I remained buckled on the floor, my back hunched over as I sat on my knees. My arms were wrapped tightly around my front, the only thing I could do to comfort myself where I sat and with what occurred. It was a struggle just to regulate my breathing as my heart felt as though it would break through my ribs. All around me was black in an endless void of eyes, all staring down at me. I was freezing cold and shivering, unable to get warm as though my very core were ice.

It was like I was trapped in some other realm. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know how I got here. Certainly I didn't know how to escape.

Every little noise, every little bump and creak had me jumping and cowering even further. I tore my hands from my brachia and raised them by my chin, fingers splayed in any means I might have to defend myself. Looking around frantically I saw no way out of this void, and the futility of my situation slowly permeated into my very essence.

I just wanted to be out of here.

I wanted everything to be back to normal.

I didn't know where I was. I didn't know how I got here.

Just...get me out of here.

...Get me out.

A creak from down the hall. I jumped and put up my hands in a vain attempt to protect myself.

Some part of the room settling unleashed a loud thump. I turned around to face it and any oncoming matter it might bring.

Slowly my field of view faded to red-- the same awful, sickly shade as what my eyes had become. I recoiled back, hitting something behind me that kept me from moving any further. I tried to move some other direction, springing into yet another unseen obstruction facefirst. Holding my head I quickly turned to face the growing field of red. Before my confused, weary eyes it was taking some horrible vague shape-- some kind of tendrilled, faceless monster.

Soon it spotted me, uttering awful, screeching noises as it slowly advanced.

"No, please no, not this again," I whimpered. "Please let me go!"

It could only respond with a horrible noise akin to a fork against a plate, an awful screech that tore into my eardrums. With my eyes wide and teeth grit I tried to turn around to any other direction and avoid it, running into another small unseen object in my panic. As it got closer and closer I realized I was surrounded, with no feasible way out.

What if Morissey had come back?

What if this was another staffmember out to harm me? Out to harm my child?

Neither of them had shown any hesitation to get in my space, and if they'd come in here once there was no saying they wouldn't try again. I looked everywhere, my back pressed up to whatever was behind me and trying to kick my way into whatever prevented my passing through. Anything I could do to get away from this, get away from them.

Get away.

Please just...get away from me.

"You were already here, what more could you want?" I cried. "What more could you possibly want?"

A discordant bellow and whine like that of a whale. Slowly one of its tendrils reached for me.

"Please, stop!" I cried even louder, my throat dry and scratchy from my labored breathing. "I-I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt him! Please!"

It hesitated at first, but eventually persisted. As it drew closer I felt my body start to go numb, everything awash in a feeling of pins and needles. As I was crumpled on the floor this monstrous red mass towered far above me and there was no way out.

I had no choice.

With my hands forward and claws bared I pushed forward, a frantic attempt to move past this assailant. My hands struck them but my fingers were numb, only feeling the contact farther up my arm. I mustered what I could to grasp whatever it was in either hand, twisting my spine to shove it aside against the obstruction to my right and holding it in place. Digging my claws into whatever my hands grasped I was met with horrible sound--

A loud, terrified scream.

As it carried on the sound lost its strange discordance, turning more and more...

...familiar.

To my left I heard another round of thunderous footsteps the red mass began wailing, the cornucopia of sounds confusing and terrifying me further. The footsteps stopped and a deafening noise of a door squealing open was like a drill into my head.

"SAMUEL!"

...My name.

I froze and the scene before me flashed to normalcy like a lightning strike, my grasping and holding Riv against the bed. Immediately I let go as my vision reverted back to the void and red beast, everything around me melting into a sea of red.

Before I could react I felt something wrap around my torso and pull me back. It was firm but not harmful and slowly my vision brought me back to the present, in my room, with my crying child atop the bed holding himself where I'd grabbed him.

"Wh-What did I do?" I cried. "Riv, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! I'm so sorry!"

He slowly sat upright, his face drenched in tears and bright eyes fogged over in pain and terror. With one look at me he clumsily ran out of the room, presumably to his.

I thrashed and fought against Daniel's grip, trying to do anything I could to get to my little boy and make up for it. Never in my life, in my dreams would I have ever intended to hurt him, yet drowning in my sea of fear I had done exactly that. I needed to get to him, I needed to comfort him. I needed to be there.

"Daniel, please, I need to--"

"No, you don't," he said, holding me tight. "What you need to do is calm down. I know you're prob'ly just as terrified as he is right now and that'll only make matters worse."

"B-But I hurt him, Daniel!" I sobbed. "I hurt him and I need to make up for it! He's my...he's my son and I love him!"

"Shh," he shushed from behind me.

"H-He's...my son, and I would never try to hurt him," I continued, my face red with crimson, syrup-like corruption tears. "I...would never..."

"...Reverend, I need to check on him and make sure you...didn't cause any lasting damage," Daniel said, slowly loosening his grip around my ribs. "I'm going to get Kuri to come sit you until I'm done, so just...please take a few deep breaths and give me a few minutes. I promise I'll be back when I can."

He picked me up and sat me on the bed, bending down to rub my cheeks and quickly rub his snout atop my head before jogging out of the room. Kuri entered the room just after Daniel's departure, sitting next to me and holding me to his side while I waited.

***

I softly knocked on Riv's door, left ajar. I heard a little gasp as I did so, so I knew he was there.

"Riv, it's just me," I said from behind the door. "I'm comin' to make sure you're alright. Can I come in?"

"...O-Okay," I heard a tiny whine.

