#but also kinda funny if the guy who fell for the devil’s tricks fell for the guy whose literal class was all about rewriting contracts to—

[blazingstar24]

Fully in brainrot mode over RedeemedContracts (yes this is what I’m calling the Zerxus x Vespin ship) because watching their one scene together and just thinking about how oh the last magic that Vespin felt before being damned to Asmodeus’ service for good was Zerxus’ magic from the stars. And the idea of him feeling that magic again once Zerxus is free and knowing he’s safe has me going insane.

Just the fact that initially Zerxus was sending Vespin away because he thought he was just another devilkin and the moment he saw that he used to be a man, Zerxus immediately reached out to help. And yes it was for utility but also in that moment Zerxus so badly wished to have the spells to fully redeem him. And I wonder if Vespin thinks about that moment a lot. That this one moment of reprieve out of the coming centuries of torture was b/c Zerxus saw him as a person worth saving despite knowing what he did.

The idea of Vespin like Evandrin seeing Zerxus’ steadfast belief and magic and thinking that it’s beautiful.

[bittydragon]

Costumes and Candy

Notes: I tried super hard to get this out before Halloween was over. I still have 10 minutes where I’m at, so I think I did it. (It may be a bit rushed though, whoops). Thought some cute Halloween shenanigans were in order. Happy Halloween!

“Despite being a borrower, this is still my favorite time of the year. Do you wanna know why~?”

Bad looked over at Skeppy, who was carelessly sitting on the countertop edge swinging his legs. He stared at Skeppy in silence for a few seconds debating on if he really wanted to know the reason. With a sigh of resignation, he gave Skeppy his full attention.

“Don’t make me regret this, Geppy. Why is this your favorite time of the year?” He regretted it as soon as he asked because of the shit-eating grin that appeared on the borrower’s face.

“I can pull so many pranks and humans either blame it on each other or ghosts! Like you did! Except it was not pumpkin day.” Bad groaned and settled his face in his hands. He should have expected an answer like that from the little trickster. It was no surprise to him that Skeppy’s pranks would amplify on the day that was literally made for mischief and scares. Bad himself liked the costume and candy aspect more of Halloween. It was so much fun dressing up as whatever you could think of. And the faces of the kids he handed out candy too every year made his day every single time.

He remembered trick-or-treating back when he was younger. The excitement from the candy surplus he managed to acquire every year was the most amazing feeling in the world. He wanted to spread that joy to any kid he possibly could. So as soon as he had his own home, he always sat outside with a pumpkin basket full of sweets. He had such a reputation around Halloween that even teenagers would come to his house shyly asking for candy themselves. Bad gladly gave in to their requests. Nobody was too old for trick-or-treating in his mind. He would attempt it if he didn’t want to give candy out more.

Suddenly, realization of something else Skeppy had said came to Bad’s mind. “Pumpkin day? Is that what you borrowers call it?” Skeppy stopped swinging his legs and looked up at Bad. Confusion was written all over his face.

“Yea. Pumpkin day. The day where children get into strange outfits to get free candy, where older humans go prank each other and get scared for fun, and where humans put pumpkins with silly pictures on them out in front of their homes. Do humans call it something else?” Skeppy looked confused. Bad just smiled at him. He moved his hands to rest directly below Skeppy and the borrower didn’t hesitate to slide himself into the awaiting hands.

“Us humans actually call this day Halloween. But pumpkin day is actually a good name for it too!” Skeppy smiled up at Bad and let out a short laugh.

“Halloween doesn’t even sound like it means anything! You humans are strange.”

“It’s a long explanation for the name. You’re right, we are pretty strange.”

They sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments before an idea popped into Bad’s head.

“Hey, Skeppy? Would you like to participate in a special Halloween tradition of mine later tonight?”

---

George decided very quickly that he was glad Dream was now another one of his roommates. 

They were all putting on the final touches to their costumes (even Dream, he was going to sneak around with them in George’s pocket) when Sapnap decided he wanted to bring a flamethrower with them. A real flamethrower. As a “part of his costume.” Sapnap was going as a werewolf.

He and Dream were both explaining that a flamethrower was a bad idea and that a flamethrower does not go with a werewolf. Sapnap was not pleased with his roommates tag teaming him against his case.

A few hours and a grumpy Sapnap later, they were standing on the porch in their costumes preparing to go out.

Sapnap grumbled to himself as he adjusted the ears on his head, mumbling about how George and Dream were no fun. George was just happy that the chances of arson were lowered. He looked down at his slightly torn shirt to check on Dream in his chest pocket. The small borrower had a small stretch of fabric running over his shoulders, mimicking a cape. Honestly, his vampire costume was rather cute, but George would never say that aloud for his dignity and Dream’s. 

Dream smiled up at him and gave him a thumbs up. George nodded and looked back up to see Sapnap already halfway down the yard. 

“Hurry up! I now know why you’re a zombie!” He shouted, suddenly making a break to the road.

“Oh shut up!” George quickly took off after his friend. He smiled at the laughter coming from his shirt.

A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in front of a small house. It was decorated with a few plastic bats and a few pumpkins were also found on the porch. There was also a familiar man sitting on the porch in the same chair as every year with the same pumpkin basket. George and Sapnap quickly ran up to the man, waving as they did so. 

“BAD!” Bad smiled as he saw two of his closest friends run up to him.

“Hey you muffins! Should have known you two would stop by.” Bad paused to dramatically put his hand over his heart and put on a faux sad face. “But alas, you only want the candy and you no longer care about your good friend Bad!”

A small laugh rang out for a second before cutting off. George nervously brought his hand to his pocket, afraid that Dream just gave himself away. But Bad didn’t look suspicious, only slightly panicked. It was quickly replaced with laughter of his own, which George and Sapnap joined in on.

“Anyways, I am aware you two actually do want candy. Just take some, you know I can’t stop you.” George and Sapanap quickly dug into the bucket and pulled out a few pieces of candy. As soon as Bad looked down when he pulled the bucket back, George slipped a small candy into his pocket.

“By the way Bad, did you seriously dress up as an angel for Halloween?” George lifted an eyebrow at Bad, who just chuckled. “Kinda ironic because you’re pretty much a, y’know-”

“Yea, yea. I know. Thought it would be fun!”

After laughing for a bit, the duo said their goodbyes. As George was turning around, Dream decided to sneak a peek at this ‘Bad’ person. And he wasn’t sure if he was seeing things or if there was a tiny devil perched on his shoulder. 

---

“I should have never let this happen.” “Yea, you shouldn’t have let this happen.”

“...This may be more my fault, guys.”

Phil, Techno, and Wilbur watched on as Tommy once again tried to vault himself through the toaster while pretending to be a ghost and while Tubbo kept making attempts at flying by throwing himself off of whatever ledge he could find.

Their costumes were one of the main reasons for this all. Tommy wanted to dress up for this fun holiday and decided a tissue with ripped holes for eyes was perfect. And now that he was a ghost he thought he could phase through walls. He was probably very close to an injury. And Tubbo, with the cute bee outfit Phil put together for him, decided he could fly with the plastic wings on his back. Though, the sugar from the candy wasn’t helping either.

“Wilbur. How were you supposed to know they would be this way on sugar? This isn’t something you said you all had access too, you nerd.” Techno tried looking at Wilbur, who was perched on his shoulder. Wilbur just pat his cheek and redirected his gaze to Tubbo. Techno sighed and put his hand out right as Tubbo jumped again. 

When Tubbo landed in Techno’s hand, he began to pout. Techno ignored this and just sat Tubbo back on the counter with a huff. Tubbo got over it rather quickly and was smiling and running again in a few seconds.

“Guess you got me there, Tech.” Techno smiled.

