#halloween oneshot

[targaryenrealnessdarling]

The Green Prince | Bluebeard!Aemond x Wife!Reader

-Based on the Fairytale 'Bluebeard'- Halloween Special!

Summary: Six wives before her mysteriously disappeared, and someone in Dragonstone calls for her once her new husband entrusts her with his master key | Word Count: 8k~ | Warnings below the cut~

Links to my Taglists: General Taglist | Aemond Targaryen Taglist

Warnings: dub-con, arranged marriage, victorian england setting, era-typical sexism, murder, uxoricide, blood, toxic behaviour, apparitions/ghosts, manipulation, threats of violence

She's heard only tales of Aemond Targaryen.

The Green Prince of Dragonstone. A wealthy gentleman who often stayed within the confines of his estate.

When she abandoned the frills and wide smiles of girlhood, thrust into the pomp and practice of womanhood, that is when the stories began.

She had never seen him. And she began to believe, that the people around her who spoke of him never had either.

They were of a decent background, her and her family. Not overwhelmingly rich. But well-off is what her father always said.

Enough to employ a small army of servants.

Enough to never have to worry about the troubles of daily life that so often would hinder an everyday individual.

She doubted Aemond Targaryen ever had to worry about that either.

One fact that simply could not be frayed, was that he was royalty.

Only in the sense that he was utterly untouchable.

He had this elegance about him, they would say, a sort of curious exoticisim from the way his long, silver hair would drift down his back, to the way his inhuman purple eyes would glimmer, half lidded and looking straight ahead, as if he were piercing a knife through the individual with his gaze alone.

Though they were technically neighbours, she saw very little life pass through the iron gates of Dragonstone. His estate so vast, that by foot, she would have to commit a whole hour to simply brush by the border of what she deemed was a forbidden land.

There seemed an aura of darkness over it, that she could not quite comprehend. But one that intrigued her all the same.

Last year, at the same time as now, she had been considered a child. No better for company than being banished upstairs to dwindle about her books and writings, out of the way of adults and their serious business affairs.

What had really changed in 12 months, that they now considered her a woman?

She felt age had little to do with it.

She felt that she had been grown in her mind for some time, and had actually changed very little from the age of three and ten.

But now, at the tender age of nine and ten, there was still a girlish nature about her face. A brightness to her eyes, and a plumpness about her cheeks. One that her mother had once commented that men would find appealing in a wife.

And so here she was.

Dressed in her finery, a glass of wine in a crystal glass delicately placed in one hand, she stood beside her eldest brother, who had torn himself rather blatantly from a woman he himself was courting in favour of supporting his sweet, youngest sister.

"Do not, for the love of our mother, allow yourself to be approached by Mr Gardner. He has had five servants in as many months. I am sure you can understand why", her brother mused with a contented chuckle.

She did not know why. Nobody had told her plainly.

Sometimes she wished people would just be honest with her. And not assumed she knew the inner workings of people's minds, after years of being shut away upstairs by her parents and brother alike.

The foyer and adjoining rooms alike were filled with people, all pretending to make pleasantries with each other. And as the night dragged on, several well known bachelor's having tried their hand at impressing her, she found her glass of wine was not as endless as she thought.

When a servant had spotted her, appearing at her side to refill her glass, she had turned her body sideways and locked eyes, finally, with him.

The one people affectionately named, The Green Prince.

Like most of the men tonight, he was dressed in a suit with a long overcoat that covered his dark green waistcoat. So dark were the colours of his outfit, that they almost appeared black, like the rest of it.

His hair was loose, with a few strands falling to the front over his shoulders, and as her eyes trailed up to his pale collar, where a tie was loosely wrapped about his neck, she saw that when she met his gaze, he was already looking at her.

He held his glass in a manner most unbecoming. Hanging at his side, his long fingers grasping the edges so delicately, she was sure for a moment it was floating in his hold.

His finger, she noticed, tapped idly at the side of the room, as if deep in thought as he looked upon her.

She saw his gaze drop to her outfit, one that her mother had chosen for her. A red, almost burnt tea coloured dress, with very little flounce and fancy to it. The collar hung delicately at her shoulders, the bodice tight and the only detail of any colour was in the stitching of her skirt, which he noted was a shimmering gold.

When he lifted his eyes, he took a sip from his glass, still almost filled to the top, his burning lilac gaze hovering over the brim. She sucked in a breath, her own eyes flitting over his face. And to the patch that covered the left eye.

She didn't know why her chest felt tight, and why she hoped suddenly for the appearance of her brother. Or her father perhaps. He was staring at her so unabashedly, that for an unmarried woman such as herself, she would be looked upon with immense judgement if she were found to be staring back at him in the same manner.

Knowing his gaze was burning at the back of her head, perhaps tracing the intricate pattern of braids her hair had been styled in, she decided to ignore him, until he had the decency to approach and introduce himself to her properly.

As any good gentleman would.

She meandered through the menagerie of figures, careful to keep her wine close to her so that she wouldn't repeat the same embarrassment as last year when she spilled the entire glass down Mr Bray, whose wife near lost her voice with incessant shouting.

Her father, ever cheerful, as rich men so often are, materialised at her side, grasping her elbow and tugged his daughter close to him. His breath smelled like red wine as he whispered to her.

"It appears you have captured the special attention of Mr Targaryen, daughter"

Her father chuckled when her wide, terrified and yet curious eyes met his.

How could she have captured his attention, when she had done nothing at all? She thought.

She did not yet know, the charms that the appearance of a female body could offer. And how it could transform a respectable man from a pillar of society, to a hungry, lustful beast at a moment's notice.

"I shall introduce you to him" her father insisted, leading her along at his side, despite her quiet protests.

"But father-"

"Hush now. Remember your manners".

His tone of voice was enough.

She had not experienced it as a mere female. But she had seen first hand what her father did to her brother when he disobeyed. Finding a sort of punishment worthy at the end of his cane as it cracked against her brother's palm.

Her brother still wore gloves often. That was his shield.

She had yet to find her own.

Perhaps hers was in her mind, she thought. That she might be able to protect herself with her ideas and opinions, twisting the minds of men, as her elder sister had said once, to suit the needs of the women they owned.

She often had to remind herself, she was property. And could easily be bought and sold, and kicked to the roadside if she had done something to mar her family name.

She was thrust into a sort of social assassination once again once stood before the famed Mr Targaryen, who nodded his head in greeting but said nothing.

"My Targaryen. What an honour it is to have you here. Please might introduce my daughter"

He bent somewhat at the hip, his hand moving to grasp hers, the skin soft and feminine.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss"

His voice was like the purr of a cat. And though terrifyingly intriguing, she couldn't find it in herself to look away.

"And to you, Sir. Many thanks for the invitation" Aemond turned towards her father, giving another barely existent nod of his head, his expression flat and almost bored.

"It is no problem at all, Mr Targaryen. Please accept my condolences on the passing of your wife"

Late wife?

She felt rude to ask, so said nothing.

Aemond seemed to understand her curiosity, and gave a light smirk in her direction, though she was on his blind side.

"Thank you, Sir. It was a great tragedy indeed"

"Indeed" her father repeated, leaning forward as if to emphasise the size of his empathy for him, "I understand she was quite distressed for some time, was she not?"

She almost passed her father a warning glance. Thinking it rather rude for him to say such things about his late wife. Whether she may have been mad or not.

But Aemond merely nodded.

"Indeed. I am afraid, however, it was an inevitable accident"

Accident.

She of course, remembered hearing the gossip, and hearing her father read the newspaper every morning. An update about the mad Alys Rivers at the top of the page every time.

Alys Rivers, the Lady of Dragonstone, found dead in God's Eye Lake. A wound to the neck spells suicide.

A wound to the neck was a kind description.

Her pale skin was said to be slashed open on one side, everything visible within. And once the water had got to her, she was swollen, pale and blue, completely drained of blood. Almost entirely unrecognisable.

It was just as well she had no family. They would not have wished to see how she met her end.

The article found it necessary to articulate, that her body had been returned to her husband.

Across the room, another gentleman called for her father, and she felt the hot whips of panic at the back of her neck at the thought of being left alone with Aemond.

"Do excuse me" her father said quickly, disappearing into the sea of black and grey.

She herself turned back to Aemond, not wanting to be rude, and tapped her fingernails on the crystal glass nervously.

"I am very sorry to hear about your wife"

Aemond hummed, one of his hands behind his back like he had a secret.

"Thank you, Miss"

There was a long period of silence between them. And for a while, she wondered if she should be the one to break it.

Aemond laughed lowly, leaning down to her face as he caught something interesting in his sights.

"See your brother?" He murmured. And her face turned as well, not realising at first how close their faces were, but she could not very well pull away without offending him.

All the same, he smelled of sandalwood.

Her eyes followed his, to her brother on the other side of the room, where he was thoroughly embarrassing himself by laughing too widely with the woman he had been courting for several months.

"He is awfully close to that woman, is he not?"

She swallowed, raising her chin to appear more confident as she spoke, "She is to be his intended. It is only natural they speak freely with one another" she reasoned.

Aemond did not move away, his shoulder brushing against her side. It made her shudder.

"He is certainly doing something freely" Aemond hummed deep in his chest, a tone which sent a dull ache through her body.

Her brother leaned in close to the woman. And she watched her blush and throw her head back with a demure laugh, her brother leaning close to run his nose along her neck, grinning against her skin.

It felt forbidden to watch them be so close.

And yet he was so brazen about it.

"She seems to be enjoying herself, at least"

She couldn't find it in herself to reply.

For the woman did appear as if she was enjoying herself. And briefly, stood beside Aemond, his breath softly batting against her neck, she wondered herself, how it would feel if he did the same to her.

She wondered if he was thinking the same thing as her. Sneaking into her mind like a whisper, as if he were being a locked door, and was peering through the keyhole to uncover her darkest thoughts and desires.

Her brother leaned towards his intended, planting a kiss to the column of her neck. And she felt herself parting her lips as the other woman had, not only at the shameless behaviour of her brother, so consumed in wine that he felt no need to appear reasonable in front of other people, but also because she felt Aemond’s slender fingers at her forearm.

It was not at all like the way her father had pulled her to him, in ownership.

Aemond tugged her towards him in a sort of longing, his nose pressing into the plaits of her hair.

“I am going to ask your father for your hand” he whispered, “and he will say yes. And you shall be mine”.

She listened with her fingers wrapped around the wooden pillars of the staircase as her brother shouted obscenity after obscenity at her father. Every now and then her mother would insert her little, sweet voice that was inevitably crushed by the low boom of the two males in the room.

With her gaze planted firmly in her lap, tracing the patterns of the lace of her nightgown as she listened, she thought with a sort of sadness that the offer of marriage should be a joyous and happy occasion. And now in her household, the prospect of her being tied to the Green Prince himself was so offensive to her brother, that he felt the need to fight on her behalf.

Perhaps knowing his sweet sister had no choice in the matter.

“He is barely half a decade older than her and has had six wives in as many years, father!” he boomed, and she could tell by the way his voice bounced off the furniture that he was pacing and throwing his arms around.

“To give her away to that brute. It is unthinkable!”

“Be quiet!” her father roared back, “the wedding will go ahead as planned. We will not get a better offer than this!”

While she was happy, that her brother was trying to stick up for her, it was no use. He nor her had a choice in the matter.

Her father had said it himself.

We will not get a better offer.

Not she.

She was property. Something to be sold and given in exchange for goods or reputation. What she wanted, was of no consequence.

And she couldn’t help but think of her mother, several decades younger than her father, and how she must have felt at her tender age when confronted with the prospect of marrying a man much older than she.

In a way, she felt connected to her mother in that way. But also in a way that she resented her, for dressing her up, plaiting her hair and pushing her out into the rich man’s world, ripe and ready for the taking.

Passing her the torch of a woman’s anguish.

The wedding felt clinical. More akin to a funeral than a union of two people. 

Her brother stares dagger into the back of her intended for the entire ceremony. All while her mother cried softly into her handkerchief and her father sat, stoic and silent, his chubby fingers caressing the sculpted ornament on the top of his cane.

She remembered his hands as they were bought together and the officiator had placed a sort of sacred cloth over them as he muttered his prayers. Binding them lawfully and before the eyes of God, for their whole lives.

His hands were large, his palms completely dwarfing hers and his long fingers wrapping around hers like tight vines. And at that moment, she had never felt so small in her life.

And noticed that his side of the wedding chapel, where his family members were supposed to sit and witness their union, was completely empty.

Six wives in as many years.

That is what her brother had said.

She knew Aemond had been married multiple times prior to her, but was her brother merely exaggerating?

In contrast to his hands, where the blood swam warmly through his limbs, his lips where the officiant asked them to seal their union with a kiss, were cold, and not forthcoming. As if he had not asked her father for her hand in marriage, but that this entire affair was so useless and merely for looks, that he’d rather be somewhere else.

That said. She could not escape the intensity of his gaze.

He seemed to focus solely on her, much to her discomfort, to the point where it seemed like he was not listening to a single prayer or hymn that was uttered in the chapel all afternoon. And though her eyes were elsewhere, to try and place the feeling that bubbled in her chest somewhere else, she often found his lilac eye drifting to the details of her necklace, to face, and pausing where she wet her lips nervously.

If he hadn’t possessed such a domineering, strong presence, she thought he would be devilishly handsome.

Perhaps a fact he already knew.

It was unlike her family to have celebrations, so they didn’t.

She gave each of the servants, some who she knew for most of her life a final embrace, thanking them for their hospitality and care where she did not receive it from her parents. And as her luggage was packed meaningfully in the back of Mr Targaryen’s carriage, with two large horses at the front, she gave her brother a tight embrace as well. Inhaling and savouring the musty smell of tobacco on his coat.

He looked saddened, but for the sake of appearances, forced a smile onto his face.

“Good luck, dear sister. Remember you may write to me, even though you are a married woman” he smiled, teasing her softly with a nudge to her shoulder.

She gave a softer hug to her mother, who usually was not keen to shower her with affection. But she supposed, she was the youngest daughter, so it was only natural.

Her father, after having busied himself in an idle chattering session with Aemond, merely tipped his hat, and did not shed one bit of emotion as she climbed into the carriage before her husband. Aemond's hand helped her up the step, watching as she disappeared inside.

The smell of his sandalwood perfumes on his coat was stronger as he sat beside her on the cushion, instructing the handsome, olive-skinned driver to move forward and away from her home.

She only waved to her brother. And watched as he had wet eyes, stepping forward a few paces like he was about to break into a run after her.

The carriage was much nicer than anything she'd seen in her young life, and though they were for all intents and purposes, considered neighbours, it was still a half hour ride to his estate.

Dragonstone.

Her skin prickled at the mere thought of it.

She'd never seen it before. Nor had any of her family.

All she knew was that it was often clouded in fog, that when you stood at the front gates you could barely see the arching towards and dark brick in the distance anyway.

All she had heard was what people said.

That it was a frightful, maze of a place. With winding corridors and crooked doorways, and barely any servants.

He was a rich man, why not employ more?

He did not say a word the entire way home. He only sat, cross legged, and fiddle with his fingers like he was nervous. Turning them over in micro-movements.

Don't speak unless spoken to.

As Dragonstone came into view once they crossed the boundary of the iron gates, she felt her breath taken away.

And it was only when Aemond assisted her with a hand as she stepped down from the carriage that she could really appreciate the sheer size of his estate.

It was so big it was beyond comprehension.

She briefly wondered if she would get lost in such a place.

"Cole will bring your things to our room"

Her heart started to flutter, and pitter patter all at the same time.

Our room.

She had almost forgotten her one wifely duty she was to fulfil this evening.

To appease him.

The thought made a sort of tightness in her belly, though she was unsure why. Of course, her elder sister had divulged her own horror story of her wedding night. Though her sister was twenty and she herself only five and ten at the time, the nitty gritty was of great curiosity to her.

"For several hours the poor thing just cried and it rather spoiled the mood. Turned out that he had…pleased himself the morning of the wedding so as not to become too excited when the evening rolled around.

Oh well, no matter. Instead, when he had a rather excited visitor the next morning he crawled atop me and breathed heavily into my neck while he tried to get it inside me. 'Twas over in an instant dear sister and I did not feel a thing".

Though the anecdote was funny, although awkward seeing as she sat next to her brother-in-law the next morning and tried not to giggle, right now, it did little to quell the gnawing inside her.

Aemond did not seem as quiet and unsure of himself as her brother-in-law was. She doubted a man of his standing would have any issue fulfilling his role as a husband.

As he had done, six times before.

Which triggered yet another question.

Why no children? Surely all six of his previous wives could not have been barren?

Did they commit suicide? Ashamed of themselves for failing to fulfil this task? Were they all mere accidents? Or did someone break in at night to steal his plethora of fine jewels and artefacts and run into one of his unfortunate wives along the way?

It seemed entirely impossible.

She watched Aemond walk confidently to the front doors, where a couple of servants stood to greet the new Lady of Dragonstone. His coat fluttered around his thighs as he turned, the ends of his silver hair hung like they were floating.

"Wife. May I introduce you to the staff. Anything you so wish, please do not hesitate to ask them"

The two servants stood, hands clasped, looking entirely scared stiff. One was a middle aged man with an apron dirtied at the edges, and the other a maid, barely five and twenty, who offered her a polite curtsy.

She simply smiled at them, "a pleasure".

They said nothing.

There was something melancholic. Ancient. And crushing about Dragonstone.

She felt the weight on her shoulders the moment she passed those gates. Did they feel it too?

Did Aemond?

This was the only moment he seemed to smile, as miniscule as it was with a darkened gaze, was when he turned to look at his new wife and nodded.

"If you will forgive me, I have some business to attend to. I will see you tonight for supper"

His expression never wavered, even as he bent at the middle to press his lips to her hand, above the ring he had placed on her finger not a few hours before.

The servants quickly scuttled out of her sight and so she thought to amuse herself by exploring her new home. Out of habit, she started upstairs, going straight to her bedroom to inspect.

There was a large four poster bed made of what appeared to be walnut in the middle of the room, with various ornaments strewn about, but very little to suggest that he actually relaxed in here.

There were no mementos, keepsakes, and she thought briefly she couldn't get a grasp on his personality this way either.

She blushed and felt that tightness again at the thought of sharing a bed with him, of what they might have to do.

The rest of the house was indicative of the first room she ventured to. Lacking a certain personality she was sure existed in her new husband but one he refused to show.

The estate was cold and empty, with flagstone floors stretching along the long dark hallways.

There were so many doors it was difficult to know what on earth could be behind all of them. She'd so far discovered the Library, the Dining Room and even happened upon the scullery rather by accident.

And then, one room…

It had a oxblood red door, worn around the edges and the colour faded somewhat. She noted the scuff marks around the handle and the hinges, as well as the stone beneath the door where overtime, footsteps had worn it down.

So she was doubly surprised to find the door locked.

Curious.

Her skin prickled, and she was sure for a moment that she saw her own misty breath. Like that feeling that someone is watching you but you are too afraid to move an inch. The tips of her fingers suddenly felt numb.

She felt it on her neck, an iciness.

But when she turned, her breath stuck in her chest from panic, she could only see nothing but the empty corridor.

And all was silent.

There was a heaviness in her chest which seemed to pass through her like trying to walk through honey, trying to pull your feet up just an inch to step forward.

And as quickly as that feeling came, it was gone and she turned back in panic once she heard soft, careful footsteps behind the oxblood door.

She clenched and unclenched her fists in fear, trying to reason with herself.

Undeniable footsteps, ones that had started at the threshold and we're now walking slowly away from her.

The blood rushed warmly back into her fingertips, and she rubbed them painfully against her navy dress, trying to will a feeling back into them.

Footsteps…

She only heard her own as she hurried down the corridor again, her shoes clocking against the flagstone.

So desperate to get away from that heavy, morbid feeling that she nearly hurtled right into the young maid.

"My Lady!"

"I do apologise" she uttered immediately, her chest pushing against her bodice with her hurried breath, "I was not looking where I was going".

The maid curtsied, as if she'd forgotten to and straightened, "Supper is to be served, my Lady. May I-"

"What is that room? Down the hall?" She asked.

The maid raised her eyebrows, "Which one, my Lady?"

She turned her head down the hallway once again to point to the one she meant, and her words died on her lips.

The door moved.

It was unmistakable.

The shadow where the door was leant ajar quickly disappeared, and the frame was filled once more by the large wooden slat against it.

There was no click of a lock to be heard.

She was so afraid she lost herself for a moment. Going all pale. So much so the maid had to prompt her.

"My Lady?"

She shook her head, looking back to see if the door would move again, and drift open as it had before.

But it never did.

And the thought that as she was running away before, the door was slowly inching open, scared her beyond belief.

"It's nothing, I apologise" she said quickly, "Supper, thank you".

There was nothing of note for the rest of the evening.

Supper was quiet. And the table was so long with husband and wife sat at either end, that they may as well have been in separate rooms while they ate.

It was nice enough food she was grateful for that. A selection of soups and meats, and breads to fill her belly between courses.

He did not speak.

He barely moved any other muscle than his arm to fork the meat into his mouth. She watched him every now and then, over the barely dancing flame of the candelabra, otherwise the room would be completely dark.

So she drank her wine, and stayed silent. Waiting to be spoken to.

The only thing he said was right at the end.

"Shall we retire for bed, wife?"

And she could not very well say no.

She made brief eye contact with the maid as she followed her husband to the grand staircase, each step feeling heavier and more nerve-wracking than the last.

Her husband was tall, broad and she had no doubt be enjoyed the domineering aura he gave off. Judging by the dark colours of his waistcoat and trousers, as well as the leather eyepatch over one eye, he enjoyed inhabiting darkness.

She thought with some amusement that the only bright things about him were his hair and eyes.

Things he could not change.

He was certainly a marvel of a man. And truthfully, she should count herself lucky that he is at least somewhat close to her in age.

Aemond closed the door softly once they were both inside. The curtains were now drawn, and the room was filled with an amber glow from the candles the maid had lit for them.

She needn't ask him for help, for her new husband immediately stood behind her, and began to unlace her dress as if they had been married an age.

His movements were so sure. And she felt with jealousy of some kind that he had done this with six other women before her.

No wonder he was practiced.

There was no room for romance when to him, it was all just a matter of duty.

She stood only in her chemise, having pulled her hair free of her braids, feeling his gaze the entire time.

"Are you intent on remaining silent, wife?" He asked, and she heard him pull off his waistcoat with every pop of his buttons.

"Or might you become more vocal in the marriage bed?"

She felt her cheeks flush and thickness in her throat. Inadvertently pressing her legs together where a sort of excitement was blooming.

"I could not say…" she answered.

And chuckled lowly, pressing his front to her back, dragging his nose up the side of her neck, just as she had seen before.

She felt something hard press against her backside, his hips pushing it against her and moving softly, creating just a tiny bit of friction.

"Tell me" he muttered, his lips tickling her ear, "tell me what a good wife does"

She was suddenly nervous, thinking about what other people had told her.

And it was increasingly difficult to think, with his large hands pulling her chemise off her body.

"A good wife…is loyal to her husband" she recited, her breath coming in short pants, "she is…loving"

He blew air from his nose, like he was amused.

"..and she is obedient"

"That's it"

Aemond peeled the chemise off her, letting it drift to the floor.

"A good wife makes herself available to her husband"

She gasped and he revelled in it, as he pushed her newly naked body onto the bed, her body sinking into the mattress and watching as her husband bared himself one button at a time.

"Of course. There a many other wifely duties" he grinned.

His fingers moved to his trousers.

"But for now, I only care about this one".

Being touched all over was strange. There was a dull ache in her core when her husband touched certain areas, a feeling that she didn't recognise.

Her confused and somewhat distressed face at the whole ordeal was endearing to him.

Her young, plump face looked up at him with gleaming eyes and shame arched in her eyebrows.

It hurt. Not as greatly as she thought. But it still did.

"Close your eyes. It will be over soon"

She did as he said, turning her face away. But it was not over soon.

His member throbbed inside her, and she thought she'd never felt more full in her life. Since closing her eyes, she could not see the way his hair began to tangle around him, as his hips chased hers and came against hers with a soft smack.

The pain gave way to another feeling still.

That same ache she felt when he'd touched her.

Aemond smirked when he saw the confused, ashamed expression on her face. At the way she pressed her lips together.

"I think you are enjoying this" he murmured lowly, pushing harder into her like he was intent in piercing her stomach, "if I did not know any better, you would almost be moaning".

She didn't want it to feel good.

Or did she.

It felt wrong.

And yet she couldn't deny when he raised her thighs, his fingers wrapped into her flesh, it did feel good.

"Look at me" he whispered, never stopping, "Look at your husband, who is giving you pleasure"

Some excitement sparked inside him, when she didn't do as he asked, her warm embarrassed face pressed into the sheets as much as she could. Her eyes closed.

He laughed when she refused.

"Yes - you feel it, do you not? No need to act all coy. I can feel your body's response"

Shame crept into her body, her limbs going all tight just as he'd said. Feeling herself hit that irreplaceable point, she simply whimpered and felt his length throb once more before he spilled inside of her, releasing all he had to give.

She thought with lewdness, that his spend was warm inside her.

Aemond seemed to take great pleasure in making his wife shrink into herself with embarrassment and shame every time they coupled. He loved that doe eyed look she gave him, as if he did not have his cock buried between her legs every night he could since the wedding.

He would have her any way. Fully clothed if the moment presented itself.

There was something erotic about taking something that looked so innocent and filling her with his spend. How she would act all coy, with it dripping down her thighs.

He delighted in the fact that he had managed to kidnap this sweet young thing, and use her for himself and his pleasure any moment he was able. And the month that passed since the wedding, he could not think of a time that was sweeter.

So it was with great irritation that he was called to King's Landing. Some business with his brother that apparently couldn't wait.

He did not want to leave her.

He spoke firmly, stood before the oxblood door in his travel wear.

"While I am away, you must not enter this room. Do you understand?"

When she nodded without asking why, he smiled in pride and placed the master key in her small palm. Entrusting that she would do as she had promised in his absence.

