ssundeadau

[ssundeadau]

Three for a Wedding

[ssundeadau]

Two for Mirth

[ssundeadau]

One for Sorrow

[ssundeadau]

Chapter 2 ~ Changes and Cryptids

Content Warning: Some gore and death

Thomas, Roman, and Patton looked up, alarmed, as Virgil and Logan ran in.

“So, there’s been some… developments,” Logan told the others. “Virgil, would you like to go first?”

Roman, Thomas, and Patton watched with wide eyes as Virgil moved the hood of his jacket aside. The blood had stained his neck. It left a red, splattered pattern around two small puncture wounds. Around the wound, the skin was pale, and a faint trace of skin was visible through the transparent flesh. The black eye shadow which was once for dramatic effect now hid the blue circles under his eyes. A small hint of red shone in his pupils.

As he placed the hood back on his neck, Patton glanced at him with sympathetic and worried eyes. He glanced back, hoping to reassure his friend. As he did so, Logan began to roll the bottom of his left pant leg up.

Roman drew in a bated breath. Thomas and Patton’s faces contorted in horror. The injury below Logan’s calf was worse than the one on Virgil’s neck. A large chunk of flesh was missing from his leg. The serrated edges of the hole gave it the appearance of a bite. The layer of skin left at the bottom of the wound barely covered the muscle underneath. The hair around the wound had grown thicker and unkempt. He had an alert look in his eyes, which in themselves looked lighter. 

An awkward silence fell on the room as Logan rolled his pant leg back down. It transpired for several seconds, and was only broken by Roman.

“So, uh… Are we going to sit here awkwardly or move on from that?” He asked the group.

“How do you two feel?” Thomas asked Logan and Virgil.

“Tired,” Virgil responded.

“I feel quite the opposite, actually,” Logan remarked.

“I���m also very confused,” Virgil added. “None of this makes sense. Like, how is Logan okay after that-” He gestured at Logan’s leg-”happened to him?”

“Does it hurt at all?” Patton asked Logan with a concerned tone in his voice.

“It stung when it was fresh and feels weird when things come into contact with it now. Other than that, it doesn’t bother me too much,” Logan replied.

As everyone let the news sink in, Logan and Virgil disappeared into Logan’s room. They began to research what could’ve happened. Virgil started to become frustrated as his research led him nowhere. His head suddenly snapped up and he let out a disgruntled moan. Logan looked over to him, worried.

“Virgil?” Logan addressed him.

“I haven’t found anything.” He complained, staring at the screen of his laptop. “I’ve looked up types of snake bites and the symptoms I’ve been having, but I haven’t found anything.”

“Well, even if you haven’t found any answers, you’ve ruled other possibilities out. So, you have made progress.”

Virgil felt a sharp pain in his canine teeth, causing him to wince. As his hand shot up to his mouth, all the hairs on Logan’s neck stood on end. His thoughts fell on their walk in the woods.

“The medallion,” he said, struck with a realization.

“The medallion?” Virgil asked, hoping for clarification.

“It depicted a mouth with a normal and elongated canine tooth.” Logan blurted out, finding a lead on Virgil’s plight. “We have to go get it.”

“Last time we were in the woods we almost died. Are you sure it’s safe for us to do that?”

“It’s 3 in the afternoon, if we don’t go in too far we should be fine.”

“Don’t you think we should bring someone else with us to make sure nothing happens?”

“I suppose that would be wise. Who should we take?”

“Probably Patton. He’s Thomas’ morality, so if anyone’s going to stop us from going in too far, it’s him. And if we take Roman, he’s going to want to go in father and explore.”

They found Patton sitting on the couch in his cat onesie. 

“Patton, we need you to come with us,” Virgil told him.

“You should take the onesie off,” Logan suggested.

“Aw, why?” Patton asked, disappointed.

“It’s going to get dirty in the woods,” Logan told him.

“Wait, you guys are going back in the woods? You got hurt last time,” Thomas remarked, worried.

“That’s why we’re taking Patton with us,” Virgil reassured him.

“Why are you taking Patton and not me?” Roman petitioned, offended.

“You’d want to go farther into the woods, Roman. We can’t risk that again,” Logan disclosed to him. 

“Fine,” Roman said in a drawled out groan.

As Patton, Virgil, and Logan left the house, Roman and Thomas exchanged worried glances.

                                                        ~ ~ ~

When they entered the woods, Virgil’s heart began to race with rapid, uneven beats. Even with Patton’s usual happy attitude and Logan’s newfound alertness, he couldn’t shake the sensation. He didn’t know if there was something there or if it came from his previous experience in the woods. Logan seemed to sense something too, as he looked at Virgil with a hint of suspicion. Far into the woods a stick snapped. 

