Frank shielded his eyes with his arm from the unnatural pain caused from the flashlight, hissing through his teeth.The survivor who he had wounded had blinded him and turned, sprinting for her life.
Frank was quick to vault over the wooden barrier, his hand gripping the handle to his knife tightly and his breath was laborious as he chased her. The survivor was quick but Frank was quicker, eventually catching up to her. He slashed at her back sloppily and she fell to the cool dirt, face first.
Frank heaved slighlty hunched over as he stared at her below. Frank knew he was losing time as four generators had already been completed and no one had been sacrificed to the Entity. The survivor began to crawl away and Frank stepped on her foot applying all of his weight, preventing her from going any further.
He lifted his mask slightly bringing the end of his shirt to his face to wipe off his sweat from his forhead, careful to not reveal himself completely. He placed his mask carefully back over with one hand, making sure his hood was still over his head. The survivor below groaned in pain, twisting her leg slightly under his sneaker as an attempt to get away.
“Shut up.” Frank said under his breath as he eyed her.
He lifted his head to scan for movment, debating on his next moves. Frank was aware he needed to get at least one sacrificed for the Entity, as he had been dinged twice before for not having any sacrificed in his last two trials. Frank cracked his knuckles as he repositioned his foot higher on her leg, pressing down on her calf.
“Its gotta be you…” Frank mumbled to himself after the fifth generator went off.
He would have to hold her. The survivor was bleeding heavily and Frank eyed her nervously, afraid she may bleed out on the ground. Frank closed his eyes as he kept adjusting his knifes handle in his grip, a nervous habbit he had since he could remember.
“I can’t go a third…ill be deprived again. I can’t go through that…” Frank continue to mumble to himself and the survivor whimpered and tugged her leg again.
“Stop that!” Frank shouted and bent over grabbing the back of her shirt, balling it in his fist.
He lifted her up to her feet, forcing her to walk backwards as he half led half dragged her to a small shed. When they reached the shed he pushed her against a wall, his hand pressing against her chest. Her head bobbed forward suddenly, her chin resting on Franks hand.
“No no no! Stay awake god damnit!” Frank brought his other hand which held his knife up to her face, awkwardly gripping her jaw, shaking her head back and forth aggressively. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she struggled to keep her eyes open and Frank shot a glance at her lower abdomen, her shirt blood soaked.
“Shit. Shit!”
He knew that if she bled out now it would not count as a sacrifice and he was painfully aware that it was too risky to hook her now as the others could simply save her before escaping through the gates.
Frank turned his head to the side, listening for the loud alarm that signaled the exit gates were open.
“Cmon…cmon…” Frank whispered before turning his head back to look at the survivor who was now choking on her blood, gasping for air. She coughed violently sending a splash of blood on Franks mask and neck, him being unphased.
Suddenly the alarm went off and Frank knew it would be a matter of minutes before the remaining survivors were forced to leave the trial, guaranteeing him a sacrifice for the Entity. Frank then bent over picking her up by her waist with one arm, throwing her over his shoulder.
She fought back the best she could, pounding her fists on his back it feeling like balls of crumpled paper. Frank could not help the grin that began to stretch across his face as he got closer to a hook. Suddenly the survivor fell still and Frank froze in his tracks.
He slowly and carefully removed her from his shoulder, her body being dead weight. Frank let her fall to the cement with a dreadful plopping sound. He crouched down beside her, gripping her jaw again, shaking her head.
“Shit…”
He then brought two fingers to the side of her neck with dread, applying pressure. There was no pulse, she had bled out.
Frank growled in frustration as he rose to his feet, his hood falling back revealing his matted and disheveled dirty blonde hair. His mask remained snug around his head as he began to desperately run to one of the gates, hoping a survivor would test their luck against him. But when he arrived there was no one there and Frank knew they had all escaped.
Franks voice was raspy as he yelled out, savagely punching the exits gate archway. Frank began pacing knowing the Entity would punish him as It had done before.
“Fuck!” Frank ran bloody fingers through his hair as he made his way slowly to the other gate, awaiting to be returned to his realm in Ormand.
As Frank approached the archway a figure stepped in front of him from the shadows. Frank instinctively reached forward to stab them but they leaned back slightly, avoiding his blade.
“Your technique is wild and too unhinged, no wonder the Entity forced me to be here…”
Frank stared hard at the killer before him who he knew as the Ghostface. He lowered his blade to his side, straightening his posture.
“Why are you in my trial?” Frank asked, agitated.
The Ghostface strolled over passed the exit gates to a tree, leaning against it. He sighed as he removed his knife from a hidden sheath, inspecting his reflection in the blade.
