#death of a minor tw

[starfoam]

As a kid, or at least in your formative years, who was your favorite person to be around? Do you still have that person, or are they no longer with you for one reason or another?

A small smile.

"There were two. The first was my dad. He was - and is - the one who was always there for me. When my parents split, I lived with him, and he always made sure I knew it wasn't because of me or that he or Mom loved me any less because of it. He taught me to cook, to swim, how to spot a riptide and dangerous animals... I think I have the best dad in the world, honestly."

And a sigh.

"The other... was my best friend, Leiko. She and I were thick as thieves. She was the brave one, can you imagine that? Always the first to want to explore or run off to get into trouble. I was always right behind her - I thought that was how it would always be."

Lo swallows.

"... Leiko died when we were both 15. She was free-climbing some rock formation and, I guess, one of the rocks she was gripping came loose and she fell. I don't remember how far down, just that her mom kept saying it was quick.

... Has it really been almost fifteen years now? It's hard to believe that."

[strangersteddierthings]

What's Eight Plus Seven?

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five

Prompt from @devious-kitten

Steve had a mild interest in DnD as a freshmen because of a cousin or something. The interest was killed by Eddie being mean since Steve is a jock. Post vecna Eddie finds dust covered DnD handbook Steve explains and Eddie faces a still hurt Steve as a results of his biases

((Half written fic, half rambling about how it would go down. Apologies for the formatting. Also I added more angst than the prompt called for hehe))

Steve has always loved sports. This is a well-known fact. He's played on some sort of sports team from the time he was old enough for his parents to be able to sign him up.

A lesser-known fact is that Steve loves fantasy. Or, at least, he used to. On the playground in elementary school, Steve could often be found playing knights and dragons, and it was anyone's guess if he would be a knight or a dragon on any particular day.

The summer between middle and high school, Steve spent with his grandparents from his mother's side, on the farm they'd retired on in Michigan. A month long stay that he'd shared with his cousins, Amber, Robert, and Christopher. Amber and Robert are twins, four years younger than Steve, and Christopher was two years older and infinitely cooler than anyone else Steve knew.

Christopher was on the varsity basketball team at his high school when he was just a sophomore, captain of the JV football team, president of the chess club, and in a games club.

Christopher was everything Steve wanted to be now that he was going to be in high school. Minus the chess club because

It was during that summer, Steve got to indulge in playing make believe for another summer with his younger cousins, without the judgement of people (his father and peers) who thought he was too old for such things. He also got to learn about make believe for older kids, because Christopher played a game called Dungeons and Dragons with his game club the last month of school before summer break and spent many evenings going over what had happened with Steve as a captive audience.

"I wish I'd brought the books," Christopher had whispered to him one night from the bed, peaking over to look down at Steve in his sleeping bag on the floor, "we could have played."

Steve wishes he'd brought the books, too.

At the end of July, Christopher, Amber, and Robert's parents show up to pick them up, five days before Steve's scheduled flight to Indianapolis. It's a sad goodbye because one summer a year isn't enough with his cousins but they live in Washington. Steve's always jealous their parents drive all the way to pick them up, but a little proud he gets to brag about how he's flown alone since he was seven. No one else in his class can brag about that.

His mom picks him up in Indianapolis and they go back to school shopping while there.

A week later, Steve receives a package from Christopher. Inside Steve finds Advanced Dungeons and Dragons books, three of them, and even though Christopher said nothing about advanced, he's sure he can manage. On the inside cover of the players handbook, Christopher has written:

Hey Steve, I think you'd rock playing a dwarf paladin. Let's play next summer? Christopher 1981

He spends the last three weeks of summer vacation reading the player handbook cover to cover and making a character. It's slow going, because letters don't stay where they're supposed to be on the page (that's a problem he's had his whole life, so he's not surprised but he is determined), and he's never been good at math, so getting the stats down on paper isn't easy. He can't decide what he wants to play, so he makes two characters; an elf magic-user and, of course, a dwarf paladin.

(He's a little disappointed you can't be a dragon.)

Steve's never been one to dread the first day of school, but he's never actually looked forward to it, either. It's just been another day.

Until today.

Today is his first day as a high schooler. And the only people who go to the first day are Freshman, except the upper classman that have volunteered to man the booths for school activities for the last hour of the day. It's supposed to help the Freshman get the lay of the land without being overwhelming and Steve's excited for it. He needs to see if Hawkins High has a games club like Christopher's school does.

Here Steve is, that last hour of school. He's already been to the basketball booth, promising to sign up as soon as the season started, and the swim booth because he's got a pool at his house and has been swimming for as long as he can remember and knows he enjoys it. He also stops by the football booth even though he's never played, or cared much, for it. (Maybe he's trying to emulate Christopher, sue him.). So, the final thing is to see if Hawkins High offers a chess club and a game club.

Steve is delighted to see that, though there is no games club, there is a Dungeons and Dragons club! That delight wavers because of the kid manning the booth. His hair is curly and falls just below his ears, with big brown eyes. Steve hates to think it, but he'd be cute if he didn't look like he wanted to stab Steve.

"Yeah, no, keep walking," says the boy, pulling the flier with meeting information on it out from under Steve's hand, where he'd been attempting to read it.

Steve looks up, brows furrowed in confusion. "I was reading that."

"And I said no. Jocks don't play Dungeons and Dragons."

"I could," Steve says, offended. He squints at the name tag sticker slapped diagonally across the way too big jean vest this guy's wearing. E-d-d-i-e. Eddie.

"Have you ever played?"

"Well... no, but-"

"No buts. Mitch let a jock join last year and that was a nightmare. He could barely read the rule book. And with how you were squinting down at the flier, and then my name tag, you're not going to be much better."

Jokes on Eddie, Steve's already read the rule book. Even if it was slowly. "I can read just fine."

"Can you math, then? What's eight plus seven?"

"What?"

"Simple addition. Eight plus seven. What is it?"

Steve knows simple addition. This is fine. It doesn't matter than he's been put on the spot, and that math is hard for the same reason as reading. He can do this. His hand twitches with wanting to pull it up and use it to keep track. He's faster at math when he can do that, but this jerk is mean mugging him and he just knows if he moves his hand, this guy will mock him the rest of the school year.

Eight plus seven. Ok. Make it easier, get to ten. It takes adding two to the eight to get ten. Ok. Take that two away from the seven now. That makes... five! Ok. Ten plus five is-

"Dude, it's fifteen," Eddie snaps.

"I knew that!"

Scoff. "Right. How about seventeen plus six."

Steve can feel his face turning red with embarrassment but he's not going to let this jackass be right. Round up. It takes three to get seventeen to twenty, so take three away from the six-

"23. Point proven. Go. Away. Go play your jock games and leave me- us alone."

Steve opens his mouth to argue, or maybe plead, that he can do this, and that, more importantly, he wants to do this, but laughter cuts through the air and for the first time, Steve notices the audience that has gathered. Three people are laughing at him, and his inability to do mental math, and it makes Steve snap his jaw shut and swallow.

"Mental math isn't that hard, Steve," one of them, Brant, says, as he elbows the guy next to him.

"Thank you!" Eddie says, "that's what I'm saying."

"Whatever, man, like I'd want to play make believe at this age anyway," Steve mutters and rushes away.

If, two weeks later, Steve watches Kyle trip who he now knows is Eddie 'The Freak' Munson in the bathroom, and drag him into a stall for a swirly, well, no he didn't. He briefly thinks of saying something to stop Kyle, but shoves the words down and instead turns on heel and leaves that bathroom just as the sound of flushing and Eddie yelling start. The thick bathroom door does a good job of muffling the noise and if Steve feels any guilt about that, he shoves that down, too.

Besides, Kyle's the captain of the basketball team and if Steve wants a chance to be on that team, he can't stay anything. It's a well-known fact that Steve likes sports, after all. He's going to stick to that. Screw Eddie Munson and his Dungeons and Dragons club.

Steve will get to play Dungeons and Dragons with Christopher next summer.

Except, halfway through the school year, Steve and his parents quickly board a plane bound for Washington. Turns out being as perfect as Christopher was is hard. Overwhelming.

They arrive the day before the funeral, and fly out right after it. Steve barely has time to mourn before they're shuffling him back to school that Monday.

Christopher died, and with him, so does Steve's desire to be just like him. He quits the football team. He keeps basketball because he does like it, even without Christopher's influence. He can't bring himself to get rid of the Dungeons and Dragons books, but he can't look at them, either. They end up in the downstairs hall closet, forgotten on the shelf.

So, years later, after rising to the top of the food chain (no one was ever going to embarrass him like Eddie Munson had again) and then falling to the bottom (who cares about high school popularity when interdimensional monsters exist) and of course, the years of fighting against said interdimensional monsters before ending it all in spring of '86, Steve finds himself, unwillingly, agreeing to host Hellfire since the school banned the club following the events of spring break.

Damn Dustin Henderson. Steve usually has the backbone to say no but Dustin had to play up 'getting a chance to finally just be kids' and fuck, how was Steve going to say no to that? Despite how quickly his own desire to be a freshman playing Dungeons and Dragon had been squashed, he can't be the one to ruin this for them.

"Thanks for hosting, man," Eddie says when Steve lets him in. He's an hour early but had asked if that was okay. Apparently the dungeon master has a lot of prep to do? Not that Steve would know.

"Sure," Steve says, dismissively, because while Eddie and he went through hell together, and Steve carried his sorry ass out of the Upside Down, Steve can't quite let his guard down around him.

It's funny. In the Upside Down, Eddie had made a point to tell him he's changed, is a 'good dude' now. So, what's funny is how much Eddie is exactly the same person he was five years ago. He was an ass to Steve five years ago, and as far as Steve is concerned, was also an ass to Lucas for wanting to play basketball just this year.

He swears to God, if he hears one negative thing about Lucas tonight, he's punching Eddie unconscious, no matter what the rest of Hellfire will do or say about it.

Eddie's been in his dining room for maybe five minutes before he finds Steve in the living room. Steve's got a movie playing but he couldn't tell you which one. He's not really watching it.

"Do you got a table cloth for that big table? Jeff's got a set of metal dice and I'd feel like a real ass if we scratched it on accident."

Steve takes a deep breath before answering. He hates that Eddie is considerate like this, has been since spring break if Steve's being honest, but he doesn't want to see Eddie's good qualities. So, he waves in the direction of the closet. "Yeah. There should be some in the hall closet there. Help yourself."

"Thanks."

He twists on the couch to watch Eddie cross the room to the closet door, listens as the door creaks opens, hears the quiet, pleased noise Eddie lets out when his eyes land on the stack of table clothes. Steve continues to watch as Eddie just grabs the whole stack and yanks them off the top shelf.

Which means his watching as the stack of non-fabric objects, which must have been half atop the table clothes, also tumble out of the closet, bouncing off various parts of Eddie. It's a bunch of miscellaneous items. However, Steve realizes with horror, the book that bounces off Eddie's head is his copy of the Monster Manual. Eddie has stepped back in surprise (and possibly pain), so the Dungeon Master Guide and the Players Handbook bounce off his torso and leg before landing on the ground.

"Fuck," Eddie curses, before he stares down at what just assaulted him. Steve just stares at Eddie, watching as he slowly comes to comprehend what he's seeing. He watches as Eddie bends down and grabs the Player Handbook, the last thing to fall, from a top the pile. "What the-"

Steve stands, suddenly defensive, but doesn't actually say anything or move closer. He just watches as Eddie examines the book, flipping it from front to back in his hand like the title will change if he does that enough times.