“Did you hear that?” Logan asked the others.

“No,” Virgil answered. He glanced over at Logan, and noticed a yellow tint in his iris, along with a few wispy hairs on the side of his face.

“Wow, it’s awesome in here!” Patton exclaimed. “I can’t believe I’ve never been in here before!”

“We have to be careful. We still don’t know what’s in here.” Logan said. As a small breeze passed, he felt a strange tingle on his face, and he felt small, delicate hairs below his cheek. He noticed Virgil looking at him, as if to tell him he saw it too. As they came upon the stump, Logan picked up the medallion.

“We found this when we were in here last night. We don’t know what it means,” he explained to Patton. Taking a closer look at the medallion, he noticed strange writing on the bottom. The characters looked like a mixture between those of the Greek and Latin alphabet.

“Virgil, do you have your phone on you?” Logan asked him.

“Yeah, why?” He responded.

“Can you take a picture of this? We have to find out what it says.”

Virgil took his phone out and took a picture. As he did so, Logan’s eyes widened as he heard a faint rustling from behind them. Figuring it was a squirrel, he ignored it. The noise grew louder, catching the attention of the rest of the group. Logan and Virgil turned to each other and Patton turned around, gasped, and fell silent. His body hit the ground with a thump. Logan picked him up and they ran out of the woods.

                                                        ~ ~ ~

  Logan paced around the living room. Virgil, Thomas, and Roman stared with pale faces at Patton’s lifeless body. A slick layer of blood dripped down his throat. Everyone was too shocked and confused to react. Virgil hid his face in his hands, feeling as though it was his fault. Logan began to speak.

“This is all my fault,” he groaned. “If I hadn’t decided to go in the woods the three of us would be fine.”

“You never would have known this would happen, Logan,” Thomas said.

“Patton’s dead, Thomas! He’s dead because of my decisions!” Logan burst. His tough, emotionless exterior was broken. 

“I’m the one who talked you into taking him with us,” Virgil said, his voice weak and cracking.

Deceit appeared in the living room, startling everyone. As he surveyed the room, he walked to Patton’s body. He picked up his cold, clammy hand and laced its fingers with his own and held it for a moment. With a sullen expression on his face he slowly let go of Patton’s hand. He slunk away, disappearing from the living room.

Everyone exchanged curious looks. Roman broke the silence.

“What should we do?” He asked. “We can’t just leave him here.”

“We have to bury him,” Logan said. “He deserves a proper burial.” He picked up Patton’s body and carried him to the back yard. He set him down on the glass table on Thomas’ deck with tears in his eyes. He grabbed a shovel from the shed and dug a hole in the back corner of the yard, where no one would walk over it. He placed Patton’s corpse in the grave and began his eulogy.

                                                      �� ~ ~ ~

No one slept that night. A bleak atmosphere fell upon the house. Logan and Virgil spent the night researching the strange medallion from the woods. Logan remembered the conversation he had with Roman, Thomas, and Patton that morning. Roman had said Patton brought up the idea of Banshees residing in the woods. He began to think it may be something paranormal. His nails clacked on the keys of his keyboard. That was the first time he had noticed it. His nails had begun to turn dark black in color, and had grown past his finger tips.

He brought his attention back to his research. Clicking on an article by Folklore.com, he found what he was looking for.

“Virgil,” he said, breaking the silence that had lasted in his room for several hours. “Look what I found.” The screen of his computer displayed an old drawing of the medallion they found. The caption read: “A vampyre medallion. Engraved with the universal mark of the species and a phrase written in their language.”

“Do you really believe it’s something paranormal? Doesn’t that defy logic?” Virgil asked.

“All three of us had something happen to us in the woods. We didn’t even see what killed Patton. We’ve been experiencing changes to our bodies that wouldn’t happen if we were bitten by animals.”

Virgil surveyed Logan’s face. The small, wispy hairs on his face had grown thicker, despite Thomas’, and therefore the Sides, inability to grow facial hair. Similar hair had begun to grow on his arms and legs. His eyes were now almost completely yellow. His pupils had the same red tint as Virgil’s. Virgil turned his attention to the mirror in front of them. His ears began to form a point at the tip. His skin was even more pale and transparent. He opened his mouth enough to see his canine teeth, which were beginning to elongate into fangs.

“I guess so. I’d have no other way to explain it.”

