Yes yes, he could take his time butchering the old man now just to fill the time.

The kitchen was bare but not filthy. A meager collection of cutlery was placed out in the open, sheathed in a wooden block. Night Hunter grabbed the largest one and tested the sharpness on the pad of his thumb. The skin split easily. Good. Unlike his machete, this blade was sharper and precise.

He dragged the old man into the kitchen and started his bloody work.

[2young2die]

There was almost something comical about the sight of a half-naked woman and a grown man fighting in broad daylight. What few houses there were along this stretch of highway stayed shuttered. Nobody cared to look out on what was going on. Selene was blessed. Or cursed. Probably a bit of both.

She missed her shoes. Her bare feet weren’t enough to smash his face in, and he wouldn’t stop crying. This was what it was like to be an Ex-Pop, she mused. No wonder Night Hunter was mad at her all the time.

Even without shoes her body weight is enough to push the glass shards into his face. There, that’s what she needed. They’d probably get stuck in her feet too, but at this point she barely had any feeling left in them anyway.

The floor traps. No matter how careful she was, she’d end up stepping on one anyway. Then she’d scream and Coyle would find her, and he’d laugh—

Fingers grab at the towel she’s wearing, ripping at it, then her legs. It’s blind groping, not intentional, but it still makes her freeze up. She’s choking on cigarette smoke, on the reek of hot leather. Coyle always smelled like roadkill that’d been baking in the desert for a few days.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Selene shrieks, so loud that it makes her chest burn. She gouges at his eyes with her fingers, his face. She just didn’t want Coyle touching her—

You’re not following orders.

Her body freezes up again and she blinks hard. What was scarier than Coyle? Sova being disappointed in her. If she just killed this guy, he wouldn’t like it.

“You’re… you’re lucky,” She mumbles, licking her dry lips, then starts dragging him back to the house that Sova and her had taken. Blood was caked up to her wrists. The man wasn’t trying to grab her anymore, his fight reduced to broken sobbing as gummy tears leaked out of his mangled face.

“My boyfriend wants to eat you. At least you’re worth something.”

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter looked up from his work at the front door opening. Light poured into the dark house as Selene stepped in, still only wearing her towel, and dragged the meat in like unruly cattle.

The whole house reeked of blood and guts and all the smells that came from it. Across from the front door, blood spread on the tiled floor, coagulating into a thick gel in the grout. The stench was overwhelming, almost physical, as if it clung to every surface like lichen.

"Fresh meat." Night Hunter breathed excitedly.

He stepped away from the body of the old man or what was left of him. It was just a carcass now.

The man on the floor started to struggle again, most likely smelling the carnage around him. He flailed his arms and legs, lashing out at anyone or anything close to him.

"Stay away!!" he shouted. "Help! HEEELLL-"

Night Hunter cut him off with the sole of his boot crushing the man's windpipe.

"Так шумно. Meat doesn't scream."

[2young2die]

The carpet was an obnoxious orange color, but the coagulating blood was already beginning to turn it a less offensive shade of brown. Selene wrinkles her nose as the mess squishes between her toes. So much for taking a bath.

“Wish you talked about me like that,” She murmurs dryly, jealous of the exhilaration in his voice. She was less than meat.

Less-than-meat makes her way into to kitchen. Her clothes were finally dry, so she puts them on, the familiar weight comforting her somewhat. Her task was done for now, so she could… sleep? No, she wasn’t tired.

Even so, she could feel something pulling at her consciousness from the back of her mind. Sleep. Rest. No, she didn’t want to. She couldn’t just keep literally sleepwalking through everything.

Her eyes land on a clean knife in the kitchen sink and she picks it up, wondering. Maybe if she cut herself. Just enough to feel something.

Before she can stop herself, the blade is being raised higher to her throat. It’s her own hand doing it, but she can’t stop it. She can’t say anything. Would Sova even help her if she did, or would she just end up as another meal for him? At least then she’d be something.

She knows George is dead, but suddenly he’s the one holding the knife, not her. She can only blink, trapped in her own body.

“You killed me,” George mutters, his face a sloppy mess of gore, his body still missing chunks where Sova had feasted on him.

“I killed you,” She replies, simply, the blade getting close enough to graze her throat. Maybe she should let it happen. Maybe—

“—leaving me, мышь?”

A much more important voice cuts through whatever’s going on in her brain and she suddenly finds the strength to fling the knife away. It ends up embedded in the wall, and she grips the edges of the kitchen counter, feeling like she’ll puke. Neon green light swirls behind her eyeballs but she manages to stay standing. She didn’t want to fall asleep yet. She wasn’t done.

She was hungry, actually. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ate.

As if nothing’d happened, Selene meanders over to the fridge. She wanted something hot, but a sandwich would have to do.

[gl0wwurm]

Night Hunter ignored Selene as he continued to torment the helpless meat. He took the time to play with the pressure he applied against its windpipe, reveling when it sputtered and struggled. It continued for a few cycles until the prey underneath him lay there limply, unmoving and unconscious.

"Черт. They don't make them like they used to." he muttered, disappointedly.

Usually, he was more violent with his methods, butchering prey without a care about when the next one would come around.

Night Hunter scowled, cursing quietly to himself. If they were still in the trials, he wouldn't have to restrain himself like this. He wouldn't have to preserve his fun for later like some beggar.

When Selene slammed the blade of the kitchen knife into the wall, it earns a grunt from Night Hunter. No questions, just acknowledgment. He had no idea what was festering in her. All he noticed was how she seemed to fall into a fugue at random, and how her eyes would glaze over and her normally clumsy gait would become a graceful glide. She seemed otherworldly as if possessed by something he couldn't name. It intrigued him to see what she would evolve into.

"Nauseous, мышь?" he asked in his annoyed tone reserved only for her. "What? You feeling sorry for this worm or something?"

[2young2die]

“No,” She murmurs, simply, grabbing some deli meat from the fridge. She tosses it onto the counter, then rummages around until she finds bread. There was also peanut butter and jelly in the cabinet.

Of course. Something easy for kids to eat.

Kids? Why was she thinking—

The sudden memory of what she’d done before they even came in the house hits her like a flash bang and she has to hold onto the counter for support.

Killing adults was one thing. She knew it was crazy to even make distinctions, but the kid was innocent, they—

“Why did you tell me to shoot them?” She murmurs, then exhales slowly, trying to keep herself composed.

“You’re playing in that guy’s guts, you eat people, but shooting a kid is too much for you? Huh??” She suddenly shouts, voice cracking. So much for composure.

“Had to be this one fucking house…”

Sniffling, she scrubs her face off on her shirt and takes her half-made sandwich to go sit outside on the front porch. She didn’t want to be in the house right now, she didn’t know what to do anymore, but she needed some fresh air.

The sandwich was bland, but she reluctantly munches it down, even as it just makes her feel sicker.

[arthistoryfeed]

Petit Lenormand Divination Deck. Culture: French-German cartomancy tradition. Origin: Paris, France. Date: circa 1890 AD. Publisher: likely Ch. Didot, Paris. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

[sammilochik]

i love the central valley

[orpheusindreams]

Bathed in early mornings glow

[clipitcutout]

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