He thought he'd reward her when he returned, by fucking her in the comfort of their bed sheets, until she was pink in the faxe and begging him to stop. Just as he liked her to be.

As soon as her husband left, she felt even more that she was being watched. All the little hairs on the back of her neck pointed upwards.

The maid kept clear of her, which was nothing unusual. But it was almost as if she was escaping rooms before she herself knew why. As if she knew what invaded the invisible space within them as soon as her back was turned.

Did she hear the voices too? See the dark figures and closing doors?

Anytime she passed the long dark hallway to the oxblood door, she felt her curiosity grow tenfold. But also a sense of dread, heavy in her gut, tugging her back to this wretched place.

What could be behind the door, that her husband wished not for her to see?

In the Library, the fire crackled comfortably as she turned the faded pages of her book. The maid busied herself collecting the dirtied saucers and teacups beside her, humming to herself gently.

The air suddenly went cold around her neck, and a breeze passed, evident by the dangling of her earrings. It was not only her imagination.

"A golden key. Oxblood door. Give the six souls rest, sweet child"

She looked up at the maid, "I am sorry, did you say something?"

The maid straightened and shook her head quickly, eyebrows arched in confusion, "No, my Lady"

Why did the maid always flee like that? Like someone was chasing her? With their claws at her back like an animal in the forest?

The key was ornate, with winding patterns and several notches at the top. And when she held it in her small palm, it felt hot to the touch like an iron rod.

Aemond would punish her.

How? She did not know.

She slotted the key into the door, without the energy to turn it. And her limbs felt heavy, and her knuckles cold, like someone was pushing on it. Forcing her will.

"That's right. Insert the key into the keyhole, and turn…"

A voice echoed off the stone.

A low, sweet, mature voice.

Click.

The oxblood door gave way to light, torches lit at every corner, illuminating the oxblood colour of the floor before her.

A step down.

The floor rippled like liquid.

"Our souls…"

Her shoe was slick with something oily that clung to the suede. Irreparably staining them.

Her skin prickled. Vomit bubbled at the back of her throat.

Six torch-lit figures reflected in the blood on the flagstone floor.

Hung, wrists bound over their head. White skulls in various stages of deterioration, with strings of what was once luscious hair drifting past their bony shoulders.

She saw with dread, they were still wearing dresses that hung off their ivory skeletons.

She was sure she collapsed with grief, a scream echoing around her that did not feel like her own. The only sound she registered was the clanging of the key as she dropped it in shock, blood of Aemond's ex-wives enveloping the brass.

Her throat felt sore.

She watched their empty eye sockets. The dust over their bound hands and their feet as they dangled inches off the floor.

Breath hot in her lungs like she was clinging to life as she knew it, she scrambled for the key and pulled the door shut behind her with a mighty boom.

Darkness crawled up her skin, now that she knew what was behind it.

Was this her fate?

If she displeased him, would she be their successor?

She was sat, with head in hand, in a state of complete distress with sweat on her brow and neck as Aemond returned.

She had paced the room for hours she felt, wringing her hands, as if to find what she might say to him on his arrival. He'd see it on her face.

He would know she had seen the corpses of his precious wives on her soft, innocent features. Scarred forever by death.

His tall, broad form filled the doorframe. And he dropped his coat onto the bed with a tired huff, but said nothing.

She almost wished he would say something. To spare her this horrible anticipation.

But she watched as he took two careful steps in. His one eye flitting over to the key he'd left her on the bureau.

The blood had not lifted from the brass. She could not wash it. No matter how much time she committed to it, it would not become clean.

Her husband looked back at her like she was something to eat, his eye half open with only half his iris visible.

She sobbed and cried when he advanced and held her to the wall by her neck with ease, slamming her small body against it.

"You thought you would get away without punishment, hm?"

She sobbed like a child, her tears wetting her cheeks and neck, to his fingers. Her own tried to pry his away, feeling that he was hurting her effortlessly with his grip around her throat.

"Please…husband…"

He could have laughed.

"Now is no time for begging. Tell me, how should I punish you, wife?, he grinned widely, his tone low and condescending as he spoke to the small woman before him.

"Please…you may do as you like with me - just first, let me pray-" she begged with a hoarse, tired voice. Never feeling that she could be scared of him in this way.

He pulled his head away, looking down at her past his nose, his lips tight.

She felt his grip loosen, but the places where his fingers had been were sore and red.

"I shall do as I please. But since you asked so nicely to pray. I shall let you"

She felt herself breathing like she was swallowing fire a she stepped out the door, allowing her privacy to pray before he inevitably drove a dagger through her, or something of the like.

She rushed to the master key and locked the door with a quick slam and click, locking her husband out and flinching when his palms pushed with urgency on the other side. Rapping on the wood like an animal who couldn't see their prey.

She had no intention of praying.

"Open this door! Now!"

Her eyes scanned the room anxiously and with urgency. She felt her fingers shaking as he pushed the window open, looking down at the great height she would have to jump to escape him.

A sure death.

She clambered over the bureau, her knees knocking painfully on the wood as she advanced in a panicked state towards the ledge.

Her brother.

If she could just escape to him.

He would save her.

A clang of metal rattled against the floor as her husband, as strong as she was, sent the door flinging off the hinges. His large arms wrapped around her waist as she writhed, fearing her life. Expecting a blade to her neck. Or perhaps to be dragged to the oxblood door, to never return.

"Husband - please - have mercy-"

"It is too late for 'please'. It is time for you to feel the consequence of your actions"

She struggled so much, he tackled her to the floor, holding both her forearms behind her back in one hand, pushing her front to the cold stone floor, her warm cheek moulding to the pattern of it.

"I beg you - have mercy and kill me quickly-"

Her tears wet her face entirely, feeling his body over her back, pressing his hips into her backside, letting her feel his wrath.

"Mercy?" He chuckled darkly, "why would I show the likes of you mercy?"

"You who I have treated with care and respect. You who has disobeyed me"

"My Lady shall learn this lesson now"

His voice was dark and low, and it scared her more than the whisperings of the paranormal and the sight of what was behind the oxblood door.

She panicked with a warm face as he rucked up her skirts to her waist, flinching when she felt two of his thick fingers swipe across her hot centre while he continued to hold her down.

"I do not often take pleasure in teaching my wife a lesson. But, for you, I shall make an exception"

She pressed her lips together, not wanting to anger him with her whimpers and whines as she felt him slide his trousers down and rub his hot, throbbing member, ready and waiting for her, against her cunt, collecting her wetness on his length for ease of entry.

He sighed longingly, his breath tickling her neck, his eyelashes fluttering against her jaw.

She choked on her breath as he slid into her, his fingers holding her hips desperately to widen her legs to accommodate him deeper inside her.

"None of them were worthy - fucking none of them -" he breathed, his breath hitching with each soft smack of his hips against her, stretching her walls to the shape and size of him and groaning at the way her hot insides parted.

"Do you wish me to give you a child, hm? None of them - fuck - none of them could give me what you do-"

She whimpered, feeling his length fill her repeatedly and bully the end of her, each blow against that rough spot inside increasingly making her shame and despair at his use of her body ebb away into a forbidden and unknown feeling.

"If you do not behave, you will not be allowed that pleasure" he muttered, his breath coming in short bursts, his thrusts as well becoming sloppy and unconfident.

Her gut warmed with his length piercing her insides. And she felt as though she was missing something he was telling her in his own way. Eyebrows arched in confusion.

Even now, while he fucked her on the floor, she felt afraid for her life.

"Oh, little one, I am almost disappointed that it took so long for you to realise that I do not intend to kill you.”

Her wet eyes cracked open to turn her head in discomfort to him. Her cheek rubbing against the stone floor as he pulled her hips up to fuck her deeper.

"No. You shall give me children. Many of them if you wish to please me"

She tightened around him completely out of instinct, and Aemond groaned loudly above her, pushing his chest so hard against her back she felt she might break.

And her hands clenched into fists, absentmindedly pushing her hips back to him to chase the remnants of that sweet rapture she was sometimes awarded when coupling with him.

A sweet escape from this prison.

He laughed, when he realised that she was quite resigned to her fate.

That she, compared to his other wives, was finally worthy of giving him children. Of satiating his desire to dominate a woman so easily. How he enjoyed watching the look of shame and pleasure on her face, as she battled with herself to submit to him or not.

He slammed with a wet squelch back into her again, filling her with his warmth with a long, shuddered groan. His grip so hard around her forearm, she was sure blood did not reach her hands.

He continued to move shallowly into her, pushing his spend as deep inside her as it would go. As if, whether she wanted to or not, he would fuck his child into her and watch her grow fat and round.

And then, once she had one, would fuck yet another into her.

Her breath came fast and hot from her swollen lips as she trembled around him, unknowingly prolonging his pleasure inside her.

His lips brushed against her ear.

"No other words before I begin?"

It was difficult with her head pushed against the floor, but she nodded softly in confirmation. Relief flooding her as she saw her husband's smirk rise to his lips, both his hands dropping to her hips to tug her back onto his length.

"Then let us begin"

General Taglist: @aemondsfavouritebastard | @bellstwd | @blairfox04 | @hb8301  | @jamespotterismydaddy | @mochi-rose | @nenelysian | @natty2017 | @randomdragonfires  | @risefallrise  | @theoneeyedprince  | @thelittleswanao3 | @tsujifreya  | @urmomsgirlfriend1  | @valeskafics  | @watercolorskyy

[itsgoghtime]

Here You Come Again

CW : angsty hurt/comfort (hurt part doesn’t last very long), Ray is a little ooc again, Ray being the sweet honey saccharine boy that he is (it’s his favorite time of year)

Words : 3842

"Do you ever wonder if the universe brings people together?"

"Do you ever wonder if the universe can pull them apart?"

"Nah, that's improbable."

1989 - New York City

There's always something about autumn that inspires magic in the soul.

Maybe it's the changing leaves.

Maybe it's the events.

Maybe it's because I was in love once during this season.

Definitely not that last one.

Granted, I had always loved autumn. The colors change into deep and rich tones that just draw the eyes in. The smells, the sights, the fact that my entire wardrobe that had only really ever consisted of sweaters finally came into play.

Autumn was just the best season.

It was. Now, I just connected it to someone who was no longer around. Didn't help his favorite holiday was Halloween.

After the success of Ghostbusters saving New York (and covering it in marshmallow), Ray and I had dated steadily for some time. A few years. Until, Ghostbusters went under.

"Ray, please. There has to be something we can do..."

"Hun, I'm sorry. There isn't... the business has gone under - I can't ask you to stay here, when I can't provide for you. You deserve someone who can."

"Ray, I don't want to leave - I'll find another job, work as many hours as it takes... please, don't end this between us."

Ray shook his head, letting go of my hand with tears in his eyes.

"I can't."

"Ray, I don't want to be with the business. I want to be with you."

He couldn't even face me when I walked out the door.

It had been two years since I had moved into a little apartment upstate. I found a job proofreading and editing books.

This fall - I was finally working up the desire to go out and do stuff again. Governors Island, the Jack O'Lantern blaze, maybe a haunted house, if I could convince myself I could do it alone. I couldn't let my hurt heart dictate what I was doing anymore.

Todays adventure, the Brooklyn Book festival.

My eyes were as big as dinner plates - I was absolutely amazed at how many books there were, as I had been every year. I took my time meandering, running my hands along the different covers and buying a few every now and then.

I came across a booth with all sorts of paranormal books. It made me smile, remembering how much Ray loved this sort of stuff. I looked through a few of the books before the person running the stand approached.

"How can I... oh my gosh, is that...there's no way..." The familiar voice said, calling my name and I froze.

I looked up and saw Peter Venkman. Just who I didn't want to run into.

"Hey, Peter. Long time no see."

"Yeah, that's about right. Good heavens woman, you've grown up so much!" He laughed. Peter, from the beginning, had taken it upon himself to be an annoying older brother, even though we were only a few years apart in age.

"Yeah, tends to happen to a person when you don't see them for a long time." I chuckled with him.

"How have you been? What have you been up to? Why haven't you come to visit?" Peter was asking interrogation questions at lighting speed, and I answered as short as I could, trying to keep up with him.

"Ray should be back soon, wanted to go find a hot chocolate stand he said you had gone to a few years back. Said they had..."

"...apple cider doughnuts..." I finished for Peter, my look becoming distant. He was still talking about me? "I think I'll just buy this book, if you don't mind." I handed Peter cash, which he took and let me take the book.

"I'll go find him - he'd want to see you." He was absolutely oblivious to my anxious expression - which was normal, for him anyways.

He turned around, and I bolted. I could hear Ray's voice approaching, and heaven knows I didn't want to see him yet. It was enough to see Peter. But Ray?

I immediately returned home, knowing that Peter would look for me throughout the festival to bring me back to the booth.

Arriving home was like retreating to a safe room. I leaned against the door, curling up at the bottom as I slid down.

There's no way.

I reflected back on conversations with Ray - about the universe and it's influence on people meeting.

We had gone over different theories - religions, philosophies, even just theories regular people talked about - soulmates, those sorts of things. Luck versus fate versus no sort of outside influence.

I didn't like thinking about the fact that we had concluded that conversation with the thought that maybe - just maybe - the universe had brought us together.

And then, consequently, that same universe seemed to tear him from me. Or was it just us, denying the pull to each other?

I didn't know anymore, as I sat with my back to my door.

———

Over the next week,  I tried to forget about my interaction with Peter. I dove into my books in the evenings, as usual. The paranormal book sounded oddly familiar as I went through it's pages - I discovered the author had consulted with Ray and Egon on their research.

I put the book down.

Why did it seem that even though I had gone two years, without any sort of contact or closure - and now, as the wound had finished healing over, it was opened right back up with one conversation?

I couldn't quite put it together.

In the morning, my coworker came into my office, giggling.

"What's up?" I asked, not looking up from the manuscript I was looking through.

"There's someone here to see you. Says it's important."

"Oh, yeah, I was going to have a meeting with th..."

"No, someone else. It's not your author conference." She laughed again, stepping aside.

Ray Stantz.

In my office.

My eyes slowly moved over him, trying to convince my mind that he was real. His hands shook slightly with the yellow flowers in his hands, and that same soft, nervous smile was on his face.

I was in shock for a moment, and stood to meet him.

"Hey." I whispered, a smile finding its way to my lips.

"Hey yourself." His voice was just as gentle as I remembered.

My coworker skipped out of the office, leaving Ray and I to stand there for a moment, just looking at each other. He finally came out of his trance, and chuckled a little.

"These - are for you." He handed me the flowers and I smiled.

"Thanks." It took me another moment, but I set the flowers down. "Stantz, why are you here? Moreover, how did you know to find me here?"

"Well, it's a pretty simple story, actually. Peter mentioned he saw you at the Brooklyn Book Festival that we used to go to every year. He said you didn't give him a lot of details about what you were doing, so in true Venkman fashion, he looked you up. Found out where you were working, the usual." He looked so guilty - even though he wasn't the one to blame.

I had to laugh at his expression, which seemed to ease him a bit.

"Venkman... that little gunner snipe."

"Funny you say that, those were my exact words when I found out he had invaded your privacy like that." He chuckled.

"Ray, it's alright. I knew by the look in his eyes when I ran into him - he wasn't going to let me off the hook that easy."

"Oh, good. I was afraid you'd be mad."

"I couldn't be, even if I tried."

Our laughter ceased, and then, it became a little awkward.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Ray."

"Nice to see you too." His voice was quiet, like he had been before he had asked me out for the first time. He moved to leave my office, before turning around in the doorway.

I should have known.

"Hey, can we catch up sometime? Meet up for coffee somewhere?"

I smile, trying to hide the excitement that his question just brought me.

"Yeah, that would be good."

Before Ray could respond, Venkman was in the doorway with him.

"Hey you! Good to see you all set up in your office!" He called with a jovial tone that was laced with sarcasm.

"Hey Peter. So stalking people is your new hobby, eh?"

"No, just stalking you for one of my best friends in the whole wide world." He clapped Rays shoulder. "Even when he didn't ask for it. I'm an under appreciated talent, you know!"

I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Now get out of my office, I have a conference soon."

Peter chuckled and blew me a sarcastic kiss that I pretended to catch and threw it back at him. Ray went to go with him, but I called to him, and he stopped to look at me.

"I'm pretty booked up until Thursday - but you could come and pick me up from my apartment at 6 and we can catch up then. If you're not busy, that is."

"Thursday works perfect. I'll see you then." His smile brightened and that familiar sparkle came back - I stood in a little shock as he walked out the door.

———

I found myself watching the clock on Thursday with impatience. Time wouldn't move any faster, and I was only halfway through the day.

Unable to focus on my manuscript, I sat back in my chair and let myself think.

I couldn't believe myself.

I ran into Peter Venkman once. Once, mind you.

And a week later, Ray Stantz showed up unannounced at my office, asking me to catch up.

I should have been mad. I should have been pushing them both away.

But... I couldn’t.

There's something about this whole situation that I just...

Yeah, Ray Stantz waltzed right in the door, just like he had done so many times before, and he wrapped my heart around his little finger.

I looked back up at the clock. It's 4:30.

I scowled. Of course, I just had to think about something other than work and now, work is almost over.

Should've done that earlier.

——

5:55. I'd been pacing my apartment for fifteen minutes.

I had arrived home from work at five, showered, dried and recurled my hair, spent fifteen minutes deciding what to wear before settling on my favorite sweater - the cream one with the little orange and red leaves on it - and sweatpants and sneakers.

5:57. The doorbell rings.

I rushed towards the door, and then took a minute to collect myself. He didn’t need to know how eager I was to see him. Yet.

Opening the door held the same emotion as opening presents on Christmas. I tried to push that feeling away, but seeing Ray in his button up and jeans wearing that leather jacket I had always been obsessed with...

It put me over the edge. I knew exactly what was happening.

I was falling for Ray Stantz all over again.

"Hey, sorry, I hope it's okay that I'm a little early." He nervously chuckled, and I had to pull myself out of my trance to respond, almost a little too late.

"No, no! That's totally fine." I chuckled, not able to hide my stupidly big smile. It seemed to ease Ray, who smiled back.

"Oh, good."

"Where did you want to go get coffee?" I asked, trying to calm my heart down.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to go get cider at that stand we used to go to every year. If that's okay, of course." I took note of the blush that appeared on his cheek as he said this.

Little did he know, my stomach started boiling with butterflies.

I nodded softly in response. "I'd love that."

He offered me his arm, which I took, and we began to walk down the street towards the Ecto-1.

"I asked Winston if I could borrow his car, but he said he was going to a drive-in movie upstate and needed it. Sorry, I didn't mean to bring Clarisse on this excursion."

"Ray, it's alright. I've missed the old gal." I squeezed his arm, trying to let him know he was doing alright by me. It seemed to have worked, because he stopped apologizing for everything.

He opened the door for me, like the gentleman he had always been, and went around and climbed into the front seat before driving away.

All of our time together was the happiest I had felt in a long time. The most unadulterated, genuine happiness.

The cider was good, but it didn't compare at all in sweetness to Ray. I hadn't realized how much I had missed him until I spent a couple hours with him.

On the way back to my apartment, the two way radio in Ecto-1 buzzed. Ray answered it, still laughing at something I had said.

"Stantz here."

"Ray, there's a call that just came in. It's in your area, would you be able to answer?"

Ray looked at me, wearing his leather jacket that he had insisted putting on me when I got cold, and his heart fluttered. There was guilt in his eyes, and he shook his head.

"No, I can't tonight."

"Ray," Peter's voice chided. "I know you're on your date with your little friend, but it'll be just like old times if you go. Come on, I don't want to go on this one tomorrow cause it's out of the way from the rest of them on the schedule. Please?"

I looked at Ray, who just kept looking more guilty by the second.

"Hey," My voice caught his attention. "It's okay, we can go. I'd love to see the gear in action again." I didn't tell him that I also just didn't want him to leave yet.

Ray's eyes lit up, and he answered Peter.

"I'll be there."

Within just a few minutes, we arrived at the apartment complex of whoever had called. I watched Ray put the Proton pack on, and my breath hitched in my throat. I had seen him do this a hundred times before, but it was just so much more attractive every time he did it. This instance was no different.

Without warning, he held out the trap, which brushed my hand slightly, pulling me from my lovesick trance again.

"What?"

"Do you wanna come? It's easier with two people." His hand was still outstretched with the trap. I smiled, and took the trap from his hands, which seemed to make him happy.

We were buzzed up to the apartment, and the owner explained to us that their rug had taken a life of its own and was trying to wrap itself around anyone that entered the apartment. Ray assured them we would take care of it, and they thanked him, going to their neighbor's apartment to find refuge.

Ray turned to me before we went into the apartment. He pulled a pair of goggles that had been attached to his pack, and began to put them on my head.

"Helps so you can see the trap better than I'll be able to when it's open. Just switch the button when I give you the signal and we should be good to go. Easy as pie."

I smiled, feeling him adjust the goggles to fit my head.

"Alright."

Ray turned the proton pack on, and for a moment, just looked at me in the goggles. His eyes sparkled with affection before he slowly turned the doorknob.

At first, we didn't see the rug. But sure enough, it was hiding in a corner. Ray smiled at me, and I held the trap, ready to roll it across the floor on its little wheels when he was ready.

His proton stream wrestled with it a few times - slime covering us both at different moments. But surely, he caught the entity in the stream, and I rolled the trap over and opened it up. It swallowed the ghost, leaving the crumpled rug on top of it.

We stood there for a second in shock, staring at the limp rug, before beginning to laugh.

I stood up, and just like second nature, we hugged each other as we laughed. It felt like old times, like Peter had said it would.

After a minute or so, we pulled apart, both blushing profusely.

"You... uh... you did good with the trap." Ray said softly as he looked at his feet.

"You did good with the proton laser beam... thing..." I looked over at him, and we both laughed again.

The car ride home was just as fun as the rest of our evening. We talked about how the call went, how the evening in general went, and we laughed as we compared how much slime we both had.

"Oh, Ray... your jacket..." I gasped when I realized it too, was covered in slime. I looked at it where I had put it in the backseat of Clarisse.

"It's fine - it's been through a few calls before. Doesn't hurt it any, especially..." His voice went quiet. I tilted my head, furrowing my brow in curiosity.

"Especially what?"

Ray thanked his lucky stars it was dark, because his blush deepened. "Especially because it's being worn by someone beautiful like you."

I bit my lip, smiling widely. Realizing it was a little awkward again, I diverted the conversation to when he had worn this jacket on other calls. He excitedly told me about his recent adventures with the jacket, and even a few without.

He arrived at my apartment, and opened my door for me again. We walked arm in arm to my door, and my heart sunk a little. I had so much fun, I didn't want him to leave.

I turned to look up at him after I unlocked my front door. I picked a piece of slime out of his hair - his hair was still as soft as I had remembered.

"Thanks." He chuckled.

"No, thank you. For an extremely fun evening." I practically whispered. Despite my better judgement, I cupped his cheek in one hand and kissed the other, lingering for a moment. I noticed his hand came to meet my elbow before I pulled away.

I took a step back towards my door and smiled at both our blushes.

"Same time next week?" I asked, my brain screaming at me for being so forward.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Ray smiled widely at me. "You have a good night."

"You too." I watched him walk to Ecto-1, and watched him wave at me before driving away.

I was smitten. Head over heels in love. Again.

The next couple weeks, I found myself having Ray over more often than just once a week. We spent a significant amount of time together, when I wasn't working and he wasn't on a call. But sometimes, he would bring me lunch at work, or we'd go out together, and we'd get to see each other then too.

Things remained neutral - we weren't holding hands or anything. My heart ached for it, but I wasn't sure how he felt.

One evening - a Thursday, to be exact - Ray appeared at my doorstep after I was home from work. I had opened the door to see him in an orange flannel - one of his favorites back when we were dating, because I had told him I loved it.

"You'll want to wear a sweater. That cream one with the leaves that you love would work just fine." Ray stated, trying to act nonchalant, while his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Where are we going?" I called from my room. I decided to wear outfit I had put on for our first... excursion. I couldn't bring myself to call it a date, because he hadn't mentioned that it was.

"It's a surprise..." His voice just rang with suspicious happiness. Stepping out of my room, his smile only widened when he saw my outfit. "We're practically matching!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, we are."

"You don't get motion sickness, right?"

"No...? Why...? Oh." I laughed a little harder when Ray blindfolded me. He picked me up into his arms under the premonition that 'I don't want you tripping'. I forgot how strong his arms felt as I was in them. It made me sad when he put me in the car and buckled me in, because I didn't get to be in his arms anymore. Heaven knows I wasn't going to voice that, though.

I heard Ray go back around the car and get into the drivers seat.

"Comfortable?"

"As much as one who feels like they're being kidnapped can be." I chuckle. "If I throw up later it is totally your fault."

He just laughed, and put us in motion.

I didn't get sick like I thought I might, and soon, he unbuckled me and picked me back up into his arms.

"How long do I have to wear the blindfold for?" I asked, laughing a little more.

"Not much longer." He held me a little tighter, walking a short distance before putting me back down on the ground. Still standing so close, he took my blindfold off and leaned down towards my ear.

"Welcome, to the Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze."

My eyes adjusted to the light, but when I was able to focus, I gasped excitedly.

I was in the middle of it all. The lights and the pumpkins were fantastic. The smell of pumpkin flavored things surrounded us, and it brought such nostalgia. I turned to Ray.

"This... this is where..."

"Where we had our first date. I remember." Ray's expression was soft as he looked down at me.

I looked up at him, the nostalgia and the longing and the love written all over my expression.

"Letting you go was the worst mistake I've ever made. The last few weeks, I've been happier than I've been in a long time. I... I want to ask you if you'd consider dating me. Steady. Again."

I smiled bashfully, and I looked at my feet for a moment.

"Ray Stantz, you've had me since we got slimed on that call together."

Ray's smile widened, but his eyes still held some anxiety. He didn't say anything for a minute, but it didn't bother me. I stepped forward, cupping his sweet face in my hands as the distance between us lessened.

"Now, you just stay right there, because I am gonna love you to death."

