WeeeelllποΈ
I have something interesting. A cute little picture for a little fanfic I wrote. =}
Enjoy~
Β« Nightmare Β»
Fanfiction:
Y/N β Your Name
You are a skeleton.
You are of your own gender.
All you had to do was find a specific book in a specific library, in a specific castle, in a specific AU, at a specific timeβand in return, youβd get a neat sum of 300G. Youβd dealt with similar requests before, and in your humble opinion, theyβd always been childβs play, especially when you had all the details down to the best time to pull off the theft. You could say you were pretty good at this.
____
How could you mess up this badly?
And it seemed like the perfect conditionsβperfect timing, perfect job for an adventurer like you. Except, apparently, your informant had gotten the time wrong.
βDamn it.
A quiet curse slipped from your lips in a nervous whisper as the painfully obvious realization settled in: there was someone in this castle.
No, on one hand, it was stupid to hope that a place this massiveβdrenched in an atmosphere of suffocating fear and grim grandeurβwould be completely empty. Surely, someone had to maintain its pristine, presentable appearance. But on the other hand, all your acquaintances had sworn up and down that this place was crawling with nothing but restless spiritsβif even that. You see, in this universe, an incident had occurred that left absolutely no one alive.
And yet, someone was here.
Someone was here, living quite comfortably inside this decently intact castle, surrounded by grayβalmost blackβwalls covered in strange runic symbols in a language you didnβt understand. And that someone was walking through the castle right now, searching for an unexpected guest.
Under normal circumstances, you couldβve just taken what you needed and leftβthat was the plan, after all. But this time, you couldnβt shake the sickening feeling of an otherworldly gaze burning into your back. And it was truly otherworldly βno monster or human you knew could stare like that. It threw off your concentration completely, and for something like opening a portal, you needed to be at your sharpest. Otherwise, you might end up in the wrong placeβor worse, lost in the white void.
The shadows seemed especially alive and unmistakably hungry. Maybe it was just the oppressive atmosphere of this place getting to you, but some of them coiled like tendrils, trying to snatch at your legs.
It didnβt scare you much. Places like this always had some kind of mystical energy, but here, something was different. This castle definitely had a keeperβone with far from pure thoughts and a rather grim taste, judging by the blood-red sky outside the windows and the pitch-black earth stretching as far as you could see. No matter how many times youβd been told not to judge a book by its cover, something deep inside whispered: This is not a kind world, and its inhabitant is far from kind.
There was something else, too.
Slow, deliberate footsteps. Not as loud as heels clicking, not as silent as a gust of wind. It was a short, barely-there soundβmore like a shiver down your spine, an eerie rustling that sent an inexplicable tremor through your fingers. Haunting. Unavoidable.
It was maddening, making you feel like a frightened child.
At some point, you had no choice but to duck into one of the many arches, slightly disturbing the dim glow of the already flickering candles embedded in the walls, and hide behind the first large piece of furniture you sawβa desk.
The neatly stacked papers looked more like unfurled ancient scrolls, but you had no time to examine what was written or drawn on them. The lone lamp, burning with a yellowish light, offered a sliver of comfort in this oppressive place, but the ringing in your ears wouldnβt stop, not even with the presence of what you considered a massive stained-glass window.
And yet, beneath the icy terror in your chest, a narcissus of smugness began to bloomβone of your hands was firmly clutching the book youβd been sent to retrieve, the one that would earn you a hefty reward. A slow, uncertain smile spread across your face. With every step the unknown presence took, your resolve to protect the book grew strongerβyouβd dig your fingers into its thick binding if you had to. At least these thoughts distracted you from everything else.
If you really thought about it, hiding here wasnβt the best idea. First, this arch was one of the few leading to a dead end. Secondβmuch to your dismayβit was clearly visible from the hallway. Assuming, of course, that whoever was following you already knew where you were. But whatβs done is doneβyour only hope now was the pathetic chair partially blocking the view.
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, leaving you to spiral through one chaotic, terrifying thought after anotherβeach worse than the last. You nearly relaxed, thinking you mustβve been the luckiest son of a bitch in this universe, but thenβ...
A quiet, careful creak of the chair rang louder than any church bellβand wouldβve served just as well if that bell were sentencing you to execution.
Desperation clawed at your chest, tightening like a noose around your throat as cold sweat dripped down your face. Your expression didnβt falter, but the lump in your throat made it impossible to scream. You froze, as if your limbs had been paralyzed in an instant. Only one thought blazed through your mind in bright red letters: Thereβs nowhere left to run.
Now, the overwhelming presence felt clearer than everβcrushing you into the ground on a whole different level, amplifying every sensation and twisting the worst of them to their limit.
For the first time, you were truly afraid to come face-to-face with whatever radiated such power.
The flickering lamp didnβt help. Gasping for air in the suffocating dread, you tried to recall prayersβor at least desperate apologies for disturbing the peace. Hiding your breathing was pointless now. From somewhere above and behind you came a quiet, bone-chilling chuckle. The stench of rotten apples filled the air. Time slowed treacherously, each second pounding in your temples.
How could you mess up this badly??
β It seems you have something of mine.
A voice hummed softly, as if the windβs whisper, a shepherdβs horn, and an organβs deep notes had merged into one. You ducked your head guiltily, pressing it into your shoulders as you hugged yourselfβand the bookβtightly with both arms. Even the thought of fighting this creature made you tremble.
β Stealing is wrong.
A thunderous growl of multiple voices at once crashed down on youβcloser, louder, sharperβforcing your already exhausted body to press harder against the wooden side of the desk. Watching in horror as the dark shadows coiled closer, twisting like living tendrils, you squeezed your eyes shut, refusing to see its face. But to your terror, it didnβt matterβyou still felt it. Its presence was in your mind, in your perception, dangerously close to your body as something cold wrapped around your hands. You didnβt even think to pull awayβresistance suddenly seemed meaningless, useless.
The coveted book slipped from your grip, taking the last sliver of hope for escape with it.
The lamp shattered with a crack, forcing your eyes openβand finally, you met the gaze of the monster before you.
__________
Nightmare.
End :D
Yeah.
I periodically remember that I am a ficreader β
