Chapter Text
There is something off with this Hunter guy.
Vee doesn’t know why, but every time she looks at the blonde and somewhat tall person, she gets the chills and an uncomfortable twist in her stomach.
Not only that, but she can’t help but feel like there is something familiar about him.
It is like she has met him before.
But she can't quite place it.
It has been a couple of days since Luz and her friends settled in the Nocedas’ house, and Vee is slowly getting to know the Hexsquad.
The first ones she really interacts with are Willow and Amity, since they are sleeping in the same room as her, aka Luz’s room.
Not only is Willow such a sweet and kind person, but she is also patient with everyone and will offer any help if somebody is in trouble.
Still, Vee can’t help but feel like Willow is hiding her own doubts and issues.
She even offers to talk about the last few days just to let it out.
But Willow brushes it off and says she is feeling fine, to which Vee will not push her if she doesn’t want to talk about it.
She can tell that she is hiding the burden inside her, which is not good.
She will talk to her later on.
Next up is Amity, who is also a cool and caring person, although she can’t help but see her flinch every time she transforms into her basilisk form, which Vee doesn’t blame.
She has heard from Luz that a Greater Basilisk attacked one day in Hexside, and Amity, along with Willow and Gus, were the victims.
Based on the descriptions Luz remembered, Vee knows for a fact that it was Number One.
She wasn’t too fond of One, always acted with hatred towards the other basilisks, and her.
So, she makes sure to limit her basilisk form around them.
However, Vee knows for a fact that something is going on between Luz and Amity.
She has seen the lingering touches, the way they gaze into each other’s eyes, how Amity kept laughing at Luz’s ridiculous jokes, and how close they are.
Vee is starting to think that Luz and Amity are a little more than just friends.
Well, that theory is confirmed to be true when she accidentally walks in on Luz and Amity passionately making out one day.
Let’s just say, Vee wants to erase that part of her memory.
But she freaking knew it, so she patted herself on the back.
Gus is pretty cool to hang out with, although he is a bit too energetic for her taste.
But she doesn’t blame him.
He is the youngest out of all the Hexsquad, and he is slowly figuring out all the ins and outs of the Human Realm, which excites him.
That only brings her to Luz and Hunter.
She hasn’t had too many interactions with Luz yet.
They had one conversation about Vee’s position here, and she was worried that she was going to get kicked out.
But Luz reassured her that this is her house and she’d love to have her as a sister.
That almost made Vee cry.
But the past few days, Luz has been very quiet and reserved.
She tried talking to Luz, asking if everything was okay, if she needed anything, or if she wanted a distraction.
But Luz either waved her off with a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes, or straight up just ignored her, or pretended she didn’t hear her.
Vee backs off, and by that time, Luz is already going to school.
She knows she absolutely loathes Gravefields High.
In fact, Vee remembers when Luz asked her to cover for her on the first day back, but that plan horribly backfired as Camila immediately found out it was Vee disguised as Luz.
Still, she can’t help but worry about Luz.
Finally, this brings her to Hunter.
Every time Hunter comes into the room, she feels very intimidated by him.
The way he moves is almost imposing, with correct, straight posture and a serious face.
She doesn’t think she has seen him laugh; if he were to let out a small chuckle, it would have come out as forced, almost as if he weren’t used to it.
However, Vee can tell that Luz has a strong relationship with Hunter, almost acting like a brother to her.
She remembers going to the restroom one night, and she saw Luz and Hunter in the backyard of the house.
They were talking about some stuff, but Vee didn’t want to eavesdrop on their conversation.
So Vee is guessing that Hunter means a lot to the rest of the gang.
But still, she is keeping both eyes open on Hunter if he ever does something to her or Luz’s friends…
With Camila working late and Luz coming back from school, Vee decides to make dinner for the Hexsquad.
She knows a few recipes from Camila, as she taught her when Luz was still in the Demon Realm.
She has taught her empanadas, sancocho, mangú, and a whole bunch of traditional Dominican Republic foods.
But for right now, spaghetti sounds really good for the six of them.
It is delicious, and the best part is that it doesn’t break the bank.
So, Vee slowly cooks up all the ingredients needed for spaghetti.
