don’t be scared of me, please ෆ
warnings/contents: ghostface!jaafar x fem!reader, college;university au, blood, murder, yandere themes, angst, obsessive/possessive behavior, adult themes, toxic relationship, not proofread, ect
w/a: first time writing for jaafar <3, lowk guys i’ve never seen a scream movie in my entire life but a dear anon requested this so i had to make their wish come true, i hope you guys like it,
the campus had not slept in weeks. every hallway conversation ended in whispers. every student walking alone after dark kept glancing over their shoulder. curfews had been suggested by the university, pepper spray had been sold out at nearby stores, and every phone on campus seemed permanently glued to emergency dial.
three students dead in under a month, no one knew who was next. you sat curled up on the couch in jaafars apartment, knees pressed tightly against your chest as the local news replayed the same grainy footage of police cars surrounding another dorm building. “authorities are urging students not to travel alone at night–” you quickly muted the TV. silence swallowed the room. the only sound left was the leaves slowly scraping against the windows and the quiet scratching of jaafars pencil from the kitchen counter where he sat pretending to study. because every few minutes, his eyes drifted back to you, always watching. “baby,” he said softly. you looked up. jaafar leaned back in his chair, concern coating his features so naturally it almost hurt to look at him. his glasses slightly crooked from hours of “studying,” though you knew he’d barely read a single page.
“you’re gonna make yourself sick worrying like this.” your throat tightened. “how am I not supposed to worry?” you whispered. “people are literally getting butchered two buildings away from us.” jaafar immediately stood. he crossed the apartment in seconds before kneeling in front of you, large hands sliding gently over your thighs. “hey,” he murmured. “look at me.” you did, and like always, you felt yourself calm slightly. maybe because jaafar had always been safety to you.
you’d been together for four years. since freshman orientation, when he awkwardly offered you half of his sandwich because you’d complained about cafeteria food. you knew his favorite movies, the way he hummed while brushing his teeth, the exact look on his face before he got jealous. and jaafar; jaafar knew everything about you. sometimes it felt like he knew you better than you knew yourself. “i’d never let anything happen to you,” he said quietly. his thumb brushing along your thigh “you know that, right?” you nodded weakly. he smiled immediately at the reaction, almost relieved. “that’s my girl,” he stood up to kiss you, lips crashing into yours. “let me make you feel better, mkay?” he whispered in your ear. he then took your hand and guided you to the bedroom, making sure you knew what he was about to make you feel so good. you couldn’t help but smile. he always knew how to pull your heart strings.
after the third murder, campus emptied out. students started staying with family, some even transferred online temporarily. every classroom felt tense and hollow, but jaafar never seemed scared. concerned for you? absolutely. but scared for himself? never. if anything, he became even more attached to you afterward. he walked you to every class, waited outside bathroom doors, texted you constantly. ‘where are you?’ ‘who are you with?’ ‘did you eat yet?’ ‘come back to my apartment tonight.’ you used to think it was sweet. now it was beginning to feel…intense. still, you convinced yourself it made sense. people were dying, everyone was scared.
one evening after class, you sat beside him in the library while working on an essay. jaafar had one arm draped over your chair possessively, fingers absent mindedly playing with your hair while he scrolled through something on his laptop. “you staying over tonight?” he asked casually. “probably.” “probably?” his eyes flicked toward you. you laughed nervously. “i mean, yeah.” his expression softened instantly. “good. i sleep better when you’re with me.” your chest warmed despite yourself. jaafar always said things like that. like you were necessary. like his entire world began and ended with you. sometimes it was romantic, other times it was overwhelming. right now it felt like both.
