axelvalero

[axelvalero]

unfortunatesculs​: 

——————  ❝ HERE – ❞ the direction came from nowhere, though not propelled by anything more than a need to make sure this guy didn’t wind up on the hook more often than necessary. Protruding from open palm was a shard of glass, retrieved from the very pocket of the survivalist himself, patiently waiting for him to take it. If he was aware of repairing generators, then that meant a majority of what the other had to offer came in the form of surviving with gut instinct and trickery – some things that new people were often aware they could accomplish but panicked in the moment ; if this guy panicked or blew his cover, then he’d need this to avoid a speedy death. Deity above would ensure he could only use it once, trapping it in the vessel of his human form afterward, making it impossible to find a second time, but…it was a start. The plan for him to sit by himself and possibly blow the gen to attract the killer meant he’d need it more than Jake did – and he could always just find a new one… ❝ Use this if you get caught blowing the gen… It’s not much but it stops them for just a moment to give you time to run. ❞

        That’s when the younger asked something that gave him pause, eyebrows raised in mild amusement, yet it wasn’t out of some negativity but…out of genuine surprise that this was the question thrown at him. By now, Jake was used to the ones about WHEN could they escape, HOW LONG had some been here, WHY are they here – nothing like this really ever was thrown his direction so it was…a nice surprise for a change. That didn’t mean he liked the guy for it ; he could still turn into an absolute wreck later on or a disappointment, but it was a start to not downright irritating Jake. ❝ It depends… ❞ Hand pressed up against the wall of the saloon as other shoved the swinging door inward for the newbie. At the very least, he figured these questions wouldn’t give him a craving for the alcohol in his system – a nice start considering his initial exhaustion at becoming the scapegoat tutor.

       ❝ In the beginning, it’s about location of the killer, then you work on the generators if you’re not caught. ❞ Those were the biggest factors for the individual survivors, nothing larger than that on a smaller scale. The generators all had their designated roles assigned to them, but that’s only when things weren’t FUBAR yet – a term that he enjoyed using after Bill muttered it beside him. As seat at the bar is taken, fingertips already having grabbed himself a dusty little drink from behind it, he gives a thoughtful hum to add to his commentary, head tilting downward to mess with the lid. ❝ If things go to shit, we start assigning roles to each other: savior, gen jockey, killer jockey… We like to keep at least two people on generators, but…by that time, it’s probably down to three. Judging from your height, I’m guessing you can run pretty far…but do you know how to stifle your pain? ❞ Another thoughtful pause, then: ❝ worst physical pain you’ve endured? ❞

 Gazing down at the shard of glass held in Jake’s hand, Axel raised a brow and reached out to take it from him. After holding it up in front of him to get a better look at it, he gave an understanding nod of his head. It was sharp and would definitely cause some major harm, at least to normal people. In this case, it seemed, it would only stun the killers, and it would probably end up doing some pretty bad damage to the hand that held it too. No doubt without gloves, someone would be running away with blood dripping from their fingertips. Still, it would come in handy and it was better than nothing. He’d rather have his pocket knife and wished he still had it on him. Upon arriving at the realm, however he’d discovered that it was gone. Either he’d lost it on the way or, more likely, the entity had taken it from him as to not allow him an unfair advantage. “Thanks, man. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but from the way it sounds, it’s not a walk in the park.” Really, he wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up blowing a gen during his first trial.

After following Jake through the doors of the saloon, where they then made their way over towards the bar, Axel grabbed one of the drinks and took a seat beside him. First before even opening it, he made sure to wipe the dust off a little using the bottom of his shirt. It was still so odd to him, listening to this guy explain things to him as if this was some sort of video game. None of this seemed real, yet he would surely realize just how it real it was during his first trial. He supposed it made sense though, finding the location of the killer first before starting on the generators.

“Yeah, my height does give me a speed advantage, but as for stifling the pain...Hm. It depends on how severe, I guess.” Axel shrugged, his elbow coming to rest atop the bar and his head resting in his hand while he thought up an answer. He could stifle pain to a point, but if it was the kind of pain that characters had to endure in slasher films, he didn’t exactly know how that would play out because that was on a pretty extreme level that he never imagined experiencing. “Uh, the worst physical pain I’ve endured?” Axel had gotten into his fair share of fights over the years and had some close calls, which was to be expected with the type of life he led, but he was lucky to never have received any seriously life threatening injuries. “Probably getting a knife to the shoulder.” It had been a pocket knife that had been pulled on him when he’d gotten jumped by a few people, but it hadn’t wounded him to the point of needing to go to the hospital. He didn’t want to have to explain himself, so he’d just gone back home and his girlfriend at the time, Delilah, (who was now deceased) had helped patch him up. “--Which I’ll go ahead and assume is going to be nothing in comparison to the hell you guys face here, right? I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that I’m not dreaming up some bizarre nightmare.” Even so, he was still curious as to who all the killers were, what their weapons were, and what their methods were for killing their victims. “Still waiting for that moment I’m gonna almost die and then wake up a split second before.” Shooting the other a faint grin, he gave a small wave of his hand to brush the topic aside. “Anyway, what’s your technique? For stifling your pain, I mean.”

[axelvalero]

                              “And your voice still echoes in the hallways of this house, but now it's the end.”

                                                                  Dani Livingson.                                                   Indie, semi-selective, original character.                                                Contains sensitive and trigger heavy content. 

                                                             promo  ©  

[axelvalero]

danideadston​:

@criminated​

”Jesus Christ, my head is fucking pounding.” The blonde whined as her hands raised to tangle themselves in her hair, applying pressure to her temples in hopes of relieving some pain. It was starting to work, but her train of thought quickly derailed when she heard the purrs of a cat at her side. She didn’t own a cat. “What the fu-” As soon as she opened her eyes to find the source, she quickly sat up which only caused her body to ache in protest. This wasn’t her bed. This wasn’t her room. And that wasn’t her fucking cat. 

