sorry abt the sudden honkai posting but this game has taken my brain hostage for the time being

romtober day 8: love breaking a curse

Rating: T Ship: Geraskier Word Count: 2696 Summary: Geralt receives a contract to take care of a creature haunting the castle overlooking a village. Geralt decides he might be able to save the creature instead. 

AN: ok i'm gonna warn y'all before you start--i make no fucking effort to wrap this up. this is basically 3kish words of an idea for a longfic, which has been rattling around inside my brain and hopefully will get written eventually. but if i get any angry messages about the curse not getting broken or me leaving this without any sort of resolution, i will give you sassy responses. your expectations should now have been adjusted accordingly!

if you like this idea and would like to eventually see a resolution, lmk! i find it fun and would love to get back to it, if there's an interest.

read on ao3

The castle was freezing. Geralt had barely stepped past the threshold before he could see his breath fogging out before him. Outside, it had been a spring morning, on the cooler side, but still held a hint of warmth. Inside, the air felt harsh against his skin, cold enough to cause pinpricks of pain.

It was dark and dusty. Cobwebs covered everything and the furniture and paintings showed a level of degradation Geralt wasn’t expecting. The castle hadn’t been deserted for long, maybe a few decades at most, and yet it looked as if it had been abandoned centuries ago. The cold, the rot, the stillness of the air, the overwhelming feeling of decay, it left Geralt feeling as if he’d never be warm again. This place reeked of sadness.

As he stepped inside and carefully closed the door behind him, he heard something shift in one of the rooms beyond what he could see. There had been reports of a specter, of a monster, of a something haunting the deserted castle, and the forests around. The villagers were scared to go near it. They were convinced if they drew too close, they would die an unspeakable death. Better to have a Witcher go and take care of the problem for them.

Geralt followed the sound, though he was unsure if it was the creature or just an animal that had looked for warmth. He dispelled that thought, however--it was so much colder inside than beyond the castle walls, he was certain no animal in its right mind would seek out this place for protection from the elements. Something shifted again, and a cracking sound echoed through the halls. Geralt pulled out his silver sword and stepped carefully, silently.

He came to a large, open room, with wide windows, many of which were shattered. A ballroom, maybe. Once, it might have been grand, but now it was just as destroyed as the rest of the castle. Geralt edged a foot forward, crossing the threshold.

A voice, high and inhuman, hissed its way through the air. “Go away,” it said, and Geralt whipped his head around to find the source. 

There, in the corner, he saw it. What, exactly, he was seeing, Geralt wasn’t entirely sure. The figure was humanoid, almost, but much taller than the average human with long limbs and sharp angles. The skin was partially translucent, like glass, but splattered with hundreds of flecks of black and dark gray and brown to muddy its appearance. It stretched as tall as it could, its arms and legs lengthened to make it appear more imposing than it actually was, and if Geralt was human, he was sure he would cower at this icy creature that was easily ten, twelve feet tall.

Geralt was not human, however. And despite the way the creature attempted to make itself look like a threat, Geralt noticed the way it remained bent in on itself, and as far from Geralt as he could get. 

“What are you?” Geralt asked, pulling himself fully into the room.

A scream rung out in the room, high and hissing like the voice had been, and Geralt had to brace himself against the wall to keep from being flung. The windows rattled and Geralt heard one high above shatter, only to rain down on the creature. It did not react. Instead, it seemed to close in on itself more.

“Go away,” the creature insisted again, but now the voice sounded more human, and far more sad than Geralt was expecting. A man’s voice.

“I’m a Witcher,” Geralt said. He returned his sword to his scabbard, then held his hands out in front of him, palms facing the creature to show he meant no harm. “I was hired to investigate this castle, rid it of whatever was haunting it. But I think you mean them no harm.”

“Go away,” the creature repeated. He sounded desperate now, and Geralt saw the way he pressed up against the wall behind him, like he was trying to get away from Geralt. Geralt stopped.

“I can help you.”

“No one can help me,” the creature answered. Ah. So he could say more.

“I could try.” Geralt looked around. “Is this your home?”

“It was.”

“What happened to it?”

The creature was silent for a long time. Then, the room erupted into color, and light, and warmth. The debris littering the floor was gone, and it revealed a beautiful marble floor, so clean and shiny Geralt was sure he could see his face reflected in it. He was right, the room had been grand, with the large windows letting in so much light. Geralt started when a body moved through him--a specter, a visual trick the creature was creating just for him. Couples danced, and now Geralt could just barely hear the music, and the far-off sound of voices and laughter.

“A witch,” the creature said, and it felt as if the voice was in his head. 

Geralt saw her now. She was beautiful, in a floor length gown and a deep purple cloak that flowed around it. The witch stepped up to a man, young and beautiful and dressed in finery, who held out his hand. She accepted, and they joined the other couples dancing.

Just as quickly as the couple appeared, they faded into nothingness, and Geralt watched as the entire illusion faded into the disrepair it was now. The creature slumped, all of his energy gone.

“Were you the man?” Geralt asked.

“I was,” the creature answered.

“What’s your name?” Gerlt asked.

“Go away.”

“What’s your name?” Geralt asked again.

“Go away!” the creature insisted, his voice taking on the hissing, harsh, inhuman quality again.

“I want to help you.”

“No one can help me!” Now the creature stood up again, and Geralt tried to brace himself again for the scream, but it was louder this time, more powerful. Furniture moved across the floor, and the wind whipped around him, picking up in intensity as it carried off the creature’s final “Go away!”

Geralt barely registered escaping, but he found himself outside the castle and wind slammed the giant door shut behind him.

--

The next day, Geralt wore the furs he had unpacked from Roach’s saddlebag. She was safely stabled in the village, and Geralt left her with the stablehand and thorough instructions.

Getting to the castle was no easier the second time as it was the first. It was perched high on a mountain, surrounded by large, tall, thick trees. It made little sense--surely there would be an easier way to travel between the castle and the village, as this castle would have presided over the village. Perhaps the creature had a hand in making it inaccessible.

Impossibly, the castle was colder when Geralt finally pushed his way inside. The door had been blocked off with debris, the creature clearly thinking that a little effort and a thick tree branch were enough to deter Geralt from his mission. They were not. Geralt was made of far sturdier stuff than that.

Geralt had barely cleared the doorway when he heard that hissing voice again.

“Go away!”

“No,” Geralt answered. He planted his feet, sure that another display of the creature’s power was coming, but after a few moments, Geralt still only heard silence. He made his way back to the ballroom.

The creature was not there.

He searched the surrounding rooms, but there was no sight of him. There were about a hundred more rooms in the castle that he could have searched through, but Geralt had a feeling even if he did, the creature would be one step ahead of him.

“You could make this easier on both of us and just show yourself,” Geralt said.

The creature’s only answer was a quick burst of wind that blew leaves into Geralt’s hair.

“Have it your way,” he answered.

Geralt made his way back to the ballroom. This was where he set up his supplies. He had planned for an extended stay this time, complete with rations, extra bedding, and even a tent in case his host was feeling like manipulating the weather. By the time he was finished, he caught a flickering in the corner of his eye, and turned to look.

The creature was now in the corner, right where he had been the day before, and whatever magic he had used to make himself invisible was wearing out. Or he was choosing to allow Geralt to see him.

Satisfied, Geralt sat himself upon his bedroom, his legs crossed, and faced the creature. For a long moment, they just stared at each other.

“Why are you still here?” Geralt asked.

“It’s my home.” The creature sounded offended, but at least his voice was human.

“Are you stuck here?”

The creature didn’t answer, but the wind blew another clump of leaves at Geralt’s face.

“What’s your name?” Geralt asked, to help squash the grin growing on his face.

“Jaskier.”

Geralt hummed. “That’s a bad name for an ice monster.”

This time, when the leaves hit his face, he didn’t bother hiding his grin.

“What are you?” Geralt asked.

“Shouldn’t you know that, Witcher?”

“I’ve never seen anything like you,” Geralt answered, figuring honesty was probably what was needed here to get the creature--Jaskier--on his side. “And you didn’t tell me much about how you came to be.”

The wind swirled in the room, and Geralt watched the leaves spin in circles as Jaskier, presunably, mulled this over. At least they weren’t flying toward his face this time.

“Cursed,” Jaskier finally answered.

“By the witch?”

“Yes. Marikka.”

Geralt hummed. “You knew her. Why did she curse you?”

Behind him, a door slammed. Geralt turned to look at it, and saw it swaying open again, apparently broken. He hadn’t even felt the wind, but when he looked back to Jaskier, he could just barely see the pinched expression on his face. It was hard, from this distance, but the message was clear. Back off.

Geralt wouldn’t.

“How am I supposed to help you if you don’t give me any information?” Geralt asked, rolling his eyes.

The door slammed again, and this time Geralt didn’t look. Over and over, it banged against the threshold, but as it went on, the less pointed it seemed. The wind kicked up around him, swirling the leaves and debris and creating little tornados. Jaskier didn’t scream, but it was a near thing. Geralt felt the anguish there.

“I can’t help you unless you help me,” Geralt said, standing up. He held his hands out again, and tried to inch closer to Jaskier. “I can’t break this curse if I don’t know what it is.”

“Then don’t!” Jaskier screamed back, sounding more like a wraith than he had yet. Geralt kept moving closer, even as the wind picked up, his steps slow and steady. This time, he’d make it to Jaskier. He knew he would.

That was his last thought before Jaskier sent a burst of wind directly at him. So strong Geralt flew off the ground, and right into a marble pillar. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

--

When Geralt woke, he was in another room entirely.

The bed he was in wasn’t destroyed, exactly, but it certainly showed its wear and tear. Cloth just didn’t last that long, and as a result the canopy above him was in tatters, and the blanket over him didn’t hold in the warmth as much as his furs had. Still, he noted the effort that Jaskier--it had to be Jaskier--put in, even if Geralt was shivering from the moment he woke up.

“Jaskier?” he called, as he sat up. 

There was no response, and Jaskier wasn’t in the room. Geralt stood and--checking to make sure there were no damages, or that he was healed of any that had been there--made his way back to the ballroom. When he got to the door, it wouldn’t budge.

“Jaskier, I know you’re doing this,” Geralt said patiently. “Let me in.”

“No. Go away.” Jaskier still sounded as if he was in the same room, rather than behind the ornate door.

“That hasn’t worked every other time you said it, and it won’t work this time.” Geralt pushed on the door again, and it budged, but swiftly closed again, knocking Geralt back. “Please don’t launch me again.”

“I’m sorry,” Jaskier said, and he did sound remorseful. Miserable, even. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know you didn’t,” Geralt answered. “You were in pain. I knew you were lashing out, and I still got too close. I forgive you.”

There was a long silence, and when Geralt tried the door again, it gave way. The room was even more destroyed. Broken glass was everywhere, and while he was out, the chandelier had given way. It now lay destroyed in the center of the room.

“Jaskier, what happened?” Geralt asked, turning to face Jaskier, back in his place on the far side of the room. As always.

“I’m sorry,” Jaskier repeated, sounding no less miserable than he had before.

“So this… was you?” Jaskier didn’t answer, but Geralt took it as an admission. “Because you were upset? Guilty?”

“For hurting you,” Jaskier agreed.

“I’m fine, Jaskier. I heal. I’ve gotten worse injuries than a smack to the head.” He bent to pick up one of his own belongings, which were now strewn about the room. “I’m going to set up my camp again. I won’t approach you, but I might have to get closer.”

The wind kicked up again, but only strong enough to blow some of his belongings closer to Geralt. Geralt smiled, then set himself on the task of setting up camp again. By the time he was finished, the sun that had been shining through the windows had grown low in the sky. Geralt had a feeling, with his long healing rest, that he wasn’t going to sleep much today.

“You can leave this room,” Geralt said. It was as much a statement as a question. He was pretty sure Jaskier didn’t use wind to carry him the whole way upstairs, into the bed, and under the covers. He didn’t seem strong enough, except when he was upset. That meant he had to have carried Geralt. “Why don’t you?”

“I like it,” Jaskier answered.

There was a pause, then slowly the room started to change back into that magnificent vision Jaskier had given him before. Jaskier, it seemed, remembered this room in sunlight and warmth, despite the growing darkness outside and the ever-present cold. This time, the room was empty of people, aside from a small boy playing a piano. His melody was rough, clearly he was still learning, but as the song went on, he grew better. He grew older.

Soon, Geralt was looking at the boy turned young man. Jaskier, it had to be. Jaskier wasn’t dressed in his finery this time; instead he wore a pair of trousers and a loose-fitting shirt, unbuttoned far below what Geralt was sure was appropriate. The music he played was beautiful and had a great deal of character and humor pressed into it. He had never heard this song before.

“You like music,” Geralt said.

The image before him changed rapidly. Images of Jaskier playing a piano, images of Jaskier dancing, playing a lute, singing, writing. They went too fast for Geralt to get a good look at anything, but he knew this was a correction. Jaskier didn’t like music, Jaskier loved music.

“How long have you been here?” Geralt asked.

The image of Jaskier changed. It was horrific, Jaskier’s take on his transformation. The memory-Jaskier’s body twisted and cracked in unnatural, painful ways, sharp edges breaking out of his skin and enveloping him in ice. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his legs and arms grew long, long, longer, until he was the creature Jaskier was today. The warmth crept out of the room, and slowly the ruin grew, until Geralt found himself right back in the destroyed ballroom, all illusions gone.

“A long time,” Jaskier answered.

ASK ASK ASK ASK BEETLEBOY GETS THE SNUGGLES HE DESERVES AND IS SOFT W READER WHO KINDA JUST HOLD HIM AND KISSES AWAY HIS INSECURITIES BC I KNOW IM SOFT FOR THIS MAN AND I WANNA SMOOCH HIM

Whew, so this took me a while to finish. The whole thing with the pandemic, police brutality, and I’m taking a 5 week summer class. It’s just been crazy. Thanks you guys so much for being patient while I hadn’t posted. I’m gonna try to post again sooner than later, so be on the look out for that. Hope you guys enjoy!💜🖤💚

Warning: Cursing, mentions of sex, slightly drunk reader

Word Count: 4,596

There was something wrong with Beetlejuice...besides the usual. Normally Beetlejuice was a firecracker that never fizzled out. His chaotic personality, among other things, is what you loved about him. He wasn’t normal like every other person you dated before, ignore the fact that he was literally a demon from hell. He was just better, in every way possible.