the fourth murder happened on a thursday. a girl from your literature lecture. twenty years old. found behind the arts building. you cried in jaafars arms for nearly an hour afterward, and he held you through all of it. “it’s okay,” he whispered repeatedly. “you’re okay.” your fingers clutched tightly at the back of his hoodie. “i’m scared.” “i know.” “what if he comes after me?” jaafar pulled back immediately. his hands cupped your face almost too tightly. “he won’t.” something about the way he said it made you pause, he was almost certain. “he won’t touch you,” jaafar repeated. then he kissed your forehead slowly. “i’d kill anybody that tried.” the words should’ve sounded comforting.
instead, a strange chill crawled down your spine, but you ignored it. because this was jaafar. your jaafar. the boy who carried your books when your wrists hurt, the boy who kissed your knuckles while watching movies, the boy who told you he loved you every single night without fail. so you ignored the uneasiness. you ignored the way his jaw clenched whenever another guy spoke to you. ignored how angry he got when you didn’t answer texts fast enough. ignored how sometimes he stared at you like he wanted to crawl inside your skin and stay there. you ignored all of it. until the night everything shattered.
it was almost midnight when you arrived at jaafars apartment. he hadn’t answered your last few texts, which was unusual enough to worry you. the hallway outside his place was dark and quiet. you unlocked the door with the spare key he’d given you months ago. “jaafar?” you called softly. no answer. you stepped inside carefully. the apartment lights were off except for the dim glow coming from the kitchen. at first, you thought someone had spilled wine across the floor. then your brain finally registered the metallic smell. blood. your stomach dropped violently. “jaafar–?!” a choking sound came from the kitchen. you turned the corner, and froze. everything stopped. the world around you seemed to slow down, making you soak in every inch of the awful scene infront of you. your best friend lay collapsed against the cabinets, blood soaking through their shirt while their eyes stared lifelessly at the ceiling. and standing above them with a knife in hand, covered in blood and breathing heavily was jaafar. for one horrifying second, neither of you moved.
his eyes widened. yours filled instantly with tears. the knife slipped slightly in his grip. “baby-” you stumbled backward. “no..” your voice cracked so hard it barely sounded human. “no no no no—” trying to fully make understanding of what you’re seeing. “baby it’s not what you think.” you let out a broken sob. your entire body shook violently as jaafar slowly stepped toward you. the mask sitting on the counter beside him caught your attention, its the exact same mask of the killer reigning terror on the innocent university students. you felt like you were going to throw up. “oh my god,” you whispered. jaafars face crumbled, “please don’t look at me like that.” “you,” your voice broke again. “you killed him.” your best friend made a wet choking noise from the floor, still alive but barely breathing. you immediately tried rushing toward them, but jaafar caught your wrist before you could move. “don’t,” he said sharply. you flinched so hard he instantly softened. “baby, baby- shit, i’m sorry.” tears streamed down your face. “you killed him,” you repeated weakly. jaafar looked almost desperate now, like he was the one falling apart. “he was trying to take you away from me.”
“what?” “they kept telling you to leave campus. to stay with your parents.” his breathing grew uneven. “they were always in your ear. always around you.” you stared at him in horror. “you’re insane.” that visibly hurt him, actually hurt him. his grip loosened immediately. “don’t say that.” “he’s dying!” “I didn’t want to kill them at first!” he snapped. silence crashed through the apartment. jaafar closed his eyes briefly, trying to steady himself. when he looked back at you again, his expression shifted into something terrifyingly tender. “you have to understand,” he whispered. “i need you.” your breathing turned shaky and uneven. jaafar slowly approached again. this time you backed away immediately. the reaction crushed him.
