Something Amiss (Hoodie x Reader)

Forty One: Back and Forth

You fought the urge to roll your eyes - you'd rather drink bleach than believe a word that came out of Masky's mouth. "Cass. It's a demon, not God. It's killing people for no reason."

Cass shook her head with far more vigour than was normal, like you were tormenting her with your words. "Maybe it does have a reason, though! It's not of this world, it's a cryptid. Maybe killing is like... its food. Or, maybe it hates humans - I don't know!"

You couldn't tell if she was deflecting or if she genuinely thought that those possibilities could justify it's actions. You didn't see why the fuck it mattered. "Cass, you're too comfortable here." As you saw it, she had three options; die, run, or, if she really was special, become a killer. "Even if you become one of them, what happens when you fuck up?"

"No, It isn't human like that, (y/n). It doesn't care about proper justice, all it knows is that if someone fucks up, someone also has to be punished." Tears were gathering in the tormented woman's eyes now, you were really getting to her. "It doesn't care who. It's like, it views all of us as the same person. I don't think it understands individuality-"

"That's even worse!" If the demon had no concept of who was who, on top of it's already apparent disregard for human life, either one of you could be a goner any day now. You were both without the regenerative powers of its... proxies.

There had been a spark there, for a split second, of the old, smart, Cass. The one who studied relentlessly for her psych exams, and beat you every time. It was gone, now, like she was battling two versions of herself. "You know, Brian doesn't stay away because he wants to protect you, or himself."

The way she kept changing the subject was jarring, her eyes glancing around skittishly as she continued to talk in a whisper, "It's because he's full of spite. And he makes things so much worse for Tim, because he's never around to do his job, but Tim shows up because he actually gives a shit - and someone gets punished for it every time."

Why was she telling you this? Was she trying to make you feel sympathy for Masky? Resentment for Brian? Or was she simply rambling in her spaced out state? Generally, you were pretty good at reading situations like this. Right now, you had no clue.

A beat of silence. There was only one thing you could think to say; "Don't call him that."

"What?"

"Don't call him Tim." The use of his real name sent shivers down your spine, a reminder of your own stupidity for not being able to figure the sadistic fucker out sooner.

Cass fixed you with a half hearted glare. Ouch. "Oh, please, like you call Brian by his fake name all the time."

So, she knew about you and Brian, then. Or at least, she knew you'd been living with him and jumped to conclusions. You supposed Masky must have figured out where you were one way or another, how else would he have tracked you down in the warehouse district?

"Masky nearly killed me, so excuse me if I don't want to hear his fucking name, Cass." Your relationship with Brian wasn't comparable with what Masky was clearly doing to the other woman, and the way she spoke about Brian ticked you off just a bit.

A beat of silence. Cass seemed to debate harshly with herself, before she finally opened her bloodied mouth again. "Brian stalked me, too, you know. It wasn't just you."

That certainly shut you up.

Your breath hitched. You blinked at her dumbly, "What?"

"He stalked me too. It started as soon as you moved in with me."

Oh.

Tears were streaming down the woman's face now. "I never should've fucking let you move in, but I felt so bad for you, and Lily kept saying it was a good idea. And then, when I realised Brian was stalking me, he started blackmailing me so I couldn't get rid of you! He made sure you got me and Lily Sick, and he kept on taunting me about it."

Did he really, or was this more of Masky's brainwashing? With your eyes, you begged her to be lying. She seemed completely convinced of what she was saying, though.

"Brian was so good to you and Harry, (y/n)! He barely touched you, looked out for you, even. He wasn't like that with me." Her hand reached out to grab your sleeve, frantically, "He's more dangerous than you think he is."

You wanted to call her a hypocrite, tell her that Masky was worse, point out the bruises that littered her upper body. But that wouldn't be fair of you, and you were left with one horrifying thought; what exactly had Brian done to her?

You spoke at last with a shuddering breath, stepping back and away from her outstretched hand. "Yes, well. Let's not compare trauma, Cass."

And with that, you strode away from the madwoman, your heart heavy.