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Not everything always worked out the way it was supposed to in the Entities realm. She, though no one would ever dare to say so out loud, was not perfect. Occasionally there were...odd moments. For example, as Kate had reported to the group a few days ago, there had something strange happened in a trial against The Trapper where he ended up stuck in a pallet, unable to get out of it. From what the Musician told them it had looked quite uncomfortable. It happened more often than not that something, mostly small things, not quite right would happen during their trials. Usually it was something like a tree in an odd location or something similiar but there was also the really annoying possibility of one (or more) of them not being able to enter the trial, leaving the rest of their team one (or more) survivor(s) short. It was hard enough with four against one as it was, they couldn't afford to lose a teammate before they even begun.
Today it was no different. The fog surrounded them and it took forever to actually reappear on today's playground. Only two survivors had actually gotten into the trial. Today's playground had been the Coldwind Farm, against a completely ruthless Frank. There was no chance since the beginning. Within two minutes both Jake and Laurie had been hooked once with not a single generator finished. While Laurie kept the Killer busy for now, Jake was just about to finish installing a brand new part into the generator. This had the hoped effect of powering the generator up to roughly 90% life.
Though his satisfatction didn't last for long when he heard Laurie screech in the distance, startling him enough to connect two wrong wires. The Generator exploded in his face. The shockwave threw him backwards into the grass. His arms were scraped open, getting bloody and dirty from the dry earth underneath the fresh wounds. The Saboteur cursed. He was unconcentrated already as it was, he didn't need any more distractions in addition to his cravings.
Closer than comfortable Laurie screamed again, in pure terror. Jake lifted his head and peaked his head between two trees to see what exactly was going on.
The Raven realized he was utterly and completely fucked when he witnessed the Legion slamming his little knife deeply inside Laurie, effectively gutting her.
Even more unsettling: After Strode was dead, Frank, without even having to think, turned to him.
Jake could feel the grin under that stupid mask.
The Killer got up from his crouching position above the other survivor and immediatly started sprinting towards towards Jake.
The survivor whined and started running away in...well it felt more like a routine instead of panic.
The Chase was not too long though. There were not many pallets left from Lauries time with the Killer and their position was rather inconvinient for Jake too. Not much space to avoid Franks knife. It didn't take a long time until the pocket knife had inflicted two deep cuts on the Ravens hip and thigh. The one one the thigh had just barely avoided cutting his privates but his pants were slowly soaking themselves full of blood.
Their chase came to a sudden halt when Frank, not quite feeling like playing by the rules today, suddenly lunged fowards and threw himself on Jake with all his body weight. Though the two of them were rather similiar in height with the Killer maybe being an inch or two taller, it still was a very painful impact as he all of a sudden found himself face first in the dirt with Legion pinning him to the ground. The killer was breathing heavily, seemed quite exhausted from running around with Laurie so much. "I swear...you're...How do you guys never...run outta breath...uhg..." the Killer...uttered between shaky breaths as his elbow pressed painfully into Jakes spine. The Saboteur winced and wiggled underneath Frank to get the taller man off of him. That seemed to remind said one that he still had a survivor under him as as a reaction to Jakes wiggling the Legion got up from his uncomfortable position and grabbed him by the rim of his pants and, with a bit more effort than Frank would ever admit he had to put into it, lifted the Saboteur on his shoulder and moved towards a meathook for a sacrifice. Fighting was hopeless, the hook was way too close to even attempt freeing himself. When the hook pierced his shoulder Jake let out a bloodcurling screech, his voice breaking from the intensity of his cry of agony. The rusty metal inside his flesh, rubbing and pulling on him, ripping his veins open. His Jacket stained with red, tears glistening in his eyes as he looked down into the Legions dark eyes staring right back at him. To add even more to the pain, Frank slashed his knife across Jakes stomach, inflicting a shallow but painful wound. "Fuck. You." the Raven grunted right before the Entity claimed his soul and pulled him up into the sky to bring him back to the campfire. Only...this time he didn't wake up at the campfire. Instead Jake found himself inside a twisting nether, floating through what seemed like an endless void. There was barely any light, nothing indicating where up and down were. In an attempt to find some sort of balance he wiggled his arms and legs around for a bit only to find himself slowly spinning around.
A long spiderleg eventually saved Jake from floating aimlessly through darkness by piercing the back of his collar to keep him steady. The leg pulled him...upwards? Towards a somehow even darker spot. It was fog he realized when the floating leg had brought him close enough to examine the black fog with more attention. It swirled way faster than fog should be able to move, surrounding him.
