Mono knew he was dreaming when he found himself in the same dreadful hallway he would often see when he slumbered. Recently he stopped dreaming this after finding himself in the wilderness, which he found odd but was grateful for anyways, as this dream always freaked him out. He showed up in the wilderness after desperately escaping the last place he was through a television. Since he didn't have much control over his so-called "powers", it shattered the TV and left him unconscious and vulnerable on the ground. He was curious as to why he was here again, but he had a gut feeling that this place was important, and not in a good way. It was a feeling in his gut that made him feel that this place may end up playing a huge role in his life, but he tried pushing it away as this was just a dream. A dream that sometimes felt a little too real.
After thinking to himself for a bit, he suddenly snapped out of his gaze. Mono wished he didn't, because he immediately heard buzzing and his head started to pound. He then started to walk towards the door he could see at the end of the hallway, hoping that it was a chance to escape this nightmare. The deafening sound and piercing sensation in his head only increased as he walked towards the door, but for some reason he only took it as a sign to keep pushing forward.
Mono was almost there, his hand only a foot away from the handle, and then all of the sudden, the imaginary world around him faded into black. He woke up, his hand automatically going to his paper bag for reassurance. He tried to control his breathing, fearing that The Hunter would be nearby. He held onto his paper bag tight, wanting it to protect him from the dangerous, nasty world he wanted nothing more to escape from.
Mono eventually got his breathing back to normal, and his grip on the bag loosened to the point he let his hands relax back to the ground beside him. He stared at the slightly soft dirt, almost lost in a daze from the soft noises that could be heard. Then his head jerked up, and he suddenly remembered that there was something important today, that for once he had a goal. There was a kid in a house owned by a monster who needed his help! He had no time to sit and do nothing, such as he had been doing for so long.
Crawling from underneath the small shrub, Mono stayed crouched on the ground, listening for any suspicious sounds. When he heard none, he cautiously stood up, quickly stretching his aching limbs. He then began walking quietly back to the shambles of a house, where he believed the person he plans to rescue resides captured.
Mono looked for any movement or sound that would show that The Hunter was still in the house, but everything was quiet and still. Although that should have made him feel better, it only made him more on edge, because now he didn't know where The Hunter may be. Standing there for a few more minutes, he tried to gather as much courage as he could, albeit there was hardly any left because yesterday took most of it. Then he finally forced himself to walk towards the house, hoping that The Hunter would be gone somewhere, but knowing his luck and status in the world, he probably was in there and waiting for him.
He carefully walked up the porch, making sure to not let the boards squeak too much. Then he went to the window he saw conveniently open, and jumped up the boxes near it to get in. Before he made the jump inside, he looked around again, then he took a deep breath and jumped. Mono landed in what he assumed was the kitchen, and as soon as his feet hit the hard ground, a horrid smell washed over him. He stopped himself from gagging, and continued forward through the unknown.
As he wandered the house a bit, being extremely cautious while doing so, he began to hear a soft melody coming from somewhere in the house. He felt drawn to it, like the source of the melody would bring him where he wanted. Maybe it would, maybe that was the kid playing that melody. He thought about it perhaps being The Hunter, but brushed it off when he tried to imagine The Hunter actually doing anything slightly normal.
Mono sneakily went through the house, drawing closer to the melodic sound. As he walked through the house, he tried his best to not let his instincts take control and run out every time he saw something that creeped him out. The house wasn't in the best shape, but it didn't come as a surprise since he doubted that The Hunter even bothered to take care of it. He walked down some stairs, hearing the music get louder. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw a boarded up room, the sound coming from it. There was no possibility that this could be The Hunter now, so he continued.
Walking silently over to the room, Mono peered inside using a small hole in one of the pieces of wood. A small gasp escaped his lips when he saw the kid, sitting there alive, and indeed being the one playing the music. He got excited to know that there was a chance to actually help the kid and get out alive. Knowing he was nowhere near strong enough to pull the boards off, he scampered off to find something to help.
He walked into the other room, which was wide open. Luckily, after some digging around and trying things, he found an axe that was conveniently big enough for him to carry, or well, drag with him. He was too weak to carry the axe, but he hoped he wasn't too weak to use it.
Mono slowly dragged the axe with him to the room with the kid, and checked for any noises other than the music and the kid, who had gone silent themselves. When he heard none, he lifted up the axe and struck the wood separating him from the kid. He continued to strike the wood, trying to quickly take it down before The Hunter came, not worrying too much about the sound he was making. Every time he hit the wood, he could feel it break a bit and his muscles, which were slow with exhaustion beforehand, were now stronger with adrenaline.