While Logan and Virgil researched, Thomas lay restless on his bed. His thoughts wandered. He thought of Patton, and Virgil and Logan’s strange injuries. As his thoughts raced, he heard a loud bang from the kitchen. He summoned Roman to his room. As he drew his sword, the two cautiously went to the kitchen. The refrigerator and a few cabinets and drawers were open. A bag of white bread and jars of peanut butter and Crofters jam were placed on the counter. Thomas summoned Logan and Virgil.

“Neither of you were in here before were you?” Thomas asked them.

“We were in my room researching,” Logan answered, confused.

“I heard noises coming from the kitchen, so Roman and I went to investigate. No one was down here, so I had to summon you guys to see if it was one of you,” Thomas explained.

“Do you think it could be Patton?” Roman suggested.

“With what we found in our research tonight, it’s possible,” Virgil commented.

“How can we tell if it’s him?” Thomas asked.

“We have to ask,” Virgil replied. “Is there someone here that would like to talk to us?” A cabinet began to open. Thomas, Roman, and Logan exchanged inquisitive looks.

“Is this Patton?” Virgil asked, his voice full of hope. The cabinet flew open, and a plate slid out. Logan caught it and turned to Virgil, his eyes wide. The air in front of the cabinet was colder than in the rest of the kitchen, causing goosebumps to form on his arms.

“Patton, could you do something else? I give you permission to touch my arm,” He told the spirit. The air in the room became colder. The sleeve of his jacket began to crease and puff out. A chill shot down his spine. He turned to the group and said:

“It’s him.”

[ssundeadau]

Chapter 1 ~ It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Content Warning: Some gore

“It was a dark and stormy night…”

“Really? We’re starting with the cliche?”

“Shut up Virgil, I’m trying to explain what happened last night to Thomas.”

“This would be going much smoother if you would let me explain, Roman. I’m the exposition here.” 

“Well, Logan, I’m giving you a much needed break. Besides, I’ll make the story interesting, unlike you, teach.”

“Well at least I will tell the story as it happened, which occurred thusly.”

“I’m already bored,” Roman interrupted. 

“Come on Logan, let Roman explain this for once. You always do it.”

“That’s because I’m Logic, Patton.” 

“Well this is going wonderfully,” Virgil commented.

Oof. Well, as Thomas watches his Sides bicker, I will explain to you what Logan and Roman are trying to explain to Thomas. But to do so I must start before they intend to in their story. In the words of the Duke, “Let’s start from the beginning.” 

                                                              ~ ~ ~                                                          

It was a mundane evening in Thomas Sanders’ house. Thomas and his sides were having down-time while they could’ve been being productive. Logan was re-reading “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” by Agatha Christie and Virgil was listening to an audio book. Thomas was texting his best friends Joan and Talyn about video ideas. Roman and Patton, however, were having a long conversation about cartoons.

“I don’t know Patton, SpongeBob is a classic, but Steven Universe is a much more creative show. And it deals with more emotional topics,” Roman stated.

“Well, that’s fair kiddo, but its humor is so much less fun than SpongeBob’s,” Patton replied. 

“Are you two still talking about which cartoon starting with the letter “S” is the best?” Logan interjected.

“That’s a very good rhyme, but such a stupid question! Of course we are! This is a very important topic!” Roman raised his voice, and it was clear he was very passionate about the subject. 

“It’s nonsense. Clearly Steven Universe is better.”

Virgil glanced up at him quizzically.

“I didn’t know you had an opinion on this, Logan,” Virgil ascertained.

“I am a part of Thomas, and Thomas watches a lot of cartoons,” Logan explained with an exasperated tone in his voice.

“Well,” Virgil responded.

“Therefore, Steven Universe is the best show!” Roman exclaimed triumphantly.

It was obvious the comment was upsetting to Patton. Logan, Virgil, and Thomas watched as the “conversation” quickly escalated. Logan became increasingly more annoyed by the bickering. He stood up and told Thomas he was going to take a walk in the woods next to the house. 

“Can I come with you, Logan?” Virgil asked. “This is going to get intense and I do not want to be here for it.”

“Of course Virgil,” Logan replied, taken back by the question. By the time the two Sides had left the apartment, Thomas had joined the argument.

                                                              ~ ~ ~ 

Logan and Virgil walked past the creek into the woods before them. The tall trees obscured them from outside view. Logan struck up a conversation.

“I can only handle so much of those two before I lose it. They’re just so… extra,” he said, holding up a vocab card.

“You have been studying,” Virgil stated, surprised.

