Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Thirty Nine: Misinterpretation

You gulped as the man came way too close, grinning down at you. He hooked his knife under your chin as you fruitlessly tried to push yourself away from him, yet Masky's form behind you offered no escape. The disfigured man tilted your head up towards him, and you screwed your eyes shut. The scent of blood and sweat was overwhelming as you felt his rough lips on your cheek, a kiss with an obnoxiously croaky 'MUAH!'.

Masky interjected as you whimpered, pulling you away from the other stinky man with a commanding snarl. "Fuck off now, Jeff. Go tell the boss she's here."

You didn't open your eyes again until you heard the crunching of leaves, watched the horrifying man - Jeff - begin his retreat into the warehouse. Just before he disappeared behind the barbed wire fence, you heard him call out, tauntingly; "I'll see you inside, (y/n)!"

As soon as he was gone, Masky started forcing you towards the entrance. You could already feel bruises forming where he was manhandling you. The tortured wailing grew louder, echoing off the concrete walls as you were forced over the threshold. You shuddered as you realised they were coming from a dark, dirty stairwell - a basement of some sort. You could only pray that that wasn't where you were being taken.

Thank God, Masky didn't begin to push you down the dingy stairs. Instead, he lead you further into the vast room. Stained, dirty concrete walls that could've done with a good power wash, and floors to match. Industrial light bulbs hung precariously from wires, light dim and sparing. There were no windows, you couldn't see much beyond the center of the room. There were solid metal doors here and there, signs on them that would once have told of what was behind each - though they were now unreadable. And all over the walls and floors, etched in every mouldy pillar, were circles with crosses scratched through the center.

Masky pushed you all the way to the end of the room, into a shadowy patch unreached by the pale light. The floor was wet here, the sound of dripping from a leaky roof. You were shoved through an open door before you could catch your balance or grip onto the doorway, falling clumsily to the damp ground. Your palms screamed as they caught your weight in the nick of time, saving you a broken nose.

Masky's outline loomed above you in the dimness of the doorway. He'd picked up his crowbar behind your back at some point on the way, the thing clean of blood, unlike the last time you saw it. He hooked it on the doorknob now, pulling the door half closed. You contemplated making a mad dash for the only exit before it slammed shut, but you doubted you could outrun him; not again, anyway. You'd have to be sneakier than that.

You gave the man a withering glare as he pulled the door closed with a boom, not dropping your gaze from the metal until you heard his heavy footfalls retreat. Then, you forced yourself to stand. You were now fully engulfed in darkness. You tried the doorknob as your first course of action and, surprise surprise, it didn't budge. You were stuck in here, with nothing to do but listen and think.

And think you did. You didn't exactly know why you were here; you didn't know the motives of the big bad demon thing. This warehouse appeared to be the home of Jeff and Masky, and others from the yelling and screaming that was now muffled by your tiny concrete enclosure. A home base, you supposed. You took a moment to mull over details, analyse them, as you so often did. It kept you within some semblance of sanity.

The last time you'd seen Masky, he had tried to kill you. He almost succeeded. Yet this time, he kidnapped you instead and made no moves to harm you - he made it sound instead like you were wanted here for some ulterior reason. The only reason you could think of was that now, you were infected with The Sickness - you could feel its tepid static constantly. You were wanted by it, for some reason, and so Masky couldn't hurt you to get to Brian. There was still the daunting prospect of becoming one of them. Masky seemed to think that was unlikely, though - 'we're not allowed to kill her 'til later'.