Then, Eddie turns to him, bewildered. "Present for one of the kids? Thought they all had their own copies."

"No."

Eddie flips the book open. Reads the words written in there so many years ago. "Who's Christopher? Wait. 1981? You were playing D&D in 1981?"

"None of your business, and no," Steve says, now kicking into action, stomping up to Eddie and snatching the book from his hands.

Eddie hold his hands up in defense before his eyes turn mischievous. The same glint in them now that was there when Eddie'd leaned into this space in the RV and called him big boy. "Are you lying to me, Stevie? You've played before, haven't you?"

It makes Steve's blood boil. "No. I haven't played!"

"Alright. You could now, you know," Eddie says. And it's the way he says it, all nonchalant and like he's trying to be coy about it- it tips something over inside Steve. A bottle that held his humiliation and hurt from all those years ago.

"Oh, now I'm good enough for D&D? Now I can join? Aren't I too much of a jock for you!?"

"Whoa, what's with the hostility-"

"What's eight plus seven, Eddie!?" Steve snaps. His memory might be shit these days, with all the concussions, but the unfortunate part about Steve is that he always seems to remember the bad. And he remembers Freshman First Day like yesterday. "No? How about seventeen plus six? Come on, mental math isn't hard. Or don't you remember? I'm just a stupid jock too slow on the uptake, or no, what was it you said? It'll be a nightmare to play with me, 'cause I might be barely able to read the rules?"

He watches as Eddie's face morphs from confusion, to understanding and horror. "Holy shit, Steve. That was you- you wanted to join Hellfire-"

"Yeah, and you made it pretty fuckin' clear I didn't belong in it."

"I'm sorry man. I shouldn't have- if I'd known you, I never would have-"

"That's the problem, Eddie!" Steve shouts, waving the book in front of him. "You didn't know me. You looked at me and decided for me that I was going to be a jock and nothing else and then humiliated me in front of other people! You didn't even bother to try to know me. I spent three weeks reading this stupid book cover to cover because I knew I was shit at reading and I still wanted to try anyway."

He sees Eddie puffing up in anger. "Well, I wasn't exactly wrong, was I? You were a jock, a bully even!"

"Yeah, because I was a dumb, hurt kid who decided that it was better to hurt than be hurt. As if you weren't exactly the same that day, lashing out at me first, at my reading ability, and mocking me for not being quick at math. Fuck you, Munson!" Steve walks away, not hearing anything Eddie shouts after him as he sprints up the stairs and shuts himself in his room.

Steve knows he was a dick in high school, and it's not Eddie's fault he was a dick. Steve made choices he's not proud of and no one forced those choice on him. But Eddie doesn't get to throw that back in his face. Not when Eddie made him feel humiliated and stupid on the first goddamn day of high school, long before Steve became mean himself.

[untoldsoup]

This is Chapter Three part TWO! Please read chapters one, two and 3 (part one) FIRST!

Note: any derogatory comments about Mario being a little person will get deleted and you will be blocked.

PLEASE READ TAGS

Tags: tw:cartoon violence /tw:(mild) body horror/ tw:blood/ tw: injuries/ tw: minor character in danger/ tw: verbal abuse of a minor character/ tw: manipulation/ tw: major character death/ tw: minor character death/ tw:death threats

So happy I managed to get this update out on schedule. Thank you all for being patient waiting two months between updates, these pages take time! Anyway, this is the end of the flash back, we will be back to the present with the next chapter! And well, things are heating up, as you can see :)

I spent a lot of time on this, so if you like it, let me know! thank you all for reading :)

----------------------

Previous: chapter 3(part 1)

Next: chapter four part one

Start from the beginning Here!

This is a sequel, please read "Change" comic first!

[isjasz]

// In stars and time spoilers (of the game mechanic that is in the trailer and in the game description LOL)

[Day 288]

More isat au but guess what quote i can use >:33333333333 LETSGOOOOOOOOOOO (Also yeah introducing what the game is about for those who dont know HEHEHHEHEHEHE)

[rottmnt-residuum]

Part 7 of Arc II (Part 33 - Gore)

leo behind you-! oh god he cant hear us his air pods are in

⇇ | �� | index | ⇾

[strawberryspence]

They both have different stories when asked, "When did you first meet?"

Steve says it was in school, along the hallways with freshman Steve Harrington and sophomore Eddie Munson locking eyes for the first time. Eddie says it was in a party, drinking beer and selling drugs, a transaction.

Annalyn Harrington knows the truth. The truth that way before monsters, way before creatures from games came true, way before the end of the world, way before everything, that Eddie and Steve have already met.

Annalyn remembers it, so vividly at the back of her mind. She babysits her nephew— her younger sister, Amanda's son— so often. Steve is an angel, so innocent and kind. Annalyn often questions as to how Richard Harrington could've ever had a son so pure and good.

She remembers that day. It was a bright spring day, with fresh daisies growing on the fields and birds chirping in excitement.

Annalyn takes Steve out of his school a few hours early, takes him to eat at his favorite diner. When Steve begs for her to take him to the park, telling her he really wants to play and how could she say no to those brown eyes?

It's relatively empty when they arrive at the park. It's only after lunch and the kids are still in class. But there's one kid playing in the swings, his hair is curly at the ends, wearing a tattered jacket as he kicks the sands. His guardian— a man sitting on the only bench— is watching him closely. He's frowning, deep in thought.

"Go play. Be nice." Annalyn reminds Steve, more as a habit rather than a reminder. She knows Steve will be kind, it's engraved in his soul.

Annalyn sits beside the man, quietly watching as they hear Steve introduce himself to the kid.

"Hello! I am Steve!" She hears him say, waving slightly at the kid.

The kid looks at him, blinks for a few seconds before he says his name. They chatter for a few more minutes, Steve asks if he wants to be pushed and the boy says yes.

Annalyn turns to the man, "Is that your son?"

The man turns to her, "I— Yes— No— It's complicated." He sighs, gritting his teeth so hard Annalyn can see his jaw clenching, "He's my nephew. I just got custody of him today."

"Oh." Annalyn breathes out, looking back at the kid who's now pushing Steve instead. Both laughing and giggling.

"I don't know what I am doing. I can barely take care of myself, let alone a child." The man continues, clearly frustrated and scared, "But he's never got a good home and I want to give that to him."

Annalyn smiles, "Just the fact that you want to give him a good home is telling me that you'll be just fine. Don't overthink it, life's too short for that."

The man blinks at her, and it's almost the same as the look the small boy gave to Steve, "Thank you." He says, finally smiling and looking back at the kids, running around and playing tag with each other.

"Steve's your boy?" He asks.

Annalyn smiles, "Yeah, he's my boy. Not my son, just my nephew. But I love him like he's mine."

The man softens, nodding along like he completely understands— which he does.

They spend half of the afternoon there. Just playing, rolling around the grass, swinging each other in the swings. Just before the sun sets, Annalyn asks Steve to say goodbye to the boy.

There's daisies tucked in his hair like flower crowns, and she sees the other boy, with a flower tucked behind his ear. They're whispering, too intimate for a simple goodbye.

Steve waves at the boy, head sticking out of the car, waving until they can barely see the other boy anymore and until they turn the block.

When Steve sits, he turns to her and with his big brown eyes blown wide, with his whole heart in his hands and says, "I am going to marry that boy."

And Annalyn steps on the break, turns to the side of the road and has to turn to her nephew and look at him— really, look at him. Steve smiles at her, toothy and all gummy, determination bleeding in his eyes. The flowers the boy Steve just said he's going to marry still hanging from his hair.

She can't help but smile, moving closer to kiss his temple.

"Alright, Mr. Lover." Steve giggles, and she wants to hear it for the rest of her life, want to shield him from all the horrors of this world.

"Listen to me, okay?" Steve nods, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to marry a boy. But you have to promise me something, Steve? Okay?"

He nods, earnest, "It needs to be our little secret for now, okay? You have to promise me."

Steve's face droop into sadness, "Why?"

Annalyn's heart breaks into pieces, "Because people don't like it when a boy wants to marry another boy. There's nothing wrong with it, but they will hurt you and they will hurt that boy."

"They can't hurt him!" Steve protests.

"I know, honey. That's why we have to keep it a secret for now."

"Okay," Steve nods, stoic and strong, "I'll protect him. I won't tell anyone. Promise."

Annalyn smiles, "Good job, Steve. I am proud of you."

They drive back home, have dinner and build forts in the spacious Harrington living room.

She remembers that day. The day Steve wanted to marry that boy. The daisies tucked in his hair. The other little boy beaming so brightly, like it's always been meant to be. The results of the tests. The cancer coming back. The chemo is not working. The time she has left. But most of all, she remembers Steve.

Annalyn dies six months after that exact day.

It's years and years later when the story is brought back up. On one random morning when Steve visits her grave, with a bunch of tulips in his hands. Steve tells the story of the boy with the daisies to his best friend, Robin, as they sit side by side by her grave. Steve tells her, that he never saw the boy again.

Annalyn laughs as she listens.

She laughs, as another boy comes out of no where, picnic basket in hands, and daisies in the other.

"Eddie! You're late!" Steve exclaims, making the other boy roll his eyes. The boy looks different now, with longer hair, a look in his eyes that is way beyond his age. But he's happier, older.

"I am sorry, Stevie. But I picked you this."

They lay the blanket, and eat with her, just like old times, just with new friends. Annalyn wishes she could say hello, and formally meet his friends. The friends that sticked with Steve even in life or death situations.

Steve cleans her grave, "Auntie, we're here for a reason. I have some news."

Annalyn raises her eyebrows, "Eddie and I— We're engaged."

"I hope to God you don't haunt me. I just want your approval." Eddie says, making Steve laugh. It's the same sound as when he was a kid, and only Eddie (and his found family) can elicit it from him nowadays.

"Anyway, it's not legal or anything. But we're doing it with family, you know?" Steve plays with the ring in his hand, just a simple golden band, "I wish you were here."

Annalyn wants to tell him that she is, that she's always here, "I wanted you to walk me down the aisle. I want you to meet Eddie."

They stay for a few more minutes, before they finally start packing up and cleaning.

Just before they leave, Steve whispers to her grave, "Come to my wedding, okay? Move a few glasses. Maybe say hi to El or something. Just be there, please?"

Annalyn laughs, and nods, and promises that she'll be there. She watches as Steve and Eddie, hands intertwined, walk together as Robin starts the car.

Steve turns one last time, waves at her grave, his engagement ring catching sunlight and beaming. There's daisies tucked in his back pocket, like a reminder, that everything has been set from the moment we were born.

If there's one thing about Steve, he's a stubborn, determined kid.

Annalyn smirks, "Son of a bitch, Steve really is marrying the daisy boy."

→ Wayne's POV

[radio-writes]

For the event, would something like this work?

"You won

I didn't deserve any of this

This will be the last time you lie to me"

But There's Something Latching Onto My Throat

300 Followers Event

Warnings: Cannibalism, minor character deaths, blood, manipulation

Tags: Alastor x reader, gn reader, relationship can be read in any way

MDNI

"Oh don't you look so cute down there, my dear. Green really is your color." It was hard not to miss the mockery in Alastor's tone as he looked down at you from the bed.

You kept your head down, hands balled into fists as you glared at the glowing green chains cuffed around your wrists.

