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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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Title: Trials and Tributes (3/5)

Summary:

“There were witches who lived among them. Or so that’s what Levi was told. He just could not believe for the life of him that she’d be one of them.”

Levi is a soldier who interrogates witches before they are put on trial and Hange might just be a witch.

Levihan Secret Santa Gift for @cleacourgette

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Link to other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

They were working late that night. So unusually late that at first, Levi had taken Erwin’s closing the windows as a sign that they should finish for the night. He had started to empty his own desk of paperwork when Erwin spoke up.

“How were the trials?”

“Routine.”

Erwin raised one eyebrow. “The trials for someone so important to you volunteered to facilitate it?”

“Yes, they concluded she was a witch and we’re moving on to the swimming test. It’s in two days.” Levi said as mechanically as possible, not wanting his true emotions to leak out.

“Do you really believe she was the one responsible for the plague in your village? The plague which took your mother I mean?” Erwin did not need to clarify it. Yet, he did and that clarification only made Levi's chest tighten.

“Who else? She murdered a child then she disappeared.”

“I visited Hange after her last trial, had a small chat with her.”

“Of course she wouldn’t admit it.”

“That wasn’t what I asked about. I wanted to understand for myself what happened with that incident back she was a child, when she was accused of murder.”

“She said herself, she didn’t know what happened to him.”

Erwin shook his head. “She didn’t know. But the other people from the town did.”

Levi’s eyes widened in surprise. Suddenly he was self conscious of his disconnect from the happenings of the town as a child. Although he was considered one of the townspeople then. Having had to take care of his sick mother, he never had the chance to go out and meet many people nor discuss what had been happening around the town.

“I checked the reports in the capital library. Tobias’ mother reported that she had found red welts on her son’s back when he got home from playing with the kids then his body started to swell. Within an hour, he started to have a hard time breathing. His throat closed and with no means of breathing, he passed away quickly.”

The circumstances of his death were strange. Strange enough that the townspeople had come together to organize a witch hunt.

“They also recorded the accounts of the witnesses who were playing with Hange and Tobias that day. And when I checked them, they aligned well with the story Hange had given me. She pushed Tobias into a grassy patch. One of the boys who had been left there when Tobi and Hange both went home mentioned that they might have landed on a fire ant mound which explains the itchy red welts on Tobi’s back.”

Levi had been bitten enough times to know ant bites were painful. “But ant bites aren’t fatal.”

“This is where I did some extra research and talked to some more apothecary's and doctors. Apparently it is not completely implausible to infer that Tobias died from something called an allergic reaction. The swelling of his face, the difficulty breathing from an insect bite. It lines up so well with some of the other writings from doctors."

“Then how do you explain the plague?” Levi asked.

Erwin sighed. “I don’t think there’s any better way to tell you this but, I don’t believe the plague that killed your mother was caused by a witch. In fact, I don't believe witches actually exist.

Trials and Tributes

“Levi, I have a theory.”

“You always have theories Hange,” Levi said, not looking up from the book he was reading.

“Humor me! That’s my book so I can get it back from you anytime I want.” Hange put her hand on the page he was reading so suddenly and so rudely that Levi had to resist the urge to slam the book closed on her hands then and there.

“Okay. I’m humoring you," Levi said.

“So, lately I’ve been noticing something about my herb garden. There is a small area where plants tended to die at a faster rate.”

“Uhuh.”

“So I pulled out the dying plants and I noticed something common about all of them. They had these white spots all over the stems and the leaves. They were like spider webs but there were more webs then spiders and you know the plants closest to them started to have those white spots too.”

“Oh, okay so a little discoloration on leaves,” Levi said matter-of-factly.

“So what if those white things are diseases, and being closer to one another, they spread more easily. What if people stuck together in close quarters just end up getting sick with the same disease? Maybe there are these invisible particles that fly through the air and when they get into people, people get sick. Maybe there are special particles which can swim too and when people drink the water they get sick?

Levi went back to the reading as Hange continued to ramble on. Somehow her theory had become too far fetched, not worth the time of day to even listen to anymore

“Didn’t your mother die in a plague? What if those particles are what causes plagues? ”

Trials and Tributes

Levi had to admit that at the moment Erwin had suggested that witches might not exist, he did not feel adamant at all or even indignant at that claim. A wave of relief had rushed through him and he found himself settling back down on the chair in shock, his plans to clear his desk forgotten.

“Hange traced the origin of the dysentery problem to the well at the center of town…” Levi said, mostly too himself. Suddenly the ramblings and the theories Hange had made years ago over tea and book readings were suddenly starting to make more sense. “Erwin, you might be right.”

Erwin and Levi found themselves making their way to the prison cell where Hange was being held to satisfy their own curiosity.

The guard was quick to leave as soon as Erwin and Levi entered. Levi stood by the door, keeping an ear open for any footsteps that might be coming too near, and might possibly hear their conversations.

It was his first time visiting her cell in days but he couldn’t help but notice she had lost weight since he last saw her. He made a mental note to sneak more food next time he came over.

“Hange, sorry to bother you but we have something we wanted to confirm with you,” Erwin started as he settled himself on a chair in front of her cell.

“Ask away. It’s not like I have anything better to do here.”

It’s not like I have anything better to do here. Hange had repeated that line so many times back in the cabin in the woods. The way she had said it then though was softer and alarmingly toneless. Levi snuck a glance at her face or at least what he could make out from his angle. She had bent her head down, not bothering to look up at both him and Erwin. From what he could make out though, her eyes were downcast and the glint was nothing more than a flicker of what it used to be. At that moment, she looked completely disconsolate.

“How did you trace the diseases back to the well?” It was Erwin who spoke up. In that few seconds of silence, it was probably only Erwin who would have had the strength to start the conversation.

“The dysentery problem?” Hange asked.

Erwin nodded. “Yes. The one they discussed in your trial.” An unnecessary clarification but somehow, Levi felt it was needed, to fill the silence in the room and hopefully to get Hange to talk.

“I did my research,” Hange answered. “I was getting more than a dozen patients a day. I asked them where they lived… What they ate…” Hange trailed off.

Once again, the three all waited in silence. As they sat, Levi stood. And as Levi stood, he continued to entertain thoughts in his head. His mind was racing and it felt like it was only getting faster.

Maybe there are these invisible particles that fly through the air and when they get into people, people get sick. Maybe there are special particles which can swim too and when people drink the water they get sick?

“Hange, you told me long ago that you think there are these invisible particles in the air that can swim. And when people accidentally eat them they get sick. Is that what made you think that it could have come from the well in the center of town?”

Hange nodded.

“Do you think that the plague that happened when we were eight was from those same invisible particles?” Levi pressed.

She nodded again.

Erwin looked up at Levi in surprise. Levi remembered then that he never did tell Erwin that Hange was not an enemy but in fact, a childhood friend. Erwin was sharp though and within seconds that look of surprise had shifted to one of understanding. Levi did not need to explain anything.

“Levi, do you believe I’m a witch?”

That was the moment the survivor instinct inside of him decided to make itself known. Witches can compel their victims. Witches can bewitch. It was a battle between that part of him that resisted the urge to believe her and the part of him that wanted to accept her, to trust her.

Hell. We’ve known each other for years. She hadn’t done anything then to break his trust. Actually, he was the one who had broken his promise years ago.

“I don’t know.” was all Levi could let out. Those two sides of him had settled for that as a compromise.

“I for one don’t believe in witchcraft,” Erwin admitted before Levi and Hange could react beyond Levi’s admittance of neutrality. “And I will do what I need to do to make these lynchings end. If I come across anything of interest, anything which can help your case, I’ll pass it on to you. Thank you for your cooperation Hange.”

With that, Erwin stood up and exited the room leaving Levi scrambling to pick up the pieces.

“Levi, let me ask you something.” Hange asked. “If I really were a witch, if I did have malevolent intentions, don’t you think I would have done something a long time ago already?”

What if she did it all to manipulate me. What if she needs me for some end goal.

“Don’t get me wrong Hange. I feel compelled to help you and I probably will anyway,” Levi answered. “I just can’t discount the fact that this could be manipulation on your end.”

Hange looked up at him and for the first time that night, Levi saw her face for what it was. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were red and the lines under her eyes were only more defined than they were before. He only had a split second though to take in those features before they oriented themselves into a familiar expression he had come to know so well.

A simple, maybe even naive smile. “If you believe you’re being manipulated, then I give you permission not to bend over back for me. I’m ready to die.”

That could have easily been interpreted as manipulation. As Hange said that, Levi only felt more determined to find a way to save her. He couldn’t help but note though the Hange he knew was straightforward and not at all manipulative. She had always said what she meant or so that was what he had believed.

Levi found himself questioning those voices in his head instead. Those voices that doubted Hange. Maybe they were the ones manipulating me.

Levi gripped at the bars tightly and leaned closer towards her or as close as he could get at least when they were separated by prison bars “I don't know if this is all a game. If it is, you’re doing good because either way, I’m going to do what I can so you can make it out of this alive."

"Right after saying you believe I'm a witch?"

"You were my best friend. I owe you my younger years." Levi answered. " And as your best friend, I'll find a way out of this for you. And if I need to, I’ll take you out of this country, I’ll bring you down south."

Trials and Tributes

It was a very cold night. So cold that Levi wished he could have put it off to another night. Given that Hange would be taking the swimming test the day after tomorrow, he knew he only had that night to test his plan for himself.

As soon as the bible tests were over, Levi had been assigned to find a place to execute the swimming test. Even before he had visited Hange in the dungeon that night with Erwin, the gears in his mind had already been moving to keep Hange alive.

He had done his research from talking to the townspeople about bodies of water, geography and nearby hiding places for criminals. For research. He had said then. Nobody did ask too much of it. He was a soldier after all who kept the peace of their kingdom.

The time he had spent collecting information had given him options. The cost benefit analysis he did given those options was what led him to decide on one particular cliff that overlooked the sea only a thirty minute carriage ride from her prison. The locals had mentioned that it was a good area for cliff diving, the water was of a fair depth that it would be safe to dive.

And that’s what I have to see for myself. It was going to be his job to push Hange into the water in less than 24 hours, the least he could do is try it himself.

It was a risky move. Especially when his cheeks were already turning numb from the cold. Levi had to admit he was probably risking his own life at that moment. As he removed his overcoat and the shirt underneath with the intention of diving into the water head first, Levi had to take multiple breaks. His body was protesting the action and the protest manifested itself as a light shudder every time the cool night breeze brushed passed him.

You’re bewitched. Those voices reminded him. Levi did not need to listen though. Before he could even allow himself a second thought about his decision, before his body and his survival instincts could push him back, Levi jumped headfirst into the black sea below him.

It would be his sense of touch leading him from then on.

From the moment he hit the water and dove deeper, he allowed himself a few minutes with his hands behind his back to simulate what Hange would be going through. He counted thirty seconds and by then, his lungs were starting to ache. He reached his hands out in front of him, relying on his recall of his last view illuminated by the moonlight to guide him where he needed to go.

He turned behind him. The cliff side should be here. He kept his hands in front of him as he swam in the direction where the cliffside should be located. Within seconds he felt it. And with it came a glimmer of hope.

That hope was what he needed badly. His lungs were crying and he knew he would need air soon. He could have easily gone up and breathed it himself. He was constantly reminded though that Hange would not have that same luxury and he pressed on. Holding on to the side of the cliff, he continued to swim.

It should be around here. His lungs were starting to scream and Levi knew he might not last any long. He started to scramble and move quicker. A generally bad idea when his oxygen and his time conscious was limited.

At that moment though, Levi had luck on his side. That empty space in between the cliffside was what he was looking for. Finding that gave him the second wind he needed. Levi only pushed further into the cavern. The path was narrow and consequently, quick and easy to feel his way through.

By the time Levi’s lungs were screaming once again, the energy from his second wind almost completely depleted, Levi had already made it into an open space and with his last burst of strength he shot his hand out above him.

It was as if a weight was lifted off of his shoulders both literally and figuratively. The air was much lighter on his body, especially on his lungs. Levi opened his eyes to see the moon above him.

The cave was generally closed, save for an opening on the roof that illuminated the cave enough for Levi to see where the sky and the walls of the cave meet. As Levi lay on the ground of the cave, he took in the view and focused on watching how the view shifted slightly with the rise and the fall of his chest.

The moon was beautiful. So beautiful that Levi almost considered spending the night in the cave despite the biting cold. Biting? That wasn’t the right word. Numbing maybe.

Numbing. That reminder of his own mortality and the possibility of death was what had Levi sit up and rush out of the cave, despite his subdued sense of touch.

He had to get out of there. He had to stay alive. He still had a job to finish.

Trials and Tributes

The water shall refuse to receive in her bosom those who have shaken off the sacred water of baptism.

In the easiest of words, if Hange were to be proven innocent and completely human, she had to drown. That was how they had explained it to the multiple witch suspects that have died similarly.

“If you do drown, your place in heaven is guaranteed.” The bishop had said, as he explained the history of that trial to the crowd who had gathered by the cliff. Levi kept himself looking only towards Hange who stood next to him while the priest prattled on about their ‘guaranteed heaven.’ Those were the same people who had sold indulgences and places in heaven to the nobility long before.

He had never seen heaven. He had seen scams in action though and somehow that and his own generally negative opinion of the clergymen was all he needed to feel such a distaste for their actions.

Hange was in light garments despite the cool breeze that came with early spring. Levi wore something similar in the form of a cotton shirt and dress pants, a subtle gesture of solidarity on his end.

Hange Zoe. He only found himself looking back at the crowd and at the person in question when her name was mentioned. What followed the announcement of her names were cheers. But Levi knew it wasn’t anything to celebrate for him.

The crowd wanted to see blood. A potato sack was placed on the ground next to Hange and Levi felt his stomach drop as he started to comprehend the risk that came with his plan. Although he had simulated that same escape the night before, Hange would be faced with the extra challenge of cutting through the ropes and the sack before being able to dive and escape to the cave.

To balance it out at least, he had fed her as much information as he possibly could.

When you feel the wall in front of you, keep going left.

Dive when you feel the cliff turn rougher.

You’re going to have to dive down deep to find it.

Levi had racked his head for as much detail as he could as he oriented Hange to the location of the sea cave.

I’ll meet you there at night when it gets dark. I’ll send food. Then just stay in the cave until I can fix your papers and find you a way out of here.

While he helped Hange into the potato sack, he searched for an opening to dig his small dagger in between the tightly woven ropes, in preparation for their plan. As soon as he did, Hange touched the dull part of the blade with her fingers and tapped the side of his finger, a small gesture that she had understood what needed to do. The quick tap was somehow reassuring.

Good luck. Stay alive. He mouthed. She wouldn’t have heard it but he had not wanted to risk anything louder than that. Even with the deafening cheers of the crowd. Levi pulled the sack over her with the help of one of the guards. He had no time to even allow himself one last look at the knife digging into the ropes. He could not risk anyone finding it.

The other guard had offered to help Levi throw the sack over the cliff but Levi declined. He didn’t even trust himself to throw over the cliff. How could he trust anyone else? Hange wasn’t heavy though. In fact, Levi was sure he had carried weapons much heavier and had shot arrows with draw weights much heavier than her.