****

When you both first met, it was something you’d basically hoped for your whole life. You always had a thing for scary stuff. Horror movies, haunted houses, etc. Anything related to the supernatural, you wanted to know more about. You weren’t exactly sure why these things interested you so much, they just did. And, unfortunately for them, you always subjected your friends to joining you in any strange activity you participated in. 

You met Beetlejuice on your 25th birthday. Your friends asked you how you wanted to celebrate, hoping you would pick something ‘normal’. Maybe a club, a rooftop dinner, hell even mini golf sounded like a better plan then what you always had in mind. But you rejected their ideas, saying you wanted to go to the new haunted mansion attraction near your house. Your birthday was in October so all types of Halloween related attractions were coming to light. 

Of course, your friends all groaned at the idea, just wanting to not deal with anything scary for once. But they loved you nonetheless and just sucked it up like always. 

The day came for your haunted mansion adventures and you were too excited. When you all pulled up to the mansion, it looked like a regular house. The outside looked old and ratty but it didn’t look exactly terrifying. When you guys came up to the ticket booth, the hostess tried her best to sound scary. She talked in a low tone and sounded out her words as slowly as she could. Making it blatantly obvious that she was putting on an act. 

Once you all were inside, you were disappointed beyond belief. It was dark...and that was it. All the lights were turned off and there were black, what looked like, sheets hanging from the ceiling. There seemed to be a random strobe light sitting somewhere in the corner as flashes of black and white were hitting your eyes. So yeah, disappointed was definitely an understatement. 

Here you were, thinking you’d get the actual experience of a genuine haunted house but it turned out to be a cheap let down. Your friends were relieved though. They didn’t actually have to deal with anything too scary. Oh, well. They were convinced you wanted to leave at that point but you weren’t. They’d already bought tickets in so you all might as well stay. Plus, the house had three stories. Maybe you could find something interesting throughout this whole shitty thing. 

Knowing that you’d actually want to find something more scary, you told your friend you wanted to split up. They could take their time talking and staying on the main level. You decided to head up, trying to get to the attack. You could usually find interesting stuff in an attic. On your way up you were met with more and more corny attempts to be scary; random people jumping out at you, loud recorded screams coming from every direction, and having you walk through fake cobwebs as you made your way up. 

Finally you reached the top floor, but when you looked around there wasn’t any way to the attic. You were only met with a plain ceiling but decorated in cheap Halloween decorations. You were starting to feel bad that you made your friends spend money on tickets to the place. Well, you’ll probably just have to settle for dinner at a fancy restaurant like one of their other suggestions. 

Just as you turned to head back out of the empty bedroom you were in, the door slammed in front of you. ...Okay, you thought. Neat trick. You walked to the door to reopen it but just before your hand touched the doorknob, a small white card slid under the door. Your eyebrows furrowed as you reached to pick it up. The card read: 

Betelgeuse the Bio-Exorcist

Call: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse

Speak My Name 3 Times

What the hell? Beetle-guise? Was this part of the tour? And why did that name look so familiar? You exited through the door but there was no one in sight. Shrugging your shoulders, you absentmindedly placed the card in your jacket pocket before heading down to meet back up with your friends. 

The night ended with you stumbling into your apartment, sober enough to make it home but drunk enough to stumble every few steps. If there was one thing your friends were good at, it was making sure you drank away your disappointment when things didn’t go your way. You plopped yourself down onto the couch, making a lackluster attempt to pull your shoes off. Feeling your head swim a little, that’s when you remembered that strange card you found. Being drunk always made your supernatural instincts kick in. Never forget the time you wrote a whole astronomy paper after your friends wanted to go out just before being flooded by work for finals. 

Wait...astronomy. You sat up on the couch, trying to rack your brain of why the name on the card sounded so familiar. That’s when it hit you. The name you remember your teacher going on about when you covered a section on stars, their brightness, and every other thing you barely cared about. 

Beetlejuice! Duh Y/N, you thought. The tenth brightest star in the night sky. You reached into your pocket, fumbling a little as you pulled the card out. Your vision was semi foggy but still clear enough to read the card. 

“Say my name 3 times.” You read to yourself. It was probably a bad idea, but hell. It was your birthday and you deserved to have some type of fun after the shitty let down from earlier. The liquor in your body finally pushed you forward to read out the name. 

“Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice...Beetlejuice!” You called out. Looking around your apartment, nothing had changed. 

You felt a few goosebumps and a slight chill cover your body but that was it. Probably just a mix of anticipation and the state of your drunken mind. You let out a small huff of air before getting up to head for your bedroom. Trying to steady yourself as you walked, you suddenly felt like you bumped into someone. Hold on, someone? You don’t have a roommate. You backed up a little bit before looking up to see a strange man standing in front of you. 

The man stood, wearing a black and white striped suit that looked so old and worn out, seeming as though it would need 200 washes before it was entirely clean. He looked so pale and had different spots of, what looked like, rotted mold on his face. To top it all off, the man had a bird’s nest of beaming green hair spiked in different on his head, his beard matching the same color. To put it lightly, he looked like a dead sleazy car salesman. And you found him...strangely attractive. Yeah, that had to be the 3 Fireball shots talking now.

“Well, helloooo, gorgeous!” A deep raspy voice came from the stranger in front of you. He eyed you up and down, looking at you as though you were his prey.  

“Uh, I-...uh.” You stammered with your words, trying to form a full sentence but failing completely. You took steps backwards as the strange man walked towards you. Panic started to hit you more and more, unsure of who this man was and what he was going to do to you. 

“I know, I know. I’m such a handsome and sexy piece of beefcake that you’re at a loss for words. I get that a lot.” He spoke while smirking at you. 

Well, he took some of the words right out of your mouth, that didn’t stop you from being terrified. Before you could get any further back, the man grabbed your arms and yanked you towards him. Without a second thought you began to use your fists to beat at his chest. You were just about to scream before he started laughing. 

“Oh, don’t be like that, babydoll. Here’s a little something to take the edge off.” The man spoke, just inches from your face. 

Before you could fully take in what he said, the man swung you around, both arms wrapped around your torso and waist. He dipped you down and planted a long deep kiss directly on your lips. Again, this was probably those shots talking, but you felt your head starting to swim again. Oddly enough, the kiss made you feel some type of way. Like you were actually enjoying it? Placing both of your hands on his chest, you deepened the kiss by pushing in more and ‘accidentally’ letting out a small sound that was close to a moan. All this despite the man’s lips tasting like actual graveyard dirt. 

You weren’t sure how long you two were like that, but what was probably a few seconds felt like hours to you. He finally stood you back up, his hands rested on your waist as you regained your footing. God, your head was running at 100 mph. You quickly made your way out the man’s grip before speaking again. 

“W-who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my apartment?” You demand. The mystery man only grinned before using his thumb to rub his bottom lip. 

“Mmm, is that cinnamon I taste? You just get sexier and sexier by the minute, babes!” The man laughed. Yeah, fuck Fireball shots ever again. You felt your face heat up but you stood your ground. 

“J-just get out or I’ll call the police! And I may not look like much, but I took karate for 5 years. I’ll fuck you up until they get here!” You practically screamed. It wasn’t a lie but you hadn’t actually practiced karate since you stopped going to class, which was when you were 13. The man laughed even harder at your attempts to seem tough. 

“Okay, dollface. If you’re gonna ‘fuck me up’ then what’d you call me here for?” He asked, gripping his stomach from laughing to hard. You blinked at him. 

“What?” You asked, starting to get frustrated with all the confusion. “What do you mean call you? I never called anyone. I don’t even know you.” 

“Don’t act too confused, babes. Your face is too adorable when you look like that. You got my card, right?” He asked. You made an even more confused face and he dropped his arms in half defeat. He turned to look around before picking up the card you dropped on the floor. He lifted it so you could see the front of it. “See, that’s me. The B-man himself.”

You didn’t really need to look at the card to remember what it said. You slowly started to feel the edge come off. 

“Beetlejuice? You’re Beetlejuice?” You asked, the tension leaving your body almost immediately. The demon man nodded with a grin before making the card in his hand disappear into tiny flames, pretty much confirming your question. 

“The one and only, babycakes. Mr. ‘Ghost with the Most’ right before your very beautiful eyes.” He replied, fixing his suit jacket confidently. Don’t ask why you felt so much more relaxed at the thought of a demon being in your home rather than a real life person. Within two seconds flat, your face went from confusion and fear to beaming joy. 

“Wait so, you’re a ghost? An actual ghost?” You asked, all too anxious to get every answer you’ve ever had in your head about the supernatural. Beetlejuice could see the excitement on your face. He chuckled before answering. 

“Yes, I am, hot stuff. But, you know my name,” Beetlejuice stepped more in your direction. With the panic actually cleared from your senses, you didn’t back up anymore. “I want to know yours.”  

“Uh, Y/N.” You spoke, feeling a little bit flustered under his gaze. 

The demon man gave you one last smirk before stretching his hand out to you. You gently set your hand in his. Beetlejuice guided you back over to the couch.    

“Well, Y/N. Tell me,” Beetlejuice spoke. He still held your hand while using the other to hold your chin. You just noticed the glowing golden color that filled his eyes. He used them to stare into your own, almost like he was locking you in a trance. 

“What are you dying to know?”

****

And ever since that day, Beetlejuice was all over you as much as you were on him. It started out as a simple flirtationship. Mostly having Beetlejuice come to tell you everything and anything you wanted to know about the Netherworld. 

With Betlejuice being the biggest flirt in the universe, you couldn’t escape his constant advances. Any time you two would talk, it would turn into nothing but crude sex jokes, pet names, and flirty touches that left you more flustered then you could bare. And you didn’t mind any of these things. You were actually fascinated by Beetlejuice and his presence as a demon that you didn’t care about his distasteful nature. 

That’s when it moved into your romantic relationship. Well, more of just a sexual relationship. Friends with benefits? Something along those lines. You didn’t exactly remember how it happened. The most you could think of was you two sitting on your couch, talking like normal. Next you knew, Beej was pushing some hair behind your ears, making you get lost in his eyes as he gained your attention. One moment you were apart, the next you were practically trying to swallow each other. Not long after did you get lost in each other's bodies as the air filled with sighs and moans.  

From there on, it was your regular routine. You would summon Beej on any random day. He’d go off some chaotic tangent about who knows what and you’d listen all too eagerly. After a while, whatever conversation you were having would somehow lead right into sex. And, you thought, the both of you were okay with it. But then you realized a weird shift in his behavior. For a while, your routine stayed the same but still a little off. Whenever you two would sleep together, Beej seemed as though he was overcompensating for something. 

Now, Beetlejuice was always cocky and overconfident but now it was almost like he was hiding something. During sex, it seemed like he was seeking your approval on everything. He started being rougher and wanting to please you in every way he could. You weren’t complaining per say, it was just noticeable. He wasn’t selfish during sex but he sure as hell wasn’t that considerate. And when you two weren’t having sex, he would constantly want to talk about you or do what you wanted to do. You didn’t understand why. You were a basic human like everyone else on the planet. Beetlejuice was a demon. You’d much rather want to talk about him but he wouldn’t budge.

The final straw came on a day when you two somehow got onto the topic of your ex’s. You usually didn’t talk about any of them unless it was with your friends, to which it was more of you all making fun of them. But Beetlejuice brought it up, asking how many men you’d been with before him. You only had 1 major boyfriend in high school and two in college. When you had got with Beetlejuice, you had just broken up with the 3rd ex a year before. And, somehow, that set Beetlejuice off. 

Suddenly his hair was a mix of red and yellow. His words were going at a mile a minute and his eyes were shining brighter than you’d ever seen. He was asking questions like “why did you break up”, “what was he like”, “did he do anything to you” and “how often did you guys have sex” You didn’t actually get to answer any of his questions but knew you had to stop him when you heard “did you love them” and “were any of them better than me”. You grabbed his face, trying to get him to relax and you softly told him to calm down. His cheeks felt like fire in your palms but you didn’t pull away. Beetlejuice huffed and puffed, trying to regain his sense as you cooed at him. After what seemed like 10 minutes, his hair switched to a dark blue and purple color mixed. With your hands still on his face, you noticed that he moved his hands upward to hold yours. Just as they were about to touch, he harshly pulled away. 

Beetlejuice jumped up from the couch before looking down at you. It broke your heart as you could see the clear sadness in his eyes. Just before you could reach up and say something, he disappeared. You heard him mumble “see you later, babes” right before he was gone. You looked at the spot he was in, too many thoughts running around in your head. Something was wrong with Beetlejuice, and you needed to figure out what. 

****

A week had passed after that whole incident and Beetlejuice wanted to act like it never happened. He popped back one day when you came home from work and didn’t even bring up his random spazzing moment. He knew you were going to try and bring up and immediately distracted you with a heated kiss. You didn’t really have a second to think as you both fell backwards on the couch. He deepened the kiss and slowly slipped his hand under your shirt. Well, he was gone for a week and you did miss him. All of him. You’d just have to find time to talk afterwards. 

~

Your room was hot now. All that sighing, grunting, and panting was making the air in your room very dense. You didn’t mind though. It truly was only worth it when Beetlejuice was the one making you feel good. You laid on your side, one arm draped on top of Beetlejuice’s chest. You had gotten used to the lack of movement because of his dead nature. He laid on his back, one arm under your head as the hand played in your hair. His other rested on the hand you had on his chest. Even with the room hot, you got a little bit of a cool sensation from his skin. Beetlejuice’s entire body was ice cold but in this moment, it was the perfect temperature for you. 

“Wow, that was amazing.” You huffed out, trying to steady your breathing. You felt him squeeze your hand. 

“You know I do my best, babes.” He spoke, trying to sound confident. Hearing the attempt in his voice made you remember your original plan. Although you were a little hesitant, unsure of how he would react, you still proceeded. 

“So, Beej,” You started. You subtly tighten your grip around him, hoping that he wouldn't leave once the words slipped out. “I think we should talk about last week.” 

You felt him stiffen in your grip. With your head on his chest you couldn’t see his facial expression. The uncomfortable silence that filled the air had you so far on the edge, you were practically ready to pull your hair out. You heard Beetlejuice swallow before he spoke again. 

“There’s nothing to talk about, Y/N.” His voice was so stern that it almost made you flinch. By his standards, the conversation would’ve been over. And you almost considered it when you saw the hair on his chest turning red. You propped yourself up on one arm, now looking down at him. 

“Actually there is. Look, I know you might not want to talk about it but I do. You’ve been acting really weird these last few weeks and whatever that was last week seemed to the boiling point. Just tell me what's wrong.” You spoke. 

