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Chapter 7. Second Stage.
"Last Breath"
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[Words: 2300]
[Duration: Long]
A horrible stab of pain began to appear in the woman's head.
Vanessa scowled at her through clenched teeth, wondering why she was still alive.
She sighed, opening her eyes slowly, her skin prickled as she saw the figure of a golden rabbit kneeling near her.
In response due to her poor vision and the fact that she had just woken up, she confusedly kicked the rabbit out of her sight.
The woman heard a thud, which she assumed was him hitting the ground along with a groan.
- What the hell happens to you? - Vanessa asked, holding a hand to her forehead for her headache.
She sharpened her gaze to see the rabbit standing in front of her, she had no time to react before he kicked her in the stomach right on her wound.
Vanessa winced as she laughed, she was beginning to think she was going crazy.
- ...You're horrible talking to others, right? - The woman laughed in pain.
The rabbit tilt his head at her in confusion.
Vanessa took a huge breath recovering the lost oxygen, looked at her bloody abdomen, lifted her white shirt and realized that she was bandaged perfectly.
She looked around, they weren't in the subway but in the lost and found office.
Had he helped her escape?
Vanessa laughed bitterly, she no longer understood anything.
She shot a sharp look at the rabbit in front of her.
He didn't move from the spot, he just watched her without saying anything.
The woman could see how the tones of the rabbit's body changed from a dirty golden color to a greenish brown, almost like a chameleon.
- You will not say anything? - Vanessa asked, lowering her gaze to the ground.
Obviously, she received no response. For Afton was suspicious and he only spoke when it suited him.
Despite the huge toothy grin on his face, the rabbit had a serious, apathetic attitude.
The woman raised her eyes to rest on the man's face. She felt a chill knowing that he was looking at her so intently.
In a rather sinister and creepy way.
- Here we go again...William... - She complained, bothered by his look.
- Afton... - He let out.
"Oh, now you are interested in talking", Vanessa thought.
She blinked in understanding, smiled to herself.
- William... I won't call you Afton, because I don't have any respect for you... Respect is achieved through fear or trust, and I don't have either of those two for you... - Vanessa took courage in a tone more serious in the voice - I don't care how much you hurt me, I don't care if you stab me or mistreat me, you're not going to get anything. Killing me would be a good option, but at this point it would benefit me more than you, and I know you hate losing... You are unable to accept that someone else is better than you...
Vanessa looked at the opponent's face looking for some reaction, the man was impassive but his violet eyes shone with more intensity.
He didn't like where she was going with that conversation.
The guard kept talking before Afton decided to answer her.
- So I'm going to make things clear between you and me from now on... I don't know why you're still behind me, you're not getting anything at all, you're not helping me, you're just hurting me and criticizing me because I don't do the job well, but still, you don't go away - The woman took a deep breath, she tried her best not to look away from him, despite the fact that his violet eyes were becoming more menacing.
You could clearly tell that Afton was upset.
Tired of her revealing herself to him, of his victim not doing what he wanted.
It wasn't fun anymore.
Suddenly, she frowned at him.
Vanessa clenched her fists, and in a cold voice she spoke.
- Go away... Go away, leave me alone, I don't want to see you, I hate you - She released each word like bullets from a revolver.
He wasn't the only one angry.
- You want to kill me? Just do it. Do I hinder you? Am I a burden to you and your plans? Just kill me! - She exclaimed in fury, her clenched fists trembling and her eyes sharp after each word. - You are annoying, prepotent, inconsiderate, self-centered, apathetic! The only thing you're doing well is staying invisible so I don't get a chance to see your horrible rabbit form.
She was silent then, she didn't even try to dodge the kick he gave her.
Neither the other, nor the next.
Vanessa pressed her back against the wall and hit the rabbit's foot with a swipe, causing him to stumble.
Afton recoiled when he saw that she coughed blood from her mouth.
Anyone would say that he was satisfied, but he only burned with anger when he saw her smile.
Immediately after he disappeared in a cloud of violet mist, Vanessa began to laugh limply with a pained smile on her face.
- Get out of my sight! You are the worst person I have ever met. No wonder others try to cut you out of their lives! - She screamed into the air knowing he could hear her, she coughed again wiping the blood from her mouth between gasps of pain. She took a deep breath to keep talking - I don't care if you feel offended, I don't care if you get angry, because you don't care how I feel!
She reached into her pockets for the knife, realizing that she didn't have it, possibly because Afton stole it from her while she was unconscious.
She took the brown and white mask that she kept on her waist, and with all her strength, or what she had left, she threw it into the air, as if she expected to hit the invisible rabbit, but obviously the object only fell to the ground a few meters later.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was intact.
Vanessa gasped, looking and closing her eyes, trying to forget the pain and breathe easily.
She leaned her back and head against the wall, opening her eyes slightly.
With a weak voice the woman continued talking, not knowing if he was even still there or if he had left to stop listening to her.
- If you're so supposedly obsessed with me, I'm going to propose one last thing... - She kept her eyes looking at the gray ceiling with cracks and cobwebs in the corners, her voice calmed down - I'm not going to help you if you continue like this, I refuse to do your job easier if you are unable to lend a hand for me...
The guard relaxed her shoulders lowering her gaze again, at least her wounds now hurt less.
Fortunately, the remnant would take care of healing them more easily.
She took a deep breath and brought a hand to her head, searching through her hair for her stress.
The pressure in her chest that she felt when Glitchtrap was close to her was gone, assuming he finally left her behind.
- Get out of my sight, please, and never come back... - She closed her eyes enduring the pain, lowered her head letting her hands fall on her own lap. - Or at least you can start thinking about your partner and bring a fucking first aid kit... If you want me to continue under your orders.
When finally got it off her chest she fell silent.