"I have waited for a chance like this." The gentle voice of a woman rung in his ear. It sounded familiar, though he felt like it was none he ever heard with his ears before. From behind arms loosely wrapped around his waist. Jake tensed up at the sudden physical contact and glanced to the side. A young looking woman had placed her head on his shoulder. She was extremely pale with greasy black hair reaching down to her feet. She seemed to notice how the Saboteur tensed up because she released him from her grasp and floated around to face him. Around her naked, bloody feet the greasy hair turned into the black fog, the same one that always surrounded them before their trials. Only now Jake noticed, the girl was completely naked although she, despite looking clearly female, seemed to have no vagina. Whether she had nipples or not couldn't be told as her hair covered a large portion of her breasts. She was rather short, roughly the same height as Feng Min. Her body looked horrendous, ripcage and hipbones sharply sticking out with the pale skin stretched tightly across it.
Though this girl looked more like she needed serious help Jake was sure she could easily rip his face off and eat it. As if she had read his mind, the strange girl chuckled.
"I indeed could do so, my little Raven." She whispered in a sweet sweet voice. It was fake, there lay cruelty underneath all the sweetness. "But this is not why I have brought you this close to myself. I am sure you are aware of who I am, right?" Her clawed hands brushed over Jakes cheek. Her touch was icy, like someone had frozen his face on the parts where she'd touched him. "The Entity."
There was no question in his voice, it was simply the stating of a rather obvious fact.
The starved girl nodded. "You are a smart one, Jake Park." The Entity spoke, again brushing his cheek. "You have...finesse. That's why you are my favourite."
She waved her arm, Jake noticed it was sprinkled with boiles. Many hadn't as many freckles as she had boiles across her body. Where she had waved her arm...something appeared.
It felt a bit like looking through a window although there was not darkness on the other side but he was able to see something through it that send his pulse through the roof with positive adrenaline.
He could see Michael Myers clearly as if he was looking at a TV. His lover stood there with his back to Jake and the Entity. She curiously studied Jakes face, seemed eager for a reaction.
A hand reaching out towards Myers made the goddess smirk. "I'm afraid he can neither see nor hear us. And you won't be able to touch him. But this is why I have brought you here, Jake Park." Her fingers curled around his outstretched arm by the wrist, gently pulling him towards her.
She was an awfully touchy goddess. The way she ran her free hand through his hair and her spiderlegs curling around him made his face twist in discomfort.
Only when her mouth was just inches apart from his, Jake was able to smell the odd odor coming from her. It reminded him of death yet without the foul stench normally coming with it. Her smell could best be described as...cold. It was the closest fit.
"Normally when I pull prey for the ranks of my praisers into my realm...they don't fall in love with each other." she eyed him up and down through her eternal black eyes. Jake tried to flinch away from her but the legs kept him in place. Gently but firm she forced the Saboteur to look at her again. "I didn't expect you, the loner, the outsider of my sheep to find love here." The Entity brushed her fingers over Jakes jacket, the zipper was pulled down by what seemed like a strand of her hair. Underneath Michaels shirt came to view, torn apart and stained with red where Frank had hit and the hook had pierced him. The way she touched him was so gentle. Way different from what the survivors knew when they were sacrificed. "But I did not bring you here to praise you, my sheep. In fact, I have brought you here so you could praise me instead." She chuckled to herself when Jake did not seem to understand what she meant. "I wish for you to to join my ranks of hunter, little raven. Unlike the others I will let you choose whether you want to do so or not."
The Saboteurs eyes widened at her words. "Of course you will have to hunt and sacrifice your friends if you decide to accept my offer but keep in mind: You will get to be with your beloved Michael whenever you want to." The Entity looked at her little raven, now with a more serious look on her face. "Declining my offer though might have a few unpleasant aftereffects. Should you decline I shall no longer bring you into the same trials as the Shape. I know just how much you...need your 'lover'."
Jake was stunned, unable to breath. The Entity's spiderlegs curled even tighter around him. It started to hurt. "Where...Uh. Where do the Killers go after a trial?" The Saboteur asked in an uncertain tone. He'd been wondering about this for quite some time, Myers couldn't answer him and he didn't know if the other killers could talk, aside from the entirety of the Legion.
"They...Share a large space I have created from my own mind. You will find it is more comfortable than your little campfire."
Jake frowned the tiniest bit. Being so close to the Entity herself starting to get really uncomfortable. "I...would have to hunt my friends and live among those who killed me in the past?" he asked carefully, already knowing the answer. The Entity nodded.
"But I would get to see Michael whenever I want?" Another nod.
"Then I accept your offer and become a killer."
At that, the Entity smiled widely, her pearlwhite teeth, sharp as razors, shining in the darkness.
"Splendid."
The goddess let go of the Saboteur who, instead of continuing to float, rapidly felt the weight of gravity as he started to fall down into the abyss with a scream.