Using the hand still on his chest, your thumb rubbed softly against his cold skin. Now that you got a full look at Beetlejuice’s face, it made you more worried than ever. First, his hair was a mix of bright red and royal blue. The look on his face showed utter anger. He turned his head to look at you and his eyes seemed to glow way more than usual. 

“Did I do something wrong?” He asked while sitting up. His voice sounded agitated.

“No, not exactly. You’ve just been...” You paused for a moment, trying to word your thoughts correctly. “You’ve been acting...really...” God, it was easier in your head but you couldn’t get the words out. 

“Annoying?” He interrupted your thoughts. Your head snapped up immediately.

“What? No! I mean you’ve been-”

“Bothering you?” He interrupted again. This time you could see the red fading away with streaks of blue taking over all of his locks. Great, exactly what you didn’t want to happen was happening. 

“No!” You used both of your hands to grab his face, making him look directly into your eyes. You were about to say something else before he beat you to it. 

“I’m nothing like your exes?” He huffed out. What? What was he talking about, you thought. His eyes looked away while you still stared. 

“I-where did that come from?” You asked. He still didn’t look at you, his hair now completely blue. You two sat like that for a moment. You didn’t want to push too hard and scare him away, so you waited. 

“It’s just...” He started. You could see he was hesitant. You moved your hands down to his own, squeezing them, showing him that you were willing to listen. “Look, babes. This whole thing we’ve got going on, you being a human and me being a demon. It’s not every day that happens and...it gets me thinking, y’know.” 

“Thinking about what?” You pushed, convincing him to continue. You felt him squeeze your hands, just like you did before. 

“You’re alive. You live an actual life. And you had a life before I came along and sometimes I think I don’t...fit in anywhere.” You were so shocked by his words that you couldn’t speak. With your silence, Beetlejuice added more. 

“I got mad because I started thinking about all the things you might’ve had with your exes. All the things you could relate to with them, and not me. It made me feel…” You could see what he was trying to say without actually wanting to say it. 

Jealous, envious, insecure even. But it didn’t make sense to you. You always knew Beetlejuice had a desire to be alive but you didn’t think it was this bad. Especially when you knew being alive wasn’t really worth the hype. You found everything Beej has told you about the afterlife to be WAY more interesting. But now was not the time for that. You took a second to think before speaking again. 

“Listen, B. You should never compare old relationships to a current one. They ended for a reason. Trying to ‘do better’ and stressing out over it is only gonna drive you crazier than you already are.” You grinned. Although he wasn’t looking at you, Beej matched your grin and chuckled at your comment. You continued. 

“All my exes are assholes that didn’t deserve me. Whatever happened with them is irrelevant. And you being a demon is just as much irrelevant. Being what you are doesn’t make you any less deserving to be here. You’re here because I want you here. I love-” You stopped yourself just in time. Beetlejuice blinked while you fumbled to come with a save for yourself. “-having you here. You know that.” 

You wanted to focus on making Beetlejuice feel better. Not confessing your strong feels that quickly turned to love just within a few months of him being around. You could only assume he didn’t catch your staggering as his face turned gentle while strands of pink appeared within the blue. 

“Really?” He asked, his scratchy voice appearing quiet. As if you would take it back when he questioned it. You smiled fondly, moving your hands back to his face. Although all of him was rough, you held his cheeks as if they were made of glass. 

“Yes.” You answered simply. The look on his face made your heart feel warm. “I can’t tell you how to feel, but I can tell you that I’m not gonna let your bad thoughts mess with what we have. Got it?” 

Any other day, Beetlejuice would’ve knocked down your dominant attitude with his harmless teasing, but he decided to let you have it. Giving you a wide grin, he nodded his head. Now that you’d gotten the response you wanted, you motioned him down so that you two could cuddle. Beej would never admit it, but he loved the intimate gesture. He loved holding you in his arms with the assurance that you would never leave. You two layed there for only five minutes before you noticed Beej’s uncomfortable squirming. You could tell he was trying to convince himself to say something else. 

“H-hey...uh, babes.” You heard him stammer behind you. You turned your head towards him slightly. 

“Yeah, B?” 

“Is, um, is it...y’know?” He stammered again. 

You didn’t want to interrupt him too quickly. So you touched one of the hands resting on your stomach, hoping it would calm him down. “Is it okay, if we...switch?” 

You already knew what he meant without needing any explanation. Despite his over-the-top nature, you always knew Beej had a soft side. There were plenty of times when smalle gestures like hand holding, leaning on his shoulder, or especially cuddling, that would make him lose his rough and tough demeanor. There were plenty of times when you would end up being the big spoon for Beej without realizing. Times when you fell asleep next to him, he would wiggle his way between your arms. When you woke up, he’d looked like he was on cloud nine. So this wasn’t really a surprise. It was surprising because he asked. 

Without giving him a vocal response, you turned all the way around. You gave a small smile before using your hands to turn him around as well. Once his back was towards you, your arms snaked their way around his stomach, mimicking the way he would always hold you. That’s when his hands moved on top of yours. 

“Thanks, doll.” He mumbled, trying to hide the genuine satisfied tone in his voice. 

You only responded with a kiss against his back. You would’ve laid your head down before feeling him shiver in your arms. Kissing his back again, you felt him loosen in your hold and let out a calmed sigh. There were times Beetlejuice made himself too easy to read. You spent almost the whole night pulling him harder into your grasp while also kissing him on his neck and back. There was no telling who enjoyed it more between you two. All you know is that when you woke up in the morning, you were back in your original position. Beetlejuice holding you, with no intentions of ever letting go.

Don’t ask me why this took me so long, but I hope you guys enjoyed. Thanks for reading and don’t forget that BLACK LIVES MATTER✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

The Rebellion (Chapter 3)

Pairing: Steve x Reader x Billy (Zombie Apocalypse AU) Warnings: Gore, violence, language, but there is fluff!!!!  A/N: This is the final chapter of Senior Year and The Bunker and I’m so sorry that it took so long for me to write. It is a long one with 8.5k words. This also took a different life to what I was expecting which is interesting as well.  I hope you all enjoy and feedback is always welcome.  Also side note, the films and TV show that inspired how this series went (and there are references to them) are: Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, 28 Days Later, A Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Zombieland, and The Walking Dead. I would fully recommend watching all these films if you haven’t already. 

Part 1 Part 2

Masterlist

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Steve stroked your cheek as if to check he wasn't hallucinating.

“We found somewhere safe to stay for a couple of months and then this girl found us and I think she led them to us but I don't know what happened because one minute we were fine and then we had a run in a shop with cult members who I'm guessing were with these guys and then we were raided by them, zombies everywhere and my aim wasn't as good as it should have been,” You were talking really fast Steve's brain couldn't fully comprehend what you were saying. You took a huge breath to regain some of the oxygen you had lost while explaining everything to him.

“Who's 'we'?” He asked raising his eyebrow. You gulped and carried on talking at your quick pace.

“I stayed in Indiana expecting you to be there for weeks, but I ran into Billy Hargrove while I was searching for y-” You were suddenly be cut off by Steve.

“Who?” Steve looked like had been blind sided by this bit of information.

“Billy.” You muttered under your breath remembering how much they actually hated each other in school.

“You spent the couple of months with Billy?” Steve stood up and threw up his arms in frustration, you just looked at him wondering why this was the most important thing to focus on in that moment.

“Steve,” You said as calmly as possible but you didn't know how to finish that sentence.

“Yes?” He scoffed at you. This was far from the reunion you had in mind, but you thought once you saw each other nothing else would matter. You just sighed and shook your head not looking at him and trying to fight back the tears. “You slept with him didn't you?” Steve thought he saw guilt on your face when it was just pure frustration at this whole situation.

“I didn't,” Your voice was cracking. “I did kiss him though.” You confessed now that you were faced with this question. He laughed sarcastically and clapped his hands.

“Oh that's just fucking brilliant.” His tone was equally sarcastically as he started pacing throwing his arms up in the air again.

“I thought you were dead,” You shouted at him. “In that moment we were the only ones alive, you would have done exactly the same.” You screamed, causing the a guard to come in and check what was happening.

“Keep quiet or I'll blow your fucking heads off.” He sneered before slamming and locking the door again. You both looked at each other wide eyed, in that moment Steve knew what happened in between him going missing and now didn't matter because you were right. He was gone, you didn't know if he was dead or alive.

“I wouldn't kiss Billy even if it meant saving humanity.” He tried to joke and sat back down next to you and wrapped an arm around you meaning you could rest your head on him. You let out a gentle laugh.

“It wasn't worth it,” You sighed with a giggle resting your hand his thigh. Steve pulled you in closer and kissed the top of your head softly making you smile. “What happened with you?” You were drawing shapes on his thigh absent mindlessly.

“Where do I start?” He chuckled watching you draw the shapes on his thigh.

“The beginning is always a good place.” You teased adjusting your head so you were a bit more comfortable.

“After we got separated due to the mass of zombies breaking into where we were staying I managed to find a car, I went to find you but you obviously had left so I went searching for you but you were nowhere to be found. I don't know where I was but I was driving along a road and a tree had been chopped down to block the road, which is when I became surrounded by these guys and thrown down here,” Steve explained. “What season is it?” He looked at you trying the gage the amount of time he's been down here for.

“Winter,” It pained you to think he's been down here for months. He exhaled sharply as he knew it was at least three months since he was captured. “What are these people?” You asked quietly not really expecting a proper answer.

“Sadistic,” Steve was trying to mask the fear with humour. You stared up at him puzzled, you knew they must have been but it wasn't answer. “They think they're the answer to the new world. Join them or rot in here.” He shrugged like he didn't believe what he was saying.

“At least we can rot together.” You sat up and kneeled next to him playing with his hair as it soothed both of you. He laid down and rested his head on your lap making you get into a more comfortable position.

The fluorescent light was continually flickering and buzzing making it difficult to sleep. You have no idea how many days it's been since you last slept. Steve was able to sleep as he had grown used to this. He was laying next to you with an arm stretched out lazily over your stomach, you noticed he was drooling in his sleep making you laugh because the amount of times he would make fun of you for drooling over him in your sleep was constant. Sleep seemed to be the only time he was content down here, he moved slightly and wrapped his arm around you tighter. You enjoyed watching him sleep, but it also motivated you to find a way out of here. You could hear indistinct shouting in the rooms surrounding you and crying, you wondered if this was always the case or not because this was the first time you picked up on it. You could hear the door unlock after a crash was heard and a different guard came in to find the source of the noise and upon seeing you laying on the floor and Steve asleep he slammed the door shut making Steve jump awake. Your eyes narrowed at the door in thought.

“What you thinking?” Steve sounded sleepy and was resting on his elbows looking as sleepy as he sounded.

“How often do they come in here?” You asked still looking at the door and hearing the noises outside.

“Only to give us food,” Steve put his hands over his eyes and laid back down next you.

“Any other times?” You pressed him to think some more as this could be your chance to escape.  

“Only when we're an inconvenience.” Steve said not really thinking much more of it making you roll your eyes at how unhelpful he was being, you laid next to him and wrapped yourself around him with your head on his chest. You watched the light flickering and saw that it had a plastic casing around it.

“Do you think you can remove that?” You asked Steve who had fallen back asleep, you nudged him to wake him up and he just grumbled and held you tighter. “Steve?” You voice was firmer.

“What?” Steve mumbled annoyed that you woke him.

“Do you think you can remove that?” You repeated yourself and sat up to make sure that Steve hadn't fallen back asleep.

“Maybe,” Steve was slightly confused by this question, he stood up and tried to reach it but it was just out of his reach. “Get on my shoulders.” He instructed as he pulled you up. You climbed onto his shoulders and managed to pull the casing off easily. You stood on one end of it and snapped it in half so it was jagged, you looked pleased with yourself as you examined it hoping it would work. Steve wondered what you were doing.

“Tell me if this hurts.” You smiled at him, and he looked a bit bewildered by this statement, you stabbed at him in the arm with a small amount of force so he would feel it but not cause him damage. He jumped back as your new weapon made contact with him.

“Why?” Steve asked rubbing where you stabbed him.

“Just checking if it hurts.” You beamed a smile at him, making him wonder if you were enjoying hurting him.

“Why though?” Steve asked again taking the weapon from you apprehensively scared you were going to hurt him again.

“Because if that hurt, imagine it in neck.” You exhaled letting out a small laugh feeling overwhelmed. Steve looked terrified of you, it had been a long time since he saw you and he realised how much you had changed.

“Wouldn't the actual light work better?” Steve looked up at the flickering glass tube of light which was stained yellow with age.

“It would, but I don't want to risk it,” You tilted your head to the side impressed with him.

“What do you mean?” His face was now one of confusion as he passed you the broken case.

“That is going to be hot to touch and unless we can turn that off we might get electrocuted,” You explained unsure if the electrocution thing was true or a myth. Steve slumped his shoulders in defeat before picking up the other half of the snapped casing and swinging it like a baseball bat a few times while you crouched down next down to the door, Steve quickly followed suit as he could see in your eyes you plotting something. “When whoever it is comes in, hit them in the face as hard you can with that and I'll do what I can as well.” You instructed, he saluted to tell you that he understood which was immediately followed by you banging on the door and wailing to get a guard in the room. You heard the door unlock and Steve stood up pressing himself against the wall, the door swung open with force you had to stop it from hitting you in the face making the door shut, you heard the sound of plastic hitting flesh and you jumped into action and stabbed the man in the neck. You were surprised the plan actually worked as the man laid on the floor choking on his blood which was spilling out on the floor.

“Wow!” You exclaimed as you picked up his weapons and stabbing him in the head with the knife he was carrying, you went to put that in your holster only to remember it had been taken from you and slid it over to Steve.

“Wow?” He questioned your response as you checked if the gun was loaded, which it was.

“I was not expecting that to work,” You had amusement in your voice mixed with relief, Steve just blinked at you in shock that you took a gamble on both your lives like that. “It paid off okay.” You blurted out making him look away as you examined the wrist of the guy who had the same branding as the guys in the shop. Steve went for the keys and you made your way out the door quickly and quietly while he locked the door behind you making you gesture vaguely at him.

“What?” He looked at bit blank at you making you shake your head.