“don’t do that,” he said quietly. “you scare me.” staring at the bloodied knife in his hand. that nearly broke him. his face twisted with panic as he quickly dropped the knife onto the counter. “see?” he said quickly. “i put it down.” you kept crying. jaafars own eyes looked glossy now. “i would never hurt you.”“how can I believe that?!” “because I love you!” his voice echoed violently through the apartment. you jumped. immediately, jaafar regretted it. “i’m sorry,” he whispered quickly. “i’m sorry, baby, please…” he stepped closer again carefully, like approaching a wounded animal. “you know me, right my love?” “no.” you whispered. that hit harder than any slap could have. jaafar looked genuinely devastated. “yes you do,” he said shakily. “you do know me.” you looked at the blood on his hands yet again. and suddenly every strange thing over the past month replayed in your head differently, the certainty in his voice, the possessiveness, the late night disappearances. it was right in your face and you chose to ignore it. jaafar noticed the realization happening, panic overtook his features completely. “no, no, stop,” he pleaded. “don’t look at me like i’m a monster.” “you are.” he inhaled sharply. you saw genuine pain in his expression.
“i did this for us.” you stared at him like you didn’t recognize him anymore. “for us?” “they were distractions.” his voice softened desperately. “everything is better when it’s just us.” aanother sob escaped you. jaafar visibly fought the urge to touch you. his hands flexed helplessly at his sides. “i know this doesn’t look like it but-” “you think?!?” “i can explain it better, just please calm down first.” “you murdered people!” “they would’ve hurt you eventually.” his nose flared in annoyance. “that doesn’t make sense!” “it does to me.” that answer terrified you most of all, because he sounded calm again. jaafar took another careful step closer. this time you backed directly into the wall. “you’re avoiding me.” “please.. don’t touch me.” you started crying harder. his expression cracked completely. for a second he genuinely looked like he might cry too. “you don’t mean that.” “i do.” “no.” He shook his head quickly. “no, you’re just scared right now that’s all.” “jaafar,” “i love you too much to hurt you.” he finally reached you.
you whimpered the second his hand touched your arm. his thumb stroked your sleeve gently anyway.“you’re shaking.” “please…” “i know, i know sweet girl.” his voice softened into something dangerously sweet. “i know you’re scared, baby, but i’m still me.” this wasn’t the jaafar you knew or maybe it was. maybe this had always been him underneath everything else. “you can’t leave me,” he whispered suddenly. your stomach dropped. his eyes reached yours desperately. “you can’t.” the possessiveness in his voice returned full force now. “i did everything for you.” “i never asked you to!” “but i wanted to!” he cried. “don’t you get it? i would do anything for you.” tears blurred your vision. jaafar moved both hands to your face instinctively before stopping himself halfway. “please don’t be scared of me.” “how can I not be..” “because you love me.”
an unspoken silence filled the room. jaafars breathing became uneven again when you didn’t answer. “you do love me,” he said softly. it sounded less like confidence now, more like pleading. you stared at him through tears. “i don’t know who you are anymore.” he looked like you’d stabbed him. then suddenly he pulled you into his chest. you gasped in panic immediately, struggling weakly against him. “jaafar!” “i got you,” he whispered frantically against your hair. “i got you, i got you–“ “let me go!” “you’re okay.” you shoved against him harder, crying openly now. jaafar held you tighter, not enough to hurt, just enough to stop you from leaving. “i can’t lose you,” he whispered shakily. “please don’t leave me too.” your entire body trembled violently. “you killed our my best friend…” his grip faltered slightly. for the first time, actual regret flickered across his face, but even then it wasn’t regret for the murder, it was regret that you saw it. “i had to,” he whispered. “no you didn’t.” “yes I did.” you looked at him helplessly. jaafar brushed tears from your cheeks carefully despite your attempts to pull away. “i need you,” he said again. the desperation in his voice was horrifying. “you’re all I have.” “you need help.” “i need you.” jaafar kissed your forehead gently, then your temple, then rested his head against yours. “you’re not leaving me, not now, not ever.” he whispered. and somehow that terrified you more than the blood, more than the body still lying across the kitchen floor. jaafar sounded utterly sincere. like in his mind, this was love. as he held you trembling against his chest while sirens wailed faintly somewhere in the distance, one awful realization settled into your bones, you didn’t know if he would ever let you go.
can you guys tell i got lost in the sauce, this is actually one of my favorite pieces i ever did 🥹🥹
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