Our lips finally met - after a month of fantasizing about it, he kissed me just like I had imagined, but better. His arms came around me, closing the remaining distance between us as my fingers combed through his soft hair.

The Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze had been a success this year, at least according to Ray.

[puhpandas]

And How Big The Little Things Can Be

(2,196 words)

Evan reminisces over how cold his house feels compared to Gregory's warm one, and gets some help when his emotions over it all get too much to control. Oh, and its also Halloween. 🎃

Evan has always hated the cold.

His father will keep the house at below sixty constantly. Both his father and Michael like it that way. They like the house being so cold it nips at Evan's ears even during Winter.

It's why when Evan first got the chance, he'd used the little amount of money he'd made on his own to buy a couple sweaters. His clothes had already been getting too small because of his growth spurt, but his Father wont take him to buy a new wardrobe until he physically cant fit into them anymore, or he looks ridiculous wearing clothes that rise at his stomach and choke his collar.

His Father had long since convinced their neighbors of his... feelings about the way Evan is. So when Evan had offered to do work to make money when all he had was T-Shirts and tank tops and shorts, they'd jumped at the opportunity to pay him for doing work like a 'real man'.

Since then, the cold had been a little more bearable, even though he has to wear two layers of socks and retreat to his thick comforter after school if he has no business outside.

Autumn has long since arrived, with the leaves turning shades of auburn and yellow, grass yellowing, and Evan's school library having spiderwebs and skeletons decorating its insides. His sweaters have gotten more use since the season started, with the harsh heat finally cooling until theres a pleasant breeze, the feeling of Halloween just around the corner.

But his sweaters cant stop the feeling of always having that chill in his chest when he'd hear a thump come from another place in his house, or when he'd hear a door slam, and that would signal somebody being home.

What a stark contrast that is to where he is now, warm, bundled up, and comfortable.

Hes sitting next to Gregory on that scratchy rug his house has in front of its fireplace, lights dim, the sun having long set, with a fluffy throw blanket wrapped around his shoulders and tucked neatly between his legs. He has only one hand free, just to bring the hot, piping mug of delicious hot chocolate to his mouth.

Fragments of their Halloween costumes are strewn across the floor, half-finished and homemade. It's the night before Halloween, or Halloween Eve as Gregory likes to call it, and they'd both come up with the bright idea of having matching costumes this Halloween.

They'd run around all day, jumping from store to store to gather supplies, since Gregory insisted on making their costumes from scrap. They'd already been tired when Roxy had taken them home, but still persisted and almost completely completed their costumes in one night.

Evan's eyes had been left stuttering and heavy at the end of it, shoulders sagged and body weary, but Evan hadn't felt bad. It's the first time Evans found out there can be a good kind of exhaustion. Where you've spent all day having fun, and still feel the remnants of excitement in your stomach.

They'd chosen the generic Angel, Devil, theme, but Gregory had promised him they'd have plenty of time to get through them all, someday.

It's only Evan's first Halloween since meeting Gregory, and he'd tried not to appear too affected by Gregory's words right in front of him when he'd first said them.

Never has Evan felt so... so excited for Halloween. Usually, its just the perfect opportunity for Michael to grab a one dollar mask at their local Spirit Halloween, and scare the living daylights out of Evan when he'd come back home from a good day, turning it into a worse day, because he wouldn't be able to shake the fear from his chest the rest of the night.

But this year, Evan has Gregory. Evan has people who actually treat Halloween like something fun, to look forward to, and not just as an excuse to scare him. This year, hes going trick or treating with his best friend, his family, and Evan's going to enjoy spending time with them. No looming prescense of Michael, just waiting to strike, or his Father, waiting for any excuse to comment on Evan's nature.

Its the first time he's felt excited for something like this, instead of dreadful. It's the first time Evan's been able to sit comfortably, and think of the coming days as something to look forward to, instead of something uncertain to be scared of.

It's the first time Evan's been warm, comfortable, and content in a long time.

The room is silent; save for the crackling of the fireplace and the soft music Gregory's house always seems to have playing. The only other sound is the general presence of Gregory and Roxy in the room with him.

Which is why when Evan suddenly has a wave of emotion wash over him, Gregory immediately snaps to attention from where he was nodding off when Evan starts crying.

"Evan?" Gregory asks worriedly, letting the blanket fall of his shoulders when he twists his body to face Evan. "Hey, are you okay?"

Evan shakes his head, gesturing vaguely with his hand. "Im-- I'm alright." He sniffs, and looks away when the tears keep coming, hiding his face as much as he can in his blanket covered knees. "Um, dont worry about me, please. I'm okay, I swear."

Despite looking away, Evan can still feel Gregory's hovering, worried presence at his shoulder, and Roxys watchful gaze on him.

"Did something happen?" Gregory asks, spitfiring. "Evan, if somethings wrong, can you tell me? You know I never judge you. This time is no different."

Evan shakes his head, removing his face from the blanket and facing Gregory. "Theres nothing wrong." He promises, and at the look Gregory sends him, he insists. "No, I promise! I-I dont know what's wrong, or... why I'm crying. I was happy just a few moments ago."

Gregory looks as confused as Evan feels. All Evan can do is bring the sleeve of his favorite sweater up to his cheeks and wipe the tears away, even if more follow right after.

Roxy hums, and sets the laptop she had in her lap to the side, sliding off the armchair she was sitting in to sit in front of Gregory and Evan, careful to move the headbands with a halo and devil horns they had been working on out of the way.

"Evan," She starts gently when she settles. "Are you sad right now?"

Evan's eyes widen, and he shakes his head, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. "No! I'm not." He insists. "...Which is why I'm so confused as to why I'm crying."

Roxy just tilts her head, leaning on one arm on the floor. "Okay, then let me ask you this, bud." She starts. "Have you ever cried because you were just so mad, or frustrated?"

Evan only thinks about it for a moment, his head nodding almost immediately, because he doesnt even have to mull that over. Theres been so many times where Evan would just smush his face into his pillow, and scream as loud as he could in his house. Because frustration is an emotion Evan is so used to, when Evan will wonder why Michael hates him so much.

"Yes." Evan says after a moment. "Yes, I have."

Roxy just nods, smiling that kind, but also wolfish smile of hers. "Then have you considered the idea that you might be crying because you're so happy?"

That makes Evan pause. He freezes, taking a moment for Roxys words to process as he turns them around in his head.

...It sounds awful when he thinks about it, doesnt it? The idea that he didnt even consider the idea of being happy enough to cry, because all he'd ever known is being mad, or sad enough to cry.

But that's what it is. That's what he reflects on, when for the first time, he's introduced to the idea that maybe, his emotions are just felt times two, and sadness and anger isnt the only thing he can feel intensely.

And also, that hes finally in a place where being so happy he can cry is a possibility. Is a reality.

Gregory must have noticed his intense thinking face, because then he seems to sag in relief, chuckling and shifting to get more comfortable. "So you were just so happy, that you cried?"

Evan doesnt answer for a moment, then finally tears his eyes away from the hole he was burning in the rug to look at Gregory. He nods, at first slowly, then more sure of himself. "Yeah." He sniffs, smiling. "I-I think so, yeah."

"Phew!" Gregory says exaggeratedly. "You had me worried for a second. I was afraid we somehow made you sad, or something."

Evan laughs, too, more tears pricking his eyes and following the tracks down his face, but all he does is wipe them away. "Me too." He says. "I was just confused. Because I'm not really sad around you guys."

Gregory just grins at him and grabs him in a side hug, shaking him slightly, but Roxy just chuckles, and hums again.

"Hang on." She tells them. They pause, glancing at her questioningly. "You two know how I go to the gym every Friday?"

Gregory nods, his hair tickling Evan's cheek, and Evan does too. Evan's been friends with Gregory for multiple months at this point, and he remembers Roxy talking about her weekly errand.

"Well," Roxy begins, smiling and looking pointedly at Evan. "I go to the gym because like you, Evan, I feel my emotions more intensely than other people might. But instead of it being all of them, like you, I just felt angry a lot. And it could get worse, and then I would blow up at people, or cry really hard."

Evan listens intensely, eyes wide. He nods, an invitation for Roxy to keep going, and she keeps that encouraging smile on her face. "It was like that for a long time. From when I was your age, to when I was a teenager. But it was only that way because I hadn't found my outlet yet."

Evan tilts his head. "Outlet?"

"I found out that hitting, or punching things, helps me channel my anger into one place, and let it all out without it affecting me or somebody else in a bad way." Roxy explains. "It helps to know you have a special time and place to let the emotions that build up inside of you out, so when they start to get bad before you're at that special spot, you can control them easier. Save them for when you know you'll be able to let them out."

Evan nods rapidly, soaking up every word. Hes never heard an adult talk about things he struggles with seriously before, let alone somebody who also experiences the same problem, and knows how to help. "So if I punch things, will it help me not cry so much?"

Roxy shakes her head, still smiling. "Probably not, Rockstar." She tells him, but before he can get too disappointed, keeps going. "But, we dont know. Things may not be the same for you the way they are for me, but if you try things out, eventually, you'll find the way that works best for you to let all your emotions out, so you dont blow up or they dont get uncontrollable in places you dont want them to."

Evan smiles, running the words over in his head. It's the first time theres ever been any indication that he can change, not for his family, but for himself. It's the first time Evan's felt like theres light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to his inner turmoil.

"If I could do it, you can too, Evan. My family didnt know how to help, but it was their support along with my friends' that helped me learn how to help myself."

"Well, you got us." Gregory pipes up, voice loud in Evan's ear. Gregory squeezes his shoulders a little tighter, twisting his body to be in Evans field of vision. "I'll help you find what your..." He pauses for a moment. "outlet is. I promise."

Evan smiles, moving to shift his neck to be pressed against Gregory. "Thank you." He says. To both of them. He meets Roxys eyes, and tries to express his gratitude with just his gaze.

Roxy seems to understand, because she just nods at him, as if to say 'I know you'll do great'.

"You should try punching Michael to see if thats your outlet." Gregory says. "I think that's a pretty good idea."

Evan splutters a laugh at that, and he can see Gregory grinning, too.

Evan's eyes are heavy, and sore from crying. Both from the exciting day he just had and from the emotions he just filed through, so when he let's himself lean against Gregory, body weary and cheeks littered with dried tear tracks, Gregory sits strong, and leans back as well.

Evan falls asleep like that, surrounded by warmth in more ways than one.

ao3 link

[atlas-chaps]

Halloween DND campaign (complete with lazy costumes) is afoot!

Yes I am dressed as Dustin, yes I am the DM 😁

[flowerandblood]

Okay, one year of Ewan Mitchell being Aemond. This is fucking incredible. Who is ready for new Halloween Oneshot because of this occassion?! 🎃

[blackypanther9]

Alastor x Reader – Intruder

In this one Reader has no specified gender. Have fun reading this small piece.

You were always intrigued and drawn to places where scary shit happened. You heard about the New Orleans, Louisiana forest, where rumors had it that a Serial Killer and possible Cannibal lived in. He was torn up by dogs and got a bullet sent through his head in the year of 1933.

The bank took the whole forest with his house as their own property, but no one bought it after dead bodies everywhere were dug up. Many said that the Killer buried them to hide evidence and to do Voodoo Magic on them, while others said that all of that could have been a fraud and it wasn’t the man who got so brutalized before a bullet finally freed him from his pain.

You were very intrigued none the less. You went to hunt down the man’s house. If you remember correctly the guy’s name was Alastor Hazbin. He was in his alive time a very well known and beloved Radio Host. You could almost say that he was a star.

No parents left alive, no wife and no children. Not even a pet he owned. Poor guy must have been so lonely…

Suddenly you spotted an old looking house, but it didn’t look run down. Someone must have taken good care of it. You rushed over to it and looked through the windows…no one was there.

You touched the doorknob and tried to open it, which did.

‘Weird…’

You stepped inside it and looked around.

“Wooooow…”, you said in awe.

The house smelled good, it smelled like wood…a smell you adored. The house looked so old inside, no TV, no Smoke Detector nothing electrical at all. Just lamps and a radio. A very old fashioned looking Radio.

You closed the door softly and then went over to the old Radio, picking it up gently and examined it.

“It’s so pretty…Why are our Radios nowadays so damn ugly ? This must be worth hundreds of dollars seeing how old it is and how well it is still in shape. I wonder if it still works…?”

You slowly moved your hand to the button that looked like the on and off button, but stopped shortly and pulled your hand back.

“I better not mess with it… Would be a shame if I accidently broke it…”, you mumbled and gently set it back down.

Then you went into another room that had a piano in it, a couch and a small table. You went over to the piano and pressed a key, it gave a deep sound from it. You giggled and sat down.

You tested out every key and then thought of a song. You smiled and started to play the piano. The song you played on the piano was ‘Not Alone’ from Alan Walker. You were so observed in playing the song, that you didn’t notice that the owner of this property was in the house as well, watching you.

As you finished you chuckled softly and got up, brushing your pants straight.

“If that Alastor guy also played the piano…? A supposed Serial Killer playing piano ? Hard to imagine and yet….somehow I can picture it very well.”

The owner hid in the shadows, you didn’t spot him.

“Hmmm…”, you hummed and looked around the room.

“Gotta admit…it’s pretty here.”, you said and then moved again.

After some time you saw every room in that house and only the Basement was left. You didn’t touch anything while you continued to look around, besides that one old picture that you carried with you and looked at the whole time.

‘Who were they ?’

On the picture was a kind smiling man and a smiling woman, sadly it was black and white. Did this Alastor have a wife after all ? Were they his parents ?

You even admired the old microphone that was in a glass cabinet. It looked really pretty and expensive.

“Y/N ?! Y/N WHERE ARE YOU ?!”, a male voice called.

“Oh shit…Brother !”, you cussed and quickly hid in the Basement.

You didn’t want your Brother to find you. He always yelled at you and he always dragged you out of the house, even though you told him many times that you don’t want to come along. You always run away when he wasn’t looking.

You went down the stairs and then hid in the darkest corner on the basement.

“Y/N ?!”

You held your breath and stayed silent.

“Y/n !”, his callings got more quiet.

He distanced himself from the house again and you took a deep breath, then came back up and out of the Basement. You were back in the living room and eyed the Radio in curiosity.

You picked it up again and then turned it on. There was static to be heard, which made you sad.

“I thought it was set on a channel for some music already…”, you whined.

You put the Radio down and turned it off, huffing in disappointment. Then you sat down on the floor and eyed the Radio. It was so damn beautiful…

Then you jumped in utter fright.

The Radio just turned on by itself and the static was back, but also something else. There were whispers of some kind. You eyed the Radio in fright.

“The flippers ?! Is that Radio broken already ?! Oh crickets !”, you cursed.

“Hello ? Who am I talking with ?”, a voice came out of the Radio, it sounded like a male.

He sounded curious. You listened.

“Heeelllllloooooo ?”, he asked again.

“Ummm….I guess whoever called him dumped him by a phone prank. Damn so sorry for him.”

“Ah ! There you are Darling ! Can you please tell me your name ?”, the male asked.

“EHHH ?! Wait ME ?!”

“Of course you, Dear !”

‘Oh shit… What kind of Magic is this…’

“My…my name is Y/n… Yours, Sir ?”

“Pleasure to meet you Y/n, Darling ! The name’s Alastor ! Alastor Hazbin !”

At that your eyes bulged almost out of your skill.

“NO WAY ! THE ALASTOR HAZBIN THAT WAS KILLED 1933 AND WAS RUMORED TO HAVE BEEN ‘THE BUTCHER’ AND A POSSIBLE CANNIBAL ?!”, you yelled in shock.

“Why yes, indeedy ! That would be me !”

“Oh shit…”, you wheezed.

“You alright there, Darling ?”, he asked chuckling.

“Y-yeah…Uummm…How has the afterlife been, Sir ?”

“It is just peachy !”

“That is good to hear !”, you said happily.

Then the Radio turned off.

“Why thank you Darling~”, the same voice said, but the Radio was turned off.

You looked at the front door and screamed in shock. In front of you stood a creature. It had red and black hair with two big mountains on his head, one on each side, a big, yellow, sharp teeth smile, red glowing eyes, wore a red tailcoat with a black bowtie and red dress pants, had a monocle on his right side of his face and wore black dress shoes.

“What and who are you ?!”, you screamed at the thing.

“My Dear, it is me ! Alastor Hazbin. I apologize for scaring you so badly. I forget sometimes how fragile you humans are. Hahaha !”, he said laughing and playing a laugh sound track.

“Holy moly…you look…different. What happened and what even are you ?”

“Ah…I am a Deer and Radio Demon, my Dear ! I don’t have the faintest idea why I am a Deer, but the Radio bit I understand ! I was a famous Radio Host !”

“D-demon… So Hell and all that jazz exists…Holy Moly…”

“Yes, indeedy ! Now I have to ask though, what encouraged you to invade my lovely home ?”

“Ah ! You still LIVE here ?! I thought someone just took care of it while the bank is still trying to sell the property off ! So sorry ! I didn’t mean to intrude !”

“Applesauce, my Dear ! I am not as pissed as I was a few minutes ago when you just entered my house ! I thought you would rob me, but all you did was look around, enjoy the view and examine some of my things. You never stuffed anything into your pockets !”

“Still, so sorry ! But…ummm…I did keep something of yours, trying to figure out who these two were… Here.”, you said and handed him back the picture you tried to figure out.

He took it from you and looked at it, then chuckled.

“Ah. That would be my dear beloved, sweet Mother and me. I just got my job at the Radio Station and we took a picture of what I wore. Always said she wants a lot of pictures of me in my handsome years.”

“To be honest with you, Sir, you look very handsome in there. Nowadays there aren’t as many that actually have such a friendly and handsome face.”, you said and looked away blushing.

“Oh~? And what do you think about my present form now ?”, Alastor purred.

“W-well, you did scare me quite good at first, but to be honest…You look adorable and dangerous. I mean your teeth surely could even tear metal apart by how sharp they look, but the rest, looks adorable. It is just the big smile that makes you look a bit scary.”

Alastor had a slight red tint in his face at that.

“Why, thank you for the compliment, Darling !”

“Were you really the Killer ?”, you asked softly.

“I sure was !”

You only nodded and sighed.

“Shame, always are the good guys dead first…”

Alastor tilted his head in slight confusion.

“You look so nice and adorable…Man wish I could have met you to your alive times. You probably wouldn’t have been an abusive best friend.”

“Do you have such friends ?”, Alastor asked slightly worried.

You nodded.

“My friends are toxic and rotten to the core. My best friend even tried to force me into a relationship with her Brother/Sister. And I once had a Boyfriend/Girlfriend that tried to drug me to have his/her dirty ways with me. You may have been a Killer, but I bet you had some standards and boundaries…”

Alastor looked at you disturbed and then his smile became menacing looking.

“Do you have any pictures of them~?”, he asked dangerously sweet.

You got out your phone and showed him some pictures of them.

“Thank you, my sweet. I will be back shortly.”, he said and was gone.

It had been 30 minutes and then he came back, covered in blood.

“Are you okay ?! What did you do ?!”

“I am just peachy, my Dear ! I killed the scum that dared to call you a friend and abuse you.”

You stared at him in utter shock.

“Something wrong, Dea-MMM ?!”

You jumped on him and kissed him on the lips, hugging him tight as he held you.

“Thank you so much, Alastor !”, you said happily after you parted from him.

“N-no problem, my Dear.” He said blushing.

You smiled and kissed his cheek.

“You are cute when you blush.”, you teased.

He blushed a darker shade of red and you giggled softly.

END

[p0ssywhippedcream]

I’m a new follower and I reaaaaaalllyyy like all your posts about L. Thanks for making them. Could you pleaseee do L x reader for halloween?

Of course I can, sugarcube, thanks for the loves<3

While L loves disguises and candy, he never really has time for Halloween. He thinks it’s a waste and work is paramount anyway.

Those thoughts fly out the window, along with all others and his lungs, when you emerge down the stairs on the 31st. You’re wearing a detective costume. A sexy detective costume.

A monocle, brown trench coat, a nearly see-through white shirt and a short black skirt. It’s topped off with a tie and black booties, knee high booties. L thinks he might combust.

You look absolutely define, the tightness of the fabric shaping your body and pronouncing your best assets. He watches as the short skirt flares when you jump the last step.

You walk over with a smile and compliment Misa on her angel costume, meanwhile bending over to straighten her wings and giving L a glimpse of something crimson under the skirt as the trench coat falls to your side. Matsuda chokes behind him and L remembers his surroundings, shooting him a glare and turning back towards his computer.

When his beautiful lover finally approaches him, L raises his chin and wears a guise of nonchalance. You see right through it, giggling as you kiss him good-morning and stain his cheek.

“You look pretty today, Y/n. It’s a nice costume.”

You pluck a strawberry and shove his legs down, plopping in his lap.

“Better be, you paid good money for this.”

His quirks an eyebrow as you fling the trenchcoat on a nearby chair.

“Did I?”

You nod and scoot backwards on his lap, ass brushing his crotch just barely.

“Yep!”

You’re in a cheery mood. When you shift on top of him to shove the monocle on his eye, his cheeks blossom pink.

“Now you’re a real detective!” You exclaim and laugh at his crinkled expression.

“Now I can’t see the fake one. Obstructing justice, I’d say.”

“Does justice want some candy corn?” You suddenly dip your hands inside your shirt and produce a handful of orange triangles.

He makes a face.

“Am I right to assume that was in your bra?”

“You are,” Then you lean closer and whisper, “I was gonna save them for when you take it off but I thought you might enjoy a tease.”

L's tongue goes dry. He changes the subject.

"I'm aware it's a holiday but I have work to do, would you mind not sitting there?" It's not really a question but an order phrased as one.

You roll your eyes. "Oh boo, you're no fun. Misa! Want some candy corn?"

You teeter off his lap and wander away, stopping by the not-so-inlove-lovebirds and depositing candy as you pass. L throws a final glance and his brain blanks when he spots a flash of red from under your costume.

It is a good impression of a detective, if you're horny and blind, but still, you pull it off. He looks down at a negligible piece of orange candy laying next to his leg and smiles to himself. You're the only person who can tease him and get away with it, at least in public.

[fanfictwins]

SDR2 - Halloween Special 2023

Summary: “As the victim of an honestly moronic prank, you end up somewhere you’d rather not be. Your fear and annoyance keep you chugging along, but, man… you just want to go home.”

Word Count: ~12k

“Ugh, this is just the worst…”

The tapping of your shoes against the tiled floor echoed as you walked through the halls of the abandoned school building, your only source of light being your phone’s flashlight; the beam of light shook with each step you took, illuminating everything ahead of you — the cracked tiles of the floor, the peeling paint on the walls, the dust floating in the air. None of it was an ideal sight.

The thought of being stuck here, in a supposedly-haunted, crumbling old building, would have terrified you if you weren’t already annoyed by how you got into this situation in the first place.

It was more than obvious to you at this point that those so-called new “friends” of yours were anything but friendly, getting you to come here just to trap you inside because it was “funny”.

“I swear, when I get my hands on them-”

The sound of skittering behind you made you tense up, your mouth snapping shut as you swiftly turned on your heel with your phone pointed out to try to catch the source in the light. You felt an intense shiver run down your spine at the idea that rats were crawling around this place, an idea made worse when you thought about what else could be residing in such a dilapidated building.

“...okay, I need to get out of here soon or I’m going to lose it.”

You quickened your pace as you continued to make your way through the halls, checking each and every classroom you passed by in case any had a viable exit, but it appeared that all of the windows — all broken to various degrees of severity — had been boarded up. You had a pretty strong feeling that you would end up with a myriad of splinters and cuts across your body if you tried escaping through them, the rotting wood and jagged glass the opposite of an inviting exit.

Even if you were desperate to get out, you weren’t that desperate… yet.

- - - - -

You wandered around for a short while before you found yourself at the end of a hallway, where you were met with a large entryway with a sign stating that it led to the dorm area right next to it.

“Oh… so this school was one of those schools, huh? …fancy.”

You figured that there was a pretty good chance of there being some sort of fire escape within the dorm area, the image of whatever board of education that used to run the place wanting to make sure their students — the children of a bunch of rich and influential families, no doubt — were completely safe in every way possible floating around in your head, and you entered into the area with little hesitation. The sight that you were met with was nothing much, the edges of the beam from your phone’s flashlight soon trailing off into complete darkness, though the faint outlines of a few doorways located in your immediate surroundings didn’t escape your notice.

And then a sudden scent in the air caught your attention.

“What the…?”

The scent clashed heavily with where you were, being so warm and rich that it reminded you of what it felt like to settle down at the kitchen table for dinner as a child while the building that you were in was both dusty and musty to the point that just being in here was a health concern. Your initial confusion over the scent of cooked food soon melted into unease after a few seconds had passed, the presence of such deliciousness in a place this dank somehow being very unsettling.

But maybe the scent was wafting into the school through an opening somewhere.

That made it worth checking out.

You followed the trail with your nose, giving the air a few good sniffs as you veered to the right within the darkness of the dorm area, until you caught sight of light coming through the crack at the bottom of a door. You lowered your phone, turning off its flashlight, as you hurried through the door, and then came to a halt when you recognized the room as must being the dining hall.

There were tables and chairs placed about the area, a kitchen entrance on the other side from you, but the main attraction had to be the makings of a full spread that covered half of a table in the middle of the dining hall; that was obviously the source of the mouthwatering scent in the air.

“...yeah, okay, this is weird.”

You furrowed your eyebrows at the sight before you, before moving your attention to the source of light in the dining hall: large windows in place of one of the walls. Unlike all the other windows you had seen so far, the dining hall’s windows seemed to be mostly intact with just a few visible cracks here and there; that meant that you couldn’t use them to escape unless you took a chair and used it to smash through them, but that was a course of action you were hesitant to take.

You were hesitant… even if the sight of the sun setting past the horizon outside, the sky above becoming a stunning gradient of orange and red at the bottom to purple and blue at the top, was taunting you as you continued to be cut off from the glorious outdoors you now bore witness to.

Hesitant.

Yeah.

