⚠️WARNING!⚠️
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A/N: Mentions of drug use, Alcoholism, Smoking, Bad Influence for young audiences, Triggers, Self Hate/SA, Might be cringe??

You have been warned.

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"It's only 9??"

Y/N thought, their eyes lingering on the small time display in the top right corner of their phone screen. They blinked twice, as if expecting the time to change or reset itself, but it stubbornly remained. A sigh escaped their lips as they let the phone slip from their grasp, slipping it back into their pocket. The day, it seemed, had dragged on longer than expected. Y/N glanced up toward the sky, where the moon hung low, pale and distant against the inky blackness. The air felt damp, laced with the scent of iron and the cool moisture of the evening. It was a familiar smell—likely remnants of a thunderstorm that had passed through earlier in the day.

The shift had just ended at the CAF, the Children Adoption Facility, where Y/N spent their days working as a caregiver to children of all types. The job was supposed to be simple—a 9 to 5 routine filled with changing diapers, organizing activities, administering meds, and offering comfort. But nothing about the CAF was simple. The children who came through the doors weren't your typical kids. They ranged from the mundane to the bizarre, some human, some not.

There were the usual human children, of course, but there were also the Stikingderions—small, humanoid creatures with slick, bioluminescent skin, and otherworldly beings that defied explanation. The more peculiar children, as the scientists liked to refer to them, were the most intriguing—and the most dangerous. These were the offspring of entities, strange hybrids or even beings born from nothingness. Some had been engineered, some born of unnatural union, and some simply... arrived, like ghosts stepping into the world. There was no clear understanding of how they came to be, only that they existed. And for reasons unknown, they were all collected and brought to the CAF.

Earlier that day, Y/N had spent time with one such child—a peculiar little being that had become something of an enigma to them. A crossbreed between a Wendigo and a Shadow Entity. The child, small and frail, had already begun to exhibit features from its Wendigo parent—antlers sprouting from its skull, a thin coat of fur, though dark patches of shadow seemed to cling to its skin like stains. The child's tail, a smooth, black tendril, seemed to absorb the very light around it. What was most striking, though, was its eyes—huge black pupils set against a golden yellow iris, and they shimmered whenever they caught the light.

Despite its unsettling origins, the child was remarkably friendly. It was small—barely 3'8" tall—and weighed less than 40 pounds, its body fragile, as if it might crumble under its own weight. But it was kind, offering a strange, shapeless toy that seemed to shift between forms like living clay. At first, the child had been wary of Y/N, keeping a cautious distance of at least six feet whenever Y/N approached. It was unsettling, to say the least—children didn't often act this way, especially not ones who had been in the facility for any length of time. But over the course of the day, the child warmed to them. It began to approach, cautiously at first, then with more confidence, offering the toy in its tiny hands. It had started to hug Y/N too, whenever it saw them—a small, unspoken gesture that felt almost like... affection. Like it saw Y/N as something akin to a parent.

Y/N couldn't help but smile, even in the quieter moments, watching as the child interacted with them in its own innocent way. The little one seemed to think of Y/N as a protector, someone to trust in a world that was otherwise confusing and scary. By the end of the week, they had become inseparable. The child would eagerly greet Y/N with a cheerful "Good morning, Y/N!" whenever they came on shift, as if they were the most important person in the child's world. And perhaps they were.

But that was before Farley came...

Farley, a scientist who worked in the more clinical sections of the facility, had pulled Y/N aside just a few days ago, her face strained, and her voice low, as though delivering bad news. She had spoken in hushed tones, looking over her shoulder as if ensuring no one else would hear their conversation.

"Y/N," Farley had started, her eyes flickering nervously, "I've been instructed by Bensan to... remove a specific child for... Experimentation Procedures. I need your help in obtaining the child for the procedures."

Bensan.

Y/N's stomach dropped at the mention of that name. Bensan was the kind of person who never seemed to have a good intention in mind. A scientist obsessed with experimentation, he was notorious for his... less-than-ethical methods. There were rumors of children going missing, of painful tests, of irreversible damage done to innocent lives—all in the name of scientific progress. Y/N had heard whispers, seen children sent in for "procedures" that they never saw again. Whatever Bensan wanted, it couldn't be good.

"Who does he need?" Y/N had asked, trying to keep their voice steady, though their heart was hammering in their chest.

Farley had hesitated, her eyes darting to the floor as if struggling to say the words. "L84-X-P71... the entity crossbreed. He needs that one. No other."

The words hit Y/N like a punch to the gut. They felt their blood run cold.

That little child... the one with the antlers and the soft fur. The one that had come to rely on Y/N. No one was going to take them for experiments. Y/N couldn't bear the thought.

The panic surged, but then, in a split second, a plan began to form. Something that might save the child from whatever terrible fate Bensan had in store.

"Sorry," Y/N said, their voice a little shakier than they had intended. "That one's been adopted already."

Farley blinked in surprise. "Oh? By who?"

Y/N met her gaze, forcing their voice to sound calm, though their heart was pounding. "Me."

And with that, Y/N knew they had crossed a line. There was no turning back now. They had made a decision. The child would be protected. At all costs.