I opened the door and closed it until hitting the strike plate, grabbing the first aid box from atop Riv's wardrobe. Walking around it I spotted the small boy hiding behind it, holding himself tightly and utterly terrified of what he'd just experienced. I knelt down onto the floor to better face him, embarrassed where this would go from here, but it was necessary.

"Riv, I'd normally never ask you this, but...I...need to see where he attacked you in case there's any deep cuts," I sighed. "Please, just...understand this is solely for helping you, I'm not goin' to do anything gross."

Riv winced, unsure how to proceed. I couldn't blame him.

With my hand extended I held out my smallest finger.

"I promise I won't do anything bad to ya, I just need to check for cuts and make sure they're disinfected," I reiterated. "Please trust me, kiddo. I'll give you the supplies to do it yourself if you'd prefer, just as long as it gets done."

With his ears back he took my gesture, wrapping his smallest finger around mine. I pat his head a few times to reassure him as this kind of thing was never easy. He turned around to face me and started with his neck, lifting his chin so I could investigate. I pushed through the fur around his throat but found only some very small digs here and there. Having seen the damage Reverend could inflict I couldn't help but think he held back, but I wasn't sure why.

"Alright, nothing too bad here, Riv," I quietly said. "I'm...gonna need to see the rest, but I'll give you the stuff to take care of it on your own if need be so I won't have to touch ya, okay?"

With hesitation he showed me the remaining areas, but fortunately his clothes had been too thick for Reverend's nails to cause any damage as far as I could tell. I still dabbed some saline on the small cuts on his neck, but they'd certainly heal just fine on their own. I put everything back in the box and stashed it where I got it before coming back down to the floor where he sat.

Reaching forward I scooped him up and hugged him tight, standing back up with the scared boy in my arms and swaying back and forth. I gently rubbed his back through his sniffles, rubbing the side of my snout against his head.

"...What did I do wrong?" Riv asked. "Did I do something bad?"

"No, Riv, you didn't do anything wrong," I replied. "Reverend is...unwell right now, and he's going to need our help and support to get through this."

"Then...why did he...why did he do that?" he whined.

"It's...part of what he's sick with, Riv," I continued. "I promise he didn't mean to do that. I'd try to explain what's going on with him, but I'm not sure you'd understand."

"...Please?"

I sighed.

"There's a...sort of condition people can develop when they're hurting very badly that can cause them to do things like...that. It's not something they do willingly or voluntarily, it's...sort of like an accident. They don't know they're doing it. He didn't know that he was hurting you, and was probably trying to get away from a hallucination."

"Hallucination?"

"When you hear or see things that aren't actually there. That's one of the common effects from his condition. What he saw most definitely wasn't you, but...something else, something absolutely terrifying he was trying to get away from."

"Will...he be okay?"

"I'm going to do what I can, but...please, Riv, just...don't hold this against him. He truly didn't mean to do what he did. He loves you more than life itself and would never willingly hurt you. I know this was scary and painful, as does he, so please let him apologize and try to make up for it. I'll be right there with you."

"...Promise?"

"I promise."

I knew it wouldn't be this easy for either of them to overcome. Encounters like these, especially with children, are crippling. I also knew that Reverend would never try to hurt his child after being here the past year or so, proving time and time again how much he adored this odd child of his. I hoped that somehow Riv would be able to see past this matter, but it would take some time and gentle encouragement. Reverend would...require proper therapy at this rate, and it was to a point where I wasn't able to keep playing nice.

"Are you alright with spending time in Kuri's room for a bit while I take care of your father?" I asked the boy. "I need to take him to the infirmary and I might be gone for up to an hour."

"...Okay."

"And...you're willing to let him apologize and make up for what he did?"

"...I am."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't think...he wanted to hurt me," he sniffled. "He never did before. He...helped me when there were people who did want to hurt me."

I hugged on him a little tighter before bringing him to Kuri's room, laying him on the ramiotran's big bed and petting his head before leaving. I looked back once to wave to him before returning to Reverend's room. Kuri held him close to his side, Reverend's eyes wide with realization and terror.

"Thank you, Kuri," I said, pulling the smaller man off of him. "I'll be taking over. I put Riv in your room for now as I'm gonna take this one to the infirmary, if that's alright."

"I don't mind, no," he said, standing back up on his feet. "Do let me know if I'm needed for anything. I'll put Riv to bed at nine if nobody else is back by then."

"Thanks, you're a credit to the place," I smiled as I wrapped Reverend up in a small blanket and Kuri left the room.

I bent down to meet Reverend at his eye level where he sat, rubbing his cheeks and my snout on his head to help calm his shaking. This had been a horrible ordeal for everyone involved but I wasn't sure what triggered this episode. Or...any of them, really, just assuming it was work stress. That didn't seem like enough to push him this far, the little man being surprisingly hardy in that regard. No, this was...something else.

"Reverend, I'm gonna need you to come to the infirmary with me," I said, putting my hand around his back and urging him to stand up. "It'll just be you and me, no staff and all confidential, okay?"

"B-But--"

"Naw, it's...a bit late to contest this anymore," I said severely. "Those things need to come out and this is how you do that. There'll be no judgment, nothing of the sort-- just you, me, and deconstructing what all's eating you. I promise I'm not gonna think any less of you for this; I'm sincerely trying to help. Okay?"

He just looked aside, face pained.

"Reverend."

"...Okay."

With my arm wrapped around him I led him out of the room, down the halls, and out to the infirmary. I shut the door and locked it tight, closing the opaque window shutters.

We could begin.

---