“Well yea. I’m always right. I’m Technoblade.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw an annoyed Phil walk away from the crime scene. He returned moments later with his signature bucket hat. Wilbur and Techno both gave him a questioning glance, but Phil seemed focused and promptly ignored them.

As soon as Tubbo jumped again, Phil slid his hat under the boy. Tubbo let out a surprised shout when he fell into the hat instead of someone’s hand. Tommy stopped ramming into the toaster as soon as he heard Tubbo’s shout. He didn’t get a moment to react before Phil reached out and swept him into the hat as Tubbo.

Techno and Wilbur both stared in shock at Phil, processing what just happened. The two boys were shouting a storm from the hat, clearly annoyed with their endeavors being interrupted. Phil just stared back at Techno and Wilbur, clearly looking tired and annoyed. 

Wilbur was the first to break. He started laughing, and Techno joined him soon after. Phil smiled at that. At least they found his solution funny. Though, without anything to do, the two young borrowers quickly crashed from their sugar high. They began settling in the bottom of the hat and started to fall asleep.

“I am gladly giving up my hat if those two are sleeping now. That was horrible.” Despite Phil’s words, he looked adoringly at the two boys in his hat.

“Y’know, that one guy definitely had a borrower with him.”

“The devil one?”

“No, the vampire one.”

“Oh, ok.”

Wilbur, Techno, and Phil stared at the two boys who just fell asleep in shock. They didn’t see anyone with a devil or vampire costume. Which meant there were other borrowers who had dressed up and were with other humans.

Things just kept getting weirder and weirder.

For everyone.

[whiskey-bumblebee]

I Want Candy

Pairing: Pale/Reader

Word Count: 1953

Year: (after Raw, before Vacation)

A/N: This one is a little bit sad but nothing awful. Extensive discussion of Pale being a father (not related to reader) consistent with character’s backstory. Mostly plot, sorry! Mentions of condom-tampering by Pale’s ex.

You’d noticed Pale buying things that were a little out of the ordinary for him. Twizzlers? Sure he’d bought them once or twice when he was stressed, but pop rocks? Skittles? Fun dip?

Then you noticed the packing tape, the little boxes he’d been buying. Most curious of all, sheets of thick cardboard. And marbles.

One night, you got up for a drink of water and found him in the kitchen, bent over the island as he measured out some cardboard.

“Pale?”

“Jesus fuck!” Pale breathed your name as he turned around and saw it was you. You leaned to the side, trying to see around him.

“Look, I didn’t wanna say anything but... What’s happening?”

Pale cleared his throat and stretched out his back, leaning side to side. Must have been leaning over for a while.

“Uh, you remember my kid, right?”

You nodded.

“With Halloween coming up, he’s not allowed any candy and I thought I’d send him some. Not fair if all his friends get to go trick or treating and he doesn’t, you know? His mom, she’s uhh... Not a very nice lady. Kid deserves a chance to get all shot up with sugar now and again. Part of growin’ up.”

You squinted, eyes adjusting to the light in the kitchen after being asleep for a while. 

“So the marbles?”

Pale nodded and gestured for you to look. “I put false bottoms in all the little boxes I send him. The post office doesn’t give a shit because it’s clearly candy right? Hell, even if it was heroin, they’d probably let it through. Anything going New York, Miami ain’t worth their trouble. So, the story is that my kid is having a marbles phase. But the good marbles are the ones that aren’t common in Miami. Gotta come from Canada, that part’s true. So I get them shipped here cos they don’t ship Toronto to Miami, only Toronto across the border. Also true.”

“Hang on, so your kid’s having a marbles phase?”

“Nah, that part’s bullshit. He’s smart, made that bit up, found a company in Toronto that makes good marbles, according to his friends, now he’s got a perfect excuse for getting a bunch of packages from me. Marbles go in and out real fast, who knew?”

You smiled and rested your head on Pale’s back. “He’s like you then, huh? Smart, resourceful. Gonna have to watch out when he gets old enough to work in the restaurant industry.”

He turned around and wrapped you in his arms. “You think I’m smart?”

“Mhm. Einstein level shit, all the logistics you do.”

Pale let you go and turned back to the packages. “Been doing it for a week or two now so he can start a decent stockpile under his bed or wherever the fuck.”

“You wanna send him a big one for Halloween?”

Pale worked for a moment, considering what you’d said. 

“I don’t know how we’d get away with it. Mom’s Catholic, she isn’t big into Halloween. Devil’s work and all that. Apparently she only likes holy spirits, not just the regular spirit schmucks. Poor guys. Reckon they get that kinda discrimination from a lotta folks.”

You chuckled tiredly, then yawned. “I gotta get back to bed. Do this during the day, alright? Ain’t gotta hide from me.”

“Baby,” Pale turned around and took your hand. “It ain’t that. Well, I didn’t wanna upset you by talking ‘bout her, but it ain’t that. Angel, I just ain’t got time during the day. By the time I get home, my eyes are shot from being up so long. Hands are shakin’ from holding a knife, or grippin’ the steering wheel. Gotta rest for a bit before I’m good to go again.”

Sadness fell over your face, you felt it. Your eyebrows drawing together, frown pulling at your chin. “Pale...” You stroked your hands over his hair, gathering the hair at his temples and pushing it back. 

He kissed your palms. “C’mon, I’ll come back to bed with ya. You can cut the things for the bottom of the boxes, you got littler hands that’ll actually fit in the fuckin’ scissors.”

**

“Pale, you know the thing you did before you met me? Before you had your current job?”

“Can’t say it out loud, dollface, but yeah.”

“Did you ever do it in Miami?”

“Yeah, real good at it too. Cops are slow over there. Fuckin’ alcoholics.”

“Are there any guys you trust enough to let them near your house?”

“Yeah. Couple of guys came over a few times, said they were friends from work. Trusted ‘em with my life.”

“Any one in particular come to mind?”

Without skipping a beat, Pale nodded. “Ethan.”

You nodded. 

“What are you getting at, huh?” Pale glanced at you for a moment, away from the road.

“Just thinkin’. What if we made that Halloween package for your son, got Ethan to deliver it early in the morning or something? Leave it somewhere he knew to look?”

Pale was quiet for a while, then slowly began to nod. “That’ll work. I can call Ethan, tell him there’s a package I wanna send to the house. He won’t ask questions. I’d do the same for him. Then call the kid and tell him where to look.”

**

It was childlike, the fun you had with Pale putting the gift together, assembling candy in all the colors of the rainbow into an altogether excessive box. You only wished you could see the look on his face when he opened it. The thought sent a twang of pain through your chest. If you wanted to see his reaction, how bad did Pale wanna see it?

“Pale?”

“Yeah?”

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

Pale drummed his fingers across the coffee table, expressing a guilt he couldn’t name out loud, allowing the feeling to bubble out of him through his hands. Maybe that’s why he liked the piano.

“When I left Miami.”

You swallowed and nodded. It wasn’t the right time to ask. 

“Terrible dad, huh?” Pale was turning inward, caving into his ribcage so he felt like he didn’t have to look at you. 

“Pale, terrible dads wouldn’t be sitting here, making a beautiful little box of candy to send all the way to Miami. A terrible dad wouldn’t be staying up all night shipping candy hidden in boxes of marbles.”

You shuffled across the carpet and rested your head on your shoulder and your hands on his thigh. 

“Thanks angel. Just a terrible husband then?”

You huffed a laugh and kissed his cheek. “Yeah. I’ll let you have that. I’m sure she’s a worse wife than you’re a bad husband. I guess good husbands don’t fuck girls from Manhattan.”

“Girl from Manhattan,” Pale corrected. “If she had any lady parts left she’d be doing the same thing, someone from Jacksonville. Fuckin’ shame they’ve all turned to dust.”

