Guys I’m so pleased with this. I legit haven’t made lore for any OC in like three years. Now that it’s done I finally have an idea of how to draw her relationships with the supers 😈😈😈
warnings; some gore, gun violence, and injury to mc
a/n; if y'all would like to see more of this dude, let me know!
This town hid its secrets well. It was a place close to the sea and flanked by an ancient forest with treetop peaks and canopies that stretched forever into the distance, melding into a somber oneness with a perpetually dismal sky.
At face value, this town was nondescript, no more significant than others where travellers and truck drivers stopped to refuel and lodge for a night before continuing their journey. A little novelty along the way, an overpriced fridge magnet and old coffee before hours of wet asphalt and yellow lines. But, you'd seen into this place's guts; its gross underbelly, and now it wanted to keep you there at all costs.
You were not one to be so easily consumed, spirited away; made to disappear by the will of others. When you realized that they were coming for you, you ran, and you've been running through the forest ever since with a wrapped bundle in your arms.
This was what they were after. They would not cease pursuing you until they had it, or you were dead. Or both. Perhaps the only advantageous thing from this entire situation was that you chose to run into the forest instead of on the road. The chance that a passing car would be willing to stop for you was slim, and the chance that you would survive climbing down the damp ravines into the forest if you'd been seen was even less.
So, the forest beckoned you inside its core with the precious thing in your arms that you'd promised to bring back a long time ago. It was round and nestled tightly to your chest as if you were a parent fleeing with an infant. Except it did not breathe life nor retain flesh, and it could not babble or speak to you—not as it was, anyway.
From nearby, a gunshot rang out overhead. A warning. A threat. They were coming to take back what they had stolen themselves, a humorous irony of fate. They had said that the town would cease to exist if you fled with it, that no good could possibly come from the outcome that you desired.
Perhaps, in the end, they would be right. But you loved him. Loved the way he caressed you softly despite his presence and strength. Loved all of his impatience and rage, his understanding that you would eventually be ravaged by time, and he would never, so he treated you tenderly.
Another gunshot sounded, but this one struck you in the calf. You screamed and fell down onto the wet detritus of leaves, moss, and mud with the precious thing still in your arms. You intended to hold it until the last, until you were cold and rigid, and they'd have to prise it from your arms.
The agony stole your voice, your breaths harsh pants as you tried to climb to your knees and crawl towards a tree without the use of an arm or leg. You couldn't bring yourself to look back at your leg, to investigate the warmth flowing freely from the gaping wound, and the smell of petrichor wrapped in earthy decay with a metallic tang.
"Told you didn't we?" said the Sheriff, unholstered gun at his side. "We keep our secrets here, honey. We'll be taking back the Horseman's head."
"No!" you spat through teeth and saliva. "It doesn't belong to you! It never has!"
He spun the barrel of his pistol, readied the next bullet, and pointed it at you—at your head. "Maybe not. But everyone will be a lot worse off if you get your way about things. You'd be willing to wipe out an entire town for that…thing? How sick are you?"
Sicker than most, but not sick enough to hide secrets like these for over two hundred years.
So, you said nothing when the Horseman approached from between the darkness of the trees, cloaked in weathered red and black armor, tarnished sword drawn and raised. You closed your eyes and listened to the Sheriff's shriek of terror end with steel cutting the air, flesh ripping, and blood geysering from his severed neck. His head landed some ways off with an underwhelming thud, like a tree branch hitting the forest floor.
You did not search for the head when you opened your eyes, nor did you seek out the body, though it lay there much closer to you than the head. It was the Horseman whom you were looking at as he sheathed his sword and came to you. His footsteps were heavy and precise, terrifying to anyone who did not know them.
It was getting colder, and your leg still ached, but you sat on your knees as you unraveled the fabric from around the bundle to reveal a pristine skull. While grayed and dirty from age and the time it had spent underground, the skull was without lost teeth or cracks in the orbital sockets. For all of the town's fuckery, they'd taken care of it remarkably well.
The Horseman took it from you once offered, but did not attach it to his empty neck. Rather, he attached it to the belt around his waist and turned his torso towards you. His thick, gloved fingertips sought your face and gently stroked it, smearing blood across your cheek while trying to rid you of your tears.
He reached around your body then, hoisting you up into his arms as he gestured somewhere off into the trees. A white horse with a torn face emerged, emitting an otherworldly whinny as you were placed in the saddle and he climbed on behind you.
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a/n; if anyone has ever come across the headless horseman story called "in a sleepy town" on here or AO3 in the past, that was by me and one of my first original x reader projects I ever started. it was never finished, but it holds a special place in my heart.
I'd like to fully revamp that story someday with a refreshed plotline. but, for now, this is fine
Hey guys, I recently remembered this Headless Horseman x Reader fic that was really good, so I dug through my Gmail for the update notifications from AO3 that way I could easily find the story. UNFORTUNATELY, the story appears to be deleted and the author's user is linked to a completely different profile 😭😭😭
If anyone knows how to recover a deleted AO3 story or how to get into contact with the author to request access to the story, it would be much appreciated‼️
Fic is "In a Sleepy Town" by Duchesse on AO3 (Gmail screenshot below).
I can remember.. Jeff. I can remember him begging.. I can remember Steff. I can remember her crying.. I can remember my baby. I can remember her crying. I can remember her bones against my teeth. I can remember.. I can remember the fire.
It's 2 am and this may not be my best work ever but I'm filled with joy cuz it's the first thing I've drawn in months 😭🙏🏽 someone as whimsical as me should not be burdened with summer classes
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