Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Emery sat at the edge of his bunk, his fingers drumming nervously on his knee. The camp was quiet, save for the soft whistle of the wind now and then. His gaze lingered on the book before him, its spine cracked from his frequent reading. Emery gnawed at his lip. He was tempted to open it up again to reread the same page he’d been checking over and over again. Just to make sure.

Emery Rivera was intelligent. Good grades during school, and being able to repair the generators quickly; it all paid off in the end.

Maybe this disappeared a little when it came to… social intelligence though. Not that he wasn’t good at reading cues! It was easy to pick up on how a crowd felt and what trick they’d enjoy the most next.

When it came to the supernatural, he was somewhat of a believer. I mean, how couldn’t you be with everything going on around them? Emery firmly agreed with the idea of magic; even if he saw first hand the science behind those magical acts. Emery took pride if anything seeing how people reacted. Some were confused, sceptical or curious. There was something sweet about the child-like joy even the toughest of hearts portrayed.

Emery had spent years perfecting his craft as a seasoned magician, mastering the art of sleight of hand. He understood that true magic wasn’t in supernatural powers but in the ability to captivate an audience. A lot of people didn’t like the reality they lived in. Magic was in its own way, transporting them somewhere else. 

However, one thing had made him a bit… unsure as of late. 

His roommate. 

After Emery had read one of Crystal’s books on the paranormal, things started to fall into place; questions began being answered. Every word he read concluded the same thing ㅡ

He rested his fingers on the cover of the rugged book. 

Amari Taymiyyah was a vampire.

Alright. Listen! It wasn’t far-fetched!

Amari hardly ever left the cabin. He would always sleep out of the sun too. Then the rare times he did leave, it was late at night when said sun had gone down! The vagrant would disappear into the forest, probably to do evil supernatural things. Drinking a poor animal dry, destroying the camp’s supply of garlic, blood sacrificesㅡ

Emery stiffened at his thoughts. Was he going to get sacrificed? They shared a bunk after all!

He quickly pushed that aside.

Amari was also unnaturally fast. How does one person constantly get into chase with killers and keep that stamina up? While also being witty and flirty?

What about that one time when he asked permission to come inside the cabin on a moody rainy night? All of these things sounded big alarm bells!

Not even mentioning when Amari came home with blood on the corner of his mouth. As far as Emery was aware, the mist healed all injuries after rounds. When the magician did try bringing it up, Amari brushed him off.

Very suspicious.

Too suspicious.

Emery sighed and dug his nails into the picnic table. Thankfully, he hadn’t been chosen for today’s trial; which gave him more time to think over the situation at hand.

He liked Amari! Truly! But he also liked keeping his neck intact!

“You’ll get wrinkles if you keep frowning,” Tabitha gently reminded him. She sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Emery looked up to meet her gaze. His brows furrowed slightly as he considered how to phrase his question. He had to ask someone for their opinion on the matter.

He tapped his foot on the ground. “Question,” Emery said, “Do you believe in the paranormal? As in, anything is possible in the mist, right? Would a vampire be too?”

Tabitha blinked at him a few times. To be fair, he’d felt the same level of uncertainty if a person randomly asked about his beliefs. “Do I what?”

“Vampires!”

“I suppose? I’ve seen for myself the strange unnatural abilities some of the killers we go up against have… Why do you ask?”

Emery flicked his gaze away. This was embarrassing to admit. Tabitha was lovely though, and he knew she wouldn’t judge.

“Okay. I need your help. I think Amari is a vampire,” He said, expression hopeful.

Tabitha’s smile remained. “Why is that dear?”

The magician began recounting everything he could think of. Each situation, all of his roommate’s weird habits, etc.

… “And, to top it off, I read that they use beauty as an illusion to rope their prey in! Amari’s very handsome, and I can feel those tricks working on me whenever he smiles! I think he’s trying to make me his next victim Tabitha…” Emery sighed, his shoulders slumping with a bit of defeat. 

Tabitha’s face was in a slight frown, worry painting her features. “Emery, dear, you don’t have… Anything to worry about.”

She turned away to cough into her hand. Her shoulders were shaking, the realisation of having a blood-sucker amongst them must be weighing pretty heavily on her. Tabitha inhaled, looking deep in thought. She inhaled shakily before responding. Emery didn’t blame her. He was also quite scared when he concluded.