“He's dead Steve,” You chuckled to yourself shaking your head. “He isn't going anywhere.” You heard Steve mumble in response but you weren't quite sure what it was, you grabbed his hand and pulled him along the corridor. The bunker was huge was obviously made by someone everyone probably thought was paranoid at the time but was in fact just thinking ahead. You heard voices approach and you shoved Steve into what you hoped to be a cupboard as the door was unlocked, you falling in behind him. He could see your eyes grow wide as you stared behind him and he turned around and to discover a lab with zombie parts strewn all over the place and you jumped when one charged at you only to be pulled back by the chain around it's neck.

“I knew this wasn't a bad idea,” You muttered to yourself as you admired your surroundings.

“What do you think they do in here?” Steve asked as he picked up an arm that was laying on the table and started playing with it.

“I don't know what kind, but it's definitely research.” You sighed as you took the arm from Steve and hit him with it playfully before putting it back down.

“What was that for?” He pouted, but a smile cracked through his pout making him laugh.

“We're not here to play with severed limbs,” Your voice was stern but you could feel a laugh escape. “That is a sentence I never thought I'd say.” You whispered laughing which was cut off by voices approaching the door, you pulled Steve to the side and crouched back down. A guy who looked like your typical mad professor walked in with a guard, as they walked through the door you slid out without them noticing.

Navigating the tunnels was hard, but it became clear that this wasn't just some millionaire who was paranoid about the end of the world; it most likely had something to do with the government initially. To Steve you were running around like a headless chicken when in reality you were trying to find Billy and escape with him too. There was a guard at the end of the corridor you were sneaking down, you instructed Steve to stay where he was but he was waving his arms about as he silently protested and pushed you back as he crept up behind the guard; you weren't sure what he did but you heard a gurgle and saw the body hit the floor as Steve stabbed it in the head. You walked down the corridor to meet Steve who was collecting ammunition for your gun and giving a knife, which turned out to be your old knife. You heard sobbing from a room, instinctively you grabbed the keys from the guard and opened the door to find a woman crying over the body of another woman, she didn't even realise that you were standing in the doorway. Neither you or Steve knew what to do, all you knew was that you had a dead body behind you and one in front of you.

The woman after a couple of minutes felt eyes watching her and turned around her eyes were filled blood, you noticed she had a bite on her shoulder and the body in her room was in fact the body of a zombie, whether or not she was a relative was unknown. You quickly threw the body of the guard with the help of Steve into the room as she lurched towards you, the body knocked her off her path and distracted her as she started to bite into the flesh. Steve closed the door and locked it hoping she wouldn't escape sometime in the future. “That was lucky,” You tried to joke as you made your around the corner. You could hear more screaming and growling coming from each room and it unsettled you.

“What do you think they're doing?” You could feel Steve hover you as you checked if the next corner was clear.

“No idea, but I don't like it,” You didn't take your eyes off the door at the end of the room, no one was guarding it but you felt drawn to it. “Come on.” You took his hand and led him down the passageway and opened the door, you ground to a halt as you gained the attention of men playing poker. Survival instinct kicked in before they could grab their weapons you shot through them all knowing your cover had been blown, Steve stabbing them in the head. You grabbed what you could in terms of ammunition and weapons. Alarms started blaring and you knew you were in trouble now, Steve grabbed your hand and ran in no particular direction, someone shouting orders echoed through the corridors amongst the noise of the alarms. Steve tried to open a door but it was locked, which meant someone was most likely imprisoned in there. You didn't have time for Steve to find the key so you shot at the lock and was ready to kill a zombie if needed, the door opened and inside were two men who looked just as bad as Steve and they both looked at you confused. “Who are you?” One of them asked, he had a long beard and a lot of hair, but had kind eyes behind all his hair.

“Freedom.” Steve took two guns from you which had on your shoulders and tossed them to the guys who scrambled for them and ran out the room.

“Really Steve, freedom?” If it wasn't an emergency you would have teased more about his cheesy line.

“I thought it sounded cool.” He followed you running through the corridors in the opposite direction of the other prisoners, a guy stepped out a room wondering why the alarms were sounding until he saw you, as he went to pick up his gun to fire you had already shot at him. You shot him once more to make sure he was dead and picked up his gun. Steve pulled you back and dragged you into the room that the guard came out of which was a large weapons cupboard.

“Fuck me sideways and call me Rambo,” You weren't really thinking what you were saying as you enamoured with your choice of weapons.

“And you said 'freedom' wasn't cool.” Steve teased as he picked up what happened to be your crossbow.

“We need to be 'freedom' for other people.” You took the crossbow from Steve who was difficulty working it, the moment you loaded it the door opened and a man was standing looking confused before it dawned on him that you were the ones that escaped. You fired the crossbow without thinking and when his body fell to the floor you pulled the bolt out of his eye making Steve cringe and reloaded it and handed it back to Steve.

“You scare me, you know that?” Steve examined the crossbow trying to figure out how you were so at ease with it because it was so heavy and stiff.

“That's why you fell in love with me though.” You blew a kiss and picked up a handgun which had a silencer on it and a holster for it. You were sure they were yours originally, Steve quietly agreed at your statement as he picked up another gun and slung it around his shoulder. Both of you looked like you were you were made of guns where you picked up so many.  

The 'rebellion' as you called it went as smoothly as it could despite being chased from all angles, you were breaking people free and the people who captured you were thinning out. You ran past a room and heard banging on the door, you shot at it and the door swung open and Billy was in there with a zombie crawling across the floor where Billy was trying to fight it, you shot at the zombie and it instantly stopped moving as you gave him a gun. “What the fuck is going on?” He was confused by the pandemonium around him.

“Freedom.” Steve dragged you away and to find a way out, Billy following closely behind which you knew Steve wasn't to happy about. In a small dark tunnel you found a ladder and assumed that this was your way out. Light broke through the heavy metal trapdoor as you opened it, a large smile spread across your face because you were free, you helped Steve and Billy out but you could feel the tension between them which you chose to ignore for the moment and continued running trying to find a car; neither of them noticing you were gone until you called their names making them run over to you.

“Your petty high school rivalry means shit in this world,” You smacked them both around the head. “If you want to survive, move!” You smacked them again hoping it would get through to them and they both looked sheepishly down at the floor before following you.

The entirety of the time while trying to find your way out of the forest and onto a road the boys were bickering which made you question whether or not you should just leave them to it and go back to surviving on your own as it was so much easier then. You swung round on your heels holding your gun making them stop in their tracks and saw a zombie coming up behind them.

“Duck,” They both did as you said as you fired the gun hitting the zombie right in the head and letting the body crumple to the floor both of them watching the body when they got what had happened. “You two need work this shit out right now because I am not going to get killed because of your idiocy,” You stormed over to them and threw their weapons behind you so they were out of reach. “Talk,” You threw your hands up in the air, picked up a large stick and planted yourself on the floor as you the carved the stick into a weapon while both the boys looked at you in bewilderment. They both stood there awkwardly, Billy was rubbing the back of his neck as he did when he felt awkward and Steve was kicking a rock avoiding eye contact. “You both consider yourself fucking alpha males and obviously wanted to be the dominant one,” You rolled your eyes at how useless they were “Especially you,” You pointed at Billy. “I know you're pissed at Billy because of the kiss,” You shot a look at Steve who looked like he wanted the world to swallow him up. “So fucking talk about that.” You continued carving you stick to make a weapon waiting for them to talk thinking about useless men were when it came to talking about their feelings, especially to one another.

“That ain't happening,” Billy finally broke the silence making you throw a stick at him which made Steve laugh, you threw your head back in frustration and let out a huge groan.

“I don't want you near her,” Steve glared at Billy, face was filled with anger but his eyes showed that he was hurting more than anything.

“That's not your decision to make,” Billy retorted with his cocky smile making you roll your eyes so much you thought they were going to fall out. “ And I think she made her decision when she kissed me.” Billy knew this was a low blow, hearing him say that felt like a gut punch. Steve glanced at you trying to hide the hurt and walked off. You ran off after him. “Tell me why I shouldn't end your life right now,” You spat at Billy as you walked past who looked way to pleased with himself. Steve was leaning against a tree with his head resting against it as he looked up at the sky watching the birds fly over. You leaned on the tree next to him subconsciously mirroring what he was doing.

“You kissed him?” Steve huffed looking at you.

“I instigated it,” You finally admitted “Missing you and alcohol do not go well,” You sighed with a small laugh, Steve furrowed his brows at you and exhaled as if he was trying to calm himself down.

“I don't want the same conversation again,” Steve pushed himself off the tree and moved so he was facing you. “It just hurt hearing it from him.” He stroked your cheek gently, his eyes were soft but looked tearful. You melted at his touch.

“I love you Steve,” You wrapped your hands his neck and kissed him gently on the nose making him smile.

“I love you too.” It didn't feel like you were in a forest god knows where surrounded by flesh eating ghouls that could attack at any second.

“Come on,” You took Steve's hand and led him back to where Billy was sitting waiting for you which shocked you because you thought he would have taken the opportunity to run away. “This is what's happening,” You caught Billy's attention who was admiring your handiwork on the weapon. “You two are doing what exactly what I say,” Steve and Billy both looked at each other holding their breath because they knew the next words that were coming out your mouth would not be good. “If either of you put us in danger with your incessant arguing I will leave you to get eaten,” Your eyes darted between the both of them. “Do you understand?” They both nodded in agreement knowing you were going to be true to your word. You picked up the weapons and passed them their owners and made your way through the forest.

“Was she always this scary?” Billy tried to make conversation with Steve as he was interested in if this was a drastic change in character.

“Not really,” Steve side eyed Billy not wanting to talk to him.

“Oh.” Billy knew that was the end of the conversation as he trudged along following you.

“She's a completely different person now,” Steve confessed, he knew you were in there somewhere but he almost didn't recognise you. Billy knew this you better than he did.

“She threatened me with a knife two seconds after saving my life,” Billy admitted looking embarrassed. “She also looked like she enjoyed it.” Which made Steve laugh.

“She knows how to survive.” Steve watched you as you gracefully walked through the forest, your long hair that reached down to your waist was now nothing but a memory. Your large wardrobe of pastel dresses were replaced by tight leather trousers, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Your once soft features were now hardened.

You all found a safe place to stay for the night, but it was only for the night. Billy was asleep on the bed and you were on guard. You were expecting Steve to be asleep, but he proved you wrong when he sat down next to you on the balcony which had your legs hanging over. When you found the place you devised an escape route which involved you jumping off the balcony onto a trampoline and hopefully over a fence. Usually moonlight would light up the area, but it was cloudy and it was a new moon that night. You rested your head Steve's shoulder, the night was still and it was getting warmer meaning spring was close.

“I'm sorry,” You mumbled under your breath taking Steve's hand in yours while you watched over the ghost town.

“For what?” He was baffled and couldn't understand why you were apologising, he wrapped his arm around you.

“Just for everything.” You moved closer to him so your legs were now touching, you were feeling a bit melancholy and you weren't sure if Steve felt it too.

“I'm sorry too,” You could hear in Steve's voice that he meant it and he was feeling the same as you.

“Get some sleep, I can guard.” He gestured to the room behind you, before standing up you kneeled behind him and wrapped your arms around him.

“Good night.” Your face was buried into his neck, this to Steve was the old you. He watched you as you walked back indoors and made yourself comfortable on the makeshift bed on the floor as you cursed at the sleeping Billy who was taking up the entire bed.

Billy went to find a working car the next day while you Steve packed everything up and got ready for a raid. You wanted to see if the cabin you made your home for a couple of months was still empty as it was truly safe, until humans turned up but you doubted you'd be able to find it now.

“Humans are the worst,” You thought aloud, Steve didn't know exactly where this came from but agreed as he considered everything he had been through in the past year and a bit. You could hear a scraping at the door which meant that a zombie had decided to try either making itself at home or making you lunch. Steve looked slightly worried as you walked over the door and opened it making the zombie fall in, which was immediately greeted by a knife into the head. You started hacking the head off with your knife without fully thinking.

“What are you doing?” Steve moved away from you slightly as he was worried about some of the mess you were causing would get on him.

“It's a long story,” You didn't look up at him as you pulled the head off with difficulty, you proudly presented it to Steve who turned green. “They're attracted to the smell of blood,” You started to explain. “I use the heads in hopes that it'll cover up the smell of us,” Steve stood there trying to figure out the logic which didn't take long as he clapped his hands the moment he understood. You heard a car rock up and Billy climbed out draping his arms over the roof with a pair of sunglasses on which he must have stolen. You picked up your things and the head and threw them in the car and the head in trunk. “I'm driving.” You held out your hand expecting car keys to be dropped in them.

“No!” Billy's face contorted from arrogance into one of horror within seconds as he had flashbacks to your chaotic driving.

“Don't ever let her behind the wheel.” Steve teased as you poked your tongue out at him.

“I learnt that the hard way.” Billy picked you up and put you down so you were now no longer near the driver's door which made Steve uneasy. You kicked Billy in the shins for manhandling you like that, Steve climbed into the back seat of the car and you climbed in next to him. You could see Steve was getting jealous again.

“Steve,” He hums in response turning his head at you, he could see that you could still read him like an open book. “I love you.” You put your hand on his thigh and squeezed it gently to reassure him. Billy was watching you both in the mirror instead of keeping an eye on the road which is when you hit a zombie making you jolt forwards in your seat, your instinct was to put your arm in front of Steve's chest to stop him from hurtling forwards even more. Billy had lost control of the car, he was really thankful in that moment that you warned him about the seatbelts because he would have been a puree in the street otherwise. He managed to regain control after a few agonising seconds, there was a collective sigh of relief as you carried on like normal except the windshield was painted red with chunks attached the wipers which struggled to clear away the mess.

“You okay?” Billy's voice was a bit shaky and you nodded while staring at Steve.

“We're good.” Steve answered looking down at your arm which was still resting on his chest making him happy because even before everything you always put him first and tried your best to protect him.

“Where to?” Billy looked at you in the mirror, the windshield was still smeared red but the outside was more visible now.

“No idea,” You leaned forward in your seat and rested your arms on the backs of the two seats in front of you. You felt Steve's fingers trace along the small of your back which felt electric. “Do you know where we are?”

“We're still in Ohio,” Billy shrugged turning his attention to the road and leaned back into your seat, you nodded in thought.

“How did I end up in Ohio?” Steve tilted his head in confusion looking out the window at the fields you were driving through.

“I want to get as far away as possible from here,” You ignored Steve's comment as you put your head in your hands and racked your brain to think where you could go.

“As long as it's warm I don't care.” Billy broke your train of thought and you looked at him blankly.