The barricade eventually came down, allowing Mono to enter the dust filled room. The kid had run under the table further in the room, and Mono could tell that they were scared of him, but he couldn't really blame them, he would be scared too. He then slowly walked forward and started to crouch, trying to tell the other that he wasn't a threat. When he felt like he got close enough, he held out his hand, offering for the kid to grab it. Mono hoped that the kid would, so then he might be able to get the other to trust him a bit.
The kid looked at Mono cautiously, not knowing if he could trust the stranger or not. He didn't know them, and he certainly didn't know if they were working with the other masked man or not. Though as he continued to stare at the other, he felt like maybe he could trust them somewhat. He didn't know exactly why, but he felt like the other wasn't going to hurt him, maybe it was because they were offering their hand or because he was pretty desperate at this point with his whole body in pain.
Whatever it was, it caused him to slowly crawl out from under the table, and very hesitantly reach for the paper bag kid's hand. Right as he was about to grab their hand, a gunshot was heard nearby. The kid freaked out, and instead of getting Mono's hand he stood up and ran past Mono, accidently hitting his shoulder as he passed.
Mono stood there shocked, but soon ran after the kid, fearing that The Hunter would hurt them again. They almost grabbed his hand, and The Hunter had to ruin everything again. He ran through the house, fear making him careless, as he thought about The Hunter being near. He didn't want to die and be just another carcass in a pile of bodies, to be forgotten by the world as he decayed.
He continued to run after the kid, noticing that they were running towards the direction of the kitchen, where he had entered the house at. He tried to reach for them, and calm them down before they alert The Hunter that they were there, to tell them that he was there to help.
It was too late.
The Hunter busted through the kitchen door, knocking the kid over into the floor, stunning them. The Hunter looked shocked at first, as he stood there frozen. It only lasted a split second, and he aimed his gun at the kid, ready to shoot them without hesitation.
Mono snapped out of his shocked state, and started to panic, and this time he didn't have enough time to calm himself down so he could think clearly. He didn't know what to do, so he did the first thing that came to mind. He lunged forward, and quickly pulled the kid up from the ground. Surprising The Hunter again at there being two children trying to escape his house, one in particular being the child he's been trying to hunt for the last couple of weeks.
As soon as the kid was on their feet, Mono tightly grabbed their hand and began to drag them away from The Hunter. He didn't know where they would go, as he didn't know the layout of the house very well. Though he continued to run, not daring to look back as he knew that The Hunter was chasing them from the pounding of his feet.
The kid soon recovered from his shock, and he began to run faster. He might not know the other well, but he didn't care at the moment, his fear instinct taking over. He ran with the paper bag kid, while frantically scanning everything for a way to escape.
Neither paid any mind to the taxidermied people posed around the diner table, as they sprinted through the room. The Hunter didn't care as he knocked over multiple things, angrily trying to get the two kids that were running from him, not wanting them to escape when they were right in his own home.
Mono could feel panic rising in him, as he struggled to find some sort of exit. He felt like if they got caught, it would be his fault, but it also didn't matter since he was trying to survive at the moment. He continued to run, going into a room where there was a pulley. He mentally cursed as they didn't have time to jump up and pull it down to try to go up to wherever it may lead. He also had no clue if there would be a way to escape once they got up there, or if they would be trapped.
The kid noticed the other's hesitation, and started to move them both forward himself. He didn't want to be caught again and forced back into a room where he would most likely die. He saw the pulley, and let go of the other's hand to cup them to show that he was willing to give the other a boost up.
Mono noticed what the other was doing, and didn't think twice before putting his foot on their hand, allowing them to boost them up. He grabbed onto the pulley, but he couldn't pull it down all the way, he needed the other kid's weight as well. He then heard a scream and saw that The Hunter had grabbed the other kid before they could help Mono.
Mono immediately let go of the pulley, and spun around to see that The Hunter was reaching out for Mono. He dodged to the side, barely escaping the man's grasp. He had to fight the instinct to make a run for it and just leave the kid here, as he continued to dodge the murderous hunter's hand, barely escaping some of the attempts to catch him.
Mono ran around The Hunter, wanting him to trip or get dizzy. Just anything that would give Mono a chance to grab the kid and escape through the way he came in, as that was the only other way he knew to get out of this hellhole. The Hunter was getting tired and frustrated to the point that he tried to shoot Mono instead, damaging his house. Luckily it missed Mono, mostly because The Hunter was trying to shoot with one arm, but it still made Mono stumble a bit. This gave The Hunter the perfect opportunity to drop his gun once more and grab Mono.
Mono could feel him being picked up, and struggled to get out of the strong grip that could easily crush his bones. He shouted and kicked, trying anything to escape, anything to get out of this nightmare. The Hunter was furious by Mono's attempt to escape with his new toy, that he didn't think twice to slam Mono on the ground to knock him out, not caring if the force of the impact would kill him or not.