“I don’t think… your roommate will be attacking you anytime soon. Amari seems to be a very… Controlled vampire?” She offered with a polite smile. The corners of her lips twitched slightly. The mask was coming undone! Did everyone else already know of Amari’s secret? Were they hiding it from him?

He had to test that theory. 

Emery stood up quickly. He took Tabitha’s hand, shaking it with newfound determination. He’d protect her! And everyone else in the camp!

“Don’t worry! I swear when I get to the bottom of this, you’ll be the first to know the truth!”

Chapter Text

A round against the Boss, or Jun's murderous counterpart, was never fun.

The very air seemed to thicken with dread as Emery worked away at the generator's complicated wires.

Emery checked his watch for statistics. Eight minutes on the clock, and Jack was the only one who’d been downed with two generators remaining.  A small ding caught his attention, dragging him back to reality.

Amari has been in chase for 60 seconds.

Right! Amari!

Emery had been so wrapped up in the round, he’d kind of forgotten. Last night was confusing. Instead of going out into the woods, or immediately going to bed like Amari normally did, he had made Emery a tea . He said it was a gift Makoto had given him.

Which was weird? Why would Makoto give Amari tea of all things?

Suspicious!

Maybe!

Did vampires drink tea?

Amari always complained tea was just hardly flavoured warm water, and it was gross. Emery on the other hand quite liked tea. In fact, the herbal blends sometimes helped him to sleep after a traumatising round.

Emery had lost focus again. Argh. He couldn’t afford to be distracted, not here, not now.

His fingers zapped with electricity as he yanked a purple wire out of its tangled mess. The magician connected the wires up slowly and carefully up to from where it’d been torn.

Suddenly, he spotted a familiar red light further up the slope. Emery swallowed thickly. Had they seen him? Surely he’d have enough time--

In a panic, Emery nearly ripped the locker door off its hinges and got in. The metal was cold against his back, a stark contrast to how warm his body was beginning to feel.

Thump, thump, thump.

Focus- Please, oh god, focus-

He clenched his eyes shut as his heartbeat sped up rapidly. Just a few more seconds.

Thump, thump, thump.

There it was- he just had to-

Emery opened his eyes with a gasp as he stumbled out of a locker. He looked around rapidly. Not on the snowy slope. He took a deep breath in, spotting the light of another generator in the house somewhere. Thank heavens . That had been way too close for comfort. Emery knew he stood hardly no chance against killers, since all of them were faster than him. The only skill he had was teleporting around the map; but it always made his head spin a bit after. Like now.

Ouuurgh…

He clutched his head and tried not to spew. Shooooot . Better than being hit over the head with a crowbar. The thought alone made him tremble even more.

“Emery?”

Emery looked up, his vision finally clearing. Between the gap of the stair windows and where the dim glow of a generator was crouched Cora, behind them a mop of hair he couldn’t quite recognise.

Seeing them alive and well was a nice motivation boost! Despite that, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking so much. The magician smiled brightly and waved. “Cora!”

He quickly made his way over, crouching down at the other spot. “How are you? And Jack! Hello Jack!”

Jack glanced up briefly from the generator and then back down. He didn’t say anything, and Emery didn’t blame him. Getting downed always left you a bit wobbly. Even when the trial had ended, the phantom pain kicked in long after wounds had been healed.

The mist was… cruel, in that way. There was no true escape; even through death. Honestly, it was difficult to remain optimistic at times… but something about having the support of his peers made living through this hell made it a tiny bit easier.

“We stand a good chance at surviving,” Cora said suddenly, “I know that Gabrielle is currently working on a generator with Elijah, therefore if we finish this we’ll have more than enough time to get everyone out.”

That made him feel better.

The magician smiled brightly at them, “Mhm!”

Ding!

A generator has been completed.

The three survivors sat and repaired the generator together in complete focus. They only had one left after all, and thankfully, it was close uphill to an escape gate.

Of course, that peace wouldn’t last for long though.

A few moments after the first notification, a second one appeared.

Elijah has been downed.

“Idiot!” Jack hissed out. He stood up from the generator and made his way quickly over to the doorway. Emery couldn’t help but notice the way Jack’s hands clenched and unclenched. He must’ve been pretty worried for his boyfriend. Boyfriend? It was hard to tell what happened between the two. The magician glanced over at Cora, who simply sighed. They looked back at the generator with little to no progress left.

Finally done.

Emery stood up. He put his hands on his hips and grinned. Cora had already left, so he took to quickly trailing after them.