You let out a long hum of disappointment as you shifted your gaze away from the windows, now instead returning to look at the trays of food sitting in the middle of the dining hall, which were as much of a feast for the eyes as they were for the nose. You swallowed as you felt yourself begin to salivate a little as your eyes scanned over the various dishes present, though you knew better than to try sneaking a bite or two from the spread. You would probably end up turning into a pig or something if you did, and you were not taking that risk, no matter how tempting the food was.

The floor then came into view when a huge figure darted past you, its force knocking you to the ground. You let out a small groan as you pushed yourself up onto your knees, before looking to where the figure had run and came to a stop, which was in front of the table with the feast on it.

And you froze.

The figure was tall with a feminine body shape — for a couple of obvious reasons — but it was the several nonhuman characteristics you noticed as your eyes scanned over her that was what drew your attention: furry ears sitting atop her head of unkempt hair, claw-like hands attached to furry forearms, and a tall that relentlessly wagged behind her as she tore into a cooked chicken.

Despite having barreled past you to get into the dining hall, the canine-esque girl didn’t seem to notice you at all, being too busy devouring whatever she could get her paws on; various sauces and juices splattered down onto the table and the ground around her, some even dribbling down her chin and onto her clothes. The way she ate was more akin to a wild animal than to a person.

“A-Ah, Akane!”

The sound of a voice that had a thick Southern accent spoke from elsewhere in the dining hall, the mild panic within it unable to draw your gaze to its owner as you watched the girl — Akane, as the voice called her — down an entire party-sized platter of assorted meats and cheeses.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm about my cooking, but please leave some for the others!”

Akane stuffed a few more bites of food into her mouth before she spoke, her voice coming out completely muffled from how full her cheeks were. “Can’t you just make more if they want any?”

“I mean, I could-” The sound of metal trays being placed onto a table reached your ears as the voice paused for just the briefest moment before continuing. “-but you should still limit yourself.”

You finally managed to get back onto your feet after your shock faded slightly, though your heart was still beating a bit faster than you would have liked for it to, and you leaned on a nearby table to steady yourself before you directed your attention towards the source of the Southern voice.

He didn’t look nearly as threatening as Akane did — the fact that he was much shorter than her being a big reason as to why — though the sight of a pair of goat legs being where human legs should have been made your stomach churn. His attire consisted of a classic chef’s outfit on his human upper-half, with a red apron around his waist and a red handkerchief around his neck; to finish his ensemble, he had a tiny chef’s hat on his head with two horns poking out from his hair.

“Hey, you gonna eat that?”

You jolted out of your thoughts as Akane spoke again, and flinched after you looked over at her just to see her staring at you, the red sauce dripping down her chin making the sight of her look a lot worse than it actually was. You blinked before you looked down at the table you were using to keep your balance, your eyes drawn to the steaming plate of kebabs sitting right next to you.

“U-Uh… no…?”

“So I can have ‘em?”

You stared at Akane for a moment before you nodded your head, removing your shaking hands from the table and instead keeping them close to your chest. The wide grin that Akane gave you in response only made you more nervous as you saw the sharp canines she had in her mouth.

“Aw, nice!”

The kebabs never stood a chance as the canine-esque girl immediately made a beeline for the plate, everything but the iron skewers — which Akane tossed to the side — disappearing in the time that it took you to blink. She then resumed eating as if that entire interaction didn’t happen.

“Hmm? Who might you be?”

Your attention was grabbed by the half-goat man as he spoke, and you flinched again after you turned your head towards him just to see that he was now standing next to you. He was leaning forward as if to inspect you, one of his hands raised to his chin as the other rested on his hip; he let his eyes briefly wander you up and down, before they came to their final stop on your face.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before…”

“I-I, um… I’m… nobody important?” You struggled to turn your lips up into a smile, your nerves still a bit shot as you took a shaky step back away from the chef. “Uh, I’m just… well… I-I, it’s…”

The chef let out a small chuckle, a smile coming to his face as he dropped his hand from his chin. “Now, now… no need to get nervous. It’s always exciting to meet new people, you know?”

His voice had an almost comforting quality to it as he spoke, though the fact that his Southern accent disappeared and was replaced with an accent that sounded a bit more posh made alarm bells ring out in your head. You couldn’t think of a single normal reason for a person to do that in a normal conversation, especially after he talked to Akane without doing anything like that at all.

“How about you relax with some of my delectable cooking? You won’t taste anything better!”

You shifted your gaze from the chef and towards the feast, seeing Akane still going ham with it as she devoured an actual cooked ham like it was nothing, before you looked at the chef again.

“...y-yeah, sorry, I’ll have to decline. I’d rather not get between that girl and her food.”

The chef looked over at Akane himself, his smile faltering as he furrowed his eyebrows and let out a small sigh; it only lasted for a moment, however, before his attention returned to you and a smile reappeared on his face. “Oh, don’t worry! I’ll just make an extra-special dish just for you.”

The way he said that made shivers run down your spine, and not in a good way.

“Nope. I’m leaving. Goodbye.”

Without waiting for a response, you turned on your heel and began to walk away, hearing the chef start to call out after you before you suddenly heard him yell at Akane about paying more attention to what she was putting in her mouth, the sound of gagging and silverware hitting the floor following after it. You just ignored the commotion and focused on leaving the dining hall.

- - - - -

The area outside the dining hall was no longer bathed in pitch-black darkness; the lighting that came from the ceiling was dim, but it was enough for you to actually see where you were going.

“Huh… I didn’t think that this place still had power, but…”

It was definitely the least surprising thing you had run into so far, though you chose not to focus too much on what you had witnessed just moments before as you looked around the small area, squinting your eyes to try to get a better look at everything. You decided to start moving towards the dorm rooms, the thought of a fire escape coming back to your mind to fuel your every step.

You passed by a set of stairs — finding an escape on any floor but the first floor was only an “if there’s no other choice” option, so you didn’t have to resort to that yet — before you entered into a hallway with multiple doors on both sides; these were the rooms the students had stayed in.

The doorknob of the first door you approached rattled in your hand as you tried to turn it.

Locked.

You had never felt more like a horror movie protagonist than you did then, only you didn’t have to worry about trying to fit keys into a lock with shaky hands as you went from door to door and simply wiggled the doorknob of each one just to find that they were locked like the first, until you eventually found one that wasn’t. The door hadn’t even been closed properly, being slightly ajar.

The lightest push was all that was needed to fully open the door, the creaking it made from the movement making you cringe as you stepped into the room… which was odder than expected.

You saw the expected items — a bed, dresser, and various personal items neatly placed about — that any dorm room would have, but even if the school catered to rich students, the fairy-tale theme was a little juvenile for a teenager’s bedroom. The bed had a canopy that let shimmering curtains flow down from it to shield the bed from sight when they were drawn, and vines covered the walls, intertwined with fairy lights to create a magical atmosphere; the color palette had been limited to vibrant greens and warm browns, but the walls were painted a light blue like the sky.

The entire thing made you feel as if you were in a children’s storybook rather than a school.

It took you only a moment to snap out of your surprise, the charming nature of the bedroom not enough to distract you for long from the windows located on a wall to your right, but keeping you from hurrying over to throw open the curtains and escape to freedom was the sound of a door opening to your right. The thought of another door being in the room aside from the one behind you caught you off guard, but the steam flowing in from the connected room connected the dots.

The school was clearly for the rich and influential, and personal bathrooms fit in with that image.

You could only silently stare as a figure exited the bathroom, her back to you, and even though that was all you could see, it was almost too easy for something within you to admit that she had an unusual beauty about her. The long blonde hair that flowed down her back, the fair skin free of even a single mark or tiny blemish… and the shimmering wings fluttering ever so slightly from where they sprouted out of her back; it was like you were looking at some kind of fairy princess.

The girl was brushing her hair, the dampness making it clear that she had been taking a shower along with the presence of the steam, and she hummed a tune happily to match the beats of her strokes with the hairbrush, ignorant to the intruder was standing just a few paces away from her.

That was until she turned around, a gasp leaving her mouth as soon as her eyes connected with yours, the hairbrush falling from her hand. You heard a small squeak escape your own lips when you stumbled back, your back hitting the dorm room’s door with a thud as your face warmed up.

“Ah, sorry-!”

“O-Oh my goodness! My apologies!”

Your voice overlapped with the girl’s voice as you and her spoke simultaneously, but while your words were filled with embarrassment at being caught in her dorm room and nervousness about her nonhuman appearance, the girl sounded a lot more concerned instead. You kept your gaze trained on her as you tried to navigate around the open door behind you, your legs a little shaky.

“M-My name is Sonia!” The girl tried to smile to ease your obvious unease, her hands carefully brought up to her chest with her palms facing towards her. “Could you please give me yours?”

Her eyes widened after that passed through her lips, and she raised a hand up to her mouth.

“W-Wait, please do not answer that!” Sonia took a step back, her smile faltering briefly until she recomposed herself. “I mean, could you please tell me a name of which I may address you by?”

You finally managed to break your eyes’ focus on Sonia and turned around, your mouth sealed shut as you bolted from the dorm room while ignoring the shouts coming from the fairy princess; the only thing on your mind was to get as far away from her as possible, something about giving her your name eliciting a deep sense of fear in some region of your being, and you just decided to abandon your plan to find an exit in the dorm area, your feet carrying you past the dining hall.

The sound of multiple unfamiliar voices coming from the dining hall — you shook a little at the thought of there being more strange creatures in the building — only fueled your pace as your feet pounded against the tiled floor. You just continued to run even as their voices got fainter.

You only hoped that no one would follow you.

- - - - -

You slowed down once you didn’t hear anyone coming after you, the once-creepy silence of the school now a relief; even though your eyes were starting to become used to the dim lighting that the building had, you still couldn’t see that far down the hallway, so the lack of footsteps heading in your direction was the best indicator that you were safe… or, at least, you were safe for now.

The thought of using your phone’s flashlight again to make navigation easier passed through your mind for a moment, and you reached down to grab it from your pocket, but instead of the glorious cellular metal slab full of electricity and the internet, your fingers only met with fabric.

“O-Oh… oh no, no no no, this can’t be happening…!”

Your voice came out as a low hiss as your heart sank, the fact that your phone was missing the scariest thing that had happened to you yet. You had no idea where you could have lost it, your phone having been in your hands the entire time… that was, up until Akane knocked you over.

“...it’s fine, everything’s fine; it’s just a phone, I can survive without it.”

You placed a hand against the wall to stabilize yourself before you started moving again, trying your best to push back the panic and keep your mind focused on the goal of escaping the place of horrors you were trapped in. You focused on minimizing the sound of your shoes against the floor, on keeping your breathing steady, and on trying to quell the jackhammer inside your chest.

And then you heard voices coming from down the hallway.

The sensation of your entire body tensing up to resemble a stone statue was not comfortable in the slightest, but you forced your body to take a few steps forward anyway. When you were just a few steps away from the corner, you leaned forward to take a peek at the source of the voices.

“I just thought…”

There was one girl and two guys walking down the hallway in your direction, the girl’s face being visible due to the light from the attachment on the video game handheld she held as she spoke.

“...a video game tournament with the class could be fun.”

“That sounds great!” The guy on the girl’s left smiled at her, the dim lighting making it hard to make out anything specific about his appearance, though his silhouette seemed normal. “But the outcome seems a bit obvious if you’re playing. No one here’s as good at them as you are.”

The girl only let out a small hum in response, his gaze cast down at her handheld.

You squinted as you continued to look at the three figures — they appeared to be around your age, but you couldn’t be completely sure yet given everything you had seen so far — and after you had done so for a brief moment, you had to admit that there didn’t seem to be anything that was nonhuman about them; that normally would have been reassuring, but the three were still lurking about an old abandoned school building in the dark of night, which wasn’t normal to do…

…and while you were also doing that, the difference was that you didn’t want to be here.

“Oh?”

The guy on the girl’s right caught the attention of the other two, the both of them following his gaze to see you peeking from around the corner at them, your body freezing at the attention.

It felt as if the world stopped for a moment, the three of them staring at you as you stared back at them. Your chest felt empty, your heart devoid of beats and your lungs devoid of air — maybe they really were as frozen as the rest of your body, your head feeling light to a sickening degree.

“Ah, hello?”

It was the girl who broke the silence first, movement slowly returning to the world as she tilted her head; the light attached to her handheld revealed the pale mauve color of the hair framing her face, and reflected off of the small Galaga pin clipped to a lock of it. Her face remained the main point of focus to you, her dark hoodie blending into the dimly-lit hallway with minimal effort.

The second thing to break the silence was a weak cry that escaped your throat as you shrunk behind the wall, only the top half of your head still visible to the three as you still stared at them.

The girl furrowed her eyebrows, concern on her face. “W-Wait, there’s no need to be scared…!”

“Huh? Are they a new student?” The appearance of the guy on her left became more defined as distress sharpened your senses, your suspicions of him seeming normal confirmed; while it was a bit rude to admit, he had a pretty unremarkable face, and even his outfit of a simple white shirt with a nice tie and dark pants was extremely basic at its very best. “I don’t recognize them…”

The girl shook her head after a moment. “We would’ve been told about a new student…”

You shrunk back a little further as the girl took a slow and careful step forward, leaning forward to get a better look at you. The way she held herself was very calm, not a hint of hostility seen in her body language or on her face, with even her gaze softer than expected when it met yours.

“Hey… my name’s Chiaki. Do you need help?”

Her voice was very soft as she spoke, her tone sounding too genuine for it to be part of some ruse to get you to lower your guard; she was even avoiding getting too close for comfort to you.

“That… that depends.” You peeked your head out a bit more around the corner, returning to how you had originally been before you shrunk back in fear. Your gaze flickered over to the two guys, before you refocused it on Chiaki again. “This might sound a bit strange, but… are you human?”

Chiaki paused as she blinked, and the three shared a glance with each other, the silence shared between them holding some sort of unspoken conversation. They then resumed looking at you.

“Uh, y-yeah…?” The guy with the unremarkable face spoke up, his lips pulled up into a smile that didn’t look entirely convinced of what came out of his own mouth. “We’re… we’re human…”

Despite how hesitant he was with his words, you felt a little calmer than before at the knowledge that there was a fellow human nearby, and you stepped out a bit more from behind the corner; a shaky smile made its way onto your own lips as well, the first step to confidence. “Ah, really…?”

The guy on Chiaki’s right caught your attention as he raised a hand slightly, and you were taken aback by how sickly he looked now that you could see him better; the unusually-fluffy hair on his head was a strange off-white color, and his skin looked too pale to be healthy. He almost looked like someone that should be on strict bed rest rather than hanging around a filthy place like this.

“I think the better question would be… are you human?”

And you suddenly felt not so calm anymore. “W-What?”

“Ugh, Nagito…” The other guy looked at Nagito as he narrowed his eyes into a glare, his lips now turned down into a frown that had clear annoyance written all over it. “That’s not helping.”

“Oh, I just think it’s rather important to know.” Nagito had a slight smile on his face, his posture relaxed despite the obvious tension now present in the air. “Because I’m sure we’ve all figured out what’s going on here, and it’s best to not keep anything hidden in the dark, right, Hajime?”

Chiaki ignored Hajime and Nagito as she kept her gaze trained on you, a soft smile coming to her face as she held a hand to her chest. The light attachment on her handheld was no longer casting light on her face as she held the device by her side, and due to how dim the lighting in the hallway was, you had difficulty deciding if the light blush dusting her cheeks was real or not.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” She extended a hand for you to take. “Let’s get you out of here.”

You blinked a few times, staring at Chiaki as surprise washed over you, and that was when you felt your nerves finally starting to settle; even if everything else within this old abandoned school building was making you freak out, the girl in front of you seemed to be a real light in the dark as she provided you respite from all the craziness you had witnessed. You hesitated for a couple of seconds more before deciding to go for it as you reached out your hand towards Chiaki’s hand.

The moment you were just an inch away from her, you felt a spark shoot from her to you.

It almost felt like static electricity.

“I-I saw them go this way!”

You flinched at the sound of a familiar voice echoing through the halls, retracting your hand towards your body and wincing slightly at the sight of Chiaki dropping her smile from shock.

“Don’t worry, Miss Sonia! I’ll catch them!”

“Hmph, as if a mere calcium crusader could catch the culprit that the lady saw! Go, my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, and find the intruder that has dared to roam these accursed halls!”

It took less than a second for your body to start moving again, your footsteps pounding against the tiled floor as you darted past the trio of maybe-humans; your mind felt blank aside from fear as you ran, hardly able to make out Chiaki’s words as she called out to you, her voice becoming mixed with various other voices that sprouted up somewhere behind you — you almost felt as if you were an animal, acting without thinking at the first sign of possible danger presented to you.

You just hoped that Chiaki wouldn’t think of you as rude because of this.

- - - - -

You hunched over where you stood, grasping at the wall and gasping for air as you felt your heart pound in your chest; you could still hear voices echoing in the hallways, the sound only helping to keep your heart rate elevated as you tried to figure out where exactly you were.

“Ugh… I-I think I ran past the entrance hall…”

You let out a small groan as your eyes scanned over your surroundings, the corridor completely unfamiliar to you. There was a staircase a few feet from where you stood, but you weren’t dumb enough to ascend it and get trapped on a higher floor where your only option of escape would require jumping out a window; even from just the second floor, you would have to hope that you could stick a safe landing in your panic-filled state. That left a door next to where you stopped.

There was a sign sticking out from the wall above it, but you couldn’t focus enough to read it.

“The others should be in the dining hall by now, young master.”

“Hey, I thought I told you not to call me that…? I cut your strings for a reason, ya know?”

You tensed up at the sound of a pair of voices coming from the staircase, footsteps starting to descend accompanying them, and your thoughts turned to finding a place to hide as you turned on your heel towards the closed door next to you, flinging it open as you attempted to run inside.

But you only took a few steps before crashing into something and getting knocked backwards.

You placed a hand on your head, rubbing it as you blinked a couple of times and looked at the sight in front of you; in the dim lighting, you were able to make out a girl wearing clothing similar to what a nurse would wear — or maybe it actually was a nurse’s uniform, you didn’t really know — who had also been knocked back onto her behind, a small whimper soon escaping her lips.

“A-Ah, I’m so sorry!” You pushed yourself up onto your feet, crouching down to keep yourself on the same level as the girl. “I-I didn’t mean to knock you down, honest! Are you alright? Hurt?”

You were, unsurprisingly, unable to make out much in the dim lighting, but from what you could tell, the girl was relatively unharmed. You did notice bandages wrapped around a couple of her limbs, but given that they were already there and the girl seemingly had no time to patch herself up after running into you, you assumed that they must be from previous injuries she had gotten.

You crawled a bit closer to the girl as she continued to tear up, stopping only when your hand touched something other than the cold tiled floor. The girl’s cold fingers twitched at your touch as you gently took a hold of her hand, the girl herself quieting down too as she looked at you.

You stood up, your grip firm on the girl’s hand. “H-Here! Let me help you up-”

The weight you pulled up in your hand was surprisingly light, and you looked down at your hand to see the girl’s hand still clinging to yours… and you saw only her hand, with part of her forearm attached to it. Its grip was weak, just barely seeming to hold on without falling to the floor below.

“W-What…?”

You slowly let your gaze fall from the hand you held and down towards the girl still sitting on the floor, your eyes immediately going to focus on her arm that was closest to where you had picked up the hand from to see that she was, indeed, missing an entire hand and part of her forearm.

That of which you were currently holding.

It moved slightly in your grasp, the fingers attempting to tighten around yours, before your own grip loosened completely and the hand fell to the floor. Your knees shook before giving out, your eyelids drooping to partly consume your vision with blurry darkness as you lost your balance.

The last thing you heard was a nervous voice shouting before it all went black.

- - - - -

“Wow, humans are even uglier up close!”

“Hiyoko, don’t say that!”

“What? It’s true!”

You let out a groan, shifting your aching body before noticing that you were laying on something soft, the plush surface under your head feeling like a pillow. Your fingers twitched for a moment before grasping at the thin sheets under you, and your mind finally realized that you must be on a bed right now. That didn’t really explain why you could smell food from the dining hall, though.

“Ah, they’re waking up!”

You opened your eyes and blinked a few times, your vision clearing up before you squinted at the fluorescent light that filled the room; this was the best lighting you had seen so far within this abandoned school building. You rolled your head over to see two figures standing at the side of the bed, and your body immediately reacted by making you sit up and push yourself away from them, but you snapped out of it when you almost fell off the other side of the bed, only managing to barely catch yourself. You glanced around at your surroundings, realizing that you were in the nurse’s office, before you refocused your attention on the two unfamiliar figures, still a bit tense.

The first was a girl with red hair — actually, they looked more like petals that wrapped around her head from the top to form a bob — and skin that had an odd green tint to it that made you feel a bit squeamish. The only other thing attention-grabbing about her was the camera hung over her shoulder, the device resting at her hip with her hands free and clasped in front of her.

The second was a smaller girl — who looked much younger than anyone else you had seen so far — dressed in a traditional kimono; however, ruining the otherwise innocent appearance that she had were the horns sprouting out from her head, the bat-like wings flapping from where they stuck out slightly below her shoulders, and the scorpion-like tail swaying side-to-side behind her.

You froze when the small girl grinned at you, her grin filled with unbelievably sharp teeth.

“H-Hey, you don’t need to be scared…” The redhead smiled at you when you shifted your gaze over to her, her smile much less threatening than the small girl’s grin, even though it seemed to be unsure at the moment. “I’m Mahiru, okay? Everything’s fine, and no one’s going to hurt you.”

“Says who?”

Mahiru looked at the small girl next to her, her smile shifting to a stern frown. “Hiyoko-!”

“E-Excuse me…” The sound of a soft voice cut off Mahiru before she could say anything else, and you looked over at the source, seeing the girl you had bumped into earlier standing a little ways away from the bed you were sitting on. You raised your eyebrows in surprise to see that you had guessed correctly that she was donning a nurse’s uniform, before you noticed that her posture appeared very timid; she was slouching, shrinking in on herself as if to make herself seem as small as possible. “I-If you don’t mind, I need to check to make sure you’re okay…”

Not a single sound escaped you as you stared at her, the girl staring right back at you.

The presence of a proper light source above you allowed you to now notice the varied colors of her skin, all being varying shades of pale green, with stitches connecting the patches that made up her body. You even noticed how her limbs were attached to her body with thin strings as well, meaning that, due to your sudden collision with her, her arm had completely detached from her-

The girl widened her eyes in panic. “Wha-?! I-I’m sorry! Did I do something wrong…?!”

You took a deep breath, your vision blurring slightly as tears pricked at your eyes, and your hands tightly gripping the sheets of the bed you were sitting on, your fingers digging into them.

“No, no, Mikan! You didn’t do anything wrong!” Mahiru looked at the nurse, her lips pulling up into a rather successful reassuring smile. “They’re just scared! It’s okay, this is totally normal!”

The sight of the zombified nurse almost breaking down into tears did help to calm your nerves the slightest bit, undeniable humanity within her action that broke through the dread pooling in the pit in your stomach. You attempted to relax your grip on the sheets beneath you as Mikan wiped at her face with her hands, and you did the same to your own face after a few moments.

“I’m s-sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“N-No, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have s-scared you…!”

“Oh, god, there’s two of them now.” The small demon girl — Hiyoko, as Mahiru said — rolled her eyes, her lips pursed in annoyance. “I don’t know if I can handle having two crybabies around…”

“See? Everything is fine!” Mahiru ignored Hiyoko as she kept her focus on you and Mikan, her reassuring smile still present on her face. “There’s nothing to be scared of, or to worry about.”

You sniffed, taking a few breaths to calm down before you focused your gaze on Mikan. “S-So… um… you said that you needed to check to… make sure that I’m okay, or… or something…?”

“Y-Yeah!” Mikan nodded, her voice determined despite the stuttering. “I-If you’ll let me…”

You flinched when Mikan drew closer to you, though you still tried to stay as still as possible as you let the nurse check you over for injuries; her touch was ice cold — if her appearance wasn’t enough to tell you that she wasn’t alive, her lack of body warmth was — and you shuddered as you tried to repress the urge to gag at the thought that an undead body was touching your own.

You tried to focus on something else, anything else, to distract your mind and stomach during the inspection, only to find your eyes drawn towards the stitches that littered Mikan’s body. The main thing to draw your attention to them was how they looked unusually loose, the strings that kept her limbs attached to her body specifically appearing to lack the tension needed to keep them from detaching like they did earlier, and it was a little odd that she hadn’t tightened them.

“E-Everything looks fine…” Mikan removed her hands from your body, clasping them together under her chin. “I-I don’t think that you’ll have any lasting injuries from w-what happened…”

“Great!” Mahiru looked at you with a gentle smile. “That means you can come with us!”

You blinked in surprise. “...huh?”

“Yeah… Mr. Fool’s Gold says that we’ve gotta have a meeting!” Hiyoko too had a smile on her face, though hers was a lot more unnerving than Mahiru’s as she smiled wide, letting you get another look at all of the sharp teeth she had in her mouth. “And you’re the guest of honor!”

- - - - -

You looked down at the plate of food that was now in your hands as you left the nurse’s office with Mahiru and Hiyoko, the food being the culprit for why the nurse’s office had smelled like the dining hall — apparently a “Teruteru” had dropped it off for you while you were unconscious after hearing that you fainted, but while it was a kind thing to do, you weren’t very hungry right now.

“Alright, we’ll escort you to the dining hall.” Mahiru was a couple of steps in front of you, looking back over her shoulder at you with the calm and friendly smile that you had come to appreciate greatly from her still present on her face. “It’s where our class always holds our meetings.”

The reason why you appreciated the plant-esque girl’s smile so much was that it was nothing like Hiyoko’s smile, which was always filled with either disgust or malicious intent; you had only known her for about ten minutes or so, so you were baffled as to why she was so mean to you.

The small demon girl raised her hands into the air happily. “Yep, it’s time for you to die!”

“What?!”

