Shot in the Dark (Dead by Daylight X Male Reader)

Chapter 1: The Darkness Awaits

Just like in school, another body. Another mark on a list. Just...ordinary.

Whether it be instinct or fate, you dropped out of college midway through the second year to return to the hometown you so despised. But why? Was it instinct? WAS it fate? No...a voice...your fathers? It was blurry and faded. Far away. You had tried to get closer, to hear it clearer, but you didn't know how. But one night, in dreamless sleep, you heard it.

Home.

And so here you were, back in your old house, back in your old town, working at the hardware store near the center of your fossilized hamlet; it was one of the few places actually hiring. It had been this way for two years now if you counted correctly. Every day was almost a blur, the same routine of waking up, going to work, before getting dinner, and going to bed to only do the same over again the next day. One of the few things that broke up to monotony was a friend you had made while working at the store, a person by the name of (Friend's name). You visited their house frequently, learning, playing, or just plain ol' relaxing.

Yet here you lay, beneath the shade of the old oak tree, replaying what could have been. Maybe if you stayed in college, or asked out that person you crushed on back at that one party, or even if you just hadn't been born in this damn depressing excuse of a town.

Your left hand traced along the bark, eyes catching the marks of a knife cutting into its knobby husk. There was a trace of a heart with initials, with many others like it scattered on the other sides. Some initials stood out more than others; more recent of two lovers coming to mark themselves together here. Others were older; maybe you'd find mother's and father's initials here.

In your search for their initials to pass the time, your finger traced over something that was of utmost peculiarity. It was a symbol of some sort, carved into the tree with extensive detail. They twirled and curled around one another, the shape of thorny vines. Or spider legs? You couldn't decide.

The sun that peeked through the canopy of leaves warmed your back, but as you put your hand on top of the odd symbol it felt abnormally cold. Your eyebrows furrowed, confusing questions that could not find answers swirling through your mind.

"What the-" You pulled back your hand swiftly as the marking began to glow. Like embers developing into a giant blaze, the sigil began to glow brighter at a rapid pace. So much so that you had to cover your eyes so as to not be blinded. The tree had become a literal flashbang.

When the light faded from behind your closed eyelids, you wondered if it had somehow been a trick of the light combining with your muddled state of mind. The sigil was still there, but the fiery glow had left it.

"Ok then..." You exhaled. You blinked a few times rapidly, looking over your body. Nothing wrong there. You felt along your arms and face. Nothing wrong there either.

Lifting yourself off the soft grass and standing up to full height, you sighed deeply before looking out onto the town again. From up here, the hardware store you worked at and even your house were visible, though the latter was much farther away.

"Maybe I just need to take a nap," You decided. You began to saunter forward before something felt terribly wrong. Your right leg wobbled at the knee, causing you to kneel down on the soft grass once again. The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end, and your breath suddenly became uneven and shaky.

That same cold feeling from the marking began to seep through your shoes and into your feet, spreading to your kneeling leg. Your eyes snapped to the discomfort, only to be met with swirling black fog. Your heartbeat quickened as the fog began to trail up your legs, digging into parts of your skin like some freakish centipede.