yan!chef x waitress!reader, reader is a bit socially awkward, and implied death.
You were new to the customer service industry, hoping to make some savings while you earn your degree. While your job was tolerable most of the time, you definitely had your handful of colourful customers.
Yan!chef was slightly older than you, yet he never seemed too open to get to know you. He’s always doing something, prepping, cleaning, cutting. Even when it’s the beginning of the evening when customers have only begun to trickle in, he doesn’t engage in any kind of banter or rapport.
You simply think of them as the focused and determined type, he’s quiet and stoic, only wanting to get his work done. Despite his reclusive nature, you start to admire his work ethnic.
Yan!chef will notice from the kitchen when your table starts reprimanding you, he’s interrupted from the sizzles and the clinking of plates. His eyes are locked onto your frame, in which you’ve made yourself small with your shoulders rounded towards yourself as you clenched the fabric of your pants.
Afterwards when you clock out and begin walking to your car, to your surprise he has prepared a small little dessert for you to take home, a spongy cheesecake with strawberry, pistachio and matcha layers. On the side next to the cheesecake, he’s created a small little smile with whipping cream.
He doesn’t say much when he gives it to you, he only grunts out that you’ve gotta develop thicker skin. He’ll then light up a cigarette while you’re there standing with the box in your hands. You don’t say much, but your eye gleams with delight as you crack out a small thanks.
Yan!chef keeps his eyes fixed on you as you start your car, after you’ve delicately put your small treat in the front. You give a timid wave in the driver’s seat as you reserve back, before disappearing in what seems to be endless streetlights.
This becomes routine. Whenever something bad happens to you at work, you make a mistake, a customer yells or your manager just seems to target you, he always is there at the end of your shift with a little sweet treat.
However, you’ve noticed that one regular, an older man whose face was decorated with wrinkles and his stomach bulging out of his white button-up, had stopped appearing at your restaurant. Sure, you’re not complaining. His hands used to hover around your lower region, as he sneered crude pick up lines to you, knowing him being a customer protected him. Maybe he found a new spot to harass young waiteresses?
When you take your 30, you find yan!chef sitting there, scarfing down hot fries as he impatiently scrolls on his phone. His brows are furrowed as ankle sits on top of his knee, leaning over the table to get the chips down faster. He shoots a quick glance at you, standing at the entryway. With his glare on you, you snap out of your trance and scramble to settle down alongside him.
He’s snapped back to his phone, scrolling just as rapidly. As you click open your lunch containers, your eyes unintentionally wander to his face. He’s got thick unruly eyebrows and heavy-set bags under his eyes, yet he’s got a sharp jawline, dreamy eyes and plush lips. Your gaze dangerously lowers, you eye the veins on his forearms, strained against his skin like thick ropes. He’s quite built too, despite his lanky frame.
Your gaze heightens to face level again, your shoulders flinch. His eyes are piercing right through you.
“Oh um, hey!”
He gets back to his phone. Internally, your mind is echoing throughout your body, overthinking if you’ve already embarrassed yourself in front of him.
With a big inhale, the first thing you think of leaves your mouth, “Do you remember that one sleazy regular? Do y’know where’s gone?” With curiosity taking over your prior anxiety, you’ve scooched closer to him, vying for gossip.
Keeping his eyes on his device, he broods out quietly, “Thought you would’ve been glad.” You don’t know if you’ve imagined it or not, but you swear it sounded more like a question than a statement?
“Uh?– Of course I am!” You sheepishly smile, and lean in a bit too close, “I’m so much happier at work without him..” It’s unspoken, as there’s rules about talking bad about customers while on the clock, but it’s been universally thought in your workplace.
He glances up from his phone for a quick second, before reties his apron and stamps out the door. He hands squeeze his cheeks as he walks out, muttering under his breath.
When You Have Two Men Who Worship the Ground You Walk Om
Yandere throuple. 2MMC x Darling
You always thought you would marry one man. You knew he would be obsessed with you. Conviction is key. You just never that that the universe would return that request tenfold. Because now you have two husbands who absorb ever ounce of energy you can expend and who are obscenely obsessed with you.
One of them is older, he’s been waiting for you his entire life. He could never fathom an ounce of romance or interest within another woman. The closest he ever got was stalking a woman through Venice he had hoped was you. When he came to see her face his body confirmed it wasn’t. He’s been conjuring your presence since he was a young man engulfed in the privileges and madness of academia.
A philosopher and intellect unparalleled to anyone else you’ve ever met. A boulder when it comes to his dedication to you. He’s spent his entire life chasing ghosts to have finally found the conduit. And he will dedicate the rest of his life to worshipping you.
