4.3
CONTENT WARNING: This update contains vivid descriptions of gore and child injury.
“Let go of him.”
Austin’s voice is a low growl that comes from somewhere deep in the back of his throat. He takes a step towards Otter, then another. Otter laughs.
“Or what, you’ll rough me up? Stab me again? No, I don’t think so.”
“Otter,” Rabbit whimpers, tears dripping down his face. “Otter, stop -”
Otter shushes him, tapping the flat of the hunting knife against his face. A shudder works its way through Rabbit’s body, the kid’s skin going white as a sheet. Austin’s hand tightens painfully around his flashlight.
“He’s not the one you want,” Austin says. “Let him go. You can have me.”
“Wrong!” Otter laughs again, jabbing the tip of the knife in Austin’s direction, pointing at him with it. “You’re useless to me, except maybe as a vessel after this one breaks down. The kid’s the one I need. Virgin blood, you know? Works best for these kinds of things.”
A chill runs through Austin, turning the beads of sweat on his neck and face to ice. “What kinds of things?”
“Oh, you know. Blood sacrifices.” Otter’s grin stretches wider across his face. It’s not even a proper grin anymore so much as it is a baring of teeth, a dare for Austin to take another step forward and try to stop him. Rabbit is still crying, silently, his shoulders heaving a little.
Austin knows the consequences. He takes the dare anyway. He lunges for Otter, aiming to pry Rabbit free so the kid can run out of the mine, maybe get help, but he isn’t fast enough. Otter brings the knife up and slams it through Austin’s hand in a flash of motion, pinning him to a wooden support beam on the wall. He’s still showing his teeth in that horrible grin, and Austin tries to spit in his face, or at least say something demeaning, but all his air comes out in a gasp as he feels the knife slice neatly through skin and muscle. Rabbit cries out, a little belated, but can barely make a move for the exit of the tunnel before Otter grabs him again.
The pain is instantaneous. It spreads outwards from the knife and radiates up Austin’s arm, and he clenches his teeth so tightly that breathing through them is a strain. But screaming would give the entity inside of Otter too much satisfaction. Austin feels his eyes water as he tries to move his fingers, wiggling them to confirm that nothing too vital got severed, and watching the blood trickle from the hole in the middle of his hand in a steady stream.
We’re going to die down here, he thinks to himself, for the first time.
“Now, be good, and stay put,” Otter says. He takes his backpack off and digs around in it, producing another hunting knife. “I knew it was a good idea for us to pack two of these. Let’s see, where were we? Ah - right.”
He wrenches Rabbit down into a prone position on the ground, kneeling over him to pin him there. Rabbit squirms a little.
“Otter, what - what’s going on?”
“That’s not Otter,” Austin says, laboring to push out each syllable. His hand feels white-hot. “He’s possessed. By something that was…sealed away. In a lake outside town.”
“Bingo,” Otter says cheerfully, prying off Rabbit’s right shoe. “And now it’s time to wake up something else that’s sealed away. You know, your name is pretty accurate, kid, because your foot is about to make me very, very lucky.”
“Don’t -” Austin starts, forgetting himself and stepping forward as Otter lowers the blade to Rabbit’s ankle. His hand slides half an inch up the blade of the knife and he pulls back, blinking rapidly, biting his lip so hard that his mouth fills up with the coppery taste of blood. This is bad. What the fuck is there to summon down here?
“Aust,” Richard says very quietly, from somewhere behind him. “I’m going to go and get Landis, and whoever he can bring with him.”
Austin lowers his gaze to the floor and shakes his head. No use in dragging anyone else into this. There’s no way to get rid of this thing - even Landis stabbing it just released it somewhere else, somewhere it could be summoned back from. I don’t want even more people getting trapped and dying down here.
“I’m not going to let you die down here,” Richard says firmly. Austin can hear his voice wavering a little, but Richard plows forwards, getting even more forceful. “Just hold tight for a little while. We’ll figure out how to help you.”
Austin shakes his head again, but he has the feeling Richard is already gone. He raises his head, tuning back into the horrific scene in front of the pile of rock and rubble. Otter is still holding the knife to Rabbit’s ankle, but with both hands now, and an expression of honest surprise is painted on his face. It’s hard to tell in the dim lighting, but Austin thinks he can see Otter’s arms shaking.
“Don’t tell me this body’s starting to go already,” Otter says under his breath. He frowns a little, takes a few quick breaths, then chuckles. “Ah, no. It’s the original trying to get me to stop hurting his friends! How cute.”
“Otter,” Austin says slowly, feeling stupid, not knowing if what he’s doing will work. But he does know what it felt like to be inhabited by the lake, to have his consciousness squashed deep down inside of him. Maybe he can bring Otter’s back up, like Landis did for him. “Otter, I know you can hear me, okay, so listen - you can fight this thing. You’re stronger than it is, okay, I know you are. I could get rid of it, so you can too. You don’t have to play along with this. You don’t have to hurt anyone else - you don’t have to hurt Rabbit.”
“Otter, please,” Rabbit sobs from underneath of his brother.
“Otter, please,” Otter mimics, rolling both eyes. “Are you both finished? I’d like to get on with this, now, if you don’t mind.”
He pushes the knife blade down, into Rabbit’s ankle. Austin can see the tendons on Otter’s arms standing out with the effort, but they relax soon enough, and Otter starts sawing away cheerfully. It doesn’t take long for Rabbit to start screaming. Austin looks away, up at the ceiling, but he can still hear the meaty, tearing sounds of the hunting knife severing tendon and bone, and Rabbit’s screams echoing around the tunnel, each one hitting Austin like a punch in the gut. They aren’t words or cries for help, just wounded, animal noises that Austin has never heard come out of another human before.
Then, abruptly, the sound of the hunting knife stops. Rabbit’s noises continue, but they’re coming out hoarser now, like he’s already losing his voice. Austin grits his teeth and prepares himself before looking down at the two brothers to see what the problem is.
It isn’t immediately evident what’s wrong. The knife is stuck halfway through Rabbit’s ankle, presumably at or halfway through the bone by now. Rabbit is still white as a sheet, the freckles on his face popping out like constellations, his face frozen in shock and fear. Austin thinks he’s dead for a moment, before he sees Rabbit’s chest inflating and deflating in rapid, panicked breaths. Otter is still kneeling over Rabbit, still smiling, still gripping the knife with a steady hand. But there are tears coursing down his face.
“Humans are so funny,” he mutters. His voice sounds a little fond, a little acidic. “Getting so attached to one another so easily. It’s never worth it in the end, is it?” He wipes his face with his free hand, and his expression darkens. “Stop crying. You don’t get a say in how this goes.”
Austin realizes with a start that the tears aren’t something the entity is producing - it’s Otter, inside the body somewhere, still conscious enough to know that he’s mutilating his little brother. A pang shoots through Austin’s chest. He can’t imagine how Otter is going to feel after this. Assuming they all make it out alive, which is looking less and less likely as the seconds tick by. Something’s got to give here - either the entity summons whatever it’s searching for, burns through Otter’s body, or Otter regains control somehow.
Or Richard comes back with the others in time to help. But fat chance of that happening. Austin squeezes his eyes shut as Otter continues slicing through Rabbit’s ankle, wishing he could cover his ears as well and pretend that this is some horrible nightmare.