Archive of Our Own ^beta

It felt like hours since Andrew and Daniel had gotten separated from the others and it didn’t make matters any better now that they knew who was next up on the chopping block. Daniel had been paranoid and jumpy ever since the tower where he failed to save his double’s life, looking left and right with his flashlight and cursing whether the smallest sound startled him. Andrew had tried to reassure his friend that there was nothing to be done, but it was like he was talking to a brick wall with the way Daniel kept his face forward and shoulders straight. He never once made eye contact with Andrew nor did he keep his eyes anywhere in place for too long. It was as if he were afraid what would happen if he made eye contact with anything at all.

“Shit -”

Without the light of Daniel’s flashlight to illuminate the path a root had gotten the upper hand on Andrew. It was embarrassing how quickly he went down and how much quicker he clung to Daniel who reached out to grab his arm for stability. At least now he was paying attention, Andrew thought, and then he thanked Daniel in a quiet tone. Andrew walked ahead a few steps to give his embarrassed flush a chance to dissipate, quietly mumbling to himself about a sudden enemy he had made of nature. For a moment he thought he was going to die! And this town let him believe that! Over a root! With the night he had, it was no surprise that he had forgotten that life and death scenarios were actually quite uncommon usually.

However, the silence was broken and Daniel couldn’t seem to help taking advantage of it. He glances over to Andrew with his heart in his throat and overwhelming fear or pain or whatever it was that he was feeling on the tip of his tongue with no way of ever getting the words out. Not the right words, anyway, but he manages to come up with some semblance of clear thought. He honestly didn’t know what else to do and there was no way to know what was on Andrew’s mind. There never was.

“What do you think death is like?” Daniel asked almost as if he had only asked who was playing against who during the most recent game. His voice was quiet and unsure of itself, though the question didn’t seem spontaneous. Daniel had clearly been thinking about this topic long before the events of that night. Only now did it seem relevant enough to bring up given their circumstance. They had already seen two almost-deaths right in front of their very own eyes. Each having a shred of doubt and fear striking a “what if?” into their minds. What if I hadn’t been fast enough? What if I couldn’t hold on long enough? What if no matter what I did she died anyways? Death was all too real now. His brain seemed to catch up with him upon seeing the look on Andrew’s face, “Not - Not that I’m being all deprecating and shit, but I mean it. I was never religious so I’m not too sure about heaven and all that but my friend in highschool compared it to getting a piercing. It hurts in the moment and then you just .. live with it, you know? It’s comforting not to think of it anymore past that, He said.”

That wasn’t what he wanted to talk about at all.

Andrew stopped in his tracks and turned to Daniel with a look that mixed disbelief and confusion, “I mean .. I’ve never gotten a piercing before so I’m not sure how that would even work. You can’t exactly live with death after it happens, I’d think. That is kind of the point of death, isn’t it?”

Death was the end of all ends. To compare it to needles piercing skin and beautiful jewelry adorning your body seemed almost insane to Andrew. You would never get to see the jewelry or what the final look would be. You’d just feel pain and then … nothing. You wouldn’t feel anything. And if his mother’s bible stories were anything to go off of, then you may or may not continue to feel that pain for eternity. It was a nice thought, though, to be beautiful.

“I mean .. I guess so? That friend I mentioned pierced my nose once so I understood what he meant,” Daniel touched his nostril as if to prove a point, but there wasn’t anything to show. He seemed to realize this and continued, “I took it out pretty fast because I was scared. Not so much of the piercing process as I was of what would happen when summer break ended and I’d go back to my dad’s house for the school year.”

“Heh - You? You got a backseat nose piercing over the summer and somehow your dad never found out? I never thought you’d be the type!” Andrew laughed and began to walk again. Something about that sound reminded Daniel that not everything was chains and broken bones and witches that weren’t truly witches. The last joke Daniel had heard was about his double’s death so he guessed it made sense why something a little more human made him feel better.

“Oh, you think that's bad?” He grinned, matching his stride to meet Andrew where he was at, “wait until you hear how I planned to start a garage band but got the flu right before we were supposed to play in my backyard! I was the lead, Andrew! The lead! Dreams? Crushed. I never picked up that song writing journal again.”

A rustle in the bushes nearby cut Andrew off before he could speak, a raven cawing from the same direction as if disturbed. The same heart that lodged itself in Daniel’s throat began to beat faster and faster now as the memory of a rotted corpse that smelled of decay and rusting iron made itself present in his mind. He couldn’t even bring himself to call out to see who was there - His mind had already decided for him who it was, and Daniel didn’t particularly want to die. Not like David did.

With trembling hands, Daniel pointed his flashlight to the source of the sound all while backing up. He reached blindly for Andrew’s wrist and lead him behind him just in case whatever was out there liked to practice fucking javelins. In the dark. Outside of the Olympics season. Daniel could probably laugh at the comparison if he weren’t currently about to piss his pants over fucking demons that made no sense logically. Whatever was chasing him shouldn’t be able to realistically move! He took an anatomy class in highschool and he knows that the human body can’t support that much bodily trauma.

“... I don’t want to die, Andrew.” He said.

All was silent.

…

Something metallic hit the dirt. An inhuman growl, low and angry.

“I don’t want to die, but you gotta go, man.” Brown eyes met blue as the sounds got closer. Daniel’s shoulder connected with Andrew’s chest as an incentive to move, but Andrew wouldn’t leave alone. Daniel surely would have argued if Andrew didn’t turn and take Daniel’s hand to drag him along. It was Andrew’s responsibility to keep everything together. He was not going to fail and lose Daniel to whatever it was out there. Absolutely fucking not. It may have been after Daniel and perhaps Daniel alone, sure! But Daniel was still alive. Daniel was afraid. Neither David nor Daniel committed the sins accused of them, and neither deserved to die.

They didn’t want to die.
-
It’s cold out. The fire keeps him warm, though.

He couldn’t save them.