Then there’s the baby. He’s still older and massive in size but he’s a lot more erratic when it comes to you. At least upfront, like the typical crying, whining, pathetic puppy who will let you degrade him and buy you new shoes in the same mouthy breath.
They both are like two parts of a whole that serves you and it’s uncanny to see them interact with each other. They will do the exact same thing mirrored right after yelling at each other about who pleased you better last night.
You never have to be lonely because there’s always someone around.
Yandere suitor! He so nervous! He wants to make eye contact and but he can’t, as often as he meets your eyes he breaks it. It’s funny seeing such a man in such disposition.
“I brought you something. I know people act like first dates are… well let me just give it to you.”
He pulls up a bag that he’s had at the side of him under the table. It’s glossy. The height about the same as a champagne bottle. A white bag.
And he gently pushes it toward you on the table.
Him being able to convince you to go out with him is worthy of compensation I suppose.
You tilt the top of the bag towards you, peeking inside, and what you see is… well a few things.
There’s four boxes.
“I didn’t want to go overkill- but I wanted to get you something nice.” He smiles
You take out the first box and it’s Cartier. You look at him almost stunned and he just blushes.
You open it to see a love bracelet. Classic model , paved , 10 diamonds. You already have one but an addition to the stack never hurts.
You continue to open the other boxes and they get more intricate. Some are vintage Dutch’s and Portuguese pieces. Beautifully handcrafts memoires of lives you’ll never know and he brings them as gifts for a first date.
He’s always there. You block him? He shows up at your job, your gym, your favorite café. He knows your schedule better than you do. “Missed you, baby. Figured you’d be here.” He says it with that lazy smirk like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
His love language is extreme persistence + acts of service. He’ll fix your car without asking, stock your fridge with your favorite snacks, pay your bills if you let him (and even if you don’t- which you should). He once waited outside your place in the rain for three hours just to walk you inside because “you shouldn’t be alone.” Meaning he didn’t want to be.
Jealousy level: nuclear.Any guy who even looks at you too long gets the death glare. He’ll casually slide an arm around your waist in public, pull you against his chest, and murmur in your ear, “They don’t get to look at what’s mine.” He’s not subtle about marking his territory: hickeys, his hoodie on your shoulders, his hand in your back pocket.
He calls you his wife already. Even if you’ve never agreed to it. “My future wife is picky about her coffee, so I got it exactly how you like.” He’s got a whole mental future mapped out: house, ring, kids(if you want, he doesn’t care as long as he gets you) , the works. He’s patient about the timeline because in his head it’s already decided.
Sex is intense and worshipful.
He fucks like he’s trying to crawl inside your soul. Slow and deep when he wants you to feel how much he loves you, rough and desperate when the obsession spikes. He never finishes first- your pleasure is literally his drug. Afterward he holds you so tight it’s hard to breathe, whispering shit like “You’re never getting rid of me. I’d burn the world down before I let you go.”
-He has a “I’ll wait forever” energy. You try to push him away? He just smiles softly and says, “Take your time, baby. I’m not going anywhere.” Then he proves it by being even more present. Distance makes him worse. He’ll send good-morning texts at 6:01 AM and good-night voice notes where he sounds a little wrecked because he misses you.
Soft moments exist. In rare quiet times he admits he’s terrified of losing you, that you’re the only thing that’s ever made him feel alive. He’ll bury his face in your neck and just breathe you in like he needs you to survive. Those moments make the persistence almost endearing… almost.
Dark side: He’s not above low-key sabotage if you try too hard to leave. “Accidentally” deleting dating apps off your phone, “running into” your friends and charming them so they’re on his side, showing up with your spare key he definitely wasn’t supposed to copy. Threatening any male interests’ life- He’ll never hurt you, but he will make sure you have no easy escape route.
Nickname collection: Baby, princess, wifey, boss. He uses them interchangeably depending on how feral he’s feeling.
Endgame: He genuinely believes you two are soulmates and that you’ll eventually accept it. Until then he’s content being your shadow, your bodyguard, your lover, your stalker, your everything. Good luck ever shaking him he’s not built to quit.
There is a loneliness that can be rocked. Arms crossed, knees drawn up; holding, holding on, this motion, unlike a ship's smooths and contains the rocker. It's an inside kind— wrapped tight like skin.
Imagine a yandere! stalker that makes life seemingly go in your favour.
Big project coming up and nobody's cooperating? Suddenly, the next time you step past the door to your job, it's done. An award or promotion is given out? You're the one to be chosen.
It's alarming at first but then your answer appears soon enough, going through your apartment quietly and barely noticing that you've arrived home, or maybe he does and doesn't care, you don't know.
