Casper rushed towards Ray, his hand clenched around the knife. There was no flair or theatrics behind his attacks, his focus was on something more cold than spectacle — murder.
Casper's sole intent was to kill Ray.
Although Ray was a man who picked his battles carefully, he also harbored nothing but pure rage toward him because when you kill someone's friend, fear doesn't have a voice anymore.
Seeing Casper charge at him, armed, Ray reacted fast. He stepped back and tried to capitalize on the attack, intending to disarm him. He twisted and shifted his position, but Casper adjusted at the same time.
Instead of following through on his momentum, he pivoted sharply. His arm collided with Ray's body and the duo staggered sideways into the floor.
Ray grunted but didn't retreat. He seized Casper's knife wrist with both hands, forcing it outward as the blade swept dangerously close to his ribs. Their foreheads nearly touched as they tussled together.
Casper raised his broken arm and landed a devastating punch to his face, in an effort to shake him off.
But the effort seemed pitiful as Ray barely reacted, and instead looked annoyed at the attempt.
Pain flared up Casper's shattered hand the moment it connected. The impact sent a violent tremor through the fractured bone, forcing a deep groan.
Ray didn't loosen his grip. If anything, his fingers tightened.
"You're done," Ray muttered, voice low and steady.
He drove his knee into Casper's chest to try and shake him off but the crimson eyed boy didn't let go, his legs locked itself beneath the man's thighs and anchored himself to him.
Ray tried again — another brutal drive of his knee upward — but with his legs trapped, the force lacked leverage. Casper used the moment to shift his hips and drag Ray off center.
The balance tipped.
Casper rolled.
They turned across the blood-slick tiles, reversing their positions in a violent scramble.
Casper's back slammed into the floor this time.
The hunter in all his glory was only focused on isolating him from his weapon, not noticing the fact that Casper had already switched tactics.
With a smile, Casper raised his forehead and smashed it into his face.
Ray's head snapped back as a few drops of blood poured from his nose, his grip loosened for a second.
But that was all that he needed.
Casper twisted his hand free and drove the knife straight to his neck.
Ray reacted on instinct.
His hand shot up between them.
The blade meant for his neck punched through his palm instead.
The tip didn't go through, his reinforced flesh stopped it dead in its tracks and clamped down around the blade.
Ray grunted, his mouth fell open but he resisted the pain.
Casper laughed softly, "God you're still acting tough?" His mouth suddenly pressed into a thin, curt smile as he said warmly, "Maybe this will show you it's okay to scream."
Casper leaned forward without warning.
Ray expected another shove. Another attempt to wrench the blade free.
Instead — Casper opened his mouth and lunged.
Ray jerked his head to the side at the last second.
Casper's teeth missed his nose and sunk into his cheek.
Ray's body locked up as Casper bit down viciously, his jaws wired to his cheek.
Ray finally screamed.
Not a normal high pitched one.
But an animalistic guttural roar.
"ARGHHH!"
His head spasmed wildly, although Casper couldn't pierce his skin fully he was still able to cause tremendous amounts of pain to the young hunter.
For Casper, biting him was like trying to tear through raw, uncooked meat.
Blood pooled into Casper's mouth, the toughness decreasing by every minute.
Ray's arm moved on pure instinct, his right hand drew back and delivered a brutal hook right into his face.
Casper's head snapped sideways mid-bite. His teeth tore free as the back of his skull smashed violently against the wood.
For the first few moments, the sound grew quiet. Then a relentless, high pitched ringing came.
Ray staggered back, chest heaving, one hand still impaled by the blade, the other smeared with his own blood.
Casper's body twitched faintly against the floor. His vision pulsed between black and white and his breathing grew shallow.
For a moment Casper was surrounded in absolute darkness, his only companion was the unrelenting ringing surrounding him.
His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Every bruise throbbed, his lungs burned, his jaw ached and his arm was on fire.
Casper wanted it to stop.
Casper wanted it to end.
And so he laid there, resting.
I'm tired. I want to rest… I'm done, I want to stop fighting. I've been fighting for almost an hour and he's not even tired but I am. I'm hurt and I'm tired and I want to stop.
The ringing stretched on as he awaited his death. His thoughts slowed and the weight in his chest eased.
It's quiet… is this peace?
Somewhere in the distance, something stirred.
CA—"
"Cas—"
At first Casper thought it was just the ringing.
Then it came again.
Fainter than before, jumbled and cracked.
Calling through whatever hellhole he was in.
"CASP—!"
The sound was familiar — an annoying, childish voice that teased him countless times.
Adem's voice somehow broke through.
Suddenly, the darkness shattered and his vision snapped back into focus right on time.
"CASPER GET UP! GET UP!"
Ray stood over him. The knife was in his hand now — freed from his palm — and he raised it high above his head.
Just as the knife came bearing down, he unconsciously tilted his head.
Instead of punching through his skull, it slammed into the floor beside his head with a deafening crack.
The wood splintered and fragments burst against his cheek.
He used his hands to leverage his body and then pushed himself up. His hand burned, the wound was no longer a simple pressure problem, it exacerbated and created something worse — his bone broke through his skin.
The pain was a tidal wave, but Casper ignored it, partly thanks to the adrenaline.
He somersaulted towards the door, Ray in pursuit but he didn't stop there.
Casper ducked under Ray's swing and grabbed the coat hanger and used it as a baseball bat, smashing it against his face.
The hanger immediately splintered as he expected it to.
Casper had wanted this outcome, the moment he woke up, in the mere moments afterwards — a sinister plan was hatched in his mind.
Casper used Ray's hunter physique to whittle the hanger into an impromptu stake.
Without letting go, he pressed on.
The hunter and the lawyer understood immediately that this was respectively their last stand.
Ray didn't hesitate.
He stepped in and drove the knife forward — not a slash, not a feint but a straight thrust to the chest.
Casper didn't move.
At the same time, he lunged with the splintered hanger, the jagged end aimed directly at Ray's right eye.
There were no tricks, just a convoluted game of chicken — the first to blink would lose.
The blade punched into Casper's torso with a sickening sound. It split skin, carved through muscle, and struck bone.
His rib caught it.
The impact shuddered his frame, his breath escaped. The steel ground against the curve of bone and stopped short of his lung.
Ray felt it stop.
And Casper felt it stop.
Neither broke eye contact.
Ray's expression flickered — shock. He had expected resistance. He had not expected acceptance.
He tried to pull back but it was too late.
Casper's arm completed its arc.
The wooden stake drove forward.
But just before it could reach its finish, something hit Casper from the side.
The two of them crashed into his bedroom, the wooden bricks crumbling under the force.
"You forg— forgot about me," a weak voice rang out.
Casper raised his head to see a pale, weakened Chester sprawled against the ground.
He collapsed on the floor and wheezed a laugh, a miserable laugh, an unhappy laugh.
"It never ends does it?!" He cried mockingly.
"You goddamn hunters and your thick skin, just die already." He cursed, banging the floor in anger.
"Fuck you guys, fuck all of you."
"You're goi— going to die here today," Chester coughed out weakly, his body twitching in intervals. Even though he was a hunter he couldn't avoid blood loss — the shock of Casper slitting his throat was slowly settling in.
Casper straightened himself slowly, dusting off the splinters he muttered loudly, "This time, I'll enjoy killing you."