She pushed the pain to the back of her mind as blue hues darted around the room, trying her best to piece together any information she could. How the hell did I get here? It wasn’t like she had gotten too fucked up and went home with someone, she couldn’t remember anything from last night. She took a deep breath, hands slowly raising to cover her face. What’s the last thing you remember? The fact that nothing came to mind immediately worried her and the cat must have picked up on it because it jumped into her lap only to rub against her as if asking for attention. With a sigh, Dani dropped her hands, scratching the cat atop its head before running down its back. “Okay, okay. Let’s see    ” She paused, brows furrowing in thought. “  I was in the park… meeting with someone?” A few flashes rushed to mind, but nothing to note until the image of the wind being knocked out of her, and then things went to black once more. She must have gotten jumped, but that didn’t explain why she was in someone’s bed. After all, New Yorkers usually didn’t go out of their way to help someone in need. Hell, sometimes even the police would ignore certain situations. Her thoughts came to a halt when she heard the door creak open, eyes darting up. She couldn’t help but pull the cat a little closer for comfort. 

Axel was no stranger to deals gone wrong. There were some people who just couldn’t be trusted and would try to jump dealers to try to get out of paying. He’d had a fair number of clients try to pull a fast one on him, and there were often stories of stabbings within the world of crime and drugs. It was pretty dangerous, and one always had to be on their toes and pay close attention to who they chose to get involved with. It was for that reason that he kept a pocket knife on him at all times, just in case things were to take an unexpected turn, and it was that very knife that had scared off someone from the park. Whoever it was that’d taken off running at a full sprint, he’d dealt quite a bit of damage to the female who was now laying unconscious. It went back to remind Axel of the abuse his mom dealt with, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he didn’t want to leave the young woman alone, he would’ve chased after the asshole who did this to her and beaten him to a pulp. Maybe he’d be able to get more information from her when she was awake, and then he’d be able to get a better idea of who was responsible for the attack. Unless, of course, it had just been a random, chance encounter.

After scooping up the tiny blonde in his arms, Axel had carried her back to his place and gotten her set up in the bed in the spare bedroom. He’d done what he could to clean up some of the blood around her face, but otherwise he left her to sleep and would just check back in on her every few hours. The door was left just a crack open, where Cat had pushed his way through to curl up with her. For originally being a street cat, he was a pretty cuddly little creature and loved being around people and soaking up their attention. He was also highly tolerant and would basically just ragdoll if anyone were to carry him around of make him do dumb little things, like grabbing his paws and making him gently punch people. Axel was glad for his company, because the place would be a hell of a lot lonelier and empty without him.  After knocking on the door and pushing it open a little, Axel saw that the girl was finally awake. She looked both confused and alarmed, expectedly so, as he noticed her holding Cat closely against her. 

 “Oh, hey. You’re awake,” Axel said, pausing in the doorway as to avoid freaking her out by coming any closer. After being knocked unconscious like that, she would surely have no idea where she was or how she even got here. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here and who I am, so let me explain before you lose your shit on me,” he began, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. “I found you getting attacked by some guy in the park, so I scared him off and you fell unconscious. I’m sure I don’t need to point out that he hurt you pretty bad.” She’d definitely be feeling it now that she was awake. “I didn’t want to just leave you there, so I took you back here, to my place, to make sure you were alright.” Glancing at Cat, he smiled a little. “And I see you’ve met Cat.”

[axelvalero]

unfortunatesculs​:

——————  REPAIR. RUN. HIDE. BREATHE. PLAN.

        Why was something so simple just so difficult for some to comprehend? He asked this to himself every time someone new showed up here ; he wasn’t even referring to the trial itself but the fact he had to explain this process OVER AND OVER AND OVER again to these newbies. It was like biting harshly into a rigid branch and praying that the bark wouldn’t spread across insides – then spitting it out and hoping all would be removed. He always HOPED that there wasn’t someone new coming into the realm, he always hoped he wouldn’t be their tutor, he always hoped that they’d latch on to someone ELSE like…literally anyone. Fuck, he was sure that even Steve couldn’t mess up teaching these things by now ; he would even trust Sleepy with this – so why did it feel like he took on this role so much? Did he appear pleasing? Did people like the fact he was so unapproachable? Was he some sort of CHALLENGE? Did he do this to himself?

        Intentional self-sabotage or not, it wouldn’t do him any better to allow this person to go on uninformed ; if he went into his first trial, he’d probably wind up wanting to FIGHT the killers – EUGH – like everyone else who had some sort of god complex. The first time he met David, he’d felt an aneurysm coming on, and there were OTHERS just like him that weren’t as broad in the chest that would do the same ; in fact, he’s seen Feng bite the leg of a killer once…and he had to choke back laughter (just like he did when someone ran face first into a wall while he hid in a locker directly in front of it).

       ❝ – and, no, you can’t stab, incapacitate, or kill the killers… Even if they look like teenagers who shouldn’t be strong enough to punch the air from your lungs… ❞ This, after a long winded lecture on generator repairs and how to avoid killers when they approach, done just outside Dead Dawg, hands already slick with grease – a soft wind blowing bangs against forehead which aggressively were swiped aside. Cables falling from hand, he stood and wiped greasy palms upon his pants, eyeing the saloon with disdain and yet some form of fondness. ❝ I want to down a bottle of whiskey. If you know how to fix the generator, you can come and ask questions about what you’re still confused about – ❞ A pause, hand raised with index finger sharply pointed at him: ❝ J U S T  don’t ask stupid questions. ❞ – he gets those on a daily basis enough…

                                                             〤. @criminated​ starter.

Since just recently arrived in this place, whatever the fuck it was, Axel had found himself needing to try to adapt very quickly. Clearly, this place was pretty harsh and unforgiving and left little room for error. If this was something that required relying on others to make it through, he didn’t want to be the reason for failure. The fellow survivors who had gotten trapped here had offered him some tips against the killers that would be trying to hunt him down and sacrifice him during the trials, and a few of them had suggested sticking with Jake for a little while. That was why, when pointed out to him, he’d gone ahead and approached him to both introduce himself and request that he give him a bit of a run-down of the specifics in trials and what he had to do.

