Redemption (Midas x Reader)

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"Have you checked the bathroom? I couldn't find anything in the kitchen, I thought there might be a dead rat or something," she said, as she walked around and headed that way.

She lurched to a stop as she saw the back of my couch. The handprint. I'd forgotten about it. I felt myself go pale as she wordlessly stared at it.

Shit, I should've covered it up with a blanket or something.

She looked over at me, still wide-eyed, and said, "What the hell is this?" I couldn't find the words to answer. She walked over to me and started to ask another question, when her eyes darted down to my neck and her mouth dropped open.

I shot my hand up and rubbed my throat self-consciously to try to find what she was staring at, when I remembered that he had bitten me. There was probably a mark. I flushed red with embarrassment.

I could almost visually see her connecting the dots in her brain. "Did...did you FUCK Midas?!?!"

I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. I'd never felt so ashamed in my life. "Maya, I'm...I'm sorry, it just kinda happened, I didn't...I didn't mean..."

"Are you fucking kidding me??? I've been trying to get into his pants for literally years and you waltz in here, and after like, what, two weeks, half of which you spent unconscious, get him into your bed."

"Well technically it wasn't...um, it wasn't in the bed..."

Why the fuck did I SAY that???

Her mouth dropped open even further. she scoffed.

"I...I'm so so sorry, it didn't mean anything , I don't even know why I did it, I shouldn't have..."

She interrupted my rambling, a slight smile playing at her lips. "Oh, please. Don't apologize to me, I'm impressed. Do you know how many people here would kill to be you right now?"

"Oh, come on, I'm sure he sleeps with every pretty face that comes in," I said, feeling a bit of relief that she didn't seem pissed.

"That's my job," she said with a wink.

She didn't answer the question.

Just then she looked down, noticing the wadded up t-shirt on my floor near the door. "Is that his?" she asked, before walking over to pick it up and pressing it to her face, sniffing deeply.

"He smells so fucking good," she said, before walking back over to me and throwing the shirt at my face. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

I was about to attempt to pry her for more information when Darren gave a little knock before cracking the door open.

"Did you sleep with him too?" Maya whispered near my ear.

"Maya!" I hissed, tossing the shirt onto the kitchen counter.

"Hey, there, I brought you a flashlight, all I had was this little pen light though, I hope it's big enough," Darren said, walking over to hand it to me. He gave me a couple of pills as well which I promptly swallowed with a glass of water. "Man, it stinks in here."

"Yeah, that's what this is for," I said, gesturing to the small flashlight. "I'm going in there." I pointed up to the vent, which was near the ceiling in the kitchen. "I'm thinking maybe some kind of rodent crawled in the vent and got electrocuted in an exhaust fan or something."

Darren looked uncomfortable. "I don't really think that's a good idea," he said. "I mean, they've got some guys working on it..."

"Would you sleep in here another night?" I asked, cutting him off. "Because I won't. They told me they couldn't get to it until tomorrow."

Maya, who'd been silently watching this whole exchange, butted in. "She'll be fine," she said, slapping him on the back. I had a feeling she was much like me regarding her attitude towards men who told her what to do.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll have to go far, the heat seems to be isolated to this floor, and particularly this room," I said. "Do you think you can boost me up?"

Darren sighed loudly, seeming to realize that it was pointless arguing with us. He reached to pry the vent cover open, making a face as he did so. "Yeah, I definitely think the problem's in here somewhere, that smell is coming out of this vent for sure."

I dug around in the kitchen, coming up with a small trash bag and a pair of rubber gloves I used to clean dishes with. If there was a dead animal in there, I'd need some way to dispose of it, or there was really no point of going in there in the first place. I crammed both in my pockets as best I could, along with the pen light Darren had given me.

I walked up to the now open vent, and Darren laced his fingers together, holding them low, presumably for me to step into. I did so, and he effortlessly lifted me to the vent opening, and I climbed just inside.

"Don't get lost," Maya said. "Pay attention to the turns you take." She reached up and slapped me on the ass, making me bump my head on the top of the vent.

"Yeah, ok," I said, ignoring what she'd done for the moment as I was too busy trying to breathe. The smell was so strong I was trying not to gag. I was beginning to think that maybe it was a larger animal than a rat, maybe a raccoon, that had lost its way and died in the vent.

I pulled out the flashlight and turned it on, and started to crawl on my hands and knees. I wished I had a brighter light, because I couldn't see very far, but this one would have to do.

I crawled straight for a long time. I was heading in what I assumed was the general direction of the training room. The metal of the duct was rough on my knees, and I regretted not putting pants on.

The smell was getting stronger. I was coughing, and trying my hardest not to retch. Between the odor and my impending claustrophobia, I was second-guessing my decision to come in.

I finally came to a crossroads. Ahead of me I could see an exhaust fan that seemed to be fully functional, and a bend to the right, which I assumed would dump out in the training room. I decided to take the bend directly to my left, keeping in mind Maya's warning about paying attention to my turns.

There were flies. A lot of them. I was uselessly swatting them away from my face. The smell was so strong I was gagging, and I was starting to think about turning around. It occurred to me that I didn't really have room, and I'd have to back out until I got back to the duct I came from.

I was approaching what appeared to be a T junction ahead. I could see the black flies covering the wall of the duct in front of me. Just as I reached the turn, thinking about which direction to take, my left hand landed in something thick and wet, and slid forward.

My middle finger jammed into the wall straight in front of me, and my chin slammed into the ground. It took me some time to upright myself, as I was sliding around in the liquid.

Alright I'm fucking out of here. I'll sleep in Maya's room tonight.

Just as I got my balance, I peeked with my light around the corner to the right. At first all I saw was black. I'd definitely found the obstruction, but couldn't immediately tell what it was.

I shined my light around, and suddenly found myself staring into a dull cloudy human eye, sitting in the middle of a bloated face. Flies crawled all over it.

I screamed. The echo of my own voice was deafening in this small space, causing me to cover my ears. I suddenly realized that I was laying in body fluids, and vomited. It was mostly water, and I found myself thankful that I had skipped breakfast.

My flight reaction kicked in, and I put it in reverse. I was flailing myself backwards, crying and screaming hysterically. I was vaguely aware of voices in the distance, which I assumed were from Maya and Darren, concerned about my safety.

My feet hit the wall behind me, hard, as I reached the original duct I crawled through. In my panic it didn't occur to me to turn around and go headfirst, and I continued backing out frantically as though the dead body could somehow catch up to me. My knees were screaming in pain, undoubtedly cut to pieces.

I shot out of the vent backwards, landing on my ankle awkwardly. Darren tried to catch me, but missed, and I continued falling, cracking the back of my head on the kitchen counter. I was out cold.