#unclewiley

when ethan woke up, his head was pounding. there was a soreness in his ribs that tugged and pulled with every breath. the blood had dried in a trail down the side of his face, but it was a congealed mess in his hair that threatened to reopen with any sudden brush or hit. the last thing he remembered was shouting for hannah to get to the play place . . . and god he hoped she got there.

but where was he?

he coughed and grimaced at the tug in his chest from it, eyes slowly blinking open and vision clearing to find himself in a room he didn't recognize. it certainly wasn't the outside of the cineplex.

" wh - where am i? " he mumbled before he caught sight of @unclewiley, a frown tugging at his lips. " 'ey! who the hell are you?! "

❝ put that down so we can talk... ❞ and ❝ you don't want to do that. ❞

truthfully, he has no idea what he's dealing with. wilbur looks like any average guy. maybe a little taller than most, but other than that? totally normal. he has no explanation for the way that looking directly into wilbur's eyes makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and makes him feel like he needs to either fight or run for his life. all he knows is that he found miss holloway unconscious and found this asshole holding a knife that, thank god, looks unused.

wilbur looks at duke, amusement written all over his face. he raises the blade over his head, over miss holloway, and duke doesn't think. he just acts.

❝ no! ❞

duke lunges and tackles wilbur with all of the weight he can muster. they land with a thud, a few feet away from miss holloway. duke's confident that wilbur didn't see this coming, but as quickly as he brings him down, he feels a sharp pain tear into his side. he pushes away from the denim-clad man and rolls onto his back so he can get a look at his side. blood has already soaked a small patch through his shirt and onto his jacket. shit. that's not good. he presses his hands over the wound, as hard as he can bear.

❝ miss holloway... ❞ he calls her name, trying to rouse her. he failed to protect her. now, all he can do is try to wake her up so she can protect herself. ❝ miss holloway? please. ❞

" you-- " boney finger , warped with time and an ancient , interminable evil , points towards the man. so confident. so foolish. a taste of power and already believes himself to know her lord. don't make her laugh ! " you are nothing. " blood runs down from her raw lips as she speaks , righteous anger spewing in her words. " how dare you prostrate yourself before our king in black , unworthy worm ! "

He lets the ominous threat hang there, eyes staying on her as he adds in almost sing-songy tone, "I'd be careful with that sister of yours. She's a shaken bottle fit to POP! with all that power in her. Would be a shame if she were to get jostled around and forced to that point, don't you think?"

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘.  her stomach drops as she stands in a sea of black.  it reminds her of the darkness she reached through to get the weapon she used on that freak from toy zone.  as soon as she has the thought, a familiar man appears before her as if on cue.

❛ well, hello, naughty list! ❜

his voice echoes in her memory just before he speaks with that same southern drawl.  her mind tries to trace that memory, just a little while later, to one of the last times she saw ethan, but she can't let herself go there.  not right now.  especially not after the stranger mentions awakening her ‘abilities.’  the other man, general something, mentioned something about power, too.  he seemed kind.  this guy, though, makes lex's skin crawl.

he's speaking in riddles, and lex just wants him to shut up.  she doesn't know anything about his ‘friendy-wends’ or about the ‘us’ he refers to, and she doesn't care.  she doesn't care until he mentions hannah.  now he has her attention.  her gaze whips in his direction.  ❝ hey. ❞  she points at him.

who does this guy think he is?  invading her dreams.  threatening her.  threatening hannah.