Mental health is an absolute BITCH.
I'm so tired...
Had to be injected with some meds today.
Now, I am deathly afraid of needles so you can imagine my anxiety lmfao--
Had to bring my Shadow plushie with me (yes I bought one recently, he's my pride and joy) in order to handle it.
I'm actually the one meant to inject, but NOPE.
I'M A GROWN-ASS ADULT, I'M NOT STABBING MYSELF WITH A NEEDLE, AND I'M ABSOLUTELY BRINGING MY COMFORT PLUSH WITH ME.
Warning for a kid getting hurt and blood in this chapter.
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You fell asleep on the sofa that night, your head resting on Shadow's shoulder.
You were surprised to find yourself in the guest bedroom upon waking up, and you looked around, squinting a bit.
Alone.
Yawning and stretching, you slipped out of bed and quickly got yourself dressed, before heading downstairs, where you saw Shadow was already up, sat with his laptop on the coffee table.
"Good morning!" You said cheerfully, waving to him.
"Good morning." He replied, watching as you seated yourself beside him, your eyes on the TV.
It was already on, playing the news.
Mindlessly watching, your eyes scanned the people currently on the screen, when you stopped on a certain man.
One you found all too familiar.
Had they already found you?!
"Acchi..." You said quietly, though it was enough for Shadow to hear you.
"Huh?" You snapped back to reality and turned to Shadow, waving your hands in front of you.
"A-ah, nothing! Sorry." Turning back to the TV, you were clearly focused on something, much to Shadow's confusion, urging him to turn to the TV as well.
A train accident.
Several people were either injured or dead.
"Y/N, do you want me to change the channel?" He asked, wondering if you'd been disturbed by the content.
"Don't worry about it." You replied with a smile, though it quickly faded as you went into deep thought.
Of course he'd be at a train wreck... he fed off the negative emotions that came with catastrophes.
He was still a whole ocean away from you, give or take, so you could probably avoid him for a while.
But eventually, he'd come for you.
Tch.
You were brought out of your deep thinking by the sound of happy music, and you looked at the TV, curious.
Shadow had changed the channel.
He said nothing as he kept working, though you could tell he was bothered.
If only you could tell him...
You returned to Rouge's apartment later that day, thanking Shadow for letting you stay with him, and he replied with a quiet 'you're welcome'.
You weren't ready to give this life up yet.
And if you had to fight to stay, so be it.
But until then... you'd enjoy yourself.
Despite your determination to enjoy yourself, you found it difficult.
They could be here at any moment and destroy everything you had.
Your father wasn't above killing someone, you knew that much.
Hell, he'd probably commit genocide for the fun of it.
You hadn't seen him yet, but if Acchi was here, you knew your father wasn't far behind.
Acchi, also known as Acheron.
You just called him Acchi as you'd been unable to say his name when you were younger and it just stuck.
Basically your father's right hand man, and your babysitter.
You... weren't completely truthful when you said you had no friends.
He was technically your friend, and he did genuinely care for you.
But eh... he didn't count, you supposed.
"Hun?" Said Rouge, waving a hand in front of you.
"Wh- huh?" You replied, met with the worried expression of the bat.
"You've been out of it lately. Are you okay?" You nodded and smiled, trying to assure her everything was fine.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." She looked down to the keyboard in front of you, then the monitor, urging you to do the same, and you quickly realised you'd been holding down the 'F' key, spamming the letter in the document.
"A-" You said, quickly selecting all the letters and deleting them.
"No, F." Rouge replied, patting you on the back.
"Listen, if you need a day or two off, let me know, okay? And if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you." Ah, if only you could tell her.
"Mmh... thank you."
You felt kind of bad worrying Rouge like that, so deciding to just shove your anxiety into a box for the day, you invited her out to shop.
Maybe that was just what you needed.
And for a time, it went great!
You almost forgot your own anxiety about being found, Rouge completely taking your mind off it.
The two of you were on your way to the car, when you felt something... off.
You were instantly on high alert, looking around, over your shoulder, and it was clear you were on edge.
"Y/N, you okay?" Asked Rouge, quick to notice you were acting strange.
"Huh? Uh..." You didn't get a chance to answer.
Looking straight ahead, you saw a car.
Now, that wasn't out of the ordinary.
No, what was strange was how it was driving.
Swerving from side to side and going far too fast.
Then you saw it.
A child, crossing the road as there was green light for him, and it seemed as if time itself slowed down, everyone around you watching on in horror as the poor kid was hit.
He flew up and landed with a disgusting thud on the concrete, and the car smashed into a nearby light post, coming to a stop.
It was the scream of a woman that brought you back, and, dropping your bags, you ran to the injured child.
He was still alive, but he'd be gone soon.
... Oh, fuck it.
"Stay with me, okay?" You said shakily, breathing deeply.
Okay, you'd never done this before.
You weren't even sure how to do it!
But you couldn't just... let this happen.
With a determined expression, you pressed a hand to the small child's torso, and though it looked like you were doing just that, unbeknownst to all around you, you were clinging to his life, ensuring he wouldn't perish.
You'd never used your powers like this before, and you could tell it was quickly draining you.
But you kept going.
You just kept going.
You weren't sure how long passed before you heard sirens, undoubtedly that of an ambulance, though you ignored it.
Only when the child opened his eyes and looked at you, his life saved, did you dare to stop.
You cried fat tears as you looked down upon him, beyond relieved he'd live and let the paramedics take him away, as they'd surely take care of him.
Ugh...
"Y/N!" Called Rouge, unsure of what to make of the situation.
You turned to her, still sat on the asphalt, and smiled.
You wish you could tell her.
But you simply rose to your feet, ignoring the feeling of impending doom, and you turned to the ambulance, the paramedics doing their best to treat the kid.
Police soon came as well, likely to deal with the driver who was undoubtedly drunk.
Sickening.
You felt pretty sick yourself.
As long as you made it to the car, you'd be fine...
You began coughing.
It started off mild, but eventually became worse and worse, to the point you had to stop walking.
Huh?
There was something... wet.
"Oh my God." Said Rouge, and you looked to her, seeing her expression turn into one of absolute horror.
You didn't even have the energy to ask what was wrong.
Your vision was blurry, and when you looked down, you saw what was causing her to look at you like that.
Blood was on your glove, pouring out from your mouth, and that was pretty much all you remembered before you collapsed, unconscious.
The last thing you heard was Rouge calling for you, panic in her voice.