Chapter Text
He could hear them, squirming and twisting against the door, their pale silver bodies oozing over the floor, under the cracks that had long since been blotted of light. He huddled against the wall, trying to stop his breath from hitching in his throat as he watched them squirm out into the hall, darkened heads raising to find him.
There was another presence, standing, watching, and he could almost feel the terror, the panic, dripping out of them and oozing along the floor, polluting the very space. What was he doing here? They seemed to ask, He’d never shown up before, why now, after everything?
He raised his head, looking over to them, to that shadow, recognisable yet not, face frozen in an expression of horrified realisation, hundreds of eyes twisting and looking frantically around. They wanted to weep, to cry out and run to him, drag him tightly and wait out what was sure to come, but all they could do was watch.
He smiled, trying to hide his own fear, knowing they were there, that they needed as much comfort as him. He had only a small amount of control, he knew that much, but he still had some.
The worms came closer, and he heard the choking, hacking sound of someone trying to speak beyond the door, as several clear knocks peeled out over the corridor. The worst was yet to come. The terror was not yet strong enough.
He felt the tickle against his leg, the burn of pain as they began to burrow into soft flesh, but he tried not to flinch, tried to stay strong. He kept his gaze locked with his petrified observer, trying to tell them that he didn’t blame them, that they didn’t know, they couldn’t have known.
Didn’t make the terror any less potent.