You laughed and turned your face into Pale’s shoulder. “What’s his name? What’s he like?”

Pale shook his head. “I’m not a good dad, never had the whole moment where I fell in love with him. He’s alright-looking, mostly looks like her, but he’s got my nose I think. He’s a math kid. His name’s Joseph, I call him Joe. Typical of her to call him something like Joseph. Surprised she didn’t go with a saint name.”

He lifted the box. “Jesus, this is heavy. I think we’re done. Wanna help me do the ribbon?”

You nodded and pressed on the lid, hovering your finger over the ribbon as he tied the bow.

“I love you Pale.”

He looked at you when he finished adjusting the bow. “Yeah?”

You nodded. He nodded.

“I love you too. Know I don’t say it often enough, but I do. Love you more than anyone else I’ve ever known. And, uh, it’s nice. Not doing Halloween and everything alone. It’s hard sometimes when kids come knocking and there’s a kid with a little mop ‘a hair that looks like him.”

“I wanna kiss you so bad,” You breathed. 

He smiled and ran the pad of his thumb over your chin. “The girl from Manhattan wants to kiss me huh?”

You nodded, smiling like a lovestruck fool. Smiling as a lovestruck fool.

“C’mere then.”

**

brrrrriiiiiiiiiinngggg

brrrrriiiiiiiiiinngggg

“You expecting a call, angel?” Pale mumbled into your skin. 

You nodded and yawned. “Pick it up for me?”

Pale picked up the phone.

“Pale speakin’ but you’ve reached me and my girl, how can I help ya?”

You rolled your eyes with a laugh, then watched Pale, waiting for a reaction.

“Joseph?”

“C’mon Dad, you know I don’t like my big name.”

Pale looked over at you, tears in his eyes. He took your hand in his and held it tightly.

“Happy halloween bud. Figured mom wouldn’t want you to go trick or treating so I went for ya. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Do I ever! Thanks dad, you’re the best!”

“Everything looks good? Nothing you don’t like?”

“I don’t like sweet tarts but everything else looks so good.”

“That’s good, kid. You gotta go to school or something?”

“Yeah, I got about five minutes before the bus comes. The girl at your place said I should call if I had time.”

“Thanks Joe. It’s good to hear your voice. You got a phone in your room now?”

“Yeah, my friends all have them and we call when the weather’s bad and we can’t play outside.”

“I should call you more often then, huh?” 

“Mom said you’re too busy.”

Pale scowled.

“Never too busy to catch up with ya. Listen, call me whenever it suits you, right? If I ain’t home then the lady can chat with ya and let you know when to call back.”

“What’s her name? She nice?”

Pale spoke your name so reverently you felt like a goddess. 

“She’s great. She wants to meet ya sometime.”

“That mean you’re gonna come to Florida?”

“We’ll see, no promises it’ll be soon, but sometime.”

“I miss you, dad. It’s funny, I don’t even know what you look like anymore. You could have grey hair like an old man.”

Pale carded a hand through his hair and grinned. The movement sent the tears welling in his eyes streaming down his cheeks.

“Hey, have some respect for your old man, huh? My hair’s still black, eyes are still brown. Is your nose still crooked from when you broke it playing football?”

There was a pause. You could imagine Joseph tracing his nose with a finger.

“A little. There’s still a-”

A pause again.

“Sorry dad, I gotta go. Bus is here.”

“See ya, Joe. Have a good day.”

“Bye!”

The receiver clicked.

Pale pulled you close to him and pressed his face into your chest.

“You see any grey hairs?”

You kissed his hair. “None. Still sexy as ever.”

“You hear what he said? You’re the best.”

“He isn’t wrong.” You ran your fingertips over Pale’s shoulders. “You’re a good dad, Pale.”

Pale hummed. “I wish I’d had a kid with you instead.”

“You know I don’t really want kids.”

Pale huffed a laugh. “I don’t either. I like Joe, but he wasn’t meant to happen. She poked a hole in the condom we used and it ripped. She told me the truth about it when she went into labor. Said it was her duty to have kids, even if I didn’t want them.”

“I’m so sorry,” You breathed. “That’s terrible.”

He sat up and shrugged. “Just wish you’d done it instead, wish I met you first. I’d stick around if it was you.”

You nodded with a soft smile. “I’d stick around too.”

[hunnywrites]

We Fell In Love In October: Part Two

Summary: Billy and Teddi celebrate Halloween in 1986.

A/N: One chapter left! I’m officially dedicating this series to the guy in front of me in line at Horror Nights the other night that had a mullet, was chewing on a toothpick and telling his girlfriend how weird she was for being so scared to go into the haunted houses. Being stuck behind those two through the Us house was something special. He scared her more than any of the actors. So this is for you, real life Billy Hargrove. Even if you were wearing crocs. 

It was late when Billy and Teddi left the movies the next night. They’d had a bit of a lazy day so far. They woke up around noon and made pancakes for breakfast (technically Billy did. He actually knew how to cook while Teddi was still learning not to burn everything). Teddi talked him into driving back into town for more hot apple cider and getting some candy for trick or treaters from Melvald’s before the movie It was still a weird feeling to step into the little convenience store and not see Joyce Byers. Teddi tried not to think about it. 

It had been an entire year now since the Byers’ and El had moved out of Hawkins. While most things had gone back to normal (or as normal as things could be in Hawkins), thinking about all of the people who weren’t around anymore made Teddi’s heart ache. She missed El, Will and Joyce. Even Johnathan. 

Now Billy had his arm thrown around Teddi’s shoulders as they made their way through the main lobby. The teens working there were closing the snack bar down for the night. “I think that’s probably the worst movie you’ve ever made me watch, Larsson. And you’ve shown me some shit storms.” Billy tossed his now empty bucket of popcorn away before opening the door for Teddi. 

It had been a really bad movie. So bad Teddi was a little surprised it had even made it to theaters and not gone straight to video. “...At least you got to see the girls topless a few times.” she offered with a small, sheepish smile as the pair made their way to the Camaro. Teddi pulled Billy’s denim jacket tighter around herself to try and keep warm. 

Billy shot her a look. “Those definitely didn’t look like any sorority chicks I’ve ever seen.” he muttered, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

Teddi rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Leave it to Billy to complain about seeing naked chicks. “The sorority chicks you’ve seen are porn stars playing dress up in Hustler.” she argued. He didn’t say anything. 

“...Whatever. I’m picking the movie next time.” he muttered. That meant they’d be seeing some mindless action movies with lots of explosions. Teddi held in a groan at the idea. The last one hadn’t been so bad, but that was only because Kurt Russell had been in it. 

TeddI threw her legs over Billy’s lap and let out a loud sigh. “If you insist...wait a second, where are we going?” she asked. Billy was driving in the opposite direction of their little house. Everything in town was closed for the night. And Billy hadn’t mentioned anything about having any other plans after the movies. 

Billy’s hand was resting on Teddi’s leg, his thumb absently rubbing at her ankle. “I just wanted to check something out.” he said cooly. There was a mischievous smirk twitching at his lips that made Teddi’s stomach do a flip. Nothing good ever happened when he got that look. But Teddi would play along for now. At least until she saw how stupid whatever he had planned was. 

Eventually Teddi started to realize that they were headed back to their old neighborhood. Billy turned onto Cherry Road, and Teddi’s face screwed up into a confused frown. She pulled her legs from Billy’s lap, leaning forward as if somehow that would help her figure out what he had planned. He drove past the house he’d lived in with Neil and Susan. Neil’s car was in the driveway and the lights inside were off. Teddi couldn’t stop squirming in her seat. Billy didn’t even glance in the house’s direction as he passed. 

