"Hunger Pains"

Chapter Five

Quackity was already awake the next night when he heard the scratches. He had been waiting for them.

He drifted out of bed, wings beating silently. He fluttered over to the bedroom door, as his feet softly touched down on the paneled floor. The scratching sounded distant, along with the same mildewy smell and sickly breathing. But he didn't seem to mind it anymore. He almost found comfort in knowing they were there.

Opening the door just a crack, he peered into the rest of the house. It was darkness, aside from the moonlight pouring from the windows. And it was still silent, just like last night, except for the now familiar scratching noise that had woken him up. Quackity could somewhat hear grunting amid the noise.

He couldn't help but notice the vile feeling in his gut. Everything about this was horribly nerve-wracking. He felt as if he was in the presence of something far greater, an omnipotent beast, almost. He felt as if any mistep could be a terrible mistake, and he would meet an equally terrible fate if he were to disobey. But this was his chance. It was now or never, to get to the bottom of this, and maybe make a new friend.

He carefully stepped out from his bedroom door, eyes darting side to side.

"...hello?" Quackity managed to say, his voice hardly a whisper, for it didn't seem wise to disobey the silence by breaking it.

"Look, I'm still sorry about last night, ok? Whatever's happening to you, I'm sure we can help."
He said in a reassuring tone, hoping to maybe get their attention.

No response, yet again. Either they hadn't heard him, or they were too preoccupied in whatever they were doing.

He decided to carefully make his way down the stairs, making sure to only step on the areas he knew wouldn't creak. He knew this mostly to avoid waking his friends at night. But now, it was so he wouldn't scare somebody away. With each step the scratching grew louder and more prevalent. So was his heart racing, he started to notice. Not to mention the muddy scent that hung in the air...

After what only seemed like moments, he was at the bottom of the stairs. He slowly turned his head to get a basis on his surroundings in the darkness.

And that's when he saw it.

It was a person. An Elytrian more specifically, wings unfurled limply at their sides. They were sitting on their knees hunched over something, and tearing at it with their hands, as hot breaths escaped their mouth.

Quackity could barely believe what he was seeing. Yet before he could even react, the figure's head jerked up to stare at him. He was face to face with a pair of bloodshot amber eyes, that burned with the pain of an indescribable hunger. Blood caked their mouth as it hung open to reveal daggerlike teeth-

HE ALMOST TRIED TO SCREAM AND-

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Quackity surpressed a shriek as he jolted awake, every nerve locking in place. He frantically scoured the bedroom for a moment with fearful eyes, making sure the figure wasn't there. Yet all was well. He peered out the window beside him to see the prickles of dawn beginning to peek above the horizon, and he could almost hear the murmurs of Techno and Eret talking about the security reports of the last few nights. The terror that had scorched his mind had already faded, leaving only the memory of those wide, searing eyes. They had almost hurt to look at, those eyes. They screamed for help, despite the stranger having never said anything at all. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself as even that faded from memory. Quackity couldn't help to bring a hand to his chin to reflect on what he should do for the morning.

Hold on. That didn't feel right.

His eyes widened with dread as he realized what he could possibly be touching. He quickly leapt from the bed and to a vanity on the other side of the room.

Quackity held another scream at the back of his throat, as his burning eyes stared in horror at the mirror.

You would be scared too, if there was blood on your face.

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