Yet, her weight was crushing him and Levi felt his arms going numb underneath him as he carried the sack towards the edge of the cliff.

The sack was warm, a little too warm. The contents of the sack reacted to every moment. As much as Levi had wanted to pretend that it was just a sack of potatoes or maybe even a dead body. He couldn’t. He closed his eyes for a second and had somehow felt a heartbeat beneath that potato sack. It was a little too fast and maybe even deafening.

Hange. That’s Hange. I’m holding Hange in my arms.

At that rate, Levi could not even tell if it was his own heart or hers. Will this work out? Will this be the last time I hear that heartbeat?

There was no turning back.

“Heave…” Levi pulled the sack behind him to gather some moment.

The heartbeat evolved from a canter to a gallop as he felt the strength quickly spread through his arms. He remembered then, he had an obligation to moderate his strength as well. He didn’t want her landing too far from the cliff either or worse, get seriously hurt on impact.

“Ho!” Levi threw the sack forward, slowing down as he did. All he needed to do was make sure the sack covered enough distance that she wouldn’t hit the cliffside prematurely

It was as if time slowed down when Levi found himself in a good position to let go of the sack. He had found himself peeling his hand from the sack, finger by finger. The heartbeat he had felt in the sack, the warmth were like the threads of a spider web, sticking to him so tenaciously, so desperately.

He didn’t want to let go.

Trials and Tributes

“Wow! I didn’t think there would be this many types of knives. I’ve only ever played with a letter opener.”

“Don’t you have knives around here? How do you do research without them?” Levi asked half heartedly as he continued to polish his saxe knife.

“Well, I make my own. You don’t really need anything too sharp to be able to cut up leaves. Sometimes you can just do it like this.” Hange tore one of the oregano leaves a little more roughly to make her point.

“Well, fighting gets a little complicated apparently.” Levi positioned his knife in front of the window of the cabin and watched as the silver glistened under the sunlight that streamed through the window. “Uncle said this knife is strong enough to parry the blow of a sword. If you can control it…” Just imagining a sword coming down on a knife only a quarter of the size of a sword had Levi shuddering. One miscalculated movement and he could find himself three less fingers.

“Learning to use weapons takes time. And I doubt your uncle is gonna make you fight a swordsman just yet.”

“My uncle said he’ll teach the technique. I just have to do the drills he gives me everyday.”

Hange clumsily spun Levi’s throwing knife in her hand only to end up dropping it on the floor. She let out a disappointed sigh. “Hey Levi, after your uncle teaches you, can you teach me? I wanna learn how to handle a knife too.”

Trials and Tributes

The sack they had pulled out of the water was stained red. And that blood stain covered half the sack.

While the clergymen and the guards were panicking at the missing body. Levi was alarmed for other reasons. Was she alive? Did she make it out safely?

He had hope for the luxury of letting out a tear, or rushing to the side of the cliff, kneeling down and looking closely at the water to maybe search for signs of life like a mad man. It would only be unwise to do such. The most he could allow himself was a catatonic state and maybe a twinge of envy at the clergymen who had the luxury to babble curses at the guard who had probably so incompetently left a hole in the sack to punch through.

Fortunately, no one was blaming him just yet. He didn’t want to give them the opening either. The matter at hand was time sensitive. If Hange wasn’t dead, she might still be flickering between life and death at the moment. He had to get to where she was soon.

He murmured a few words at the guard about wanting to check something and about them being able to go ahead and slowly walked away. Levi couldn’t run just yet, not when he was still within their field of view. To compensate though, his heart and his mind were racing. As he turned the corner and into the path which led to the cove and eventually to the sea cave, he was more quickly able to adjust to a sprint.

Levi had mentally readied himself to dive into the water even before he entered the cave. He had started to unbutton his own cotton shirt as he sprinted in, not wanting to waste any more time.

The rush and the panic that was only consuming him made him clumsy and a little awkward as he moved. The moment his plans and his expectations were subverted by the sight of a very wet and bloodied Hange kneeling on the ground next to the water, Levi ended up losing his balance and tripping on the floor right in front of her.

“You made it here alive… I was worried.” Levi managed to say as he pulled himself back up into a kneeling position. His knees and palms were starting to hurt and Levi was sure he would need to treat his own wounds a little later on.

“Yeah, I ended up cutting my wrist when I cut through the ropes...It bled out a lot but I never really was as coordinated as you are with knives... Sorry for putting that training you gave me to waste.” Hange was only rambling aimlessly. As Levi made eye contact with her, he noticed her eyes were still a little too wide and her smile too unnatural. Levi could not help but think that she had felt the same way he did when he had first arrived in that same cave a few nights before. Her face had shown it all. She was just as surprised to be alive as he was.

But she is alive. That’s all that mattered. Levi would have wanted to hug her then but at the same time he did not want to lose sight of her. He settled for putting his hand on her arm and gripped hard. “At this point Hange, I don’t care if you’re a fucking witch or not. If you are, save yourself. Run away. Go save some other kids. Go discover a plague before it happens. You don't deserve this. Nobody deserves the shit they put you through. I’ll get you out of here if I need to.”

Hange returned his strong grip on her arm by gripping his wrist. For a second, her face was unreadable. Then soon after something took over and that face had morphed into something wild and even primitive. It was as if Hange was possessed. Suddenly she was squeezing his wrist much harder than Levi had ever expected from her. He let out a groan of pain as he recoiled at the sudden attack.

Hange threw his hand back at him and snarled. "Don’t touch me!"

And just like that, it was as if he was talking to a completely different person. Or a completely different creature.

#levihan #levi ackerman #hange zoe #levi x hange #fanfic

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lovemesomerafael · 5 years

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No One Else Chapter 5: The Hunt

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Read it on AO3

“Where the fuck is Kate, you freakin’ lunatic?” Sonny screams into Mary’s face.

Olivia Benson rolls her eyes and stands, pulling Sonny by the arm from the interrogation room. “Yeah, so much for that,” she says as she pulls the door closed behind them.

Sonny paces in front of the one-way glass, gesturing at his former assistant, sitting quietly crying at the table in the room. “Look, I’m sorry, Liv, but she has Kate! We don’t know where she is, we don’t know what she’s done to her… she could by dying right now. I know she knows where Kate is, and so do you.”

“Yes, Carisi, I believe you, and we will get her to talk. But having you here isn’t helping. You’ve tried sweet-talking her, that didn’t work. And you just saw how well losing your mind went.”

The pacing is getting to Olivia. She wishes Sonny had been able to get Mary Duderon to talk, but he hadn’t, which means that at least she doesn’t have to watch him pace the interrogation room any more.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I’d be as upset as you are right now. But I can’t let you back in there. You asked us to take this case, now you need to let us handle it. You want to help Kate, that’s what you need to do.”

Sonny looks at her for a few beats, knowing she’s right, but wanting to beat the information out of Mary. Kate has been missing since last night, almost eighteen hours now, and Sonny is frantic. All his fear and anger is focused on the mousy, chubby woman sitting looking around the box, dabbing her eyes occasionally and looking for all the world like the least likely kidnapper ever. But Sonny knows different. She hasn’t shown her crazy to the SVU detectives yet, but she will.

At that moment, Scott Lam comes around the corner with a folded paper in his hand.

“Thank God,” Sonny says, snatching the search warrant from him. “I’m takin’ Fin and Amanda.”

“You can take Fin. But I need Rollins for this interrogation,” Olivia says, waving him toward the squad room.

*********

Sonny isn’t surprised to see that Mary’s apartment is sparkling clean and perfectly organized. He is surprised to see a large, framed copy of his ID photo from the DA’s office. The presence of the picture itself is creepy enough, but its prominent placement in her living room is also troubling.

“Just be glad it ain’t next to her bed,” Fin says, laying a comforting hand on Sonny’s shoulder.

He doesn’t really expect Kate to be held in Mary’s apartment; somehow that seems too easy. But he still tears through the small flat calling Kate’s name until it’s clear she isn’t there. Kate’s partner, Tom Hensler, meets them at the apartment and, after a quick introduction to Fin, goes in search of the Building Manager or Superintendent, or whoever might be able to give him access to any other places in the building that Mary might possibly be holding Kate. After that, he’ll begin to knock on the neighbors’ doors, hoping to learn something helpful.

Sonny and Fin turn up several disturbing things during their search of Mary’s apartment. One is the picture of Sonny and Kate at Forlini’s, or what’s left of it. Mary has burned Kate out of the picture.

Sonny and Fin share a look of horror at that, after which Fin says quietly, “Let’s just keep on lookin’. We don’t know anything yet.”

In Mary’s bedroom, they find a sort of macabre shrine where she has photos from the press conference following the trial, as well as pictures from the party afterward at Maxwell’s that she appears to have downloaded from social media sites. They are candid photos taken by various people, which Sonny recognizes because he’s in all of them. He can remember posing for most of them, although there are a few where he’d simply been caught in a shot. Many have been blown up to a large size, and most other people cut out so that only Sonny remains, then framed. Sonny feels icy chills creep up his spine looking at them.

There is one picture, larger than the rest, among the framed photos. Sonny remembers posing for this one, as well. It’s of him and Mary at the Maxwell’s after-trial party. The picture is a simple posed shot of some of the people they work with, in which Sonny is standing behind Mary. She’s cut everyone else from the picture and blown it up so that it looks as though it’s a photo of just the two of them.

As it turns out, there is a picture of Sonny next to the bed. Several, in fact. These are the most disturbing of all. They’re pictures Sonny recognizes, which Kate must have posted on social media, because they’re all pictures of Sonny and Kate. But Kate has been removed from the photos. Mary has very skillfully used Photoshop or some other program to substitute herself in each of the pictures. It’s all Sonny can do not to smash them to pieces.

Besides the pictures, they find a shirt Sonny discarded at work after a cartridge of printer ink exploded on it, and a number of napkins he apparently used at one time or another. He can feel his stomach churn at the evidence of Mary’s obsession with him.

What they don’t find is anything obvious that will lead them to wherever Kate is.

After a careful search, they find that Kate is nowhere in the building where Mary lives. They haven’t found any receipts or other evidence that Mary rents a storage unit or some other place she could be holding Kate. And none of the neighbors have seen or heard anything to indicate Mary’s had any visitors – ever. Certainly not one who was there against her will.

Sonny is beside himself. Not only have they proven that Mary is dangerously obsessed with him, but they’ve found nothing to indicate that she is holding Kate somewhere. Which leaves one horrible possibility.

***************

Amanda Rollins needs to proceed very, very carefully. She wonders why Mary Duderon hasn’t lawyered up – she works for ADAs, she has to know better – but she has a suspicion that, in Mary’s twisted mind, being here will result in more attention from Sonny.

“This is where Sonny worked before the DA’s office, did you know that?”

Mary sniffles. “Yeah, I knew that.”

“I was his partner for more than five years. I know him pretty well.”

Mary just looks at her, saying nothing but betraying just the slightest bit of… something. Amanda hopes she knows what it is.

“He ate dinner at my house more than at his own. Practically helped me raise my daughters.”

“When is Sonny coming back?” Mary asks.

Amanda continues as though she hasn’t spoken. “Of course, it all changed when he went to the DA’s office. He still came over sometimes, but I hardly get to work with him anymore. And then when Kate came along, no more dinners. Do you know Kate?”

“I’ve met her.”

“He’s crazy about Kate.”

Nothing.

“Sonny, he always had a thing for her. They were together in Brooklyn, you know, before he came to Manhattan.”

“Whatever.”

“Yeah, and he always used to talk about her. He would tell me how much he missed her, how great things were between them, that kind of thing. It was so cute, how it was just always Kate, Kate, Kate.”

“That’s ridiculous. She wasn’t even his girlfriend then. She let him go.”

Amanda definitely has Mary’s attention now, if the malevolence in her comments is any indication.

“Maybe. But the minute they saw each other again, they were back together. I think they’re soulmates.”

Mary doesn’t like that assertion at all. But she says nothing more.

*************

Tom Hensler is having no luck checking Mary Duderon’s social media accounts, because she has none. That seems right, if she’s as insular as she appears, but they also haven’t seen anything around her apartment that indicates any hobbies, other than her cats. And how much time can you spend hanging out with cats? She doesn’t appear to be a reader, she doesn’t have a collection of movies, there are no crafts in her apartment, and as far as he can tell, she has no friends. Can she really spend all her time watching TV? Or surfing the internet but making no connections?

He hopes TARU will hurry up with the forensics on her computer. He had personally brought it to them, making sure to let them know that the vic was a missing cop. A couple of techs there know her, and said they’d do their best. Although they’ve only been partners for a few months, he and Kinsella are starting to form a solid partnership. He likes Carisi, too, and he can see the guy’s a wreck. He imagines what he’d be like if it was his wife, Kelly, who was missing, and actually has to admire Carisi for remaining as controlled as he is.

************

Sonny returns to SVU, simply because it feels right to be investigating Kate’s disappearance from there. So far, with the apartment yielding nothing but shudders of disgust, the only possible leads are Mary’s computer, and Mary herself. But even if she has no friends, she has to have family, right? That’s something to check out. He gets on the phone with the DA’s office, demanding Mary’s personnel file, and hoping they wouldn’t make him bother to get a warrant. He’ll get it if he has to, but it would take time. And all he really wants to know is Mary’s emergency contact.

While he badgers the HR Director on the phone, he works the computer. It feels oddly comfortable to be back in detective mode, sitting at his old desk. He may be a new lawyer, but this, he knows how to do.

“Hey, Carisi,” Fin calls over from his desk when Sonny hangs up the phone. “This is interesting. Your friend’s got a record.”

“Seriously?” Sonny gets up and goes over to Fin’s desk.

“Yeah. You ready for this? Three different guys have taken out restraining orders against her, and she’s got a conviction for Second Degree Stalking.”

“Second degree? That’s not easy to get. That’s stalking behavior plus the victim has a reasonable fear of harm and either a weapon is involved it’s a repeat conviction within 5 years. What’d she do?”

The crimes of which Mary has been convicted look very much like her behavior toward Sonny and Kate. This is something they can work with. It’s also encouraging, in that she has frightened people, and destroyed some property, but she’s never actually hurt anyone. She’s pled to stalking, so some of the property crime charges were dropped, but she’s been violent before, at least towards her victims’ homes and cars.

“We need to talk to these vics. See if they know anything that can help.”

“What I wanna know is, how’d she get a job in the DA’s office with a Class E felony on her record?”

“Let’s worry about that when we have Kate back, huh? You try to find the family, I’ll see if I can track down these vics.”

Sonny tries to focus on his work. He ignores the part of his mind that wants to scream with terror and frustration, focusing all his attention on the immediate task at hand. He’ll have plenty of time to freak out later, and it will do no good to imagine nightmare scenarios of where she might be. Right now, he has to find the woman he loves. He closes his eyes briefly in prayer, thinking that he’s been praying so much God might return Kate just to shut him up about her, and picks up the phone.

Within an hour, Sonny and Fin have a list of people to go see.