Teddi let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in when the house was no longer in sight. “What’s wrong?” Billy asked. Teddi could hear hear teasing grin. “Don’t wanna visit the in laws?” 

She let out a laugh. “Oh fuck off. That’s not funny,” she playfully shoved him. Billy laughed. “And they’re not my in laws.” she said, holding up her hand and moving her bare ring finger. At some point they’d jokingly started referring to Neil and Susan as Teddi’s in laws. Mostly because Neil hated Teddi and Billy seemed to find it funny. 

Billy reached over and took her hand in his. He playfully bit the knuckle of her ring finger before pressing a kiss to it. They didn’t ever talk about getting married. It was too soon for either of them. While they didn’t see themselves ending up with anyone else, Billy would only be twenty next month and Teddi was still a teenager. They had all the time in the world for things like that. 

“Will you please tell me where we’re going?” Teddi asked, beginning to get restless. 

“Will you please be patient?” he teased. Teddi let out a loud huff and crossed her arms, sinking down in her seat. There was no breaking Billy when he had a surprise planned. In all reality she hadn’t had to wait that long. Another ten minutes and Billy pulled up into the driveway of a house that looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades. He didn’t give any clue as to why they were there. He only looked over at Teddi, that mischievous smirk back, and shut the Camaro off.  

“Uh...you do know we have our own house to fool around in, right?” she asked, attempting to joke to cover up how confused she was. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “That’s not what this is. Although if you wanna I’m not gonna complain,” he smirked. “I heard about this place from the guys at work. They said this family lived here, back in the 50’s. All of this weird shit started happening after they moved in, I guess. But one night, the oldest brother wakes up, picks up a gun and takes his whole family out. He says the devil made him do it. It’s supposed to be haunted now.” he explained, his voice low. 

Teddi looked at Billy and the up to the large, two story house before them. “Wow...that’s scary,” she said blankly. Billy frowned. “That’s also totally just the Amityville Horror.” 

“Wait, what? The hell is that?” he asked with an annoyed expression.

“It’s a total classic! Have you never seen it?” she didn’t know why she asked. Of course he hadn’t. “It’s based off a true story. The house was like two towns over from where I grew up, but I was always too scared to go see it.” she said with a small laugh.

“...Shit,” Billy muttered. “I was kinda hoping it was true,” Teddi raised an eyebrow. Billy rolled his eyes. “Not that they died, but that it was haunted.”

“Are you forgetting what happened the last time you went into an abandoned building?” another question she didn’t need to ask. Neither of them would ever forget what happened to Billy in that steel mill.

Billy gripped the steering wheel and let out an annoyed scoff. “C’mon, Ted. I’ve done all of your Halloween shit. Let’s just check it out. What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Teddi could think of an endless list of horrible things that might happen. But he was right. He’d been a good sport. And it wasn’t like the place was actually haunted. She could give it a go. 

“Fine, let’s go ghost hunting, Venkman.” she teased as she slid out of the Camaro.

“Who the hell is Venkman?”

“It’s from Ghostbusters, you nerd.”

“Oh I’m the nerd?” Billy asked with a laugh. The pair walked cautiously through the overgrown front lawn and up to the front door. The red paint was cracked and peeling. The tiny windows were so grimy they couldn’t peek through them to see inside. Billy was a little reluctant to touch the rusted over knob. He turned it slowly. It was locked. “Shit. Looks like we’re finding another way in then.” he took a step back from the porch and surveyed the outside of the house for a moment.

Teddi shifted uncomfortably on the porch. The wood was starting to rot. Each plank of wood creaked loudly with every step to the point where Teddi was a little worried she might fall through. “You mean breaking and entering?” she asked. 

“It’s abandoned. Me and my friends used to hang out in abandoned spots all the time back in California.” Billy waved her worries away and headed around to the side of the house. Teddi followed behind him. 

“...Didn’t you guys get arrested like four times for trespassing?” 

Billy ignored the question. He shoved one of the windows open, turning back to Teddi with a proud look as he wiped his hands on the back of his pants. “See? It’s unlocked. So technically we’re just entering.” he offered.

“I don’t know why I keep letting you talk me into this kinda shit. It’s probably not even haunted.” Teddi muttered. Billy leaned down, linking his fingers together to give her a boost inside. They’d done this so many times over the years it was almost like a muscle memory. 

Billy smirked. “Come on, Weird Girl. I’ve talked you into stuff that’s way more fun than this.” Teddi let out a squeak as his hand met her ass harshly as she crawled through the window. She could feel her cheeks burning. 

“You could have killed me,” she said dramatically after she landed inside with a thud. “I could’ve broken my neck or something.” the rest of her teasing lecture was cut off as she turned to take the house in. She regretted coming in. It was still fully furnished. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs, so much to the point where Teddi had a hard time imagining what anything had looked like when the house had people living in it. It was like whoever had lived there had just run off. Bolted in the middle of the night and never returned. She felt a little chill up her spine. 

She jumped a little when Billy pulled himself inside, his boots landing loudly on the wooden floors. “What’s the matter, Ted?” he asked with a smile. “Scared?” he reached around her, fingers tickling her side.

Teddi slapped his hand away. “No. You just startled me is all…” it wasn’t really much of a shock to Billy that Teddi believed in ghosts or that she was easily spooked by them. 

Billy grinned over at his girlfriend, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling him to her. “Come on, Ted. You said it yourself that it’s probably not haunted.” he buried his face in her neck, his breath tickling Teddi’s neck. 

“That was before I got the total Neibolt street vibes from this place. I can’t believe we haven’t gotten eaten by a killer clown yet,” she muttered. Billy let out a chuckle, pulling away from her and linking their fingers together as he pulled her towards the stairs. “Did someone actually die here?” she asked, unable to keep herself from constantly looking over both shoulders. 

He only shrugged. “How should I know? I bought that Amityville shit. Kinda creepy that everything’s still here though, huh?” that was an understatement. Teddi was scared that they’d stumble across some gruesome, decades old crime scene that hadn’t been cleaned up. Her other hand reached up to grab Billy’s arm as they ascended the stairs. 

There were some framed family photos on the walls upstairs. There were a few knick knacks, photos and a vase that was full of decaying flowers that filled Teddi’s nose with a sweet but sort of musty smell as they passed by. There were cigarette butts and beer cans littering the hallway. They looked relatively new, she realized with a wave of dread. Was someone inside with them right now? Watching them walk the halls? 

“If someone ends up murdering us I’m going to fucking kill you.” Teddi muttered. Billy only laughed. She wasn’t kidding. 

He pulled away from her and headed into one of the rooms. “Look, babe. It’s not that bad. No blood splatters, no headless bodies, just...a lot of fucking dust.” Teddi hated how amusing he found all of this. She felt like she was in a crypt. But Teddi followed after him anyways. It was better to be with Billy and his fucked up sense of humor than out in the hall alone.

“If I say I have asthma, can we go home?” she asked, wriggling her nose at all of the dust and god only knew what else was floating around. 

“Oh, you have asthma now?” he asked with a grin. 

“..Ye- did you hear that?” there was definitely something downstairs. There was a loud thump, like something had fallen over. And Billy had heard it too. His head snapped back towards the doorway and his expression had gone all serious. It did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves. 

Billy stepped out in front of Teddi, holding his arm out to shield as if he was expecting something to charge at the both of them. “...I’m gonna go check it out. You stay here.” it wasn’t a suggestion. And Teddi didn’t really want to argue, but she also didn’t want to let him go downstairs where some headless ghost was going to kill him.

