Monster (Main Pairing: Merome)

Chapter 18 - Anti

I'm not stoned, I swear, i'm just really really tried.

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~Mitch's POV~

My head swam as my eyes adjusted to the bright room. Light seemed to bounce off the white walls and straight into my eyes. After a few moments, I looked around. I found myself in a white room, the only thing in it was a circle of couches in the center of the room. I turned and began walking around the room, looking for exits or traps.

Letting out a breath with a loud puff, I brought my hand to my head, trying to remember how I got here. My hand never made it to its destination. I held my hand out in front of my face, frozen. My hand was normal. The purple claws were replaced with tan fingers, the nails lightly nibbled off, just like they had been roughly a month ago. As soon as I recovered from the shock, my eyes ran over my body, finding it completely normal. No wings, spikes, or tail could be found on my body.

How is that possible?! No way I dreamt that entire experience. Wait, wait... Suddenly memory returned and I almost broke into complete panic. Where was I? How am I standing up? What happened to Lachlan? Where is he?

I was so lost in my own thoughts I almost missed the ringing and whispering in my ear. I froze, again, and stood quietly, trying to make words out of the whispers. I pieced together Don't trust them and Lying before a more clear voice called out to me. This one wasn't a whisper, in fact, it was coming from inside the room.

I spun, finding a figure on the circle of couches. Its back was towards me, but its words seemed to bounce of the walls.

Finally

Drawing courage from curiosity, I called towards the being.

"F-Finally what?"

The figure remained still. So, while half of my brain screamed for me to stay far away, I crept forward until I was only feet away from the couches. Now that I was closer, I could pick out details from the being. It was a he, with cropped green hair and piercings on the rim of his pointy ears. He was wearing an odd gray hat, but I shrugged it off. I realized he wasn't slouching and estimated that he was about maybe Jerome's or Ian's height.

Cautiously, I rounded the corner, looking into the face of the male. He wore simple clothing, a blue hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. His fingers had long, dagger-like claws, as mine had had, and his mouth was filled with pointed teeth. What struck me most was his eyes. He two different eyes. Both had blue pupils, but one had green where there should've been white, and the other had blck where there should've been white. He was watching me observe him with a calculating glare, staring into my own eyes. When I tried to return the glare, the corners of my vision blurred and I felt weird, so I looked away. Note to self, beware the eyes.

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Do I question him, or let him be the first to speak?

You have high resistance skills, Hughes.

I was shocked. He knew my name. How? Creep alert. I accidentally glanced at his face before settling on looking at his cheek to avoid his eyes. I cleared my throat, dislodging a lump and taping the last reserve of courage I had left.

"Who are you, and how did I get here?" I asked firmly. The male showed no emotion, instead, he sat forward, lacing his fingers together.

You are bold. Dark's information was correct. As to who I am, it is none of your concern, but if you must, call me Anti. You are currently in a place called the medium, this room in particular is called the Meeting Room, though. It's where, if you didn't connect the dots, people like me meet people like you.

I was taken aback by the information I had received. I returned Anti's emotionless face.

"Does that mean every soul keeper comes here?"

He was startled by the question, and answered too quickly.

Yes. I am here to guide you, for a simple price.

Lies.

I'm going to make you a deal. You give me freedom, and I'll protect you.

"Protect me? From who?" I countered. Anti seemed to hesitate, as if weighing options, before standing and approaching me. He stood face to face with me, close enough to touch chests. I looked to the side, not wanting to look into his eye. I had a bad feeling about them. Anti grabbed my chin roughly with his clawed fingers, yanking my face in his direction. I got a sick feeling in my stomach when we made eye contact, like before.

Suddenly I couldn't peel my eyes from his. I felt like I was in a trance. Wait, I was.

I quickly balled my fist and brought it up to Anti's face. My hand froze mid swing. I was under his control. I had to do something, fast.

My mind began to numb, and the situation seemed too fake to be reality. Surly, I had dreamed the whole thing. I would wake up in my bed in Sky Valley, get some cake that Ian had made, and head to the Nexus with Jerome and the team. The longer I thought about it, the falser the past month grew. My hand began to lower. I could almost hear Husky's snores from next door. I was still human, a treasured member of Team Crafted. Nothing had happened. I've obviously been dreaming this entire time.

That's when my mind snapped back into place. Pushing Sky out of the way of the flying object, bruised and beaten from the battle previous. Waking up with Seto standing over me, sword aimed for the kill. Meeting Pete, Preston, and Lachlan, the confusion on Preston's face when I refused the cooked fish. Jerome's face in the clearing, his voice calling me biggums for the first time in weeks. The pure fear in Lachlan's eyes as the rocks crumbled under his feet. No. It had been real. I was falling under Anti's spell.

My fist unfroze, my bare knuckles connecting with Anti's nose. He released my face with a wail, stumbling back. Green sludge leaked from his nose, and I assumed he was glaring at me, since I avoided his eyes.

You will regret that, Mitchell Hughes.

There was a "Poof" like sound and I looked up, finding myself alone again.

I waited in silence for several minutes, before taking a step forward. Or, rather, trying to. As soon as I lifted my foot, the room began to shake with the power of an earthquake. I swayed, miraculously keeping my balance. At far corner of the room, the walls began to crack, and to my horror, chunks began to break off and disappear into blackness. It quickly spread across the room, leaving me no-where to go. The piece I stood on wobbled, before disappearing under me. I didn't try to hold in a scream as I fell through the medium.

I fell

And fell

And fell

I opened my eyes carefully, almost grinning when I found myself not in a white room. Instead, I was in a poorly lit room carved of stone, again, probably underground. There was a door to my right, a heavy old iron one.

My head was pounding like the beat of a drum, and my body ached. I wiggled my wings and tail, relieved to find them still attached. I felt a tightness around my wrists and discovered rusty chains holding me against the wall, decorated with weird symbols.

Footsteps echoed down a hallway. Coming in my direction. All I could do was wait until the door creaked open and a familiar body emerged into the dim light. I put as much hatred into a glare as I could muster and stared at my captor. Chard lips curled in a smile that could only be described as dastardly, and soulless eyes were lit with crazed ambition.

"How was your first trip to the Meeting Room?" Kenny asked and waited a few minutes for a reply, which wasn't coming. He only smiled wider, showing rotting, pointed teeth.

"Fine. Be that way." And with that he was gone, and I was left alone in the semi-darkness.

Biggums, help me.