"You really ought to know your limits, dear. And I say this for your sake, of course!" The demon continued, a red claw coming down to play with the chain. "I mean, did you really think you had a chance in the first place? You really are so cute, I could almost eat you." He laughed at his own sick joke.

Your gaze followed the chain as it swayed lightly; from the cuffs around your wrists, to the bedpost it was tied to, to the red finger it wrapped around.

You finally meet Alastor's gaze, his smile calm and mocking as he lied on the bed, feet kicking childishly in air. You could feel your blood boiling as you tried to hold your tongue.

"But no, I couldn't possibly do that to you, my dear." He didn't really seem to care that you just sat there glaring at him from the floor. "Besides, I'm still quite full, you know, having just eaten your little friends and all."

Your jaw clenched, nails digging into your palms as you tried to hold yourself back. You tried hard not to think about them. How they heard you were still alive, how they spent months scheming to try to help you escape.

How they struggled to their last breaths as this horrid man dropped them into his mouth.

"Oh, their screams of terror made such perfect tunes to accompany my meal." Alastor sighed contently. "And don't get me started, on how crunchy their bones were. Except for that heavier fellow, no, he was rather chewy—"

"Enough!"

The sound of your own voice surprised even you.

Your body had moved almost on it's own. You had stood up, yanking at your wrists. The chain pulled Alastor forward by the link he played with. 

"You won, Alastor. I get it." You hissed at him, glaring down at the demon that held you captive with as much fury as you could muster.

Alastor's eyes were wide for a moment, before he started laughing just a second later. He moved to sit up, "Now, I don't see what you're so angry about. You're the one that put your friends on the line, not me."

"The bet was if I lost I'd never see them again! Not that you would—" You tried to fight back the bile that rose to your throat, "eat them!" 

Alastor rolled his eyes as if he found your outburst to be far too overdramatic. "You weren't specific enough, that isn't my fault, my dear."

"You're sick." You snapped at him.

"And you're being unfair, my darling." Alastor said.

"I haven't ever done anything unprompted. You're the one that came to me to sell your soul. You're the one that snuck out. You're the one that insisted we make a bet, instead of just accepting your punishment." Each time he blamed you he gave the chain he held a harsh tug. "And you're the one that placed your friends' lives as prizes." 

Alastor remained sat on the plush bed, seemingly as relaxed as ever as he continued to play with the chains in his hands. "If anything, I have been more than fair to you, my dear."

You were far too close to him than you would have ever liked to be. At this distance, you couldn't even try to hide the tears that stung in your eyes as he spoke. You weren't sure anymore if it was from anger, indignation, or just the sheer overwhelming grief over all you've lost to this man.

"Fair? You've been fair to me? You sold me out to fucking Valentino, I had no choice but to beg for your protection!" You didn't even care anymore that your voice shook as you spoke.

Alastor waved a hand in your direction, as if physically brushing off your words. "I'm sure you had plenty of other options besides begging me to take your soul, but we can agree to disagree, I suppose."

You almost snarled at him.

"You've locked me up in this god forsaken radio tower for decades!" You yanked back at your hands, standing up straighter as you looked down at him.

"For your protection, of course." Alastor only smiled wider—and it sickened you.

You felt like the room was getting smaller, the air a little thinner.

"You've kept me from everyone I cared about, half the people I knew thought I was dead!" Your voice rose in volume, your heart pounded so loudly you swore you could hear each beat. 

"I thought if I behaved, if I just did what you said, if I just followed you, you'd let me go already! But I- I—" You could feel the hot blood rushing through body, every nerve on edge, every cell singing.

And then it was quiet; you couldn't feel anything at all. 

Your shoulders slump and your eyes fall to the glowing green cuffs that bound your wrists.

"I don't deserve any of this." You said softly. 

A hum cut through the silence, soft static coming back to life.

"You are correct to some degree, my darling. You don't deserve any of this pain, this suffering." Alastor said, bringing your attention back to him.

There he sat, just as he was, unbothered by your shouting.

"You don't deserve scum of the earth pretending to be your friends while they try to lure you back into Valentino's well...office." His fingers playfully danced up the chain he held. He didn't meet your eyes as he grinned down at it.

"What?" You felt just a tiny bit unsteady, his words hadn't fully sunk in yet.

"Oh, you know I'd do anything to protect you, my darling. Plus, it's my half of the bargain after all, to keep you safe and away from that stupid moth's hands." Alastor met your unsure eyes. He finally stood up, the chain clinking in his grip as he closed the space between you.

"When I heard that a group of lowly sinners planned to con my dear partner into a new contract, I didn't worry much." He leaned down closer to your height so your dazed watery eyes can see him more clearly.

"After all, I thought better of you. You had to be smart enough not to fall for something so dull. Something so poorly planned." 

He slowly walked behind you, circling around you in a familiar way that almost made you want to shrink away and hide.

"But no, I suppose that was a mistake on my part. I hadn't taken into account how desperate you had gotten for company. You'd even cling onto whores who called you every insult under Hell's hot sun."

You see your friends, smiles wide, relieved, when they first saw you again. The rumors were true, you were alive. They could free you.

"They'd never." Your voice spoke out on its own, but it was soft. So soft that you doubted Alastor even heard it.

"Oh, what was it they called you? A bimbo, a slut, a whore?" He counted off on his fingers as he went on. "I'm pretty sure they said something about you being just an entertaining hole at some point—"

We'll get you out of there. We'll keep you safe.

"They would never say any of that." Your voice was louder now, just a little bit surer.

He finally stopped walking when he was in front of you again. He brought his hand up, knuckles gently caressing your cheek, barely grazing your skin.

The touch almost snapped you back to life. His soft touches, almost loving, had never once been genuine.

He was lying.

"Oh, but they did! Believe me, I was as shocked as you were. The vulgarity of it all—"

There was a sound of metal clinking, a struggle, bodies hitting the floor.

"This is will be the last fucking time you lie to me, Alastor."

You glared at him below you, the green chains tangled and wrapped around his neck as his claws gripped at it.

"I will not let you turn me against the few people I cared about. Double dead or not." You yanked your wrists back, causing the chains around Alastor's throat to tighten.

"Why you ungrateful little wretch." Alastor snarled, his eyes had gone black and you stared down defiantly at radio dials.

"Do you really want all of Hell to hear you begging for mercy?" 

Static prickled against your skin.

The room was steadily growing darker, shadows creeping around you as you kept the demon pinned down on the floor. His antlers grew as he smiled wickedly up at you.

"Try it." You dared him, unwavering.

"And I will use every last breath to tell everyone in Hell about that pretty little collar around your neck."

You swore you heard him growl at you, felt his chest vibrating beneath your body.

You pulled at your restraints again. Alastor's claws scratched at his own skin as he grasped at the glowing metal, trying to keep it from crushing his throat.

You matched his stupid grin with one of your own. 

Sure, you absolutely might die tonight. But seeing the great Radio Demon brought down to the floor, his own leash choking him, was just the perfect parting gift.

You leaned down closer, the tip of your nose brushing against his as his warm breath washed over your skin.

"Green, is absolutely your color too, Al."

[rabbidbunwy]

🔞 Gojo x reader| Minors DNI| TRIGGER WARNING 🔞

LINGERING

synopsis:He can't seem to forget that day

Featuring: Gojo Satoru-Yuji-Megumi-Nobara

Contents: Gojo Satoru x Gen!reader-explicit content-death-s*icide-reader is dead-sad-teacher!reader- angst-minor character death-hurt-no comfort?-nightmare-hallucination-sleep deprived-heavy angst-forgiviness-touching-grave visiting

i'm no english native so sorry for some mistakes

please reblog 🔁 and like❤️

@muzansslxt @candy69gurl @kiwicopia @satorkive

Satoru arrived at school early in the morning. He parked his car and got out, stretching a little after sitting for so long. The whispers and commotion caught his attention. He furrowed his eyebrows as he heard your name. Satoru’s heart tightened, and his eyes darkened behind his glasses as he looked toward the crowd on the other side of the street. He slowly approached, his heart pounding. “What’s going on?”

"Sensei don't.. you can't" some student grabbed him stopping him "please you don't wanna see it"

The world around him faded as panic set in. “No. No, no, no” Satoru tried to push past the students, but they held him back. He wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t think about anything but you. Satoru didn’t care about anything but getting to you. “Get the hell off me!” He snapped, his voice tight and desperate.

A student held onto Satoru as more voices and whispers reached him. It sank in all at once as his chest tightened painfully until he could hardly breathe. All the color had drained from his face. It wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. Satoru ripped away from his student and began pushing through the crowd. He reached the source of the commotion and froze.

His knees grew weak as he stared down at the ground. His eyes slowly rose to your broken, bloodied body on the sidewalk. You’d fallen from the school’s rooftop and he was no longer strong for you. He was finally too late to save you. You should have stayed with him Why did you let him let you go? Satoru fell to his knees, tears blurring his vision and choking him. “You’re not dead” he whispered to himself, reaching to hold onto you, but his hand grasped at empty space as his eyes opened.

With a strangled gasp and tears filling his eyes, Satoru woke. Cold sweat was running down his face, and his chest ached like nothing else. He sat up, burying his face in his hands as tears streamed down his cheeks. This was the third time he’d had this nightmare. He kept reliving your death over and over. The pain, the guilt, and the grief were overwhelming, even in his dreams.

It was still dark outside. Satoru looked over at his clock - 4:03 AM. He could feel the tears still rolling down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, standing from his bed. There was no way he’d be able to fall back asleep. Every time he closed his eyes, Satoru would see your body on the ground.

He pulled on a sweatshirt and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. It felt a little easier to breathe out in the hallway, as if it helped him separate himself from the dream. Even so, it didn’t make him feel better. He quietly went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

When suddenly he saw a black siluette in the mirror staring at him with white eyes as it touched his shoulder cold radiating from it but when he turned around it was gone

Satoru jumped and let out an embarrassing yelp, instinctively shoving whomever had touched him. However, there was no one there and the bathroom door was shut. He gripped the edge of the sink tightly, his heart pounding. All that kept him from panicking was the idea that it was a hallucination.

He stared at the spot in the doorway where the figure had been. There was no way. No way he actually saw that. Maybe it wasn’t just a nightmare. He could have been sleep deprived and just seeing things. That made more sense than the alternative possibilities. He needed to just go back to sleep. Satoru quickly left the bathroom and went back to his room before closing the door firmly behind him.

But the siluette returned looking at him in the corner of the room,it somehow resembled you in a way,your waist distorted,bloody nose but "you" were simply staring at him

“I’m going insane” Satoru mumbled to himself as he stared back at the figure in the corner of his room. It wasn’t real. There was no way he was actually seeing you. There was nothing there, yet he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the hallucination. He froze in place, gripping his bedsheets in his fists. The figure wasn’t moving, only watching him.

"why didn't you save me?" 'you' asked in a distorted tone "i'm dead because of you"

Satoru was frozen in shock and confusion. If he wasn’t dreaming, and he knew he wasn’t, then this was more than a hallucination. This was 'you' standing there talking to him. But that should be impossible, you weren’t alive. You were dead. Yet… you hadn’t left yet. “Don’t say that.” His voice cracked and his vision blurred with tears again.

The figure still looked at him,is piercing gase deafining "why? why didn't you help me?"

Satoru’s heart squeezed tight when he heard those words come from your mouth. His fingers dug into the comforter as tears fell down his cheeks. He shook his head, his vision blurring. “Don’t say that. Please don’t say that” he repeated, almost pleading for you to be anything but that. Anything but a painful memory of his regrets.