“No, that’s not what’s going to happen!” Mahiru put her hands on her hips, leaning slightly towards Hiyoko with her eyes narrowed into a soft glare. “Don’t joke about things like that, Hiyoko. It’s not funny, and we really don’t need them passing out again like they did earlier.”

Hiyoko looked to the side, her lips forming a small pout. “Aw, but that’s no fun…”

Mahiru glared at Hiyoko for a few moments more before she let her lips turn up into a smile again and straightened her posture. “Now, with all of that out of the way, let’s get to the-”

You blinked as Mahiru cut herself off, before you suddenly became very aware of a presence behind you, a shadow being cast over your shoulders even with the dim lighting in the hallway; the lack of fear on Mahiru’s and Hiyoko’s faces was reassuring, only slight surprise within their expressions, and you hesitated for just a moment before turning around to see a familiar face.

There was a hungry grin on Akane’s face as she looked down at you — or, more precisely, the plate you were carrying. You felt your body tense up at the sight, the way the canine-esque girl was towering over you making her expression seem more menacing than it actually was, but when you caught sight of her tail wagging excitedly behind her, you almost felt the urge to smile.

You held the plate out to Akane, your hands shaking just a little, and watched her grin grow as her tail wagged even faster. You felt the plate be hastily torn from your grasp before it clattered on the floor, the food completely gone; not a single morsel or crumb was to be found anywhere.

“Aw, thanks! I was starving!”

“We ate half-an-hour ago-” Hiyoko pointed accusingly towards Akane. “-you overgrown fleabag!”

“Oh, really? Huh, it felt longer than that…” Akane flashed a grin at you and the two girls, the sight of her canines a lot less scary to you now. “Well, training makes me hungry, you know?”

“AKANE! Your speed is admirable, but you shouldn’t run away from your training!”

The ground shook as a figure arrived around the corner in the hallway, both tall in height and wide in length; the silhouette of the new arrival was rigid and jagged, the dull gray of his stone body becoming more obvious to you as he drew nearer to you and the three girls around you.

“Sorry, Coach Nekomaru!” Akane continued to grin as she turned to face the stone man, her demeanor casual without a single care in the world, though her tail was still wagging slightly as if she was an excited puppy. “My nose caught wind of good food and I couldn’t control myself.”

“A healthy appetite is a good sign…” Nekomaru looked down at Akane with a frown etched onto his stone face, his facial features all being very sharp and serious. “...but that’s NO EXCUSE!”

“Hey, that’s enough yelling…!” Mahiru raised her voice as she put her hands on her hips, her lips pulled down into an annoyed frown. “You might scare our… er… guest? …yeah, guest! You shouldn’t yell inside anyway. Now, since they’re awake, we all need to head to the dining hall.”

“Gah-hahahaha! Okay!” Nekomaru shifted his attention back over to Akane, the jagged stone features of his face turning up into an excited grin; it was both unnerving yet fascinating to see stone more so fluidly, appearing both uncanny yet natural at the same time. “Akane, we’ll use this as a part of your training! Go around the school and inform the others to head to the dining hall pronto. I expect you to finish and be in the dining hall yourself within the next ten minutes!”

Hiyoko piped up, an innocent-looking smile on her face that didn’t fit the patronizing tone that came out of her mouth. “Yeah, Akane! And if you manage to do that, we’ll give you a treat!”

“Treat?”

The werewolf let out an ecstatic howl before taking off, disappearing in the blink of an eye and leaving nothing but dust in her wake, which you accidentally breathed in and had to cough out.

Mahiru let out a groan. “Come on, let’s just go already.”

- - - - -

You plopped yourself down into one of the chairs in the dining hall, and fiddled with your hands in your lap as you glanced towards the large windows you had seen earlier; unlike the beautiful sunset you witnessed before, there was just complete darkness on the other side now, the light of the lights inside only helping to make the night outside look even darker than it actually was.

The dining hall wasn’t completely empty when you arrived here.

The chef you saw earlier — who you learned was the “Teruteru” that had dropped the plate of food off for you in the nurse’s office, and had been in possession of your phone that you did, in fact, drop after Akane knocked you over earlier — was still there, cleaning up after having made the whole buffet by himself. Hiyoko had actually taken the effort to point out to you that Teruteru was the class pervert the moment you crossed the threshold into the dining hall, and it was nice to know that your gut feeling about him before was correct, and not just a product of your terror.

But at least he seemed decent enough to return your phone without trouble.

That said, the fear bubbling up inside your stomach still had quite a lot of fuel left.

Due to the lights in the dining hall being brighter than the ones in the hallway, you had to bear witness to what everyone truly looked like as they filtered into the room over a short period of time. You already knew what Mahiru and Hiyoko looked like in good lighting, the nurse’s office also one of the few rooms in the building that had some, but Nekomaru took your breath away when the light revealed the cracks and scratches on his stone body, which he just laughed off.

You had to admit that, even with how unsettling their monstrous appearances were, there was also something so intriguing about them that appealed to the natural human instinct of curiosity within you… but then there were the cases of those who appeared so human on the outside.

Chiaki looked as normal as any girl you might run into in a gaming store, and she had taken a seat right next to you after noticing your obvious discomfort with your current situation. The old handheld was still in her hands, the light attachment removed due to the better lighting, and she tried to pull your focus towards her video game to help distract you and calm you down; it might had worked better if it weren’t for the tingly “static electricity” sensation you got around her that you had felt earlier, the sensation a clear sign that she wasn’t as human as she appeared to be.

Nagito just looked even more ill than before, the bright lighting only making his pale skin stand out a lot more, and his behavior as he conversed with the others — he was seemingly ignoring you, which you couldn’t complain about — made it clear that he was a little off in the head. On the other hand, Hajime both looked and acted like a normal guy, though there was a noticeable scar on his head that was only partly hidden by his hair, the sight of it making you shiver a little.

It didn’t take long for Mikan to enter the dining hall after those three, stumbling a bit like how the zombies in classic horror movies often did when walking around. “S-Sorry for taking so long…!”

Mahiru smiled at Mikan reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Mikan! The meeting hasn’t started yet.”

“O-Oh?” Mikan looked around with a nervous frown on her lips, seeming to take a moment to check who had arrived in the dining hall before she did. “S-So… I didn’t keep you waiting…?”

“No, you didn’t.” Hajime also piped up to reassure the zombified nurse from where he sat at a circular table. “Most of the others aren’t here yet, so… you could say that you’re actually early.”

“A-Ah, okay…”

The nurse looked both relieved and slightly disappointed at that revelation, but she didn’t say anything more as she took a seat at the table Hajime and Nagito were sitting at — needing at least three reassurances that she was actually allowed to sit with them instead of on the floor.

The next to enter was a girl who you had never seen before, and the moment she opened her mouth, you were honestly surprised that you hadn’t at least heard her during your time here; the windows in the dining hall were already cracked, but you swore they grew a bit when she spoke.

“Whoa-ho! It’s true! It’s true! A human’s inside the school!”

Chiaki looked up at the girl calmly. “Ah, Ibuki… you might want to lower your voice a bit.”

You had to take a few moments to focus after your eyes stopped ringing — thankfully, your ears didn’t start bleeding from just how painfully loud Ibuki was being — before you managed to look at and take in the sight of her. Her appearance was a mess, her hair particularly wild with some of it having been dyed pink and blue, though she somehow managed to make it all work for her.

“Oh, sorry!” Ibuki sent you an apologetic smile, rubbing the back of her head as she made her way towards the table. “Ibuki sometimes forgets that humans can’t handle her natural voice.”

You raised an eyebrow as you stared at Ibuki. “Your natural voice is… screaming?”

“Haha, yeah!” Ibuki plopped herself down in the seat opposite to you. “It’s kinda hard to control, but don’t worry! I just gotta use my indoor voice, and then everything’s gonna be all rock ‘n roll.”

She appeared to focus for a moment, closing her eyes and putting her hands up to her head as she repeated the words “indoor voice” to herself over and over again. Even though you were still a little confused, you appreciated the effort she was making to not absolutely destroy your ears.

Your attention was pulled from Ibuki when you saw Sonia enter the dining hall with a nervous anticipation about her, her wings fluttering behind her and sparkling beautifully in the bright light of the dining hall. The worry laced in her expression only lessened the moment she saw you.

“Oh, thank goodness! You are alright!”

There were two guys that followed Sonia into the dining hall, who were also people that you had never seen before, but then you remembered hearing her voice in the halls accompanied by two others earlier; these had to be who she was talking to. The one to draw in most of your attention was a skeleton that had glowing pink hair that was only partially hidden under a beanie, and the other was a guy who had almost every inch of his skin that was visible wrapped up in bandages, though the attention that you gave him was soon lost to the hamsters that sat on his shoulders.

The hamsters were also wrapped up in bandages, which admittedly made them cuter.

“So… this is the foolish mortal that has dared to enter onto this accursed land?” The guy that was wrapped up in bandages crossed his arms as he stared at you with an overly-intense gaze, only breaking it from you when the hamsters sitting on his shoulders squeaked as if responding to him. “It is! My Dark Devas say that their scent is the same as the one lingering in the halls!”

The skeleton let out an annoyed sigh, and you silently wondered how he did that. “Geez, dude, Miss Sonia could’ve just told us if they’re the one or not. She did see them in her room, after all.”

“Oh! Uh…” You looked at Sonia again, your cheeks beginning to warm up from embarrassment that you had almost forgotten you experienced earlier. “...s-sorry about earlier. For both entering your room and then just running off like that… that was probably super rude of me, wasn’t it?”

“It is quite alright.” Sonia smiled brightly at you, her wings fluttering again and sparkling more as they caught the light in just the right way. “As long as you are uninjured, that is all that matters.”

Sonia then sat down in the other seat next to you, and it only took a couple of seconds before the two guys started arguing over who would get the seat on the other side of her; it was hard enough to keep up with the argument as they spoke over each other, but the fact that the guy with the bandages was spicing up his language only added another headache to the situation.

You hesitated for a moment before gesturing to them. “Is this normal, or…?”

“Yes, but please just ignore them.” Sonia continued to smile as if it was nothing. “Kazuichi and Gundham tend to often get into… tussles with each other, so please do not pay it much mind.”

“Kazuichi’s the skeleton and Gundham’s the mummy!” Ibuki piped up, her voice loud but not at all like the painful screeching you heard from her earlier. “They fight over Sonia all the time! It’s a classic love triangle, though… heh, Kazuchi refuses to realize that he’s on the losing side!”

“I’m surprised that both of them aren’t on the losing side.” Hiyoko had a smug smile on her face, her hand held up to her mouth and barely obscuring it from view. “It’s just corpse number one or corpse number two. Tell me, which one would you prefer? A bag of bones or a rotting fleshbag?”

“H-Hey!”

Kazuichi tore his attention from Gundham to look towards Hiyoko with shock on his face, and you were surprised to see how expressive he could be for a skeleton with no facial muscles.

“I’m not a “bag of bones”! I’d say my bone structure is actually quite good!”

Gundham crossed his arms, his hamsters following suit soon after. “Hmph… I’ll have you know, my corporeal form has been purified and treated with the salts of this mortal plane, and wrapped in these mystical strips of flax, to prevent the curse of organic decomposition from taking place.”

“I made it!”

That shout bounced off of the walls of the dining hall as Akane dashed into it, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she panted crazily and her tail wagging violently behind her.

“I did it in under ten minutes, just like you said to, Coach!”

Nekomaru let out a loud laugh. “I expected nothing less! Your speed is always improving!”

“So…” Akane glanced around the dining hall, an expectant glimmer in her eyes to match the excited smile on her lips. “...where’s my treat? All that running around made me super hungry!”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget!” Nekomaru turned in the direction of the kitchen, where you could see Teruteru drying the last of the dishes from the feast he made earlier. “Teruteru, how about whipping up something to reward Akane? I’m never one to discourage a healthy appetite!”

“W-What?” Teruteru widened his eyes as he stared at Nekomaru, before looking between the dishes he had just cleaned and the stone man. “B-But I just finished cleaning up from dinner…”

The chef just stared at Nekomaru, the stone man staring back at him, before he let out a small sigh and began gathering the cooking equipment and ingredients needed to whip up a quick treat for Akane. He soon disappeared into the depths of the kitchen, and your focus was pulled to the entrance of the dining hall as two more — again, unfamiliar — people entered the room.

The girl appeared to be made out of some kind of wood, her movements a bit stiff with a faint creaking sound emitting from her joints as she crossed her arms; she was clearly a puppet of some kind, but lacked the expected strings. “So… this is the human who entered our school…?”

“Well, that’s idiotic of ‘em.” The guy seemed human at a first glance until you noticed the few reptilian features he had, such as his tail and the horns atop his head, which still seemed like they needed more time to grow. He also appeared to have a few scales peppered across his cheeks, which made you think of freckles. “This place is obviously boarded up for a reason…”

“Oh, oh! Almost everyone’s here!”

Ibuki smiled wide as she looked at you, pointing a finger at the girl and then the guy.

“The babe’s Peko and the little guy’s Fuyuhiko!”

Fuyuhiko almost immediately glared at Ibuki, going from zero-to-a-hundred quicker than most would; his temper seemed to go hand-in-hand with his height. “The fuck you just called me?”

“Greetings.” Peko was much calmer in comparison to Fuyuhiko, seeming to pay little to no attention to how Ibuki introduced her, but the way her gaze pierced into you was much more intimidating than you would have expected, and that was when you noticed the sword on her back. “I hope you aren’t here to cause trouble. I would prefer to not have to take you out.”

“Then you can take me out, Peko-Peko!” Ibuki sent a peace sign to Peko, then winked. “Wink!”

You looked around the dining hall as everyone began to mingle with each other, you no longer being the main center of attention, and you realized that if it wasn’t for their — most of their — appearances, they would look like a normal group of teenagers hanging out. It actually caused you to seem even more out of place, being both human and an obvious outsider to their group’s dynamic; you actually started to feel a bit jealous of how close they all seemed with each other.

“Ah, good. Everyone’s arrived in a timely manner, I see.”

“Whoa! You’re the last to arrive?” Hiyoko looked at the last arrival to the dining hall with mock shock displayed on her face, widening her eyes slightly. “That’s not like you, Mr. Fool’s Gold!”

“Hmph, I was just finishing up some last-minute business before coming down here.” The last person was rather large, an almost intense aura of seriousness and regality surrounding him as he stepped further into the room. “This was just an outlier in my otherwise-punctual reputation.”

You couldn’t help but admit to yourself that he looked somewhat familiar, like someone you had seen before somewhere but didn’t personally know. However, there was something seriously off about him, something uncanny that made you tense up as your gaze was solely trained on him.

His footsteps were heavy as he approached the table you were sitting at, and you shrunk a bit in your seat from his piercing gaze, his eyes zoning in on you easily since you stuck out so much.

“Ah… so you’re the human who’s gotten inside our school?”

You swallowed as you stared at him for a moment, before you hesitantly nodded.

“And why exactly are you here? The boarded-up windows and doors clearly suggest that you are not to come inside, and should’ve been warning enough to prevent such irresponsibility.”

“I, uh…” You swallowed again, your mouth feeling dry as your eyes flickered around at all the people surrounding you. You had people sitting on both sides of you, and some even standing behind you, so you couldn’t exactly run away from this. “...I came here with some new friends- well, not really “friends”, but some people I met at my new school. They… they tricked me into coming here and locked the door behind me, so I was just trying to look for a way out…?”

“Hmph.” He crossed his arms, averting his gaze. “...so you’re here because of a juvenile prank.”

“...yep.”

Hiyoko stifled a laugh with her hand. “Oooh, so they’ve sent you to your death?”

“Please stop saying stuff like that!” You clasped your hands in front of your chest, keeping your gaze cast down at your lap. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong! I-I didn’t mean to come here!”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Chiaki placed a hand on your shoulder, and you winced as you felt a small bit of static electricity come from her touch. “You didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no bad guy here.”

“Well, prank or not, this is still a serious matter.” Nekomaru put his hand to his chin, seeming to think for a moment. “This human’s gotten inside the school and seen all of us. That’s not good.”

“To be perceived by a mortal’s eyes…” Gundham crossed his arms, his hamsters resting on his shoulders and snuggling into his scarf. “Truly a troubling situation, a fortune most unfortunate.”

“Oh, I don’t mind being perceived-” Teruteru finally joined the group, placing a plate in front of Akane before wiping his hands with a dishtowel. “-especially when it’s by such a darling human.”

You scooted slightly closer to Chiaki, leaning towards her for comfort.

“I don’t get what the big deal is.” Akane stuffed her mouth full of her “treat”, which turned out to be some kind of meat that smelled really good. “I mean, we let Hajime and Nagito hang around.”

Hajime let a faint smile onto his face, his hand raising to touch the scar on his head with his fingers, letting them trail along it. “Yeah, but… I think our cases are a bit different than theirs.”

“The only thing we share with them is biology.” Nagito also smiled a bit, his elbows resting on the table in front of him as he leaned forward. “But besides that… there’s nothing in common.”

“Well, if you want them silenced…” Fuyuhiko smirked. “I’ve got methods.”

The dining hall went silent aside from a few gasps escaping from some of the members of the group, all eyes on the reptilian boy; the fairy princess sitting beside you notably put her hands over her mouth, her eyes widened, while Chiaki furrowed her eyebrows. There were a few jaws dropped, Ibuki’s and Kazuichi’s more prominent than everyone else’s, and you couldn’t help but be thankful that most of the people here seemed to not want your human blood on their hands.

Peko blinked as she looked at Fuyuhiko, her eyes widened slightly. “Young master…?”

“Huh? What?” Fuyuhiko dropped his smirk as he looked around at everyone, genuine confusion on his face before brief realization and then a glare. “Goddamnit, I don’t mean killing them! I just mean blackmail and threats! There’s more than one way to keep someone silent, you guys!”

The presumed ring leader of the group, Mr. Fool’s Gold — no one had called him anything else — let out a hum. “While that is a solution, this situation doesn’t really call for that kind of action.”

You felt another zap of static electricity shock your shoulder as Chiaki gave it a gentle squeeze, and you looked at her to see her smiling at you; even though her presence meant having to get zapped every so often, she was definitely one of the more approachable people you had met.

She then turned her attention to her friends, her smile unwavering.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. They’re not a threat, and we can definitely trust them… I think.”

“I second that!” Sonia put a hand up into the air, a smile gracing her lips as well. “I do not believe they mean us any harm. Punishment for being the victim of a prank is not needed.”

“Well… if Miss Sonia says so…” Kazuichi looked a little uneasy, scratching his neck before he gave a thumbs-up. “Then they’re also good with me! Miss Sonia’s never wrong, after all!”

The hamsters on Gundham’s shoulders squeaked, and he chuckled. “Both the Dark Fae Queen and my Dark Devas say that the mortal is trustworthy… their judgement is not to be questioned.”

“Ibuki trusts them too!” Ibuki was shouting again, and had to pause briefly as she lowered her voice. “Though Ibuki hasn’t known them long, they don’t seem to be anything to worry about!”

“Well, duh!” Hiyoko giggled. “Even Mikan could easily take them out. They’re totally pathetic!”

Mikan nervously smiled, fidgeting with her hands as she kept her gaze averted from everyone else. “N-No, I’m sure they could maybe fight back… a-a little. If they tried really hard to do so.”

“I don’t think they would fight back.” Mahiru adjusted her camera in her hands, a smile also on her face. “They don’t seem like they want to hurt anyone at all, that picture’s pretty clear to me.”

“Well, then.”

The attention in the dining hall was brought back over to Mr. Fool’s Gold, and you shrunk a little under his gaze, though the feeling of another shocking squeeze to your shoulder comforted you.

“You. Do you have any intention of telling anyone what you saw here?”

You shook your head. “No…”

“You’ll make no mention of anything that happened? About the school or the people here?”

You shook your head again. “No.”

Mr. Fool’s Gold seemed to think to himself for a moment, his arms still crossed and his posture still perfectly straight, and after a few seconds of pure silence in the dining hall, he let out a sigh.

“Then I suppose you may go… but if you do happen to reveal the truths of this place to anyone on the outside, we will find out. That would be troublesome, though, so please do not do that.”

“Okay…”

He glanced around at the others, everyone still focusing their attention on him. “Now, will someone please escort them out? And check the doors while you’re at it as well, please.”

Chiaki stood up, her hand still on your shoulder, and you stood up soon after her, the others in the dining hall beginning to chat with one another again — though some still had words for you.

“Oh! Oh! Since you know everything now, you can totally come back if you want!” Ibuki jumped up from her seat, climbing atop the table to look down at you from her new vantage point as she formed glasses with her fingers. “Ibuki’s spotted a new friend, and she can’t just let that go!”

“It would be lovely, if you could!” Sonia continued to sit in her seat, her hands in her lap before she raised them up to clap them together once, her smile bright. “We don’t get to show our true selves to others often, so it’d be nice to have another person we can just be ourselves around.”

Gundham let out a low laugh as his hamsters squeaked. “The Dark Devas of Destruction give you their blessing to return, if your mortal heart would even be able to withstand their power.”

“Just… stay safe and all that.” Hajime had a slight smile on his face. “You should probably not sneak into any “abandoned” buildings again. You’re kind of lucky that we’re all you ran into.”

Fuyuhiko put his hands in his pockets, his lips turned down into a stern frown as he approached you. “Remember: keep quiet. You don’t wanna know what might happen if you don’t, ya hear?”

You just gave a slight nod before Chiaki escorted you out of the dining hall, the sound of various goodbyes and farewells ringing out from everyone; the shift from a bright crowded room to a dim empty hallway was jarring, but the dusty old building seemed a lot less intimidating than before.

You were finally going to get to leave.

- - - - -

The front entrance door was covered in wooden boards, the glass cracked with some pieces of it missing underneath; it was just like you remembered it being from all those many hours ago.

Chiaki pushed open the door, letting a cool breeze of the night air blow into the entrance hall and into your face — the air was so fresh and crisp compared to what you had been breathing for the last couple of hours that you could almost start crying, but you were also too tired to do so. The area outside the door was empty of life, the sound of city life echoing in the distance.

Those “friends” from before were gone, almost as if they had never been there.

They probably left hours ago after getting bored, while you had been fearing for your life.

“You okay?”

You snapped out of your thoughts as you looked over at Chiaki, a curious look on her face as she tilted her head. You blinked a few times as your brain thought about what she asked you.

“...yeah, I’m fine.”

Chiaki let a smile onto her face, letting out a small hum as she placed a hand on her chest. “...you know, you really can visit whenever you’d like. I don’t think anyone here would mind.”

“That’s… a nice offer.” You smiled back, shifting a bit in place where you stood. “Though… do you guys always meet up in the middle of the night, or was this a special thing, or, like, what…?”

“Yep.” Chiaki nodded her head. “It’s the safest and most convenient time for us to gather at the school. We all have lives during the day, so nighttime is pretty much the only option that works.”

“...got it.”

You took a few steps out into the cool night air, taking in a few deep breaths of air that made it feel as if your lungs were singing at how fresh it was, and you shivered slightly before hugging yourself with your arms. You then looked over your shoulder at Chiaki, who still smiled at you.

“I… don’t know if I’d be able to come here often, but… I could visit every once in a while…?”

Chiaki seemed to perk up as her soft smile brightened a little under the moonlight as she closed her eyes and removed her hand from her chest. “That’s great! We’ll all be looking forward to it!”

You managed to wave at Chiaki, the gamer girl returning it, before she closed the entrance door to the school, a loud click sounding as she made sure to lock it properly. You let your eyes linger on the school for a moment, taking in how it really did look abandoned; there was no hint or sign that there was anyone currently occupying the building, the school grounds just quiet and dark.

You then turned away from the school and let out a small sigh, beginning to walk away from the old school building. Your footsteps crunched under your feet from dead leaves and branches.

“...I really hope I’m not going crazy.”

[make-me-imagine]

Mischief

13 Days of Halloween: Day 3

Plot: You get caught while secretly trying to decorate the Atlantis base.

Pairing: John Sheppard x Gn!Reader

Warnings: None!

Words: 873

-

Walking down the hall, with a garbage bag in your hand, you smiled innocently as some soldiers walked past. Watching them disappear around the corner, you quickly reached into the bag and pulled out a band of orange garland.

Draping it along a nearby bookcase, you quickly looked around as you made your way into Rodney's office.

You knew Rodney was at lunch, so this was the perfect moment. Pulling out a small ghost figurine, you placed it on his desk, before tapping it on the head.

Next, you placed an orange wreath on the door. Grabbing another garland, you got on your tip-toes, and began to drape it along the top of his bookcase.

Hearing someone clear their throat behind you, you froze, arms up, garland still in hand.

Slowly looking back over your shoulder, you saw John leaning against the doorway, watching you with a smirk on his face.

You smiled innocently "Hello" you said in a sing-song voice.

His smile widened "Hello." He repeated, before he stepped into the room "So, you're the phantom decorator."

Dropping the garland where it was, you turned to face him, arms behind back, as you rocked on your feet.

"That depends on what you're gonna do about it if I am."

He hummed as he walked further into the room, placing his hands behind his back like you had.

Stopping right in front of you, he leaned in a bit and whispered "I'm not gonna do anything. In fact, I was gonna ask if you needed help."

A smile slowly spread across your face "Oh you were, were you?"

He nodded softly "Yep. I too think this place needs a little re-decorating. It is the holiday season after all."

"Well then-" reaching into the bag and pulling out a strand of purple ghost garland, you draped it around the back of his shoulders with a smile. "Get busy, Rodney finishes his lunch at 12:30."

Smiling, John leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek as he grabbed the garland "I had a feeling it was you ya' know. You're the one person I can imagine doing it. But, how did you decorate Carson's office? It happened when we were off world."

You smiled and shrugged, refusing to answer.

You didn't need to decorate Carson's office. All you had to do was leave a bag of decorations by his door and he would do the work himself. He said it was the "phantom decorator" solely so he would not get chastised for having done it himself. But John didn't need to know that.

John squinted "Alright, I get it. I'm not the first person to help you."

"Actually, you're the only person who knows about me." You admitted.