She had a little bit of help from Gus and Willow, which made the kitchen quite a mess with the cheese grater.
But after some gentle guidance, they are finally able to finish making the spaghetti, and Vee serves everybody, including herself.
It is a somewhat peaceful dinner, with everyone talking to one another and having small conversations.
It is definitely an improvement from last week’s.
Another failed attempt at building a portal that soured the mood of the Hexsquad, leaving a quiet, still atmosphere throughout the whole dinner.
It was super uncomfortable for Vee as she tried to make small talk with Willow, Luz, and Amity.
But it didn’t work.
So, Vee is happy that today’s dinner is peaceful and filled with warmth.
“Thank you, Vee,” Amity says with a warm smile, standing up as the basilisk gently picks up the finished plate from her. “Are you sure you don‘t need any help?”
“No, no. I got it, Amity. You go ahead and be with your girlfriend~” Vee sings teasingly.
“Stop…” Amity whines, tucking the collar of her Azura shirt to cover up the light blush on her cheeks. “B-But you read my mind.”
Vee chuckles lightly as she watches Amity leave the kitchen and enter the living room.
She slithers up to the sink and dumps all the dirty plates with a huff.
Letting out a long sigh, she turns on the faucet and grabs the first plate that was nearby and…
“I can help…”
Vee’s heart stops when she hears that voice, gripping onto the plate a little too tightly.
It is Hunter’s.
It is a soft tone with a hint of uncertainty underneath.
Yet it makes Vee’s body briefly tense up whenever she feels his presence.
She nervously turns around and notices Hunter right behind her.
He is standing a little too close for her liking, wringing his hands anxiously.
“I-I uhm…” Vee mutters.
To be honest, she is thinking of declining his offer.
Scratch that, she is going to decline that offer.
She may be tired from all the cooking, especially standing up for a long period of time.
But she can definitely handle some dishes on her own.
Still, she doesn’t want to come across as rude or anything, even if her body is alerting her.
So, Vee takes a deep breath and musters up her best gentle tone to politely decline his offer.
“You don’t uh, I think I got i—”
“Please?”
Hunter cuts her off as he speaks up in a small voice, staring at the ground now.
That makes Vee hold her tongue, stopping what she is about to say.
The way he is looking at her with a small glint in his eyes…
He looks like a lost puppy, right in front of her, unaware of his surroundings.
But Vee kind of knows what Hunter is trying to do.
He is trying to make himself more useful around the house.
Vee has seen it, going to the store with her Mama, tackling a small job to help pay the bills, and washing the dishes almost constantly.
So yeah, Vee gets that feeling with Hunter here, rubbing it off against his shoulders.
She doesn’t know why he does that, but she doesn’t want to seem like a jerk if this is what he is into.
With a shaky sigh, Vee nods warily. “S-Sure, uhm. You can help me dry.”
She pulls out a red towel rag from under the sink and places it on the dish rack, resuming to scrub the white plate with the sponge.
“Thanks…” Hunter mumbles, standing right beside her.
“Mhm-mm…” Vee lets out a low hum, completely avoiding eye contact with the blonde as she focuses on the dishes on hand.
The next few minutes are what have to be one of the most uncomfortable silences Vee has ever been in.
That is expected cause she hasn’t had a full conversation with Hunter, as he is a bit awkward to talk to.
Hunter tries to initiate the conversation with small topics, you know, just to give some small talk.
Of course, Vee always responds to him and his questions, but it doesn’t lead to anything, forming a long, dragged-out silence.
She really tries to talk with him, but it just isn’t working out.
But the good part is that they work simultaneously.
Vee washes off any particles or food smeared on the dish, and she passes it along to Hunter, inspecting and cleaning off the water.
So they make a pretty good team in the end.
But it still doesn’t stop the uncomfortable twist in her stomach, the chill crawling up her arms just from his presence alone.
Vee looks down and notices that they are almost done with the batch of dishes, only needing the pot and utilities.
The quicker they get this done, the quicker she can hop out of here and ignore Hunter for the rest of the da—
“Hey, Vee?”
The basilisk’s thoughts are interrupted by the soft calling of her name from Hunter.
