Infectious Devotion (Yandere M. x Fem. Reader)

The Lovelier Relishing

A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Crashing against the floor, feet hit the rocky earth with loud, echoing impacts, but it was a vain hope that the echoes would distract the thing from his present position. Unlike him, it could see in the darkness just fine. In fact, it thrived in the dark, and it hunted in the shadows. Unfortunately, he just had made himself its next snack. Oliver gulped and swore in his head at his decision, but he felt that he had made the right choice. He wasn't about to throw the group to the creature and give up what he had earned. If anything, his decision would benefit them because the creature would be distracted by him and might miss them entering the cave to capture him. They could catch him by surprise.

That hope made him run all the faster, but he couldn't increase his speed too much since he couldn't view anything around him. He depended entirely on his hands sliding against the rocky wall to his right, and the feel of the earth beneath his feet. His hands already had received several scrapes on them. Oliver couldn't feel any blood leaking from his skin, but he couldn't actually tell. If he was leaving blood on the walls, he was practically inviting the creature to catch him, but if he didn't utilize his hands, he might run straight off into a drop-off point, which would most likely end in his death.

Gulping at the thought, Oliver tried to focus his mind away from that possibility. Besides, he had the creature on his tail. He trained his ears to the sounds behind him and tried to pick up anything besides his own echoing, racing footsteps. Just slightly, he noticed soft footfalls. They were slow too, but they were following him. Even a quiet giggle hit his ears, which formed a pit in his stomach.

Is this how the tunnels felt to Nick and (f/n) all those months ago? If so, the more rational part of him was realizing why at least Nick had tried to distance himself from the creature. The atmosphere of the whole cave system was nightmarish, and he easily could imagine the sickening grin on the creature's lips presently. He couldn't give up now, though; he had to draw the creature into the cave further so that the rest of the group could sneak up on him. As long as the creature maintained its attention on him, they stood a chance even if it was slimmer than he previously thought.

Diving further into the darkness, Oliver paused momentarily. He continued to hear the footfalls behind him, but he refused to glance behind him. That only would raise the fear in him to a nauseating level, and his mind convinced him that he would spot the very pale blue optics of the creature in the shadows, which he didn't want to view either, even if the creature still was wearing the sunglasses. Most likely, it had taken them off by now.

Along with the footfalls, however, he heard the sound of something drip-dropping. Hopefully, it wasn't the blood of one of the creature's victims. If he was lucky, it would be water melting from outside and falling into the cave, which meant that there would be light.

Forcing himself to stay still, he listened for the direction of it. His legs shook in the process, however, as he heard the creature drawing nearer. To his right. Oliver picked up speed again, and his feet hit the earth hard. As his hands traveled along the wall, he noted that the wall began to curve. He followed it, and the sound of presumably water grew louder.

Giggles resonated throughout the cave system behind him, and dread grew within him. Maybe, the creature just was attempting to throw him off. Either that or it was indicating that something horrible was up ahead of him. The only benefit was that if it was something stomach turning, he wouldn't be able to witness it with his eyes, though; that might only make things worse depending on what it was. Then again, there might be light where the dripping sound was.