John watched you curiously, as you smiled gleefully, before placing a fake spider in Rodney's desk drawer for him to discover later.

After Rodney's office was well and truly festive, you eyed John. "Do you think we could get into Weir's office?"

John let out a huff of air "Now you're just playing with fire."

You smiled and shrugged your shoulder "It's the last place I have yet to add any decorations. My magnum opus, perhaps. You don't have to go with me."

He shook his head and smiled "I might regret this, but, let's do it."

As you and John approached Weirs office, you looked around cautiously. You couldn't hear anyone, and Weir's office light was off, signaling her absence.

Jiggling the handle, you locked eyes as the door creaked open.

Just as you were about to go in, a head popped around the corner of the doorway.

"What are you doing?"

You let out a startled yelp, as John let out a low gasp. Ronon smiled happily at the two of you, amused that he scared you.

You glanced down at the decoration filled garbage bag you had dropped, before looking at John. You both looked at Ronon, unsure of what to do.

You shrugged lightly "Uhhh, breaking into Weirs office to decorate it for Halloween?"

Ronon looked down at the bag at your feet "So you two weren't trying to find a secret place to make-out or something?"

"What?" You and John questioned at the same time, bewildered.

Ronon looked back at the bag before he turned away. "Lame. Have fun I guess."

You and John shared another bewildered look, before John stepped out and called out in a half-whisper "Don't tell anyone!"

Ronon waved his hand dismissively, but you were both sure he wouldn't say anything.

Quickly rushing into Weirs office, John locked it behind you. You looked around the darkened room, beginning to plan where and what to decorate.

"You know..." John began as he leaned in closer to you, as you looked over at him "This would be a good time and place to secretly make out."

You rolled your eyes and smacked him in the arm, while repressing a giggle.

"Ow." He chuckled as he rubbed his arm "Just a thought."

"Hurry up and decorate before she comes back. If we make it out of this safely, you might get your wish."

"Don't gotta tell me twice." John said playfully as he began to dig out the decorations.

xx End xx

General Taglist: @criminaly-supernatural, @caswinchester2000, @imaginesfire, @onuen, @witchygagirl, @alexxavicry

Stargate Taglist: @hybrid-omegaverse <changed url?, @gatefleet, @cs-please

[alpacaparkaseok]

she's a witch. he's a demon.

he's her final test.

she's his final conquest.

pairing: demon!joon x witch

warnings/tags: a smudge of sexual tension?? demon and witch stuff. be careful what you wish for I guess. let me know your thoughts - this was a fun lil blurb that I actually enjoyed fleshing out!

word count: ~800

happy halloween ya'll 👻

She thought she should tell him, then. As he sat there, eyes blinking, gazing at the night sky. Candlelight etched out the shadows on the column of his neck. They matched the black of his hair, the smile in his laugh long gone.

He was a ghoul playing with moonlight, and she the frightened girl inching forward against her better judgement. Afraid. Drunk on his wicked grin and trembling to think of what might happen if he saw her.

Afraid of the boy that held her in the space between his ribs - trapping her in a bony cage as his heart beat out the rhythm of her final breaths. She met him before, years ago on this same day. Drinking in the cold October air while girls like her made wicked choices.

"You're too close for your own good, little devil," he crooned, voice like satin tipped arrows. Her gasp tumbled from her lips before she could stop it, and he turned, eyes glowing in the dim light of all Hallow's Eve.

"I'm no devil," she chokes out.

Stepping closer, he drapes himself in shadows that whisper and writhe against his torso before looking down at you. His eyes glint with secrets carved out over centuries of torture.

"Devil," he whispers, reaching out to her still form. Her eyes fall shut just as he brushes a burning cold finger along the line of her jaw. "My little devil."

She had summoned him. Just as her mother had, and as her mother's mother had. Summoned him on the All Hallow's Eve before her 29th birthday.

"Witch, actually," she whispers, flinching as he withdraws. Opening her eyes, she sees the befuddled expression on his face. "I'm a witch."

"I've been waiting for you, witch. What would you have me do?"

All her life, she'd known that it'd come to this. The final test, the final coming-of-age quiz. Summon a demon, make your request.

Survive the encounter.

"I await your request," he hums, the beginnings of a smile ticking up the corner of his mouth. She finds herself mimicking the action despite the boost in her heart rate. She has a request - a simple one. Easy, if only she could recall it.

"My mother said you would challenge me," she whispers, bewildered. Having been raised on the tales of her ancestors and their great battles against demons on the All Hallow's Eve before their 29th birthday, this appeared to be a little lackluster. "That you would try to drag me down to hell with you."

The demon smiles. "Your request, little devil."

It feels colder now, somehow.

And before she knows it, she's asking one fateful question. "One dance, under the moonlight."

His brow arches, smile deepening. "That is your request?"

"Foolhardy, but true," she responds in a sing-song voice. "Unless you've never learned how to dance?"

The shadows surrounding the demon seem to weaken as he takes the witch's hand, gazing down at it before pulling her closer. "And what of music?" Her nose brushes past his throat even as his hand entwines with hers.

He smells of marigolds.

"You'll sing for me."

Instead of scoffing, he begins to hum. It's a low sound at first, vibrating in his chest and he pulls her into step. Beautiful, addicting. And then, he stops.

Sighs contentedly.

Then music, pouring in from all around them, the musicians invisible. Twisting and weaving an eery melody around the unlikely couplet until the witch begins to notice a dull ache in her feet. The demon smiles softly down at her, eyes no longer glowing or glinting.

Instead, they take on a brown hue. They appear almost human.

A thought niggles at the back of her mind, wondering how long she's been in this demon's embrace. Surely the dull ache clawing its way up to her calves can't be the product of a few moments of dancing.

Still swaying and deigning to be spun around before being drawn back to his chest, the witch's brows pucker. "My request has been filled," she mutters. "Release me."

Making to pull away, she finds herself helpless to let go. Her fingers do not obey her command.

The demon's smile flickers in and out of her vision as panic begins to flood her senses. Glancing at her surroundings, she notes that nothing has changed. The moon still shines down on them, the trees surround them untouched.

"If you wish to drag me to hell, you'll have to try harder than this," she shakily says, still unable to pull away. How long has she been dancing?

No more shadows embrace the demon's figure. He appears completely mortal.

Handsome.

Beautiful.

Even as he bares his teeth in a grin, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

"Where do you think we are?"

m.list || ko-fi

happy halloween!

[targaryenrealnessdarling]

Halloween Oneshot (aemond x wife!reader) coming Saturday (or Sunday depending on how hungover I am) so teasing you with the header 😈

I wonder if you can guess the theme 👀

[thecourtjester12]

It's coming...slowly....

[wall-e-gorl]

Beginning to make a Halloween dnd character :] his name is Felix and he's a menace. Freshly 15 yo, rogue teifling punk who doesn't quite understand what punk really means yet and is hanging out with the wrong crowd

[flowerandblood]

Halloween Oneshots

I apologize to everyone but I probably won't be able to write all the Halloween oneshots in time. The situation at the beginning of the week knocked me off balance for a few days, and I don't want to write anything hastily. I plan to publish one more oneshot. I may write the ones that remain later, but I probably won't make it in time in October.

Thank you in advance for understanding!

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

[blackypanther9]

Dia De Los Muertos – Bruno x Reader

Pick your Gender.

Dia De Los Muertos was coming. The Madrigal Family needed at least a few hours for preparing it and Bruno’s Lover joined in.

“Come on, Y/n ! We need to prepare everything !”, Bruno said happily.

“What do we need to prepare for ? A Birthday ?”, you asked confused.

“No ! It is soon Dia De Los Muertos !”

You looked at Bruno with an expressionless face.

“The what now ?”, you asked.

“Oh right ! In English it means the Day of the Dead ! We celebrate it.”

“Oh… Why tho ? What’s so special about it ?”

“Well, we have a legend of the afterlife, of some sorts at least. When you die, you will be in the Land of the dead. There is one special day though, where you can come and visit your Family. If the picture of a dead person is on the Veranda then the said dead person can cross over a bridge that is made out of Marigolds. We also spread these on the streets into our home, because we will help them find back that way. We celebrate and they celebrate with us. We put a lot of food on their graves and Verandas so they can take it home with themselves. We share stories about our passed away Family, to keep their memory alive and by that we keep them alive. If we forget about one of them or no one lives anymore that knew them or their stories…they disappear from there and move to somewhere else. If the picture of a dead person is not on the Veranda, they can’t cross and come over.”

You listened intently and were now just as eager as Bruno. You grabbed his hand and then tore him out of his room, which he yelped at in shock and then smiled by your eagerness.

Soon you were with Bruno in the kitchen and asked what you and him can help the others with. Bruno helped Julieta by cooking, and you helped Isabela spread the Marigolds. Then you helped with setting the desk and decorating Casita.

After a few hours you were all done and waited for the night to come, to celebrate.

Bruno and you were in the Living room reading and cuddling together while the others either played or talked about things for the next Dia De Los Muertos.

The night has arrived and you and Bruno had sneaked out of Encanto to bring Bruno’s Father his gifts. You selected them with him and set them near the River.

“Happy Dia De Los Muertos, Senor Madrigal.”, you said as you set it down and looked at the River.

“Happy Dia De Los Muertos, Padre.”, Bruno said softly.

Then you giggled and pulled out Marigolds and started a trail into the Encanto.

“Y/n ? What are you doing ?”

“Bringing your Dad into Encanto !”

“He got washed away right after he was slain. There is no certainty that this will work.”

“Don’t be such a wuss and help me !”

Bruno looked at you nervous and you sighed and continued until the Marigolds were connected to the rest of the streets of Encanto.

After you were done you ran back to Bruno and dragged him into Casita, unbeknownst to you two that a certain someone was watching you with a smile and followed the Marigolds for the very first time.

Alma was angry as she found out that you made a trail from outside to inside Encanto, but she didn’t let her anger consume her. Not today. You only wanted to help and that is all the more reason to not have a fit right now.

Soon the Madrigals ate and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. But everything stopped when a golden glow emitted in the center of their yard. Soon enough everyone gasped in shock and Alma almost fainted.

In the Center of the yard of Casita stood Pedro Madrigal. He had a big smile on his face and chuckled.

“It’s good to finally be able to see my Family again.”, he said.

“Pedro…?”, Alma asked.

“Hello Love.”, Pedro greeted back.

“I KNEW IT !”, you yelled and shook a shocked Bruno.

Pedro looked at you and chuckled.

“Thank you for helping me here. I never found my way to them after I died. This is my very first time.”

Alma looked at him in horror. His very first time…?

“So you never saw them growing up ?”, she asked.

“Sadly no. But I look at my kids now and I see just how much they grew and how happy they have become.”

Alma smiled, but knew she had to come clean with her Husband.

But even after Alma came clean, Pedro wasn’t angry with her. He was happy that his mijas (daughters) and hijo (Son) found love and maybe, just maybe, his hijo will have a child too. One day.

Today he was just happy to be with them and to talk with them.

END

[fanfictwins]

DRV3 - Halloween Special 2022

Summary: "As a young enthusiastic ghost hunter, you'd go to the ends of the earth in order to find proof of paranormal life. Luckily, you just have to go to a certain Ultimate Academy instead."

Word Count: ~15k

“Okay… just up and over, and-”

You launched yourself off of the cold metal of the fence, landing on your feet with a thump before immediately going to steady yourself, the heavy bag resting on your back threatening to tip you over if you didn’t.

“...I’m in.”

The area beyond the fence was dark — you were here in the dead of night, so that was to be expected — but it seemed like the moon above was giving you just enough light to let you see where you were going without the use of a flashlight; since waving one around out here would be a surefire way to bring attention to yourself and get yourself caught, you appreciated anything that helped you to stay under the radar of anyone who might be watching this place.

You weren’t sure what exactly the punishment for trespassing was, but since there were various “Do Not Enter” signs posted around the property and a tall fence with a locked gate, you knew that there was something awaiting those caught sneaking onto the grounds.

Shrugging your shoulders, you slid your bag off of your back and brought it around to set it on the ground in front of you before unzipping it. You shuffled through your items, eventually grabbing your camera — the battery fully-charged for the night ahead, with extra batteries packed just in case — and turning it on.

“Hey, hey, everybody!” You smiled, pointing the camera at your face. “I’m officially within the borders of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, and I’m ready to get hunting!”

You set the camera down next to you as you dug around in your bag again, this time grabbing one of the flashlights you had brought with you; while the outside of the academy was illuminated by moonlight, there was no guarantee the inside would be the same. You also strapped a pair of night-vision goggles to your head, an extra precaution should something happen to your flashlights, while the rest of your tools remained in your backpack for later.

After slinging your backpack over your shoulders again, you grabbed your camera from where it sat on the ground and pointed it forward. “Alright, let’s get going!”

You surveyed the area around you, comparing it to the map you had looked at beforehand and committed to memory after hours of staring at it in preparation for your trip; based on what you were seeing, you were currently standing in the area opposite to the actual school building. You would have been surprised at how big the property was if it weren’t for the fact that it apparently served as the grounds of a private academy for the crème de la crème of high school students.

The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles was supposedly some fancy school that exceptionally talented teenagers attended to hone and perfect their talents, securing them a successful future as adults after graduation, but, according to your research, the place only operated for a few years before it shut down. The remains of that promising place were left to the mercy of time, eventually breaking down into the decrepit disappointment before you now.

But you didn’t really care about that.

You were here to hunt for ghosts, not mourn a privileged educational facility that failed to survive; the depressing aura of broken hopes and dreams was actually what pulled you here — you would have preferred something along the lines of murder or other tragedies that ended in death, but your research unfortunately revealed a lack of anything like that — since that kind of aura would definitely attract something that would reside within the crumbling halls.

And you were going to find it.

- - - - -

“Okay, folks, the first place to check out is this building called the… “Shrine of Judgement”? I don’t know why it’s called that, but that’s what the map said the name was.”

Your pace was steady as you moved towards your first destination — the round building closest to where you had entered the property — as your gaze flickered between the uneven terrain you were walking on and the screen of your camera; the absolute last thing you wanted was for your footage to come out all shaky and unfocused when you reviewed it later, making all your ghostly video evidence unusable and making you waste an entire night of your life for nothing.

“Considering how run-down this place is, I was expecting to see, like… animals running about and stuff, but I haven’t really seen any signs of life yet… except for all these plants.” You panned the camera around as you spoke, letting it get a good look at the overgrown plants surrounding the cracked concrete pathway you had stepped onto. “Well, I think I did hear some bugs buzzing around, maybe, but that’s about it. That just means that any weird noises I hear are gonna have to come from one source: ghosts. Not, like, from birds or-”

The sound of a light thud behind you made you pause, your mouth snapping shut as your mind processed the interruption to your commentary; it was such a soft sound, something that would have gone unnoticed within the ambient noise of a normal situation, but in the presence of dead silence that only had your voice and the occasional buzzing of bugs to break it, that sound might as well be compared to the deafening crash of a rock smashing into the concrete behind you.

You swiftly turned on your heel, your camera poised and ready to capture the specter that had made that sound on video, but, to your disappointment, all you saw was a large wall.

The hand holding your camera fell slightly as a frown appeared on your face, before you came to the realization that there wasn’t a wall there previously; the thought of an object appearing out of thin air made a smile return to your face, and prompted you to take a closer look at it.

You took a step towards the wall, your eyes narrowing as you readied your gaze to inspect the potential sign of a nearby ghostly presence, and you immediately noticed that it looked… fluffy.

This wasn’t a wall; it was some sort of fluffy creature.

The low level of light made it hard to make out what exactly the creature looked like, but it was just enough for you to get a decent grasp on a few things about its appearance — namely, it had four arms, a massive wingspan, was incredibly tall, and… had striking red eyes that were staring right back at your own curious gaze, the pair of glasses on its face only amplifying its stare.

You continued to stare at the creature, you and it seemingly locked into an impromptu staring contest with each other, before you took your inactive flashlight and poked the creature with it.

It was tangible.

Darn.

Not a ghost.

The creature blinked and tilted his head, clearly confused. “You not scared of Gonta?”

“No.” You mirrored his actions, tilting your own head with a steady smile on your face. “Why would I be?”

“A-Ah… Gonta scary-looking. Most people run and scream when they see Gonta.”

“Well, that’s rude.”

You finally broke eye-contact with the creature to check your camera; all this standing around and talking about nothing important was wasting the battery, but you didn’t want to just turn it off in case something suddenly came up that you knew you absolutely needed to get on video. You had to return to your search immediately, making the most of this hopefully-haunted night.

“Anyways, nice to meet you. Goodbye.”

You turned around and started walking towards the “Shrine” again, readjusting your camera to get a good shot of the building as you approached its entrance.

“W-Wait…!”

Gonta — as he seemed to be called — followed after you; his footsteps were heavy, a complete opposite to the soft thud you had heard when he first appeared behind you.

You let out a hum, still continuing forward despite the creature following you. “What?”

“Gonta has never seen you before, so Gonta was wondering if you are new student-” His gaze was cast down to the side, appearing almost bashful in a way. “-and wanted to help you, like gentleman. Gentlemen always happy to help!”

“Me, a student? Of this school?” You said, letting your words hang in the air for a moment before you shrugged, “No, I’m just visiting… but you can still help me out, if you want.”

Gonta appeared to perk up at your answer. “Really? Then Gonta do his best to help!”

You just let out another hum in response, most of your attention captured by the building you were currently entering; after carefully going up the crumbling stairs and through the red doors that were basically falling off of their rusted hinges, you finally found yourself in the “Shrine of Judgement”. The round glass ceiling let moonlight into the interior of the building, though a lot of the inside of the “Shrine” was still shrouded in dark shadows, mostly beyond the center.

“Okay, this place is looking pretty spooky-” You panned the camera around, making sure to get a nice shot of the area, especially the rather fancy-looking waterfall-and-fountain feature — you weren’t sure why, but the fountain felt oddly empty, like there was supposed to be a statue there, though you just shrugged it off. “-but I don’t see anything too notable yet.”

“Huh? Who is new friend talking to?”

“Just my subscribers.”

“Sub… scribers?”

You pouted and furrowed your eyebrows as you brought your camera down from your face, your eyes flickering around the interior of the “Shrine”; sure, the spooky atmosphere was nice and all, but lack of good lighting was going to make it hard to capture decent footage of any ghostly activity that might take place here. The problem was solved when you clicked the power button on your flashlight, the beam of light helping to reveal what was hidden in the shadows.

The light revealed dozens of pink and white flowers growing within the “Shrine”, which hardly kept your attention for more than a second as you tried looking for anything of interest.

“That’s much better. You see anything, Gonta? …Gonta?”

You simply stared behind you at the space where the large gentleman had previously been, his sudden disappearance exciting you as you wondered if he actually was a ghost all along… only for you to return your attention to what was in front of you to see him now standing there. Even if your disappointment towards this was immeasurable, it wasn’t crushing enough to stop you from noticing that Gonta was staring intently at the flashlight in your hand, his gaze fixed on the tool.

You just stood there for a moment before moving the flashlight to the right, watching how his eyes immediately followed it; the exact same thing happened when you moved it to the left, and again when you zig-zagged the tool around in the air in random patterns.

“...huh.”

- - - - -

The “Shrine”, despite the promising name, showed no signs of any ghostly activity happening there — you had done everything you could think of, from begging to bartering, to try and incite any spirits that may have been residing there to do anything, but you got no response no matter what you tried — so you were forced to continue your search elsewhere on the school grounds.

You were also on your own again, having decided to split up from Gonta after his help held no results at the first destination; to thank him for his time, you ended up giving him the flashlight that you were previously using since he seemed really interested in it for whatever reason.

That wasn’t even close to the reason you packed extra flashlights, but you didn’t mind losing one if it was for something like that.

After that whole situation, you had tried to check out the buildings near the “Shrine”, but the weirdly-high-tech places were all inaccessible — no amount of force you used against the doors managed to open them, even when you slammed your entire body into them — and the dojo, as impressive as it looked, was found to be completely empty of life, both ghostly and otherwise.

That entire section of the school grounds was just a huge disappointment, but you still hoped that the rest of the property would have a few specters willing to interact with you.

You made your way up the stairs that led to a higher level of ground, once again making sure that your camera wasn’t shaking too much as you tried to not trip on the broken concrete steps, as a renewed sense of energy flowed throughout you at the sight of your next destination.

“Okay, folks, the next place on our list is… the dorms? Oh, this should definitely have something!”

As you approached the entrance to the dorms, you silently noted that it looked relatively nice compared to the other buildings you had seen earlier; it still looked pretty old and was probably not fit for human use, but given how long the academy had been closed, you expected to see a bunch of plants taking over the building or a wall having collapsed or just something other than a decent-looking building that could potentially be used again if someone cleaned it up a bit.

The doors to the building were wide-open, and you noticed that a thin film seemed to be covering the entrance — it kind of looked like invisible silk, the only hint of it being there being the way it reflected the moonlight to make it look like it was slightly glowing.

It was really pretty to look at… but that wasn’t going to keep you from entering the building.

You walked straight on through, shaking off the film from yourself once you were completely inside. The film was actually really sticky, but that didn’t stop you from thoroughly removing it from your clothes and equipment, tossing all of it onto the floor afterwards.

With a click of your new flashlight’s power button, you swept a beam of light around the area, and took a quick look around the interior of the lobby of the hopefully-haunted dorms. It had two floors, metal staircases and walkways allowing people to access the upper floor, and a total of sixteen doors that you guessed led to the actual dorm rooms; the smaller-than-expected amount of dorm rooms made you wonder if only sixteen students attended this school at a time, or if this was just a case of the people in charge stuffing their students into rooms like sardines in a can.

Neither of those options helped make the place look any better, and only served to make it more obvious on why exactly this place failed as badly as it did.

Your train of thought was interrupted by the feeling of a drop of water landing on your head, and you immediately looked up, the sight of a dark shape on the ceiling catching your attention. You moved your flashlight to where the dark shape was, revealing the shape to be a giant spider.

Its six legs were spread out over a decent portion of the ceiling, a variety of items — a few of which you noticed were a bucket of water, a spray bottle filled with some sort of blue liquid, and a cleaning rag — hanging from said-legs… and that was when you realized that it was missing a set of legs, meaning that it couldn’t actually be a giant spider and was a different kind of bug.

Unless you counted the two arms that were attached to the human torso sticking out from the body as “legs”.

The human half of the creature was dressed in typical maid attire — the professional kind of attire, not the type seen in anime — and was holding a sponge in one of her hands, the object clearly related to the rest of the things she was carrying with her on the ceiling.

You and her just stared at each other, your neck craned up to look at her as she craned her neck to look down at you, before you averted your eyes and puffed out your cheeks.

“Darn it, just a spider maid doing whatever a spider maid does.”

Your attention was brought back to the spider maid when she gracefully landed on the floor in front of you, especially due to how she managed to keep all of her cleaning supplies from flying all over the place in the process. She spent only a brief moment glancing at the entrance to the dorms, a hint of confusion on her face, before fixing her gaze onto you.

The expression on her face was serious, and you moved your flashlight to point away from her when you noticed that she was squinting from the beam of bright light being directed at her face.

“Pardon me, but…” Her voice was steady, her tone polite but not overly warm. “...could you explain why you’re here?”

“Oh, I’m just looking for ghosts. Have you seen any?”

“...ghosts?”

“Yeah. You know… ghosts, spirits, specters, phantoms-” You walked around the lobby as you spoke, keeping a smile on your face even as you discovered that every single door leading to a dorm room was locked, making them another area you couldn’t investigate. “-maybe a demon? But I’m mostly looking for the “used-to-be-a-human-but-now-they’re-dead” kinda thing.”

“I’m…” The spider maid hesitated, arms held together in front of her body. “I’m afraid I can’t say.”

You let go of the doorknob you were attempting to jiggle open, turning to the spider maid with a disappointed frown on your face. “Awww… you haven’t?”

“...my apologies.”

“Well, that’s alright.” You began heading towards the entrance to the dorms, a smile returning to your face as you mentally reassured yourself that you still had a lot of ground to cover. “Sorry for bothering you. I’ll figure it out on my own. You can just get back to cleaning.”

The spider maid jolted a little where she stood, reaching a hand out to you. “Ah, I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you’re allowed on the premises…!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll only be here ‘til sunrise, or until I find a ghost. I won’t break anything, promise!”

“I assure you, that is not my concern!”

- - - - -

The distance between the dorms and the school building was incredibly short, and you only spent less than a minute walking between the two locations before arriving at the once-grand entrance to the place where all those talented teenagers were taught all those years ago. The door closed behind you as you took in your new surroundings, an excited smile on your face.

“Whoa, this place looks like it’s straight out of a movie about, like, the apocalypse! Cool!”

You made sure your camera got a good view of the grass and flowers growing out of the floor, before moving it up to see the absolute mess the front hall was; it was hard to imagine what all of this had looked like when the place was still in operation, but it was probably less cool then.

“What are you doing?”

An unknown voice pulled your attention away from your camera, and your eyes darted around the immediate area to find a teenage boy standing a couple meters away from you. He looked to be around your age, and was wearing a plain black gakuran with white buttons; he honestly appeared rather unremarkable, if one were to ignore how unusually pale his skin was and how his white hair shone brightly in the moonlight streaming through the windows.

You shifted slightly where you stood, only one thought running through your mind as you took in how pale this otherwise-average teenage boy was.

“...ghost?”

“H-Huh?”

You took a step towards him, causing him to take a step back. “Are you a ghost?”

“Uh, n-no?”

You took another step towards him, causing him to take another step back. “No?”

“No!” The boy took yet another step back, appearing extremely nervous for some reason. “I am a robot, not a ghost!”

You stared at the boy with narrowed eyes for a moment longer, before eventually deciding to accept his claim of not being a ghost as true; as for his claim of being a robot, it didn’t seem to be true since he looked like a normal — albeit pale — human boy, but you weren’t really all that interested in wasting your time thinking about whether or not he could be one.

All that mattered was whether or not he was a ghost… and he wasn’t one, so that was that.

You turned away from the boy, and towards one of the hallways. “Then I’ll just have to keep searching.”