“Because that's the real priority here.” It felt like Steve read your mind and Billy rolled his eyes as he continued to drive down the road.

“Canada?” You interjected before an argument could start between the two boys.

“That's a no,” Billy shook his head.

“It's perfect though, it's less populated meaning there's less chance of getting eaten,” You explained rolling your eyes and throwing your arms up in the air.

“She's got a point.” Steve chuckled knowing that would irk Billy.

“What about Mexico then?” Billy suggested not taking his eyes off the road, but gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“If we can survive that then that'll be great,” You couldn't believe what you were hearing. “But I know we're not. Canada is our best bet.” You said bluntly as your stomach made an unearthly noise meaning you needed food.

“You hungry?” Steve was trying not to laugh at this noise as you nodded, stomaching still gurgling. It didn't take long to find another ghost town, you handed Steve your handmade weapon for him to use as Billy sharpened his knife.

“I'm going to stay here,” You checked if your gun was loaded and both the boys were not happy to hear this. “You need to be quiet for this and I'll draw too much attention.” You put your gun in your holster smiling at them. They nodded and made their way into the shop. Billy followed exactly what you did on previous raids which made Steve wonder what he was doing until a zombie made itself known. Billy crept in and you heard a body fall to the floor, you hoped it wasn't Billy. You climbed on to the roof of the car and sat on it keeping watch, your ears had been very attuned to the smallest of noises. You heard a small clattering inside the shop which was most likely one of the guys and could hear low growls over the ultimately silent landscape. The growls were closer as you thought as two zombies staggered around the corner looking as ungraceful as they came, you waited for them to come closer as you decided not to waste bullets on them. They caught you sitting on the roof of your car and staggered over to you, you jumped off the car and got yourself ready. It took longer for them to come over to you than you anticipated making you impatient. You let out a soft groan and walked over to them stabbing them both in the head with ease. You hacked their heads off and played with them as you went back to the car both boys came out the shop with a number of supplies and covered in blood looking like they saw a ghost.

“You guys okay?” You were slightly concerned by their appearances as you threw the heads in the trunk of the car.

“Y-yea...We're fine.” Steve was stumbling over his words, you knew something happened in there but he would tell you when he was ready. Billy didn't say anything, he just climbed in the car and started it while waiting for you to get in.

“If either one of you got bitten you need to tell me now.” Your eyes darted between them hoping they would give away something.

“No one got bit.” Billy's voice was low, it almost sounded like he was holding back tears or anger. You could see in Steve's face he was the same, you sunk down in the seat opening a pack of potato chips the boys stole. The crunching and the sound of the engine were the only things filling the silence.

“How did you cope with your brother?” Steve said softly, tears started to fill his eyes, your stomach sank hearing this.

“I had to accept it happened very quickly,” You screwed up the now empty bag and threw it behind you. “Life goes on and we have to survive,” You pursed your lips and you could see that was not the answer Steve wanted to hear, but Billy knew this was lie. You had become numb and repressed it, you could see Billy looking at you as if to say “tell Steve the truth”.

“Have you accepted it though?” Billy shook his head knowing you weren't going to tell Steve unless he got it out of you himself, you looked at him disbelief as did Steve. You started falling over your words unable to form a coherent sentence or thought.

“I don't think I have,” You let out a huge breath to calm your thoughts and the words fell out of mouth as naturally as breathing. You felt a huge weight lifted off your shoulders, you felt Steve's hand caress yours making you turn to him. Tears were rolling down his cheek which you gently wiped away with your thumb as you rested your free hand on his cheek. “It does get easier though.” You whispered reassuringly, he wasn't wholly convinced but he could see the sincerity in your face.

Billy stopped off every now and again on your journey to nowhere so supplies could be picked up or scouting potential places to sleep for the night, you all felt there nothing suitable and carried on. At some point you had all entered Michigan, you wondered if Billy did think going to Canada was good idea and didn't want to admit it because he protested far too much initially or if this was accidental. You entered a town which looked like it had military involvement but it was now just a ghost town like every other place you went through, you laughed at the thought that if this was an old wild west movie there'd be tumble weed rolling across the roads. Steve was asleep resting on your shoulder, you moved gently so he could sleep on your lap as it was probably a lot more comfortable for him and you could play with his hair. “He saved my life.” Billy murmured not entirely wanting you to hear what he had just said because it would be admitting defeat in his eyes. You hummed in response as you didn't hear him as you were too focused on Steve, making Billy repeat himself which went against his every instinct.

“What happened?” You asked quietly running your fingers through Steve's hair which made him mumble something in his sleep which was complete nonsense.

“There was zombie in the shop,” Billy clutched onto the steering wheel tightly making his knuckles go white at the thought of what happened. He felt like he didn't have the strength to carry on, but knew he had to find it somewhere. “It came up behind me and knocked me to ground and I wasn't in a position to get it off me,” He exhaled as he said this not taking his eyes off the road. “It was incredibly close to biting me. He stabbed it in the head and saved me.” You knew there was more to the story than what Billy was letting on.

“What does that have to do with my brother though?” You were puzzled, you were pleased that both were safe but it didn't explain the pure horror on their face when they left the store. Billy shook his head and bit down hard on his bottom lip. “Was it someone you knew?” You knew that would be a long shot but it was worth asking anyway if it meant a little bit of clarification. He just shook his head and sighed as he pulled over the car so he could regain his composure.

“Where are we?” Steve woke up as the car came to a halt and sounded groggy.

“We've potentially found somewhere to stay.” Billy shrugged getting out the car as if the conversation beforehand hadn't happened.

“This doesn't look s-” You were cut off by the door slamming shut, you watched as the zombies stumbled around the building. Billy grabbed your homemade weapon from the trunk of the car and walked over to the zombies, you weren't sure how many there were but it was in double figures meaning if he made one wrong step he would end up dead. You let your head drop forwards in annoyance before getting out the car yourself to help Billy, you ran up and stabbed the closest one in the head and made your way through them. You could see Billy was releasing his rage out on them and it was dangerous because you knew he wasn't thinking straight and it left a lot of room for error. After a few minutes he managed to kill everything that was trying to attack him, his breathing was heavy and covered in blood as he examined the damage he had done. Steve raced up behind you to check if you were okay, also covered in blood.

“It's safe now.” Billy wiped the hair out of his eyes with his bloody hands. You walked up to the building and saw that the building was padlocked shut, inside you could hear loud moans and banging on the wood covered windows.

“That would be a no.” You skipped down the steps and stood next to Steve who draped his arm around your shoulder.

“Carry on?” Steve looked at the mayhem you were going to leave behind as you made your way to the car, you looked back and could see that Steve and Billy were in a heated discussion about something. Billy stormed over looking angry and climbing into the car and lighting up a cigarette that he must grabbed from the last raid.

“I need to talk to you,” Steve took your hand and pulled you away from the car. You knew it wasn't going to be good. Steve was looking at you intently trying to find the right words to say, you could feel your heart stop as you imagined the worst case scenario. “What happened in the store wasn't good,” Steve started, you chewed the inside of your cheek as you waited for him to confirm your worst fears. “The reason why I asked you about your brother was because,” You could see he was difficulty forming the words and it was breaking your heart and he could see it on your face. “I should have done the same, but couldn't,” Visible confusion swept across your face as you looked at him. “There was a child in the shop who had been bitten. I killed what turned out to be their mother and they didn't want to end up like that,” Steve looked away from you as he said this scared that you would hate him because he wasn't strong like you. “It was actually more like eaten than bitten,” Before he could carry on you swung your arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug.

“It's okay,” You whispered in his ear, he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you in tightly.

“I didn't want you to know because I'm not strong like you.” He buried his head in the crook of your neck.

“Steve,” You laughed at hearing him say that you're strong. “You are honestly the strongest person I know,” You pulled away slightly so you could look at him and moved a strand of hair that was flopping over his face. He shook his head laughing. “Being in that position isn't about whether or not you're strong, it's far more complex than that,” You looked at him, there was still a lot of pain behind his eyes. “When I chose to do that for my brother, it was for self preservation on my part. I didn't want to watch him turn into what killed him, but as I pulled the trigger the only thing running through my brain was 'what if I fuck up and it doesn't kill him instantly? What if I make a painful death even more painful?' ultimately I knew I made the right decision. I also had the advantage of being bought up with my dad who taught me how to hunt which helped a lot, you however were far more likely to cause more harm than good especially with a knife.” Steve nodded understanding that you were right and you held out your hand and he put his in yours as you walked back to the car.

“It was the zombie that almost got Billy,” Steve admitted as well feeling like the weight had been lifted.

“Does Billy know?” You looked back at him still walking to car and Steve nodded in response.

“My mistake did almost cost another life.” Steve caught up with you so you were now walking side by side.

“Not a mistake, but I didn't think people turned that fast.” Steve smiled down at you feeling happy that he had someone as understanding as you.

“I didn't either.” Steve opened the car door for you and let you climb in and walked around the other side to get into his side.

“All good?” Billy asked flicking his cigarette out the window and putting his sunglasses back on.

“All good.” You smiled as Steve climbed in next to you.

The night drew in and after multiple stops Billy had driven you to the Canadian border, you and Steve were both asleep on one another. The atmosphere in the air was tense and Billy didn't like it. It was eerily deserted despite there being evidence of military presence at some point. You felt a hand whack you. “Go away,” You mumbled adjusting yourself in your seat to get comfortable again in your half asleep state. The hand hit you again making you wake up fully. “What?” You hissed as you jolted up waking Steve up.

“What's going on?” Steve rubbed his eyes as he yawned.

“We're near the border,” Billy pointed at the road in front of him and you climbed over the centre console to sit in the seat next to him. The headlights illuminated what was in front of you, there were barricades at the side of the road and old news papers danced in the headlights where they were picked up in the wind. You felt tense, you turned around to Steve who looked deeply unsure by everything that was surrounding you. Billy stopped the car which scared you as it made you vulnerable. “What do you think we need to do?” Billy's hands were clasping at the steering wheel still as he looked back at Steve and then looked at you.

“I'm scared.” You admitted as you locked your door, not that would make much difference in the end.

“I think keep going.” Steve was scared, but he knew if you were scared he had to be calm for your sake.

“Okay then.” Billy pressed his foot down on the gas slowly when all of sudden an army made themselves known. Your eyes were wide with shock wondering if they were there the entire time or if they saw you coming. A knock on your window made you jump and a man who was dressed in a military uniform was staring at you. You rolled down the window slightly so you could talk to him.

“American?” You all nodded in response to him. “Flights stopped months ago,” You all looked at each other and mouthed the words 'flights' to Steve wondering what he was talking about. “But we can offer you refuge,” He smiled, you wanted to trust him in your gut but after the ordeal you had been through you weren't sure if you should. He hit the roof of car and gestured for you to drive beyond the border. “Three Americans.” You heard him say in a walkie talkie as you rolled up your window and Billy drove off.

Beyond the border the town was functioning like normal. It didn't feel like it hadn't turned to shit just a couple of miles away, but you noticed that the barriers surrounding the place meant that just outside it was shit, but it felt like it was going to be contained. You chuckled softly to yourself hoping this was the start of something new for you and Steve. Billy parked the car and you were greeted by a very happy woman who showed you around and showed you to your houses which had everything you needed from electricity to water. The car was checked and your guns were taken away into storage which you were shown, the guy checking your car held up the heads that you forgot were in there, you leaned into Steve trying to suppress your giggles which made Steve laugh.

“Collector?” The guy joked as he put them down next to him and handed you the rest of your weapons that didn't require ammo. You walked back into your house putting the weapons down by the door deciding you'll deal with them in the morning and before your foot had touched the bottom step you were lifted up bridal style by Steve who carried you upstairs into the nicely decorated bedroom and put on the bed. Steve was hovering over you smiling.

“We finally have a safe place we can call our own.” You played with the neckline of his shirt as he stroked your cheek gently admiring your features.

“All I've ever wanted.” He whispered gently before you pulled him in for a slow, passionate kiss which he quickly reciprocated with a smile as he wanted to do that the moment he saw you in the bunker and every second after.

swap personalities au. Jeremy is to be feared and puppet is an uwu. mike is soft no cuss man. Henry has a lorge soul and feels all emotions v much. thats all i got lol

Okay, this escalated into half an AU, so I’ll put a read more, because this really is long as hell. Tldr though, Jeremy is a horrible sadistic cunt using religion to justify his hatred for others and his bad treatment of them, Mike is constantly unsure of himself and tries to be nice but is fairly miserable, Phoney is the happiest guy on earth who LOVES life, Dave is a sociopath, but a well-adjusted, serious one, Marion is an innocent being constantly crying in his little box- And Henry has done a lot of mistakes in his life and is now stuck in his suit, his fear of life turned into nothing but mourning, while being tortured by one of his victims for all eternity. Frankly though, I’m still trying to figure out if their goals and moral stances would still stay the same if their personality switched, HMMMM- I’m having fun with this, this might become an actual AU. I just wrote out a segment as a writing exercise, heh. -