The figure suddenly lunged at him, and Satoru let out a strangled cry as he flinched and snapped his eyes open. He was alone in his room. The clock read 7:21 am. Sunlight was filtering through the curtains on his windows. He’d fallen back asleep, but now he couldn’t tell what was real anymore. The exhaustion from having nightmares and seeing hallucinations had left him in a daze.

The next morning

"Hi Sensei!" Yuji yelled as he saw his teacher at school

Satoru jolted, quickly snapping his head to stare down at the first year who’d yelled at him. He stared down at Yuji for a few seconds before his brain decided that he was, in fact, really there. “Hey, kid.” He forced a smile and ruffled Yuji’s hair, hiding the fact he was still in a daze.

Maybe he should sleep more. Satoru had already experienced several nightmares and hallucinations just today, and he wasn’t even fully awake yet. “Sleeping enough, Yuji?” Satoru asked, attempting to distract himself and appear as natural as possible. Yuji had probably never seen him anything less than perfect. He had to hide this strange experience from everyone.

Yuji grinned and nodded, his smile as bright and naive as usual. It was one of the few times he wasn’t covered in scars and cuts. “Yeah! I slept really well last night” Yuji replied happily. He was oblivious to the fact that Satoru hadn’t actually slept last night. “When’s training today?”

Satoru had completely forgotten about training today, but that was a welcome distraction. “As soon as I get my coffee” he replied, letting out a sigh. He needed a distraction and caffeine would definitely keep him awake now. Besides, he couldn’t be that far from well-rested. “Let’s go.”

Gojo was about to press the chosen coffee button machine when he still saw you in the reflection of the automatic machine

No. No, not again. He’d already hallucinated twice and now again? It couldn’t be real, this was another hallucination. He needed a lot of coffee. Satoru quickly stabbed the button, his gaze never leaving your reflection.

The pressure was building up the longer the shiluette was staring at him but it broke when Yuji spoked "Sensei? everything okay?"

He had just managed to distract himself for a few seconds, but Yuji’s voice snapped his focus back to reality. Satoru glanced at Yuji, giving him a small reassuring smile. “Yeah, I’m fine” he lied. “Just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.”

There was no need to worry Yuji. Satoru was supposed to look after him, not the other way around.

"it's about y/n is it?" he asked approaching his sensei

Satoru tensed slightly at the name, his eyes widening for a moment. He tried to conceal the surprise and discomfort at having been seen through so easily. “Why would you say that?” He mumbled, still avoiding Yuji’s gaze as he leaned against the counter.

"Because…" Yuji sighed taking a breath "because…i ..we see you're more distant,you...you never stop looking at the place caressing it in where they died with a sad, guilty look" the boy breathed shaking "and also because we see that sometimes you talk to 'someone' even tough there's no one"

Satoru stiffened when Yuji mentioned seeing him touching where you died. He knew he had a habit of doing so without thinking, but he didn’t realize just how obvious he must be. The boy also seemed to know he’d been seeing 'you' lately. Had he truly become that obvious?

“I’m fine, kid” Satoru tried to insist again, but his mask was slowly cracking.

"you're not sensei" Yuji spoke trembling "it..it's not your fault if y/n sensei died,they..they…just.." the boy grabbed his arm as he tought whenever or not saying or not,he didn't wanted to be the victim here

“Yuji, stop.” Satoru warned as he tried to jerk his arm away, but Yuji’s grip was firm. He stared at the boy, his eyes hardening. “You don’t understand.” Satoru hissed, his voice becoming tense. This wasn’t something he should talk about. No one should have to deal with his guilt and grief, especially not his students.

"i am!" Yuji shouted "because" Yuji stopped biting his lip "you weren't there when i tried to stop them!" he sobbed covering his eyes with his sleeve "so don't tell me that i don't understand!"

Satoru stiffened, his eyes widening slightly at Yuji’s words. He stared at the student in disbelief, not knowing how to respond. How the hell was he supposed to respond? It was his fault. Satoru hadn’t been there that day, and he hadn’t saved you. Even Yuji had tried to save you, but no one had succeeded.

Yuji let out strained choked sobs "i miss them Sensei"

He reached out and pulled Yuji into a hug, wrapping his arms around the boy. “I’m sorry, Yuji” he whispered, clenching his eyes shut tight. He hadn’t seen how much Yuji also needed this comfort and closure. Satoru had been so focused on himself that he hadn’t realized he wasn’t the only one suffering from your loss. He rested his chin on Yuji’s head and squeezed him tightly, his heart aching.

You were like a parent to Yuji and when the boy remember it he letted out a deafeaning bloodcurling anguished cry as he sunk in Gojo chest

Satoru held him tighter, tears filling his eyes and streaming down his cheeks. It was breaking something inside of him to hear Yuji cry like that. It made him realize how much they had all lost. His family had been torn apart in front of him, and he hadn’t been able to do anything about it. Satoru took shaky, shallow breaths as he tried to rein himself in so he could help Yuji, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

They stood there for what felt like hours, both of them grieving and letting their sadness wash over them in waves. Satoru’s own grief, the exhaustion, and everything felt more than enough at this moment to break him. Yet, he somehow managed to hold himself together for Yuji’s sake. He gently guided the young boy to a seat, sitting beside him and draping an arm over his shoulders. Satoru let Yuji lean into him for comfort, trying to keep himself under control.

“It’s going to be okay” Satoru whispered, his voice quiet in an attempt to be soothing. He didn’t believe his own words, but he wanted to try. They both needed a little hope right now. “We’re going to be okay” his voice cracked and he squeezed Yuji lightly. “I promise,” he added, his heart clenching painfully. Satoru only hoped it wasn’t another empty promise.

Gojo could saw you again but you were slowly clearing smiling "thank you" you said before fading away

Satoru couldn’t help but smile sadly as you faded away. He knew you weren’t really there, but the sight made him calmer somehow. It was like you were granting him a little forgiveness. “Thank you…” he repeated, his voice a whisper. He rested his chin on Yuji’s head again, taking in a deep and shaky breath. Maybe he would finally be able to start healing now.

Perhaps your soul had been trying to give him a sense of closure all this time. Satoru leaned back in the chair, staring at the spot where you had vanished. As he held Yuji tightly and comforted him, he felt a sense of relief wash over him. You weren’t really gone, and maybe, he could start to accept that he had your blessing.

He would do his best to take care of Yuji and make sure he had the support he needed. He would continue to train him and guide him like you would have, and he would ensure that Yuji never blamed himself for not being able to save you. There was no need for regret, after all. Satoru gently ran his hands through Yuji’s hair, offering a small smile. “I don’t think they would want us to mourn forever” he whispered.

“They’d probably want us to be happy…” he added, looking down at his student. Seeing Yuji’s tear-stained face was difficult, but at least he was letting out his feelings instead of struggling to keep them bottled up. “And they want us to keep pushing forward.” Even still, Satoru couldn’t help but miss you.

The pain of losing you would never truly fade. It would always remain, a constant reminder of his failure and the love he had lost. But perhaps it was time to start trying to move on. To start living again and not focus too much on the past. After all, you wouldn’t have wanted Yuji or him to suffer like this.

Bonus:

They had gathered at your grave once more, each of them holding a bouquet of flowers or a small gift to lay beside the headstone. Megumi was uncharacteristically somber as he placed his own bouquet next to the rest, his expression dark and drawn. Nobara held a box of your favorite sweets, her usual upbeat attitude replaced by a quiet sadness. Yuji stood silently, gazing at your name on the stone with a sense of loss in his eyes.

And finally, there was Satoru, standing off to the side with a thoughtful expression. His eyes were clouded by a mixture of grief and guilt, but he remained standing quietly, observing the others. He had placed his own flowers beside the headstone, a bouquet you’ve always liked. Despite the pain of the loss, they were all together. And maybe that was enough.

“It’s been a year…” Gojo murmured, his voice unusually soft. He stared at your name, a bittersweet smile tugging at his lips. “I can’t believe it’s been a full year already.” He felt the familiar pang in his heart as he looked at the others, all of them clearly struggling to keep their emotions in check.

Nobara was sniffling, tears streaming down her cheeks despite her obvious effort to remain strong. Yuji had his head down as he tried to hide the fact that he was shaking. Megumi stood silent, staring at the tombstone with a stoic expression, but his body language betrayed his own pain.

It was obvious they were struggling with the same guilt and lingering pain that had haunted them all for the past year. They had lost someone who mattered deeply to each of them, and it didn't matter how much time passed, the wound would never fully heal.

Gojo could feel his own heart ache as he watched them mourn. He wanted nothing more than to somehow bring you back, but he knew how futile that wish was. Everyone was trying to move on, but there was a part of them all that was still stuck in the past, clinging to the memories of you.

© rabbidbunwy all rights reserved. do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my work without my permission. thank you for reading and supporting my work

[stevesbipanic]

@steddieangstyaugust Day 2: Ghosts

cw: major character death

Steve was used to houses having ghosts.

Not in the traditional sense of phantoms and spectres, ghouls and apparitions. Steve's used to houses haunted by the past. Ghosts of lost childhoods and empty youths.

Growing up his house was always cold and empty. The wind would scratch the windows and creaks would echo through the house, but at least the noise kept him company.

He can't remember the last time his parents walked through the threshold of the front door. They said New York was a business trip when Steve turned 15 but extended meetings turned into full time residence. The beemer used as an apology, filling the space in the garage where his dad's sleek black car used to reside. He got used to the quiet no matter how hollow it made him feel.

He found new ways to keep the ghosts at bay. Creaking staircases kept loud by stomping middle schoolers. Chilly air kept warm with blanket forts and obscure movies. A bedroom devoid of feeling filled with love and touch and messy curls and music.

Steve knew what a house felt like when it had ghosts of lost love and stolen futures. How a home once filled with mismatched mugs and screaming music now was cracked and broken. Pieces of a man so loved now shattered across a torn apart trailer.

How can you fill the hole in your heart when even the coffin is empty?

How can you accept comfort from the man whose boy you didn't save?

How can you keep living when your soul died with him?

Alone in the home that was meant to be shared, now full of ghosts both living and dead.

[bimboothefool]

"I know a lot about you...more than you think." During first date with yandere pico?

[t0talbra1nd3ath]

Wasn’t going to post these since it’s kinda spoiler-y, but here are the CGs I made for Efren’s route in Death By Mixer :p

‼️dick warning for below‼️

[crimsonteaaddict]

imagine ending up the “final girl” to a slasher couple, no matter your gender this slasher couple is just head over heals for you or as a true linguist might say they were both smitten- they’d been struck by pure adoration for you.

Imagine It wasn’t originally apart of their plan. Kian and Lucetta had both planned to come to this camping site and kill everyone before fucking on the carnage they created but you were just too perfect for them to dispose of.

This story goes beyond being an imagine, completely on accident.

Warning: slasher, minors dni, cancer, mostly plot little porn, dubcon, kidnapping, pet play, death of a loved one previously, gore, murder, father mentioned, Yandere, actually written with the darling in mind being more masc but was written to be read by anyone.

You weren’t really the biggest camper in the world, sure this wasn’t your first time camping but you didn’t do it often, in fact you’d only come out here because your dad who loved camping had recently died of cancer and even though you had been to his funeral and you knew this was coming you needed time to grieve.