So she counted to sixty in her head before she followed after him. The house had gone completely silent. She couldn’t hear the heavy footsteps of Billy’s boots on the rotting floorboards. Only her own. Teddi swallowed thickly as she slowly moved through the house looking for her boyfriend. “...Billy?” she called cautiously before stepping into the kitchen. No answer.

The window above the sink was broken. Maybe that had been the noise she had heard? Maybe some kids were breaking in, hoping to see ghosts like Billy? But she was alone. No sign of Billy or any teens. She immediately started to fear for the worst. “Billy this isn’t funny, okay? If you’re hiding can you just come out? Take me home? ..I’ll do one of your gross sex things!” still no answer. Teddi let out a huff. 

Teddi walked out of the kitchen and into what she assumed must have been a sitting room. There was a fireplace big enough for her to stand in, and an old, dusty piano sitting in front of it. Teddi nervously fiddled with two of the piano’s keys, the sharp, out of tune notes sending a chill up her spine. 

There was another thud. And a sound like something was being dragged. Teddi gulped. She shifted from foot to foot. This was definitely a predicament. If she went looking for whatever was making the sound she’d be killed like all of those idiot girls in horror movies. You never went after strange noises and you never asked who was there. But that dragging sound...what if something had gotten Billy? 

Teddi’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders straight and her head held high. Fuck horror movie rules, she decided. She headed back to the living room where she and Billy had broken in earlier. She was sure that’s where she’d heard the thud coming from. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement behind the couch. Something else moved quickly past the doorway. Already she was outnumbered. 

“Bil-” whatever was behind the couch had sprung up, yelling loudly at Teddi. She screamed, instinctively throwing a punch out in front of her. 

“Christ, Teddi!” it was Steve Harrington. He was wearing some stupid skeleton mask. Steve groaned loudly, slowly peeling the mask off and grabbing his nose. It was bleeding.

“Steve? What the hell are you doing here?” she spat. Suddenly there was laughter behind her. Teddi whipped around, glaring at Billy and Robin who were both laughing so hard it looked like they could barely keep themselves upright. 

Steve plopped down onto the couch and tilted his head back to try and stop the bleeding. “You said we were gonna scare her,” he whined. “You didn’t say anything about my nose being broken!”

Robin rolled her eyes, making her way over to her best friend and slapping his hands away from his face. She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s not broken, drama queen. She just got you good. Nice shot, Teddi. I’m glad I didn’t lose rock, paper, scissors.” she clapped Teddi on the shoulder before sitting next to Steve.

“Is someone gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” Teddi asked, glaring over at Billy. He was still laughing a little bit. 

“Don’t look at me,” Steve said, his voice thick as he pinched his nose shut. “This was all his idea.” he jabbed his thumb in Billy’s direction. She didn’t really need Steve to tell her that. Of course it had been Billy’s idea. 

Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Ted. It’s just a little Halloween fun.” he said with a smirk. If looks could kill, Billy would have been dead. 

“I think you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Goldielocks.” Robin said with a snort. 

Teddi shrugged Billy’s arm off. “Was any of this true? The whole house being haunted thing? Grisly murders? Ghost hunting?”

Steve had finally managed to get his nose to stop bleeding. “What? No. The family that lived here stopped paying their taxes and ditched the place. Kids come here to smoke weed and hook up. I’ve been coming here for like...ever and I’ve never seen a ghost.” 

“If he had he was probably too stoned to realize.” Robin said as the two broke out into quiet giggles. 

Teddi turned to look at Billy and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “So you lied, drove me all the way out here, and had Steve scare me? For a joke?”

Billy shifted uncomfortably. “...I mean, when you put it like that I sound like a dick.”

“You are.” Steve and Robin both said. 

“Oh, you have no idea what’s coming for you, Hargrove,” Teddi said, jabbing him in the chest. “I’m gonna get you back. And you’re not gonna know when. It can be tomorrow or five years from now-”

“Come on, Teddi, it was a joke.” Billy urged. 

Robin groaned. “Let it go already. You totally deserve whatever’s coming. Can we go now?” 

“Yeah. Billy promised us beer and horror movies, remember? You were all come on, dude, it’ll be fun! We’ll scare her and then we can hang out!” Steve said, mocking Billy’s voice. 

Billy held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I remember. Just get outta here, alright? We’ll meet you there,” the message was heard loud and clear. Robin and Steve shared a look, pushing themselves up off of the couch and passing by Teddi and Billy. Robin patted Teddi on the shoulder as she went. “Teddi…” Billy started once they were alone. 

Teddi fixed a stern look his way. “I was worried. I was down here thinking of all of the horrible things that might have happened to you. I thought something had like eaten you or something!” 

Billy approached her slowly, gently taking her wrists into his hands and pulling her to him. She didn’t fight it, but she didn’t lean into him like he had been hoping. “It was a joke,” he repeated. “C’mon Doll, don’t be pissed at me.” Billy only broke out Doll when he was really in trouble (which Teddi had to admit really wasn’t very often).

Teddi wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him. “It’s fine. I was just pulling your leg.” 

Billy let out a sigh of relief. “So are we even?”

“Are you kidding? Fuck no,” Billy groaned. “You know, I don’t know what I’m more offended by. You planning all of this, or the fact that you didn’t ask me to scare Steve instead.” 

Billy scratched the back of his neck. “...I guess I thought you’d think it was funny.” he admitted. 

“I mean...it was, I guess. But if you do it again I’m dumping your ass.” 

He let out a small chuckle and nodded. “Deal...and we can still scare the shit out of Harrington tonight if you want. He’s on our turf.”

Teddi let out a snort. “I’ll think about it. Let’s go, West Side Story. I wanna get out of this dump.” she took Billy by the hand and pulled him towards the front door. 

“Hey, wait. Were you serious about the sex stuff earlier?”

“In your dreams, Hargrove.”  

[riotatthemovies]

Hard Rock Zombies (1985)

I have owned this movie in my collection for years now as it is one of the go to BAD movies. The kind people laugh about solely off the name but not many have made it all the way through (and with good reason). I have watched it at least twice before but its pacing is so off that it just becomes a group of scenes in your memory more than an actual plotted movie. Which makes it fun as background fodder when you are hanging out having drinks with fellow bad movie lovers... or you know.. on drugs. 

I tried one more time tonight.. I have no Idea why, the urge just came to me. There are many hair metal era horror movies but none as bad as this. Some say it is a spoof of the horror genre so perhaps it is more like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and is bad on purpose.. so maybe that doesn’t count. I question that though, JUST because there is a scene of a zombie midget riding a cow and biting it does not mean that is a direct conscious spoof of the movie Zombie where a zombie rides a real shark and bites it.. but maybe it is , cause the scene is pretty funny. That said midget is also little actor legend Phil Fondacaro of the original Troll, Ghoulies 2, Garbage Pail Kids and pretty much anything Charles Band got near.

Basically the movie is a hair metal band (that sound closer to Air Supply than anything I would call “Hard Rock” ) are on the road and about to play a small town of close minded hicks that is filled with old timey parents that don’t take to much a likin to long hair rock and rollers playing their devil music in their town. Pretty cliche rock n roll story but it gets weirder as a creepy family take in the band who seem just like the kind of freaks that town would hate. It gets weird when we find Hitler lives in that town (or his twin) and the town is full of rednecks and actual Nazis but not directly related. Accidents happen due to all these related characters and the band is killed only to rise up from the dead after they hear one of their songs played at the grave site. The best song in the movie is actually the instrumental whistle like track that plays when the band do the zombie march back into town. The music sound like Buckaroo Banzai... which came out a year earlier so maybe they are spoofing it but I kinda doubt it. 