She ended the conversation and knowing that he was gone, she took a deep breath again.
She had succeeded, she felt satisfied after saying all that.
She doesn't know if it even had an effect on him, but she really started to regret meeting him days ago.
She shouldn't have followed him.
Scrapbaby was right, he was a horrible person who only sought superiority and self-centeredness by seeing everyone else as inferior to him.
Vanessa growled in disapproval.
Suddenly, a dull noise was heard next to her, she confused she dragged her gaze to the source. She seeing a first aid kit lying inches away.
Vanessa sighed in exhaustion, it was impossible to get rid of him, worse than a parasite.
- I'm not going to help you if you're still a cretin. - She made it clear
She grabbed the medkit starting to treat her wounds while Afton had an internal conflict with himself.
(...)
On the other hand, Vanessa was not the only one to wake up.
Gregory seemed to regain consciousness of himself after a long and uncomfortable sleep session.
He let out a sob of pain from the headaches in his head, he was still a child after all.
- You woke up - Bonnie spoke with concern in his voice.
The boy raised his eyes to see the animatronic, he felt bad.
The blue colored rabbit had scratches and cuts all over his exoskeleton.
He remembered that Freddy had for some reason attacked him. Gregory felt confused and disoriented.
- I woke up and everyone was unconscious. Neither the puppet nor the golden rabbit was there. Freddy was still down so I picked you up and took you here - Bonnie explained, Gregory looked around.
- Where are we? - Asked the minor trying to use his Faz-watch.
- Above the stands of the Roxy Raceway, hidden in the bathrooms. For some unknown reason, this place doesn't appear on the maps... - Bonnie lowered his ears, looking discouraged. - Do you know why Freddy tried to attack me?
The rabbit looked downcast.
Gregory shook his head trying to think of a reason for such behavior.
He looked through the security clock cameras, Chica was in the bakery, futilely trying to devour pastries, messing up her circuits even more.
There was no sign of Montgomery, who seemed to be hiding in his own territory.
Roxanne wandered through the stands of the Roxy Raceway, sniffing the air and scratching the ground from time to time, the boy stared at her analyzing her behavior.
Then he realized.
- May I know what is happening to him - The minor spoke, raising his voice convinced, Bonnie raised his ears showing interest. - Do you know what Unsafe Mode is?
The rabbit's warm gaze instantly turned cold.
- Is that what you suppose? - Asked the robot.
- Before I tried to find Vanessa, she activated something in Roxanne called Unsafe Mode, I was able to read it... She used it to try to hurt me... - Gregory explained remembering the encounter in the Fazer Blast.
- In that case we should look for Chica, she is the one we can trust the most... - Bonnie sounded hurt and nervous.
Gregory got up from the ground, feeling dizzy at first, holding on to the robot rabbit's arm to keep from falling.
- Why doesn't it affect you? - Asked the boy in confusion.
-Yes, it does.. Otherwise I couldn't helped you when Vanessa attacked you, the Unsafe Mode makes the Glamrock that are considered carnivores dangerous, so she should be the safest one - Explained the rabbit.
The boy nodded in approval, a bad feeling running through his entire body.
To think that his friends could now harm him, he wondered how cruel Vanessa and her fellow killer could be.
But he really didn't want to know the answer.
- Roxanne is out there. How are we going to avoid her? - Gregory spoke remembering the wolf roaming the stands where they were hidden. - I don't want to hurt her.
- Jump in - Ordered the rabbit opening his storage tank, the boy entered quickly, he felt uncomfortable with the serious tone of voice that the robot used.
The bathroom door opened revealing Roxanne's figure, she grunted without moving away from the door.
Bonnie walked backwards taking distance from the wolf.
She roared to jump on the rodent, fortunately he had the reflexes enough to dodge the canine in a jump, which it should be remembered that se was blind enough, that helped them escape from there and get down from the stands.
Roxy was following them by the ear, not knowing that the stairs were in front of her, Bonnie jumped on them falling unharmed to the ground, she tripped and rolled down them until she was shocked.
The rabbit took the opportunity to flee.
- Be more careful - Gregory spoke agitated inside the opposite, he could see everything.
- I-I'm sorry, but she's faster than me... - Bonnie apologized remembering that he still has the infant inside and could inadvertently crush him with the springlocks.
Bonnie stopped at the gate to the Raceway, watching Roxy get up in bewilderment.
He felt sorry for her, seeing her broken and blind, made him want to take revenge on the security guard and the killer.
The wolf began to sniff the air, finding the trace of the child in the rabbit, Bonnie hurried away before she reached them.
Once on the main stage, the robot decided to remove the boy from his tank to keep him safe from being crushed.
Gregory looked at the faz-watch trying to locate the security guard and his partner, he knew they were after him and he didn't want to be surprised by them.
- Do you think we'll get to the top floor safely? - Asked the little boy looking up at the stairs that went up to the different levels of the Pizzaplex.
- I'm more worried about knowing if Chica will let me in... - Bonnie started walking knowing that Gregory would follow him.
- Do you have any plans? - Asked the minor.
- Depends on whether we meet someone or not - Answered the rodent heading for the stairs.
The Mega Pizzaplex was a huge place where anyone could perfectly hide.
It had a lot of varied rooms, from Monty's Golf, the Fazer Blast, the Roxy Raceway or the Kid's Cove, to the Fazcade, the Daycare, the Theater, the Bonnie Bowl, the Chica's Mazercise or the Bakery, without forgetting the rooms of the Rockstar Row, the main entrance to the mall or the underground corridors of the warehouses.
However, while some wanted to hide or roam in these more open and spacious places, others preferred to blend into the darkness of the ventilation shafts, lying in wait for any prey or remnant source at their disposal.
[...]