Mono didn't know what was happening at first, but he felt his body hit the ground at sickening speeds. He felt an immense pain shoot his entire body, before his whole world turned black and he could no longer feel anything. The other kid screamed out of fear, thinking that The Hunter killed them and was about to do the same to him.
This loud noise angered The Hunter, and he was mad from the escape attempt and so he impulsively slammed the kid to the ground as well. He didn't care if he killed them both or not, as he looked at the two unconscious kids satisfied with himself. He'd know exactly what to do with the two brats.
Mono could feel himself slowly start to come awake, but he felt different then how he usually did when he woke up. For one his whole body felt sore, and he knew he had a bad headache, which wasn't unusual but he didn't exactly remember what he did to get one. The ground underneath him also didn't feel as soft as it almost always did, and he wondered if he accidentally fell asleep on some old wood or hard dirt. He tried not to sleep somewhere really uncomfortable, but there was a possibility that he passed out or something. Another strange thing was that he didn't hear any noises, such as birds or insects that for some weird reason call this wasteland their home. He knew that there had to be some better places to live rather than here, but then again, he also has been living here for a while. It was still odd though, did they suddenly decide to leave, or was he still sleeping, but that didn't make sense either. That meant that something entirely different was happening.
This realization made him snap his eyes open, only to see that he wasn't outside at all. Mono tried to get up, his mind already starting to succumb to panic. In all his confusion and panic, he didn't realize that another boy was beginning to wake up from their slumber as well. He was still trying to sit up, every fiber of his body protesting the sudden movement. When he finally did he felt like slumping back down from the amount of pain he was immediately swamped with, but he forced himself to stay up and try to ignore how his body ached. He was used to these kinds of situations, he knew that laying on the open ground obviously vulnerable did not usually end up good.
Seven didn't panic, as he already knew where he was, he was trapped once again. He wasn't able to escape, much as he hoped he would have. He sighed and laid back down, not feeling like getting up with his head pounding like it was. That was until he heard some slight movement on the other side of the room, and he could feel himself beginning to freak out thinking it was The Hunter there to kill him right there and then. His eyes fully opened and he hesitantly looked up, afraid to see the masked man again, and possibly alert him that he was awake. If The Hunter truly was there, he was going to try to pretend to be asleep for a little longer, so he could come up with a reasonable way to sneak out of the room, if there were a way that was.
Instead both kids locked eyes, well sort of, both of their eyes were hidden by either hair or an object. They both froze in surprise, as they both thought the other had died when they were caught by The Hunter. To know that the other was indeed still alive was a little confusing, because it would make more sense for The Hunter to kill one of them and then come back for the other. Plus, Seven had literally seen the other kid get slammed down with such force that he thought his back had broken, but here they were standing and staring at him.
They continued to stare at each other, until Mono broke the silence with a small "hey", somehow still having some leftover courage to actually try and talk. The other kid flinched at the noise, since he wasn't used to people speaking and never heard the other speak. Mono noticed the small movement, and frowned a bit, wondering if he was really that scary. After a few more seconds though, the kid whispered a greeting back, stunning Mono. Seven was locked up with the paper bag kid, he might as well get used to them, especially if they were going to escape together.
Mono calmed down a bit, glad that he wasn't alone in this mess, but he also hated that they were in this mess to begin with. Wait, how did this happen in the first place? With that thought, a wave of memories flooded back to him from the day before, about his failed rescue attempt, and he felt awful for what happened. He had recklessly put him and the other kid in danger, and he wasn't even able to save them! Who knows how long they have until they were killed now, with how The Hunter is he didn't think they had too much longer. To be honest, it was a miracle that they even woke up to see another day. Mono looked back at the kid to see that he had leaned back against the wall, no longer staring at Mono with eyes he could not see. Now that Mono had a better look at the kid, he could tell they were a boy. He also saw a metal cuff with a bit of a chain still on it around his foot, which made Mono curious as to where he got it from. The excitement to get to know the boy better he had felt the other day returned, but not as strong since he felt guilty about not being able to get to know them like he wanted to.
"Psst" Mono was trying to get the kid's attention, and the other flinched a little again but looked over. "My name is Mono." He introduced himself, hoping that he could get the kid to talk at least a few words more. It's been a long time since Mono had a proper conversation with somebody, and he's been missing hearing other voices from people that weren't trying to kill him. "What's your name?"