I must mention it takes over 40 minutes for the band to become zombies so it feels like it was supposed to be a more straightforward “Rockers against the old timey small town via Footloose “ kind of story that just got really bad and fell apart. Because they add in one or two odd music video numbers to pad it out and then the movie falls straight off their rockers. Once the band comes back from the dead everyone becomes zombies and the only one really giving any plot to the movie is the band's manager and a random nazi or two. Everyone starts rising from the dead, some eating people and others just dancing in the street for very little reason. The band just want to play music and two midgets go on a rampage, one as mentioned attacking a cow and throwing a guys head into a random strangers car which totally turns into a zombie Benny Hill skit. There is a second midget zombie locked in the nazi lair who for the rest of the film just chooses to eat himself which in the end turns pretty impressive (I dare you to watch the film to find out just how impressive).  Spoiler sort of.. in the end the zombies are lured into the nazi lair that just happens to have death shower rooms... classy people.. very classy. All the while a romance with the singer and a young girl called Cassie is someone happening even that the singer Jessie is dead. We know this cause he sings a song about Cassie and we have to hear the whole damn thing more than once. Jessie calls Cassie “little girl” a lot and it feels kind of awkward. Hell the whole movie is awkward... comedy horror gags and rock and roll romance that just happens to deal with Nazis , sure why not. Shocking this was released by Cannon and not Troma.

So yeah starts as a hair metal monkey movie vs the grumpy old people and turns into a gross horror comedy that cuts back and forth with a ton of random small scenes that make it pretty evident no real plot was ever going to happen. But in this kind of 80s trash you would be stupid to assume there would be more story.  

Final judgement this SEEMS like it's the Attack of the killer tomatoes take on movies like Trick or Treat, Rock and Roll Nightmare, Rocktober Blood and Black Roses. A genre that really did not need to be spoofed cause you were going to laugh at it anyways. However most of those movies came after Hard Rock Zombies soooooooo I think the movie is just dumb and confusing. It is a lot of fun to laugh at , but I am not sure how much you are laughing with it. Just don’t try to hard to understand it cause you will get a headache. 

I couldn't find a picture of Phil and the cow so I quickly screened grabbed it... cause really that is all that is important.

[notsotatopa]

Re watching episode 1: Kid stalkers?

(So since tsukipro's anime is coming I decided to start this series of me rewatching tsukiuta: the animation and giving my thoughts and comparing them from the time when I wasn't part of the fandom. I already did it with episode 9 so if you saw that you already know how this will be)

-I just came here because I saw a gif of a cute white haired boy with a chocker and my friends were hyper annoying with love live so let's see... 

-wow that's a lot of boys... 

 -The moment I saw Koi I knew this was going to be gay.

 -Is it me or Shun's hand when he introduced himself was really tiny?  The moment I saw You i knew this was going to be super gay, also I felt bad for Yoru's lame introduction after that.

 -Rui pretending to give half a fuck and Iku's weird smile.   

-I swear that the first time I saw this the only one that stuck in my head with name and all was Koi, I didn't find any other boy interesting enough to remember their names (and in Haru's and Kai case I didn't even remember their existence).

 -The shakin' sugar sugar...made me realize what I was getting myself into.    -Kakeru you are so cute please kill yourself.    -At this point I thought that this was going to be like an anime where the two boy bands fight and Kakeru was somehow the protagonist and the girl and Syunpei would play a role in this...needless to say I was very wrong. 

-Who gets sick by practicing a dance? Even if she fell asleep with her hair wet and the AC on. She should be more worried about how easily she gets sick.  Where did she get 5 DVDs of six gravity and how can I get them? Why is this girl tricking us into thinking that Kakeru is cool when we later find out he's the cutest dork ever? Did she just call Hajime charismatic? So many questions... 

-It's funny that we never got to see one of these introductions for Procella...guess they didn't have fangirls with brothers that didn't give a fuck? 

-Ok so, the first time I saw this girl I thought she was kinda dumb or weird or I don't know...but now...oooh boy I know that if I had the chance I could be like her OR WORSE.   -Hajime and Haru talking to the group feels like Hajime is saying "You're all pieces of shit." and Haru adds "but with sprinkles~"and it's hilarious, Also y feel like Haru told Hajime with the power of his look "No need to be a dick."   -"That's Yoru, the one who knows how to read, for you."   -Here I realized that there was no rivalry and that they were all going to be gay for each other.   -If it's that easy for a kid to get into the 'only authorized personal' part I wonder how no one has tried to get the idol's asses.   -You're shitting me right? Are you telling me that this boy, whose sister has an obsession with Six Gravity and Kakeru specifically DIDN'T recognize the guy that is all over the walls of his sister? I get he didn't recognize Rui since his sister didn't seem to care about Procella and it's already kinda weird that he didn't recognize Koi since she has a pretty big poster with him on it and there are not much guys with pink hair and eyes. I know Syunpei is negligent as fuck but he doesn't seem to be blind.  

-You don't trick me Rui, you asked the boy to sing Gravitic Love to innerly laugh at it. 

-And Koi decided to let the kid keep being blind or stupid.   -It's funny how Koi's face doesn't seem amused(or anything) at all but you can see Rui's mouth tilting up a little. I told you he was laughing innerly at this.    -I feel like I should have recognized the loading screen of the game he was playing? Like it was some kind of Easter egg or something? Also in my town you don't get to just sit around with a tablet in your hands unless you want to die or something.  

-Were these creeps(Koi, Kakeru, Rui) following Syunpei? Or they just casually saw him and were like "SHIT LET'S STAND LIKE THIS TO LOOK COOL IN FRONT OF THE KID"? 

  -"Rui, I wonder if you can put a little more feeling into your face and words." What? Did you want him to cry about it, Koi?    -Iku is wishing to kill them all, I know, it was kinda rude of them let him out of that adventure actually, like all the juniors were there except him. Probably he was too busy NOT STALKING A KID?   -Koi is being lame and Rui is breaking the fourth wall xD that was so precious.   -And Iku just appears to call Koi a wimp. Precious x2 

-I can imagine that Arata (or Traaa the devil) and You were there peacefully drinking tea and talking about sideboobs when they saw the juniors with a stranger kid and Iku dragging a dying Koi.    -"Ya! YAYAYAYAYA" 

-Holy shit the girl screaming for Kakeru oh my god... 

-It's so lovely how Koi was waiting to see the look on his face and how Arata was also there, like Koi told him "Dude we did this shit to this kid and you gotta see the look on his face when he sees Kakeru." And they tell crazy fangirls to wait so they can see the second when Syunpei realizes how dumb he was. 

-Such a ruckus over a handshake...they are wearing gloves for god's sake. 

-The song that one year later still is stuck in my head...."I want to mess you up" tho... 

-How frustrating must be girl, your little brother who didn't even bother to look at the lots of posters you have of Kakeru is closer to being his wife than you. 

-The first time I didn't pay attention because I never pay attentions to endings, but this is such a cute and cheerful song that always get a smile on my face and even today it's my favorite ending song in the whole series and one of my favorites in anime in general. 

Keep reading for the final thoughts of the chapter

 So by the end of the chapter i still thought that Kakeru was the protagonist and what made me want to watch the next episode was that I wanted to know how this cute blondie got through his idol life, because he managed to make me care about him, something that some of the others didn't manage to do. 

 I think this chapter gives a pretty weird opening? Because it gave, at least me, a wrong idea of how the anime was going to be, I would have been nice to focus more in the groups rather than Kakeru and the juniors alone, so I could have a reason to want to keep watching and know more about them, the could have at least mentioned the month thing being something so crucial to Tsukiuta. If the chapter was supposed to be about Kakeru and the juniors, how about some little hints or comments about their backstories? Or maybe their family, the only descriptions we get about them are the superficial ones of a fangirl.