At the generator, Axel had observed Jake working on it to take mental notes of what he was supposed to do on the different sides of it. One had levels, one had wires, and each one risked having it blow up and stunting the progress if not done properly. He’d tinkered around with a few things before, but nothing to this level. He had a habit of overestimating himself too, so while it looked easy, he would have to be mindful that Jake had a lot of experience with repairs and mimicking it would likely be easier said than done. The same went for facing off against killers. He would’ve tried to fight them off physically if it wasn’t for Jake explaining to him that they were basically unbeatable. The thought frustrated him, especially knowing that some were smaller than him.

“I know how to fix a generator. I can’t promise I won’t fuck up until I get the hang of it, but I’ll do you all a favor and work on one by myself when I’m in a trial,” Axel replied, giving a shrug of his shoulders. At least if he was alone on one and messed it up, drawing the killer towards the sound, he wouldn’t be screwing over teammates in the process. Besides, being as tall as he was with long legs, he was pretty quick and could hopefully get away before the killer arrived. “I don’t know what qualifies as a stupid question,” he began to say while beginning to walk over to the saloon with Jake, a faint grin forming on his lips at the warning that had been paired with a finger pointed at him. “Here’s one for you though. Are people assigned roles, if you will, during the trials?” Hands in his pockets, his gaze was downcast on the old dusty road. It was neat to be in a place that was the old west, as it was something only seen in movies now, and he wondered what other places this realm had in store. He doubted they were all as nice as this one--dead bodies with crows pecking at eye sockets aside. “Or do you just do whatever you feel would be most beneficial to the team?”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

The comment that Axel had made about her pajamas and fuzzy socks elicited a laugh from the brunette, who was busy arranging the chocolate roses in the vase that she’d pulled out. It wasn’t as though Shiloh hadn’t realized it before now though, as it had been an ironic on-going string of coincidences that repeatedly found her in front of the tattooed male in her pajamas and her fuzzy socks. It was becoming pretty comical, honestly, and even she knew it. She couldn’t help that she liked being comfortable, but she was glad that he would be able to see her in proper day clothes for a change.

Turning on her heels with a faint frown on her face, Shiloh settled her scrutinizing gaze on the tattooed male after he’d commented on her clearly homemade vase. She was shocked that he’d pointed it out, but even she found it pretty hilarious. “Fucking excuse you?” She asked, expertly holding back the laugh that so desperately wanted to escape. She knew that the hunk of junk was nothing short of unpleasant to look at, but she couldn’t believe that she was actually being called out on it. “Yes, I made it, thank you very much. And it would look a lot better if there wasn’t a bunch of poop-colored roses in it,” she quipped right back at him, snapping the head off of one of them to take a bite of it. “Now sit down and shut up for a few minutes so I can go get ready,” she told him, strutting past him in her pajamas, fuzzy socks and all.

Without another word, Shiloh disappeared into her room, the smile returning to her face full-force as soon as she turned the corner and disappeared from his view. Within ten minutes, she’d thrown herself together enough to look presentable for a public outing, her long dark hair freshly-brushed but left with its natural wave and her makeup now in place. After pulling on her staple-piece leather jacket over top of a black dress and slipping into some fishnet leggings and boots, she met him in the living room again. “Ta-da!” She chimed as she did a small twirl for Axel. Truthfully, she was just nervous and trying to break the ice for herself. “I’ve got fuzzy socks on under my boots, just in case you don’t recognize me. Let me know if you need to see my foot.”

If Axel had to take a guess, he would’ve guessed that either Shiloh had made the vase or a child, whether it be a n nephew or niece or something of the sort, had made it for her. With the way she feigned offense to his comment, he knew immediately that it was indeed her who’d sculpted the vase. It reminded him of an ugly project that parents would keep that their kids made just because they didn’t have the heart to get rid of it. His mom had always been rather sentimental that way, hoarding all the shit he gave to her in boxes that she would store away to be able to look back on years later. It always made for a good laugh.

“There you go again, insulting my roses,” he laughed, looking back towards the red foil-covered roses that were arranged in the pot. While they looked especially ugly and childish together, it had its own kind of charm. It suited their unusual interactions with each other, which had been strange since day one when she’d arrived at his door with nothing but socks and pajamas on. Abnormal was their normal at this point. After Shiloh had disappeared into her room, Axel sat down on one of the couches, his gaze shifting to different areas and objects of the room. He figured that if there was a ghost lingering around, Shiloh probably would’ve said something or given a look to indicate that she was uneasy. Unless she didn’t care about some of them, like the more harmless ones that she knew weren’t trying to hurt her.

At hearing Shiloh walk out of the room, Axel stood back up and turned to look at her, the smile returning to his lips when he saw her twirl in her black dress. He could appreciate a girl being comfortable and more natural at home, but he had an appreciation for them dolling themselves up and sporting whatever look that seemed to represent them and their style. “I might just have to request you show me your foot. I don’t know who you are anymore,” he jested while making his way back over to the door, since he figured she was ready to go now. “Jokes aside though, you really do look nice. I see why the ghosts wanna follow you around. If I was dead, I too would choose to follow the pretty lady.”

[axelvalero]

bshadowsforstars​:

The awkward grin that Shiloh had been wearing widened into something more genuine when Axel had offered her a bouquet of ugly chocolate roses, the tiny brunette snorting out a laugh. “Thanks, I hate them,” she told him playfully. “I’ll eat them alone when nobody is watching me,” she teased, taking them from him and then glancing down at the arm that he’d extended for her to take as he waited for an answer to his question. “Oh boy… You’re serious, huh?”

A soft sigh left her still-smiling lips as she paused, finally giving him a roll of her eyes. “Fine,” she told him, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow to pull him into her apartment. “Give me a second to get ready though, maybe? Unless you’re planning on dragging me to a slumber party, I don’t think that my pajamas really fit the bill,” she laughed, shutting the door behind him. Heading over towards the kitchen, Shiloh fished through one of her cupboards to pull out the only vase that she owned; an ugly blue one that she’d made herself when she’d attempted to get into pottery one time. Clearly, it never took off. Placing it on the counter and setting the chocolate roses into it, she then glanced back at Axel. “Well? What do you think?”