************

Amanda sits looking at Mary, who fumbles almost continuously with the edges of her oversized pink sweatshirt, the seams of her jeans, or her hair. Amanda hopes it’s more than just nervousness about being questioned.

“So, Mary, why don’t you tell me about you and ADA Carisi?”

Mary looks at Amanda, eyes wary. “I was his assistant.”

“Yeah, I know. What was that like?”

“I don’t know. It was OK.”

“What’s he like to work with? As an assistant, I mean. Was he nice to you?”

“He was OK.”

“Really, Mary? Just OK? Not good? Not bad?”

“Good, I guess.”

“Me, I liked working with him. We talked to people right here in this room, in fact. Right here at this table. All the time.”

Mary seems not to react, but after a few moments of silence, Amanda notices her put her hand flat on the table and move her fingertips ever so slightly, as if stroking the table Sonny touched.

“When is he coming back? I really want to see Sonny.”

“I don’t know, Mary. He’s out trying to find Kate. He’ll probably keep going until he finds her.”

Mary looks straight at Amanda for the first time all day. Amanda smiles a little wistfully at her. “I wish somebody loved me like that, y’know?”

“He doesn’t love her.”

“Of course he does. You must’ve seen it. Heard it in his voice.”

Mary shrugs, but there’s a definite change in her posture. She stiffens a bit and lifts her chin.

“But now she left. Now he’s with me.” Mary quickly adds, “At the DA’s office, I mean. We work together.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“I do everything for him. He depends on me.” An element of defensiveness, possessiveness colors Mary’s speech.

“I’m sure he does, hon. But it’s not the same.”

“She left. Now he’s mine.”

Amanda injects a sympathetic note into her voice. “I don’t think so, Mary. He’s Kate’s.”

“Kate.”

Amanda allows herself to react to the acid tone with which Mary hisses the name, but only a bit. “You don’t like Kate?”

“Don’t know her.”

“C’mon. There’s nothing wrong with admitting you don’t like her. I don’t.”

“You don’t?” Mary sounds genuinely surprised.

“I don’t think she’s right for him.”

“She’s not.”

“Right. But I guess it doesn’t make any difference, since he’s in love with her.”

“No, he isn’t,” Mary snaps.

“I suppose he talks about Kate all the time, though, doesn’t he?”

“Not that much. He doesn’t care about her. Not really.”

“No?”

“No. He’ll get over her now that she’s gone.”

This is the delicate moment Amanda’s been working toward. “You think so?”

The superior look Mary gives her isn’t what bothers her. It’s the malice. “Of course he will. He has me now.”

“Are you…” Amanda hopes she gets the inflection right. It’s crucial.

“Sonny and I love each other.”

“You do?” Amanda acts surprised, but also as though she believes her.

“Well, we can’t talk about it yet. First we had to stop working together. That’s why he got reassigned, you know.”

“Oh. So now that he’s reassigned, you can go public?”

“He’ll have to pretend to be sad about Kate for a while, of course…”

“Sad?”

“Yeah. You know. Because she’s gone.”

“You said that before. What makes you think she’s gone?”

“I know she is. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Because she left him?”

“Sonny doesn’t think she left him. He’s afraid something happened to her, Mary.”

“Nothing happened to her. She just left him. I know he’ll be sad for a while, or he’ll pretend to be. But I’m here to comfort him.”

“He seems kind of mad at you.”

“I know, but he isn’t. He’s just upset because Kate left him. We’ll be fine.”

“How do you know Kate left him? Maybe she’s just, I don’t know, visiting a friend or something.”

“She isn’t.”

“How do you know?”

“I just… know.”

“But, Mary, how do you know?”

“I just know.”

Amanda Rollins isn’t giving up.

**************

“That bitch is cray-cray.”

The man standing in the doorway of his house is clearly disgusted by the whole topic of Mary Duderon, and annoyed that he has to talk about this yet again.

“We’ve read the police reports, and your statement to the court in support of your request for a restraining order. So we know what she did. What we’re wondering is whether there’s anything else you can tell us,” Sonny says.

“Like what?”

“A woman is missing. We think Mary Duderon had something to do with her disappearance,” Fin explains. “Can you think of anywhere Mary might go, anyplace she might have access to?”

“Look, I haven’t seen her in years, and I don’t want to. I barely knew her! She just… latched onto me and when I told her to get lost, she got mad and trashed my car. That was it. She got fired, and I moved so she couldn’t find me. End of story.”

“OK, well anything you can think of could help,” Sonny says, handing the man his card. “Give it some thought. Call us if you think of anything. Please. A woman is in danger.”

The next person Sonny and Fin go to see is a man who employed Mary for about six months. During that time, he had a drunken one-night stand with her, which he barely remembers, except that he thinks it was she who came on to him. After that, however, she made his life a living hell. She told him she was pregnant. When he demanded proof, and proof of paternity, she went off the rails. Although the man’s wife had thrown him out of their house, Mary went there and harassed his wife and sons, shrieking tearful demands. She called and texted his cell phone at all hours of the day and night, and eventually took a baseball bat to the windows of his business. When he fired her and reported her activities to the police, she’d tried to set his car on fire, but didn’t know what she was doing and had done no real damage.

The man doesn’t want to talk to them. He’s back with his wife, and really just wants to forget the whole thing. He claims not to know anything about her, and is no help.

“Listen,” he says. “Whoever this woman is, I feel sorry for her. ‘Cause Mary Duderon is a psycho, and the more she hears ‘no’, the crazier she gets. I wouldn’t put anything past her.”

That information does nothing for Sonny’s nerves.

***********

Tom Hensler gets a call from TARU. They’ve found some searches on Mary’s computer and want him to take a look. He calls Sonny.

“Hey, Carisi, I got a call from TARU. They’re in Mary’s computer. They called me, but you know her, I don’t. You wanna meet me down there? Take a look?”

Sonny looks at Fin, who is driving them toward the boarding house where Mary’s mother lives. “Where are you now?”

“Station house.”

“Look, we’re way uptown, so you go ahead. Take a look and then call me. We’ll see if there’s anything there.”

“Will do. You holdin’ up?”

“I’m tired and I’m pissed. Not payin’ any attention to anything else right now. You?”

“That bitch disappeared my partner. I’m thinkin’ if there’s nothin’ but cat videos on her computer, I’m goin’ down to SVU and we’re gonna have a talk. Off the record.”

“Yeah, I heard that, but you don’t know Captain Benson. She’s not likely to cooperate.”

“Then this damn computer better give me somethin’.”

“Amen to that.”

**************

“So, Mary,” Amanda begins, handing her a cup of coffee. “Where do you think Kate went?”

“How should I know?”

“Well, I mean, if you had to guess. Where would someone like Kate go, if they left Sonny?”

“I really don’t know. I don’t care, either.”

So much for that tactic.

“You know what I think?” Amanda asks. “I think she’s coming back.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because you’d have to be crazy to leave a man like Sonny. Right?”

“I would never leave him.”

“Exactly. That’s why I think she’s coming back. When Sonny gets back here, I’m going to tell him that. So he doesn’t give up hope.”

“No. She’s not coming back. He should just forget about her. He’s mine now.”

“You don’t know that, Mary. And Sonny, he’s so handsome, and so nice, it’s like you said. You’d never leave him. So Kate didn’t, either. I’m going to tell him that.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s not coming back. She’s such a…”

“A what?”

“Nothing.”

“C’mon, Mary. I told you how I feel. Tell me.”

“Her apartment burned. And she made Sonny let her live with him after that. She’s a whore.”

Amanda tries to look fascinated but says nothing, hoping that Mary will take the invitation. But she doesn’t go on. Amanda tries again.

“Kate’s apartment burned?”

“Not bad. Nobody got hurt or anything. But she stayed at Sonny’s after that. She wasn’t supposed to do that. But he was just too nice to say no.”

“Maybe he wanted her there.”

“No, he didn’t! Anyway, she’s gone now, she… left him. And she’s not coming back.”

“I think she is.”

“She’s not.”

“Tell me why.”

“Because she’s not. She’s gone. And Sonny is mine now.”

“I don’t think so. I think she’s coming back, and when I tell him that, he’ll wait for her.”

“You don’t know anything.”

Finally, Mary is beginning to forget to hide her anger.

“Neither do you.”

“Yes, I do.”

“What do you know? Why shouldn’t Sonny wait for Kate to come back?”

“Because she can’t.”

The most delicate moment of all.

“Why can’t she, Mary?”

But Mary has realized what she said. “Because… Because he’s mine now. That’s all I meant.”

*************

Mary’s mother lives in an old-fashioned boarding house, where she rents a room and meals are served communally by the landlady. It’s a surprisingly nice place. It’s clean and comfortable and, although Mary’s mother is in her eighties, she looks healthy, if a little frail. But she’s not happy to see that the police have come to ask her about Mary again. She’s especially not happy that one of them is Mr. Carisi, the man Mary has been so focused on recently.

Eleanor Duderon knows that her daughter gets a little… overly attached sometimes. Mary’s always been reserved in public, but there’s a lot more going on under the surface than people think. And she has been known to overreact when the real world doesn’t cooperate with the complex, detailed worlds she builds in her head.

“Mrs. Duderon,” Sonny begins, “We need to ask you some questions about your daughter, Mary.”

“All right. Is she in any trouble?” Her voice is scratchy, but strong.

“A woman is missing, and we think Mary may have something to do with her disappearance.”

“Oh, I don’t… Mary’s not the kind of girl who would ever hurt anyone. She’s gotten a little carried away in the past, I know, but she just has deep feelings.”

“Ma’am,” Fin tries, “This woman is a police officer. If your daughter’s done something to her, she’s in a lot of trouble. You understand that?”

“But she doesn’t usually hurt anyone.”

Sonny and Fin both clearly hear the “usually”.

“But she has hurt someone in the past?” Sonny asks, leaning far forward, his forearms on his thighs, peering intently into Eleanor Duderon’s troubled face.

“I can’t really talk about that.”

“Mrs. Duderon, I work with Mary. She was my assistant, did you know that?”

“Yes, I know. She’s mentioned you. I’m afraid she’s developed a bit of a crush on you, Mr. Carisi.”

“Ma’am, it’s more than a crush. I think you know that ‘deep feelings’ is an understatement for what Mary can be like. Don’t you?”

“Well, I suppose you know she has been in trouble before, when things didn’t work out for her and a man she likes.”

Sonny turns the charm up as far as he can, given his exhaustion and frayed nerves. “So, here’s the thing, Ma’am. The woman who’s missing? She’s my girlfriend. And your daughter, she set her bed on fire, along with all the pictures she had of the two of us together.”

“Oh, no…”

“Things at work have become strained, and Mary’s not happy about it. She blames Kate. She has this idea that the only thing standing between her and me is Kate.”

“Oh, so that’s who Kate is.”

“She’s talked about her?” Sonny and Fin exchange looks.

Mrs. Duderon’s face takes on a hint of confusion, tinged with what Sonny thinks might be fear. “She doesn’t like her, this Kate. But she told me that Kate was gone. That she’d left you, and now the two of you would be, I don’t know, dating or something.”

“When did she tell you this?” Fin asks, on alert.

“Three days ago.”

Kate has only been missing for one day.

Fin is standing now. “Did she say where Kate went?”

“No, only that she was gone, and she wouldn’t be back.”

#law & order svu #law & order: special victims unit #sonny carisi #ADA Carisi #ADA Dominick Carisi Jr #peter scanavino

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frickfracksnatchisback · 5 years

Note

( meeps back into existence) I have the hurt comfort sad moon in submits for you....Also, 1: I LOVE THE STEAMPUNK AND PLS TURN IT INTO A REAL AU and 2: the next prompt could be....Metallic and affectionate! ( I'm failing at being sneaking. I just really want more insight on steamjumper) - Silver

((Already posted the other two things, just using this ask for the prompt)) Alright, I’ve got the new prompt for you as well! Robotic (as in the AGIT AU) and Anger. I feel like we need more angry Moonbot in our lives, so why not?

Here we go again with Steam Punk Hat AU!

***

“YOUDID WHAT?!”

Moonjumpercringed at the shouting, knowing very well who it belonged to. He washiding behind the basement door, having cracked it just enough so hecould listen in on the conversation.

Hattiehad been visiting him for the past couple days after she had freedhim. At first, Moonjumper planned “fix” her so she could be withhim forever and later they could make their escape. But after a bitof negotiation, Hattie had somehow convinced him to go with a betterplan. To instead, live with her and her family and not turnher into a robot. (She had told him over and over that she wasperfectly fine with being human, though he didn’t quite understandwhy)

Hattiehad told him to stay in the basement until she talked things overwith her father. But Moonjumper was pretty sure he knew what kind of“father” she was dealing with. And an inkling feeling in his veryCore told him that this plan wasn’t going to work at all.

“Pleasedon’t be mad at me! I just wanted to-”

“Itold you not to go down there! Do you have any idea whatcould’ve happened to you?!” the shouting returned, cutting offthe little girl’s words abruptly. “You could’ve been hurt or-”

“Orwhat?! Find the robot in the basement that you locked up?!”Moonjumper felt himself gasp at Hattie’s words. Had it been underdifferent circumstances, he would have found her retorts ratherhumerus. But the atmosphere was extremely tense, with his fate beingon the line. Would she even be able to convince her traitor of afather to let him be free?

Moonjumperleaned closer, listening intently as there was a short period ofsilence.

“H-howdid you-?” the creator spoke, clearly phased. But the disbeliefonly lasted for so long. “Listen, I know it looks bad. But trustme, there’s a good reason for why I-”

“Nothere isn’t! You locked him down there without even giving him achance!”

“Thatthing down there isn’t a ‘he’. It’s just a machine-”

“Nohe ISN’T!” Moonjumper startled at Hattie’s angryscreams. “He’s a person and his name is Moony! And he told methat you-”

“HarrietJeannette Tyme, that is enough!” Moonjumper could feel achill in the air after those words were spoken. He felt incrediblynervous. With such an authoritative parent like that, how on earthcould Hattie get through with this plan? But he also felt incrediblyfurious. How dare his creator call him a“thing”! He barely had any room to talk, treating him like just amindless “machine”! He had feelings, and at least Hattieunderstood that he-

“Youknow what? I’m not going to tolerate this any longer.” Moonjumperwas immediately snapped out of his thoughts, as he heard footstepsquickly approaching.

“Daddy…?Daddy where are you going?” littler steps followed, and Hattie’svoice clearly sounded panicked.

“Ishould have lock that door up when I left that monster downthere.” the footsteps continued to get closer and closer, until hiscreator was right at the foot of the door. He heard the clinking ofkeys after, which almost sent a shock through his system.

“NO!DADDY PLEASE DON’T-”

HearingHattie’s pleads was enough to send Moonjumper over the edge. Andwith incredible force, he burst through the door. He could hear a cryof surprise, as his creator lost his bearings and fell to the floor.The keys hit also hit the floor with a clank, right in frontof Moonjumper’s wheel.

