When the boy came back to reality, no one was there. The orphanage was empty. He moved to the door of the room he was in, crossing across the variety of beds and pressing his ear against the door. No sound, no conversation as if they were eating with each other, no creaking of the floorboards, not even a giggle from a child. The boy lays flat on the ground, looking under the crack of the door, locking it while doing so.
The ticking of the clock builds anxiety in his chest as he tries his best to see if anything is there.
Tick... tock... tick...
A shadow passes the door, some life is actually there, the boy believing that he was just on high alert because of what happened last night. The boy unlocks the door and opens it, closing it again slowly before locking it, once again.
Sweat trickles off of his nose as he lowers himself to the floor. What he saw wasn't human. It looked like one of the priests but it's body, it's back... hunched over and large clambering across the hall outside. His spine is visible and it's head made a horrible cracking noise as it looked side to side. The boy lowered himself again to look through the crack of the door. The creaking of the floorboards returned to his ears as well as every other sound in the building.
An adjusting of a jaw, the cracking of a shoulder, growling as saliva drips across the floor. The boy steeled his resolve, opening the door once more. A face... the boy froze, knowing not what to do. A boney red face stared down upon him with a massive smile on its face, eyes of slits, it's body as black as night. It got close to the boy who has completely frozen in place, sweat pouring from his head to his toes. The monster quickly loses interest, making its way down the hallway, it was the same priest from before. The boy slowly closes the door, collapsing onto the floor.
He had no clue what he'd just seen.
He could not fathom that what was in his head could now be reality standing right in front of him. It made him want to vomit.
***
Nixon and Seth sit in silence as the fire sitting between them is their only current form of entertainment. When was the last time they had a normal conversation? They thought, staring as the flame flickers and wanes. "Hey..." Nixon starts, "It's been too long... since we've... had a peaceful moment, huh?"
"We only got those after WWI, we stopped having them after we found the island."
"No... we got some in the hotel."
"Some is pushing it, a few seconds is all we got."
Nixon thinks to himself for a few seconds, "Why were we brought back here? Why do you think?"
"He got tired of us... not like we wanted to help in the first place."
"Will our... you know, be taken away?"
"Not unless you die. The contract is connected to you after all."
"Good point..."
Nixon curses under his breath, fanning the fire. "Hear something?"
Nixon shakes his head, "No, just tired."
"Coward, sleep is for the weak."
"You slept first when we got here asshole don't talk to me about being weak!" Nixon says with a chuckle.
Seth nods, leaning against a tree, "Is the forest really the safest place at night?"
"The monsters here are less hostile remember?"
"Really... I don't remember that."
"Yeah, the monsters out in the forest won't attack you unless you attack them. That's good for us."
"I remember one of them being predatory though."
"It-"
Nixon quickly puts out the light to the fire as he watches a face emerge from the darkness, both of them going on alert. It creeps through the darkness, Seth watches as its head whips back and forth between him and Nixon. "I told you Nix!"
Nixon clicks his tongue, weapon in hand.