“W-Wait! Where are you going?!”

“To wherever the ghosts are! Goodbye!”

“H-Hey…!”

- - - - -

The basement gave off the exact vibes you were hoping for: creepy, damp… and, hopefully, haunted by a ton of ghosts of all kinds.

The boy from before — who you learned was named K1-B0, or, as he said you could call him, “Keebo” — followed you around as you inspected the library; it definitely looked like a place where a murder could occur, but, unfortunately, there wasn’t any evidence to suggest that one had taken place there. Even counting the cool door you found hidden behind a bookcase, which Keebo himself didn’t know was there, there wasn’t anything of interest to be found in that room.

It wasn’t until you entered the game room did you find any signs of life, though they weren’t the signs of undead life you were searching for.

There was a short man with cat-like qualities in the room, a pair of holes in his beanie to allow his cat ears to poke through it while his tail hung lazily behind him. He had something that resembled a cigarette in his mouth, but the lack of smoke suggested it was something else; you guessed that it was probably a candy cigarette due to it being nearly-identical to a real one.

The short cat man hummed, taking the candy cigarette between his fingers. “Keebo, who’s this?”

“Oh, this is… um…” Keebo looked at you, an unsure look on his face. “You… never actually told me your name, did you?”

“Why? Is that important?” You asked, your eyes choosing to wander around the room you were in instead of look at the possible-robot boy as you spoke — the machines looked to be in pretty good condition surprisingly, especially when compared to the rest of the school — before they stopped on the short cat man. “But I’m just a humble ghost hunter, looking for… well, ghosts!”

The short cat man raised an eyebrow. “They let a ghost hunter into the school?”

“I’m just visiting.”

“Right…” The short cat man turned his gaze towards Keebo. “I don’t think they’re supposed to be here.”

Keebo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Huh? Are you sure?”

“I don’t think a school like this would let in a ghost hunter.”

“A-Alright. Then I’ll escort them off the premises immediately-” Keebo looked away from the short cat man and to where you were. “-so I’ll need you to please come with- huh?”

Keebo blinked a few times, staring at the spot where you used to be before looking around and realizing that you were no longer in the room with him and the short cat man.

“Oh no!”

The short cat man sighed, his shoulders falling slightly. “Guess we should go stop them.”

- - - - -

“So the basement was a bust, but there’s still plenty more to check out!”

You held the camera up to your eyes and looked through its screen at the hallway in front of you, your pace steady as you made sure to capture any interesting bits of deterioration that you saw on film to put in your video later. This place was probably one of the coolest places you had ever hunted for ghosts in, though actually finding a spirit or two would make it a whole lot cooler.

The stairs leading to the next floor were the first thing you stumbled upon after coming up from the basement, but you skipped past them in favor of checking out the rest of the first floor first — to no avail, it seemed. The gym yielded no results from any of your devices, the tower that forced you to walk up five floors’ worth of stairs just had a whole lot of nothing at the top, and now you were just making your way back to the stairs a little more disappointed than before.

It was only when you heard noises coming from somewhere on the right of you did you perk up, swiftly turning on your heel and rushing towards the source of the noises.

“Alright, where are the ghosts?!”

You kicked open the doors of the room that you heard the noises coming from as you yelled, revealing a dining hall to the camera that you held up in front of you; just like with the rest of the first floor, it had been overtaken by plants of all kinds, but, unlike the rest of the first floor, there were people present in the room — hopefully ghost people.

“Nyeh?!”

“Don’t worry, Himiko! I’ll protect you!”

There were two girls present in the room: one of which was sitting at the table with a plate of food in front of her and one of which was currently striking a fighting stance after having jumped up from her seat when you kicked the doors open. You noted that a plate of food was also sitting in the spot where the girl that was currently glaring you down had previously been.

You lowered your camera as you looked between the two girls, clear surprise written on the face of the one still sitting down and a protective glare on the one that looked ready to attack you.

“...are there any ghosts in here?”

The girl striking the fighting stance kept her pose as her multiple tails spread out behind her, an obvious attempt to make herself look bigger. “Hold it right there! You don’t get to ask questions!”

“Is that a no?”

“I said no questions!” The multi-tailed girl let out a low growl. “Now, apologize to Himiko for scaring her!”

You simply stared at the multi-tailed girl as she gestured to the one still sitting at the table, before eventually moving your gaze over. The moment you looked at the girl sitting at the table, you noticed that she seemed to shrink, her shaky gaze refusing to connect with yours.

“My bad, g.”

“What kind of apology is that?!”

“N-No, it’s fine…” The girl at the table — Himiko — spoke up, still clearly nervous. “Everything’s f-fine…”

The room fell into silence after she spoke, the girl sitting at the table still refusing to look at you as the multi-tailed girl continued to glare at you. You just let your gaze wander around the room instead of focusing on either of them, debating with yourself how much of the footage you had already captured would make it into the finished video, before your eyes came to a rest on the plates of food sitting on the table; the delicious scent of it made you a little jealous of the girls.

You only had a couple of water bottles and a few granola bars stashed away in your backpack, which helped you not starve during your trip here but still left much to be desired.

“Did you get that food here?”

Himiko jolted at the sound of your voice, before slightly leaning away from the beam of light you were pointing at her and her plate of food. “Mmm-hmm. I made it myself… with magic~.”

She let a smile onto her face as she said the last word, the tone of her voice indicating that she was talking about something she was really proud of; this was also when you noticed the pointy witch hat sitting atop her head, which helped make her claim seem a lot more valid.

“Cool! Say, could you use magic to find ghosts?”

“Depends on the spell. I don’t focus on that kind of magic, though.”

You pouted as your eyebrows furrowed. “I thought witches could do anything?”

“Nyeh… I could, if I really tried, but that sounds tiring…” Himiko scratched the side of her head, her smile falling into a lazy frown. “And I prefer the term “mage” more than “witch”.”

The multi-tailed girl put herself between you and Himiko, dropping her protective glare for a proud smile as she fanned her tails out behind her, still continuing to try and make herself look bigger than she actually was. “And I’m Tenko, her loyal fox familiar!”

“Eh?” Himiko looked at Tenko with her eyebrows furrowed. “No, you’re not.”

Tenko froze in place for a solid few seconds before her tails and ears drooped, the pride in her stance disappearing as she swiveled around to face the mage. “Aw, please, Himiko?! I’ll be the bestest, most loyal familiar in the world!”

“No, that’s gross.”

You just let out a sigh as you adjusted your grip on your camera and flashlight.

Darn.

Yet another room with nothing of value in it.

- - - - -

“Whoever chose the hot-pink polka-dotted pattern for these stairs gets a round of applause from me. A true genius in interior design.”

You were now on the second floor of the school building, ready to face whatever ghouls may be lurking up here, and the very first thing you noticed was that the state of this floor looked exactly the same as the first floor; plants grew out of every crack and crevice they were able to squeeze through, showing how much of a field day nature had with the school after it shut down.

The decrepit state of it all just raised your hopes for finding a ghost within the halls of this disappointment of an educational facility once again, one probably being mere moments away.

You just needed to proceed forward to finally find it.

The sound of multiple voices down the hallway made you perk up, your excitement rising as you headed towards the source to see three figures walking your way.

“Thanks for coming to help me choose a gift for her. I’m not exactly sure what she’d like.”

“Nonsense, it’s a hero’s duty to help his sidekick, right? We’ll get her something she’ll love!”

“Of course we will, but maybe asking him for help with things like this isn’t the best decision. He hardly understands Earth culture as is.”

“Aw, don’t talk like that, Maki Roll! I understand Earth stuff just fine!”

The three figures froze the moment you shined your flashlight on them, and you tilted your head as you took a step closer to inspect them better, a glint of silver flying through the air where your head used to be as you did so. You retracted your step as you blinked, glancing back to see that a knife was now sticking out of the wall, before returning your attention to the three figures.

There were two boys and a girl, all of whom looked to be around your age.

“...so, are any of you ghosts?”

“H-Huh?”

You leaned towards the boy who uttered that sound in response to you, nodding to yourself as you noticed how unnaturally pale he was — okay, yeah, the last pale boy you ran into wasn’t a ghost, but this boy seemed to be even paler than him — which was brought out even more from how dark his hair and school uniform were. He looked like a promising possible ghost.

“You’re really pale, so you must be a ghost, right?”

“No, I’m a…” The boy leaned back from you, squinting his eyes as he brought up an arm to block the blinding light you were pointing at his face. “...a vampire!”

You narrowed your eyes at him in suspicion. “You sure?”

“Y-Yes…?”

You let out a hum as you backed up from him and moved your flashlight away from his face, before turning your attention to the other guy in the trio; his skin was a bright green, the color clashing with his predominantly-purple fashion choices and making him hard to look at.

“You.” You pointed your flashlight at him. “Are you a ghost? You don’t really look like one…”

“No…” His posture wasn’t as timid as the vampire’s, and he was the only one of the three to have a smile on his face. “I’m what you guys call… what’s the word? An… “alien”? The name’s Kaito Momota, Luminary of the-”

You let out a small groan, cutting him off as you puffed out your cheeks. “Darn, I’m not looking for aliens.”

“H-Hey!”

With the two boys confirmed to not be the undead spirits you were searching for, you turned your attention to the girl. She looked relatively normal compared to the boys, her skin neither looking sickly nor radioactive, but on closer inspection, you noticed that some of her skin was stained a dark red color — those areas were her hands and a majority of her forearms, as well a pair of markings on her face that resembled tear streaks in everything but color.

“What are you looking at?”

You snapped out of your thoughts and focused on the entirety of the girl’s face, the expression she was wearing an excellent example of the phrase “if looks could kill”; her eyes seemed to be glowing as she glared at you, her sudden hostility actually managing to surprise you a little.

“...are you a-”

“No.”

“Huh?” The alien looked towards the girl, his smile dropping into a confused frown. “I thought you were-”

“Shut up.”

“But the whole “Bloody Maki” thing-?”

“Do you wanna die?”

The alien rubbed the back of his head with his hand, his eyebrows furrowed as he let out a small huff. “Geez, you don’t have to get all angry about it.”

“Um… guys?” The vampire spoke up, causing the two to look at him. “They left.”

The trio fell into a silence as they looked around at each other, the fading sound of footsteps in the distance as the source traveled further into the second floor all they heard before a group of much louder footsteps ascended the nearby stairs. The vampire looked over to see two more of his friends arriving, glancing between them as he took in the expressions on their faces.

“Keebo? Ryoma?”

- - - - -

The second floor turned out to be nothing but a huge disappointment, and to make matters worse, so did the third; you would be lying if you said you weren’t starting to lose hope in this place being haunted by now, that sour feeling even making it hard for you to find joy in all the non-haunted things of interest within the building, such as-

“Who puts an entire tennis court on the THIRD floor? Man, this place really was eccentric!”

-but your mood took a turn for the better once you entered the fourth floor.

The generic school setting was replaced by something straight out of a horror film, with a wooden floor that creaked with every little movement you made, walls with mysterious stains splattered upon them, and dim red lighting that seemed to serve more as an atmosphere-maker rather than an actual lightsource to let people see their surroundings; it felt like a place where a brutal murder could have occurred, a place where someone could have taken their last breath.

It was perfect.

You felt a smile replace the depressed frown that had settled onto your face as you surveyed your surroundings, your flashlight sweeping over everything as its beam flickered a few times.

And then it completely went out.

You blinked a couple of times as you stared at the darkness around you, your eyes clearly having not been ready for the sudden change in brightness, before you shook the flashlight in your hand and clicked the power button a few times, only for nothing to happen.

“This had new batteries in it… wait-”

You could practically see the glow from the imaginary light bulb that lit up above your head.

“Technology not working…”

You swiftly turned on your heel, only to see a wall — a real wall this time — that most definitely wasn’t there before; the staircase had completely disappeared, vanished into thin air.

“...and changing architecture! This can only mean one thing…!”

You turned to face forward once again, stars in your eyes when you saw that the hallway was now seemingly stretching out to infinity, no potential end in sight. It felt like you had entered into a nightmare, trapped with no other option than to proceed forward even if you didn’t want to.

But you definitely wanted to.

You let a few excited giggles escape your lips as you continued forward, your camera carefully held up to your eyes as you let it get a good view of your endless surroundings; you didn’t want your audience to miss whatever cool thing might happen here, the mere thought of being able to show them such irrefutable evidence of ghostly activity fueling your already-growing enthusiasm and making it all the more annoying to see the screen suddenly become engulfed in static.

The screen had never acted up like this before; something must be messing with your camera.

That wasn’t a very nice thing to do.

You shook your camera around slightly — hoping that you could somehow disperse the static covering the screen doing so, even though you knew it didn’t work like that — before you felt a chill run down your spine, your entire body tensing up from the sudden sensation. The air around you felt heavier as an invisible force squeezed your lungs, the lightheaded feeling from your inability to get enough oxygen almost distracting you from the feeling of being watched.

“Nee-heehee~!”

The strange laugh echoing in the endless hallway made you pause, before you puffed out your cheeks and continued to fiddle around with your camera a moment later; you didn’t like how the ghost wasn’t waiting until everything was okie-dokie with your camera to come out, but after all the disappointment you had dealt with tonight, you were just glad it finally decided to show up.

You could only let out a small gasp once the static on the screen cleared up, your difficulty breathing making you unable to say anything more, before you swiveled around to point your camera down the never-ending hallway. Through the screen, you saw the silhouette of a short boy — he wasn’t as short as the cat man from earlier, but definitely had a good few inches to grow to reach what one could consider an “average” height — standing a good distance away from you, completely cloaked in shadows in spite of the dim red lighting above him.

The figure just continued to stand there as you moved the camera to the side, your eyes narrowing as you brought up your flashlight and repeatedly clicked the power button until it flickered back to life. 

The moment the beam of light poured out of the device, you pointed it at the figure to reveal-

“Aw, man… it’s just some kid. Darn.”

You could practically feel all of the excited energy that you had built up evaporate to leave nothing but a desert of disappointment in its wake; this had been the perfect moment for a ghost to show up, but instead all you had gotten was some boy who looked like an asylum escapee.

“Wha-? Who are you calling “kid”?” 

The insulted look on the boy’s face only lasted for a moment before easily shifting into a mischievous grin. “You’re pretty bold to say something like that, you know.”

You moved your flashlight away from the boy as you checked your camera, holding in an annoyed sigh when you noticed that the screen was glitching out again; however, instead of static this time, it was just completely black, as if you were recording in a pitch black room.

“See, ever since you stepped foot onto these grounds, I’ve been watching you. You don’t seem to realize-”

“That’s creepy.” You stopped the recording before resuming it to see if that would fix the issue. It didn’t. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Heyyy, it’s rude to interrupt someone when they’re talking.” The smile on the boy’s face dropped into a frown as he furrowed his eyebrows, his hands brought up in front of his chest as he clenched them into fists. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

You looked up from your camera and towards him. “Oh, sorry. Continue.”

The boy narrowed his eyes at you, you and him locked into a staring contest for a few moments before he appeared to deem your level of attention as acceptable, the mischievous grin that had been on his face before returning as he held his arms out wide beside him.

“You don’t seem to realize the danger you’re in… though, from my experience, humans typically aren’t that smart anyways.”

“Aren’t you a human?”

“Oh, no, no, no. Human I may appear to be, but human I am not.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Are you a-”

“-a ghost?” The boy cut you off before chuckling and holding a finger up his lips. “You’ve been asking that question a lot, haven’t you? But, no. Not that, either. I’m something far more powerful than some measly spirit. You see, I’m what you puny little humans call a- where are you going?”

You glanced back at the boy you had walked past as he rambled on about power or whatever, pausing for just a moment in your trek forward as you gestured at the endless hallway in front of you. “I’m off to find ghosts. Don’t you already know that?”

“Geez, don’t you have any patience?” The annoyance in his voice sounded superficial, and the fact that a smile was still on his face supported that. “Most humans would feel — SHOULD feel — honored to be in my presence, and here you are, walking right past me like it’s nothing. Were you dropped on your head as a child?”

“Bold of you to assume I was held.” You blinked. “...sorry, force of habit. I don’t think so?”

A hint of confusion flickered across his face, quickly covered up by the mischievous smile he was intent on keeping displayed. “Well, if anything, you’re not boring like most humans are. Your reactions are a lot more interesting than the usual scared ones I get.”

“Thanks.”

“It makes me wonder how you’d react if you saw how I really look, though I know I should probably just stay in this form.” The boy caught up to where you were, matching your pace as you continued your journey down the hallway. “You should consider yourself lucky that I’m not showing my true form to you, you know. Your mind would shatter from just a glimpse of it alone-”

“Weird flex, but okay.”

You paused for a second at the sight of a door located a little further down the hallway, before rushing towards it to see if it was real… and it was; before you could do anything with it, though, the non-ghost boy popped up into your peripheral vision, a carefree smile on his face.

“Anywayyys, I think I’ve held you up long enough.” He held his arms behind his head, his posture relaxed. “So feel free to go along now. Continue your little ghost hunt. I’ll just continue to watch you from the shadows, okay?”

You tilted your head, a smile also on your face. “Okay! But you should really find a better hobby. I can suggest a few things if you’d like.”

“Nope! Not interested! Bye-bye now!”

There was a sudden pressure pushing against your back, the source of it unknown to you as you clearly saw the boy still standing next to you with both of his arms visible, before you were shoved through the door that you didn’t remember being opened; you felt weightless for just the briefest moment as a loud slam echoed in your ears, and then everything went black.

- - - - -

You let out a small groan as you opened your eyes, the sight of a tiled floor greeting you; you simply stared at it for a moment before you pushed yourself onto your knees and immediately went to adjust the heavy bag on your back that had been knocked askew. With that settled, you picked up your camera and flashlight — which were both thankfully not broken — before getting onto your feet and looking at your new surroundings, your eyes widening at the sight of them.

The room you were now in had multiple floors within it, each one absolutely filled to the brim with relics of all kinds; whether or not they had actual value was debatable, but they looked to be covered in layers upon layers of dust, so you could tell that they must be really old.

And old stuff had a great chance of being haunted.

“Oooh, you think I should take a souvenir from this place? Maybe I’ll end up taking a new friend home too!”

“Please do not treat these objects like mere trinkets… or I’ll tear out your nerves.”

An unknown voice caused your outstretched hand to pause right above a display case, your fingers barely brushing against the glass, and you turned your head to see a man — correction, a person with the upper-half of a man and the lower-half of a snake — sitting less than a foot away from you; his human-half donned clothing that was very reminiscent of a military uniform, as well as a mask that completely covered the lower-half of his face and his neck.

You were surprised at how close he was to you; you had no idea he was even there before he had spoken. His snake-half was rather long, and was spread out across the floor in such a way that it seemed like he was using it as a makeshift wall to keep you from wandering around all willy-nilly. You were confident in thinking that you could just easily step over the smallest end of it — and hoisting yourself over the biggest end didn’t seem like too much trouble either — but it seemed rude to ignore his effort.

“Ah, sorry.” You pulled your hand back. “Are these yours?”

He hummed, gaining a look of thought. “To say that they are “mine” wouldn’t necessarily be the truth. I’m merely the caretaker of these objects at this moment in time. It’s like asking a security guard if they own the works of art they are guarding — I’m simply the one watching over them.”

“So… they’re yours?”

The snake man looked down at you for a few silent seconds, no discernible expression on his face — at least, from what you could see of the half that wasn’t covered by his mask.

“...yes, they’re mine, and I don’t appreciate having others touch them so recklessly.”

“Okay. I won’t touch them then, Snake Man, but-” You turned away from him as you brought your camera up, letting it get a good shot of the items in the glass case in front of you. “-could you tell me if any of them are haunted? Possessed? Carrying a spirit of the deceased?”

“You may call me Korekiyo. I assume you are specifically interested in “ghost”-related supernatural activity…?”

“Yeah! I’m a ghost hunter!” You flashed Korekiyo a confident smile as you held up your camera and flashlight proudly. “Or, as the professionals call it, a “paranormal investigator”!”

“You are… a ghost hunter?”

“Yep!”

He muttered to himself, his limbs close to his body as he rested his hand on his chin. “So, it really is like the others said…”

“Hmm?”

“Ah, it’s nothing important.” Korekiyo waved his hand dismissively, adjusting the position of his tail slightly. “But I’m afraid none of these objects are haunted, at least not in the way you’d like them to be.”

“Darn.” Any disappointment you felt was already gone by your next breath. “Goodbye, then!”

You stepped over Korekiyo’s tail, having to hop forward a bit when your back foot got caught, and headed over to the nearest door; you had no idea which door you came in through, your memory fuzzy between when you were pushed and when you woke up, but all of that wasn’t important to you as you focused on the hallway beyond the door you just opened — it looked exactly like the hallway you were trapped in before, but wasn’t an endless nightmare anymore.

The boy from before was also nowhere to be seen, but you hardly spared him a single thought when you realized you could finally resume making some progress in your investigation. There wasn’t much left of the school to explore, but you weren’t just going to leave a job half-done.

Korekiyo simply watched you leave the room, amusement in his eyes. “Kekeke… humans truly are such fascinating creatures…”

- - - - -

After skipping past the staircase that led to the fifth floor, you came upon another room on the other side of the fourth floor; opening the door to that room revealed an artist’s paradise, a white room filled with everything an aspiring artist might need — paint, blank canvases, blocks of wax, various crafting tables, a huge log for wood carving with chiseling supplies, brushes of all kinds and sizes… and, of course, an overwhelming creative atmosphere encouraging you to create.

You took a step into the room, noticing the splashes of black paint splattered on the walls and floor, before directing your attention to the wax statue sitting in the middle of the room.

It was clearly a work-in-progress, a roughly-carved humanoid shape, but was still impressive.

“Yah-hah! Who might you be?”

You jolted at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, immediately turning on your heel towards the source and scanning the area with a narrowed gaze before your eyes stopped on a painting that was hanging on the wall; it was extremely lifelike, the artist apparently a master at their craft.

The painting depicted a girl staring at the viewer, her body leaning to the side as a curious smile was on her face. You copied the action with your own body, locking your eyes with hers.

You and her just stared at each other as you waited for something to happen; it was a lot like a staring contest, except that you knew that you would lose this one since you were the only party who actually needed to blink. Even so, you still held out for quite a while before you gave in.

And that was when you noticed that the painting changed, the girl now leaning to the other side.

You adjusted your body to match the new pose, causing the girl’s expression to change to a closed-eye smile as she straightened her posture and clasped her hands together. 

“Nyahahaha, how fun!”

Your eyes widened as you let out a gasp and raised a hand — the one holding the flashlight — to your mouth, your gaze now glued to the lifelike painting in front of you; while the background of the painting remained completely static, the paint making up the girl herself shifted around the canvas with each of her movements. She was so animated, so unnaturally alive.

“Are… are you a haunted painting?” You tried to keep your camera steady as you pointed it at the girl, your hands shaking slightly. “A spirit trapped within the frame?”

The girl hummed, gently rocking her head back-and-forth as she thought. “I guess so?”

You let out another gasp as a smile slowly began to make its way onto your face; finally, after encountering nothing significant within this school, you had found what you were looking for.

A ghost.

You quickly approached the painting, inspecting it from every angle you could as you held your camera up to your face; you needed to capture every single glorious moment of this on video.

“Okay, this is super amazing! Um… what do I wanna ask you first…?” Your voice rushed out of your mouth, matching the pace of your quickening heartbeat, as you tried to stop your hands from shaking so much; you needed this footage to be as perfect as possible. “Oh, I know! Does it suck being trapped inside of a painting? I imagine you can’t really do much in there…”

“No, no, Angie is not trapped. I can go between any of the paintings hung around the academy to my heart’s content!”

“Is that what those are all for?” You tilted your head, only barely recalling the objects that you had kind of just ignored before now; they had seemed out-of-place within the crumbling interior of the building, but that was about it. “I thought those were just a strange decoration decision.”

“But Atua says that it’s time for me to move up a level!” Angie let out a laugh. “I’ve earned enough points to ascend to the third dimension!”

“What does that mean?”

“You see that wax statue over there?” She turned your attention over to the wax statue sitting in the middle of the room. “Once it is finished, that will become my new body!”

“A spirit transferring from a painting to a wax statue…” You muttered to yourself, tapping your chin with your flashlight as you stared at the blocky humanoid shape, before turning back to look at Angie with a smile on your face. “That should be possible, yeah?”

“If Atua says it is possible, then it is possible! He is never wrong!” Angie clasped her hands together joyously, her smile seeming to become brighter as she continued speaking. “Oh, what joy! With a new body, Angie will be able to mingle with all her friends, playing and dancing and eating Kirumi’s delectable meals! Nyahahaha!”

You nodded, the girl’s enthusiasm proving to be quite contagious, before you furrowed your eyebrows as you thought a little more about what she said. “How exactly are you able to do that, though? Make a wax statue while trapped in a painting…?”

“Oh! It is not I who makes the art, but Atua!” Her arms wrapped around herself as she spoke and closed her eyes, her smile a bit more peaceful now. “Angie offers her body as His vessel, and He creates such beautiful things with it! That’s why Angie needs to be completely alone to do so, so Atua can create without distraction!”

“Ah, understandable.”

Not really, but you felt like questioning her more about it wouldn’t get you anywhere.

“I’m just glad I finally found a ghost!” You said, adjusting your grip on your camera as you let it get a good shot of Angie swaying inside her frame, “I was starting to think that there weren’t any around here, my search having been a complete bust until now.”

“Hmm? That’s strange.” Angie tapped the tip of a paintbrush’s handle on her chin — you spent only a moment wondering where it came from, before assuming that the haunted paint was able to shift into anything she wanted it to — as a look of thought crossed her face. “There may be no others exactly like Angie here, but there should be other ghosts around. I know at least two!”

Your smile dropped from your face as you blinked, your brain pausing for a moment. “...wait, really? But… but I’m almost to the fifth floor and haven’t seen any besides you…”

You shook your head, putting a smile back on your face as you looked at Angie.