Fredbear’s was Jeremy’s favorite place. It wasn’t as much the attractions there, as it were the employees he worked with. Though, then again, there was one attraction he was REALLY fond of. Comfortable he sat on the music box, the melody being accompanied by loud and agonized sobs. They wouldn’t let him sleep. The box’s mechanism needed electricity to work, using the crank charged it all up, causing the soul inside immense pain. It was his favorite attraction, because the sound always reminded him of his father, back in his childhood. It was familiar. Nice. Comforting. “It’s not because I hate you.” He causally told the box, drawing another muffled howl from within it. “It is more because I’m bored. I want to listen to music. It is not my fault you are in there, you see? Not my fault at all.” Slowly he winded it up one more time, smiling to himself as he heard footsteps approaching. Not the Phone Guy, no. He was too prone to mind his own business. There was only one person who could step up like this. Hesitant, despite already being here. “What is it.” Jeremy finally asked, cold and snappy, suppressing another smile at the wince coming from the other employee. “I- I think you might- well- if you could- you know- I-“ “Hurry the fuck up. I don’t have all day.” Sharply Mike sucked in the air through his teeth, close to tears, but trying to force a smile. “H-hey, maybe you should- not- wind the box?” “Oh? Why?” “B-because the crying, it’s- I-“ He took a shaky breath. “Idon’tlikeit-“ “You don’t?” Pretending to be surprised, Jeremy put his hand in front of his mouth, “I’m SO sorry! You see, crying is actually quite the nice sound. It is the sound of being needed! But of course, a cruel man as you yourself would not understand how wonderful it is to bring comfort to other beings. And it is not like anyone is getting hurt. You are not trying to say the machines have REAL feelings right? Don’t be stupid.” “N-no, not-“ “See? Nothing wrong with that.” “But-“ “What is it with you? Why are you still trying to bother me about this? Are you having an episode again? Are you going to try to hurt me? I know there is a small part within you that just wants to HURT people. You disgust me.” Mike opened his mouth, but was incapable of saying anything. “Yes, that “demon”, that sometimes causes you to black out and wake up surrounded by nothing but agony. You are delusional with your talk about it being Fredbear. Maybe you should just accept that you are horrible and a danger to be around. Maybe you should just leave. Never come back. This world is better off without dangerous sinners like you.” Finally it was enough for Mike and he turned on the spot running off. Jeremy watched after him, disinterested. He wouldn’t do anything more exciting than that. Too much of a coward to take the last step. Though then again, he would tattle on him. Groaning the boy stepped off the box, looking back at it. The sobs have quieted down. The foolish soul inside still trying to keep ahold of its optimism really intrigued Jeremy. Sure, he did god’s work, trying to convince the soul to leave by any means possible- after all, nobody was allowed to hide from the fires of hell- but it was so utterly stubborn. Despite nothing being left, no inkling of a motivation, he stuck around. God must really hate him. Everyone in this restaurant really. But before he could think about it any further, from behind there was a small cough. He turned around, facing the owner of the location. It always took a second for Jeremy to remember it weren’t the man’s glasses that shined, but the eyes behind it. The Purple Guy looked down at him expressionless. “Did you harass Mike again.” It wasn’t even a question, he knew the answer. “No.” Fully confident he said. “But I would not expect a sociopath to understand the difference between harassment and a normal talk.” “… sociopathy is not depriving me of being able to understand and listen to my employees, Mr. Fitzgerald. Nor does it take my morals. I can still recognize your behavior as abhorrent. Why did I even hire you?” “Because you’re into small boys?” He grinned widely, then shrugged as though he hadn’t just leveled an abhorrent accusation at him. “Because I’m the only one willing to deal with Henry?” “… how about you do what you do what you were hired for then. Mr. Fitzgerald.” “Sure, sure. Oh, but maybe you should shortly check behind you, slightly to the right, where Phoney is putting a stack of party hats on fire and trying to put them onto his head?” He started laughing as William quickly turned and rushed off to save the wild Phone-headed man from probably damage, potential death. No way in hell that Jerry would tell him he was the one constantly smuggling in the lighters, since the grumpy guy at the price corner refused to do so. Instead he sneaked into the saferoom of the location, though he probably didn’t have to. Inside there only really was one thing. An old, slowly rotting golden suit. But that never fooled Jeremy. He might was surrounded by idiots, but so far the brain rot hadn’t hit him. “Well, Henry, how are we doing today?” The suit didn’t react. “Aw. Another day of no attention? What is it? Cannot even give me the littlest bit of appreciation for keeping you from breaking into pieces and making your existence even more painful?” Nothing came back. “… well then again, you probably think you deserve it. Which you absolutely do. Not even hell wants you. Nobody wants a child murder.” The suit’s clawed paw twitched, making Jeremy giggle in delight. “That NEVER fails. Fantastic. But is that all I am getting?” He proceeded to grab a bucket from the side, filling it with warm water and soap. “It’s really pathetic. You made that suit as your protection. Your shield from the world you cared too much about. You used the suit to play the big man, to tell people off, Fredbear was a rude bastard and it was the only way you could protect anything you loved. And now? The least you could do would be to go out there and bite all of these heathen’s heads off. But you won’t. Because Fredbear was just a suit and you’re just a coward.” Bemused he started to sprinkle water on the unresponsive suit. Washing, oiling, keeping it in check. “Too bad. I guess I have to wait until the locust descend to feast on their flesh during the end of days.” There was still nothing. Finally Jeremy quieted down, uncomfortable. Just wash it and get done with it. “… bad people deserve bad things. And bad things happen to bad people.” He quietly mumbled. “I’m not wrong with this. I’m not even that bad towards them. They would fucking kill me or worse if that would profit them. They are heathens without any sort of moral compass pretending to be all harmless and nice.” He hadn’t noticed Fredbear’s head slowly moving to the side to be able to look at him in his position. The chuckle made him snap up however. “… projecting… won’t protect you… from your shame…” “You- YOU-“ The boy squeezed the rag, soapy liquid running down his arm. Then he laughed, abruptly and harshly. “Oh NOW you are talking. To accuse me of NONSENSE. Meanwhile your friend William is broken up about your passing and you just sit here- like you COULDN’T if you WANTED. Shows how much you care. Just move on to the afterlife and take your punishment.” Once more there was nothing. Jeremy gritted his teeth, trying to control his temper. “You will NOT make me act in wrath. You will NOT drag me down. You will burn on your own, you creature lower than DIRT.” Outside Mike had finally calmed down, staying around Simon for a bit really had lifted his spirits again. There was just something about his unbridled joy about being alive that nobody could escape. But there was something he had to do. The customers had cleared out, so he could allow himself to sit down next to the box, without feeling bad about putting more pressure onto the other dayshift workers. “… h-hey. Can you… can you hear me? I’m- hey, how about- I might could take you out of there if you- if you would like to-“ The crying had subsided, but the lid stayed firmly on. “Nobody would mind! I think. I mean, I’m sure. Yes. Please, you… don’t have to be alone in there.” A weak voice sounded, muffled. “… no thank you.” “Ah- s-sorry. I just- I hate what is happening to you. I- I wish I could do something. I’m so sorry.” “… it’s not your fault.” “It sure feels like it though.” Gently Mike sighed. “Hey… I could… tell you a story maybe? I really want you to feel better…” There was hesitation from inside. “… can I tell you a story instead?” “Is- is it a nice one…?” “… no.” There was a short break. “But I hope you will listen to it anyways…” “O-okay. No problem. Not- not at all!” He quieted down to listen. From the distance, Old Sport leaned against the wall, watching on. Phone Guy attempted to sneak up, but was quickly frozen in place by a glare. It softened up however and he waved him over. “Phoney. Still alive?” “Alive and well and wouldn’t want it any different!” Happily the man agreed. “What about you?” “Eh. Neither truly happy nor truly alive, but still optimistic.” “What’cha looking at?” “… Mike. Kinda worry for him. He seems so unsure about everything.” “Oh, I’m sure he’s just nervous about this new job. We’ll get him out of that shell, and if we have to drag him!” “That… sounded like a threat.” “Oh. Oh no! I didn’t mean that!” Quietly Old Sport chuckled and patted his pal on the head. “I know. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.” “Trouble? I don’t want any trouble, that’s true! But a lot of so called “trouble” is just an adventure waiting to happen!” “… sometimes. Not in this case though.” “Awww, that’s too bad.” Both of them looked onto the tormented smile on Mike’s face in the distance. Again Old Sport sighed and looked at Phone Guy. “Do me a favor and look after him, alright? I worry for him.” “Everything will work out. I promise! I’m the manager, it’s my job to take care of everyone! Even Jeremy. Especially Jeremy. Poor boy has some issues too. But nothing that can’t be fixed with patience and love!” “I take your word for it.”

Could You Meet Me Beyond the Grave?—Chapter 12

Summary: On this episode of "Virgil is Bad at Peopling" we tune in on Virgil attempting to have a conversation with one of his soulmates and, despite how horrible he is at it, it somehow ends okay

Pairings: LAMP (mainly Moxiety in this)

Word Count: 1,627

Warnings: Awkwardness, mentioned gore, lots of talk about death, talk of discrimination, talk of religion (specifically paganism and implied Catholicism), I think that’s it? This chapter talks about kinda dark stuff

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“So, uh...”

“Hey...” I looked over at Patton, letting out an awkward laugh. “Hey...” We went silent again, unsure of what to say. I heard him shifting from one foot to the other uneasily.

“So do you, uh...” I gestured inside vaguely, clearing my throat, “wanna come in, or just...stand there?”

“Oh, yeah!” He followed me in hastily, taking a seat across from me at the dining table. I pulled my knees up to my chest, his gaze feeling like laser beams burning through my face.

“Nice place you have.” Patton tried to start a conversation. I quickly tried to come up with a response.

“Yeah, I bet it looks a lot better now that you’re not...tied up and stuff.” Oh god, I wish I had just gone to hell like a normal human. Patton went silent. I was fully ready for him to realize that he wasn’t safe here and make a run for it.

He tapped on the table a few times, before speaking again. “Anyway! How have you been?” We don’t talk about the kidnapping, got it.

“Could be worse, I guess. I could be dead.” I wanted to smack myself. I was already dead. “How—How about you, Patton?”

“Been doing pretty good.” He answered quickly, seeming to want to turn the conversation as fast as possible. “I’ve been really busy with work lately, so I haven’t really had any time to visit.”

“You actually wanted to come to this place?”

“Well...this is your home, isn’t it? I wanted to see you.” I felt my cold heart flutter in my chest. I tried to hide my face from him, standing up and heading to the fridge.

“Do you want anything to drink?” I opened the fridge, being met with the smell of iron and rotting flesh. I slammed it shut. Oh yeah, there was a dismembered body in there, stuffed in between some red bull and alcohol, the only other things we really kept in there. I turned to the counters, hoping something on there would save me. “We have, uh...water?”

Patton seemed to understand what was going on and said in a high-pitched, squeaky tone, “Yeah. Water sounds nice.” I grabbed two water bottles out of our supply, hands trembling and face burning.

“Hey, how about we go talk somewhere else? I mean, this area is great, but...it’s a little stuffy.” I nodded stiffly. “Yeah, sounds good.”

Patton led me outside, opting to sit with his back against the tower wall. I took a seat a few feet away from him, pulling my hood over my head in shame.

“Hey, Vee?” My throat dried up.

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I’ve been kinda curious. So...how did you die?” Every muscle in my body tightened, the choker around my throat feeling as if it were growing tighter and tighter.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” I mumbled out.

“Okay! That’s fine! I won’t ask.” Patton was quick to try and soothe me, the grass and dirt under him rustling as he moved. I huffed, taking a small sip of my water to try and calm myself.

“Is it alright if I ask about the others? Or would it be better if I just asked them myself?”

“Eh. They don’t really mind.”

“Okay...then, how did they die?”

“Remy was stabbed outside of a strip club by his ex. He makes jokes about it now, but when he first became a Willow his main goal was revenge.” I snickered, trying to hide it behind my hand. “It was wild when we met his ex while we were hunting. He had so much fun torturing him.” I could only imagine the horrified look Patton was giving me, but hey, I was just describing how things really were. How dark we were (and still are).

“Emile had colon cancer; it wasn’t really caught until it had progressed too far for any real treatment. He was in pain for less than a year, and he died surrounded by his loved ones, so he doesn’t feel as bad about his death as the rest of us did with ours.” I hesitated for a moment, wondering if Dee would be okay with me talking about his story.

“Dee was alive in the 1800’s. He was also studying witchcraft and paganism. In a very...not so open town. A friend of his found an altar to one of the deities he worshipped in his room and promised to keep it a secret. But then he went ahead and told some people about it, and suddenly Dee was getting beat to death by his own parents.”

“Ouch.” Patton winced in sympathy.

“Yeah. After he became a Willow, the first thing he did was hex the guy, and every time he tells me this story he hums something about the three-fold law being bullshit; I have no idea what that is—it might be a personal belief—at this point I’m too afraid to ask, but yeah.” I fidgeted with my sleeves as the words fell out of my mouth.

“I guess that’s why he didn’t like us too much...being human and all.”

“Eh. Could be one of the reasons. I mean, it’s been 200 years and he still doesn’t even allow us to watch him do any of his stuff. Pretty sure he keeps his altars hidden in his closet or somethin’.” I shrugged, pulling my jacket tighter around myself. The air had begun getting cooler—the sun must have been setting.

Before I could point it out to Patton, he asked another question. “What do you usually do for fun around here?” I rubbed the nape of my neck, head tilted to the sky. “Just...stay in my room. Read, watch some movies, go on the Internet. Stuff like that.”

“You have internet here?”

“At this point, I basically am the internet. My powers are the only thing keeping the electricity running, and I’m the only one smart enough with modern tech to figure out a way of connecting to the Internet. Which is weird, considering I was raised in the 1960s.” Patton hummed, drumming his fingers on his thigh as he thought.

“You have Netflix?”

“You mean that Netflix and chill thing Remy talks about?” Patton laughed, before pulling out his phone and tapping my arm with it.

“Why don’t we just hang out and watch some shows? Inside, it’s getting kinda dark, and cold...and scary.”

I sighed, standing up. “Alright, if you’re okay with it.” He hopped up enthusiastically, taking me gently by the arm and allowing me to lead him to my room, acting only a bit like a mother hen as we climbed up the stairs.

I blocked the door off with a chair once the two of us stepped in. “Hey, Virgil?”

“Hmm?”

“What happened to your window?”

“An...accident flew through it.”

“What kind of accident?”

“Remy. Remy was the accident.” Patton whispered a small oh, before slowly drifting over to my bed, sitting down and supposedly looking through his phone for something to watch. “Let’s just go with Voltron.”

“The fuck is that?” I laid down on my bed behind him. I heard some sort of opening begin playing, and he shifted, lying down next to me and holding his phone up between us.

I felt my face begin burning again as I felt his shoulder against mine, trying my best to focus on the audio instead while my brain continued to scream about the warmth of his body next to mine.

His arm had dropped onto my chest, the show having been long forgotten. His breathing was slow and steady. His head was tucked into my chest, a bit of drool seeping into my shirt. He was asleep. Around me of all people. We had only been three episodes in, too; he must have been tired.

I carefully reached for his face, fingers meeting the plastic of his big round glasses, and slowly pulling them off of his face, putting them on my bedside dresser.

A ding came from both of our phones, a text in our group chat, I guess. I checked my phone; Roman had begun spamming the chat asking where Patton was, followed by Logan asking him to calm down, and Roman spamming even more because of that. You said you’d be home and safe by ten! It’s eleven! Please tell me you’re okay! You’re okay, right? They didn’t kill and eat you, did they?

I sighed, texting back explaining what was happening. As if I believe you! What have you done to my poor prince? I groaned, causing Patton to mumble something, and me to go silent again. I thought for a moment, before going to my camera and taking as best of a picture of Patton as I could, sending it to Roman with the simple caption of He’s asleep, dipshit. Roman went strangely quiet after that.

