𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 | ⸊ˎ • 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑦𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑠 𝑥 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅!𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.

Ch 13

         "...That's not a puppy..."

         Your brittle remark was met with piercing silence as you stared unblinking at the monster that stood before you.

         The so called "puppy" stood on two legs like any other humanoid being would, rather than all fours. Your gaze was fixed on the horror that was it's 'face'; it hid behind a dark, navy blue mask with pitch black void-like holes situated where eyes would normally be. These holes dripped of some strange black substance that was unknown to you.

         You also noticed that the 'puppy' had gray skin, a color of skin you'd never seen before. Their fingers seemed to appear long and sharp, like they had claws rather than regular hands. They wore a black dirtied and matted hoodie with the hood pulled up over ruffled tufts of brown hair and tattered dark gray pants that fell over black tennis shoes.

         You felt Jane's grip around you tighten and you glance at her with still widened eyes, waiting for an explanation. Your head immediately shot back to the creature of a man when you heard it begin to speak with a very gruff yet almost serpent-like voice.

         "Is this kid for me? I never had [Nationality] before~"

         You squeeze Jane tighter than you'd ever squeezed anything before and bury your head against her neck, shuttering, "Please don't..."

         Jane heaved a sigh and placed a hand against your head, pressing you gently against her. She then scowled, "I told you about scratching on our damn door. What's wrong with you?"

         The strange man tilted his head, "I know you told me not to, I just decided not listen because you refuse to stop treating me like a damn mutt. I'm not your pet."

         The harshness in his voice made you uneasy, however Jane remained unfazed by the entierety of the thing she had intially told you was cute and friendly little dog.

         The 'dog' suddenly raised his head to the air and brought his hand up to the mask. You watched as he pulled the mask off, revealing his horrifying face as he began to desperately sniff the air. You were more terrified that instead of eyes where his eyes should've been, there was nothing there but blackness, just like on the mask.

         "You're freaking the kid out, cover that thing up and go sit somewhere, Mary's getting your stuff together," Jane scolded, turning from him and walking with you in her arms back to the dining table. You watched from over Jane's shoulder as the stranger scowled and slowly hid his face again behind the mask, then stuffed his hands in his pockets as he waltzed behind Jane.

         Jane rocked you in her arms for a few moments before hesitantly placing you on the ground. You didn't complain, but you didn't let a single second pass without keeping your eyes focused on the strange one. "He isn't going to hurt you, don't worry (Y/N). I'll be right back," Jane assured you, gently petting your head before turning to head to the kitchen. You nodded uneasily and crooked your head at the man as he'd stopped just before you.

         "...Are...you a puppy...?" You asked looking up at him, completely dismissing the lack of ears or fur or any sort of physical attribution that would deem him a dog. You honestly didn't care, you just wanted to hear his response.

         The man's empty eyes seemed to 'stare at you' for a long time, which made the hairs on your arms stand. Jane had stopped leaving and stood in the corner, shaking her head and wafting her hand across her neck frantically, as if she were expecting the man to give a harsh response.

         The strange man eventually sighed heavily before slightly throwing his head back, "I'm not given enough compensation for this shit..." he then crooked his head back into position to look down at you. "Yes...I am a... puppy..."

         "...What kind of puppy are you then..."

         "...Uhh...Mexican.. Grayhound."

         Jane facepalmed loudly and Mary appeared from the kitchen letting out a soft chuckle while you made your eyes appear to widen in disbelief, "Oh my gosh that's so cool, it's like a human looking kind puppy! And you can talk!!"

         "Ah yes...woof."

         "So you're not a monster, you really are a puppy!" You grin widely.

         "Monst—did you really think I was some sort of monster?" The man scoffed.

         "...Have you seen yourself? But it's okay, I know you're a puppy now and that's the best thing ever."

         You no longer felt concerned with the man now that you were convinced simply by his words that he was a puppy. You weren't stupid--you very well knew he was not a REAL puppy, but you were eager enough to pretend if he was going to play along. You step closer to him and hold your hand up to him, expecting to pet his head, but of course he was much much taller than you were. "What...what are you doing?" He slowly held up his hands and took a step back from you. "Well I'm tryyying to give you a pet but I can't wreach your head!" You snap at him. "Come here, puppy!"