“Anyways, I should probably get going. I’ve got one more floor to check, and, hey, maybe that’s where the other two are?”

Angie raised a hand, her smile brighter than the sun. “Okay! Bye-yonara!”

“Bye! Good luck with your art!”

The moment after you stepped out of the room and closed the door, you heard a soft click come from it; you paused before shaking the doorknob, revealing that the door was now locked. There was no possible way Angie had been the one to lock it, her new wax body not ready for use, but then you remembered that “Atua” person she kept mentioning — he must have been behind it.

“...man, he’s so lucky to be friends with that ghost.”

- - - - -

“Thanks again for helping me. I know it can be a plain bother…”

“Hey, it’s no problem.”

The two figures on the fifth floor had their attention suddenly shifted from each other as they heard something thump near the stairs, their smiles falling as they glanced at each other and rushed over to the source of the sound; there was a person they had never seen before spread out over the top of the stairs, breathing heavily as they grasped at the white tiled floor.

You were currently in such a position for multiple reasons, but it was mainly because you had been hit by an unexpected wave of exhaustion while ascending the final staircase; this must be your punishment for not getting enough rest and nutrition before heading out on this hunt, made worse by the heavy backpack resting on your back. You barely managed to crawl up the stairs on all fours before collapsing, arms on the fifth floor as your legs laid behind you on the steps.

You spent a moment more like this before looking up from the floor, taking in the decor of the final floor you would investigate on your never-ending hunt for spirits.

“This place looks religious…” You muttered, before noticing the two figures standing just a few feet away — the girl looked pretty plain, donning a simple school uniform and a pair of glasses, while the boy looked kind of like an e-boy, his skin having a green tint to it — with varied looks of surprise on their faces, “...are either of you guys a ghost?”

The girl and boy just looked at each other before the girl spoke. “N-No…?”

“Oh… well, have you seen anything that might suggest ghostly activity on this floor?”

The two glanced at each other once again, before both of them hesitantly shook their heads at you; you just let out a groan in response before dropping your own head onto the cold floor, one of your cheeks now smushed up against the smooth tile.

The plain girl leaned over to the boy, a hand cupped near her mouth. “Is this the one the others have been looking for?”

“Maybe, but… they don’t seem to be as big a threat as the others said they were.”

The girl flinched as the boy began walking over to you, her hand reaching out to him in slight panic. “Rantaro…!”

“Don’t worry, Tsumugi.” He looked from her to you, crouching down slightly. “Hey, you okay?”

You pulled yourself up, shifting into a sitting position at the top of the stairs, before looking at the boy; the green tint of his skin was more obvious up-close, and you noticed that his hands were webbed, thin skin connecting his fingers together. Your nose crinkled for just a second when you noticed a faint fishy odor in the air, before you gave a dismissive wave and averted your eyes.

“Don’t… don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay after I… after I catch my breath…”

Tsumugi held her hands close to her chest as she glanced between you and Rantaro, before hurrying forth when she saw the boy gesture to the stairs with his head. She quickly descended down the stairs as Rantaro stood back up, giving you one last glance before following the girl at a more normal and relaxed pace, leaving you completely alone on the fifth floor.

- - - - -

You spent the next few minutes sitting at the top of the stairs, regulating your breathing and devouring a few granola bars and a water bottle — you became even more jealous of that meal you saw Himiko eating earlier — before you found yourself feeling a bit better; it helped that you also got to use your little break to admire the atmosphere present on the fifth floor.

Your first impression of it was still highly-accurate, and you wondered why anyone building a school would decide to make the top floor resemble a church of all things. Your research didn’t bring up any information regarding the academy being religious, which was kind of disappointing since places of a religious background tended to be hot-spots for paranormal activity; it was due to the energy of the places or whatever — you didn’t really care about the details.

But besides that, from the weirdly-high-tech areas outside, the hot-pink polka-dotted-patterned staircases, the horror-movie-inspired fourth floor, and the church-like fifth floor, this place really made for an interesting trip; the people who designed it deserved a round of applause.

There was something bothering you, though.

You looked towards the stain-glass windows, ignoring the designs portrayed on them as you focused on the bright light coming through them; according to the schedule you had made for this trip, daylight should still be a few hours away — maybe even more considering the way you had sped through the second and third floors due to the lack of ghostly activity.

You whipped out your phone for the first time in a while, squinting your eyes at the screen once you looked at the time. “What the heck…? That doesn’t seem right…”

The clock on your phone was telling you that it was an hour past daybreak, and the light coming through the windows told you that it was an hour past daybreak, but you were sure as all heck it wasn’t an hour past daybreak. Your biological clock refused to let you believe that.

But all the evidence was there.

You let out a sigh as you turned off your flashlight, stuffing it into your backpack before you got up onto your feet and turned your camera to face you. “Well, folks, I guess this is the end of my search into the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. It wasn’t a complete failure since we got to meet Angie, but I wish we could’ve found those other two ghosts she said were here.”

The sound of your footsteps echoed slightly in the empty halls of the academy as you began your long trek down the various floors, the light streaming through the windows giving the entire place a different atmosphere from before — it no longer seemed eerie, but rather peaceful.

That peaceful feeling was soon accompanied by the sound of a distant piano as you arrived on the second floor, the sweet melody making a smile come to your face. You were a little surprised to find out that there was a piano sitting somewhere in this school, but since you failed to search this floor thoroughly after running into that non-ghost trio, it became less of a surprise.

“Hey, folks-” You held the camera up to your face again. “-since we’re about to leave anyway, we might as well check out that piano, right? Maybe we’ll find one of the other ghosts there!”

That would be a great ending to your trip AND your video.

- - - - -

You bursted into the room where the music was coming from, a sudden cacophony of piano keys greeting your ears. Your eyes locked onto the girl sitting at the large instrument, a startled expression on her face as her hands sat on the keyboard.

“Darn, it’s just some regular girl.”

“H-Huh?”

“Sorry for interrupting your song. I’m just looking for ghosts.”

“You’re…” The girl blinked. “...looking for ghosts?”

“Yeah.” You gave a small nod to the girl before looking around the room, noticing how various music sheets covered the ground; most of them seemed to be near the grand piano sitting in the middle of the room. “I thought I could get in one last chance before I leave.”

The girl stood up from the piano bench, her gaze moving to the camera in your hands and the big backpack sitting on your back. “Oh! So you’ve been looking for a while?”

“I’ve been exploring the school all night to look for them. I was only able to meet Angie — the living painting — though.” You continued glancing around the room, raising your eyebrows at the large collection of CDs you saw on your left. “She said that there were at least two more around here, but I haven’t seen them anywhere yet.”

“Well, Maki’s not really a people-person, so I guess it makes sense that you haven’t seen her around…” The girl averted her eyes from you, a look of thought on her face. “And I know I haven’t seen you at all either. I guess we just missed each other? I was late to school today…”

“Hmm?” You tilted your head. “Sorry, I don’t see what that has to do with ghosts?”

She took another look at you, appearing to think for a moment before eventually nodding and letting a bright smile onto her face.

You found yourself blinking excessively and rubbing at your eyes as the girl suddenly became translucent; you were clearly able to see what was behind her, making the girl herself harder to focus on. However, your gaze was fully locked onto her as she appeared to get taller, your eyes darting downwards to see that she was now floating a good few inches above the ground.

“Wait…” You gasped, causing the girl to chuckle. “You’re a ghost!”

“Ta-da!” The girl clapped her hands together. “I’m a ghost!”

You immediately pointed your camera at her, stars in your eyes when you saw that she was appearing on the screen with no issues. She spun a little in the air as you filmed her, her hair and skirt flowing with her movements and creating a beautifully-haunting scene for you.

“Ah, I knew it was a good idea to follow the music!” You looked between the girl and your camera, a smile on your face. “That’s two out of three! I can now say this outing was a success!”

The girl let out another chuckle at your excitement.

“Say, could I ask you a few questions?” You walked around the girl, making sure to get some different — and appropriate — shots of her at different angles. “Just about some general stuff.”

She nodded, twirling around face you. “Sure!”

“Okay, so-” You went through the list of questions popping up in your head; the questions you wanted to ask this girl were extremely different to the ones you wanted to ask Angie, the types of ghosts they were so vastly different that it excited you to know that you got to see both. “-how easy is it for you to interact with material objects?”

“Oh, well… it’s kind of hard for me to touch things sometimes, except for the piano. I’ve never had any issues with that.” She wore an embarrassed smile on her face. “I know that’s a little bit stereotypical, though, for a ghost to play a piano.”

“No, it’s amazing!”

Her eyes widened. “I’m- I’m glad you think so!”

The room suddenly became a bit brighter as sunlight poured through the windows, the sight of which made the girl direct her attention towards it before she resumed looking at you.

“How about you ask me more questions as we head out? School’s almost over.”

You nodded, continuing to smile.

“Okay!”

- - - - -

Kaede — as you learned her name was — floated alongside you as you walked towards the entrance of the school. She had to remind you to pay attention to where you were going after you walked into a wall, your focus solely on her as you kept your camera pointed at her instead of on what was in front of you, but you hardly felt the pain in your face; it was nothing compared to the excitement coursing through your veins as Kaede happily answered all of your questions.

“I’ve never had someone so interested in me before,” Kaede said, floating backwards to face you, “At least, not like this. Most of the others are just “cool!” and then it’s over.”

“Well, I’ve never seen a ghost until last night!” You glanced away from the ghost girl for just a moment to make sure you didn’t trip over any of the plants spread across the floor; you didn’t care if you got hurt, but you didn’t want to risk breaking your camera right now. “They’ve just probably all gotten used to it because they see you all the time since you’re friends, right?”

Kaede hummed, putting a finger to her chin. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

You just smiled at the ghost girl floating beside you before you walked into another wall; after taking a step back and making sure your camera was okay, you noticed that it was actually the front door to the school building, but a small gasp from Kaede immediately pulled your attention away from it and back over to her to see that there was a look of realization on her face.

“Oh, I forgot to ask! You must be a new student, right?” She asked, swiveling around so that the two of you were both facing the front door, “I haven’t seen you at school before, and considering how you didn’t know how many ghosts were around here…”

“You’re not the first one to ask me that.” You pushed open the door, needing to do so since you, unfortunately, couldn’t go through walls like Kaede could. “But I’m actually just visiting-”

Your eyes didn’t even get a chance to adjust to the light outside before you were tackled to the ground, a strangled gasp escaping your lips as your body was harshly squeezed by some kind of thin binding. Your camera clattered to the ground a few feet away, and you hoped it was okay.

“Kirumi!” Kaede had an expression of confused panic on her face as she looked at the spider maid that had just tied you up with her web. “What’s going on?! What did you do that for?!”

“Ah, Kaede. Thank goodness you are uninjured.”

“Huh?!”

With your face pressed to the ground, you couldn’t see much of what was going on, and was only able to hear multiple pairs of footsteps heading your way, voices full of panic and confusion merging together into a cacophonic mess of sound… but you couldn’t care less about that.

You were just praying that your camera had survived its harsh fall onto the ground.

“W-Why is new friend in web?!”

“Ah-ha! I knew they were bad news the moment I saw them! They scared Himiko, after all!”

“Nyeh, I… I wasn’t scared! Just surprised!”

“Hmph, so they’ve finally been caught.”

“Thank goodness. I can’t believe I didn’t notice that they weren’t a student.”

“Well, I think it’s plain obvious due to their equipment, Keebo.”

You shifted your head to look upwards when a shadow cast itself over you, allowing you to see the boy from before — the one from the endless hallway, specifically; you had seen a lot of boys during your investigation of the school, but, unfortunately, none of them were ghosts.

“Aww… you got caught? How disappointing. I thought you were better than that.” The mock disappointment on his face shifted to a dismissive, and almost smug, smile. “I guess I helped you out for nothing, huh?”

The girl from the trio on the second floor — who you realized must be the final ghost by process of elimination, considering Kaede mentioned a ghost named “Maki” and the alien had referred to her as “Bloody Maki” before you had left — glared at the boy. “What did you just say?”

“Hmm?” The boy put his arms behind his head, an innocent smile on his face. “Oh, nothing important. I just messed with them for a bit on the fourth floor, that’s all.”

“Kokichi.” The vampire looked at the boy with a questioning glance. “Is that why we couldn’t find them when we followed after them? That was your doing?”

The short cat man adjusted his beanie, his ears twitching. “So that’s why it was like they disappeared…”

“I thought they were just able to slip by…” Keebo furrowed his eyebrows as he thought. “...but it was all because of Kokichi.”

“And it was a few hours after you informed me of them that they entered my lab,” Korekiyo added, a frame containing a painting with a concerned Angie in it in his arms, “So I’d say he kept them for… quite a while.”

“Hey, wait a minute!” You tried to adjust your position to glare at Kokichi. “I knew something felt wrong when I looked at the time! You took away precious time from my search, you jerk!”

“Wowww…” He didn’t look even slightly bothered, a smile still on his face. “You learn what I’m capable of, but you still insult me? You really are a bold one! At least you’re not disappointing in that regard… but you should know that I actually helped you. If I hadn’t done anything, you would’ve just been caught, and then you would’ve never gotten to meet Angie or Kaede.”

He knew he was right, you knew he was right, and he knew that you knew he was right, but you puffed out your cheeks in annoyance anyways.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” Kaede pleaded, glancing around at the others with a distressed frown on her face, “I have no idea what any of you are talking about! Why did you tie them up?!”

She looked at the vampire who came to stand beside her, a concerned expression on his face. “Shuichi?”

The vampire nervously smiled at the ghost girl.

“Sorry, Kaede… this person- they’re a human ghost hunter. We’ve actually been searching for them for hours, after Keebo and Ryoma-” Shuichi briefly gestured at the possible-robot boy and short cat man that were standing together at one edge of the group. “-told us about them.”

“Ghost…” Kaede blinked. “...hunter?”

Maki looked off to the side, fiddling with one of her twintails. “I could tell just by looking at them. These two idiots didn’t even realize at first.”

“H-Hey! Don’t say that about my sidekick and I!” Kaito was taken aback, his eyes wide as he looked at the bloody ghost girl standing next to him. “And how was I supposed to know what a “ghost hunter” is? I’ve never even heard of that before!”

“Please, there is no need for fighting,” The spider maid — Kirumi, based on what Kaede had said earlier — spoke up, “They have been caught, and everything is now under control.”

“Oh, oh! Angie has a question!” The girl in the painting raised a hand up, directing attention to herself as she continued to smile. “Um… what now? We can’t just keep them tied up, right?”

The group looked around at each other, waiting for someone to speak up; as time continued to pass by like this, with not a single word uttered, it became increasingly obvious that no one had thought about what they should do after they had caught you.

“What the fuck is going on over here?”

The sound of a new voice — this one oddly aggressive — caused everyone to look over at the source; you shifted where you laid to turn your head to see a girl wearing a pink school uniform that didn’t seem entirely appropriate in a school setting. She looked pretty normal if you were to ignore the horns, wings, and spiked tail she had — she must be some kind of demon.

“Are you all circle-jerkin’ without me?”

The demon looked around at everyone gathered in front of the school before spotting you on the ground, tied up tightly in Kirumi’s web, and looked at the spider maid with raised eyebrows.

“O-ho-ho! I didn’t know you were into that, Kirumi!”

Kirumi kept a calm expression displayed on her face, her hands politely folded in front of her body. “I assure you, this is a one-time thing. I do not enjoy trapping others in my web, but it is to ensure the safety of the group at this moment in time.”

“Safety of the group…?” The demon repeated, a brief moment passing before an annoyed frown appeared on her face, “Okay, I was joking the first time, but what the actual fuck is going on?”

The demon was answered by a mess of voices as multiple people tried to explain what was going on, the explanations prompting others to pop up with even more questions because they too, like the demon, had little to no idea what exactly was happening here.

You squirmed around on the ground during the confusion, trying to steady the weight of your backpack so that you could properly move around without being tipped over like a domino; your target to get to was your camera — if it didn’t break from its fall, it should still be recording since you never got to hit the pause or finish button before being rudely tackled. You wanted to make sure that the footage you got of Angie and Kaede — you hardly got any of Maki since you were fooled by her ghostly genius — was going to save properly. You knew that you would never get such irrefutable ghostly evidence like this ever again, this footage being your magnum opus.

You managed to wrestle an arm out the webbing, and reached out to grab your camera to-

“Yoink! I’ll just take this!”

The sight of your precious camera being snatched up by Kokichi made you freeze, before a burning fury erupted inside of you as you glared at the boy. “Hey! Give that back! It’s mine!”

He ignored you in favor of turning towards the demon.

“Hey, bitchlet-” Kokichi practically threw your precious camera towards her, your entire body tensing up and a small squeak escaping you the moment he let go of it. “-catch!”

“Wha-?!” The demon managed to catch your camera in her arms — to your great relief — despite her surprise; sure, her grip on it wasn’t the best, but it was better than seeing it crash onto the ground and break into a million pieces before your very eyes. “B-Bitchlet...?!”

You somehow managed to calm yourself down slightly by focusing on your breathing, trying to get yourself into a state of mind where you could think of something to do to save your camera, before your breath got caught in your throat at the sound of Kokichi’s voice deepening, the most unnerving and malicious grin you had ever seen taking its place on his face.

“Delete the footage.”

You began thrashing around in the webbing even before he finished speaking, trying to free the rest of your body as panic settled into your mind. “No-no-no-nooo…!”

The air was knocked out of you once again as you were pinned down, a gloved hand taking a hold of the arm you had already managed to free. You glanced up to see Kirumi standing above you as you struggled against her grip in vain, her strength far greater than yours.

The demon gave Kokichi an annoyed glare. “Geez, can’t you just do it yourself?”

“Well, yeahhh… but I can’t take away your only redeeming trait.” Kokichi put his arms behind his head, a simple smile on his face now. “Without the technology expertise, you’d just be a demonic prostitute, and that’s just too cruel. So get to it — chop, chop!”

The demon let out a “tch” sound, before she started fiddling with your camera. 

“Fine…”

She clicked a button.

“There.”

And you just stopped.

Kirumi raised an eyebrow in confusion when you stopped struggling, your body now lying limp on the ground with an unreadable expression. You felt numb — an entire night of your life was just wasted; you had nothing to show for your time here. You finally got evidence of ghosts on camera, irrefutable proof that could have shown the world the truth, and it was just deleted.

It was gone.

Like it never existed in the first place.

You blinked, finding yourself no longer on the ground but hanging from someone’s grasp, the webbing strong enough to support your weight. You tilted your head, looking up to see that the spider maid was the one holding you up; her strength really was something.

“Okay, the human’s been caught and the footage has been deleted,” Tsumugi said, looking slightly nervous as she looked around at everyone, “That's the end of the problem, right?”

Shuichi also looked nervous, but had a serious expression on his face. “No, we’ve still got to deal with them.”

“They know too much.” Maki fiddled with one of her twintails. “It’d be dangerous to just let them go.”

“W-Wait, if we can’t let them go…” Keebo looked at the bloody ghost, a nervous frown on his face. “...are you suggesting that we keep them here?”

“There’s no way we can do that!” Kaede spoke up, floating a little higher to bring attention to herself as she did so; even though you had lost your drive to continue forward, you felt a hint of a smile appear on your face at the sight of her. “We can’t just keep them here! That’s wrong!”

“Mmm, yeah…” Kokichi looked at his hand dismissively. “And there’s no reason to. We’ve already got Kirumi, and I doubt they’d be able to do a better job than her.”

Ryoma took his candy cigarette between his fingers, a calm expression on his face. “Well, we need to figure out something. We can’t let them go because they’re a risk to our safety, but we can’t keep them here against their will either.”

“Easy solution!” The demon placed her hands on her hips, a proud smile on her face. “We just blackmail the shit outta ‘em! Make them not wanna talk about what they’ve seen here!”

“With what information?” Korekiyo held onto his face with one hand, the other still holding onto the painting with Angie in it. “We don’t even know their name… unless you’re suggesting a more violent method?”

“Oh?” Tenko perked up, her tails flaring out behind her. “I can do that!”

“Hmm? No, no, that won’t do!” Angie shook her head, a smile still displayed on her face. “The human has done nothing worthy of punishment! That’s what Atua says!”

“Gonta knows friends are scared, but…” Gonta hesitated. “...Gonta cannot allow new friend to get hurt either!”

Kaede nodded, a worried frown on her face. “Yeah, that’s insane!”

The air was quickly filled with more and more voices as everyone joined the discussion to try and come to a decision on what to do; a majority of them vetoed any idea of violence, but also didn’t agree with the suggestion of keeping you here. It eventually got to a point where the same ideas were starting to be recycled, just with different phrasing each time they came up.

“Hey, I might have an idea.”

The sight of a webbed hand in the air quickly gathered everyone’s attention, their voices quieting down as they all turned to look at Rantaro; a serious expression was on his face as he crossed his arms, the air now completely silent as everyone stared at him.

“What’s…” Kaede paused, uncertainty written all over her face. “...what’s your idea, Rantaro?”

“Well, we erased the footage, right? So… how about we erase their memory too? Making them forget everything will solve both our problems.”

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, though your shuffling as you perked up at Rantaro’s words went unnoticed as everyone continued to stare at him; the first thing to break the group’s silence was the clap of Kaede’s hands as she clasped them together, a smile now on her face.

“That’s a great idea! It’s perfect!”

“Well, shit. That’s so simple!” The demon looked annoyed, averting her eyes from everyone else. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Don’t worry, Miu-” Kokichi had a wide grin on his face. “-we don’t expect much from you anyways!”

Korekiyo shifted the painting in his arms. “Interesting… how will we be performing this feat?”

“Obviously Himiko can do it!” Tenko exclaimed, a smug expression on her face as her tails happily swayed behind her, “She can do anything!”

“Nyeh..” Himiko lacked the enthusiasm Tenko had, her gaze lazily cast downwards as she frowned. “I don’t know… I’ve never done anything like that before…”

Angie held a paintbrush up to her chin. “I could ask Atua to do it, but he’s actually pretty busy right now.”

“Kokichi.”

The smiling boy looked over at the vampire who had said his name.

“Yes…?”

“You should be able to do that, right? Make them forget?”

Kokichi let out a long hum, continuing to smile all the while. “Maybe… but why should I? That’s the most boring thing we could do.”

His smile just grew as almost everyone started complaining — all of which was directed at him, of course; irritated mentions of his name were thrown around within the mumbling and grumbling and arguing that you couldn’t otherwise make out the words of, though you did hear a “fucking shota prick” somewhere in the mix of angry comments.

“Well…” Kokichi dragged the word out. “...since you’re all asking sooo nicely…”

You jolted when his gaze landed on you, and immediately glared at him as he started walking towards you.

“Absolutely not!” You thrashed around in your silky strait-jacket. “You can’t do this! What’ll I tell my subscribers?!”

Kokichi tilted his head. “Subscribers?”

“Uh, yeah! My subscribers! Followers! Whatever you want to call them!” You kicked your legs, causing Kirumi to hold you a little further away from herself. “I can’t let you disappoint a thousand people by erasing my memory! I refuse! I’m supposed to bring them the latest and best in ghost news!”

“A thousand followers…” Kokichi mumbled to himself, before a cheeky smile appeared on his face as he let out a laugh, “How cute! Come back and talk to me when you’ve got ten thousand!”

“No, no, no!” You tried to lean away from him as he got closer. “You can’t do this!”

“Mmm… yes, I can-” He leaned in closer, raising up a hand. “-and I will!”

He poked your nose with his finger.

“Boop!”

- - - - -

You let out a small groan as you placed a hand on your head, your eyes cracking open slowly as you squinted at the bright daylight that dared to burn your retinas. “...wait, daylight?”

The sight of a bright blue sky was above you, a few white clouds sailing by on the breeze, and you stared at it for a moment before pushing yourself up into a sitting position — your gaze was immediately shifted to allow you to see that you were, indeed, outside. You were currently sitting on a patch of soft grass and dirt, a massive fence just a few meters away from you.

You looked down at yourself, cringing slightly at the dirt stains on your clothing and skin; they almost made it look like you had been tossed onto the ground from the way they were smeared.

That became more of an actual possibility when you noticed how achy your entire body was.

You just shook yourself fully awake and checked the backpack that was next to you — your camera’s battery was low, you were missing a flashlight, and you had a water bottle full of empty granola bar wrappers. “That’s weird… I packed all of this for my trip just yesterday…”

You paused.

“Wait… what day is it?”

You whipped out your phone, your gaze immediately locking onto the date that was displayed on the lock screen: it was the next day — as in, the next day after the day you planned to take your next trip. You blinked, before twisting around to look at the massive fence next to you.

The property beyond the fence was out of your sight from where you were sitting, but you already knew exactly what it was  — the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. 

You had researched the place so thoroughly that you could probably pass a test on its history and prominence in society; not that it had much, but still. There wasn’t anything about ghostly activity occurring there in your research, unfortunately, but you concluded that was just because hardly anybody had set foot in there since its closure all those years ago. That had just made it all the more appealing to you, the fact that not many had dared to explore inside its walls.

But you dared to.

You were going to be one of the few to venture inside and- you were going to- going to?

But… didn’t you already go inside?

You winced, a sharp gasp escaping your lips as your hands grabbed at your head; a sudden pain struck your brain, making you fall over as your thoughts stopped in their tracks.

Images of a place you didn’t recognize flooded into your head: overgrown plants growing through cracked floor tiles, hot-pink polka-dotted stairs, an endless hallway straight-out of a horror movie, stain-glass windows that seemed like they belonged in a church…

…and a group of blurry figures standing around you, their voices muffled and echoing in the back of your head as you realized that you knew who they were.

The pain stopped as you gasped again, this time being a surprised gasp; a happy gasp.

Your hands slowly moved away from your head as you smiled and sat back up, the wetness on your cheeks ignored as you let out a small giggle. You soon got back on your feet, and turned to face the massive fence a few meters away from you before you hummed, turning away from it.

You grabbed your backpack, throwing your arms through the straps as you began walking away, home being your next destination.

Your footage may have been deleted, and you may have been thrown out…

…but there was always next time.