Moonjumper’seyes were bright red, and full of rage. He looked down at hiscreator, who was laying on the floor and looking up at him in fear.His eyes switched from his creator, to the keys on the floor. Thecreator noticed this, and before he could make to grab the keys back-

Moonjumpersnatched the keys from off the floor. He made his creator watch,horrified, as he crushed the keys in his metal grasp. With horriblecrunching noises, Moonjumper destroyed the keys until they werepractically unusable. He then dropped the mangled and bent keys,letting them fall to the ground once more. His creator simply watchedas Moonjumper towered over him, his large shadow looming over thefloor.

“N-n-not…apri…soner…” Moonjumper growled, his clawed handsoutstretched above his head. “W-w-won’t lo…ck me a…way!”he yelled, ready to pouch on his creator and-

Moonjumperfroze, as he finally heard the sobs of a child.

Heturned his gaze away from his creator, only to see Hattie huddled inthe corner. And she was crying, her face in her hands. Moonjumper’sarms fell to his sides, his eyes turning back to yellow.

“H-H-Hattie?A-a-are you o…kay?”Moonjumper called to her, in a softer and much gentler tone. He startto roll away from his targeton the floor andtowards her instead.

“No!You stay away from her you-” Thorcalled out to him, readyinghimself to jump up off the floor and intervene. Fearfulfor what his creation would do to his only daughter, he made to stopMoonjumper.

Buthewas too late, as his creation was right above his poor, defenselessdaughter. Thorfroze,as he saw Moonjumperleaningcloser to her and-

…huggedher?

“S-s-shhh…It’so…kay…”Moonjumper tried to soothe her, rubbing her back and holding hertighter.

Thorstood there, dumbfounded, as his creation begantocuddlehis daughter. And his daughter returned the affection, holdingMoonjumpercloserand crying into his metal body. Thorsimply watched, feeling a mix of dread, guilt, and confusion buildingup inside him.He was still afraid of what his creation was doing, andwhywouldn’t he be? But seeing his daughter cry like that…while hecreation was the only one calming her down. Well, that made him feellike he made a big mistake as father. But at the same time, why washis creation being so…nice? And emotional?

“I’m…I’mso s-sorry, Moony!” Hattie sobbed, hiccuping in between her words.“I d-didn’t…I just w-wanted to help-”

“I-i-it’salright…you…r fine…”Moonjumper kept on, starting to cradle Hattie in his arms. As Hattiewasn’t looking, he took a moment to glare at Thor. Pure hate was inhis eyes, with them slightly turning red before going back to yellow.

Thorfelt a deep jealously growing in his heart. Hewas supposed to be the one caring for his daughter. And instead, thisrobot was the one drying her tears and comforting her. It shouldn’teven have emotions! And yet…

Yet…

Therealization struck Thor. It didhave emotion. Actual, human emotion. Could it be? Did the “Core”piece really bring his creation to life? Tim had warned him about it,but it’s not like he believed in all that magical mumbo-jumbo atthe time. He’d just thought of it as a power source and nothingmore. But now, he finally realized the truth. And there wasirrefutable proof, right in front of him, to prove it.

“I…”Thor felt himself speak up, grabbing both Moonjumper’sand his daughter’s attention. “…I’mso sorry.” he tried to apologize, recalling all the things he hadsaid or done. Moonjumper gave him a skeptical look, but he kept on.“I had no clue that you were really alive. I just…thought thatyou were-”

“A-a-amind…less ma…chine?”Moonjumper frowned at Thor, still holding Hattie close to him. Thorfelt slight anger at that response, but it was true.

“Isthere any way thatyou can forgive me?” Thor asked, still feeling guilty. Thatis, until he realized his mistake. Once he uttered those words,Moonjumper and Hattie beamed at him with excitement. AlbeitMoonjumper’s smile was a bit more malicious that Hattie’s, whichThor quickly noticed.

“CanMoony stay with us then?!” Hattie said rather excitedly, hoppingup and down in Moonjumper’s grasp.

“Y-y-yes…S-s-stayhe…re?”Moonjumper added in malevolently,that devilish smirkstillon his face.

Thorfelt extremely reluctant, not liking the look on Moonjumper’s faceone bit.Butif it would really make his daughter happy…

“Alright,he can stay.” Thor gave in, letting out a defeated sigh.

Hattieand Moonjumper looked at each other in surprise and glee. AndHattie started to giggle, as Moonjumper lifted her off the ground andinto his arms. He spun around, making both him and Hattie laughwith childish glee.

“Hey!Be careful with her!” Thor fussed, still not trusting Moonjumperwithin an inch of his life. And Moonjumper did stop, with Hat Kidstill laughing in his arms.

“Again!Again!” she clapped her hands together. But, to Thor’s surprise,Moonjumper shook his head.

“N-n-no,no…H-h-have to…be care…ful!”Moonjumper told her, mocking Thor with his tone of voice.

“Awww…”Hattie faked her disappointment, snuggling back into Moonjumper. AndMoonjumper rested his head on top of hers, givingThor a smug look that Hattie didn’t even notice. But Thor did, andMoonjumper had wanted him to see it. Finally, little Hattie was allhis! Well…sort of, but he could work that out later. He chuckled tohimself, as Thor shook his head at them and turned to leave.Moonjumper pretended not to notice, sighing as he cuddled his Hattiewithout a care in the-

“Ihope you realize there are other robots living here! You’ll have toshare!” Thor called back, before he disappeared out of sight.Presumably back to his workshop. Moonjumper eyes snapped open insurprise.

“Ohyeah! You haven’t met Mu and Snatcher yet!” Hattie exclaimed, asMoonjumper had lifted his head up to look at her confusedly. Hestared at her for a few minutes, until a nervous grin spread acrosshis face.

“S-s-share?W-w-with fri…ends?”Moonjumper asked her, slightly cocking his head in question. AndHattie nodded at him.

“Mhm!I think you really like Snatcher! He’s really funny, like you!”Hattie smiled at him. Although Moonjumper was trying to figure out ifthat was a compliment or not. He was too busy trying to process allof this, anyways. Otherrobots? As is other robots he had to sharehis Hattie with? Moonjumper thought deeply about this, as Hattiesnuggled into him once more.

Thatmight be a problem…

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sanguis-sanguinis-mei · 5 years

Text

Sacrifice (PJM Oneshot)

It’s never a good idea to mess with the spirit world

Words: 2870

Genre: Horror au, Supernatural au

Warnings: Blood, gore, major character deaths. Please don’t read if you can’t handle that

A/N: This is the first piece of writing I am ever posting here so I’m really sorry if it sucks.

“This is a really stupid idea,” you grumbled. You took the sweater you were holding and put it on. You looked up and watched as Jimin, your boyfriend of the last two years, walked back into the bedroom from the adjoining bathroom.

He made his way over to you and wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you into an embrace. “Come on baby. It’s just for fun. Besides, this was sort of your idea.”

“It was not my idea. Don’t dare pin it on me. You and your friends shouldn’t have been snooping through my stuff.”

“Well, why did you have so much info on the occult and that Ouija board just lying around? Don’t you know what kind of friends I have?”

“Yeah, the kind who go prying through other people’s closed drawers,” you scowled.

You tried to detangle yourself from his arms but he held on tighter and bent down to nuzzle your neck. “Don’t be mad at them. Kookie and Tae love this kind of stuff. They just want to have some fun with us,” he replied in between kissing your neck. He sucked on a sweet spot and you moaned softly while tangling your fingers through his hair.

“You don’t even like scary stuff,” you tried to insist through your moans.

“I could sweeten the deal to convince you to do this,” he whispered into your neck. He moved his hands down to your ass and cupped it, squeezing it gently as he continued to suck on your neck. Your eyes fluttered closed and you let out a little whimper while his hands kneaded your butt cheeks.

“You know, we could just stay and have our own fun here,” you suggested. You pushed your front against his and smiled as you heard him groan.

“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”

He lifted his hands under your shirt and slid them up your back to undo his bra. He had just reached it when you heard the front door open and Tae’s booming but muffled voice echo through the house. Sighing, you pulled away from Jimin’s grasp and straightened your shirt. “Do you still think it was a good idea to give Taehyung a spare key to the house so soon after we moved into it?” you asked while looking down to make sure you looked presentable.

“No. Not since it started preventing me from sleeping with my girlfriend whenever I want,” was his complaint.

“Oh, boo hoo. Stop complaining. We’ve got a séance to start. You can always do that later,” Taehyung chimed from the bedroom doorway. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and dodged to the side when Jimin picked up a pillow to throw at him. You giggled and looked over at Jungkook then smiled.

“How did you guys get here so quickly? We just heard the door open and the house isn’t that small. What did you do, run up the stairs?”

“I guess we’re just really excited to go to try and communicate with actual ghosts,” Jungkook smiled back at you.

“Supposedly, if ghosts really exist. I can’t believe you guys are dragging me into this.”

“We need you. Based on all the research we found in your stuff, you must have pretty good knowledge of how to perform a proper séance. Now come on lovebirds, let’s get everything set up. I want to have everything set up before the others get here.” Tae walked away from the door and Kookie followed him. “I still think this is a terrible idea,” you whispered one last time as you left your bedroom behind Jimin.

━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━

“Everybody has a finger on the… uhm… arrow thing, right?” Taehyung asked.

You were all sitting in a circle around the candle-lit dining room table. Everybody else hand outstretched on it to reach the Ouija board except for you.

“It’s called a planchette and I already told you I’m not doing this,” you mumbled from between Jimin and Hoseok. “Come on noona. You already promised you’d do this with us. Even Hobi hyung agreed to do it. You don’t want to be a bigger chicken than him, do you?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean Kim Taehyung?”

You giggled at Hoseok’s indignant reply but still shook your head. “I keep telling you I don’t think this is a good idea. I still can’t believe you guys went snooping through my stuff.”

“Noona, we’re doing this with or without you. This is your last chance to join. You can go if you don’t want to be a part of this,” Jungkook insisted from across the table. You were just about to take up his offer to get up and leave when you felt a warm palm envelope your hand underneath the table. Turning to Jimin, your heart did a flip at the pout he was giving you.

You sighed before saying, “Fine, but only for five minutes. We really shouldn’t be messing with Ouija boards.”

Your finger joined the other five already on the planchette. Taehyung gave a satisfied smile before dropping it to look grimly around the group. “We are gathered here today,” he started solemnly, “to see if there are any ghostly presences gathered around us.”

“Shut up and just read what it says in the book Tae,” Yoongi growled in annoyance.

“Okay, okay. I was just trying to make it more fun. Let’s see here…” He quietly read from the book in his lap for a moment then looked back up at everyone. “It just says that we should ask if there are any ghosts around and that we should try to stick to simple questions. It also says we shouldn’t remove our fingers from the planchette until we’ve ‘ensured that and all lingering spirits are safely confined and have been properly dismissed, so as not to accidentally let any malevolent forces loose’,” he ended by reading out loud from the book.

“So you’re saying to get them here we just have to say hi and we should make sure we say bye and ask them to leave before remove our hands from the board? That sounds simple enough.”

Yoongi looked at everyone’s faces after he was done talking. “Who wants to start? Not you Tae. I’d like to finish this today,” he added as an afterthought when Taehyung opened his mouth. Tae gave a comical pout that had everyone giggling and put you a little bit more at ease. When the laughter died down Jimin cleared his throat.

“I’ll start. Uhm, hi. Are there any ghosts around who want to talk to us?”

A nervous tension filled the air as you all looked down at the board on the table but nothing happened. Jimin took a deep breath and tried again louder this time.

“Hello. Are there any spirits around who would like to talk to us?”

Again nothing happened and Jimin spoke up for the third time. “Is there a ghost out there willing to talk to us?”

When nothing happened again for a few moments you opened your mouth to remark on this when the planchette slowly moved to cover ‘Yes’. Everyone watched it in awe and you could feel Hoseok start to shiver beside you.

“T-Tae, th-that isn’t f-funny,” he whispered.

“I swear it wasn’t me hyung. Kookie, did you do that?”

You looked up at Jungkook but he could only shake his head as he continued to stare down at the board. It was silent for a few minutes as everyone looked nervously at each other or the board. Eventually Yoongi broke the silence by saying, “Jimin, I think you should keep talking to it.”

Jimin looked at Yoongi as though he’d been snapped out of a trance. “Right…erm…are we talking to a male or a female?”

You looked down at the board again and waited for the reply which eventually came. The planchette started moving again and settled on the letter F. You felt your heart begin to race as Jimin continued with his questions (Are you friendly? How old are you? Where are you from?). Each time a reply came (Yes, 2-5, H-E-R-E) until Jimin got to the question “What is your name?” You all waited for about a minute but it became clear that no reply was coming.

“Are you still there?” you found yourself quietly asking. The planchette moved towards ‘Yes’.

“Don’t you want to tell us what your name is?” This time the planchette moved to ‘No’. You looked around at the others and saw the same look of confusion mirrored on each of them.

“Why is that?” you heard Jungkook ask from across you. The planchette moved around the board and settled back on ‘No’. You all continued to look at each other in confusion.

“That reply doesn’t make sense,” Hoseok piped up. You looked back down at the board and watched while D-O-N-T C-A-R-E was being spelled.

“Let’s just try a different question,” Tae suggested. “How long have you been dead?” The planchette stayed still long enough that you thought this question would be ignored too when it suddenly moved to spell I D-O-N-T K-N-O W. You puzzled this over when the planchette started moving across the board again.

The movements quickly became erratic, as if someone was trying to wrestle control of it. Amidst the movements you could see that it did stop at a few letters every now and then. You were about to say something about this when you noticed that Taehyung had seen this too and was using his free hand to write down the letters with a pen on a piece of paper, both of which you hadn’t noticed before. You were so absorbed watching Tae that you forgot to pay attention to the movement on the board. The planchette, which was moving erratically on your side of the board, suddenly whizzed to the other end of the board out of your reach. Your finger slipped off of it and somehow you managed to knock Jimin’s off too as your hand flew into his.

Almost immediately the planchette ceased its movements and the candles that had been your sole light source all went out at once. The six of you sat quietly in the pitch darkness for what felt like hours before the silence was disrupted by a sharp, piercing scream as you were thrown out of your chair by some invisible force. The last thing you remembered was your head hitting something hard before you blacked out.

━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━

“Jiminie?” you whispered quietly.

The boy in in the hospital bed closed his eyes then opened them again slowly. He did this a few more times before they fluttered down and focused first on his hand clasped tightly in one of yours, then on your face. You smiled weakly at him with tears in your eyes and bent your head to kiss his cheek.

“I’m so glad you’re awake. I was really worried about you. I had to sneak in here because they wouldn’t let me see you.”

“Wha…” he started off weakly in a barely audible whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again. “What happened?”

You looked back up at him and the smile dropped from your face. “Y-you don’t remember anything from last night?”

“Not really. Why am I in a hospital bed and why do you have a bandage around your head?” Looking away from him, you took your bottom lip between your teeth and worried at it.

“I don’t think I should tell you if you don’t remember. You need to get some rest so you can feel better.”

“I feel fine,” he insisted. He removed his hand from between yours and used it to help himself sit up. He looked down at the drip in his arm for about a minute before looking up to meet your gaze. “ Where are the others?”