"I’ll have you know that I actually picked those myself from my very own garden in my very own back yard, and I don’t appreciate you saying that you hate them,” Axel spoke dryly, his arms crossing over his chest while he awaited a response. He figured she would say yes, but he wasn’t about to be crushed if she said no either. Honestly, he just wanted to spend time with her, and this had been an excuse to show up at her place; not that he really needed one to begin with since they’d been hanging out pretty regularly anyway.

Once Shiloh had decided on accepting his offer, Axel followed her inside. The place still felt a little strange to him after his first encounter here, and it was weird to think about what kind of ghosts might be lurking around, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that anyway. He wanted to be able to take her mind off of it for a little while. “You and your damn pajamas. If someone asked me to describe you with what first came to mind, pajamas and fuzzy socks would be part of the description,” he laughed, watching as the brunette placed the chocolate roses into an ugly blue vase. When asked what he thought, the look given towards the display was basically an answer on its own as he tried not to laugh.

“That’s...Did you make that?” Axel asked, nodding towards the blue vase. “I can tell a lot of time and effort went into that masterpiece.” Whether it was something she was actually proud of or not, he wasn’t sure, but somehow he doubted it.

[axelvalero]

I just want to take this moment to say Happy Valentine’s day to the loml @criminated . What can I say about you? Well, a lot actually. You are so kind hearted yet you don’t let anyone push you around. You are caring but you do not let others take advantage of that. Your mind is beautiful, even when it can be mean, but you never let anyone tell you differently from your beliefs. You push me to become a better version of myself even as you teach me important things throughout life that I was too afraid to let in past the comfortable darkness. You are so vastly unique, from your writing style to the way you see things, to what you like and dislike. You are beautiful even if you don’t  see that. You are special, in more ways than I have words to even describe and you hold such a special place in my heart. Thank you, for so many things I have already thanked you for, but thank you, for the things that I haven’t even mentioned yet. I know that we will forever be in each other’s lives, sitting on our front porch with our gray hair in our rocking chairs, yelling at kids to get off our lawn while binging random movies like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit as we write to our hearts content. I hope your day is just amazing and beautiful as you are because you deserve the universe and all the good things inside of it. Love always, Arizona. <3

[axelvalero]

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

@criminated​ said: “will you be my valentine?” (Shiloh)

Ever since Axel had found out the truth about what she’d been hiding, Shiloh had found herself growing more and more fond of him and his quirky sense of humor. Their relationship had remained completely platonic, but she was always grateful for his company and she was certainly more comfortable around him now than she’d been before. In fact, there were days that she went to visit him at his place now, even when she knew that Hunter wasn’t around. It was both a relief and a concern, as she was thankful to have somebody else to talk to, but she was quietly awaiting the day that all of this would be too much for him and he would walk away from it all. She wouldn’t blame him when he did.

Shiloh had been sitting in the living room of her dingey apartment, trying to work up the willpower to get up off of the couch to find something to eat, when she heard a knock on her door. After looking through the peephole to see that it was Axel, she opened it up, only to have him ask her to be his valentine. A big grin lit up her face and she couldn’t help but to giggle. She knew that he was probably just trying to get her out of her apartment again, as she knew that he was concerned about her being alone in it, but she appreciated it regardless. “Seriously? You could have just told me that you wanted to come hang out,” she laughed. “You didn’t have to get all corny about it.”

Since day one of knowing Shiloh, Axel had taken to her. She was funny and could banter back and forth with him, and she had even decided to give watching Batman a try. Things had gotten a lot more personal than he thought they would, what with the whole ghost thing coming to light, but he enjoyed her company and decided that he wanted to help her however he could. Between him and Hunter, at least she had options now of who to go to when things got bad.

Coming to her apartment  had been a spur of the moment decision, since he figured both of them were alone on Valentine’s day, why not just spend it together? The reaction he’d gotten her when he showed up the door and asked her to be his Valentine was about what he’d expected from her. “I could’ve, you’re right. But that’s not as fun and now we can say we have Valentine’s. And that’s better than being two sad, single people on Valentine’s Day,” he joked, his arm coming forward to hold out roses for Shiloh. Well, sort of. They weren’t real roses.

“I didn’t know if you’d rather have chocolate or roses, so I got you chocolate roses. You can eat them or display them, but they might be a little ugly for that,” he added, his grin widening. Obviously they weren’t actually dating and were only friends, so going all out for the occasion wasn’t necessary, but it felt only right to grab at least something for her with the intention of requesting that she be his valentine. “So is that a yes? All I’ve heard is that it’s corny. C’mon, don’t leave me hanging.”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

For as long as Shiloh had been dealing with her abilities, she thought by now that she would remember that she was the only one that could see all of the spirits that she talked about, but repeatedly, she found herself talking about them to Hunter as though he had a single clue about what they looked like. It wasn’t until Axel had questioned her on the name ‘melting man’ that she realized that she’d done it again, but she was bombarded with more questions before she could even answer him. It made the grin return to her face a little, but it hardly lasted, the mention of Melting man causing her thoughts to grow heavy as the vision of his melting flesh crawled to the forefront of her mind.

“It’s fine,” Shiloh assured him after he’d offered her an apology, continuing afterward to answer his questions to the best of her abilities. “The ghost that was at my apartment tonight is new. He just appeared a couple of hours ago, so I’ve never met him before. I don’t really know how to describe him,” she continued, growing anxious just trying to picture his face, her fingers clasping onto the circumference of her mug a little more tightly now. “His skin is burnt, but… I don’t know, it’s almost like he’s still in the fire, because it’s not charred or anything. It’s melting. Like, dripping.”

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, Shiloh shook her head, trying to get the image out of it. “Anyways, I don’t know how I’m going to get rid of him. Sometimes they just leave on their own, but if he ends up sticking around then I’ll have to figure something out.” Another heavy sigh left her as she glanced over at Hunter and then back to her mug. “If he does decide to stick around for a bit, then the good news is that he shouldn’t be able to hurt me for a while. Most ghosts can’t manifest like that too often. It’s too draining for them.” She paused, realizing that she may have just dropped another question into Axel’s lengthy queue. “Manifesting is just the term that I use to describe when a ghost makes itself visible or, like… physical? If that makes sense. Sorry, I haven’t had to explain this for a while.”