He doesn't seem the slightest bit scared when he does notice you, only skimming through your important files.
You're pissed, confused and terrified at the same time. "W-who are you?"
"The name's Lucas," he says. "How's work?"
"I-it was fine..." you reply, keeping a safe distance from him.
He walks towards you, but you walk away. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm the one helping you all this time after all."
Yandere! Footballer who uses his fame to get you. He makes subtle hints that he's dating someone. But who?
You, of course!
He makes subtle slip ups in an interview, cryptic Instagram posts and other things that lead fans to your Instagram. All of a sudden, hate comments flood your notifications.
"How dare you get with him?"
"Is it true you hunted him down just to fuck him for some clout?"
"I can't believe you're in it for the money."
Those are the tamer ones. The other comments/dms you would get include calling you mean names like "whore", "bitch", and other depravity you would not ever talk about.
You're a normal person that posts once in a while, or every so often, not because you have fans to post for. You try to push it off and convince yourself it's all going to die down soon enough but he doesn't let it. There's posts that fans psychoanalyze for no reason and somehow it comes back to you?
It's all alleged until he starts following you, and all hell breaks loose.
Being the gentleman that he is, he finally appears at your doorstep with flowers. He gives you that empathetic look and asks, "do you wanna talk?"
Biting your lip in hesitation, you agree to let him in.
"I don't want this," you start.
"I know you don't, but I want to give you a choice," he elaborates.
You take a deep inhale, ready for whatever he's about to propose but you don't know the true weight of the future.
"It's either you bear being known as a "slut" to everyone, or you actually come home with me and we sort things out," he watches you in amusement. "I can make the parasocial fans disappear with one story, as long as we make it official."
"I-" you want to say something, to fight back, but nothing goes past your lips.
"So?" he uses one finger under your chin to make you look at him.
"I-I don't know what to say..." you mutter.
"Just come with me, it's the safer option of the two, no?" he asks, a spark in his eyes that sends shivers down your spine. Possessiveness? Lust? Control? You have no idea, but what you do know is you never wanted this.
"A-are you kidding?" you blurt out.
His expression turns dark. "Do you think I'm joking about this? Is me soft launching us a joke to you?"
"What— no!" you exclaim.
"Alright then, what's your choice?" he asks. "I'll give you some time to think about it."
He leaves you alone in your apartment— thinking and confused.
in honour of the world cup except this is not about a certain football player. also i fucking hate argentina & messi so merino better not mess this up.
A/N: Sorry for the late update, I was very busy this week! I also think I have been watching too much Love Island... Anyways I hope you all like this new OC. If you like any of my OCs, please let me know so I know you would like me to continue writing them in the future.
->Click here for the next part with Yandere!Hero.
Click here for my full masterlist.
CW: Reader is lazy/a little physically weak, but she can hold a grudge, yandere, hero is a bit of a masochist (?), he’s into degradation (to himself), stalking, only a little sexual but pretty tame, power imbalance, kidnapping, and unhinged behaviors.
Enhanced abilities have always existed in this world and as it better helped the survival of the human race, ancient civilizations worshiped those who were able to wield these powers. In the modern day, these abilities have spiked way out of control. As such, heroes who were physically competent were necessary to stop these upcoming criminals. Heroes in return were given the city's admiration in the form of a generous check and the praise of millions. The majority of people were able to start wielding their powers by the start of puberty; most families even celebrated the special day. Yet there was an unspoken group of the society, the small 5% of the population that did not possess any supernatural powers.
You didn’t get any powers on what was supposed to be your special day. Within a short amount of time after the realization, your entire worldview flipped upside down, leading you to become friends with the other 'rejects.' You despised people with powers, or what was commonly categorized as ‘users’ and ‘non-users.’ They all looked down on you, almost like you came empty-handed to a social gathering that asked you to come in with a dessert. You couldn’t lift a car or cool down a scorching room, what use would you be in a job? When your chances at a job were slimming down after countless rejections, you started to resent users even more. You especially hated heroes because it felt like you were the only one who knew how corrupt the hero business was in the first place. And, unsurprisingly, you turned to villainy. It was the obvious choice after all; what other option did you have left?
There was one superhero you especially despised: Helios. Helios was one of the most renowned heroes in the nation who resided in the same city you lived in. He had platinum blonde hair parted to the side, almost always in an annoyingly perfect yet messy state. His skin was a clear warm ivory hue that sparkled whenever he was interviewed by the news. Helios' upturned mahogany colored eyes were permanently creased from how much he smiled for the camera. Regarding his powers, he had two creamy white wings that resembled a swan’s between his shoulder blades, and he wielded a sword that jolted with electricity to attack his enemies. Helios was able to fly at scary speeds and attack at range with multiple weapons outside just his sword, which made him a terrifying opponent. But you didn’t fear him; you openly dissed him on online forms.
