Chapter Text
Evan had been in the fog for a while. Well, more than just awhile, long enough that his memories of the past were shrouded in their own fog, ever shifting and impossible to pin point. Whether it was the entity’s doing or his own failing mind, Evan couldn’t really find the will to care.
He’d gotten good at what he was sent to do, catching and hooking the survivors was instinct by now, leaving his mind to wander most of the time. Rarely did he have to pay serious attention anymore, trap placement, generators, and hiding spots were burned into the back of his mind from over exposure. He was, to put it simply, bored out of his mind. Every once in a while he’d try something different, but he was ever hairy of the threat of displeasing the entity.
Small changes were fine, but big changes were risky, and brought with them the threat of failure and ultimately in the end immense pain.
He’d discovered something on accident though, in one of the trials that lasted way too long. He’d let his mind wonder after hooking the last survivor, only to find he’d miscounted.
One of them escaped through the hatch.
Other survivors had escaped before of course but not because he wasn’t paying attention. He had waited for the punishment only to receive...nothing.
Not a whisper.
It piqued his interest from there, and he began experimenting, testing what corners could be cut. The events in the trials didn’t matter to him, only the ending, and so he started seeing exactly what the entity would allow.
Allowing passively two or more survivors to escape was a no-go, and he had shrapnel in his legs to prove it. It didn’t seem to matter if they bled out, escaped through hatch or through the gate. He could leave one as long as all the others were dead.
Easy enough but after a few trials the survivors began to notice. Their behavior changed as it got down to them or another, it became a waiting game for them, and Evan knew he needed to stop that and fast.
It wasn’t just his performance that the entity judged, but the whole. Evan knew what would happen if the survivors stopped their part in this little game the entity had created, but he wasn’t willing to find out personally.
He’d seen plenty of survivors lose hope, only to disappear without a trace. It’s not that he cared for this batch any more than the last but this wasn’t losing hope, this was defiance, and Evan of all people knew what happened if you tried to take things into your own hands. Truth was he was afraid of what would happen if he was the one to disappear.
He’d driven plenty of survivors closer to the final death, but the longer he was here the more he noticed that the entity did not have favorites.
He was just as expendable as the survivors and the thought shook him to his core.
He puts aside his little project, going back to the old way. It doesn’t take long for the survivors to correct their behavior but every once in a while they wait selfishly while their teammates hang from a hook.
It didn’t surprise him, he was well aware that the survivors had their own feelings and relationships with each other.
It was evident in trials, he had noticed certain survivors would go out of their way to help one that they liked or cared for while others would abandon them to die. Other times he’d catch them purposely leading him to the ones they didn’t like, or sabotaging their escape from him.
Until now, it didn’t matter to him, he never had time or care to do more than take note of the current rift between survivors as he chased them down.
Now though, he was curious, a dangerous thing in itself, what would happen if he were to pick a favorite.
It brought him to the trial at hand, taking more care to size up which survivor would be a good fit for his new-found curiosity. This time it was the fast one, the healer, the tired man, and the brute. he’s sure they have names but before now he hadn’t cared to remember them.
The red head was out of the question, she was cruel in her movements, taunting him every chance she could, just begging him to try to chase her. Of course, he could catch her, there wasn’t a single one of the survivors he couldn’t catch but the work it took to catch her often proved infuriating. She boiled his blood at the best of times, though he respected her contribution to the well being of the team.
The tired one wouldn’t be a good option either. He knew the man was already a favorite of another killer, though in a entirely different sense than for why Evan was picking a favorite. He knew better than to favor a survivor that had already been claimed.
Laurie too wasn’t an option. It was a thin line with Laurie, and everyone was careful not to interact with her more than they had to, least they have to deal with her pesky brother and his obsession with killing her for himself.
The brute was simply too much like him for Evan to want to study him. He’s sure that once the entity had its fill of the man he would join their ranks. Beat the compassion out of him if there even was any left.
Of course, he’d never seen it happen the whole time he was here, but the brute would be a good fit given his temperament.
While he’s debating he sees the healer edge around a tree and shrub. She was always so sneaky, seamlessly blending in to her surroundings, giving Evan a hard time to find her unless she was caught out in the open.
He could pick her, after all she was the one who escaped most of the time, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to save her for last and even then find her when the time came.
No, he didn’t just want to let his choice of meat escape...he wanted to get up close in a way he’d never done before.
Nobody in this trial then.
He hooks her and goes on, never one to stay to watch the entity receive its prize. Never one to waste time gawking while the others ran rampant through the area, like a pest problem.
Who else was left then if not these four?
He runs down the list of them, though a few he has to remind himself are no more. Old survivors thrown away ages ago, time in the fog blends together too easily.
He figured the gambler might be a good bet, with how often the older man took risks. He didn’t see him all too often though, and that left a large portion of trial.
He could try the little Asian girl, her clothes were always bright and easy to find. What was she, a sports player?
He isn’t sure.
He’d come to accept that time had left him behind, as more and more survivors appeared and disappeared with things he’d never seen, strange clothes and even stranger hair styles. As he finishes up the trial he wonders if perhaps his estate still stood in the real world. If the blood sweat and tears to build the damn thing was ultimately a wasted effort.
He’s brought back to reality as the entity tugs at his mind, and he looks out over the next survivors.
They look tired and filthy as always, though he supposed he probably didn’t look much different. The juvie, the bumpkin, the damn saboteur...and the paper pusher.
He’d forgotten about him. He was easy to forgot about, unlike the others he never caused any real trouble for Evan. He was weaker than the rest, the only thing the boy had going for him was when he was around the others worked twice as hard just to carry him.
The boy was a mock leader, exactly the kind of person Evan would have hired to watch over the miners. Submissive enough to take orders and because of the lack of authority present the workers would have warned up to him.
A grin creeps across Evans face as he prepares for the trial, eyes on the boy. The boy would do just fine.
Just fine indeed.