His tone, it sounds hesitant and almost regretful.
“Yeah?” She replies, carefully scrubbing a knife from the backend.
“T-There’s something I need to tell you…” Hunter utters, placing a clean plate on the rack.
At this point, she has resisted the urge to glance at him because something about his face really amplifies the chills.
But she can’t help it.
She can’t help but quickly turn her head around and…
Her brows crease in worry.
Hunter has a very nervous expression on his face, his lip trembling and swallowing.
Vee clears her throat and bites her bottom lip, passing along the kitchen knife. “Uhm, sure. What’s u—”
However, the knife slips from her hands, and the blade slices onto Hunter's forearm, effectively cutting him, the sharp object falling on the floor.
Hunter lets out a pained grunt, clutching the wound.
“Hunter! S-Shoot!” Vee exclaims, trying to hide the panic in her voice. “O-Oh my Titan, I am so sorry.”
“N-No, it’s okay…” Hunter says with a steady voice.
“I should’ve been more careful, dude!” Vee mutters, grabbing the cloth that Hunter was using to dry the dishes. “Here, can I see it?”
“Oh, no. I’m okay! R-Really,” Hunter blurts out with an awkward smile, hiding his arm by curling into himself.
Vee lifts an eyebrow, confused about why he is being weird all of a sudden. “Hunter, I just want to make sure the cut isn’t serious or anything like that. Here…”
Vee gently grabs his left arm and inspects the wound.
Luckily, the wound isn’t life-threatening, just a light gash with a bit of blood present.
Vee sighs in relief and quickly dabs the cloth on the arm to clean up the blood. “Thank Titan. Let me give you some bandages and then…”
Her sentence drags out as she squints her eyes at a familiar symbol on Hunter’s right wrist.
An old, dirty bandage is coming off his skin, and it is exposing…
A fearful, shaky gasp escapes from her mouth.
Her pupils shrink in fear as she releases her grasp on Hunter’s arm, dropping the cloth from her hand.
Her yellow irises stare at the very thing that is going to cause a panic attack.
There is the Emperor Coven sigil on his right waist, damaged with a faint yellow scar.
No…
He is with… Belos?
What is he doing here?
Why is he in our house?
Slowly and with a tremble, Vee lifts her head to glance at Hunter again.
Nothing out of the ordinary except for the fear in his eyes.
His dark magenta eyes look so familiar to Vee.
Why does he look so famili—
Number Five felt someone tackling her to the ground.
“Ahh!” She was now on her back and saw…
Her eyes went wide when a red light pointed right at her.
It was the Golden Guard with his mechanical staff pointing right at her.
He is staring down with his dark, magenta eyes underneath his golden mask, filled with hostility.
“N-No, please!” She put her hands up in defense and cried out, begging. “D-Don’t h-hurt me! P-Please! P-Please!”
Vee shrieks fearfully when she feels that unwelcome memory flashing before her eyes.
She immediately pushes herself away from Hunter, and her back hits the kitchen counter.
Not only that, but she unconsciously transforms her body into her new human disguise, the one she showcased to everyone last week.
But she has her white patches intact on her warm beige skin.
She is staring intensely at him, breathing heavily.
“Y-You’re him…” Vee whispers with a slight tremble, her whole body shaking. “You’re the Golden Guard.”
Hunter’s eyes go wide in panic, stepping a little closer to her with a hand to reach her. “Vee, I-I can explain…”
“Don’t.” Vee hisses darkly, pushing herself closer to the counter and shaking her head slowly. “Don’t you dare come closer.”
Hunter flinches hard. But he nods in understanding, and he slowly steps back from Vee, clenching onto his arm with a tight grip.
As she stares at him coldly, Vee hears the rushed footsteps of someone coming into the kitchen.
It is Luz and Amity, both with worried expressions on their face.
“Are you guys okay? I heard screaming,” Luz is the first one to ask, a high level of concern.
“H-He is the Golden Guard, Luz!” Vee shouts rasply, pointing at the traitor right in front of her. “H-He worked with B-Belos!”
Luz lets out a shaky breath and glances at Hunter, both of them have their eyes wide in worry and dread.