The man loved camping, sure he wasn’t the best father, he was an asshole fifty percent of the time but in the other fifty percent he was great. You knew he had been trying, then he got sick, he started wanting to travel even more than he had been before and bought an RV.

You went with him and your mom a handful of times but you mostly came over to watch their house while they were gone. So to be here alone in the RV your mom allowed you to take camping for the weekend felt strange, their was this out in your stomach but you were convinced it was just grief or nervousness to be camping.

Once you arrived at the site you went inside the front building to check in, you were pretty far out, or the campsite was at least. In the midst of your nerves you had grabbed your reservation papers… just your reservation papers and your wallet before heading into the building.

Upon opening the front doors you saw a rugged woman behind the front counter conversing with a tall man with a fairly muscular build, long brown hair, a sharp jawline and just enough facial hair to suit him. Next to the way stood a woman who was on his arm. She had long black hair, dark eyes that were almost black, a cute beauty mark just over her upper lip and a beautiful smile.

They were both extremely attractive you immediately noticed. And before you knew it they man was long down at you and the woman up. “You alright there?” The man teased with a seemingly lighthearted smile, they were clearly trying to get through and you were distract.

You snapped out of it quick. “Yeah, yes, sorry, sorry, I zoned out. I’ll just—” You quickly moved in a hurry to be out of the couples way but the pretty woman quickly let go of the man’s arm and gently grabbed yours.

“It’s alright, we’re in no rush.” She said purposely making eye contact with you to get across her sincerity. You felt like she meant something more to her words but you couldn’t figure out what it was. You then wondered if your eyes were still red from the crying that been happening on and off all throughout your three hour drive. She gently dropped your arm and their eyes followed you as you skittered to the front desk quickly handing the lady sitting at your front desk your papers before giving her your full name. The beautiful couple then exited which if you weren’t in such a fluster you might have found odd considering they seemed to have lingered even after you were out of their way.

In a moment you had finished checking in and quickly moved to go back to your RV reaching for your keys in your pocket as you hadn’t really unlocked the doors and went out through the side one… in that moment you realized you’d left your keys in the RV. It takes you not time at all to rush up to the drivers side step up and peer in before stepping down and banging your head once against the RV door. This has happened before. Once. With your dad.

The exact same thing happened but at the time your dog had been itch you when it happened last. That was all it took for you to start sobbing like crazy, forehead first against the RV. Which immediately drew the attention of the couple you’d seen earlier who were about to drive their car into the camping site but were having trouble with the gate.

The second they’d heard the small smack followed by sobbing the gate had opened and while the two of them truly had no cares normally, they were curious. They hadn’t even started yet, why were you so miserable darling. The pretty woman glanced over to her boyfriend and he was quick to shift the car into park before hoping out.

A moment after your misery began you felt a gentle hand on your shoulder, “Having trouble?” You heard looking up to see the man from earlier, you didn’t see empathy in his eyes but you weren’t looking, if you were you would have see curiosity and the smirk he was barely holding back.

In that moment you had no choice but to take a deep breath and come back into the moment. Your breathing slowed and after a minute of crying while looking at the man, you began to speak “I left my keys- l-locked them in.” You sputtered out and the man instantly nodded. He knew that there was more to this but you watched as he looked back to the woman leaning against their car.

“I’ll go ask if the lady at the front desk has a spare for your model.” She said unsettlingly knowing that there were a few RV models including your own that had the same lock on the trailer door. You nodded not second guessing it remembering when your dad had asked you to do the same last time but their hadn’t been one so he’d climb onto the back of the RV and began to pry the bathroom window open, you got up and helped him. It took the two of you an hour and help if you remember correctly before you’d climbed in through the window.

The Woman walked away and was your attention was back on the man she didn’t even bother really going back in rather pull a ring of keys from her purse in an area out of site waiting a few moments.

“Camping alone?” The taller man asked and after a moment you finally felt like something was wrong. You wrote it off though because they were helping you.

“Yeah, I hate camping too,” You let out a sad laugh in your broken voice. “But my Dad loved it and I’ve been having a lot of trouble since he passed and—” you paused before verbally realizing you forgot to introduce yourself you ask for the man or the woman he was with’s name.

“Don’t worry about it, we haven’t exactly had the best opportunity to introduce ourselves to one another. I’m Kian, and the lovely woman I am with is my girlfriend, Lucetta.” Kian says one hand coming down to rub on your arm as he examines you particularly interested. You were a cute griever. Something he wouldn’t mind putting under himself and his just as dominant girlfriend.

He didn’t say anything about your loss at first before saying “Was it recent?” All gentle like just to give you a particular image of him so he could crush it later.

You nod starting to fall back into your own head until Kian’s hand guides your fallen head back up by your chin and you notice Lucetta saunters your way jingling a ring of keys.

“They had spares!” She tells you, the truth was she didn’t even need to check she knew they couldn’t help but you didn’t need to know that and weren’t in the right headspace to question it as Kian let out a sigh and dropped your chin.

Lucetta guided you to the side door and unlocked it letting you in with her boyfriend trailing. “if you have any more troubles come find us. We’re site 80.” Kian told you only for his girlfriend to playfully wink at you and add “You can also come if you want some company or if something scares you.” She teases you in a lower octave leading you to believe the two of them might have found you just as attractive as you found them.

It didn’t take long for you to pull in your RV and start making supper (FIRE BURRITOS). The burritos turned out perfect, and you had some edibles you’d got from a dispensary as you sat and stared at the fire thinking about your dad. In fact everything after getting locked out of your RV went off without a hitch… except you had no cell service and as the sun went down and the clock struck midnight, you couldn’t will yourself to sleep.

You laid in the silence for awhile before you heard the first scream. It was just wrenching and the other noises you heard made you wonder if a bear was tearing into someone. You peered out the window at the trailer next to you to see the windows coated in blood from the inside. Panic ensued.

You had no clue what the fuck you were supposed to do but as you got up, rather than getting out of the RV (horror movie faux paux) you started the engine. You had to go get help, now. It was late so as you thought things through you couldn’t help but wonder if Lucetta and Kian had cell service. Your moment of delay allowed whoever was breaking in and killing people to unlock your RV side door.

“Found you!” A sweet voice sang as the beautiful woman from before appeared in you trailer covered in blood. You could tell without a doubt that she wasn’t here seeking solace. You screamed, it was loud and happened without your own consent. You quickly pulled your keys out of the ignition and went out the drivers side. You made a run for the main road and more importantly the main building, their was a twenty four hour gas station and you knew that they probably hadn’t made it their yet based on the fact your trailer neighbour was dead before you.

Each leap hurt, you’d forgotten your shoes but the adrenaline in the dark night didn’t allow you to stop. You heard loud thumping behind you and another set of feet as well.

“Why’re you running! THERE’S NOWHERE TO GO DARLING!” The once timber and extremely attractive voice yelled as you stopped to rip open the gas station doors. You made eye contact with the man before you got inside pulled the shelve right next to the door down to block it from opening. When you looked in the the dinghy rest stop through the flickering lights you saw a man in his mid forties eyes wide open hanging from the ceiling. His face was bloated and had electrical cord wrapped around his fat neck.

The scream you let out was even louder than the first, a moment passed you you heard it. You forgot their was almost always a back door. You heard the sound of a door slamming and then someone slammed on the glass behind you to your right breaking it. In through the window over the ice cream freezer came Kian while Lucetta prowled in from the sketchy hallway which would hold the smelly washroom.

“Gotcha!” Kian announced his voice sounding somewhat deranged and inhuman as his two large hands lurched onto your shoulders pulling your back into his front. You felt something hard prod at your ass and before you could even begin to fight a pair of soft lips that tasted metallic were on your yours. You could feel her chest pressing against your front as he grinder against your back you couldn’t help but felt confused. Her lips were hungry and she was quick to clip something onto your neck which caused you to stomp on Kians foot. You heard a loud groan before her lips disconnected from your and your head was pulled forward.

When you looked you had a leash attached to your neck which was being held Lucetta, she had collared you. Your eyes scanned the store upon seeing a selection of leash’s and dog collars that were all patterned and clearly just a bad attempt to make more money, they even had a place to dog tags. “Grabbed it earlier when we both realized we’d be keeping you, cute, right?” She asked her face level with yours as a hand came down on your ass for the earlier foot stomping.

“Bad puppy” Kian growled out massaging the place he hit before smacking it even harder. You couldn’t think about anything but how these people came and ruined your grieving process likely traumatizing you beyond repair. You somehow were more focused on the current assault than the fact they were murderers and could easily kill you if you pissed them off.

Your brain didn’t know what to do as it switched between the two your eyes darting only for Lucetta to click. “Ki, be nice, little puppy’s just a little nervous, and we don’t want them running away now so we.” She stated the question as more of an answer still not allowing you to reach full height as she stood at full height tugging the collar to bring you level with her pussy. “I’ll give you a treat, all you’ve got to do is be a good pet and you’ll get exactly what you want.”

Her words were tantalizing and you couldn’t help but feel all reason leaving you head from a mixture of the grief, lack of sleep, weed, and slight lack of air from the tightness of the collar. You mewled being subdued relatively easy. You shook your ass a little as you heard a belt buckle coming undone and a zipper before your own pants and underwear were pulled down by the large man behind you and quickly cut free of you by a knife you didn’t know he had in his hand.

“Let’s move this to the counter, Lucy” Kian breathe the words out in a raspy voice getting a teasing smile for said woman.

“Wanna good view of my handy work?” She teased and you could feel his dick twitch under his boxers. The moan he let out was enough for her to tug you along even as his grip came down to your hips. She was quick to push you on your hands and knees when you went to walk like normal letting the word “Crawl” fall from her lips. You obeyed. Soon enough she was sitting on the counter in front of the body she had butchered, it almost didn’t look real but the smell said otherwise, you wonder at what point she had gotten him. You watch and Kians jean clad legs come over you to hoist his girlfriend onto the counter and grab your leash pulling you to stand.

His back came up to yours once more this time to take down his own girl friends underwear and pants. He pulled you back a few steps with him before pushing your top half into a bed so you were face to face with her pussy. He quickly pulled his own cock through his boxers taking a step back and spitting once on his cock before using his precum and saliva as lubricant and he quickly lined it up and stuck it in.

It hurt like hell and everything after that first moment was a blur. By the end of it you’d passed out and when you woke up again you were in an unfamiliar room on a dog bed chained to metal pole drilled into the floor in what could have been a small house or apartment (likely house as you were almost certain no land lord would allow their tenants to drill into the floor.)

[anglingforlevels]

Nature's Losers (Yandere Anglerfish x Reader)

CW: body horror, violence, non-graphic death depiction, reader is kinda useless in this, swearing. stalking and general creepiness, monsterfuckery, bad writing, dead dove.

Minors DNI

In nature, there’s winners and losers. Although enthusiastic biology professors throughout your school years had argued that, by virtue of surviving and continuing to survive and reproduce, there weren’t any losers among the living.

Late-night nature programs made it hard to agree, when they featured hapless creatures like the male anglerfish, doomed to fumble through the darkness through smell to find an elusive mate with the only end goal of holding onto the mate they found, ultimately, dying a parasite. Nature certainly picks losers, or so you had thought back then.

You hadn’t spared much thought for the female anglerfish in your assessment, it just seemed obvious that the loser in the equation was the male.

That day too, the day you met it.

It was a simple day by the oceanside, you were trying to enjoy a warm summer day through an increasingly harsh breeze, emphasize on trying, as the breeze seemed determined to outgrow its label of breeze to become a gust of wind, an achievement of personal growth that you were not in support of.