“I was so graciously given the task to babysit you in this trial because from my understanding, was to be your last if you did not manage a singular sacrifice.” The Ghostface raised his head to eye Frank.
“Well if you had eyes you’d see I didn’t and now I’m going to get deprived again.” Frank felt himself getting more angry than he already was as he drilled his stare into the Ghostface.
The Ghostface chuckled lightheartedly in his throat, shaking his head.
“Oh, this is gonna be a waste of my time.” The Ghostface crossed his arms as he remain leaned against the tree, his attention fully on Frank.
“The Entity has, for reasons I cannot fathom at the moment, decided to give you more time for another sacrifice with the exception that I teach and fine tune your skills and technique. God knows you need it. I wasn’t entirely truthful…I’ve observed you in more than a few trials and have determined your biggest flaw is how you react emotionally, without thought.” His words were simply matter of fact, and they dug their way under Franks skin.
Frank cracked his neck adjusting his grip on his knfie frantically, his face feeling hot with anger.
“So…I’m sorry just let me get this straight. The Entity wants you, a stealth killer whose cryptonite is survivors getting one fucking glance at you, to try and improve my skills?” Frank scoffed, rolling his shoulders.
“That’s rich.”
The Ghostface remained unmoving as he stared at Frank and Frank thought he heard him laugh again.
“First of all, be real careful of what you say to me. Secondly, I don’t want to be here either, but I dont struggle with survivors like you do, I own them. You think the Entity just put all our names in a hat and I was randomly chosen? It chose me to teach you because my trials are flawless.” His words were so casual as they came out and Franks hand trembled with rage.
Franks posture had worsened over time and he was back in his hunched postion in a wide stance, his arms to his sides. Frank thought about his past trials and how he had indeed significantly gotten worse, unable to get even one sacrifice while the rest of Legion did well. Then to add salt to his wound the Entity sends a killer known to be cocky, his way to help him to get better. Frank knew he should be thankful but in the moment, he’d rather be deprived of trials.
“I’d rather be punished.” Frank blurted.
The Ghostface shook his head back and forth slowly as he lowered his gaze to the ground.
“Mmm, no. No that’s not going to happen. Unlike you, I actually have the desire to please the Entity…and I will see this through. Now whether you still suck after, that remains to be seen.”
Frank suddenly felt himself leaping towards the Ghostface, bringing his blade up to his waist. As Frank went to reach to grab the Ghostface, the Ghostface lifted off from the tree placing a hand on the side of Franks arm, spinning him around effortlessly slamming him face first against the tree.
The Ghostface had Franks arm pinned behind him as Frank struggled to grip his knife. Franks eyebrows knotted together angrily, shocked by the Ghostface’s speed.
“Another thing I’ve determined that throws your trials is just how predictable you are, going hand in hand with that emotional heart of yours…” The Ghostface voice was low as he spoke behind Frank. Franks mask had been pushed off to the side slightly as it was pressed against the tree and he struggled to move under the Ghostface grip at all.
“Get off asshole!” Frank growled.
“I will as soon you acknowledge out loud that you will be accepting my help and you will take it seriously. You will not be ruining my reputation.” The Ghostface tone was authoritive and Frank grew embarrassed from how childish he felt, his pride diminishing. Franks wrist and arm began to throb and he groaned from the pain.
“OK! Alright, just get off!” He shouted.
The Ghostface held Frank there for a few more moments before releasing, Frank grabbing his harm and rubbing his wrist. Frank slowly turned around situating his mask back over his face and he was greatful for its cover knowing he was beat red.
The Ghostface stared with his arms crossed again as Frank leaned his back against the tree.
“Accept the offer…” The Ghostface said.
Frank raised his head as he continue to rub his wrist. As bad as he did not want to accept, he ultimately knew he could not last another period of deprivation as he feared it would break his mind, more than it already was. To be away from trials as a killer for a long time was insufferable.
“I accept…” Frank mumbled.
The Ghostface lifted his chin slightly before speaking. “Good. Expect me to be at your next trial. Be prepared for unusual and unpredictable actions and behavior from the survivors as they will be even more frantic and panicked when they see two Killers in one trial. I will not touch them but I will be there to observe and critique. Do you understand?”
The Ghostface tone felt demeaning towards Frank and Frank snarled behind his mask. “Yes…asshole…” Frank muttered.
“Great, I’m so happy you have the capability to understand…” The Ghostface voice filled with sarcasm.
The Ghostface turned on his heels and began walking deeper into the realm, dissapesring behind trees. Frank shoved his fist in the air, lifting his middle finger. The gesture lingered there for a moment before he lowered his hand so his side, leaning his head back against the tree. He gazed up to the sky, his nervous habit returning as he frantically gripped the handle of his knife over and over.
He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.
“Fuck.”
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