He was your greatest rival, or more specifically, your arch-nemesis. To you, this man was going to be used to prove how ridiculous powers are in the social hierarchy. If you just caught him, others will finally see how strong non-users can be!
But uh, you were a bit lazy…. Not to mention, you were quite weak even against a low-grade hero. You weren’t well known by others, and no one feared you whenever you were out and about on the streets. But that was soon going to change!
You decided it was best to just demand a face-to-face meeting with your arch-nemesis in your lair. Your lair was located in an abandoned mall in the corner of the city (you screeched when you saw a fat rat by one of the broken vents). Surprisingly, he answered your call and arrived shortly after.
You had enough time to set up some traps all around the abandoned shops and entrance. Nothing too complicated, just some loose ropes and nets you found at a local warehouse. For someone who could disarm a villain with the ability to release toxic gas, he walked straight into your not-so-subtle trap. The trap ended up tangling his limbs and wings within the net, which strung him up above the ground. He could easily get out, yet he kept looking at you with a giddy expression on his face. “Oh, I didn’t know you were into this.”
Helios was a big fan of your work. He may have stalked your online profile a bit…or a lot. He has even said on talk shows numerous times that he would date a fan, so he has no problem with being with you. For instance, you already knew so much about him, like how he struggled to control his abilities whenever he got emotional (you were criticizing him). You even told him he did an amazing job of preventing property damage (you were being sarcastic)!
His wings give away his emotion; when he’s embarrassed, he covers up his body in them; when he’s excited, they flap around, causing a chaos of feathers. Judging by these patterns, he may be a little too excited right now.
Meanwhile, you were too focused on enacting your evil plan on how you were going to televise your new capture to the entire world! Except, he was going on and on about how you understand him like no one else does. Being a hero was tough! But you knew better; he may be nicknamed ‘swan’ by the media, but it was more accurate to call him a vulture. You could smell his fake charm from a mile away.
But his excitement wasn’t wholesome. For once, he was actually happy that someone noticed his flaws and true feelings. He was so accustomed to the fake smiles and praise that he practically creamed his pants when he found out about your criticism online. But he knew he was going to have to use the fact that he’s powerful and rich to his advantage.
Why yes, you have to date him! You knew he didn’t truly care about saving everyone back in that train incident a month ago. You knew he got sick and tired of the nonstop calls and public appearances he had to do.
The restraints you were oh so confident would hold him in place are quickly broken. And now he’s standing face-to-face with you, wearing only an unhinged smile on his face.
You kicked, thrashed, even pointed a taser at him, but none of that is stopping him from bringing you back to his penthouse.
Helios is a bit unsure if he wants to make the relationship public with you or not. On one hand, if it were public, you would be pressured to stay with him, but on the other, he didn’t want others to know about you and to use it against him.
A/N: Thank you all so much for 100 followers! You all truly motivate me to continue writing. Also, I wrote this half-awake, so excuse any grammatical errors.
Click here for my full masterlist.
CW: Yandere, accidental kidnapping, reader and prince lack social cues, obsessive, holding reader hostage, possessive, unhealthy jealousy, unreciprocated feelings, and overall unhinged behaviors.
Vashkar is a desert kingdom, known for its influx of riches and trade, as well as its many scholars and libraries. Lethia is a cold, brutal kingdom with fatal winters, known for its rich wine, plays, and military tactics. Lethia and Vashkar have been hostile to one another for centuries; the conflict even predates your great-grandparents. Historians argue about the initial cause, but many point to the Lethian king's killing of the Vashki king’s first wife. Whereas to the Lethians, Vashki bandits were interfering with Lethia’s major food supplies during one of its harsh winters. Both sides started wars and told tales about how malicious their enemy was. As such, the two northern and southern borders were cut off, lest you want to be killed by the other nation.
Prince Bilal of Vashkar just wanted his father’s approval. His father keeps trying to marry him off to all these other suitors—some from faraway lands, pretty nobles, or foreign diplomats. Though he was never really interested in marrying these women. And it’s not like he would struggle with courting; he was incredibly attractive, lean yet muscular, and adorned with fine jewels and silks. Like many people of Vashkar, he had bronze skin with sharp brown eyes and thick eyelashes. As a prince who was raised in a country that is at constant war, he mainly focused on training, becoming inept in basic social situations.
