Dance with the Devil | Ch. 1 - WAKE UP
Chapter One | Chapter Two | WIP!!
A/N: Hi so ik it's been so long omg sorry about that but here is some nice fun fluff. I'll post the polished chapters on AO3 (once I get an account lol) but here you'll get the rough drafts to enjoy.
Content warnings: nothing graphic! It's fluff, no gore, nothin'
Summary: Evan Myers died in that forest, Vinnie soon to follow. But, suddenly he finds himself in his early thirties and married. Is this a trick by HABIT or is he living his next life?
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
WAKE UP
"Evan?"
Evan blinked, snapping to reality. Well, he tried to. Truthfully, he was in such a distant world, a memory, he couldn't tell you the date or even his age. All but for a moment.
He focused his eyes, seeing a familiar face. One he hadn't seen in… God, five years? Has it really been that long to see her gilded brown eyes? Wait. Wait…
He stared a little more intently. The beauty remained, but there was hints of age. Smile lines, little wrinkles from joyous events. Her face had settled, the face she'll wear for most of her life until she begins to grey.
"J-Jessie?" Evan barely choked out, but tried to quickly recover and hide the waiver in his voice.
He glanced around for a moment. She was handing him a mug of coffee, the color close to his own skin tone. Evan didn't drink coffee. …Right?
He remembered he far more enjoyed the battery-acid taste of a Monster. Yet, on reflex, he took the cup and had a small sip. Instead of retching, it went down smooth. It felt… familiar?
Evan wracked his brain. He closed his eyes and focused on the last thing he could remember. Cold, unforgiving forest floor… a cry of frustration from the being of chaos as they slipped back into the cycle of rinse and repeat. His friend, or what he believed to be, bleeding out as his vision faded and his breathing slowed.
He was supposed to be dead. He is dead. He was dead.
However, as he also peeled back the layers, an entire separate life began to reveal itself. He's 32 now. Jessie Miller, or rather Jessie Myers, was his wife of almost a decade. She still ended their relationship after prom, but they soon reconciled after graduation as she revealed she only ended it due to the pressure from her father.
"He didn't want me ending up like you." he could remember her saying with a wince.
She had gone to college in New York City while he stayed back in Jersey, working odd jobs here and there. He scraped together money while living off of 99¢ noodle cups and his family's trailer to put a payment down on a house. Their house.
He remembered how he had proposed, well both times. The first time was on a regular date over pizza. He had given her a cheap and dainty ring, calling it a promise. I promise I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, I promise I'll do anything and everything I can, for you, Jessie. I'll make you happy. I'll provide. I promise I'll make you my girl. His greatest desire was to keep her comfortable. It wasn't a secret her family was well-off, upper middle class, and so she had a much more cushy life compared to him.
Little did he know, a few months after getting her master's degree, they had a little one on the way. That was the kick in the ass he needed. He put his nose to the nosegrind and went to trade school. It got him a job that paid better than any part-time seasonal gig could. He proposed, proper, kneeling with a diamond ring and everything, and they married that fall.
Hot tears stung the corner of his eyes as he quite literally watched his life flash before his eyes up to the current moment. It was such a radical juxtaposition to what hell he had just gone through.
…it was already starting to feel like a dream. No slenderman, no wolf-spider demon overtaking his body and killing everyone around him, and no…
No entering a secluded vacation home in Pennsylvania, seeing her blood paint the walls. Never having to rip a monster off of her, seeing her body, her flesh, in tatters. Never having to hold her in his arms, feeling her warmth evaporate. Never promising her everything was going to be alright as her wide eyes flooded with fear, knowing he was lying. He was a liar.
He blinked. Again.
Jessie's face had changed to an expression of concern rather than confusion. She asked the question again: "Evan?" Are you alright? What's the matter?
Evan shook his head and cleared his throat, drinking more of his coffee. It was exactly how he liked it. She had it memorized. His heart melted a little more, remembering that nugget of information. "Yes, honey, I'm… I'm alright. I didn't sleep well, it must be catching up to me."
Jessie's face softened as a smile crept across her lips. "I hope you're not too tired. Ashlynn has been begging to play in the snow with you all morning."
All morning?! "What time is it?" Evan asked with another sip, an attempt to hide the glance he stole at the clock. It was noon.
Jessie didn't get a chance to answer as a shrill, excited voice filled the kitchen, "Daddy!"
A little girl, only seven years old, barreled in and hugged his leg. She wore a cute maroon puffy coat with a cat-earred beanie and black gloves to match. It reminded him of something Jeff would wear back in the day.
Evan's breath caught in his throat. Ashlynn… his daughter.
"...I remember feeling her bones on my teeth…"
He scooped her up into his arms, hugging her tight. She returned the hug, her small arms wrapping around his neck. Evan buried his face into her coat. He broke. He started to cry, to sob.
Was this real? Is this just… another sick twisted trick by HABIT?
It certainly felt real. Just as real as The God Killer slicing his artery. Maybe… maybe this really was his next iteration. He was a father. He had succeeded. He married his highschool sweetheart and had his daughter. There was nothing more he could ask for.
"Daddy…?" His daughter's voice snapped him out of it. He could listen to her for the rest of time. He never wanted her to be quiet. Not only could he finally hold her, he could see her. Hear her. No monster had ripped her from the womb, no. She was born in a regular hospital under regular circumstances.
He sniffled, wiping his tears. "Sorry, angel, daddy just… Daddy loves you so much, okay? Daddy is always going to be there for you. Always." He gently set her down on her feet. "Now, can you go wait in the living room while daddy gets his boots on?"
"Okay!" Luckily, Ash wasn't old enough to really question her father.
Jessie on the other hand… She wore her heart on her sleeve. Of course she was concerned for her husband. "Evan, what's gotten into you? You've been… spacey." She gently leaned forward and wiped his tears away with her thumb.
Evan had to fight every nerve in his body screaming to jump, to flee, to flinch. "It's nothing, baby… I just. I've been having some nightmares recently. Not sleeping very well." Jessie bought the lie. It made his stomach twist into a knot lying to her, but how could he ever explain to her what had happened? What happened to him, to her, in a different time?
Jessie made her way around the kitchen island and Evan had to suppress his surprise. She was pregnant. Very pregnant. Seven months, three weeks, and four days to be exact. At least, that was how long medically, conception is not as empirical as doctors made it out to be. He had been counting the days.
Without even thinking, he stepped towards her. He wrapped her into a tight hug as he placed a palm on her round, full tummy. Another one. Another little one. His.
He peppered her face in kisses, not even halting as she burst into giggles. His heart overflowed with joy and love. He finally had everything he could ever want. For a moment, he forgot to consider where his other loved ones were. Stephanie, Jeff, Vinnie…
For now, they could wait. For the first time, Evan Myers was going to be selfish.
Chapter Two
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