The description of the melting man sounded unpleasant, to put it lightly. Seeing someone like that turn up out of the blue would be enough to make anyone jump out of their skin. To die in such a horrible way as having flesh melt off the bone had to be painful, and perhaps Axel would’ve felt a little bad for a ghost like that if it hadn’t been for the fact that it had tried to hurt Shiloh. In general, it was sad that there were people who died and were unable to pass on, but it was hard to feel sorry for them when they were taking their anger out on the living. Rather than commenting on the horrific description, Axel decided to just move to the next part of the conversation since she probably didn’t want to linger on the topic of his face for too long.

“It doesn’t sound like you have much of a choice,” Axel said after a hum of thought. Before continuing, he listened to Shiloh’s explanation of manifesting and then nodded his head. He figured that was what she was talking about, but he appreciated her pointing things out nonetheless. “You said they sometimes leave on their own, so...maybe you should stick around here for a little while,” he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know if it’ll do you any good since he might just follow you, and I don’t have a fucking clue how ghosts work, but maybe he’d piss off if he saw you weren’t around at your apartment.”

It was weird to think that he was having a serious discussion about ghosts, and part of him felt almost silly for it. It reminded him of when he was really young and he and Rory would play their own, dumb version of Ghost Busters, except this time it wasn’t fun. Or funny. “The offer is there anyway. Just think of this place as a safehouse if you do decide to go back and shit gets real.”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

The curve of Shiloh’s lips widened into a toothy grin as Axel spoke, her dark brown eyes never leaving his bright blues. She’d agreed with him when he’d called himself out on asking a stupid question, but she didn’t say anything out loud, the soft chuckle that had escaped her lips saying more than enough. “I’m sure you would,” she commented after he’d told her that he would beat the ‘dead fuckers’ up for her. With how angry he’d gotten earlier when he’d seen the mark on her arm, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would do it too. She still didn’t know what had set him off so badly, but she guessed that there was a story behind it all, and she didn’t have the mental capacity to retain any more information tonight. Besides, it wasn’t any of her business.

“You’ve done more than enough by letting me stay here though,” Shiloh told him, the smile on her face softening and then eventually fading as she brought her mug up to her lips to gently blow on the hot tea. She took a timid sip of it before continuing on to answer his next question. “If I stay here for long enough, they’ll start showing up here,” she nodded. “I’ll have to go back and face them eventually. Probably tomorrow. If Hunter sobers up enough by the afternoon, I’ll see if I can convince him to stay with me for a little while. At least until I can figure out a way to deal with the melting man,” she said, giving the new ghost that had appeared in her apartment a name for the first time.

However fleeting it was, it was nice to see a smile on Shiloh’s face. Like everyone, he was sure she had her own things to be happy about, but being haunted would be a real mood killer. Especially since these ghosts were actually able to manifest and harm her. How long would it be until one of them went too far and killed her? He wouldn’t voice the question, but she probably thought about it often too. It had to be scary never knowing when a ghost would be able to inflict real harm. “It’s not problem letting you stay here. I could do without the ghosts, but I’d rather see you safe and sound than think about you suffering at the hands of another spirit,” he replied, the smile on his lips disappearing the moment she’d mentioned the melting man.

“What the fuck is the melting man?” Axel asked, clearly quite alarmed by the name she’d given the ghost. At least he assumed it was a ghost because what else could it be? “Was that the one that hurt you earlier?” He didn’t want to push for details if she was uncomfortable giving them, but that basically answered one of his earlier questions about what they looked like. Melting man sounded pretty horrific. “How do you plan on dealing with him? Do you think you’d be able to help him pass on? Also, sorry for all the questions at once.”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

The thought of making a cup of tea hadn’t even crossed Shiloh’s mind, as she’d been far more focused on the horrific events that she’d just endured, but at the mention of it, she headed quickly over to the kitchen to fix one for herself. She’d always been more of a tea drinker than a coffee drinker, and most times, it helped to put her mind at ease and calm her nerves. The last time she’d been at Axel’s place, she’d placed the box of tea bags on the bottom shelf to make sure that it would be accessible to her in the future, and she was glad that he hadn’t moved it since then.

When she returned, Shiloh took a seat next to Axel and pulled a blanket over her lap, holding the mug on her lap while she waited for the hot beverage inside of it to cool down. A faint smile pulled itself onto her lips in response to the question that he’d asked her, her gaze tilted downwards as she watched the steam rise from her the cup.

“Good question,” Shiloh began with a soft sigh. “I’ve lived in more places than I can count. Doesn’t matter where I move to, the ghosts always follow,” she explained, brushing a strand of wet hair away from her face only to have it fall back into the same position a moment later. “I don’t know why, exactly. I’ve never really been able to figure it out.” A faint, puzzled frown crossed her features as she spoke. “I’m just, like… a magnet for spirits. They always find me.” She gave a subtle shrug of her shoulders, her fingers tapping on the sides of the hot mug on her lap. “Some of them are friendly and are just looking for some help to pass on, and others, like the one that appeared in my apartment tonight, don’t seem to be looking for anything. They’re just stuck here because they’re angry or something. I don’t fuckin’ know.” Her gaze lifted to settle on Axel’s face then as she tried to read him, wondering if she was making any sense to him at all. “They don’t usually follow me when I leave for a little while. They wait for me wherever I’m living, so that’s why I sometimes still spend the night with Hunter. He’s the only one that knows about all of this, so…” Another smile tugged faintly at the corners of her lips. “Well, and you now, I guess. Sorry.” Ignorance had probably been bliss.

While Axel hated when his clients would follow him around, invading his personal life and overstepping boundaries, that seemed pretty tame in comparison to ghosts. Yeah, the druggies could get violent and there was a lot of bad shit that happened, but at least they were problems that he could get rid of. How did one get rid of ghosts? “So you can move into a brand new house and the ghosts will just follow you there?” he asked, beginning to frown. “That sucks.” So much for ghosts being bound to one place, like their place of death.