“Jiminie, I don’t think…”

“Where are they Y/N?” He raised his voice with the second question and you winced at the unexpected noise. Your eyes started tearing up more and you took a deep breath to calm yourself before admitting what you suspected he already knew. “I’m so sorry baby. I tried to see if any of them were breathing but once I got to Kookie I couldn’t stay anymore. The doctors confirmed they all…”

Unable to say the last word you left the sentence unfinished as your gaze shifted downwards. You stayed like that as the tears silently fell down your cheeks. After several minutes Jimin finally spoke again. “What…what happened last night? I can only remember the candles going out and you screaming and being thrown from your chair. I don’t remember anything after that.”

“I really don’t think I should tell yo…”

“I want to know,” he interrupted you. “I already told the police everything although they don’t believe me. They can fill you in on what I said later, after you’ve had some rest.”

“Please Y/N. I need to know.”

You looked up at him once again and took note of how serious he looked. Sighing, you gathered up your strength to go through last night’s events again. You told him everything you had told the police and watched his expression as he listened to you recount everything. You told him how you woke up on the floor with a gash in your head, how you tried looking for him and the others and had stumbled on Yoongi’s body lying face down in a pool of his blood. Near him had been Hoseok lying on his back and staring blankly at the ceiling with glassy eyes. A long cut was visible on his stomach and his entrails were lying beside him. You let Jimin know how you’d screamed and run from the room only to trip over Jungkook’s headless body. His head you’d found in the next room below Taehyung’s lifeless corpse which you found out later from the police was hung to the wall by a carving knife. You’d only stopped trying to escape the house when you came to Jimin’s body by the front door. You’d knelt beside him crying and hugged him when you realised he still seemed to be alive. That was when you’d finally pulled out your phone to call 911.

Jimin listened to all of this quietly the entire time. When you were done he asked, “So the others are really gone?” You nodded sadly and immediately got up to hug him when he started crying. You stayed like that with him in your embrace and tears falling down your cheeks until he’d cried himself out, then helped him lie back down against the pillow. Taking his hand in yours once again, you rubbed soothing circles in the back of his hand.

“So you really don’t remember anything that happened after I passed out?” you asked cautiously, keeping an eye on him to gauge his reaction. He simply shook his head no. “Then I think you should rest now baby. It’s been a really long night and you need the sleep. We can talk more about it when you wake up.”

He opened his mouth and looked ready to argue but you could see how heavy his eyelids looked, so you placed a finger over his lips to keep him quiet. “Please sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning.” He sighed but followed your instructions and his eyes drooped down as sleep overcame him.

━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━

You looked down at the note in your hand and traced over the letters that had been scribbled in Taehyung’s handwriting, then looked up at Jimin who was fast asleep in front of you

“It didn’t have to be this way,” you whispered to him despite the fact that you knew he couldn’t hear you. “If you had been honest about having this note, I might have spared your life. At least you’ll get to be with your friends now. I hope you’ll be happy.”

Your gaze shifted over to the empty syringe beside Jimin’s bed that previously held a lethal dose of insulin in it. You turned back to the note and read over it again. DON’T TRUST Y/N. Berating yourself silently, you thought back to the question Taehyung had asked which had distracted you. It had been so long since the day you’d died that you couldn’t even remember it anymore. You wished your momentary lapse in concentration hadn’t allowed one of your former victims to gain control of the board and send out that warning, but there was no undoing the past now. It just showed you that you had to be careful the next time you did this.

Looking once again at Jimin and seeing the rate of his breathing starting to slow dangerously, you considered explaining the curse which bound your spirit to this world and forced you to kill for nourishment but you knew he was too close to death to understand any of it. Instead, you stood up and leaned over to place a kiss on his lips. Before fading away from the room and disappearing without any trace of ever having been there, you whispered one last thing to him.

“This wasn’t anything personal Jiminie. It was just a sacrifice.”

#bts #horror #jimin x reader #taehyung #jungkook #yoongi #jhope

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jincherie · 6 years

Text

vulpine | yoongi [m]

↼pairing: yoongi x reader ↼genre: gumiho!yoongi, supernatural creatures!au, smut ↼words: 12.7k+ ↼rating: nsfw ↼warnings: smut: explicit sexual content, oral (recieving), fingering, lots of cum, she fucks the fox, also he consumes her life force a bit its no biggie, slight dirty talk ↼notes: happy belated yoongi day y’all!! ah, it feels good to write again

Life as a supernatural exterminator is never boring, but when you get called to a case at a large home in the woods you think its nothing more than just the usual haunting. It didn’t take you long after arriving, however, to realise that it wasn’t a ghost or poltergeist plaguing this house, but something different, something dangerous.... something alive.

↼posted; 11.03.2018

masterlist

A soft sigh left you as you pulled the handbrake up, twisting the key in the ignition to turn the engine off. Honestly, your small little compact car didn’t do a very good job of making a professional first impression. It was nothing like the strong, bulky black four-wheel drive that you usually drove when on the job, but your business partner was using it right now. Namjoon had terrible timing— he was mostly in charge of the logistics and office aspects of your business, while you went out on the field and took the jobs. He almost never had reason to use the car, but of course he happened to need it when you were going to meet and assess a job for a new, well-paying client.

On the topic of the client… you peered up through your windscreen at the large, looming house before you. It was honestly only a couple of feet short of being a mansion, a curious blend of modern and traditional styles evident in its architecture and surrounded by reasonably dense forestry on all sides. Although, if you were remembering correctly, you’d also passed a large lake on the way in as well. It had been a beautiful scenic drive, and you would have enjoyed it more if your mind wasn’t preoccupied with thoughts of this new job and what exactly you were going to encounter in the house at the end of the winding road.

As a supernatural exterminator, it was your job to help people out when they encountered problems of the more paranormal kind. You’d seen it all— ghosts, spirits, sprites, disgruntled fae. Hell, you were pretty sure that from what you’d heard over the phone, the people in this house were dealing with a poltergeist, or a haunting. Flickering lights and power surges, missing objects, levitating items— whatever was in this house was strong, but it didn’t seem particularly malevolent. You were going in today to do a more formal assessment and see if your suspicions were correct.

Staring up at the house for a moment longer, you caught sight of a curious face peaking out through the blinds, a face that immediately paled and lurched back a second later when they caught your gaze and realised you’d seen them peeping. Unable to contain your grin, you grasped your duffel bag and swung your door open, easing out of the small car and locking it behind you once the door was safely shut. It mightn’t be your first choice to take on a job, but this car had a special place in your heart and you didn’t ever want anything to happen to it.

Adjusting the strap of the bag on your shoulder, you turned and began towards the front door of the house, your footsteps light but boots crunching loudly on the golden leaves beneath nonetheless. It didn’t take you long to reach the porch, and it wasn’t even three seconds after you knocked that the large, white door was swinging inwards and you were greeted by three nervous, youthful faces.

“U-um, can we help you?” spoke a crimson-haired male, whose cheeks were slightly pink, ears burning. You guessed he was the one that you’d caught peeking out the window. You were surprised, however, at their question.

“Excuse me?” you queried, head tilting slightly. Perhaps you’d gotten the wrong address. “Did you not call for a supernatural exterminator?”

You watched as all three of their faces simultaneously lit in realisation.

“Uh, yes— yes we did. Sorry. We just spoke to a guy named Namjoon on the phone, and assumed he’d be the one coming out…” one of the other males spoke, silver hair falling over his forehead as his cheeks flushed slightly. “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have—”

You laughed, “No, that’s fair. Although I don’t know how much help Namjoon would be. He’s really good at his job, but also a scaredy cat, and a klutz. I keep him on officework.”

They all nodded in understanding, mouths dropping open slightly. It was silent for a few moments as you peered into the house, trying to get a feeling of the place. Strangely enough, it felt… off. Different, very unlike all the other poltergeist or haunting cases you’d taken. There was something in the air you couldn’t put your finger on, and the hair at the back of your neck strained to raise, as though it wanted to but didn’t quite have sufficient reason yet.

You returned your gaze to the three males that were staring at you blankly. You blinked, a smile beginning to creep onto your face. “Are you going to let me in…? I mean, I can work from out here, but it might be a bit difficult.”

Immediately and once more in synch, they all flinched back into the present moment and jumped back, clearing the way for you and bumping into each other in the process as they fumbled apologies. You tried not to laugh as you stepped into their house, politely keeping your eyes averted as they whispered angrily at each other to ‘get off my toe, Jungkook! You’re too heavy!’.

“This is quite a large house you have, must be a lot of rooms,” you observed, partly for your own benefit and partly to make conversation. “Is it just you three living here?”

All three of them followed behind you as you moved further into the house, inspecting portraits and walls. It was surprisingly modern inside, although you didn’t really know what you’d expected since it hadn’t been particularly ancient on the outside.

“Uh, yeah— I mean, Hobi used to live here too but when all the freaky things started happening he booked it. He’s not very good with scary things,” the final of the three males spoke this time, seeming slightly nervous as he laughed lightly and brushed raven hair from his eyes.

At the mention of a name, you suddenly realised you’d completely forgotten to give yours and instantly cursed yourself for being so rude and unprofessional. You turned, facing the three of them, and they stopped in turn, startled.

“Right, I never introduced myself,” you said, before offering a smile and holding out your hand. “I’m y/n, and I’ll be taking care of your case. It’s nice to meet you.”

The one with silver hair immediately grasped your hand and opened his mouth to respond, but you stopped him quickly when you realised what he was probably about to do.

“Don’t say your full name,” you instructed, offering a soft smile to lessen how weird it sounded. “There is power in a name and it’s not good for certain entities to have that over you.”

The male paled, before gulping and recovering, a shaky smile that still shone brighter than you expected stretching his lips. “I see. I’m Jimin, this is Jungkook and this is Taehyung. It’s nice to meet you, y/n.”

You smiled, shaking the hands of the other two before you returned your gaze to the room you’d found yourselves in. A lounge room, complete with well-worn couches and a large flatscreen that seemed to be used largely for gaming, if the consoles and controllers were anything to go by. A large doorway to your right revealed a kitchen and dining area, and another to your left revealed the hallway and a large staircase that presumably led to the upper floors.

A breeze seemed to pass through the room, cool against your skin, but most notably causing the hairs at the back of your neck to raise. You turned your gaze to the three males.

“So, I know you told Namjoon what’s been going on, but would you mind repeating it for me?” you asked, placing your duffel bag down when it started to hurt your shoulder. “It will help me piece together what we’re dealing with here.”

“Of course!” the crimson-haired male, Taehyung, seemed to have gotten over his initial embarrassment at having been caught peeking out the window and was now eager to talk. “Well, first of all, our things have been going missing. I haven’t been able to find a matching pair of socks for weeks, Jungkook’s keys keep going missing and turning up on the opposite side of the house, where he hasn’t been for them to get there, and Jimin’s lube keeps disa—”

Jimin, face and ears burning bright pink, delivered a solid punch to Taehyungs arm that had him shutting up instantly and emitting a pained grunt. Jungkook snickered, continuing for his friends since Taehyung didn’t want to risk death and Jimin currently looked like he’d literally rather be anywhere else but here.

“We’ve noticed lights flickering, sometimes our alarms will go off at weird times that we haven’t set them to, and sometimes we walk into a room and there’s something floating in the air,” the raven-haired male supplied, hands wringing nervously as he held your gaze. “What do you think it is?”

You hummed, comparing the information you’d just received to what you’d heard from Namjoon. It matched, and you pinned them with a slightly concerned gaze. “Have any of you been hurt? Slapped, scratched or hit by something you can’t see?”

They seemed alarmed, but all shook their heads ‘no’, and you let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good,” you said, offering a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t seem to be as serious as it could be. I think this is either a haunting, or a poltergeist.”

Jungkook sputtered. “Poltergeist? What’s the difference?”

You turned, gazing about as you decided how to word what you wanted to say. You’d said you thought it could be those things, but honestly… something still felt off. It didn’t feel like it should if it were a poltergeist, or even a haunting. Your skin didn’t crawl, and you weren’t filled with the immediate urge to run, to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible. You didn’t feel like you were in danger, you felt…

A shudder rolled down your spine as your skin prickled and a chill brushed over the back of your neck. You felt like you were being watched.

The feeling was faint, almost barely there, and you decided to ignore it for a moment to answer the concerns of the three boys before you.

“Both share similar signs, but a haunting is more like a… recording, you could say, of an event on an environment. Nothing living is the cause. But with poltergeists, its usually caused by the psychic energy from the unconscious mind of a living person, who is usually under some sort of stress.”

Understanding dawned on their faces, and you moved over to trace a finger over the worn material of the couch, observing the faint scratch marks in the leather. “Do you guys have a cat?” you queried absentmindedly, turning to meet their eyes.

When they shook their heads you hummed and filed the information away for later. You then proceeded as you usually would, inspecting the house and even taking out some technology to rule out certain possibilities. By the end of it you weren’t too much closer to finding out what is was that was inhabiting this house with them, and the feeling of being watched never truly faded.

At last, after a good half hour or so, you made your way back to the front door, duffel bag over your shoulder, and began to bid them farewell.

“Thank you for having me,” you said politely, smiling when they muttered responses with grins of their own. You suspected your presence had eased them greatly. “I’ve done a couple of tests, and I’ve ruled out a couple of things, but I still need to go and put all the information together and figure out what to do next. I…”

Your voice halted suddenly as your eyes strayed from the three males to the right where the staircase lay. In the harsh shadows beneath the stairs, something glimmered with an indecipherable source of light, and you squinted to make it out before your heart suddenly stopped. A pair of slitted golden eyes pierced through the black and bore straight into your soul, igniting a sharp and sudden fear within you that you hadn’t had time to prepare yourself for. All at once the feeling of being watched intensified, a chill freezing your back as a shudder rolled down the length of your spine under the sudden, crushing weight of a stare you hadn’t noticed until just now. Your breath stuttered, and you just barely managed to recover as the eyes retreated, fading back into the deep shadows, and the weight lifted just enough for you to talk once more. You whipped your gaze back to your clients.

“I… I’ll be back soon, and we’ll see where to take it from there. Until then, I’m just a call away. You can reach me on this number,” your fingers trembled slightly from the adrenalin now coursing through your veins as you handed Jimin your personal business card. They didn’t seem to notice what had just happened, and if they did then they didn’t show it. Jimin offered you a grateful smile.

“Thank you so much, y/n,” he said, sincerity seeping into his tone and warming some of the blood frozen in your veins. “We look forward to seeing you again.”

You smiled, barely managing to keep it natural, and bid them farewell. The entire walk back to your car, your back burned with the weight of a gaze that was most certainly not meant to be there, and your heart didn’t stop racing until you were well on your way home.

It wasn’t a haunting, or a poltergeist that was inhabiting that house. Another unwitting shudder rolled down your spine. No, it was something alive, something supernatural that you hadn’t ever encountered before.