The cold wind hit his face. If he’d known how chilly it’d be, he would’ve definitely worn his outfit from last Christmas. It was warm, cosy, and quite fashionable!

“The killer's cape keeps getting stuck,” Cora said. He noted the slightest bit of amusement Emery didn’t see them portray often on their face.

He tilted his head to the side, “Really? It’s Jun, right? I saw the silhouette a few times.”

“Mhm. He’s in some kind of vampire outfit.”

Emery paused.

Vampire?

I should ask Cora.

“So… Cora,” Emery said. He ducked in front of them, walking backwards with every step he took to get their attention, “'Mari, right?”

Cora gave him an odd look. “What about Amari?”

The magician shrugged his shoulders, his arms tucked behind his back. Emery shot them a charming smile. Be casual! “You’re suuuuper good at investigating things! I was wondering if you, perhaps, found something weird about my roommate's habits?”

They stopped walking and crossed their arms. “Get to the point,” Cora said.

No point in beating around the bush…

“Sorry sorry, okay! I think Amari’s a vampire.”

…

The silence spoke volumes.

“I mean. Anything is possible in the mist? It’s not too unbelievable?” He tried.

They looked at him for an awkward few seconds too long.

Cora sighed, “I’m afraid you’re on your own with this one,” They said. That was kind of disappointing but fair enough. He understood why. The mist was a terrifying entity. He’d heard stories from Arlo that the killers get punished for not killing them. That begged the question of if they ever wanted to be murdering relentlessly. What if they were in the same boat as the survivors? Even so… it wasn’t justified. 

… Was Amari also in that situation?

Vampires were bad, weren’t they? But Amari didn’t seem bad. Actually, he could be quite sweet at times in his own way. The vagrant had begun stacking his dishes and cleaning the spoons! It started a few days ago and hell, Emery wasn’t complaining.

“That’s okay! Don’t worry.”

Emery looked around the frosty area. He glanced at his watch again. A minute remained, and there was still no word if the others were safe.

Truth be told, it was hard to not stress about his fellow campmates whenever they were getting chased. A small sense of guilt would claw at him that he got the easy job. Emery wasn’t the one to take hits and get injured, and gosh… seeing the nasty gashes and faces of contorted pure pain made him feel useless.

Someone was approaching across the bridge.

Wait. Scratch that. Two figures, and some awfully loud footsteps.

Emery peered around the corner. He stiffened. The boy who’d been plaguing his thoughts all week was currently getting chased down by the Boss.

“‘Mari!” Emery shouted. A bit of panic spiked through his system, and the nervousness was bubbling up again.

The vagrant's footsteps were heavy as he ran over to Cora and Emery at the exit gates. The killers couldn’t follow them through, and Jun’s parallel knew this. He wasn’t bothered to keep going after Amari if it was a lost cause. 

“Are you okay?!” Emery asked. He quickly looked up and down the wanderer's appearance. The other boy's clothes were a bit dirty, but other than that, no blood or visible wounds.

“Yup… ‘Just.. uh… ugh..” Amari trailed off, catching his breath. “Yup.”

He ran his fingers up through his thick brown hair. It was both a relief and saddening to see his roommate.

Cora had been silently watching the entire time. Emery had kind of forgotten she was there until now, “We don’t have a lot of time left,” They warned.

Amari nodded in agreement. He still looked exhausted, but alive. Alive was all that mattered.

But there’s one more thing I want to check.

“Wait!”

Emery grabbed Amari’s hand, since that was the only exposed bit of skin in reach. The other boy wore a jacket that covered most of his body after all.

Amari blinked. He looked down at their hands, and then back up at Emery.

Cold to the touch.

The magician scrambled to come up with an excuse. Telling him “hey! i think you dont have any blood circulation cuz ur a bloodsucking fiend”   was a little weird after all.

“Uhm… I just wanted to tell you… that your teeth look great today!”

“My- My teeth?” Amari raised a confused brow.

Emery smiled, nodding his head. He took this chance to get a proper look at Amari’s features. His skin was relatively smooth, but he wasn’t pale like a vampire might be. His fangs were a bit more dull than what Emery expected too.

“What toothpaste do you use?” He blurted out.

“The same one that you-”

“You two! We don’t have time for this! Hurry up!”

Chapter Text

Emery had been thinking. Specifically about the mist.