“As a part of an social media personality’s… personality, I should know some of the language used on the internet. A.F.A.I.C., it’s important.” Logan said, holding up yet another card.”

“You should throw that one out, no one says that.”

As he stuffed the card in his back pocket, Logan noticed a small object laying on the stump of a tree. He picked the object up to examine it closer. The shiny, silver medallion was cool to the touch, despite its placement in a patch of Autumn sun. The detail engraved in the medallion depicted a smiling mouth split into two halves. On one side the teeth were normal, the other had an elongated canine tooth. Virgil looked over at the object.

“What is that?” He asked. 

“A medallion I found on a tree stump.”

“I can see that,” Virgil muttered under his breath.

“I don’t know what the symbol means, but I don’t want to find out.”

“Yeah, I’m getting bad vibes from it, I don’t like it.”

Logan continued to chat with Virgil for the better part of the evening as they walked through the woods. The strange sense of calm rendered the men unaware of the danger they were in.

                                                              ~ ~ ~

In a world unaware of the supernatural, there are many stories created through rumors. What made the sound in the woods, why someone went missing, who did what in the dark. All lies are based on truth though, and sometimes the truth comes out. “Monsters”, as folklore tends to call them, have been driven further into hiding. Very soon, 5 more people will be exposed to their world

                                                              ~ ~ ~

The night grew dark and thunderous. Thomas and Patton grew worried, as their friends had not come home yet. In contrast, Roman wasn’t.

“We have to find them! They could be in danger!” Patton exclaimed.

“We’re talking about Logan and Virgil here, they’ll be fine,” Roman retorted. 

“We can’t just leave them out there, especially in this thunderstorm,” Thomas added.

“They’re probably fine, they’re the most responsible of us.”

“That doesn’t mean we can leave them out there Roman!”

“It’s getting late, we should go to bed! They’ll be back soon.”

“That’s exactly why we should look for them! Who knows how long they’ll be out there for if we don’t!”

Against his better judgement, Thomas was already falling asleep on the couch. Roman and Patton continued to bicker until they realized Thomas was nodding off. Unsure of what to do, the two Sides dozed off, leaving Logan and Virgil outside.

                                                              ~ ~ ~

Black. Pitch black. Cold… Dark… Wet…

The sun was rising. The light was blinding to him. He could smell the wet Earth as he had never done before, almost as if his senses were… heightened. Virgil was still on the ground of the woods. His neck looked dark and shiny. Logan moved the hoodie of his jacket aside, revealing a thick layer of blood. Logan’s own leg was dripping with it. They had to get out of the woods quickly. As he walked towards the creek, Vigil sat up slowly and put his fingers to his wound. His eyes widened as he stared at the blood.

“What happened?” He asked drowsily. Logan had his back turned to him, lost in his thoughts.

“I don’t know, Virgil,” Logan answered, turning to him. “But we have to get home. We’ve been out all night. Patton’s probably freaking out.”

                                                              ~ ~ ~

Virgil and Logan walked home and pondered the events of the prior night. Roman, Thomas, and Patton were waking up, and realizing Virgil and Logan still weren’t home. 

“I shouldn’t have talked you out of looking for them,” Roman groaned, his face in his hands.

“You had faith in them. They are my two most rational sides,” Thomas tried comforting Roman, but to no avail. 

“They might have been in danger Thomas! They could have died!” Patton exclaimed, frightened. 

“What’s in the woods that could’ve killed them?” Thomas asked him.

“Bears, Banshees, lightning,” Patton started.

“Banshees?” Roman ascertained. “Banshees aren’t real, Patton.”

“So Dragon-Witches and Manticore-Chimeras are real but Banshees aren’t?” Thomas inquired sarcastically. At that moment, the front door opened. Logan and Virgil walked in soaking wet and shivering. Patton was the first to notice the blood. 

“We don’t know,” Logan answered, Virgil half asleep in his midst. As he stumbled onto the couch and fell asleep, Logan began to recall the last night's events.

“We left when you two started arguing.”

                                                              ~ ~ ~

As Virgil and Logan walked through the woods, they started feeling a sense of unease. The sky was growing dark and cloudy, and the trees became looming and ominous. Virgil began to become antsy, looking around at every noise. 

“Do you think it’s going to rain?” Virgil asked, aware of the situation at hand.

“It’s very possible, as we live in Florida, but the clouds aren’t dark yet, so we may be safe for a while.” Logan reassured him, not wanting to turn back yet. A rustling came from a pile of golden colored leaves behind them, causing Virgil to jump.