 Looking back after getting to know so much about tsukiuta it's kinda disappointing that they left so much things out for a first chapter, something that it's an introduction and it's supposed to sell the product and make people want to keep watching at throw their money at them. I know this anime was more for the fans of Tsukiuta and you're not gonna tell them something they already know, but if you wanted to drag more people in, you could at least have mentioned (bedsides the month thing) that gave the new people (like me at the time) and idea of who these boys are and not just throw cute anime boys thinking that it would be enough. 

 Anyway I'm writing to much, I always get passionate when I talk about tsukiuta: the animation.

[theoddcatlady]

Bridget’s Diary

TW: Mentions of Sexual Assault

9/12/15

I’m going to go to a party tomorrow.

I can’t believe I’m doing this! I know parties are places of temptation, but my friends are all going and I just can’t help myself. They’re all purity club members, we’ll keep each other on the straight and narrow. I’m so excited, and at the same time I want to throw up because I’m so nervous. My parents obviously don’t know I’m going, I told them I’m staying at my friend Holly’s tomorrow night. I will be, kinda, just… after the party.

I will seriously throw up. This is so exciting. I just have to remember that I’m a fine china tea cup, not Styrofoam and disposable. I’m not easy, and I will remain pure until Jesus chooses my soulmate. ♥

For now though… I have to figure out what I’m going to wear!

9/13/15

I think I was raped last night.

I didn’t drink any alcohol, I didn’t dance with any boys, I was just there to hang out with my friends and keep them reliable. I was drinking a Sprite. It had a funny aftertaste but I didn’t think of it until I woke up a few hours later. The party was over, my friends were gone, and my skirt was on backwards and my tights had snags.

I’d been redressed in my sleep, and I’m really sore, like I’ve been thrown across the room.

I’m such a hypocrite. You don’t put yourself in those situations. That is willingly straying from God’s Will and protection.

I’m going to church today and praying for forgiveness… and hopefully I’ll forget anything ever happened.

10/21/15

I can’t believe the NERVE of some people!

The nurse had the gall to insinuate I was pregnant. PREGNANT. You can’t get pregnant by doing it once, even if I have done it at all! I’m not even sure if I was raped!

I’m honestly so mad right now. I told my mom to complain to the school, this is so awful. Tomorrow I’m excused from school to go to the doctor.

I had a panic attack, get this, a panic attack! In the restroom! After I left the stupid nurse’s office. I’m so angry. I couldn’t breathe, I just kept thinking about that stupid party, and I’m even madder at that stupid nurse!

I’m going to bed, I’m tired from all the freak outs I had today. I don’t care that I have homework or that it’s only eight PM. Today was rough.

10/22/15

My life is over.

I’m pregnant. I tried to get an abortion today, but apparently there’s a twenty four hour wait. And by the time I got home, the doctor already let my mother know. She was furious. I’m hiding in my room because I don’t want to see the look on my daddy’s face when he first finds out.

Laptop? Taken. Cellphone? Taken. I’m not allowed to leave the house. I can’t have friends over. I can’t go see them.

And the only computer time I’m allowed to have is with my mom over my shoulder as I message every person I can find on Facebook that was at that party. I cried so much I threw up. I tried to tell her that I didn’t remember, and she slapped me and called me a liar and a whore.

I only managed to message two of the guys, the ones who owned the house. They haven’t gotten back to me yet.

I want to die.

10/31/15

I’ve managed to find everyone I could at the party. No one remembers seeing me with anyone. And most of the guys never even got back to me.

Right now I’m watching moms on the streets, taking their kids trick or treating. I never got to do that as a kid. It’s a Devil’s Holiday… least that’s what my parents would say.

But those kids are having so much fun. I hear them laughing and talking and I feel so jealous, but at the same time, I wonder if I’ll be that mom. Out with her kid on Halloween, helping make my daughter into a princess or a cowgirl or a witch or really anything she’d want to be. I actually want that.

I don’t think I’ve spoken to my mom more than a sentence or so a day since I’ve been locked up in my room.  I don’t want that to happen between me and my baby.

I promise, baby girl. We’ll get out of here someday. I don’t know why I believe so strongly that you’re a girl. But you are. I know it. And we’re going to leave my parents the moment we can, and it’ll just be me and you. I love you so much. I do.

And no one is going to make me feel ashamed of you. Not anymore.

11/9/15

I found the father.

I’m partially relieved but at the same time I’m… afraid. I don’t want to meet him. I want him to stay away from me and my daughter. But I don’t really have a choice in the matter. He reached out directly to my parents, told them that he had been out of the country and hadn’t been checking his Facebook. He’s going to come over tomorrow night to have dinner with us.

I’m tempted to fake being sick, the Lord knows I’ve been in bed with morning sickness half the day. But my mom’s going to kill me if I don’t cooperate. She still thinks I can get married to this man.

I can’t even remember his name. He raped me. I don’t want anything to do with him.

11/10/15

That is not the father of my child.

I don’t know who he is but I do not remember him at the party. My mother forced me to get ‘pretty’ and to wear my nicest dress. I might be a ‘harlot’ (her words not mine), but I have to impress my future husband. I tried to tell her he’ll definitely not want to marry me but she pinched my arm so hard it’s bruised.

He arrived at six PM on the dot, and when he walked in I knew there was no way he was the father.

‘Malak’ is absolutely no younger than thirty five and wouldn’t be the type to be caught dead at a college party. He speaks with the class of someone who’s spent his entire life in high society, and he charmed my mother so fast she almost rolled out the red carpet. My father was a bit more hesitant, given his age, but Malak’s silver tongue had them chatting and laughing away.

I just stayed quiet the whole night, not that I had much room to speak. Malak dominated the conversation just by existing.

When finally dinner was over, he turned his attention to me, and I shivered under his gaze.

“So, Bridget. It may not be the best of situations, but would you like to come live with me during the rest of your pregnancy? I can make sure you’re always taken care of, I have personal doctors and I’d like to keep an eye on my future daughter… or son. What do you think?”

My mother practically leaped to agree for me. I just nodded and faked a smile before I ran up here.

I don’t want to live with Malak. I’d rather be locked up in this prison of a house than go live with him. He scares me.

I hear someone coming up the stairs.

…

It was Malak. He came into my room and oh my god, I’m so scared I think I’m going to cry.

He told me he didn’t rape me at the party. That no one did, but I did come very close. My tights were down by the time he came into the bedroom. The suicide that happened down the street, at the bridge? That was the boy who was going to rape me. According to Malak anyway.

‘I like irony, and it’d be the sweetest thing, having a virgin bear my child.’

I don’t know what he was talking about. He said I was to have my things packed by tomorrow, he’d be picking me up then and it was all arranged.

When he left the room, he stopped to look at the cross on my wall. It fell from the wall and broke, no, it shattered into a million splinters. Then he kept on walking.

It’s ruined. I’ve had that cross since I was a baby. It was made of a sturdy wood, even if it was old, it shouldn’t have broken like that.  I think I’m going crazy.

But he also knows I’m going to have a girl.

11/17/15

I’ve lived in Malak’s mansion for a week.

My room is enormous. My closet is so deep I can walk several steps inside. It’s full of dresses, made for different stages of maternity. Just one of these dresses would be worth more than the amount of clothes I buy in a single year. They’re so lovely too, each one personally made for me.

We’re going to the courthouse to get married tonight. My mom was upset that it wouldn’t be in a church, but I wondered if Malak would burst into flame if he even stepped foot on church grounds.

Any religious things I’ve brought into the house have either gone missing or broken. I think I saw the cover of my childhood Bible in the remains of the ashes of the fireplace, but I can’t be sure.