The whole investigation was thrilling in its own way. It provided a welcome distraction from the cruel ordeals taking place in the mist. The mist itself was fascinating, to say the least. They’d snooped, overheard Kelvin and Arlo discussing it before— how even though Kelvin and Sanjana had failed to free them from the mist, they were aware of its existence. There might be other people in the real world trying to rescue them. That thought in itself was reassuring.

Buuuut, they stopped listening when the two started smooching and kissing.

Maybe finding Kelvin, Sanjana or even Arlo would provide some good intel.

Kelvin was the one who’s voice cut through the rift after all. Even if the man acted silly majority of the time, he was still quite intelligent.

Sanjana was intimidating, to say the least, but she had way more information about it. Whether she was willing to share it though was another story.

Arlo knew a lot about killers, hell, he’d dated one …

For no reason in particular (sure…) Emery decided to go find Arlo.

Phew, it was freezing around the camp area.

They knocked three times on Arlo and Kelvins cabin door. No answer.

That was a shame. Although, maybe they were both in a round? It couldn’t hurt to keep looking!

The nurse was sadly, nowhere to be found. In their quest though, Emery had come across two faces. They both were sat at a picnic table with what appeared to be tarot cards in between them.

Emil, the advocate, ushered Emery over with a bright grin that showed off all of his teeth.

“Hey Emery! Who’re you looking for?”

… Surely it wasn’t that obvious how lost they were.

Maybe Crystal could help them out? The whole reason they began becoming suspicious of Amari was after reading that book. The book they still had to return, uh oh. Hopefullyyyyy she hadn’t noticed.

They sat down next to Emil on the table. “Hi! I was looking for Arlo,” Emery returned the smile.

The cards before them were quite pretty and detailed. It was surprising she managed to keep them in the mist. Maybe, they’d ask if they could borrow them some time for tricks! … yeah maybe not.

Crystal hummed as she tucked a card Emil had tapped with his finger back into the deck.

They wriggled closer to the table to lean forward on it. “Crystal! Do you remember the book you lent me? About mythical creatures?”

If she had noticed it was currently missing, she didn’t say anything as she looked back up at them.

“Did you enjoy it?”

Emery nodded. “Mhm! But!”

Pausing for a moment, they began reciting the same ordeal as before. All of the suspicious things Amari did that could link to him being a creature of the night. Would dropping poppy seeds down in front of Amari make him start counting? That was a funny visual. Supposedly, vampires enjoyed counting seeds. Emery could understand the appeal though, it seemed like a fun pass-time.

After finishing, they quickly observed the other's faces.

Emil and Crystal exchanged glances.

“He certainly is ugly like one,” Crystal murmured.

Emil coughed. “Be nice,” He inhaled, “I don’t think you have to worry about Amari, trust me.”

It was strange how awfully laid back and calm Emil was about this. Crystal, however, wasn't. Her face morphed into one of concern.

Crystal's shoulders shook, and she took in a shaky breath. Fear. She was terrified. “He wouldn’t… attack you. Vampires don’t kill people they l-”

She turned away, coughing into her hand.

Emery blinked. He sat up quickly. “Crystal?! Are you okay?”

The realisation! She must be coming to the same conclusion.

“Yes, Emery. I would- recommend you go… check the forest. Maybe he’s seeking shelter from the sun right now?”

Shoot! That made a lot of sense! It wouldn’t come as a surprise if that’s why the vagrant had been wandering off into the woods.

Although a part of Emery really, really didn’t want to go there when it'd get dark soon.

They should’ve listened to that part.

It was so beyond chilly they might turn into a magical ice pop if they didn’t go inside soon. Brrr…

Grabbing their cloak, they wrapped it around their body as much as they could.

Maybe it was better to give the whole mission up. Could Amari be avoiding them for a different reason? Ouch.

From Emery’s perspective, they got along quite well. Being around Amari was super fun! It made them feel all warm, fuzzy and happy inside, especially when he started talking about things he found interesting. It was cute.

If they were being completely honest, Amari was a sight for sore eyes. All of his freckles made up such gorgeous constellations and-

They were quickly snapped out of their thoughts upon seeing a shadow sneaking not too far away. Emery lit up- but they couldn’t quite… make out who the figure was…

That had to be Amari right? Right? Who else?

It didn’t matter! The mysterious person was already gone! If that was Amari, there was no way they’d pass up an opportunity of confrontation!

Even if they might be risking getting murdered tonight.

... Uh oh.