Above him the Entity consumed her chosen avatar in fog and vanished back into the void.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 2/2Welcoming 'The Nightingale' The first thing the former survivor noticed when he woke up, was a pair of feet only a couple of inches away from his face. Those feet, he also noticed after processing that there in fact was a pair of feet, floated just above the ground. Jake turned his head the tiniest bit upwards only to reveal the Nurse was – at least he assumed – curiously eyeing him, obviously not quite sure what to do with the Saboteur on the ground. The second thing was, after he'd been able to sit up to take in his surroundings, that he was in an actually rather nice looking room. At least compared to what the survivors had. It was simple and even somewhat clean, seemingly some sort of bedroom? There was a fairly large double bed taking up about half the space in this room with nightstands on each side. On one of these nightstand was a photo of a freshly married couple. The bride was a beauty. She looked so happy in this photo in her white wedding dress by the side of her newly wed husband. There also was another photo, black frame around it. There was the husband again, though a few years older than on the wedding photo. Deceased? A wedding dress hung from a closet at the other side of the room. It was bloodied but otherwise well kept, though it looked old. Before Jake could even ask the Nurse anything she had already pulled him up into a standing position by his arms and pointed at the mirror attatched to what he assumed was the door of her room. She herself left, maybe to give Jake a bit of privacy? The third and for now last thing the former survivor would notice within this short period of time was, that he looked...different. Although his physical features hadn't changed much, aside from a bright golden glow in his eyes and being a bit more slender than before, he somehow still looked...different. His slightly longer hair appeared to be even darker now, skin smoother and just a shade lighter. Though his clothes were probably the biggest alteration. His old green jacket had given in to something entirely different. Instead of this there was now a very dark set of clothes on him. There were thick leatherboots on his feet, they strongly reminded Jake of military boots. They were supposed to be really heavy but the Saboteur felt like they weighed nothing at all.Tucked into his new shoes was a very dark green pair of pants, a couple of shades darker than his old jacket. The finishing to this new set of clothes was a comfortable but dirty looking deep black hooded jacket. It was open, came with no shirt underneath and its sleeves had been torn off, leaving Jakes arms mostly uncovered. The Raven noticed he still had his scarf, loosely around his neck. It was still the same, although a bit darker than he remembered. This was probably supposed to act as a sort of mask. For a while the newest addition to the ranks of killers admired himself in the mirror, quite happy with the way he turned out to look. He only stopped when the Nurse returned with Myers in tow. The former survivor noticed how his lover stopped dead in his tracks upon spotting him. Michael seemed quite surprised to see the other here but approached his lover after overcoming his few seconds of fully grasping that Jake in fact was really infront of him. The Saboteur was grabbed by the wrist and gently urged to follow Michael out of the room, into the long hallway of what kind of looked like an asylum, though not like the burned one they saw occasionally during their trials. This one was cleaner, not consumed by fire and overall looked a bit nicer. He followed the tall, silent man up the hallway, down two stairs and into another hallway. Jake began to understand what exactly the Entity had meant by 'large space'. While it all was run down, it still looked far better than the camp. The couple reached a wooden door with the number 4 on it, on it's side it read on a small card attatched to the wall:
The Nightingale
Jake Park
With a frown the 'Nightingale' turned to his boyfriend before carefully freeing himself from Myers' grip to open the door. Immediatly he was greeted by the view of a big golden birdcage standing in a corner of the room. Inside there were four pitch black crows sitting on various heights, softly flapping their wings upon seeing Jake enter. The rest of the room strongly reminded him of his old log cabin with a window – though this one had glass in it instead of wood to barricade it if needed – and a few pelts acting as rugs on the ground. The doublebed looked comfortable, a fluffy pelt on it and multiple pillows and blankets for cuddly nights together. There was also his old oven. With a smile he glanced up at Myers in memory of the night they had together in a very similiar version of this room merely two months ago. The other killer seemed to think of the same thing as he lightly squeezed Jakes hand for a brief moment. Next to the birdcage he noticed something that caught his eye. It seemed like a modified version of a sacrificial hook, turned into some sort of gigantic sickle. "Neat." Jake commented.
These birds will assist you during trials.
Send them to seek and hurt the prey.
They will find their destination alone.
