Warning: lots of violence, animal pain/death, blood, self harm mention(no actual self harm). Please continue to check book description for content warnings.

"No, no, no," Virgil whispered, voice wavering and breaking off, tears flooding his eyes. "Not again, not again, go away!"

His cries were drowned out by the piercing howl of the beast about a hundred yards away. The howl was joined by two other hounds nearby, coming closer and closer. The hound nearest to him moved at impossible speeds, clearing the distance in mere seconds. Virgil toppled over in fear, landing on his back and feeling the breath leave him immediately.

The hound barked, snarled, growled, shaking Virgil and already beginning to shake away the thin line of salt that surrounded him, his only layer of protection. Virgil pulled his knees in to his chest, making himself smaller in his small circle of protection, hoping, praying the salt would stay and the beast would not get to him. His hands gripped at his ears trying anything to block out the sound of the hound, to stop his head from pounding. Moments later the two hounds howling from before had joined the first, rendering Virgil's attempt at blocking out the sound useless. A glance around showed that the addition of more hounds was moving the salt line even more, already small ripples beginning to form, although not yet wide enough to let the beasts through.

Virgil frantically pushed the salt back into place the best he could, hoping to last long enough for something, anything to happen that would help him escape this. His hand slipped past the barrier for a mere moment before a hound jumped at it. Virgil got lucky, pulling his hand back fast enough that the beasts teeth had barely began to clamp down. His hand came back red, having scraped across the razor sharp teeth of the hellhound, thankful that it was only a scratch and the beast hadn't clamped down around his hand more seriously. He briefly realized he could have been pulled out of the circle then, that those could have been his final moments.

He pushed the idea away quickly, going back to pushing salt into place. This time he was much more careful about keeping his hands securely inside the ring. Virgil was about to fix another minuscule gap in the salt when he heard a sickening noise behind him, the sound slick and wet, forceful, like the sound of slicing through a watermelon.

A very short whimpering was heard, followed by a thud against the pavement. Virgil quickly turned around, horrified, relieved, and sick to his stomach all at once, finding two of the beasts behind him lying on the ground, black blood oozing from their heads. Behind them were Virgil's two companions, finally come to his rescue. Virgil couldn't have been more relieved.

A final rumbling bark that shook the earth around him startled Virgil from his gawking, turning back to find far too late that the circle of salt was finally broken apart. The final hound in front of him wasted no time, ripping a scream from Virgil's throat as it's horrible, sharp teeth sank into his calf. The hellhounds teeth were long as knives, hooked deeply into Virgil's leg, and it was shaking its head, pulling and tearing as Virgil screamed louder than he's ever screamed before.

He saw the beast let go of his leg, saw the red pouring out of his wound as he grew faint, watched as the beast began to lunge for his throat. He heard another pitiful whine that shook through his entire body, saw a knife being pulled back out of the beast's skull. The hound dropped heavily, collapsing right onto the bleeding wound it had just left, and ripping yet another scream from Virgil's throat.

Virgil sat up suddenly, at home, in his bed, surrounded by the salt circle he had made the precious night. He could hardly believe what he had just experienced was a dream, could still feel the burning pain in his leg.

He shoved the blankets away from him, gaze going to his leg. A dark stain had appeared in his pajama pants over the spot that was burning in pain, seeping down into the sheets below him.

He didn't get much chance to investigate before his bedroom door was thrown open suddenly and his light flipped on, blinding him momentarily.

"Virgil!" His roommate Patton cried, calming Virgil who had believed for a moment it was another being out to get him. His eyes adjusted to the light and he looked up at Patton who was staring in his direction, wide eyed. Virgil could see his gaze going to the salt in the floor, to the container on his bed. He seemed confused, rightfully so Virgil though, but all of that seemed to wash away when he caught sight of Virgil's leg. "Oh my-you're bleeding!"

So that's why it hurt, Virgil thought as Patton rushed over past the salt circle and next to Virgil, looking at Virgil carefully.

" I know you're freaked out right now. I don't want to startle you. Can I check your leg? I want to help." Patton said, eyes warm. Virgil had become so accustomed the last few days to red hot anger and burning pain, or cold, soulless eyes and shivers down his spine. A gentle warmth came as a surprise, nodding and watching with wide eyes as Patton gently rolled his pants leg up, gasping gently as he saw the wounds.

"Holy shi-Virgil," Patton looked over at Virgil, brows furrowed and tears visible in his eyes. "Did-did someone stab you? What... what the hell happened to you out there?"

Virgil shook his head quickly, not daring to open his mouth. He couldn't say, couldn't think about it again. His mouth was pressed into thin white line, breathing speeding up. He shook his head again, squeezing his eyes shut.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Patton assured quickly, gently. "I won't make you say. I won't ask. It's okay. Breathe, Virgil."