“Huh. And you haven’t figured out a way to get rid of them?” If Shiloh had been dealing with this for a long time, odds were she’d have tried the obvious by now, like exorcisms and other things that were used to ward off demons and negative energies. “Well, no shit you haven’t. Dumb question,” he added, the corners of his lips curving up a little. “I guess that speaks for itself.” As suspected, Hunter knew of the horrors his ex had to face. Axel had to give him props for sticking around, since there were a lot of people who wouldn’t have the balls to date someone who constantly had ghosts surrounding them. For as disappointed as he’d been in him today, hearing that made him ease up a little.

“The more you know,” Axel shrugged. He wasn’t looking for an apology, for he really didn’t think Shiloh had anything to be sorry for. “It’s not your fault ghosts stalk your ass everywhere you go. But if you keep staying here, they’ll just show up here too?” The thought of having ghosts in his house was unsettling, but the thought of sending Shiloh back to that apartment somehow seemed even worse. She was by herself, and that couldn’t be easy. At least here, there was Cat and Hunter to make her feel a little less alone if anything were to happen. “I wish I could help. I’m sorry I can’t do more,” he said, a disappointed look settling on his face. “I’d beat the dead fuckers all up for you if I could.”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

Following Axel over to his bedroom to stand in the doorway, Shiloh collected the t-shirt that he’d pulled out of his drawer for her to borrow and thanked him with a smile and a little nod of her head. She disappeared into the bathroom after that, standing beneath the stream of hot water until she’d managed to warm herself up enough to stop her whole body from shivering. Although she doubted that he would mind, she didn’t want to take too much time, knowing that she wasn’t the one paying the bills around here. After slipping into the t-shirt that he’d let her borrow, the garment stopping in length just above the middle of her thighs, she exited the room to find him.

“Yeah, it’s a dress,” Shiloh commented with a soft laugh as her bare feet carried her over to the dryer, where she tossed her wet clothes in and pressed the button to begin the cycle. Turning, she then settled her attention on Axel.

“I’m so tired, but I don’t think that I’m going to be able to shut my brain off,” she spoke with a soft sigh, crossing her arms across her torso as she leaned against the wall on the far side of the room. “If you’re going to be up for a while, maybe we could talk? I’m guessing you’ve got a lot of questions.” She paused. “Mostly I could just use the company.”

While Shiloh was in the shower, Axel took the time to put a few bottles of water in the fridge since Hunter would probably be needing it to feel better when he sobered up, and then also started up the kettle just in case Shiloh was wanting to make tea again. Afterwards, he sat on the couch and began googling things about ghosts. He was awfully curious now, but Shiloh would definitely have better answers than the internet. There were too many liars who told tall tales about seeing ghosts and having supernatural experiences, there was no telling what was real and what wasn’t.

Once Shiloh had exited the bathroom, Axel realized that he had been right in thinking that his shirts would end up looking like a dress on Shiloh. It was cute though, as it usually was when girls would wear his shirts. Though it was always more special when whoever was wearing it was someone he was dating, which reminded him that he still hadn’t gotten back one of his shirts from his ex in high school. It’d been some time since he’d last gotten in touch with her, so she’d probably gotten rid of it by now. He couldn’t imagine her holding onto a possession like that unless she somehow still had the intention of returning it.

“I can stay up with you until your brain wants to turn off. My brain isn’t gonna let me go to sleep so easily either,” Axel said, patting the spot beside him on the couch so that they could talk. “Oh, before I forget though, there’s hot water in the kettle if you’re wanting to make tea again.” If not, it wasn’t a big deal. It was easy to heat it back up later or just dump it out because it was just water. “I do have a lot of questions, yes. You only have to tell me what you’re comfortable with sharing, so either answer or just say pass. Question one, why do you stay in that apartment if there’s ghosts in it? What if you were to say, move in here. Hypothetically, don’t worry.” He couldn’t imagine Shiloh wanting to live with her ex. “There’s no history here. No deaths. At least, I don’t think. Maybe.” He paused for a second, frowning in thought before shrugging it off. “But say there isn’t. Would the ghosts disappear?”

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

Shiloh had been fully expecting Axel to tap out and walk away after she’d confessed the truth to him, but much to her surprise, she was greeted with a gentle hand on her back instead. He didn’t call her crazy, or tell her that she was possessed or dangerous, but instead offered her the same kindness that he’d offered her before all of this had gone down. Hesitating for only a moment, her dark gaze shifting upward to meet his face, her footsteps then followed alongside his, carrying her out into the parking lot, through the rain and into his car. Any amount that her clothing had dried before was immediately canceled out, her garments still clinging to her body as they absorbed more of the droplets that were coming down in buckets. She had no complaints to make though, as she was just grateful to be heading somewhere safe for the night.

The conversation on the ride to Axel’s place was almost non-existent, the sound of the rain making contact with the vehicle and surrounding streets filling the silence instead as Shiloh stared vacantly out of her passenger side window. She’d always thought that she’d be used to situations like this by now, but it seemed that they just kept getting more and more traumatizing, and she was starting to realize that things were starting to get more dangerous as well. Never had a spirit been able to leave a mark on her before, and she could only imagine what would have happened, had Axel not been around to save her.

When they arrived back at his place, Shiloh stepped inside to settle her attention immediately on Hunter, who she could see was passed out on the couch with an empty whiskey bottle in one of his hands. A frown creased itself onto the features of her face as she peeled her socks off from her feet, rolling them into a ball in her hands before approaching her mess of an ex-boyfriend. “Useless fucking drunk,” she murmured, picking up a blanket and spreading it gently over top of him. She was pissed off at him, but he looked cold.

Speaking of being cold, she was freezing. “Axel?” Shiloh asked, glancing over her shoulder to look at the tattooed male. “Would it be alright if I used your shower? I’m freezing.” She paused for a moment as she realized that she hadn’t planned this out, her hand raising to scratch her forehead.

“And, uh, could I steal something to wear, just until my clothes can dry out?” She smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. She hated feeling needy, or making someone feel like they had to take care of her. She was already enough of a burden as things were, without her asking for more favors.