The kid looked at Mono hesitantly, not knowing if he should trust Mono so easily. He knew that Mono tried to save him, but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't try to hurt him, he learned that lesson awhile back. Eventually, after just staring at them for a minute, he decided that telling his name wouldn't hurt, and put up his hands. He didn't exactly feel like talking right now, not with his voice sounding like he had swallowed a cheese grater. A part of him wondered if the other would understand them, or if they were even able to count, but he was sure they could from how they talked.
Mono was confused at first, not understanding why the other put up his hands, but then he understood as he counted the fingers he had up. "Well Seven, this isn't exactly the way I wanted us to really meet." Mono lightly jokes, wanting to lift Seven's mood even by a little bit, as he really was wanting to be friends with him. It seemed to work as Seven smiled a little, then he sighed and slumped against the wall he was laying against. Mono didn't need to guess to know that The Hunter definitely wasn't gentle on Seven after he was knocked out. A new wave of contrite filled his brain as he thought back to yesterday. They would have both been alright if he had been more careful and observant.
Everything was quiet for a few minutes, Mono wallowing in guilt and Seven fighting sleep that was threatening to take him again. Then Mono spoke again, his words surprising Seven. "Sorry..." Mono said it so quietly that he wasn't sure if Seven heard him or not, but Seven obviously had as he turned to Mono confused. Mono looked at Seven for a split second before returning his gaze back to the floor, not having enough courage to look at him directly at the moment.
"For what?" Seven said, wincing when he heard how hoarse his voice sounded, he hadn't really spoken in a while. He really was confused, because he didn't believe that Mono had done anything wrong so far. To be honest he had done nothing but try to help.
"I wanted to get you out of here, but I just ended up making everything worse." Mono explained, looking at the ground again in guilt. He thought for sure that Seven would be at least a little bit frustrated that Mono failed so miserably, or maybe even start yelling at him or tell him that he hated him. The whole world hated him, so it wouldn't come as a shock if Seven ended up not liking him too. What he didn't expect was Seven's next words.
"At least you tried to help, I certainly wouldn't have the courage to do that." Seven said quietly, a little shy to admit something personal, which he almost has never done. He learned the hard way that showing too much weakness or telling people your secrets would get you hurt sometimes. "Plus I should be the one to apologize. I freaked out and alerted The Hunter that you were here." Saying it out loud made Seven feel bad a little bit, because he may have ruined his only chance to escape there with his life and then also put another person's life in danger. At the same time though, he was terrified since he had just been kidnapped and a random person had torn through the door with an axe.
Mono was at a loss for words. He hasn't talked to somebody in a long time, and to be honest, he's hardly talked to anybody at all. Seven being kind to him was another surprise, because people were hardly nice, specifically to him. However, Mono soon got himself together and laughed a bit, trying to cover up his obvious surprise. "I didn't mean to scare you when we first met." Mono was being honest, he didn't try to scare them, but when he looked back at it, anybody would be scared of somebody breaking down a wall with an axe while you were just captured by a deadly insane man. Now that he thinks about it a bit more, it was kind of stupid of him to not warn the other first before he started tearing down the wall. Maybe then Seven wouldn't have been so spooked and ran as soon as The Hunter's gun went off.
Instead of giving Mono a verbal answer, Seven just nodded, he wasn't used to talking so much to begin with. He let out a breath, and laid back on the ground, his head was pounding and his body was yearning for some more time to heal. All he wanted to do was rest forever, or at least until he wasn't in so much pain. He really wished he didn't yell when Mono passed out, maybe then The Hunter wouldn't have slammed him so hard on the ground. Though he was terrified that he had killed Mono and was about to do the same to him, his fear overtook his logical side and made him act irrationally. Not wanting to think about it too much, because it seemed that even thoughts were painful for his head at this point, he laid back and closed his heavy eyes.
Mono was feeling about the same, and he copied Seven, laying down himself. He would find a way out of here for him and Seven. Then they would get out of the wilderness and go as far away from The Hunter as possible, not ever having to worry about him again. He just hoped that The Hunter wasn't planning to kill them anytime soon, he's going to need time to recover and plan.
Mono was going to make a better plan than the one that got them stuck in this room. He would make sure that he was thinking clearer this time, and that Seven was on board with it. It was also useful that Seven was here to help him out this time, because he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to do this himself. He didn't know much about Seven, but he could tell that he had been through a lot, and maybe one of his experiences would be helpful for getting them out of here alive. Mono had done a lot in the years he lived, but nothing he learned over the years would be too useful for what they were going to have to do.
From all the thinking Mono was doing, he barely noticed that he had fallen asleep. His mind continued to think about their escape for a little, but it was soon replaced with blank dreams that he wouldn't remember the next day. Those dreams were always better than the nightmares he frequently had, so his body allowed itself to go into semi-deep slumber instead of the light sleep he usually had.