Wii Deleted You: REMISSION (AU)

night 6

The creature slowly gets back up as Austin pulls me out of the way. The gash on my arm makes him flinch aggressively, and I'm scared to look at it myself. I'm not sure if it's my eyes, but the thing's eyes look dimmer than before.

Austin stomps on the monster's stomach before it stands up. I feel like that should be enough, but he does it several more times to the point I'm sure that thing is dead. He pushes it away with his foot before turning and picking me up from the floor.

"You...saved me," I mumble, hysterical. All he does is tug at my shirt in response. I don't want to pass out and not get to say everything I want to say, but my head aches far too much to keep talking. All I can get out is a frail "Thank you." Then I black out.

—

When I wake up, I immediately feel terrible. I'm in my bed, made evident by the dark blue blanket covering me, but the rest is unclear. My left arm feels numb, and when I look at it there's a crudely torn red fabric wrapped around the wound from earlier. That's odd. Where did Austin get red fabric?

Wait. Austin. Fuck.

I immediately sit up to look for him, which ends up being a massive mistake as I almost pass out again. Luckily, the man I'm looking for comes to my aid when this happens. "Henry? Are you awake?"

"Yes," I groan, rubbing my eyes slowly. "What happened?"

"Well, I killed the bitch, that's what happened." He sighs as if this saddens him. "Or did you see me do that?"

"I passed out after I said 'thank you', so yes, I saw that," I reply. Austin giggles but quickly goes back to frowning. "Hey."

"Yes?" he asks. I'm scared to say another word. The way he's muttering his words gives off the impression he's going to cry at any given moment. I wish I could say this in a way that wouldn't feel like I'm stabbing him.

Carefully planning my words, I take a deep breath and open my mouth. "I'm so sorry. About what I said to you earlier. I shouldn't have taken your words that way. The fact that you saved my life even after I yelled at you...that made me realize I was stupid for thinking you were just toying with me."

Oddly enough, his reaction isn't tears—I honestly don't know if I should feel bad or confused for expecting that—but blushing. Oh boy, he blushes. When I finish my last word, I look up and almost think a tomato with eyes replaced my friend's head. "You okay?"

"Y—yes, I'm okay, I'm fine," Austin stutters softly. "I just didn't—I didn't expect that. Sorry."

I laugh at how awkward he's being. "Don't be sorry! I was the one who ran away like an asshole."

"Yeah, I guess so." He smiles at me before bending down to hug me. Surprisingly, he's very gentle; although, I should probably expect that considering the state I'm in. When I try to lift my arms to return the gesture, I wince and a tear falls down my face. "Oh my gosh, did I hurt you?"

"No, it's my arm," I say with a grimace. "Where did you get this fabric, by the way?" He jabs his thumb in the direction of his bed. I suddenly realize he cut his blanket to bandage me. "Did you have to do that?"

"You were bleeding out. The fabric isn't even that vivid of a red, do you realize how much blood you were losing?" I shake my head and pull him down onto the bed with my good arm. Austin gets into a comfortable position sitting next to me before remembering something. "Oh, I just remembered what I wanted to tell you!"

I tilt my head to indicate I'm listening. "So, I think I figured out how those creatures work. You know how they go away if we're quiet? I think they might be blind but have really good hearing. I looked at that dead one after I finished bandaging you, and I noticed a few things. It had these little downturned horn-like things on the sides of its head." He points to the sides of his own head with his index fingers. "That may be how it hears us. Along with that, I don't think their 'eyes' are eyes. They might help with light sensing, which is another thing I want to talk about, but the biggest thing I noticed is that their 'eyes' go dark when they die. Isn't that cool?" He looks over at me with a bright smile.

"Mhm," I hum simply. He's so cute. Absolutely adorable.

"Another thing," he continues, "is the light stuff. They never come into the main area here—that was weird to me until I realized something. Maybe they're sensitive to light! If I'm right, that means we're safe as long as we're in the light."

I suddenly have an idea. If he really is right, we may be able to figure out what these things are. But that can wait.

"What do you want to call them?" I ask, eyes down at the mattress. Austin thinks for a long moment before responding.

His tone is unusually grim, almost morose. I haven't heard this one before. "Something that makes me hate them. Like..." As if reminiscing about something, he looks up.

"Bells will work."