“It’s just a squirrel,” Virgil told himself, trying to keep calm.

“Are you okay, Virgil? You seem very… uneasy.”

“Yeah, it’s just that it’s getting dark, and there’s a lot of noises happening, and I feel like we’re being watched…” His voice trailed off as the quiet rustling of leaves behind them stopped. The two men turned to each other in shock, then behind themselves, only to find nothing there. Now it was quiet… Too quiet.

“That was… Logan began.

“Terrifying,” Virgil said, his voice full of anxiety.

“...Interesting,” Logan finished. “We must not jump to conclusions here, Virgil. There isn’t much that can harm us here.”

“Which means there’s something out here that can harm us.”

“But there’s a very minute chance that it will. We will be fine.”

“How do you know that?”

“Let’s not fight on this Virgil. We’re trying to leave the constant bickering of our figuratively butting heads.”

Logan looked up at the sky as a hollow whistling noise blew through the trees. The clouds were a light grey curtain enveloping space. Thunder roared in the distance. Virgil gazed into the serene, calming water of the small creek which ran past them. The air became cooler and crisp in an instant, sending chills down Virgil’s spine. A branch fell off a tree with a loud snap, taking Logan and Virgil out of the fantasy of the beautiful, haunting woods. They walked over the wooden plank that ran over the creek to continue on into the woods. They did not know how long they were in the woods for, or how deep in them they were. The clouds were now a dark grey, and the deep roar of thunder became apparent in the distance.

“Should we go back? It’s about to rain,” Virgil asked, fearing the worst out of their situation.

“That would be for the best,” Logan said.

The feeling of dread was growing in the woods. Even he started to feel as though they were being followed. Sticks and leaves crunched from behind them, and with a sharp pain in his leg, the world faded to black.

                                                              ~ ~ ~

“I saw the blood on Virgil’s neck and my leg when I woke up this morning. I don’t know what happened for us to be bleeding so bad, but it couldn’t have been good,” Logan finished.

“We were so worried about you! You should’ve come home sooner!” Patton exclaimed, distressed. 

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked, hoping the best for his friend.

“Other than the fact that I’m bleeding out of my leg after being in the woods, I’m okay.” Logan replied. “I don’t know about Virgil, though. He was exhausted while we were walking home. I mean, look at him.”

Virgil was fast asleep on the couch. He slept on his side, revealing his bloody neck, which had dried and become a dark shade of brown.

“We should probably clean ourselves up,” Logan said, glancing down at the dirt and blood on his clothes. “But Virgil deserves to sleep. We had a rough night. He’s much more tired than me, though, so I hope he’s okay.”

“Maybe Patton wasn’t too far out with the Banshee comment,” Roman said.

“A Banshee couldn’t do that,” Thomas remarked.

“But it had to be something weird,” Roman retorted.

“It could’ve been a bear,” Patton suggested, looking for a better option than the paranormal.

“If it was a bear, they probably wouldn’t have passed out,” Thomas rebutted. “And the bites would have been bigger. Virgil’s injury is tiny.”

“I’m curious to see what his looks like when he cleans the blood off. Due to the blood around the injury, I have reason to believe it could’ve been a puncture wound.” Logan added. Virgil began to stir in his sleep and woke up, startled. As he opened his eyes he hissed at the startling bright sunlight.

“When did it get so bright?” He asked, alarmed.

“It’s 8 in the morning, Virgil.” Logan answered.

“Did I miss anything?”

“No, Logan was just telling us what happened last night,” Thomas told him.

“Do you have anything of note to add?” Logan asked Virgil.

“I don’t remember anything interesting happening last night other than noises. I felt lightheaded and drowsy when I woke up though,” Virgil said. 

“Do you feel better after your nap, kiddo?” Patton asked him.

“The light’s a little jarring, but I feel fine,” he responded.

Logan and Virgil went to take showers and examine their wounds, and the others sat down to play video games. It wasn’t long before the two came rushing into the room.

[ssundeadau]

Welcome to the Undead AU!

I didn’t know there was a Monster AU for Sanders Sides until I created this blog, so shout out to the creator of that AU. I can tell you the two AUs are different, but do have their similarities. None of my decisions are directly based off of their AU, as I started writing it before I found out about it. I have to say I was inspired by some fanart by @pontsalin for a choice I made. The fanart was made for the Monster AU, though I did not know it was related to a larger narrative when I saw it. There are many takes on what monsters the Sides would be, but I hope everyone likes mine! I’m really proud of the story I’ve developed, and I hope you all enjoy it!