Then, Luz takes a huge breath and slowly walks close to the scared basilisk, hands up to calm her down. “Vee, you have to listen to me, okay?”
“What is he doing here, Luz?!” Vee hisses, completely ignoring Luz. “Why is he in this house?!”
“Hunter is not part of the Emperor Coven.” Luz defends. “He’s not working with Belos anymore, okay?”
“He hurt Three and Four…” Vee utters with a deep frown. “He hurt them…”
“Vee, I didn’t hurt them. I swea—”
“Liar! I-I saw you. You were in their cages a-and you h-hurt them.” Vee interrupts with bared teeth, voice cracking with a choked sob.
It is quiet for a moment.
But for Vee, it felt like hours of a staring contest with Hunter, and the weight of the situation is heavy.
“Get out…” Vee whispers under her breath.
It is barely audible from the muted atmosphere, but judging by everyone's reaction of their eyes lighting up, it is clearly heard.
“Get. Out. Now!” Vee speaks up louder, pointing at the door.
Luz continues her pleading, reaching out. “Vee, no. He’s not the Golden Guard anymore!”
“I don't care! I want him out of the house!” Vee yells again, staring directly at Hunter, and her voice is filled with hate.
“Vee, stop it! H-He’s my friend!”
“He is a monster!”
“No, he is not!”
“Yes, he is!”
The tension is rising higher and higher, and Vee feels her chest growing with rage and frustration.
She is about to yell at him one more time.
However, a choked sob is what makes Vee stop her shouting.
Hunter’s whole body is shaking, covering his mouth with his hand as tears slowly escape through his eyes.
“Y-You’re right, Vee…” He chokes, making eye contact with the hurt basilisk. “I am a monster.”
Vee’s expression hasn’t changed at all.
She has a hard glare with her fist balled in anger.
There is something inside of her that feels bad for calling Hunter a monster.
But she doesn’t care.
He deserves it.
And he is one.
“Hunter, no…” Luz whispers.
Then, in a flash, Hunter sprints out of the kitchen as he silently cries to himself.
“No! Hunter, wait!” Luz exclaims, reaching out towards the blonde boy.
But he is gone.
Luz groans in frustration and rakes her curls, chasing after Hunter.
Vee lets go of a shaky breath she doesn’t know she is holding, closing her eyes.
She can feel her anger slowly simmering down now that Hunter is out of the picture.
But she still feels exhausted and anxious and shaken about that confrontation.
With a nervous swallow, Vee quickly picks up the knife and cloth from the floor and tosses it inside the sink, sighing with her hands on the sink’s edge.
She is debating about finishing the dishes.
But she is tired, and she isn’t in the right headspace to continue them.
So with that in mind, Vee promptly leaves the kitchen and hugs herself, carefully pasting a shocked Amity.
She mindlessly climbs upstairs with a deep frown and walks across the hallway with hushed steps, entering the girl’s room.
She slams the door shut, and she starts breathing heavily.
Vee clutches onto her chest with her hand, feeling her heartbeat racing faster.
Not only that, but she can feel her skin shifting across her body.
She looks at her trembling hands and notices that her skin alternates between her green scales and her smooth human skin, never sticking to one.
She knows what is happening.
She feels a panic attack slowly building inside, as her skin always does that whenever she has one.
Vee immediately starts doing her breathing exercises.
She takes deep breaths and holds for four and out for four.
But she can’t help it.
She can’t help but reminisce about what happened just seconds ago, making it harder to concentrate on her breathing, which has now become erratic and shaky.
She holds her breath for four beats…
Hunter…
And out for four beats.
He hurt my siblings…
“Take her and run!”
“What?! No! I am not l-leaving you behind!”
“Just take her, okay? I’ll buy you some time. J-Just go!”
Vee yelps and falls to the floor with a thud, her body fully transformed into her basilisk self.
She slowly backs up and feels either Amity or Willow’s beds hitting against, blocking her and making her feel more isolated.
She is struggling to breathe correctly, exhaling heavily and raggedly.
Vee closes her eyes and tries to control her breathing.
But she can’t.
And she is unsuccessful.
