Demonic // phan

Twenty Two

He didn't know where to start.

He knew he needed a plan of some sort, something that wouldn't get him and Phil killed at the same time; rushing in blindly wasn't an option. But he needed to act quickly because he wasn't sure when his family would finally notice he was gone, and track him down.

He tried to find some sort of lead, any evidence about where they might have taken Phil, but it was mostly fruitless. His room and everywhere around his house held nothing, and the school was just as barren. He was running on hope and diminishing determination, and the more he tried the less he came up with.

He knew about hunters. He knew they liked to keep things quiet, wouldn't risk being anywhere in the open lest they be discovered by reckless bystanders. They would be somewhere secluded, but there were a lot of places like that, and Dan didn't have the time to search them all.

It was cold out, and even though he couldn't feel it, he still hunched into his jacket.

They'd probably be inside somewhere. They were human after all, and wouldn't be willing to stand the cold just to keep a hostage. And yeah, that narrowed the possibilities somewhat, but not by much.

He was running out of time. Besides the fact that Zoe had probably already told the other's of his intentions, he was also trying to find Phil before something happened to him. He didn't... he didn't want to end up being too late to save him.

It was an endless loop in his mind, a nonstop chant of my fault my fault my fault, and Dan hated himself with every step he took. Phil didn't deserve this. He had no idea the extent of the danger that would be brought on him just by interacting with Dan, no idea the things they would most likely do just to get their hands on him.

The small thread he was hanging onto, the possibility that he could still fix this whole mess, was wearing thin with every minute that Dan didn't do anything, but it was like no matter how how much he tried and he wished and he goddamn prayed, it wasn't enough. Nothing was going to fix this.

He was fucking moping, he knew, dragging himself through a small area surrounded by trees and staring at the ground like he was in some depressing chick flick and the girl had just gotten dumped by the guy. If it had been raining, well, wouldn't that just be the perfect addition to his pity party.

And man, he was not paying attention in the slightest because two seconds later, there was a knife at his throat, pushing him up against a tree as the person holding the weapon restrained him.

"You must be really fucking out of it to be caught so easily." The guy, one of the hunters he knew, hissed in his face, practically radiating anger. Dan stared back at him resiliently, cursing himself for being caught off guard like that. He needed to stop spacing out so much.

He heard more footsteps, more hunters, heading their way, and now him and Phil were both screwed.

***

Phil

The only one who he saw after that was PJ.

From what little he'd explained, there were more than just him and Chris, a whole community that stuck together to kill 'those sons of bitches'. And they all wanted to torture Phil for the information they needed. PJ didn't like resorting to violence so easily, and he had felt bad for Phil being treated so poorly. And Phil didn't know if he was telling the truth or if it was just some kind of ploy to get him to talk.

He was brought food, though, and water, and that much was greatly appreciated. At least they didn't leave him there to rot. But he was constantly terrified about whatever was supposed to happen next, and sleep was nonexistent. Not to mention the rope burn he was getting from struggling so much against the ropes around his arms and ankles.