Dawn Chorus (Proxies x Reader)

Crowded

Eyeless Jack straightens up, rolling up onto his feet., His chains rattle softly as he creeps toward the stairs. The door opens a few moments later. The slow, hard thuds tell me its Toby even before I spot the beat-up sneakers and hatchets hanging from his belt. He is whistling. A good mood. He glances over when his head finally comes below the basement ceiling, no mask or goggles.

"H-how are you holding up?" He asks, taking another dropping step down. "I th-thought you could use co-com-co-company."

I can see BEN mocking him from the corner of my eye. Toby follows my gaze, and his expression hardens as he spots BEN. He freezes mid-step, and I can see the force with which he is gritting his teeth. I quickly pull my knees to myself to draw Toby's attention back to me and nod in agreement to needing company. Keep him calm. Keep him friendly. Keep him not chopping off my limbs. He smiles, puppy-like again, and leaps past the last few steps. He wobbles as he stands up, landing further from the stairs than he normally would step down. I know his mistake before he does and judging by the way BEN's smile grows, he notices too.

The basement is silent for a moment, quieter than it has been in the time that BEN has been here. Chains rattle, cinderblocks grind, and Toby crashes hard onto the ground. I can smell the blood, so much spills so quickly.

Eyeless Jack has Toby pinned. Toby managed to get an arm up in front of his face before Eyeless Jack could trap it under him. Eyeless Jack has his teeth sunk deep into Toby's one free arm, pushing towards the young man's face. Toby's fingers twitch and he grits his teeth, but there is no way he can reach his hatchet. He starts to scream and laugh as he tries to get the monster off of him, reacting more to being trapped than to a chunk slowly being torn and chewed out of his arm. BEN shouts something in glee, probably encouraging. Blood runs thick and red from the shredded flesh and my stomach lurches. I try to roll up onto my knees to move.

Footsteps thud upstairs. A shadow covers the top of the steps before flying down the stairs.

"I h-have him!" Toby screams, refusing help as he tries to roll out from under Eyeless Jack. "G-ge h-her be-before she mo-m-moves!"

"Come on!" BEN is shouting. "Le--...et's g--...o!"

He is glitching dramatically in all the excitement. I've barely rolled onto my knees when the masked man races in front of me. He knocks me down, gently holding me there with four fingers against my shoulder. His breath is a little fast, labored. How far did he run to get down here? Was he not in the house? He shifts slightly so I can see Eyeless Jack tear a chunk of Toby's arm and latch on elsewhere. Toby doesn't scream. He laughs.

"Do you really want to be more like them than us?" The masked man asks.

And I see Mason. I hear the echo of this man bragging about his kill, about silencing Mason by dislocating his jaw. And it was Toby's hatchet he used. The cooling blood and cooling body. The masked man likes to get so close to me, close enough to be a hair away from direct contact. And he isn't as aware of his surroundings as the hooded man. I know because my hand is already in his pocket, and he has yet to react.

My fingers graze a cool, plastic handle. Hopefully a knife, but I'll take anything I can use. I nod in agreement as I work the weapon out. Slide my grasp forward enough to feel the cool metal of a blade. Perfect. I jerk the sharp metal through my restraints, careful so he doesn't notice the motion.

More like these men than those monsters? As if there is a gap. As if he didn't kill someone close to me. As if this is a game. The rope is carved thin. I work the knot off my ankles before I snap the last threads, driving the knife upward into the masked man. His eyes get wide as soon as he notices the motion, but he doesn't move in time. The knife digs into his gut. The fabric of his jacket and shirt give more resistance to the blade than his flesh and muscle. I pull back and the blood that falls on my hands is warmer than Mason's had been. It makes me sick.