That’s when you spotted him. By the rocky hillside, where the rowdy waves crashed against rocks out amidst the water, before growing still and reaching its end by the hillside, but not without having splashed said hillside wet in the process. A small figure laid, collapsed, among the rocky land.

“Is that a child?!”

Panicked, you rushed out there, navigating between slippery rocks and wet sand. Your outfit clinging to your legs, which you ignored in your pursuit to reach the collapsed child. Getting closer, it didn’t seem to be a child at all.

Though, he was small. He seemed barely big enough to go to your armpit, even as his figure was fully splayed out. But he didn’t seem particularly young, or even youthful. He didn’t seem old or mature either. He just seemed odd. He felt undefined, like something that hadn’t been developed or fully rendered, with colors washed out.

Stepping closer, your heart rate spiked as you noticed the way his skin seemed too pale and paper-thin, he almost felt transparent, so much so that it felt as if a lazy sunbeam would reveal shadows of bones encased in flesh. Christ, had you found a corpse? He didn’t look bloated like a drowned corpse ordinarily would, quite the opposite but still, was this really a living person?

With his brittle and scrawny figure laid out, bruised and still upon the rocks, it really felt as if you were watching a shattered doll carefully positioned. You swallowed.

“Hey, uh, are you- are you okay?”

At this, he opened up his eyes, revealing one key characteristic of note. Big, milky-white, and slightly bulging eyes. You startled a little at the sudden intensity as he fixed you with a relentless stare, for how lifeless the rest of him had seemed, it appeared as if all life in him had been dedicated to those eyes, and yet their dedicated stare felt purposeless, as if it he saw nothing.

You quickly snapped out of it, instead shifting to relief at the fact he wasn’t dead.

“Hey, what happened?” You asked, but he simply continued staring at you, not even shifting his head, instead following your movements with his eyes exclusively. You cleared your throat before trying again with a gentler tone. “Hey, it’s okay. Can you tell me who are you?”

He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth slightly, and while you weren’t sure what that really meant – and you were increasingly unsettled by the lack of blinking – you decided to brush the growing discomfort aside. Really, given his situation, acting a little unsettling didn’t seem too unreasonable, the guy was probably in shock, so you took the fact he reacted at all, as a good sign.

You laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping it might offer some comfort, but almost retracted it per reflex at his cold, clammy skin.

“Goodness, you’re freezing.” You were about to take off your cardigan for some kind of cover, when you realized that your clothes was, of course, soaking wet and clinging to you, from the climb here. So, instead you held him, hoping your body warmth could provide anything, as you frantically fumbled with your phone to call for an ambulance. Honestly, with a temperature like this, you were surprised he wasn’t a corpse yet.

He burrowed further into your embrace, his head resting in the crook of your neck, as if desperate to get closer than what the laws of physics allowed. His breathing grew heavier, and his teeth accidentally scratched you in what you assumed was clumsily expressed distress, you couldn’t tell if the drips you felt was tears or simply ocean water. You tried to soothe him by rubbing his back as your call got through.

Sitting like this, more than anything, you had felt that nature really did pick losers, a pitiful truth.

You weren’t sure how long it took before the ambulance arrived, but the chill of his body felt as if it had seeped through you, zapping out most of your own warmth, and you were now shivering yourself as well. You were planning on going home for a warmth bath and then going to bed, since you had work in the morning, and your boss weren’t exactly lenient, so even with your spare time being spent like this, you hoped to at least be well-rested physically.

But when they tried to usher him off you to cover him in a blanket, he clung desperately onto you, nails digging into your skin. Your heart ached for him, it really did, you were sure he were feeling disorientated and scared, but it was best to leave this kind of thing in the hands of professionals, and, while you felt like a jerk for it, you still had to think about yourself and your depressingly early shift tomorrow morning, a shift you’d only survive through with the company of your friend and coworker Julia, and the upcoming weekend off.

Prying him off you was easy. Even his desperate, fumbling grasp around you didn’t amount to being much more than feathery, with even gentle prying leaving him stumbling a bit from the force. It was hard to tell if it was due to his sickly state or just general, physical weakness.

You did really hope the best for him.

“Hm?”

On your way home, as you separated from the crowd after a good ten minutes of walking, you took notice of steps behind you that echoed out with a loud, inelegant thud, thud, thud. You turned around and furrowed your brows in perplexation. The sickly complexion and the stare was undeniable – it was him.

Walking with clumsy steps, he moved forward with the blank, staring expression he had donned when you first found him as well, a poorly wrapped blanket still around him but gliding off as he continued to move forth slowly but resolutely, paying it no mind.

“Did you… Follow me?”

All the way from the oceanside? Your hands felt clammy at the thought of him following you between the crowds and many corners – it couldn’t be an accident, and in the first place, he was supposed to have been in a hospital by now, or at the very least, still inside the ambulance.

He didn’t answer, though you hadn’t expected him to, he just kept moving closer and closer. Perhaps it was his empty stare and clumsy movements, but it felt as if he moved with one singular purpose, not as in he was driven, but rather, he lacked any other intentions behind his movement than his goal.

Something deep within you seemed to come undone at that, an unsettling feeling grasping hold of you. You didn’t think he was able of hurting you, really, you were surprised he could even stand, yet goosebumps littered your skin, there was just something wrong about him.

He can’t do anything to you, it’s okay. It’s fine. You reminded yourself through a shaky breath. That’s right, you bested him physically, so, you ran. With the speed he was at right now, you could surely manage to lose him, and then that would be that.

You’d avoid this area for a while, it wasn’t like you came here a lot anyway, and that would be the last of this. It felt more like you were pleading with yourself rather than stating a fact, and you hated that sense of irrationality, after all, that was all it was.

This was creepy but not dangerous, you were sure, you had to be sure. So, you ran. You ran and didn’t stop. Not until your lungs and sides burned, and you stood before your apartment complex. Looking around, he was nowhere to be seen. Even after entering the building, which only residents could enter, and your dingy apartment, you didn’t see him from your small window.

The warm bath helped calm your nerves a bit and you went to bed, to face a new day, one devoid of him.

 

“Okay, so you think he went Wolverine on the door. Wasn’t he like, super weak?” Julia asked, as she unloaded the cargo of the day, prompting a sigh from you.

This morning, when you had woken up and left for the bus, you had noticed scratches on the door to the building, and had had a sinking feeling, but you hadn’t seen anything of him or any other sign of him. you had confided in Julia about the experience, though Julia seemed skeptical about whether the scratches even made up a sign about him having managed to find your apartment to begin with.

“I don’t know, I know it sounds stupid, but seriously, he just kept following me.” You reiterated this for what must have been the thousandth time, and judging by Julia’s expression, that estimate couldn’t be far off.

“Have you considered calling the police about stalking?”

“Well, it’s not like he’s done anything, or that I know he’s stalking me. It’s not like I saw him by my apartment to begin with.”

And stalking didn’t feel like the right word. It felt more like you were being pursued. Less thought-out and hidden, instead he seemed to be following the most direct path he could perceive towards you in the most literal way possible, and while it should feel less threatening and invasive, the simplicity and literalness of his behavior didn’t do much in the way of comfort.

Most of all, you didn’t feel like it warranted a call to the police, especially with a pursuer this ineffective at pursuit. Not when you had heard stories of others reporting stalking, cases much worse and more explicit, yet getting dismissed, you were sure your case would get you laughed out of the station.

And then, a bump took them out of the conversation, and your heart dropped. At the door, he stood. Fumbling around, lightly bumping into the door in attempts to open it or bypass it. “No fucking way.”

Julia glanced at the small, scrappy guy clumsily failing to open a door, with a raised eyebrow. “And this is the guy that’s got you all worried? I mean, freaked out I get, but…”

But I doubt he could do much, even if he tried.

You looked away, frowning. Julia took notice and sighed, putting a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Hey, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

It felt unfair, but somehow you almost felt worse from her words. Julia had always lived by the idea that, even if something wasn’t necessarily real, it still felt real to the person who was upset. But you knew that this was real, this pit in your stomach, it wasn’t for nothing, it wasn’t just nerves, you just couldn’t… explain it.

Julia understood it was terrifying to see someone possibly following you, and even though the store was public, she understood it being scary to see him here all of a sudden, without knowing if it was a coincident or on purpose, but for you, it was more than that, but you couldn’t put it into words. You didn’t understand it. The frustrating acid of “it’s real for you” poisoned Julia’s good intentions, but you swallowed the bitterness, and smiled a forced smile.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s… it’s fine.”

Julia shook her head. “It’s not. You don’t feel safe, and that’s not okay. Listen, we’ll be going on our weekend camping trip tomorrow, and there’s no way that the guy who can’t figure out doors, can find you out there, so… Stay at my place tonight, then we’ll go camping, and we’ll figure this out, alright?”

She squeezed your shoulder reassuringly, and you felt a pang of guilt. God, you were such an asshole. You nodded, but your eyes were still fixed on him, luckily no one had gone through the door, thus giving him access, because you needed this job, you couldn’t afford any more late rent and your boss was an asshole, so bailing wasn’t an option but if he got into the store, you’d… Fuck, you wished you could barricade the doors.

Then suddenly he stopped his fruitless attempts, maybe even he had a limit wherein he recognized something to be futile. His vacant eyes shot up and stared directly at you. And he simply stood like that, absentmindedly clenching his jaw as if chewing. Your heart pounded against your chest, it felt almost painful as if you felt an actual recoil from its force, but you couldn’t focus on that when the world seemed to blur together around you, leaving only his eyes, pooling in all light despite their own pale shine.

Julia glanced at you, worry barely hidden on her face, before clapping her hands resolutely. “That’s it – By now, even our boss will accept us having called the cops on this guy for being a public nuisance. Or, if nothing else, he’ll agree that the guy is definitely scaring customers away, what with the blocking of the door and general creepiness.” Julia said, though you suspected she’d be scolded for it regardless, and you knew that she knew that too.

He had begun to lean against the door. Man, you couldn’t wait for camping trip…

 

Even when time seems to stand still, eventually it caves in, making way for the approaching future, settling into the current present, which was, unfortunately, you sweating profusely as you fought to set up a tent, but even the frustrating battle of tents could not deter your relief and joy at finally having arrived at the weekend, and more importantly, the camping trip.

“I don’t think it’s supposed to bend that way.” Julia commented. You rolled your eyes at it.

“A lot of words coming from the person not helping me set it up.”

“Hey, you oh so cruelly banished me from helping, remember?”

“You’re just not that good at it.”

“Right, because this is the pinnacle of putting up tents. I salute your hard work.”

Julia’s unhelpful commentary aside, you were almost done, you just needed to focus. As if that was a cue, your focus was shattered by something rushing through a bush, and instinctively let go of the tent, as you tensed up.

And then a rabbit jumped out, making its escape from the loud sound of tent gear clattering. The world felt woozy for a moment as you collected yourself, breathlessly laughing. The tension still lingered in the air, but Julia made quick work of it.

“I gotta say, I think I’m a little better at putting up tents than that.” She said, gesturing to the pile of now fully undone work. The tension dissolved and the nervous laughter turned sincere. Julia was, benevolently, allowed to assist with setting up the tent – to her great dismay – and you laughed and talked together as you set up camp.