I can’t say I’ve been treated badly though. In fact, it’s the opposite. I’m waited upon like a queen. If I so much as open my mouth immediately there is someone there, eager to give me whatever I ask for. Lately I’ve really liked eating cookies and cream ice cream with sliced sweet and dill pickles. I asked them and within a half hour I had a tray with the bowl of ice cream and both kinds of pickles. It was delicious.

But at the same time, I’m still scared. I’m treated like royalty, and I don’t know why. All I am is the mother to Malak’s daughter. And the way they look at Malak… it’s with reverence and terror.

The servants don’t call him Malak though. They call him Master.

12/8/15

Something happened to the other girls at my school.

I was reading a baby name book while the TV was on in the background. Then Malak burst into the room, saw I was there, and told me that I had to remain indoors. I asked what was wrong and he wouldn’t say, he just told me again that I had to remain inside and not tell anyone where I was.

I turned on the news after he left and found out. There’s a huge thing going down at school today. The story is that some form of contaminant got into some school lunch and all students infected would have to be quarantined.

The camera panning over students being taken away though revealed a different story.

They were all pregnant.

12/25/15

Christmas is here. There’s no nativity, no going to church tonight. But there is a log burning in the fire and there’s the most beautiful Christmas tree.

I’ve accepted why I’m here. I’m having a special baby. Malak is special. And he picked me because he wanted to keep my baby safe.

We’re snuggling by the fire right now. Malak gifted me so many cute baby dresses. The best present though was going into the nursery.

It’s perfect. So soft and pink. I love pink. Malak looked so pleased when I hugged him. I nearly cried. That might be because of hormones though. I’m showing now too. I love my little baby belly. And Malak… I think he truly loves me.

He’s snickering. I think he read over my shoulder. You jerk.

1/18/16

I cried blood today.

I don’t really know why I started crying in the first place, I think I dropped something and it broke. But I started crying, and then I smelled it. At first I thought it was a nosebleed, given the familiar bitter scent. I used to get them all the time as a kid and I’m starting to get them more again.

But a servant ran in and cried out for her Master in shock.

Thick blood was dripping from my eyes.

Malak cleaned me up and snuggled with me in the study while I asked him what was going on, and if our baby was okay. He reassured me that my body was trying to adapt to the wonderful life inside of me, a life more than anything nature predicted. The baby will be fine. But I must be careful.

I must not get hurt. The wound might not be able to heal. The blood constantly expelling from my body would keep breaking it open. There will be more blood. From my eyes, my nose, and my ears. Don’t panic. I’m perfectly okay.

At night I will sleep with Malak, and he will protect me from any of the night terrors that will come for me.

I will feel cold. This will be normal. I will have any blankets or robes brought to me and the heat will be turned up.

And if I think anyone, even my most trusted servants, bear any ill will to me or my baby, I must tell Malak. He will get rid of them.

1/26/16

I’m watching Malak sleep right now.

It’s like watching the dead. I’m not even sure if he breathes. But he’s warm. Always so warm. I like having him around because of that, and the sharing the bed isn’t as bad as I thought it was. I stayed awake for a long time that first night. It’s not like sharing a bed with mom and dad.

But he’s good at keeping the night terrors away. Sometimes I see them, in my dreams I see darkness in the corners. But I face forward, into his eyes. And he tells me to just look at him, and I will be safe and free.

Oops. He’s not asleep. He just cracked an eye open and told me to put down the book. I need plenty of rest for the baby after all. I’ll go to sleep. I just wanted to write for a bit to settle.

2/14/16

Valentine’s Day! We didn’t go out. I haven’t left the premises in case of anyone recognizing me and trying to take me away. Thankfully no one’s come looking for me yet. I don’t want to leave Malak.

Our date though. It was just relaxing next to the fireplace while eating my favorite ice cream. Malak showed me some tricks with the fire. I’m not sure how he does it, but I’ve learned that I shouldn’t question these things. He made the fire dance and jump about, curl out and even create figures. Just with a twitch of his hand.

It’s power. It’s pure power. But it’s also so beautiful.

4/15/16

I haven’t written for so long. I suppose it’s just been busy.

None of the names I’ve picked out sound good for the baby either. Malak reassures me. Tells me I’ll know when I see her.

I guess there’s just nothing to say lately. I just can’t wait for my baby girl.

5/24/16

Malak had to leave me last night, and I understand why he told me he wanted to stay with me to protect me from the night terrors.

Diary, they were horrible! Screeching banshees and wailing women and dying men… I can’t put into words what it all was. I just remember Malak shaking me awake and calling my name, pulling me from this pit of hell back into the waking world.

I’d screamed so harshly I can’t talk anymore diary. It hurts. The servants have given me honey and other soothers, but I still can’t talk. Malak told me my voice will come back soon enough, but for now it just hurts so badly.

I’m afraid to sleep. Knowing that awaits me. But I just need to make sure I only fall asleep with him, in his bed. He is the only one who can protect me.

I wish the other mothers were with me though. I feel so bad knowing that they don’t have Malak to protect them. I hope they can come here soon. We could raise our babies together. A real family.

We can all trick or treat together.

5/30/16

The baby will be here soon. I’m so huge. I feel like a whale.

Malak kisses my belly and tells me that I’m the prettiest whale he’s ever seen. I laugh and call him a jerk. I feel so safe around him though. Even with the other mothers that will one day join us, I am special. I know I am.

6/6/16

I’m a mother.

6/21/16

Wow, I can’t even remember making that last entry. I was really that tired.

But yeah! I’m a mom! I’m a real mom! My baby has her father’s eyes and her hair’s already looking super dark like his too. Just like her daddy. It was over twelve hours of labor, and I was really worried at first since she came out looking like she was bitten by something. But she’s fine! The marks have faded a bit, they’re just adorable baby birthmarks now.

And Lucifer was right. I knew her name the moment she came out of me.

Jezebel.

6/24/16

The other girls came tonight.

I was sitting with Jezebel and her daddy. Lucifer was petting my hair, I keep forgetting and calling him Malak but he’s never cross about it. I didn’t hear a thing but suddenly my husband looked up before he started to smile.

“They’re here.”

They had come through the gate.

They were covered in ashes and dirt, some were bruised and injured, and some of them had to carry in their arms babies that weren’t theirs.

Some of the mothers hadn’t made it out when they set their prison ablaze.

Alice was in front, I think that’s her name. We weren’t ever friends, I was mistaken in assuming she was just a slut at the time. Her arms were clutching onto a baby that wasn’t hers. I knew. She looked at my husband and said, “Absalom’s safe. I sent him away before the fight.”

Lucifer looked so thankful.

We’re still trying to make room, but I’m having Jezebel share a room with Sapphira. That’s Rosie’s baby. We’re making this work of course. It’ll be rough, if I’m honest. So many girls. And I feel so sad that some didn’t make it. Raquel. Catherine. And of course, the first one whose abortion ended her life so early, Lori. We all miss her. We’re already planning on setting up a small shrine to her. Just a way to honor her.

We are all his wives now.

10/11/16

Jezebel has gotten so big! There’s no time to write in my diary, so I suppose I’ll simply have to put this aside until Jezebel’s older. Then I’ll show her some of the entries. Telling her how happy I am to have such a beautiful girl.

All of us are getting ready for Halloween. No going out yet, they’re too little, but we’re gonna make them little costumes and play around and take all the pictures so we can embarrass them when they get older. I was at the store today picking up some things and I made time to grab supplies for an angel costume. I’m so sure Lucifer’s caught on to what I’m doing but he finds it funny.

Oh, speaking about that- while I was at the store today, I saw the school nurse.

It was only for a second, and at first I didn’t recognize her. I don’t think she realized I saw her at all. But Lucifer saw her too and I recognized that smile on his face.

I hope Jezebel won’t mind having another little brother.