Virgil let out a puff of air all at once, thankful he had such an amazing friend at his side through this. Life would be so much harder without his friends in it. He wouldn't change what he did for anything-even after all he had been through.

"Virgil... You could really, really use some serious medical attention..." Patton said after a moment of looking over his wound-or rather, wounds, there were more than one-some more. "We should have taken you to a hospital. We still should, who knows what other injuries you might have, I-"

"Not tonight," Virgil choked out, eyes pleading as they met Patton's. "Please. I just... I just want to stay home. I don't want to leave. Please."

Patton stared at him, frown on his lips as he studied his face, considering. He opened and closed his mouth, wanting his friend to get help but also not wanting to lose his trust or cause him any mental distress. "Fine," he sighed finally, nodding. "Okay, later. For now, let me clean this up, yeah? Let me help you, Virgil."

Soon the pair found themselves in the bathroom, Virgil sat up on the countertop while Patton worked to clean up his leg. The wounds were nasty, and way too deep. It looked as though they had been cleaned previously, although it clearly hadn't been kept up with. Patton hated thinking about the cause of the injury. Had someone attacked him? Could Virgil have done this... to himself? He tried not to think too hard about it, he had nothing to go off of and thinking of crazy scenarios of how he could have gotten hurt was only making him worry more. He tried to focus mostly on the task at hand-taking care of his friend.

Once he had cleaned the wound the best he could and had wrapped it in a bandage he looked up at Virgil. Virgil was leaning back against the mirror behind him, shoulders hunched in on himself and glancing around the room every second. Patton's hand gently rested on Virgil's knee, gaining his attention.

"All done," Patton said, small smile on his lips. "You sure there's no other wounds like that? I need to get them cleaned and taken care of if there is."

"No more like that," Virgil said, voice hoarse. "Just some scrapes and bruises otherwise."

"Alright. Good, that's good." Patton sighed, closing his eyes and taking a moment to relax. He opened his eyes again to find Virgil trying to hide a yawn, covering his mouth and stifling it the best he could. "Tired?"

Virgil thought for a moment, considering a lie. All it took was one look at Patton though, and he knew he couldn't lie to him. He chewed on his lip, nodding slowly and looking down.

"Alright. Come on." Patton spoke softly, helping Virgil down off of the counter gently. He began to lead Virgil out of the bathroom, Virgil becoming rigid at the thought of going back to bed. He still followed behind, not wanting to pull away from Patton and cause any more concern. If he had to he would hide in his room until sunlight. He wasn't sleeping again. He was surprised when he found himself led into Patton's bedroom instead.

"I-uh..." Virgil tried to voice his question, unsure what to say without sounding rude.

"You don't have to stay in here," Patton said quickly. "But there's still, er... a mess on your sheets, and... you didn't seem to be sleeping well on your own. I thought it might be nice to stay with somebody. If you want."

Patton watched for his reaction carefully, pleased when he caught Virgil relaxing and almost smiling. He hadn't seen Virgil even come close to that since he had gotten back home to them. Patton smiled himself, gesturing for Virgil to lay down in his bed first. Virgil took the invitation and the moment Patton had laid down Virgil was wrapping his arms around his friend, starting to pull him close. He paused, waiting to see if Patton would move away, would want his distance. Patton just hummed pleasantly, turning to face Virgil and wrapping his own arms back around him, pulling him in the rest of the way. The two were holding each other tightly, and Virgil could finally feel the tension leave his body. Being around his friends again was the comfort he needed.

"Thank you," Virgil said, voice soft and embarrassed. He hid his face in Patton's chest, Patton running his fingers through Virgil's hair slowly, softly.

"I haven't done anything worth being thanked for," Patton's chest vibrated gently as he spoke, Virgil feeling his words as he spoke them. "I will always be here to help you, Virgil. No matter what. I'll do anything to keep you safe."

"I would too," Virgil said quickly, drowsily. It was hard to have this conversation. Patton was so warm and comfortable, so safe, he couldn't help but feel his exhaustion catching up to him once again. "Anything."

"I know, Virge." Patton said, pressing his nose against the top of Virgil's hair. Virgil was sure Patton didn't even know the half of it, but he was glad his friend knew he cared. He cared for every single one of them. He had and still would risk his life for them. He wanted to voice this, to tell Roman and Logan too, but his breathing was already steadily evening out, eyes closing as he shuffled somehow even closer to Patton. Before long he was asleep, Patton pressing a kiss to his head and silently promising to be there for anything that might happen to him.