After a job well-done, you both felt a meal was in order, so Julia found the ingredients as you collected firewood while the sun was still out. With your arms full of twigs, your attention suddenly snapped to a bush, at the sound of the leaves being rustled quite harshly. No doubt by a particularly ungraceful critter, hopefully one as cute as the rabbit.

You were about to laugh and comment on how they must be a magnet for forest animals when a small but very humanoid figure stepped forth instead.

Your blood seemed to freeze.

It wasn’t like it was impossible to follow them. With the smarts and know-how, one could find out where they were camping. And then, it was just as simple as taking an uber. Or you could simply trail Julia’s car here.

Except, the torn clothes. The scarred and bruised skin. The ruffled, dirtied look. He had not gotten here by car.   

“Fucking hell.” Julia’s whispered words said it all, fucking hell was right.

You stood frozen. Unable to tear yourself from his stare. He opened his mouth-

“Let’s go!”

It was first when Julia’s frenzied voice called out, and pulled your arm, that you began to move. Absentmindedly, you took notice of his bloody, jagged nails. It took a moment before the adrenaline kicked in, and you stopped being dragged rather than running yourself.

The car, they just had to get to the car and leave. Recoup, figure something out, cool their heads, just, they needed to get away. You practically flung the door open when the two of you reached the old car. Neither of you bothered with seatbelt before starting the car.

But all it did was cough sadly.

“Huh? It can’t have run out of gas.” Julia looked bewildered, trying to start it again, only for it not to turn on at all. “Oh – Oh. You have got to be kidding me”

“Care to clue me in?” Your voice cracked slightly, and Julia glanced at you, before composing herself, and trying to smile reassuringly, though her smile wavered.

“Well, it’s just, the battery. It’s dead. But” she hurriedly added, seeing the way your face fell at her words, “I have an extra one. Since we were going on a trip away from any kind of mechanic.”

“Right… But we didn’t park that far from the camp.” He’ll reach us before.

Julia nodded seriously. “That’s why, we’ll run. We’ll circle around, since he’s following you, if we get him far enough away, we can probably give ourselves enough time. We’ll run straightforward till we reach the cliffs, and then back.”

You didn’t like that idea very much, willingly letting yourself be chased and running around in the forest when dusk was approaching, neither felt appealing. But they didn’t have a lot of options.

“Since I’m the one he’s following, why don’t I do that while you change the battery?”

“And leave you to run around alone with a freak after you? No way. ‘sides, I wouldn’t freeze up in a fight.” Julia said, her smile no longer wavering. You weren’t sure if there was enough words to fully show your appreciation for Julia, warmth pooling in your stomach, despite everything, it felt a little more okay with Julia by your side.

So, the two of you got out of the car, and waited anxiously for the sound of him approaching. Neither of you had talked about how he had gotten here, or known where to find you, perhaps none of you wanted to breach the topic.

Finally, you heard footsteps. And you sprinted. Then after a while, you’d wait for him to get closer. Then sprint again. On repeat. The darkness was rapidly increasing, forcing you to lower your speed, lest you injure yourself, and with the night animals awakening, it was both harder to hear and see him approaching.

“Just a little more, alright?” Julia said, between heavy breaths. The small sound of bells from her necklace and the way she held your hand, was a comforting reminder of her presence, amidst the darkness of the forest, each dancing shadow and crunching leaf reminding you that, hidden somewhere, was he. “Waves, listen, thank god, waves.”

Just as Julia had said, when you strained your ears, you heard the waves crashing into the cliffside. On burning, wobbly legs, you reached your destination, the trees giving way for the cliff edge.

“We probably don’t need to wait for him to be within hearable range, this time. Let’s just make our way ba-“

Crack.

Out he stepped. Only meters away. He lifted his hand up, as if reaching out to you already. You needed to move but only your beating heart seemed to get the memo. Then Julia flashed by, lunging at him.

Watching them both fall to the ground; it was a reminder. No matter how creepy he was, no matter how relentless – he was basically a stack of cards waiting to be knocked down by the wind. But you couldn’t help but feel like there were something more to it, a danger lurking within him.

Even as he was wrestled to the ground, his eyes stayed on you.

“Ouch!” Julia yelped, accidentally letting go of him, clutching her hand. “He bit me. it’s- it’s fine.”

You had seen the red liquid running between her fingers, even though she tried to hide it. It wasn’t fine. He, in the moment of being released, got up and returned to his goal of reaching you. Julia grabbed onto his ankle, forcing him down once more. You noticed that she used only one hand, the other curled up against her chest still.

He kicked his legs while continuing to attempt to crawl closer, somehow not paying attention to Julia beyond “hindered movements”, he seemed to just keep going despite his severe weakness. His kicks were weak but even so, a kick to the face was still unpleasant, enough so that he managed to squirm out of her hold to stand up.

But the sight of Julia’s pained expression, her hand bleeding profusely – you felt angry. Far angrier than the fear that gnawed at your core. Your hand searched for something, landing on a branch, and you jumped forth, hitting him.

You hadn’t expected him to be this frail and light, that it would practically send him flying, edging closer to the edge of the cliff. He stumbled around, the stones beneath his feet too loose for him to regain balance. He grasped blindly out for something to support him, as his body threatened to take a plunge down the cliffside.

His hand reached Julia’s necklace, as she was still laid on the ground. Before she could swat his hands away or do anything – a force stronger than either of us overpowered them, gravity pulling them downwards.

Your heart sank but even moving as fast as you could, you couldn’t reach Julia in time, her strangled scream cut off by the pull of her necklace must have been cutting off her airway before the unruly water ever got a chance.

“Julia!”

It was a long fall, directly into deep water, with jagged cliffs, even so, Julia had to… she had to be… She’d be alright. She just had to be. Frantically, ignoring the growing darkness and your own exhaustion, you ran. You had to get down there, to search for Julia.

You ignored the way your legs and lungs burnt, the way you only managed shallow breaths – you needed to find Julia, to see that she was okay. You don’t know how long it took until you got down to the bottom of the cliffside, but only the bright moon served as any light by now.

Your heart sank further as you stood at the edge of the water. How were you supposed to get over there, it was so far away, it would take you an hour to swim over there when well-rested – more importantly, how was Julia supposed to ever make it back here? With an injured hand to boot.

You ran out anyway, water going up to your ribs, as you desperately called out her name. It was futile, perhaps, but you just couldn’t accept it. If you called and looked, maybe you’d find her, maybe she had managed to get closer. Even though it was an impossible hope, you continued to search.

Each stray touch of seaweed wrapping around your legs made both dread and hope to shoot up in you, only for the same hope to crash into despair once more, that it wasn’t Julia, it wasn’t her. You spent so long out there in the darkness before you finally dragged yourself back to land, and only because the already unruly water had gotten worse, threatening to pull you down, and you knew, if it knocked you down, you wouldn’t be able to get back up, not as you were now.

You sat down on the sand, with legs numb from exhaustion and the cold, and just stared into the water. If you hadn’t used that branch, then Julia would… Julia would still… Exhaustion and grief made both your mind and body feel so incredibly heavy.

Then you heard it. Something else walking out of the water, and the small metallic clang of bells. Your head shot up. “Julia?” you voice couldn’t manage more than hoarse whisper at this point. But out of the water wasn’t Julia, of course, how could it be. It would be impossible to survive falling into such deep water, even if you hadn’t hit any of the sharp edges of the cliff.

That’s why, stone-cold dread turned into lead in your stomach at the sight. From the water emerged a small, soaked figure. It was him, no, it, because no human could have survived this long underwater. It was walking with the same expression as always, eyes finding and locking onto you, and it walked, with the same stumbling ease as always. And around his fingers and hand, Julia’s necklace was entangled, the bells clinging.

Whatever this was, it wasn’t human. Whatever this was, it had dragged Julia down with it.

You had to run, even though the world was spinning from dizziness and exhaustion, you had to run. Even standing up again was a struggle. On numb legs you clumsily ran. Even putting your all into it, you and it was evenly matched in speed now.

It got closer. Each step is accompanied by wet drips and clinging bells.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

You couldn’t see the ground before you. You had run into the forest, you needed to get to the car or civilization, or anything. The trees kept out most of the moons light.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

Branches and bushes caught onto hair and clothes. Leaving stinging nicks on your skin. No matter, continue, run, run, run.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

What way was the car? How had you gotten down here to begin with? Not this way, that’s for sure. Just continue forward, no time to think.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

You felt a pull, your foot getting caught by a root. Falling to the ground, dirt and stones stuck to you. You needed to untangle yourself.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

Oh god, you needed to get free and get back up. You couldn’t see the root, so fumbling blindly in the dark, you tried to pull, pull, pull.

Drip, drip, cling, cling.

Cold, clammy hands touched you. Slowly look up from the root, it had crouched down before you. It’s eyes were the only source of light in the darkness of the forest, and you were almost mesmerized. Despite you being the only one out of breath, your jagged breaths were matched by it.

It leaned closer and you realized, the deep breaths – it was sniffing you.

It curled up against your stomach, as if settling to sleep. Was this the goal? It had gotten to you, was this it? Lie together like your first meeting? And then, searing pain shot through the exhaustion. It bit you, teeth tearing through flesh and holding on.

You felt light-headed and nauseous from the pain, or maybe the exhaustion? You couldn’t tell, growing disorientated, unable to focus on anything but the pain, so as the corners of your eyes darkened, you gave in to the numb darkness. As you fell unconscious, you thought you heard bells once more.

 

Your head hurts… That was the first sensation you noticed when you awoke.

It felt as if it was being split in two, a searing fire burning away any sense of emergence and thought, leaving you in hazy pain. Then again, your entire body felt heavy and warm in a drowsy and exhausting type of misery.

It took a moment to connect the sudden pain with anything, blinking yourself back into consciousness. You had been in cold water, maybe it was the flu? But it felt different, your head felt full but more than that, your body was too. There was a foreign sense of fullness, amid the dull, throbbing aches throughout her body, like something burrowing in between the fiery heat.

It was like a steady flow throughout your body, of something cold amidst the warmth. It felt wrong. That’s when you had half a mind to notice the most soaring pain of all was perhaps related to the weight of a very real thing, a very real presence.

On top of you, he… no, it laid, resting its head on your stomach, where it had bit you. God, it had bitten you, maybe it was an infection, no, that didn’t matter, not now.

Off, off, needed it off you.

Though the world spun around you, as dizziness clouded your mind from the simple act of lifting your arm, you managed to place your hands, your awfully clammy hands, on it, and push.

It didn’t budge, rather, the action seemed to hurt you. Like something attempting to tear your flesh off, oh god, was it still biting you? Was that why the pain felt so searing still? As your attempts to push it grew more frantic, it remained unmoved by it.

“Why, why, why the fuck won’t you- god,” tears prickled at the corner of your eyes, and the sensation seemed to bring you further into reality, the pain growing more and more real, and while you somehow had not been crying before, tears turned into full-out sobs and screams.

“You’re so weak, just, god why, why can’t I- off, off, off! I need you to-“ get off me. It had been so weak before, easily pushed and shoved. Then why, why couldn’t you make it budge now, each attempt hurting you further, at some point, you were convinced you heard the sound of flesh tearing, but you weren’t in your right mind to stop hopelessly trying through brute force.

As the pain became too much, the fight ebbed out of you, replaced by exhausted agony, moving already felt so hard, when you felt icy fire alongside the burning inside, and your skin felt… tight, as if it was housing more than it could, something prodding and poking uncomfortably at your own skin.