Kiss him goodnight for the two of us. I blinked, asking Siri to read the line again and again, before coming to the conclusion that it was indeed real. I turned to Patton, running a hand slowly through his soft hair. I bit at my lip, before slowly bringing my head closer to his.

With a gentle peck at the top of his head, I whispered a soft, “Goodnight, Pat.” I then turned back to my phone and, in my flustered state, answered with “The deed is done,” resulting in multiple concerned messages from Roman.

I simply turned mine and Patton’s phones to silent, carefully running my hand through Patton’s hair again, and slowly drifting off to sleep myself, feeling warm and content for the first time in years.

Klaroween || Corn Maze

Caroline finally showed up at Klaus’ door, but this is not what he intended when he promised to show her the world.

Warnings: this one got weird...show typical violence, some semi-graphic gore, implied past rape and cannibalism (NOT of Klaroline, and they get their comeuppance)

"Caroline when you showed up at my door and asked to see the world, I didn't think our first stop would be a bloody corn maze."

Klaus cast his unimpressed gaze around the farm in Indiana, hands shoved in his jean pockets. The perfect picture of sulking hybrid.

"Oh, lighten up Klaus! I always wanted to do one of these, and I like Stranger Things. It was the perfect combo."

Caroline, meanwhile, was bouncing on the balls of her feet. The perfect picture of giddy teenager, albeit a decade or so removed.

Klaus just heaved a sigh, knowing he would concede in the end. He found it was very hard to resist Caroline Forbes. At least she wasn't attempting to get him to wear ridiculous Halloween costumes again. Or decorate The Abattoir for Easter of all things. And despite what Kol said, he didn't capitulate to all of Caroline's whims. Just some of them. Most of the time.

Taking his hand, Caroline tugged him forward and out of his drifting thoughts.

"Now we have options," she said brightly, gesturing at the posted map on their website. Tapping on her phone to zoom in, she scrolled the image around, holding it in his direction. "See, it's technically four interconnected labyrinthine style mazes." She ignored Klaus' derisive muttering about giving people a map. "Together it totals 10 miles of pathway spread across 20 acres." She gave Klaus a pointed look, "And I know you can hear clear across it, but us mere mortals can't. So try to contain yourself."

"There's nothing mere or mortal about you, love," he whispered in her ear.

She pushed him away with an eye roll.

"You know what I meant, Klaus, stop trying to distract me with flirting. We're going to do this corn maze! Now here's what's going to happen…"

Caroline laughed as she occasionally blurred through empty sections of the maze, making to sure to wander at a human pace whenever she heard others come near. Klaus was somewhere in the opposite corner of the maze. The goal, as she had told him, was to find one another while exploring as many pathways as possible. And she had very strictly forbidden his Original Hybrid hearing, knowing he could tune most of it out if he so chose.

She carefully planned it that way as Caroline had a secret goal of her own. She was hoping she could give him a wide enough berth to circle around and sneak up on him. She was well aware it was very unlikely, but that was half the fun. Plus, if she actually managed it, she would hold it over his head for years!

Focused on her musings as she was, she didn't register the people who snuck up on her. She had just enough time to think that Klaus would kill her for getting kidnapped in a damned corn maze.

Returning to consciousness as a vampire was still a bit of an odd experience for Caroline. Unlike humans who woke slowly, all faculties returned to a vampire in an instant. It was like blinking, if blinking could change the surroundings in what seemed like an instant.

After several years as a vampire, and an irritating number of kidnappings, Caroline had long since mastered the art of controlling the instinct to immediately open her eyes. Taking stock of her surroundings, Caroline noted a few very surprising things.

First, while she was bound, it was with plain rope. Not vervain soaked rope. Not chains. Second, no one was posted nearby to monitor her. Third, she couldn't detect the odd buzzing hum on her skin that she had learned to associate with witchcraft.

Was-was she taken by a run of the mill serial killer or something?!

While it was the best case scenario, it was embarrassing for humans to have gotten the jump on her. Sure, she was technically still a baby vamp, and she would be for several more decades, but she had lived through Mystic Falls, for God's sake!

Withholding her desire to voice her exasperation audibly, in case she missed something, she strained her ears to listen for her soon to be very regretful kidnappers. A floor above her she caught their mutterings.

"'Ey Pete, we got ourselves a pretty one."

"Very pretty, very soft."

Withholding a shudder of revulsion, Caroline wondered what kind of sickos had her. Now, she was actually rather glad they managed to take her. Better her than some actual teenaged girl, because Caroline had fangs, and she could bite back.

She tuned back into their conversation.

"She'll be delicious. First to play with. Then to eat!"

Okay, what the fuck? Were they cannibals?!

Having heard enough, Caroline opened her eyes and easily snapped the ropes that had been knotted around her wrists and ankles. She stood and took a quick glance around, checking for any evidence that they weren't humans. She still wasn't sure how they knocked her out after all. However, she saw nothing but a barren and dark cell

Slipping out of it was simple. There was a barred door, not unlike an old-style prison cell, but it too easily yielded to her. Refusing to drop her guard a second time in one day, Caroline carefully crept down a rather short hallway that ended in stairs. She opted to head down first, just to survey everything.

She was glad she did.

Even having lived with Klaus and the rest of his often psychotic siblings for a few years now, she was disgusted by what she found. The rooms were somehow sealed off, as even looking right at the horror show before her, she didn't smell anything. And in each room was one macabre display after another.

Gnawed on bones. Entire sheets of dried blood. Most of the bodies were old and completely decomposed. Others were in varying stages of rotting and she could tell they had been brutalized in every sense of the word. All the identifiable corpses were women and some of their stomachs curved to suggest they died just after a pregnancy.

Revolted and appalled, Caroline quickly blurred down the corridor checking for hidden doors or possible survivors. There were none. Just tens and tens of rooms filled with rot and body parts. She quickly left, promising the dead their tormentors would pay.

Stealthily, Caroline moved upstairs to where she had heard the voices, listening closely to every heartbeat. 

It was shockingly easy to sneak up on them. 

Without mercy she snapped every neck, noting how they were all filthy and deformed. Unsure if they were mutated humans or a creature she hadn't heard of, she returned to every body and ripped off heads and tore out hearts.

She continued through all of the rooms making sure to double and triple check for stairs or hidden passage ways. Once she was assured she had destroyed them all, she found a chair to wait in, mentally and emotionally exhausted. She knew Klaus would come for her and he would hopefully be more knowledgeable about what she had stumbled in to. Settling in to wait, she kept her back to the wall.

It didn't take him long. A few minutes later a door few off its hinges and across the room where it slammed into the wall. In the entrance way stood Klaus, eyes blazing gold, a web of black veins bulging angrily, fangs fully descended. The vicious snarl across his face vanished as soon as he set eyes on her.

In an instant he was crouched before her, eyes and hands scanning for any hidden injuries.

"What happened, Caroline?" He asked, a growl in his tone, eyes blazing with a rage that currently had no target.

"I'm not sure. Something knocked me out and I woke up here. They didn't seem to realize I was a vampire, and killing them was easy." Caroline's relayed succinctly, still disturbed by what she had seen. Her voiced dropped as she uttered the next part, "Klaus, their basement was horrific and their forms were... warped."

His gaze sharpened.

"Warped how?" He asked in clipped tones.

"Mutated or deformed or something. Their bodies had odd bulges and a few of them had growths that covered an eye. Rotted teeth. Filthy. Potentially diseased,” she rattled off.

"Show me."

Caroline blurred toward the rooms she had left their dismembered bodies, Klaus on her heels. They were still in pieces, seemingly dead, and for once Caroline wished she could have inflicted more suffering.

"They're Çarpık," Klaus answered her unvoiced question. "Cannibals who failed to become wendigos." He walked over, toeing one of the severed heads with his boot. "I appreciate your caution, but they're only a little more durable than regular humans. Their strength is in the tiny amount of magic they possess that lets them hide scents and render their prey unconscious."

Stalking over to her, he tipped her chin with his fingers.

"How did they take you down, Caroline? They have to have physical contact to knock people unconscious."

Caroline glanced away, a little ashamed.

"I was distracted," she muttered.

Klaus clenched his jaw imagining all the terrible things that could have happened to her, had they chosen to keep her unconscious.

"Right, we'll... discuss this at home."

He gathered her in his arms, needing to hold her, touch gentle despite his protective anger, and whisked them in the direction of their car.

AN: Yeah, idk where this came from. It started cute and then got decidedly less so...I guess sorta inspired by the mutants in The Hills Have Eyes (even if I barely watched it a few years ago and didn’t particularly like it? Brains are weird)

Deaths House on the Hill

Min Yoongi Vampire!AU

2.

“You cannot believe the night I had!” Namjoon announces happily stepping into the darkened transept as his brothers lay draped over their black velvet chaise lounges.

The sun held high in the sky as you awoke from your slumber, the rays of sun peeking through the black curtains of your small bedroom. Eyes opening and with a groan you stare up at the popcorn ceiling. Last night was becoming a blur and you would welcome that, pretending that last night didn't even happened would be great. What a weird night in a weird town. Should you have just uprooted your life and moved to this place? You sit up before carding a hand through your hair. When you think about it, you wanted to move to this exact town. For what reason, you were unsure but it just had to be this town where nothing happens.  You were in Seoul months ago working your ass off for money to move and as if you were possessed you typed in Sumneun. You bought the house with most of your money and just left Seoul behind. Anyway you think about it, it was strange.

You stand in front of Deaths House on the Hill, yet again today. The large rusted front gate covered in moss and vines was propped open, unlike yesterday. Did the demons unlock it?  You give a dry laugh at your thought before putting your hand on the gate. You wanted to go in and explore, there was nothing else to do around here. The front gate swings open with a loud creak and you look around at the quiet street before stepping on to the property. Why was everyone so scared of this place? Dead leaves crunch underfoot as you walk through the abandoned cemetery leading towards the Cathedral. The headstones of the cemetery were broken and not cared for, moss and black dirt covering most of names as you walk through. “Y/N!” A screech comes from behind you, you curse loudly as your heart leaps into your throat. You spin around before widening your eyes at Jiyeon who waves frantically as if afraid for her life. “You almost gave me a fucking heart attack!” You yell at her putting your hand over your heart. “What are you doing?! Come over here!” She yells and you raise an eyebrow. This girl left you to rot last night and now she has the gall to order you around? “What? Are the demons going to get me?” You taunt putting your tongue to your cheek as your eyes scan over her lavender dress. “Yah! It’s dangerous!” Jiyeon whines flailing her arms but still not stepping on to the property. You huff out before walking back towards her. The headstones passing by before one catches your attention. You turn your head and bend slightly to read the perfectly polished head stone.

Min Yoongi

A prince in this life and the next

1658-1684

Why was this head stone in such great condition? No one lived here to take care of it, there were no weeds or flowers around. You tilt your head before crouching and running your fingers over the indented marble where the name lies. “Fucking weird.” You voice comes out in a whisper before Jiyeon screams again. “Calm down!” You yell back before standing up once more. You close the distance between you and the woman that left you for dead. Jiyeon braces you into a hug, pulling you off the property before slamming the gate shut behind you. The sound echoing off into the mid-day air. “You sure have some balls to go in there!” She chides and you roll your eyes shrugging off her embrace. “You have some balls too, leaving me for fucking dead like that. You promised we would get home by 1.” You fold your arms and raise an eyebrow as her eyes cast down to the ground. “I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!” You hum in agreement before tucking your hands into your black jeans. “I’m never going out with you again, man. That shit was awful.” “Sometimes when you go out to Kyulryung, it’s like you’re entranced or something. Everything is just so much fun you don’t want to go home until the sun comes up.” Entranced? That word struck fear into your heart and you furrow your eyebrows as your heart rate picks up. Why was that word having such a hold over you? You shudder and look down at the grey pavement. “It’s just a thing that happens here.” You look up at the taller woman’s face before your eyes land on her neck. A giant black and purple bruise screaming out in contrast to her milky white skin. “Jesus Christ.” You mumble to yourself as you raise your hand up. “That too, I get bruises sometimes but can’t remember how I get them.” You blink rapidly at how calm Jiyeon sounds before raising your eyebrows. “Sometimes? Like, this has happened before?! That’s NOT okay!” You say flabbergasted. How could she be so calm, it looks like someone decked her in the neck three times over?! “It happens to other people in Kyulryung too, it’s not a big deal.” You widen your eyes before folding your arms and shaking your head. This is not a conversation that is actually happening, right? Your lips form a straight line before you suck your teeth and tilt your head. You thought she was weird but not that had a few screws loose as well. “I’m going back to Kyulryung tonight.” Jiyeon announces covering her bruise with her hair. What is wrong with her? How could she just go back to Kyulryung after she was hurt there while in a drunken stupor?! “You make no sense.” You scoff before beginning to walk back towards your house. “I’ll pick you up at 10!” Jiyeon calls from behind you. You stop in your tracks and tilt your head to the side as she gives you a sweet smile. “I told you, I’m not going back there. You’d be wise to not go as well.” You call out to her, “Dress nice! A lot of hot guys are around here!” You suck your teeth and turn around fully as she says the same words from last night. Her eyes blink and she copies your head motion. “Jiyeon. I said, I’m not going.” You clarify before hearing her giggle, “I’ll have you home before 1. Don’t worry.” You gasp slightly at how creepy this is, she takes a prancing step forward and you take a step back. “No. I’m not going.” Jiyeon walks past you before turning her head, her eyes dull and bored. “I’ll pick you up at 10. Dress nice.” She leaves without another word and all you could do was stand there. This whole town is fucking weird, why did you move here?! Jiyeon really couldn’t take no for an answer, huh? The sun beats down on you, the rays suddenly feeling like they were uncomfortable and hot. You watch as Jiyeon’s small figure now disappears out of sight and you suck your teeth once more. “Fuck.”