         Jane's loud snort arose from beside Mary and she shook her head, "I can't believe what I'm seeing right now. I love this kid."
"As you should," Mary quickly put in, pursing her lips and side-glaring at Jane.

         "Why won't you come here?" You questioned, watching upset as the 'puppy' avoided your touch. "Look you termite, I don't like being touched in any way shape or form. Keep your sticky little—"

         He was cut off by a loud grunt coming from both Jane and Mary. Defeated by this, he heaved a heavy, annoyed sigh. "You know what? Fine. Pet me." He slowly lowered himself to one knee on the ground, and was now somewhat closer to your level. You smiled happily and pet his head roughly, flinging off the hood that covered his hair. "What's your name little guy?"

         "Tch, little--....My name is Jack."

         "Oh." The disappointed tone in your voice by him mentioning his name took Jack aback, "Oh??"

         "That's a nice name but I'm chaning your name to Mr. Snickerdoodles," You respond, now smiling but more with a slightly taunting expression. You actually liked the name for a dog but you knew to an obvious extent that he wasn't an actual puppy, so you knew the name would be disliked. Sure enough, Jack instantly retorted while quickly standing again, "Now you're just pushing it termite, you're not calling me no "Mr.--"

         "Say "Mr. Snickerdoodles", do you want your 'dog food' today or do you not?" Mary spoke up, holding up the tin container she had in her hand while placing a hand on her hip. Jack slowly turned to glance at Mary and the container in her hand. He seemed as if he were internally fighting with himself for moment before slumping his shoulders, "...Fine...you can call me Mr. Snicker..doodles..."

         "Great!" You snicker evilly, grabbing Jack's arm, "okay so I'm going to show you Miss Jane and Miss Mary's house now, follow me—"

         "Hold on there (Y/N), Mr. snickerdoodles has to eat and rest some before he can go playing with you," Mary said, stepping up and placing the tin on the table, "would you like to help me make some cookies in the mean time?"

         "COOKIES!!!" You exclaimed, immediately moving over to Mary and looking up at her excitedly. She chuckled lightly and took your hand before nodding her head to Jack, "There's your share, Jack. ...Please hurry, I don't want to see it anymore."

         Jack paused before nodding his head and Mary quickly turned away, walking with you back to the kitchen. You glanced back at the tin on the table as Jack took a seat, wondering what kind of special dog food Mary left for Jack in there.

Jane's P.O.V

         Once Mary had went with (Y/N) into the kitchen, I stepped up to Jack as he'd taken a seat getting ready to dig into the contents of the container. I quickly slapped a hand down on the cover before he could even open it.

         "You know you're not aloud this shit until you give me intel," I snapped, giving him a cold glare beneath my mask, "what's new with The Syndicate? Did you happen to hear any word about Hodek being involved? Word of a missing child prisoner, maybe?"

         "Actually," Jack growled, sounding irritated that I'd prevented him from devouring his 'food' just yet, "I did hear The Syndicate members going on about some kid having been stolen and sending out search parties for it. Apparently that Hodek guy broke in close to their campgrounds; word says he was almost caught but another killer--either an Evader or just a Vagabond--got involved and fended off the one that tried to apprehend Hodek, then allowing them to escape. I came here after I heard everything I thought would be useful to you, since I knew you'd get riled up knowing Hodek showed face again."

         I glanced aside, staring at the table, thinking hard about what he said. "I want to know what Jeff's connections are to that kid..." I mutter, doing my best to mentally connect the dots. Did Jeff really try to sacrifice (Y/N) to that cult? Was he attempting to save them? My brain would only allow me to assume the worst about him, no matter how I tried to picture it.

         "Are you by any chance the 'vigilante' Evader that broke in and snatched that child prisoner? Is that annoying little shit you got in there the missing kid?" Jack questioned, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Shut up Mr. Snickerdoodles," I snapped at him, folding my arms over my chest, "The... less people that know about it, the better."

         "It doesn't make a difference whether I know what you're hiding or not--those Syndicate bastards already know that you're the one that interfered--you attacked them out in plain day."