Jake visibly flinched upon hearing the Entity in his head again. This was something he'd probably never get used to, no matter how hard he tried. It always managed to make his pulse jump right through the roof from shock. The Raven ran his hands over the wooden walls. It really felt like his log cabin, like a tiny bit of home, albeit a bit different, had followed him into her realm. There was this slight smell of nature lingering within these walls, a tad bit of fire mixed into this. Probably from the burning wood inside the oven. It really could feel like home, if he managed to ignore the fact he was in some kind of...asylum? Well that's at least what he'd guess. Jake turned to the other killer (he'd definitely have to get used to THAT) and gently took one of the massive hands in his so much smaller ones. "I hope...you are okay with me joining the ranks of killers. I...I couldn't bear to be seperated from you any longer, Michael." He whispered the others name with a shaky voice. When Myers didn't give any sign of neither approval nor disapproval, Jake tilted his head in confusion. "Is...is this...a bad thing?" The ex-survivor was about to withdraw his hands from the older man when Michaels other hand grabbed both of Jakes wrists. Myers freed his hand from the others soft grasp and brought it up to his lovers cheek, caressing it ever so gently. His worries melted away, giving in to soft humming, almost mewling as he pressed his face into Myers warm palm. With the Shape touching him with so much love in his actions, Jake just knew he hadn't been the only one to feel this unbearable longing for the other. Eventually Michael embraced the shorter man, washing away the doubts about this decision Jake had originally had. Or as his new name as killer seemingly was by the Entities choice, The Nightingale. Turns out The Legion, apart from being the least threatening (but most painful) killers one could possibly face in a trial, were quite nice around their fellow hunters. To help the newest addition to the ranks of killers getting used to his new abilities, the four of them had offered to act as 'Test subjects'. The Entity seemed to allow this to happen as there was nothing stopping the group of five when Frank, Julie, Susie and Joey left their weapons and masks behind to go outside the building into an overgrown garden. A sign right outside the main entrance reading 'Mount Massive Asylum' was covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. The rest of the garden, although very unkept, looked quite nice and seemed like the perfect place to train ones abilities. Their goddess had already given him an explaination on how his special power worked a few hours ago. Alongside with him Jake had brough four of the crows from the golden cage in his room. The one closest to him - a beautiful white bird -would never leave his shoulder and caw softly, almost like whispering, to him whenever it felt the presence of another person around within a radius of 15 meters, including hooked survivors as well as those on the ground. It was very easy to miss so he had to pay great attention to his feathery friend. The three remaining crows that were flying in circles around his head worked different tho, way different. They were essentially reusable homing bullets with feathers. If commanded to fly they'd seek and attack the first survivor they spotted. They were very fast, almost impossible to dodge if released within short range. But they wouldn't manage to fly for long before they, if they didn't hit their target within a few seconds, would return to their master and rest a moment. The same applied for the case of them injuring a survivor with their sharp beaks. To even command a bird to attack, he had to whistle a short melody that sounded rather familiar. Much much later he'd realize it was Myers' Tier-down melody.Jake had to come to the conclusion that, compared to some killers, he was rather slow. He was able to outrun Michael but Frank was a bit quicker than him and therefore there was some struggle catching the four of them in their training. His crows though did an amazing job at injuring the other four killers. By the time the were done Susie and Julie had some nasty cuts on their bodies, Joeys palm had been bitten and Frank was bleeding from where a beak had stabbed him just under his eye. Jake, being the only one of them still remembering how to use a medical kit aside from the Nurse and the Doctor but neither of them were currently present with Sally in her room and Hermann in a trial, was busy patching the last one up when the former survivor noticed something from the corner of his eye and promptly poured the antiseptic into Franks eye by accident when he saw Myers masked face in the near distance, halfway hidden between leaves. "OUCH!" The Legion winced and – out of reflex – punched Jake in the jaw. Quite hard.Big Mistake.While being punched like that didn't bother the Saboteur overly much, sure it was painful but having antiseptic spilled into your eye probably topped that, Michael seemed to have a big problem with someone raising a hand against his lover. The Shape was at the two in an instant, holding Franks wrist in a crushing grip while silently staring the shorter killer down, probably considering just breaking the filthy hand that had dared to hurt his loved one, even though this surely would bring the Entities wrath upon him. They were forbidden from seriously hurting each other with the intention to hinder one during trial. Though Myers made sure to make a point by bruising the small killers wrist before releasing him. The Saboteur placed a hand on his lovers arm and smiled. "It's okay. I deserverd that one." Just to make sure the Legion wouldn't be hindered in his next trial, the former survivor wrapped a gauze roll around his wrist. "don't eh...try to not use your wrist too much until your next trial..." Frank snorted at this accidental innuendo. With all four members of The Legion patched up and/or stitched together the group went back inside. Later that day Myers had to leave for another trial, obviously unhappy about having to leave his boyfriend behind, surrounded by those who'd killed him multiple times in the past. Though Jake wasn't at all affected by this, in fact he'd made friends with Frank and Joey by now and was happily chatting with the two male Legions. Michael felt a rush of jealousy in his gut when he saw just how well especially Frank got along with his lover. But there was nothing he could do about this right now, the Entity had called upon him and he had to follow her orders. The former Saboteur enjoyed his time among the other killers way more than he'd ever admit and sat together with some of the others and listened as the others told him some tips and tricks about how to properly chase the survivors down. It was still a bit strange to think he'd eventually have to murder his own friends but...he'd get used to it.