 Usually during car rides, Axel would be more talkative. He was pretty good at holding conversations, but in this case, he and Shiloh both seemed to be on the same page. Shiloh especially had every reason to not wanna talk, and being choked like that could make something as simple as talking painful too. Meanwhile, he was just in his head about the whole thing. Things were starting to click, such as the reason Shiloh wanted to sleep with Hunter even though they were exes. Well, at least he assumed that was why. It was very possible that they were still just fuck buddies, but wanting to be close to someone who knew her secret was also a possibility. Did the ghosts follow her though? That one little fact made him lean a little more towards them being fuck buddies, because as far as he knew, ghosts only tended to reside in one place. Well, at least that’s what he knew according to typical lore in most movies.

Once they were back at his place, Axel couldn’t help but frown at seeing Hunter passed out on the couch. He didn’t know him all too well so he wasn’t sure if he had some issues he was unaware of or if it was just a one time thing, but he certainly wasn’t impressed with him being so out of it that he left Shiloh to suffer like that. Upon hearing his name, Axel turned his head to look at Shiloh and hear out her request. It was no wonder that she was cold after sitting out in the rain for long enough to be soaked, and he’d fully intended on lending her something to wear. “Yeah, go ahead. You can throw your clothes in the dryer after. Hold on,” he said before disappearing to his room. The door was left open though, and after a moment of digging through his drawers, he’d returned with a dark grey t-shirt with a black Batman logo on it. “This will probably be a dress on you.” Grinning slightly as he looked down at her small frame and stature, he held the shirt out for her to take.

“Let me know if you need anything else.” Even if it was staying up to keep her company, he would be fine with it. If he were to be plagued by ghosts, especially ones that were violent in nature, he imagined he wouldn’t get much sleep either. He would likely wanna punch the pests in the face though, and not being able to would be incredibly frustrating. That brought him to the question of what the ghosts looked like. Were they normal? Mutilated? As creepy as the ones he saw in horror movies? Curious as he was, now definitely wasn’t the time to be asking.

[axelvalero]

shadowsforstars​:

Much to Shiloh’s relief, Axel had come to her rescue, grabbing her by her waist and forcing her out of the melting man’s burning grasp. Luckily, because the ghost could only manifest himself enough to interact with her, his strength was no match for Axel’s, and his connection to her was easily interrupted as soon as the tattooed male had stepped between them.

Coughing and sputtering, one of her hands touching her throat, Shiloh followed along behind Axel, allowing him to lead the way as they made a quick exit from the apartment. She didn’t look back and she barely opened her eyes, too busy trying to catch her breath and find her footing to really process the entire situation. It wasn’t until she’d gotten into the elevator that her world finally stopped spinning enough for her to form a sentence and take in a calmer breath of air, her brown eyes opening to allow her gaze to fall upon Axel when she’d felt his fingers brushing her hair aside.

Shiloh’s hands reached up to touch her forehead as she gave a labored sigh, her gaze dropping once again as soon as Axel was finished with inspecting her throat. Her head was already hurting now that the adrenaline rush was coming to a slow and all of the crying that she’d been doing all night was catching up to her. “I’m fine,” she told him, first and foremost. She shook her head. “I don’t even know where to begin. I’m so sorry, Axel. I didn’t mean to drag you into this.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, a frown scrunching her features as she pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to stop herself from crying again. A soft groan left her before she continued. “This is going to sound totally crazy, but after what you just saw, maybe you’ll believe me.” Another sigh was exhaled from her parted lips as she prepared herself for the grand reveal. Very few people had ever taken it well, and that’s why only very few people knew. “I can see ghosts. I can communicate with the dead, and they can communicate with me. Some of them are harmless and are just looking to pass on, and others, like the one that you just saw…” She fell quiet, allowing the silence to speak for itself. Sinister spirits existed.

“I’ve never seen that one before. He just showed up tonight, which was why I was afraid to go back upstairs. Sometimes if I leave for a little while, they disappear too,” Shiloh went on to explain, clasping her hands against their opposite arms as she tried to keep herself warm. During the ordeal in her apartment, the jacket that she’d been wearing had slipped off, leaving her once again in nothing but her tank top. “He’s also the one that gave me this mark,” she added, gesturing to the handprint on her forearm just as the elevator doors parted to allow them entry into the ground-level lobby. After she stepped out of it though, she stayed put, assuming that he would no longer be offering her a ride. She wouldn’t blame him.

Once Axel was convinced that Shiloh wasn’t hurt too badly, his fingers ever so gently brushing against her throat, he then withdrew his hands from her and leaned back against the elevator. His arms were crossed, but not in such a way that made him look angry. He was just thinking and replaying the events over again in his head. It had all happened so quickly that it was kind of a blur, but he could still vividly picture the way Shiloh had been stuck against the wall with her feet off the ground. He hadn’t been expecting an apology from her, because really he didn’t see anything worth apologizing for. As far as he knew, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. If anything, he was sorry for putting her in that spot in the first place. If it hadn’t been for him getting so triggered and seeing nothing but red, they wouldn’t have gone back up to the very place she’d fled.

“You didn’t mean to drag me into what?” He asked, remaining patient while the shorter took a moment to collect herself and prevent the tears from spilling over. For being someone who hated seeing women cry so much, he wished there was more he could do to comfort her. Given the circumstances though, he really wasn’t sure how. This was all so strange. Once she had continued on to explain to him that she could see ghosts and communicate with the dead, Axel fell silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her. It was nearly impossible to find a logical and rational explanation for what he’d just witnessed, but it was a lot to take in and accept that spirits or demons or whatever of that nature existed. Those were the types that he thought existed only in fictional horror, where everything was dramatized.

Gaze dropping to the handprint on Shiloh’s arm that he’d seen earlier, he suddenly felt especially sad for her. He could fight off a person easily enough, but a ghost? How did anyone even fight back against that? There was a lot of questions he wanted to ask her about it, but he would wait until they were somewhere safe and Shiloh had a chance to take some time to calm down. It suddenly hit him why he’d always seen her in her pajamas too. The poor thing had been scared and had fled her apartment without having time to change or grab her stuff. After what happened tonight, he couldn’t imagine her wanting to return at all. “I wish I knew what to say in a situation like this, but I...I just don’t. This is some crazy shit. But I believe you, if that makes you feel any better.” It probably didn’t, but it couldn’t have been easy to open up about that since a lot of people would probably just call her crazy. Dealing with ghosts and having no one to relate to would get pretty lonely, he imagined.