         Jack sat back in the chair and stretched, then folding his arms behind his head, "They're gonna search relentlessly across the whole entire wood until they find you, Richardson. I hope you know just what exactly you've gotten youself into, revealing yourself during a rescue."

         I do acknowledge the fact that I should've approached the situation in a different manner rather than straight up attack The Hooded member in plain day right in front of Chaser. They both knew that I was the one that took the child, and knowing how persistent those brainwashed servants were, they weren't going to rest until they've tracked me down.

         "They won't find us here," I say instead, not wanting to submit the fact I knew of my fault to Jack, "this place is concealed and far far away from enemy territory. We've never been found. And if by some chance they manage to locate us, we'll be long gone before they're able to get their hands on any of us."

         Jack scoffed and repostured himself on his chair, responding in a tone of distrust, "So you say, Richarson, so you say."

         He suddenly snatched the cointainer from under my hold and quickly ripped off the cover, before I could stop him, revealing the icky form of the freshly preserved kidneys sitting inside. Jack lifted his mask and grinned hungrily, his monsterous tongues sliding out of his mouth, "Now I don't give a damn what happens to you or that kid, so as long you make sure you continue providing me with what you owe, do you understand that much, Jane?"

         I didn't respond; I only watched as he didn't wait for my answer and dug into the kidneys, mercilessly ripping the organs apart and tearing into the skin with his teeth. I wasn't sickened by this, as seeing this was something I was used to after having been helping him out for so long, not to mention I have seen much worse.

         What did bother me was the thought of a circumstance in which one day I might not be able to keep true to my 'deal' with him and instead of him tearing into a bowl of kidneys he'll turn on Mary. I could care less what ever happens to me, but I couldn't loose Mary, I couldn't let anything bad happen to her.

         Jack was done with the contents of the container in less than a minute. He turned to me, a wide grin still present on his face, "That was much more satisfying than what I'm used to getting from you. What did you do, snag a college student this time?"

I blinked, having gotten lost in thought for a moment before replying uneasily, "I ...did. I was in a rush at the time and couldn't afford to go with my usual less... 'egregious' way of obtaining...those..."

"Well done Jane-y, I honestly wasn't expecting this much from you," Jack responded in a now laid-back-ish tone of voice. "You should really try actually murdering for these things for once instead of going after those donation storage units... I prefer it much better this way."

"I could care less about your preferences. You'll get what you get only as long as you keep updating me on The Syndicate...and the other Evaders, if needed."

"Only for our deal, as it stands" He chuckled.

I was growing annoyed with his newly nonchalant attitude; he was probably relaxed now from having obtained his gruesome form of sustenance. "Just...clean up all this blood you left laying around before Mary and (Y/N) come back in and have to see it..." I sigh, reaching and snatching a few napkins from the holder on the table and shoving them onto the empty tin.

Just my luck however, as Jack was picking up the napkins to clean up,  (Y/N) suddenly came running up to the table from out of the kitchen, a big smile on their face. "Me and Miss Mary made cookies and they're shaped like trees and birds," They said, clasping their hands on the table excitedly. They were about to continue rambling but instead they quickly pulled back from the table once they realized just where they'd placed their hands.

         I stared with widened eyes as I watch (Y/N) glance at their hands with a weird expression, seeing that it was now covered in the wet blood that was left from when Jack was messily eating the kidneys. Me and Jack only watched (Y/N) in silence until they finally looked back up at us again.

         "...Miss Jane, Mr. Snickerdoodles got ketchup or blood or whatever on the table. You should tell him to clean it up."

         They then reached and grabbed napkins from the holder for themself and casually wiped their hands off of the blood before going to throw it away in the kitchen.

         I was a little shocked at how they weren't alarmed by the sight of blood...then at the same time I had to consider the unfortunate fact that (Y/N) might've been exposed to blood and much worse, knowing what places they had been and who they had been with. All at such a young age...

         "Isn't that cute? The little shit can't tell the difference between blood and ketchup," Jack finally spoke, turning to me and chuckling.

         I frowned and bopped him up over the side of his head, "Stop calling my child a 'little shit' you fucking dog."