You were really here again, Jiyeon acting as if last night never happened. She decided to stick by your side tonight unlike yesterday when she left to dance. Your eyes keep drifting over the large oval shaped bruise on the base of her neck. She pretended like it wasn’t even there, “It’s like a war wound of Kyulryung. People just acknowledge you’ve lived here for a long time.” Was that not weird to people?! Your eyes scan over Daydream as bodies dance against each other as the current techno beats play. “Hey!” You hear from your right and you turn your head to a man with a big smile. His brown eyes shining in the club lighting, his hair parted down the middle letting his unkempt light brown hair fall over the sides of his forehead. “You’re new, huh?” You swallow looking up at him before clearing your throat. Why is he talking to you? You had on a hoodie and sweatpants as well as muddy combat boots. You look over at Jiyeon and, surprise, surprise, she was gone. You groan inwardly and close your eyes. Your hand clutches desperately at the glass of Jack and Coke in your hand before looking back over at the man before you. He was handsome, yet another reason why you thought it odd for him to be talking to you when there were a ton of girls dressed in slutty outfits around the club. “You okay?” He asks tilting his head, his tongue peeking out of his lips to lick at his bottom lip. You just came to this town to have peace and quiet, why was that not happening? Your eyes shift awkwardly watching people around you act as if you don’t exist. The man sits down on the couch next you and he smirks. Another man approaches with shots in hand before bowing slightly to you and handing a shot to the brown haired man. He tilts his neck to hear something from his friend, his veins bulging and he laughs freely throwing his head back. Your eyes glance at a large bruise near his collarbone and you widen your eyes. Holy shit, it’s really true! You put the glass to your lips and gulp greedily at the sweetened alcohol. Your throat burning, although not as much as your brain as you try to process everything. He gives a sweet nod before turning his attention back to you, “I’m Yukhei!” He calls over the loud music, his eyes look over yours as you stare at the bruise and his fingers go up to touch it. “You really are new!” He says with a loud laugh as he picks up his black collar covering his bruise. You look down embarrassed and he holds out his hand. “I told you my name it’s only fair you tell me yours.” Your thumb rims around the glass as you sit in silence. Yukhei bends his head and it finds it place under yours as he chuckles. “Y/N.” You finally announce and he gives a satisfied nod. “Pretty! I like that name.” He sits back up and chugs his drink before putting his elbow on his thigh and his hand under his head. “So, Y/N, welcome to Sumneun.” You nod to him awkwardly and he just smiles in response. “Cute.” He mumbles before standing up. “I’m going to get another drink, when in Kyulryung. Right? I’ll see you around Y/N! It’s really nice to meet you.” He tongues at his lips once more before meeting up with a few other guys. His hands sliding into his pockets as he looks back at you. Whoa, he was handsome and he talked to you. He said he’ll see you around! How weird, why would he speak to you of all people?

You’ve been sticking to just the one drink for tonight, even though Jiyeon has pretty much left you for dead once more at least you could be sober on your way home. You stand up before patting your sides, you could just go home early. You wanted to read anyway, I’m sure Jiyeon wouldn’t be upset if you dipped. Your eyes scan the dance floor trying to find your ‘best friend’;As you look around, you notice that most of the girls in this club wore leather ensembles and from the curve of their breasts upward were always bare. “This place is fucking weird.” You comment to yourself as you finally spot Jiyeon. Her body pressed up against a pole, her tongue down a random throat as she hooks her legs over the random’s thigh. Yeah, she totally won’t care. You down the rest of your drink quickly before returning it to the bar. There was nothing worse in your mind then leaving your garbage around places, after being a waitress for almost 7 years prior to moving you thought it the kind thing to do. You bow slightly to the bartender who thanks you happily for returning the glass. It was the least you could do, you were sure Daydream would be trashed by the end of the night anyway.

You step outside pulling up your hood before sighing, it would be a long walk home but it’s not like you didn’t run it last night even if you were unsure of your reason. You pull your phone out to give Kihyun your daily call before seeing figures leaving the club behind you. You move out of the way before looking over their attire. They were the same guys from last night! The ones sitting in the booth dancing in those ridiculously hot chained outfits while the hooded figure just sat there with them. “Sorry!” One of the men call to you and you bow slightly, taking off your hood to get a good view of them. They were all stunning, so stunning, in fact, that you blink rapidly and clear your throat as their eyes turn towards you. They all adorned Raven black hair, they were gorgeous and you were intimidated. “Little one!” A guy calls giving you a wide smile, his dimples hollowing into his cheeks as he raises his eyebrows. You stare up at him and then point to yourself in confusion. He sure was friendly, but the way he smiled made you tilt your head. It felt wrong, he was gorgeous, why would you be so opposed to seeing this man smile at you? If anything you should be grateful and give a full bow. He gives you a nod before tilting his head. “Guys this is Y/N. We met last night.” You raise an eyebrow as you put your phone back into your pocket. You must have really blacked out last night, huh? How could you forget meeting such a handsome guy? The fact that you probably even talked to this guy must have meant that you were drunk. When Kihyun would tell you, you were dead inside it wasn’t that far off from the truth. “Ahhh. This is Y/N. Cool.” One of the men says, his black mullet beginning to blow in the night air. You look around for the hooded figure but there was only six of them tonight. “Where are you off to, little one?” Why is calling you by a pet name when you already have a name of your own? “Home. I’m not much of a partier.” You reply before shuffling on your feet awkwardly. “Oh, I see. Even if we asked you to come out for a drink with us?” A shorter man asks as he cards his fingers through his hair, his eyes scanning your body before giving you a wide smile making his eyes almost disappear. You stutter on your words before replying, “I think I’ll just go home. Thanks for the offer.” The dimpled man bends down and meets your eye level before boring his almost black orbs into yours. “Come out for a drink with us.” His voice sounding velvety and soothing. You scratch at your neck before shaking your head. “I have a book at home I really want to read.” You clarify before taking a step back as he stands up to his full height and raising his eyebrows at his friends. “Holy shit! Hey, Y/N, look at me!” One of them calls out and you turn to a man with a bunny-like smile. “Come out with us.” He stares into your eyes and you take another step back, why are they so pushy? “No, thanks.” You huff out before starting to walk away. This town was starting to put an incredibly bitter taste in your mouth, everyone was strange and you would be sure to hole yourself up in your house for a while after today. “Hey, Y/N!” You hear from behind you, you press your lips into a straight line before turning back around and raising your eyebrows questioningly. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” The guy with the mullet says before giving you a box smile. His words sounded hauntingly sweet and it made you feel awkward. You bow to them slightly before an arm slams around your shoulder making you groan out loudly, your knees buckle making your body falter and begin to fall. In a mere second the bunny-like smiler gripped your arm to raise you back up. You didn't even take into account how fast he would have had to move to be able to get to you. “Y/N! It’s Yukhei, don’t you remember me, man?” Yukhei slurs to your left, his breath smelling of stale cigarettes and alcohol. You frown slightly and try to push his grip away. “I told you I’d see you again soon!” He laughs loudly, the high pitch hitting the air and suddenly vanishing. You blink at him before trying to shove him away from you. You hated talking to people, but you especially hated people touching you. Yukhei’s hand grips around your shoulder as he speaks to you, no words are coherent and it sounds like a made up language. “Come on, man!” He yells happily in English before trying to pull you away. “You filthy little cretin. Get your hand off this woman.” The bunny-like boy says with acid in his voice. His personality doing a complete 360, when you look up at him, his face is hard and expressionless. “Oh, come on, Y/N knows me. It’s Kyulryung! It’s fine!” Yukhei says before the handsome suited man grips at his hand on your shoulder. The crossed gold chains adorning his shoulders let out a loud tinny noise at his arms sudden movement. He squeezes hard causing Yukhei to whine loudly stumbling backwards almost hitting a Stop sign pole. “Get the hell out of here, kid.” The soothing voice was back and you fold your arms in amusement as Yukhei begins to stand up to his full height, his face forming a frown. “Fine, Y/N we’ll go out for a drink sometime, man!” He calls to me before waving happily and you can’t help but giggle as he staggers away. His legs looking like a newborn doe as he carries himself down the club strip. “Thank you.” You look back up at the man who has gone back to being bunny-like, his smile warming your chest. “I’m Jeongguk.” He says giving a slight wave. “You already know my name.” He nods before his nostrils flare. He licks his lips and looks away quickly back at the guys. “Damn.” He says loudly and the dimpled man nods in response. “I know, it’s crazy.” You look back and forth confused as they continue on in their cryptic talk. The moon covered by the clouds only enhances the shadows and contours of the men in front of you. No one in Seoul ever used to talk to you or pay attention to you but now here you are, you’ve talked to seven hot men tonight. “I’ll be going now! The book I’m reading is really good.” You say lamely before cringing internally. “Whoa, whoa. I just saved your arm from being ripped off. I think you owe me a drink.” Jeongguk says tilting his head. His double lids fluttering as he shoves his hands into his suit pant pockets. You rock back and forth on your heels as you consider it. He did save you from Yukhei, he was being pretty drunkenly heavy handed. “Come out with us. You’ll have fun.” His voice was sultry and deep as he stares into your eyes. You start to blush at the intense contact before shrugging, “One drink.” You say holding up your index finger. He sucks his teeth before looking back at the other men. “One is cool!” One of the guys replies, he smiles widely clapping. His cheekbones protruding and radiating in the moonlight.  He seems to be incredibly pleasant, that made you feel better. You sigh before walking towards the five other guys, Jeongguk hot on your tail. His presence behind you felt reassuring and protective, one drink couldn’t hurt.

Walking down the sidewalk of the strip felt awkward, especially with six gorgeous men in tow. You felt naked and ashamed as eyes scanned over the seven of you. Jaws dropping at their beauty and fierce jealous whispers at your presence with them. Your hands fly to your hood as you seek solace within the black fabric. “A lady should never hide her face.” The man now known to you as Jimin says, his hand pulling back the hood before giving you his wide smile. You look around awkwardly before putting your hands in your pockets, your back hunching over slightly as your hair falls around your shoulders. “Not much farther, little one.” You bite at your lip as you hear furious whispers behind you making you turn your head. “Little bit early for hot men to be so wasted they take home a homeless person!” Howling laughter follows the crude statement and you curse under your breath. You should just have went home, it was really weird for these men to be out with you of all people. Even if whatever soulless person had announced such a cruel thing, you couldn’t help but thinking they were kind of right. “You would be wise to keep your impudent mouth shut!” Taehyung’s voice booms over the loud music and as if an order has been barked, people begin to leave the busy street. Taehyung fixes his chain belt before giving you a small smile. “Thanks.” You mumble watching everyone disperse. Taehyung’s hands meet your shoulders as he pushes you forward. “We’re going to Eternal Night.” He calls to everyone and they stop in their tracks. “Come on, Tae. We are certainly not going there, there’s more to this than meets the eye.” Why was it that everything was always riddles? You felt like you would never begin to understand these men. “Eidetic, it is.” He mumbles before pulling your arm, his fingers feeling cold through your hoodie. “Whoa, you should get a heat pack. Do you have circulation issues?” Taehyung laughs loudly before rustling your hair, his fingertips cold against your scalp. “You could say that.” He winks at you before crossing the street.

You were leaving the strip, that’s odd. There were more than ten clubs on the block, why would you go somewhere else. “Where are we going?” You ask turning your head as people begin to come back out of the clubs. “Have fun running a train!” The voice was vehement, causing goosebumps to rise on your skin, you swallow slightly as the laughter picks up once again. “People these days have so little respect, it’s astounding. Please, excuse me.” Jin says before bowing and turning around as Taehyung pulls you around the corner and out of sight. “I told you before, we’re going to Eidetic.” Taehyung says pulling you out of your thoughts, he forces your head to look forward as you try to crane your head around the building blocking your sight. He pulls at his red silk notched lapel before licking his lips, his dark chocolate eyes meeting yours. “Eidetic is on the next block, this club strip is more for the-how would say- Ah! Yes! The simple minded folk.” You snort at his comment making him give you a smirk in response. “Don’t concern yourself with all the nonsense around here. Kyulryung is an odd place. We’re all trying to get by, little one.” Namjoon gives you a tight lipped smile, the knot in his chin evident and feel it somewhat familiar. “The strip is common for most people in Kyulryung and Sumneun. Not many people veer off the one street.” You nod your head but suck your teeth in confusion. “Have you guys noticed how weird this place is?” You look around and they just stare at you, Namjoon begins to walk again holding his arm out as if giving the invitation to keep moving as his other arm goes behind his back. You take up the offer, still looking up at the handsome men. “You’ve noticed something is weird?” Jeongguk inquires curiously, the sides of his lips slowly quirking upward as he walks next to you. You nod hastily, “Yes, of course! This place is so strange! Everyone is weird and has these gigantic bruises and no one thinks its weird.” You look over Jeongguk’s neck and breathe a sigh of relief when he is clean of any signs of hurting. “Honestly, Y/N, we just might be the only normal people in this town.” Hoseok says with a laugh, “That’s the scariest thing.” You murmur to yourself. “Not scarier than you being put into our category.” Jimin mumbles making you look over at him. “Your category?” His eyes look over you before smiling, he opens his mouth to reply before Taehyung points his arm taking your attention off of Jimin, “This is it.” Taehyung wraps his arm around your shoulder before breathing in and licking his lips. “Fuck, let’s have fun Y/N.” You stand in front of an older looking building, nothing new or clean about it. The red bricks chipping and stained with black soot, the Eidetic signage almost hanging askew . The windows were shielded with red velour curtains and you couldn’t help but want to see the inside, your curiosity eating away at you. Four long steps lead into the bar and as you ascend them you feel an overwhelming calming sensation. Your mind feeling dull yet sharp all at once. Your scalp beginning to tingle and your fingers twitch with excitement. You turn around to the guys before giving a toothful grin. Your eyes falling over all six men as their eyes turn blood red. Their changing of eye color didn’t feel odd to you, what was odd was finding a seventh man among them. His black hair parted down the middle and his small red eyes staring at you. He turns his head giving you a view of his marble white skin and a cross earring donning his ear. His attire was similar to the others, and yet it seemed too royal. The way his black double breasted fit his shape, the way his blood red belt sparkled with rubies even in the nighttime, it all seemed regal and renowned. His tight fitting suit pants encasing his perfectly muscular thighs as he ascends the steps towards you. Your breath catches in your throat as he walks towards you, he was the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen. Your eyes meet and he tilts his head before breathing in deeply. His eyes rolling into the back of his head and his light pink tongue caresses his lips. His eyes open once more and they were black as night, his ear dangling almost down to his collarbone before pulling away. “It would be wise for you to feel fear. But alas, I sense the calmness around you, you may be strong little bird but not as strong as the magic of time.” His voice held a high tone of regality, it was low and sultry making you bite your lip. His eyes scan your face, concern swimming through them as his eyebrows furrow and then like that, his expression becomes stone-like. “So, we meet again, little bird.”