“I want to not believe it and call bullshit, but uh...I can’t explain that one. I’m sorry for bringing you back up there. I wasn’t thinking and I shouldn’t have done that.” He didn’t have regrets about going after the threat, but surely he could’ve handled it a little better. During those moments where he was set off, he just wasn’t exactly thinking rationally and only had one goal in mind. Stepping out of the elevator and into the lobby, Axel was about to continue on through the doors when he noticed Shiloh had stopped. Turning around and returning to her side, he put his hand against the middle of her back to prompt her to walk with him. “Anyway, we can talk about this at my place. Tonight or tomorrow or whatever you feel up to. Never thought I’d be saying this, but fuck your ghosts,” he stated as he led her back over to his car. He’d be back for his jacket at some point, since he noticed it was no longer around Shiloh’s shoulders, but he wasn’t in any rush and he had shirts that she could change into at his place. Whether she wanted one of his or Hunter’s, it didn’t matter.

[axelvalero]

                  I just want to say congratulations when they say,       “We’re all just looking for someone who’s demons play with with ours.”       ��                            Looks like you got that role.                         We’re partners in crime.

(Gif credit for those who made them!)

[axelvalero]

natshana​:

@criminated​ - haunted.

she had heard it was haunted so….of course she wanted to see for herself. it wasn’t something she was going to pretend to be brave enough to do by herself, though. “please.” she looked back at axel as she was sleuthing around in the alleyway behind the decrepit building, trying to find herself something to stand on to get up to the windows that were both higher up on the brick exterior, and seemed to be barred over with grates that were rusted, some of which hanging off halfway on creaky bolts that time had weathered and loosened. there had to be a way in, one that wouldn’t make too much noise and have people poking their heads out of their apartment windows to see what was going on outside. she had never seen anyone trying to get in, she had never seen anyone inside so much as a caretaker even tending to the old school, but from time to time at night…she saw lights on glowing low through dirty windows when she passed, and then the next night…those lights would be off. “we can get in easily. no one will know we’re here.” she whispers out, picking up an old plastic milk crate to adjust it below one of the windows. “aren’t you curious?” she asks him, her heart pounding.

luna did take a moment to consider…how out of character this might seem to him, or at least…more accurately, how…random for even her. she could be a random person but she knew…most of the time she was probably just…chalked up as the girl who liked cats and tea and cozy sweaters, who hoarded scented candles the moment there was a sale and who loved gifting people with things she managed to knit on a rainy day. she was the girl that sometimes had an odd little bracelet on made of colorful macaroni noodles that the kids had made her in the kindergarten class she aided in from time to time….she was just…luna. it made her frown a little at how…her name as an adjective didn’t feel like such a good thing, not to herself. maybe sometimes she wasn’t bold enough, maybe at times she was just…quiet and internally battling being a person who could feel tiny things so deeply…too deeply she convinced herself that she could be too much, but she knew it was just…more than likely a way she was hard on herself. 

“what’s your sign?” she asks curiously, random perhaps, but she asked anyways. “because here you see a cancer…not being very cancer-like.” she mutters quietly, stepping onto the crate to make sure it was sturdy and then she tried to very very quietly pull on the loose bars to see if she could get to the window itself. never mind that there might be an actual door, or why she didn’t waste time thinking it was probably most definitely locked.

Over the years, Axel had heard different stories being spun about the abandoned school. People like to add their own twist onto it, and eventually it got passed around and tweaked so many times that there was no telling what the original story was. All Axel knew was that a lot of it sounded like bullshit. They were just storied told by teenagers to try to scare each other. He was curious, however, about the real reason that the school was shut down. Maybe he’d google it once they got inside. It would probably just end up being something lame, such as it not being up to health standards or having some sort of infestation that got out of hand. Something along those lines.

“Mostly I just wanna know who the hell keeps turning those lights on up there. Why is this place still being powered if it’s been closed for so long?” Axel replied, his head tilting up to look towards one of the second floor windows. It was that window specifically that he’d seen on a few weeks ago, but it had been dark since. There’d been others who’d reported occasionally seeing a light on inside too, and there’d never really been a solid answer for why. Some seemed to think that it was just people pulling pranks and trying to scare people into thinking it was haunted, which seemed likely. Axel wasn’t opposed to the idea of the supernatural and he fully believed in ghosts and spirits, but only to an extent. He knew that a lot of the stories were bullshit.

“You might leave disappointed. I think all we’re gonna find in there is a lot of dust,” he added in a volume that was close to a whisper. If they were serious about sneaking inside the old building, he didn’t want anyone calling the authorities on them to make them leave. As he walked over to Luna to stand at her side, he found himself both frowning and grinning at her question. It had been so out of the blue that he had to stifle a laugh. “Sagittarius. One day later and I would’ve been a Capricorn.” He wasn’t really all too familiar with star signs and the traits that came with them, but he’d come across some people who seemed to be really in touch with that kind of stuff and it made for some interesting conversations. “Watch out,” Axel warned, his arms reaching up to grab the bars that Luna had also been holding onto and trying to loosen. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt her in the process. Because he was tall, standing at 6′4″, he didn’t require anything to stand on like Luna did. After a few firm tugs on the bars of the rusted grate, which was already loose from both time and other people trying to get inside, it had finally detached and uncovered the window. It was dark inside and there was a heavy layer of dust that had collected on the glass over the years, making it impossible to see through.

“You wanna go in first, or would you rather I go first?” Axel asked as he set the grate down and leaned it up against the brick wall. He didn’t mind helping either way. Whether she had it covered from here, or if she wanted a bit of a boost, or if she wanted him climbing in first to assist her from the other side. Whatever method they went with, they’d end up in the same place in the end anyway.