She heard Four scream out.
Looking back, she saw her on the ground, trapped in a big electric net that was shocking her.
“No!” Number Five yelled out, running back to her.
“No! Run!”
“W-What? No! Not without you!”
“It’s okay! I’ll be fine on my own, okay? Just run!”
Five stood where she was, looking at Four and then the scouts running from a distance.
She had no choice, and she wasn’t going to make it in time.
Looking up, she could see that the scouts were going closer and closer.
“I-I’m s-sorry…” She mumbled out as she ran away, tears brewing in her eyes.
Vee covers her ears hard, squeezing her eyes shut.
“S-Stop…” She mumbles to no one but herself. “Stop.”
Warden Wrath scoffed. “...Pity.”
He nodded to the guard to the right. The scout pulled out a long rod with an electric tip.
She put up her arms to cover herself, but it was no use.
She yelled out a scream as she felt a hard shock throughout her whole body.
It went on for a few seconds until she felt the pulsing stop, collapsing to the floor.
“...Again.”
And she screamed…
“Stop! Make this stop!” Vee screams out, crying and feeling the tears splashing out. “P-Please!”
A whole blur of horrific memories enters her vision, and blood-curdling screams of pain echo throughout her eardrums.
It is overwhelming her.
She shuts her eyes very tightly and she ignores them.
But they won’t go away.
They stick close and use her like a flea to a dog.
And they will never, ever go aw—
She pleaded for her life.
She knew the Golden Guard was not going to let her go, but she still begged.
She saw the red light increasing in brightness.
“No! P-Please! I-I’m s-sorry!”
She closed her eyes.
This was it.
This was where she died—
However, she heard the Golden Guard’s staff powering down.
Vee gasps lightly and flutters her eyes open, feeling another memory entering through her vision.
But this time, she lets it play before her.
She cautiously opened her eyes and saw their whole body shaking.
Not only that, she saw the dark magenta eyes from beneath the mask.
They were watery, and there was a hint of fear and hesitancy.
Then she heard the Golden Guard groan and removed the staff from her face.
Her eyes went wide, staring at the Golden Guard pacing around.
“Go!” He shouted.
But Number Five stood there.
She didn’t move from the ground due to shock.
“Go! Before I change my mind!”
In a matter of seconds, Number Five frantically stood up from the ground and slithered her way to the steep hill, making her escape.
Vee lets out trembling breaths after seeing that memory.
The Golden Guard…
Hunter…
He helped me?
That was him?
W-Why?
Vee shakes her thoughts away and focuses on her breathing, taking advantage as she no longer hears the voices from her past.
It takes quite a bit for her to steady her breathing.
But a couple of minutes pass by, and she lets go of her last deep breath.
She sighs in relief, feeling herself more at ease.
But still, the panic attack is lingering inside of her.
Vee quickly transforms into her human being and tucks her legs into her chest, silently crying to herself as she presses her face on her knees.
She remembers him very well.
At first, Vee thought that her mind was playing tricks on her.
But she remembers all too well.
Hunter saved her…
And she called him a monster.
Heck, she even accused him of hurting Three and Four.
She never once saw him pulling out an electric rod and hurting them.
He was just standing there, from afar, watching them suffer in cages.
He did nothing.
But isn’t that just as bad?
Maybe that’s why she screamed at him.
She wanted someone to blame, to put all the anger and all the pain they caused her.
But she messed up.
She needed to talk to Hunter again, apologize to him, and thank him for helping her escape.
But she can’t.
She can’t see him right now.
Just one look at his face and…
She will see it.
All the pain she is reminded of and all the scars she suffered.
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to see him.
Just not yet.
She knows she needs to apologize to him, but she needs time to process everything.
She just hopes that Hunter is willing to talk with her.
Vee wipes her tears away and stays where she is, staring at something from afar with a distant look.
The attack left her even more exhausted and tired.
But she doesn’t move one bit.
She feels her body stuck and rejecting her, unresponsive as she wants to go to sleep on her bed.
So she lets herself close her eyes there and ignores the world for now, exhaling shaky breath through her nose.
She will talk with Hunter once she is ready.
She just hopes she is not too late.