And the swirling feeling in your gut told you it wasn’t going to be something that was easy to get rid of.

x x x x x x x

It wasn’t even a week later that you found yourself back at the house that Jimin, Jungkook and Taehyung shared. You’d been planning on coming back a bit later; in the four days you’d had since you were last here you’d been loaded up with work from other cases and had barely had time to research into what was causing such a ruckus at their home. However, this morning you’d received a somewhat panicked call from Taehyung, wherein he almost begged you to come back because something else ‘freaky’ had happened and they were all alarmed. So here you were, stepping out of your car and walking up towards the front door once more. Funnily enough, Namjoon had needed the work car today as well. You were going to have to arrange a roster and tell him to do all his business on those days so he didn’t keep stealing it from you.

You didn’t even have a chance to knock, let alone steel yourself, before the door was swinging open and you were being ushered into the house once more by the wired-looking trio with wild hair and frantic looks. You were somewhat bewildered as they ushered you into the kitchen, stopping by the large window that allowed a generous amount of sunlight to filter through.

“Um, rough night?” you asked, shocked when Taehyung grasped your hands desperately and almost sobbed.

“y/n, we heard noises. All night. I-It was like footsteps, and then banging and- and shuffling, and then whenever one of us walked down the hallway upstairs there was growling— there was growling, y/n!” he blurted in a frantic, hushed whisper, the other two nodding along with each word that left his mouth.

Your eyebrows shot up. That was definitely a development, and one that didn’t sound too great. You cursed mentally, wishing you’d had more time to research what could possibly be going on here before you’d returned. The image from when you’d departed last time suddenly welled fresh in your mind, and a light dose of fear began to seep into your system. You took a deep breath.

“Well that doesn’t sound good,” you said, ignoring the dismayed looks on their faces in favour of turning and rifling through the kitchen drawer to your side. Fortunately, they had the item you were looking for, and you pulled out the piece of silverware you’d thought to grab. Jungkook gave the silver butterknife in your hand a dubious look but otherwise just seemed like he was trying to hold it together.

“Why are you whispering, by the way? Are the noises still happening?” you asked, placing your bag on the bench and digging around for your phone. You wanted to make sure it was easily available in case you needed to call Namjoon. “Also, where did they happen exactly?”

“No, they stopped around five-thirty, when the sun began to rise,” Jungkook answered, watching as you set your phone on the bench. “They happened upstairs, in the hallway between our bedrooms… why?”

“Do all of the things you reported to me happen at night, before the sun rises?” you asked, curious but also trying to piece together more of the puzzle before you. They all took a moment to think before nodding, realisation lighting in their eyes as they made the connection you just did. Whatever was in this house was predominantly active at night.

“Okay,” you said, straightening and pulling a smile on your face that you hoped reassured them. “Take me to the hallway between your bedrooms.”

They all looked understandably horrified by the idea, and you guessed they’d all probably been camping down here in fear ever since they heard the noises. It took them a moment to realise you were serious, at which point they grumbled slightly before begrudgingly turning to lead you up the stairs. A chill of fear slid down your spine like ice as you passed the staircase where you’d seen the eyes, but to your surprise there was nothing lurking in the shadows this time around— the shadows didn’t even seem deep enough to hide anything. There was still the faint feeling of being watched as you climbed the staircase, but nowhere near as intense as last time. It simply felt as though the walls had eyes, rather than an intense stare from one known source.

You followed the boys up the stairs and down a couple of hallways before they rounded a corner and abruptly halted. You peered around them to see what the hold up was, and hummed in understanding when you saw nothing but an empty hallway. Ah, they were just too afraid to go back in. That was understandable— in all honesty you’d rather not. But, bravery was a requirement in your line of work, and part of the reason you’d made it this far, so you gripped your butterknife tighter for a moment before stepping around them and moving into the hallway.

The floorboards, an indecipherable age, creaked slightly with the weight of your careful steps. You peered around, trying to see if there was, first of all, a logical source of the sounds. The walls were plain, and besides the doorways into their bedrooms, there was nothing else that really gave the opportunity for creaking and groaning, let alone growling. Perplexed, you walked down to the end of the hall and back, turning around in a full circle once you reached the middle. You looked to the three males huddled in the corner and fought the inappropriate urge to laugh at their distressed expressions. This was where they’d said they heard the growling, and the other noises, but you were struggling to see how…

In your sweep of the hallway, your eyes caught on something that glimmered peculiarly on the floor against the wall to your right. Blinking, you bent to inspect it further, surprise filling you as you took it between your fingers and realised what it was. Straightening, you held the pearl before your eyes and turned to the other three people in the hall.

“Does this belong to any of you?” you asked, expression neutral despite how quickly your mind was whirling. All three of them shook their heads, Jungkook’s lips pursing.

“Is that a pearl?” he queried, daring to step one foot closer and have a better look. You returned your own gaze to the object in question. You believed it was a pearl, although much bigger and much more perfectly formed than you had ever seen one before. It seemed to almost swirl before your eyes, a glimmering opalescent colour that seemed out of place against your thinly gloved hand.

“I think so,” you said, grasping the pearl loosely and turning around to see if there was anywhere it could have come from that you didn’t see before. Once more, there was nothing out of place, and you almost gave up before you got the sudden urge to look up. Realisation washed over you instantly.

Lo and behold, there was a door to the attic on the ceiling.

You let out a soft ‘huh’, before turning back to the boys and offering a reassuring smile. You were beginning to piece together a suspicion as to what exactly was plaguing them, although it wasn’t a haunting, or a poltergeist, it wasn’t exactly better. You walked over, beginning to travel back the way you’d come. They trailed after you like lost ducklings, muttering amongst themselves, and halted when you did at the bottom of the stairs, near the front door.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly out of the ordinary up there,” you began, watching as their expressions fell in confusion. “But I don’t doubt what you’re telling me. I’m still not sure what’s going on here, but… I have a much better idea than I did before.”

They nodded along to what you were saying, and you took a breath before continuing, a small smile on your lips. You didn’t know whether you were going to get a helpful answer with this question. “By any chance… have you ever had any fox problems? In the forest, or around the house…?”

To your surprise, all three of their faces lit in recognition.

“Actually, yes,” Jimin started, eyes wide in surprise at the fact you’d asked something like that. “There’s always been a lot of foxes in the area, but there was this one fox…”

Taehyung picked up where his friend left off, “We used to eat outside a lot more, but there was this one fox that always used to hang around and steal our food the second we weren’t looking. It always stole our meat. It always looked like it was laughing at us, too.”

There was a pout evident on his face by the time he stopped speaking, and you had to fight another grin as you spoke, “Sounds like this fox caused you a lot of grief, huh.”

They all nodded solemnly, completely serious, and you hummed, putting the information together. You thought you finally had an idea of what it was that was plaguing them, but you wanted to go home and research it further before you did anything further.

“Okay, well. I think I know what’s causing your problems,” you said as you started towards the door, opening it and preparing to leave. You subconsciously rolled the pearl in your grasp, marvelling at the strange energy that seemed to emit from it. “I’m going to go back and do some research so I’m better equipped, and when I come back I’ll have a plan on how to get your house back to the way it was.”

All three males looked at you like you’d personally saved them one by one from the fiery clutches of the devil himself.

“Thank you so much, y/n!” it was Jimin that was gushing his thanks to you once more, the others nodding along fervently.

“You’re welcome,” you said, offering one last smile before you departed with a wave, allowing the door to swing shut behind you. Your pulse calmed the second you were back in your car, the absence of the fear you’d felt last time helping greatly to soothe you. Right, now you were off home— you had some research to do before you visited this house once again.

x x x x x x x x x

“’Gumiho’? That’s not something I thought I’d ever see you searching. What brought this up?”

You started at the sudden presence behind you, the voice in your ear breaking you from your deep spell of concentration. Your ass nearly left your seat and met the floor with how badly you jumped. “Holy fuck Namjoon, don’t do that to me.”

The tall male snickered, coming around to the side of the desk where you could see him. His head tilted as he regarded the way you placed a hand over your chest to calm your racing heart. “Wow, you’re really wound up. Is this for a case?”

You let out a sigh, pulse sufficiently slowed for now, and nodded as your hand went back to the mouse and you clicked another link open. You had far too many tabs at this point, but there was a certain comfort in the chaos. Information on what you were looking for was so sparse that having so many tabs open made you feel like you were actually getting somewhere.

“Yeah,” you said, fighting a yawn that tried to climb its way up your throat. “I think this might be what’s bothering those three kids in the big mansion.”

Understanding dawned in Namjoon’s eyes. He blinked from behind his squared glasses. “You think a gumiho is bothering them?”

You nodded, abandoning the computer for a moment and leaning back in your squishy office chair to face him properly. Your fingers fiddled mindlessly with the thin, silken material of your pyjama shorts, your eyes drawn to the mug of what smelled like hot chocolate in Namjoon’s grasp. God, you wanted some of that action. You hadn’t had a hot chocolate in so long—

“Yeah,” you said, moving your gaze back to his face instead of fantasising about cocoa flavoured drinks. “I found this when I went over today— I think its one of the pearls gumiho’s are known to possess. They reported things that sounded like a haunting or a poltergeist, but they called me today and said that last night they heard sounds too, which I’d usually just add to the haunting signs but they said they heard growling.”

Namjoon nodded along and you continued, “They said they heard it every time they walked through the hallway between their bedrooms. So I went up and had a look, and I found this on the floor, and above it, on the ceiling, a door to the attic.”

Namjoon’s eyebrows rose as he pieced together what you were saying. “You think there’s a gumiho living in their attic and causing them trouble?”

You nodded with a slight shrug. “It’s all I’ve got so far, nothing else seems to fit quite as well. I mean, I’m actually a bit confused since from what I’m reading, the gumiho is very different from similar creatures in Japan and China. While they’re regarded to have a more ambiguous moral compass and often take the role of trickster, all I’m seeing on the gumiho is that it tends to be more malevolent, and usually takes a human form to lure other humans and eat their hearts.”

Namjoon made a face, looking down at his hot chocolate in slight distaste. “That is… problematic.”

You hummed in agreement. “That’s why I’m slightly confused. I haven’t been getting a malevolent feeling from that place, and so far none of them have been hurt, just scared. It seems like its playing with them, but that doesn’t fit the lore for gumihos. But at the same time, I haven’t heard of the other two fox creatures possessing pearls. So I’m not sure what to think.”

The tall male offered a shrug, placing his mug on the desk and gesturing towards it wordlessly to indicate you could have it— apparently he’d lost his appetite. You beamed, lurching forward to take the cup as he spoke. “Perhaps this gumiho has different preferences. You can’t expect them all to have the same personality, right?” he paused, tilting his head. “Have we ever dealt with a gumiho before?”

The trickle of nerves and apprehension that you’d been denying for most of the evening suddenly welled up, capturing your attention once more. You took a sip of your new hot chocolate to distract yourself from the feeling. “No, I don’t think we have. We’ve dealt with a couple of other creatures that weren’t the usual ghost or pixie infestation, but never one like this… never one that was intelligent and not bound by laws or rules.”

Namjoon hummed, resting his pyjama-clad hip against the desk. “I see. Don’t worry too much, whatever happens, I know you’ll be able to handle it. I wouldn’t start a business with someone that was incapable.”

You smiled, heart warming at his words. “And here I was thinking you started a business with me because I was your best friend. Would you have left me for someone better, Joonie? I’m hurt.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes at your playful jabs, and straightened up from the desk. “If only it were that easy to get rid of you,” he chortled, smiling when it elicited a laugh from you. His expression grew softer after a moment. “You should sleep soon, though. It’s nearly twelve, and you’re not going to be much good to someone if you’re tired and can’t think straight on the job.”

You nodded, since he had a point after all. You’d been rereading the same sentence over and over like a sleepy fool before he’d come and scared the living daylights out of you. You’d do a bit more reading, then you’d go to bed and finally rest your eyes.

“Yes sir,” you smarted, saluting and relishing in the exasperated eyeroll Namjoon gave you.

“Go to bed, brat,” he chuckled, turning to make his way up the stairs to his floor. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” you bid him farewell, already turning back to your laptop for your final bit of reading.

You spent a bit longer than you intended, going through quite a few of the tabs you’d pulled up, and by the time you were closing the lid and preparing for bed you thought you might have fried the last remaining brain cells you had. Although despite the painfully restricted amount of information and lore on gumihos, you had learnt a fair amount, so it wasn’t in vain.

They were similar enough to their Chinese and Japanese counterparts, but what set them apart was their perceived moral compass, their usual intentions, and their pearls. Gumiho, from what you had gathered, fed off the energy of others, and when doing this they used their pearls— which were apparently very precious to them and also tied to their life force, as some lore stated. Other sources stated that they also fed on the hearts of humans, but you didn’t know how accurate either was. Longevity was how they came to be, and could shapeshift into a number of forms. All that you’d read informed you that unlike the kitsune, when the gumiho shapeshifted into a human it was not to play or trick the humans, but to lure them closer so they may eat their hearts. It was a disturbing snippet of information, you would admit, and it was particularly unsettling in your current tired state.

Now that you knew more about what you believed was likely in that house, you could sleep a bit easier, and tomorrow you would make a plan on how to best deal with it. No matter whether the gumiho intended to harm them or not, the way it was acting now meant that it couldn’t stay— it had to leave, and you had to figure out a way to make it.

You grumbled softly to yourself as you climbed into bed, something niggling at the back of your mind but your brain too tired to process what it was. You’d probably remember when you woke up. Letting out a soft, contented sigh as you sank into the plush mattress and your soft blankets embraced you, your eyes fell upon the large pearl you’d placed upon your bedside table before they finally closed and you slipped off easily into sleep.

x x x x x x x x

It was dark. Nothingness caressed your skin, your hairs raising and the flesh of your arms giving way to goosebumps as you strained to pick up something, anything, with your senses. You should have been panicking at the lack of stimulation, but instead the only feeling that greeted you was a small ball of apprehension and anticipation mixed into one in the pit of your stomach, like you were waiting for something despite not even knowing what.

A sensation brushed the skin of your hip, sharp as it scratched over your shivering flesh, before it tilted and suddenly changed. Fingertips and hands pressed against your body now, and your mind struggled to keep up with the new feelings.. You couldn’t see, but an image flashed behind your eyelids, one you couldn’t forget if you tried.

The golden eyes you’d seen in the shadows of the staircase so many days ago burned themselves into the forefront of your mind, slitted pupils drilling into your soul once more and stripping you bare before their gaze. A peculiar mix of fear and exhilaration swirled within you, your heartrate accelerating greatly.

The air shifted, nothingness still present before your eyes, and the hands on your body stilled, nails digging into your sensitive skin and holding you very firmly in place. A voice, low and deep and rumbling against your ear, greeted your senses from the inky depths.

“Where is my pearl, little human?”

You jerked awake with a loud gasp, lurching into a seated position and flitting your gaze about as your vision returned and the remnants of the dream released you from their clutches. Chest heaving with your rapid breaths, your eyes fell upon the pearl on your bedside table and you suddenly realised what your mind had been trying to tell you before you fell asleep.

You pushed yourself from your bed, snatching the pearl and your phone as you went and booking it to the door. You slipped on a pair of shoes and grasped your keys, and then you were sprinting to your car. You barely registered the time, 2:43AM, as you threw your belongings on the passenger seat and turned the car on. You were only a few minutes down the road when you got the call.

