Mitch sat down at a crossroads, tucked away in a dead end. He gingerly tapped at the cracks in his face.

"Why is it so easy?" He asked himself aloud, "It shouldn't be this much... Nevermind. It should."

The creature terrified him, and it took noticeable pleasure in Mitch's fear. Without the beast, the Shattering would remain dormant. Without the Shattering, the cracks wouldn't exist. But it does, and the cracks exist- very evident on his skin.

Slowly, the cracks faded, repairing his face to normal. He had no intention letting it flare up again, yet had no control over whether it flared or not. It was entirely based on fear. The more fear- the more his skin would crack. The more fear- the longer it takes to fade.
Mitch knew he had to move, but also wanted to wait until the Shattering went away again.

With the creature following him, he knew he was eventually doomed, but went along anyway. A shadow flashed, and disappeared, traceless.

'What was that?'
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
The checkered had nearly seen him. He was so close to Game Over. One more second, and he would have lost. One more second, and the masked would lose the game he played.

'Be more attentive. You have to pay attention. He nearly saw you!' He thought.

The masked sat, purposely, in a dead end- criticizing his own actions.

He was aware that the checkered and the blonde knew something, but wasn't sure if they understood. The checkered just seemed afraid, but the blonde exhibited defiance in being ignored.

Because the masked had said nothing to answer, the blonde clearly felt defied and ignored- leading to anger.
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
He needed to know who was following him. He wanted to know. This is what his mind had battled with for a while now- ever since he found thought near the ceiling.

"Who the hell is following me?!"
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
Preston came back to the flowery glade from a bit of scavenging. Looked like Rob wasn't back yet. He decided to cook as he waited.

A little while later, when Preston was eating, Rob finally returned.

"Hey kiddo."
"Ah, there you are! I was starting to get worried," Preston exclaimed," Want to eat?"
"One sec, have to clean some stuff I got," Rob said, moving to the river nearby.

Preston was so preoccupied, he didn't notice the red stains coating Rob's hands.
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
The beast let out a long, loud whine. It couldn't find the human! He had disappeared, and his scent was gone.

It wandered a bit, finding the river and lapping at the cool water. Suddenly, a faint smell caught it's attention.

The fear.
Look left.
Look up.
Down.
Right.
There he was. The blue cracks were present, the fear, strong. And to the beast's carnal desires and feral senses, looked perfect to catch, mate, and kill.

It bared its teeth.
•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
"Nononononononononononononono!!" Mitch yelled, staring at the shaggy beast, which wore and odd expression and bared teeth.

It lunged, tackling him onto the cold ground, growling.

"N-no... please!" Mitch cried, shoving at the huge ball of fluff, but it was inescapable.
"ㄅɬ◊ㄕ ṧтԻԻԻԻԻṳ❡ℓ!ℵ❡," the beast growled loudly, and Mitch looked at him in shock.

"! кℵ✺ω ωℏᾰт ⑂✺ṳ'ԻԻԻԻḙ тℏ!ℵк!ℵ❡... ℏ✺ω ḉ✺ṳℓᖱ ⑂✺ṳ ℏᾰṽḙ ḙṽḙԻԻԻԻԻԻ ℓḙᾰԻԻԻℵḙᖱ т✺ ṧ℘ḙᾰк?'" It let out a growl like laugh. "ᖱ✺ḙṧℵ'т ՊᾰттḙԻԻԻԻԻ."

It gazed at Mitch's brown eyes, own grey ones glowing.

"⑂✺ṳ'ℓℓ ♭ḙ ᖱḙᾰᖱ ṧ✺✺ℵ ᾰℵ⑂ωᾰ⑂."

Mitch went limp, and the beast tilted its head, getting off. It seemed, confused, to Mitch.

While it was thinking, he scrabbled around to get his sword, grab his pack, and run. Letting out a growl, it gave chase.

'DONTLETITCATCHMEDONTLETITCATCHMEDONTLETIT--"
"Whoa, kid! Hold on!"

A teen appeared, and grabbed Mitch and dumped him in the mud, then carried him to where the beast couldn't see them.

"You're the new guy, eh?"

The teen- no, man- looked Mitch up and down, and Mitch gulped fearfully.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Rob. Listen closely, and maybe you'll be able to survive."

•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•
-A/N-
Sorry it took so long to get out, I have a lot of homework and I've also been busy. Love you guys!
               ~Percabeth1Jackson