Had it not been because you could so clearly see the creature, you’d have frantically checked your clothes, at the feeling of intrusion, even if said intrusion seemed to be everywhere within you, all at the same time. As your fighting died out, replaced by breathless sobs, it lifted its head ever so slightly, its milky eyes finding yours, somehow, they didn’t look quite as empty now. You could have sworn the look in its eyes was joyful.

You broke eye contact because (it’s unbearable), because… Right, biting, was he still biting you? You stared blankly for a moment when you finally looked further down. You blinked. Once, twice, thrice. No, no, no, no. You hadn’t woken up yet. That’s it, this wasn’t real. Oh god, no, no, no. You blinked again, four times, five times, six times.

But the sight before you remained the same.

His lower face seemed as if melted, seeping into your skin. You couldn’t tell where his skin ended and yours began, as his face stretched out awkwardly, like melted wax, only the top retaining a semblance to his earlier appearance, though the skin around his eyes felt awfully loose, as if dragged down by the weight of… You? This?

Its nails dug into your skin, drawing blood, as its arms encircled you, and it nuzzled closer as if this proximity still wasn’t enough; more skin breaking loose and absolving before your eyes, as if watching a melting clay figure, the skin burning as it melted into yours.

Nature really did pick losers.

[hiro-doodlez]

In my future, im not there

IF YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS A REFERENCE TO I LOVE YOU BUT.. BUDDY ARE YOU OKAY

[ladykailitha]

Grief (A Friend Indeed) Part 7

And now you see why I waited until I had this part written before posting the last one? That was one hell of a cliffhanger. Also everyone gets a dig at Al in this. It's family bonding event. But Steve has the best burn I think.

Just a heads up, Steve talks about being abused...heads up if that's a trigger for you.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

***

Steve placed his hand on Eddie’s back the second he felt his friend stiffen next to him.

“Deep breath, Eds,” he murmured. “There is nothing he can say to you that I will let him get away with, okay? Deep breath. Let me and Wayne handle this.”

Eddie let out a deep breath. “Just careful, Stevie. He’s been known to charm snakes out of their skin.”

Steve’s jaw clenched. So that’s the kind of man he was. He knew that kind of man intimately. His own father was like that. He knew what to watch for now that he had been forewarned.

He plastered a solemn expression on his face, that to everyone who didn’t know him well enough would think sincere, but to Eddie and Wayne, they could see the hard set line of his jaw as he kept one eye on Al and the other on the proceedings.

The funeral wrapped up and everyone lined up to throw dirt on the now lowered coffin. Al tried to get directly behind Eddie, but Steve seamlessly inserted himself between them.

Al bristled but the portly man next to him coughed and he was forced to back down.

Finally the family was all that remained as they all walked back to the church.

The portly man stuck to Al like glue and Steve felt a sudden warmth for the boys in blue at that moment. Because he was pretty sure that even though Al Munson had been granted a furlough, someone was paying to keep that man on a short leash.

The family and a small handful of friends arranged themselves on the pews and waited.

It wasn’t too long until a funny little man with thick bottled glasses came hurrying in.

“I’m sorry Mrs Nelson,” he twittered to Penny. “I had a hard time getting to the church.”

Penny just nodded. “It’s all right Mr Mulbury, you’re here now, that’s all that matters.”

He walked up the pulpit and put his briefcase on it. He pulled out a piece of paper of it and then walked back around the pulpit, leaving the briefcase where it was.

“Ehhm,” Mr Mulbury coughed. “The last will and testament of Gina Munson goes as follows...”

He read it out, people getting little trinkets and things that were meaningful to them, instructions on what to do with her clothes and other things that wouldn’t be given to friends or family.

And then it came time to divide up her meager savings. “My savings of five thousand dollars will be divided three ways. To Penny, you get a thousand to repair that lovely house of yours. I know you didn’t want anything, but use it for your family, dearest girl. Love you all the best.”

Penny laughed a watery little chuckle. She shook her head fondly.

“To Wayne, you get two thousand dollars to finally get that motor home you always wanted. When the time is right, retire and see the world like you always dreamed of. See the stars, my beautiful boy. You deserve stars.”

Wayne teared up, coming down in rivers down his face. Both Steve and Eddie hugged him tight.

“To Allen, who had squandered every good thing he every had, his loving wife, his devoted son, his talents and his good sense, you get nothing. You deserve nothing. If you are here to hear this, I hope it is because the state of Texas deemed it so, and not because you have been set loose again on the world.”

There was a gasp from those gathered and they descended into harsh whispers as they wondered aloud who got the remaining two thousand dollars.

Mr Mulbury cleared his throat. “Instead the remaining two thousand will be given to your son, Edward. Through your actions that boy has suffered so, and because of your actions he will receive not only the money, but all my love as well. Live your dreams, Eddie. Be that star for your uncle. Shine brighter then even that of Polaris. Butterfly kisses into the sunset, darling boy.”

Now Eddie was crying too. Two thousand wouldn’t get him far, but it could get him started. He raised a shaking hand to his quivering lips. Steve grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it.

Eddie looked over and Steve mouthed, “you deserve it.”

He nodded back.

Finally there were some other little things to be wrapped up in the will and then it was all over.

Everyone stood and Steve looked over at Al for the first time since they entered the church. The man had a smile plastered on his face that sent chills down Steve’s spine. Whenever his father wore that expression it meant trouble for someone, usually Steve.

They mingled for a bit, waiting until Penny’s friend came back to tell her that dinner was ready for them. Penny, Wayne, Steve, and Eddie all clustered together while everyone else gathered in other groups.

People were coming up and telling Eddie how much he deserved the money and how much his grandmother loved him. It made Steve puff out his chest in pride.

Finally Al came over and all four of them stiffened.

“Eddie, my boy!” Al greeted warmly. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you. You’re spitting image of your old man.” He lifted a handcuffed hand with a jaunty little wave. “I’d hug ya, but I’m on a bit of a leash.”

Penny bristled. “I paid good money for that leash, I’m glad to see it working.”

The men turned to her in shock.

“Did you know,” she said through gritted teeth, “that the state of Texas was going to let him come to the funeral without a guard to make sure he didn’t escape? And that you actually have to pay for that service?”

Al grinned. “Ah...Penny-elle-oh-pee, you shouldn’t have.” His voice dropped low and menacing. “You really shouldn’t have.”

The portly man nudged him with his elbow. Al straightened up, his charming mask firmly in place.

Wayne shook his head. “Al, Al, Al...you never did know when to fold and when to call.”

Al turned to his brother for the first time. “Big brother always watching out for everyone and never getting ahead. How much they pay you at that workhouse? You know the one, the one that took Dad’s life?”

Wayne grinned. “Pretty good considering we union’ed up about five years ago. Which would have known if you actually read any of the letters I sent you. Just like you would have known about what Eddie looks like now...”

Steve hurried to cover his snort, but Al whipped his head his direction.

“And who the hell are you?”

Steve eyed him with a raised eyebrow. “Steve Harrington, my mother is Sophia Kincade, of the Lexington Kincades and a good friend of your son’s.”

Al turned to Penny. “Why he is here with family?”

Wayne bristled. “This is the boy that saved your son during that major earthquake we had earlier this year. Another thing you’d know if you’d read my damn letters. He deserves to be here just as much as you if not more so.”

Just then Penny’s friend came in and told them that dinner was ready for the family.

Al ran his tongue over his teeth and grinned. “Hey, Bernie, how much time have we got?”

The portly man looked at his watch. “We’ve got about an hour before we have to leave to catch our flight.”

Penny furrowed her brow but knew she couldn’t deny him dinner as much as it grated.

The friends that had been at the reading made their goodbyes and soon everyone else was filing into cars.

Penny and her family in her blue Chevy, Steve, Eddie and Wayne in his BMW, and Al and Bernie in an unmarked Crown Vic.

They get to the house and the scents of a home cooked meal waft from the open front door.

They all go sit down at the table, Danny and Wayne pulling out two more chairs for their unwelcomed guests.

Steve was disappointed to see that not only was there enough food to feed Al and Bernie, but that there was enough food to feed a fucking army.

Penny’s friend’s name is Lucy and her daughter Beth is one of Lauren’s friends, too. They’re both blonde with bright blue eyes and curvy bodies.

They are bustling around the table making sure everyone has enough food.

About half way through dinner Al speaks up. “So you still playing that guitar of yours, Ed?”

Eddie stiffened. “I’ve got a red NJ Warlock that I play now.”

“Ooh...fancy,” Al whistled. “You steal it?”

Lauren and Wayne bristled, but Eddie scoffed. “No, but I did steal an RV once while on the run wanted for murder, but they were a bunch of pricks anyway.”

Wayne and Steve stifled a laugh while the rest of the family looked as though they weren’t sure if he was telling the truth or not.

“Cleared of all charges,” Steve added with a sly smile. “Court ruled it extenuating circumstances.”

It was Eddie’s turn to hide his smile in his napkin.

Al’s mood darkened. He didn’t like being out of the inside joke. “You gonna do anything with the talent I gave ya, teaching you how to play on that beat up ‘ole six string?”

This time Eddie rankled. How dare AL imply that he had anything to do with his ability to play guitar? As if the real reason wasn’t sitting right there at the table.

Steve put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder, calming him.

“Was that before or after you taught him how to hotwire a car?” he asked, faux innocence.

Al sputtered.

“See, I always got the impression,” Steve continued, “that instead of teaching Eddie how to play guitar or throw a ball you were too busy trying to make sure your son followed in your footsteps straight into the penitentiary.”

Eddie’s eyes went wide with barely contained glee.

“While Wayne on the other hand,” he said scratching his temple, “was working hard to put on the table, get Eddie through school, and give him the best life he could given the hand you dealt both of them. Now, I’m just some outsider, but I know what it’s like to have a shit dad.”

The room was stock still. Steve didn’t think that they were even breathing at this point, but he pressed on.

“Didn’t fit into the box he built? He hit me. Didn’t get captain my sophomore year, something that had never been done ever? He hit me. Didn’t date the right girl? He hit me. Ditched my asshole friends? He hit me. Now, I don’t know if you’re cut from the same cloth or not. I don’t give a fuck. But you tell another lie like that one to these honest folk, and Officer Bernie here will be taking you back to Texas in a body bag.”

Al jumped to his feet, but before he could even twitch Steve’s direction Bernie whipped out a taser and zapped him with it. Soon he was doing a different kind of twitching.

On the floor.

Bernie began clapping and soon everyone else was too.

Steve blushed. “To think I could have been like that asshole if it wasn’t for getting some sense knocked into me by people who actually gave a damn. I’m sorry he ruined dinner.”

Penny scoffed. “Dinner isn’t ruined. Wayne, Danny please help the kind officer take out the trash.”

Officer Bernie chuckled. “Much appreciated, ma’am.”

Wayne and Danny stood up and helped him take Al back into the Crown Vic.

Wayne went through and made sure that Al didn’t steal anything or had anything that might be a danger to the good officer. He never had trusted Al, even as kids and he sure the hell wasn’t going to start now.

Soon the officer was on his way and the family sat down to eat the dinner that was so wonderfully prepared in peace. Like Gina had always intended.

Wayne smiled at Steve. He was proud of how he had stood up to Al for his boy.

****

Pt 8|Pt 9|Pt 10|Pt 11|Pt 12

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[rottmnt-residuum]

Part 7 of Arc II (Part 33 - Censored)

leo behind you-! oh god he cant hear us his air pods are in

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