“y/n!” it was Jungkook’s panicked voice that rang through your car’s stereo, your phone connected via Bluetooth. Distress was evident in his tone, and there were other sounds echoing in the background that set off alarm bells in your mind. “y/n, please come quick! Everything is happening at once— the noises, th-the levitating objects— y/n I think whatever is in the house is angry!”

Your teeth found your lip as your foot pressed further on the pedal, the car beginning to travel down the highway at speeds that were most definitely illegal.

“I know, I’m on my way,” you said, hurrying to instruct him on what to do from now. “I’ll be there soon, but in the meantime you and the other two need to get out of the house. Get in your car, and get out of there for a while. I’ll deal with everything, okay?”

Jungkook seemed to hesitate before he spoke, “…Okay. We’ll leave now. Thank you, y/n. Please be safe.”

You had to smile at the sincerity in his tone, heart warming despite your distress. “Of course I will. Make sure you get out of there, okay?”

Jungkook muttered an affirmative before he left the phone, and you just heard him calling for the other two before the call hung up completely. You chewed your lip, guilt eating at your insides. You were at least seventy-five percent sure that the reason things at the house had gotten so bad— that the gumiho had become angry— was because you’d taken the pearl. Granted, you hadn’t known what it would do at the time, but as soon as you read information on gumiho and their pearls you should have taken it straight back. You’d been so tired… but that wasn’t an excuse when other people’s lives were possibly on the line.

By the time you reach the house in question, the car that usually sat to the left of the driveway was long gone, and only some of the windows across the side of the house were illuminated. A fresh spike of fear grasped your heart as you realised you were about to go in there, half-cocked and alone, and there was a very high possibility that you would not come out again. Why had nothing about this case gone to plan? You were constantly coming back here, caught off guard and unsure of yourself or what step to take next. This wasn’t good for your health.

Gulping, you grasped the pearl and exited your car, remembering suddenly that besides your boots you were clad only in your silken singlet and sleep shorts. Cursing your lack of forethought about, well, everything¸ you slammed the door shut and started towards the house. You decided that the less you thought about it, the easier it would be.

Contrary to what you thought, the house was eerily silent as you stepped over the threshold and into the foyer, floorboards creaking slightly under your weight. You held your breath, waiting for something to come flying off the wall or levitate in the air. When nothing happened, you let the air go and stepped further inside, allowing the door to click gently shut behind you. There were some things scattered off the floor that had clearly fallen victim to the gumiho’s earlier tantrum, but aside from that the house was just as it had been the other times you had visited.

You shook your head, realising that you were just stalling the inevitable, and took another deep breath to steel yourself before you moved towards the stairs and began your ascent. The usual feeling you got in this house washed over your skin, but this time it was joined by something else— you could feel the presence of another being in this house, and you wondered how you could have possibly missed it each other time you came.

Your hand found the railing as you ascended, approaching the hallway where you knew the creature to be faster than you’d like. The pearl was gripped loosely in your other hand, and with each step you took it seemed to throb and pulse with more and more energy, alive against the skin of your palm. It wasn’t long before you reached the second floor, and you paused for a second, gulping, before you swallowed your fear and pushed on.

The hall was dark, the boys having abandoned their bedrooms before they thought to turn the lights on, and there was much more cluttered over the floor here. Evidence of the gumiho’s wrath. Your nerves were set alight— the creature did not seem pleased at all that its precious pearl had gone missing.

Your eyes strained to see in the dark, catching sight of the door to the attic hanging open and a staircase extended down. Either it had been left open in the creature’s haste and it was still up there, or it was somewhere else in the house— the skin on the back of your neck immediately prickled at the thought that it could even be standing behind you, were that the case. You resisted the urge to turn around like an amateur and instead started towards the staircase. You had a pearl to return, and in the event that you didn’t get eaten, you also had a gumiho to convince and evict.

The closer you grew to the doorway in the ceiling, the more you were able to see. There seemed to be a small light lit up there, and it was casting the slightest glow over the doorway. Heart racing in your chest, you steeled yourself and gripped the flimsy metal of the staircase railing, beginning to climb up. You had no idea what you were going to encounter once you reached the top, and you were too terrified to entertain the thought sooner than you really had to. One step, another. A bead of sweat began to form on your temple.

You reached the top, climbing somewhat gracefully to your feet, and halted the very second your gaze swept over the room. It was in even greater disarray than the floors below, dusty belongings scattered across the worn floorboards and deep scratch marks embedded in the old wooden beams supporting the roof. It was a small oil lamp that lit the large room dimly, but there was still an abundance of deep, dark shadows, and it was as your gaze swept over to a dim corner that your heart stopped in your chest for the second time in a week.

Those golden eyes, no longer wide in neutral curiosity but narrowed in displeasure, bore into you from the shadows in the corner to your right. You went rigid, heart beat increasing dramatically as you struggled to continue breathing normally despite the fear lighting your veins on fire. There were blankets, soft and fluffy, pushed into one big pile on the floor, working as a nest, a bed of sorts.

A low growl split the air, and the eyes rose from their low position, higher and higher until they were just above eye-level and fear clutched your heart tighter than before.

“Curious,” a low voice rumbled, the eyes blinking languidly as the deep tone reached your ears. You could sense the anger hiding deep in the curves of the word, could taste the contrasting interest coating the edges. “The human from before. I did wonder when you would be back. What brings you here, girl?”

You gulped, trying your best not to let your fear show despite the fact you were certain he could hear your thundering heartbeat.

“I’ve come to return something,” you managed to say clearly, adjusting your grasp on the pearl before you brought your hand up and held your palm out, displaying it for him to see. “I believe this belongs to you?”

The reaction was instantaneous, the eyes narrowing and pupils tuning to thin, furious slits as a sharp hiss pierced the air and melted into a dangerous growl that had the hairs on the back of your neck shooting to attention. You watched as the eyes moved, like he was shifting in the shadows, and the thought made you nervous. “My pearl,” he snarled. “Why do you have it.”

It was a demand, and you found yourself answering before you could control your tongue. “I didn’t mean to take it,” you said evenly. “I found it downstairs when I was investigating. I didn’t know it was yours, that it was important to you. I came here to give it back.”

The creature shifted, mulling your words over for a moment, and it took every ounce of your self control to stay still and resist the urge to run back the way you came. You didn’t even realise you were holding your breath until the eyes moved once more and a figure was stepping from the shadows, and the air whooshed from your lungs in a soft gasp.

He was beautiful, probably the most entrancing being you had ever seen, and he carried himself like he knew it. Platinum strands fell over his forehead, skin a light honey tone and gleaming youthfully despite the slight darkness beneath his glowing, cat-like eyes. His shoulders were broad beneath the beautifully embroidered, silky cloth that hung from his lean frame and tied around his waist, and your eyes were drawn from the smooth expanse of his chest to the nine white, fluffy tails swirling behind him, and the two large, fox-like ears atop his head. Gold and silver pierced the appendages, an ornate choker winding around his neck and rings fixed around his long fingers. Looking at him, you almost forgot how to breathe.

His tongue darted to wet soft, pink lips as he strode slowly towards you, slinking over the floor so fluidly it was almost like he was gliding. The closer he got, the harder it was to keep your heartrate from accelerating more than it already had, to stop your knees from wobbling.

He halted before you, eyeing you shrewdly, as though inspecting whether or not you were up to anything funny, before his hand whipped up and he snatched the pearl from your palm. His claws just barely brushed your skin and a shudder was rolling down your spine, the gumiho too busy inspecting his beloved pearl and cupping it in his hands to notice your reaction.

Once he deemed it the real deal, a huff of air escaping him in satisfaction, that intense gaze was on you once more and you immediately felt like you were being stripped bare before his eyes. His lips curled, eyes sweeping over the length of your frame as he stepped back once, before beginning to move and circle around you. A wave of embarrassment flooded you as you suddenly remembered once more that you were in nothing but your short, silken pyjamas and your boots.

“Why have you been coming here, girl?” he asked suddenly, catching you off guard. You tried to calm your heartbeat as you answered.

“They thought they were being haunted, so they called me to come take care of it,” you supplied honestly, meeting his gaze despite the instincts screaming within you that you shouldn’t. “Why are you here, playing with three boys and living in their attic?”

He smiled, a grin that was, in all honesty, nothing but fox-like. His gums peeked forth. “You’re very brave, for a human. Don’t you know foxes like me eat little girls like you?”

You couldn’t help the shudder that travelled down your spine, your heartrate spiking. “I have heard such things, yes.”

He smiled, teeth sharp.

“Do you know what these pearls are used for, little human?” the gumiho queried, tone rumbling lowly against your ear. You fought another shiver, your eyes following him as he circled you.

“I have an idea,” you managed to say, the words almost getting caught in your throat as fear and trepidation curled in your stomach. The fox chuckled.

“I use them when I feed. You know how creatures like me feed, don’t you?” he hummed, eyes never once leaving your form.

Your mouth shut, words unable to climb your throat despite how much your mind was willing them to. Images flooded your mind, fuelled by the information you’d read only hours ago. The creature grinned, leaning slightly closer.

“I think you do,” he breathed, and your hands balled into loose fists at your sides in an attempt to stop the rest of your body from trembling. “I am here to feed, and they’re fun to play with. I do not wish to devour their flesh, and the distress they emit… has a certain flavour of its own.”

You swallowed thickly, organising your thoughts and steeling yourself for what you were about to say. You had to remember your main goal here. “You can’t stay here,” you said softly, meeting his swirling golden eyes once more. “You know you have to leave. I can’t let you stay.”

The gumiho slowed to a stop before you, rolling the pearl in his grasp between his long, nimble fingers and mulling over your words. The glint in his eyes was sharp, nicking at the tendrils of fear around your heart and causing them to constrict tighter.

“You’re asking me to leave my home, my food source. You’re asking me to starve?” he queried, eyes widening with a sly gleam that told you he was very aware of how he was turning your words around.

“No,” you immediately responded, feet shifting on instinct. “I’m—”

“Then what are you proposing, hm?” he almost seemed to purr, a hand coming to toy with the end of the tie that cinched the material at his waist. He tilted his head, ears twitching and tails swirling behind him in a calculated manner. “It will have to be a very sweet deal if you want me to leave.”

You hesitated, unsure how to proceed since you had no idea what he could possibly want, what you could possibly give him that he would take. “What will you accept in exchange for your departure?”

You didn’t miss the way the gumiho’s eyes rolled leisurely over your form once more, drinking in each bare piece of your skin that was revealed to him. His tongue darted to lick his lips, trailing along the edge of his teeth. “I’m very hungry,” he said. “Feeding on only the little bits of fear from these boys… it’s not very fulfilling. I haven’t had a decent meal in so long…”

A part of you, deep in the recess of your mind, sensed where this was going, but still you spoke. “What do you want?” it came as a whisper, the loudness of your voice no longer something that was under your control.

The gumiho looked like he couldn’t have hoped for a better response.

“You,” the answer was immediate, his burning gaze sweeping over your form once more and eliciting a shiver that bordered the line between fear and something else you weren’t quite ready to admit yet.. “Human women are so plain nowadays, always striving for the same ideal, the same image… but you— you’re different. You smell different, look different… delectable. I could just eat you up.”

Your heart skipped maybe one too many beats at his words, kicking quickly into overdrive as your breath hitched in your throat. You felt heat wash over your face, and the fox seemed delighted at the development. He hummed, pleased, and reached his free hand to traced a finger along the heated skin of your cheek and down the side of your face.

“So pretty,” he purred, eyes swirling a deep golden that captivated you easily, ensnaring you and dragging you into their depths. His lips curved. “Truly a meal fit for a king.”

You snapped out of the trance, narrowing your eyes at him but unable to will your body to move away just yet. You were enjoying his touch too much, more than you wanted to admit, even as you realised with a sharp jolt of fear that the creature before you was renowned for consuming human flesh.

“I’m not going to let you eat me,” you said, pulse racing and fear tickling your senses. The panic must have been evident in your tone, because the gumiho barked an amused laugh.

“Silly girl, I do not wish to eat your heart,” he snickered, lips curving into a wicked grin. “I have long since abandoned such a primitive way of life. I am hungry for your life force, yes, but that is not all I wish to feast upon.”

It took a moment for his words to register in your head, and the second they did you balked. “Y-you—”

“Won’t you give me a final meal?” he queried, low baritone causing butterflies to erupt in your stomach. His eyes bore into yours without pause. “I assure you, I am much easier to convince once I am fed, little girl.”

You weighed your options, a strong sensation like time was running out fuelling you to think faster. If you didn’t do this, what else could you do? You didn’t know anything else that would tempt him from the little home he had made for himself here, and you certainly didn’t think he would be very receptive should you withdraw and come back again. You were incredibly attracted to him, drawn to him, and with each moment that passed you became less and less adverse to the idea. He just wanted to feed, right? You tried to pretend like you weren’t completely ignoring the second meaning to his earlier words. But still, attractive or not, were you really about to trust a fox?

He must have sensed the decision in your eyes, as he began to grin before you even voiced your answer. You couldn’t will your voice above a murmur, “Okay. What do I have to do?”

“Excellent,” he purred, hands coming to your waist and making you jump slightly. His tone lowered as he spoke once more, “To feed, I only need a kiss. But before that… I think I will have dessert first.”

You didn’t have time to ask what he meant before his head tilted and you were pulled forward, soft lips brushing against the sensitive skin beneath your jaw before they latched and a sharp gasp was pulled from your throat. Wetness was already beginning to seep between your thighs. The fox grinned against your neck, kissing along your skin and pulling you into an intoxicating haze as you were enveloped in the enthralling scent of him. Delicate blossoms mixed with musk invaded your senses and you fought a moan as the gumiho’s teeth scraped against the sensitive column of your throat, fingers digging into your waist and claws poking your skin through the thin material of your shirt.

You were pulled close, so close your chest was pressing against his, hardening nipples pressing through the silken material of your sleep shirt, and without a second thought you allowed yourself to fall victim to the pleasurable sensations he was eliciting within you. Your fingers clutched at his arms, bunching in the soft material of the traditional robes hanging from his form. You felt his fox ears flick against your jaw, could feel how the tails moved and swirled through the air behind him. A soft growl slipped through his lips, rumbling against your throat as your hips shifted on instinct and rolled, pressing closer against him.

You didn’t bother trying to deny your desire for him, for the beautiful gumiho you were being paid to evict from this home, but still you couldn’t manage to keep your mouth shut.

“I don’t even know your name,” you gasped as his hands slipped beneath the hem of your shirt, brushing the heated skin of your waist. The pearl was cool and almost seemed to thrum as he rolled it over your sensitive flesh.

You hardly noticed as the fox began to move the two of you back to the shadowed corner he had first appeared in. “You can call me Yoongi, little human,” he nipped your throat, relishing in the soft noise you made in response, and eagerly grasped you tighter before dipping you backwards.

You yelped as you fell, back meeting the soft, plush pile of blankets and furs. His body fit easily above yours, hips slotting perfectly between your thighs as he rolled his pelvis against you. He grinned devilishly at the moan it pulled from your throat.

“Yoongi,” you breathed, and you were surprised when the fox above you shuddered lightly in response. He dove back down to resume his previous activities, lips pressing, pulling, suckling down the column of your throat and over the soft skin of your collarbones.

A generous amount of your chest was already exposed and the gumiho made good use of that, lips laving a wet trail of pink and rose blossoms across the top of your chest before he grew sick of the barrier between you and leaned back. He clicked his fingers, and blue fire immediately enveloped the soft turquoise material of your shirt, flames licking along the hem.

You yelped, understandably alarmed, and almost went to move before you realised the fire wasn’t burning you, and dissipated into the air before you even had time to formulate a proper response, your shirt disappearing with it.

“Foxfire,” you whispered, amazed, and the gumiho grinned.

“Correct,” he rumbled, before he dove down once more to continue tasting the sweetness of your skin and the softness of your curves.

A sharp gasp fell from your lips as his own brushed over your nipple, his breath hot against your skin, a noise that melted into a moan as he enveloped the bud in the wet heat of his mouth, suckling harshly and keeping his swirling eyes on your expression the entire time. His other hand came to cup the opposite breast, thumb and fingers kneading the supple flesh and eliciting another soft noise from your throat. His fingertips trailed along the underside of your breast, and you noticed that the claws that had been there before were no longer present.

There was a hand left unaccounted for, something that completely slipped your mind until you felt something smooth press below your sternum, rolling down your abdomen and over the soft swell of your tummy, cool against the curve of your hips. You moaned when Yoongi pressed the pearl lower, rolling it over your core through your thin, silken shorts and against your clit. Your core was throbbing at this point, his ministrations more than enough to turn you on, so the slightest stimulation was making your head swim pleasantly as desire swirled in your abdomen.

“You’re so soft,” Yoongi purred, voice thick, as he released your nipple with a pop and rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger. “Are all humans as sensitive as you?”

You didn’t have a chance of forming a coherent answer, as he dipped his head once more to continue his trail down your body with his lips. It wasn’t long before he reached the hem of your silken pants, and even less time before they disappeared in a very similar fashion to your shirt. The fox’s breath seemed to catch in his throat at the sight of you laying bare before him, covered in marks and glistening in a trail left by his mouth. He could smell your arousal, you knew he could because you were soaked already and the second your pants disappeared his pupils dilated, blown wide in lust and desire for you.

He hummed, admiring the view before him for a moment longer before he slid back and lowered once more, hand leaving your nipple after a final tug that had you gasping, so that his arms could wind beneath your legs and come over your hips. Your fingers clutched the blankets beneath you, back curving slightly as you felt his breath over your dripping core. The anticipation nearly killed you, but you still weren’t ready when his tongue finally darted out and delivered a tentative, kittenish lick along your folds.

You gasped, hips straining to move but unable to beneath his iron grip. You felt his lips curve against you, heard the pleased hum sound from deep in his throat, and were almost distracted by the soft flick of his ear against your inner thigh when he went back for more. He lowered his face completely, delivering one more lick against your clit before beginning to eat you out in earnest.

Your thighs tensed, muscles quivering as your back arched and you moaned at the sudden, powerful onslaught of sensations. Pleasure shot along your limbs, hot and scorching, to pool in your abdomen. His tongue worked like magic against your core, laving over your clit as he suckled the sensitive nub into his mouth and allowed his soft lips to wrap around it. His hands kneaded the flesh of your hips and tummy as you whined and moaned, panting softly as he buried his face between your thighs and hummed, pleased, at each noise you made.

You could hardly believe how quickly he was working you up, how rapidly the knot had formed in your abdomen and how much it tightened with each movement of his tongue against you and each gentle suck of your clit. He held nothing back, each movement wild and unchecked and wrought with an intense passion you weren’t used to in every detail. It was like he knew exactly what to do to bring you to the edge, and even as he did so he was enjoying himself greatly.

He rewarded the noises that tumbled forth from your lips with hums and moans of his own, the vibrations against your core only adding to the pleasure. You hardly noticed as one of his hands moved from your hips, arm shifting back. You did notice, however, as the fingers of that hand traced along your slit, gathering your slick juices as they went. Yoongi’s teeth scraped your sensitive clit and you jolted, gasping loudly, as his fingers slipped between your folds and two pressed against your entrance.

You would normally be alarmed, but you suspected that with how absolutely aroused you were, and how close you were already to coming undone, fitting them in wasn’t going to be a problem. Yoongi continued to work his tongue masterfully against you, playing you like a musician does his favourite instrument, and he began to work his slick digits into you in time with each flick of the muscle.

They slid in easily to the knuckle, the slightest traces of a burn present for a mere split-second before he was moving his hand and you were whining lowly, hands leaving the blankets in favour of winding through his hair and grasping his ears to tug gently. He groaned instantly, sucking harshly against your core as his fingers curled within you and you cried out loudly, lurching closer and closer to the edge with each movement he made.

You knew you weren’t going to last much longer, but you still weren’t ready when you looked down on a whim and met the swirling golden eyes already staring up at you. The gumiho grinned, and you had a split-second of confusion before he returned his lips to your clit, taking it between his teeth gently at the same time as he curled his two fingers within you, pressing deliciously against your g-spot. It was so much, too much, at once, and you were easily pushed off the edge and into the throes of what had to be the most intense orgasm you’d had in months.

You whined loudly, voice cutting off into a trembling gasp as your body tensed, core clenching around his fingers and thighs quivering against his arms. Your back arched sharply, curving off the blankets, and it took you a solid while before you finally began to come back down. Through the pleasure-filled haze in your mind, you registered the gumiho between your legs still diligently lapping up every drop of your release, making your body jerk with each brush of his tongue against your sensitive nub. You wriggled, whining softly, and tugging his hair gently. He didn’t pull back until he was sure he’d gotten every last drop, licking his lips as he gazed over your already fucked-out form with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

He almost purred as he crawled back over you, hips rolling against your own as he dipped to suck and kiss your neck once more. You’d never gone this far without at least kissing someone first, and there was an alarmingly large part of you that wanted to taste his kittenish, pink lips.

Yoongi nipped the skin of your throat before he pulled back, taking in your slightly heaving chest and flushed face. He decided it was a sight he very much enjoyed.

His tongue darted out to swipe along his lips once more. “You tasted even better than I could have hoped, little human,” the devilish smile returned to his face. “But I want to hear you scream now. Dessert isn’t over quite yet.”

Your body was trembling in anticipation as he tugged the tie at his waist and in one go it came undone, the soft material covering his form slipping from his shoulders to pool as his hips. You couldn’t help but openly admire the smooth expanse of light, honey skin now exposed to your greedy eyes, and the gumiho before you relished in the attention. His lips were curved into a pleased smirk as he shifted the rest of his robes from his form and your attention was then directed to another region entirely.

Instantly, fresh heat flooded your cheeks and your mouth nearly dropped open. Fuck, he was a lot larger than you imagined, and with a girth you could almost already feel stretching you open. Embarrassingly, you had to squash a moan that wanted to rise in your throat, your lips pressing together to keep it in. You couldn’t keep your eyes from his swollen length, the tip pink and leaking precum.

Yoongi watched your expression for a moment before he shifted closer, nuzzling the skin of your neck briefly and then resuming his earlier onslaught of kissing and suckling. His hips rolled and shifted against yours, swollen length grinding against your clit and sending a fresh flush of pleasure over your form.

“Are you going to be good and scream for me?” his voice, low and thick with desire, had you shivering against his form. “There’s no one here but you and me. Your sweet noises are all mine to hear.”

You tried nodding, but the action was cut off with a moan as he rolled his hips once more and another wave of pleasure shot to your core. His hips shifted, his mouth becoming well-acquainted with your chest once more, and it wasn’t long before you could feel his bulbous head parting your lower lips to press against your slick entrance. A shock of excitement jolted down your spine, the thrill of the situation permeating the pleasant haze in your mind and eliciting a soft noise of encouragement from your lips.

You attempted to relax your tensed limbs, but couldn’t help the way your body shifted and writhed as he began to push into you. His girth stretched you open, a burn tingling along your spine as his head dragged along your walls and further into the velvet heat of your core. Whimpers and whines tumbled from your lips and your back arched as your fingers fought to find purchase on his shoulders and the toned planes of his back. Yoongi let out a long, low groan as your nails dug into his skin, his cock slamming the rest of the way into you until his pelvis met yours once more.

A sharp yelp broke from your lips, soft pants filling the air as he gave you a moment to adjust. You honestly didn’t think you’d ever taken someone as big as him, he stretched you further than you ever had before and the resulting cocktail of heady pleasure and slight, sparking pain was intoxicating to you. Yoongi shifted, rolling his hips and causing the angle of his cock to change within you and you moaned loudly as his thick tip pressed against your spot. Your thighs trembled against his waist, fingers digging into the giving flesh of his back, and he seemed pleased at your reactions. He rolled his hips back, pulling almost completely out of you, before snapping them back and slamming into you once more.

You cried out loudly, eyes pinching shut at the onslaught of pleasure flooding your senses. One of his hands gripped your hips and the other pinched and tugged your nipple before coming to trail his thumb along the column of your neck. He began a steady pace, each thrust into your heat causing you to clench around him, the coil in your abdomen beginning to tighten and curl. Soft groans and growls tumbled from his pretty, swollen lips to join the symphony of your own wanton cries, fingers digging in to the soft flesh of your hips and urging you to roll your hips back and meet his thrusts.

Every touch of him against your heated skin was intoxicating, the heat in his swirling golden eyes threatening to swallow you whole as he brought his thumb to brush your lips and you enveloped it in the wet heat of your mouth. Something soft brushed your legs, and the sight of those eyes dilating from slits coupled with his extra appendages was enough to remind you suddenly of who exactly you were currently fucking— what you were currently fucking. To your surprise it only served to further your arousal, a keening whine tearing from your throat as he moved and pulled his hands away to grip your thighs. His fingers dug in, a pleasant ache where they pressed into the supple, giving flesh of your thighs, and he moved them, angling your body effortlessly.

Your legs now pushed closer to your abdomen, his thrusts began to hit places even deeper inside you and you almost sobbed at how painfully good it felt, how hot you felt your skin flush with pleasure and desire. You’d never been so affected by anyone before, never felt such all-consuming desire.

“You’re taking me so well,” the gumiho marvelled, golden eyes fixed on the juncture of your thighs where your pussy greedily swallowed all of his length again, and again, and again. You’d lost control of the moans falling from your lips, hands falling from his shoulders to grip the blankets. “Are you going to swallow all of me when I cum in that greedy pussy, hm?”

A shuddering moan left your throat, your eyes barely managing to hold his gaze. You gasped his name as he shifted his hips, changing his pace and slamming into you with renewed fervour and such force you could already feel the delicious ache that would grace you come tomorrow. You were drowning in the intensity, the all-consuming depths of those swirling, flavescent eyes. He grinned down at you, sharp teeth peeking out against petal lips and gleaming in the low light, his skin bathed golden in the glow of the lamp and glistening with a light sheen of sweat. There was something wild in his eyes as he grinned down at you like a predator down at the prey caught in his claws, something feral in the curve of his mouth. Each slam of his hips against yours, each hard drag of his cock against your fluttering walls, brought you closer and closer to the edge of your second climax of the night. You watched, entranced, as bright red markings began to appear over his face, perfect in shape and colour, as though they had been painted on with the hand of only the most skilled artist. Lines over his cheeks, under his eyes, following the curve of his lid and lash line. He had never been as stunningly, hauntingly beautiful as he was in this moment, unchecked and wild and feral. He was a fox, after all.

He must have sensed you were growing closer, moans dragged from his throat as you clenched around his swollen length with each hard pump of his cock into your heat. He leaned down, closer and closer, until his lips were just barely a centimetre from yours. You were so, so close, it was hard to keep your gaze centred on him when you wanted nothing more than to tilt your head back and sob at the intensity, the pleasure.

“I’m going to kiss you now, little human,” he murmured, breath hot as it brushed your lips and tone low against your ears. You watched as his mouth curved into a devilish grin, and instantly knew this was the end for you. “But first, I want you to cum for me. Now.”

And you did, with one final slam of his hips into you your back curved and you were crying out loudly, noises that almost resembled his name falling forth but never greeting the air as his lips crashed onto yours and swallowed them down. The coil in your abdomen snapped, pleasure pressing against your limbs and sweeping through your mind, washing it clean of any and all thought process. It was so much, too much, as you felt your chest heat and warm with each movement of his lips against yours. He managed two more powerful thrusts into you before his hips were stuttering, and you were barely coherent enough to notice as his cum flooded your pussy, splashing hot against your walls and dripping out around his length when you were filled to the brim.

Your limbs tingled, quivering, but you couldn’t focus on anything but the intoxicating scent surrounding you and the heady taste of his lips and tongue. So consumed by the pleasure and sensations were you, that you hardly even noticed it when something cool passed from his mouth to yours, your tongue moulding around it instinctively. It was a peculiar flavour of ecstasy that washed over your limbs even as your high began to fade, keeping your head bathed in the softness of the clouds and mind in a delicious haze.

You didn’t know how much time passed before he was pulling back suddenly, panting heavily and body thrumming with energy. He slipped from your core, and you let out a soft noise as your combined fluids began to flow forth and trickle from your abused entrance.

“Fuck,” the gumiho cursed, eyes moving from your blissed-out expression and tired, glistening form, to the dribbles of his cum leaking from your pussy. He licked his lips, golden eyes meeting your heavy-lidded gaze once more and seeing you in a new light. “You…”

His hand trembled almost imperceptibly as he used it to gently brush the hair from your face. God, you were so tired. You blinked languidly, groaning softly as you tried to stay awake. It was a strange sense of tiredness, almost like a high of its own.

The look in the fox’s eyes bordered on tender before he steeled himself, beginning to pull back.

“Thank you, little human. A more delicious last meal than I ever could have hoped for,” he said, tone low and rough. “I will honour our deal and depart this house now.”

Something welled within you, an urge, and before you could even think to stop yourself the words were tumbling forth from your lips unchecked.

“Don’t go,” you mumbled thoughtlessly, eyelids fluttering as you stretched a little. So tired.

The gumiho was amused. “I must find a new place to stay, little human,” he spoke, tone curling around the words. “I am a fox of honour.”

If you were in your right mind, you would have definitely slapped sense into yourself for the words that escaped you next. “You can stay with me,” you mumbled, eyes closing momentarily. “’S okay, I have a spare… room.”

The fox’s eyes gleamed, a positively devilish grin curving his lips. “Oh?” he purred, returning to your side and draping something over your body. “Who would I be to refuse such a generous offer?”

You mumbled something, barely coherent, and could no longer hold your own against the powerful urge to sleep. You registered a soft touch over your cheeks, and words murmured lowly against your ear, before you finally slipped into the unconsciousness that called you so.

“Sleep now, little human. Restore the energy I took. I think you will need it later.”

And then you were gone, drifting in a sea of blackness and dreams and completely unaware of the mess you’d find yourself in come the waking hours.

Out of the frying pan, and into the fryer.

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