He makes the mistake of grabbing you, a random maid for the princess of Lethia. After you both have returned to his homeland, he realizes you’re actually a maid, and he feels utterly humiliated. This kind of mistake was one he could never live down! Especially if his father and brothers found out.
Bilal had four younger brothers. In order of oldest to youngest was: Bilal, Laith, Azhar and Azlaan (the twins), and Raza. As the second eldest, Laith was very calm and collected, often sparring with Bilal. Azhar was quiet and kept to himself mostly, often seen reading. His twin, Azlaan, throws extravagant parties and fools around with countless women. Lastly, Raza was rather nosy as the youngest, mainly following his brothers around the palace.
Due to how bothersome his brothers were, you were a secret. He can’t release you because you could spill his kingdom’s secrets or tell your princess what happened and escalate the war further. As a result, you were kept in his chambers with strict orders to the servants not to enter unless he had permitted them. And if you do leave the room, he must escort you.
When a royal advisor questions who you are while you are both in a hallway, he answers on a whim, “This is my seamstress from Estrana.”
“Oh, that must have been a rough journey…”
“Yeah.” You mutter with a deadpan expression.
The prince is mortified by the whole situation unfolding, but is rolling with it. The issue with this lie is that you cannot sew, which was never going to be in your skill set anyway as a royal nanny.
He really liked that you were very honest with him and treated him like a regular man. The prince was so used to upper-class women doing anything to get in his good graces for the crown. It was very refreshing to interact with a regular maid who didn’t understand courtly mannerisms.
After the first week of staying in the palace, Bilal becomes obsessed with you and starts making increasingly convoluted reasons for why you can’t return to your homeland. He orders the servants to bring you fresh fruit, fine jewelry, and silks. Everyone in the palace is confused since you have not made a single piece of clothing, let alone done anything to warrant these kinds of gifts.
Meanwhile, you think he just wants information on your homeland, so you keep your guard up and overthink everything that Bilal says to you. To the prince, though, he enjoys the thrill of this ‘chase.’
During a friendly spar between Bilal and Laith, you walk by the training grounds, and Bilal becomes increasingly violent and flashy. His brother is alarmed at the sudden change in the pace of the fight. Unfortunately for his blade partners, this turns into a regular occurrence if you end up spectating one of his spars.
It should be noted that your body is not accustomed to the heat. Constantly, Bilal is fanning you and does everything he can think of to keep you cool. He even has a designated pail of water set aside for you, and, given the dry climate, water was a rather scarce resource.
A couple of weeks later, his father had planned a banquet to introduce Bilal to some potential suitors. This prompts Bilal to secretly try to get your measurements to commission a tailored tunic for you, even though he told everyone that you were a seamstress. When questioned, he promptly says that when he said seamstress, he meant a baker.
Throughout the whole event, Bilal longs to have a dance with you, but he’s forced to do a dance with multiple other women. He’s miserable the entire time and purposefully bumping into things, not listening, and otherwise acting rudely.
In the corner, there is a long table full of delicious food that you are actively stuffing in your mouth while the rest of the crowd is mingling. One of the few guests near the table asks how you feel about the food, and you respond in your thick Lethian accent, “Wow, I have never eaten cold food on purpose before. All the food back home is already frozen solid and has to be cooked for a long time to even be eaten.”
During the feast, Raza caught on to his brother’s romantic interest in you. Mainly because Bilal never showed an interest in marriage, and now is suddenly so infatuated with you that he’s showering you with rare jewels. After the banquet, Raza walks up to you and asks smugly, “When is the wedding?” But you think that he is trying to get information out of you in some secret code and just reply, “You will never get that information out of me.”
Shortly after, Raza gathers his brothers together (without Bilal) and blurts, “Bilal is getting married!” Laith is now convinced that the spar he and Bilal had was his way of trying to impress you. Azhar just nods and walks away, while Azlaan begins to plan a whole celebration.
Bilal becomes more dramatic the longer he holds you in his kingdom (against your will), even sobbing over the fact that you don’t really like the gold jewelry he has gifted you. He believes he should have known that his love would only wear silver. How could he be so ignorant?! As his infatuation grows, he buys more and more extravagant gifts in larger quantities in an attempt to gain your favor.
Because he was raised in the royal palace, he is atrocious at flirting and jumbles too many mushy words together. Such as the time he called you ‘pudding bunny’ in his native tongue, thinking it was cute because of the references to your homeland.
As time goes on, he poison-tests your food for you, truly believing that someone may actually target you. Bilal even shoves aside the palace taste-tester whenever you're going to eat.
He’s also obsessively observant to a concerning degree. He’ll say things like: “Your hair smells different today." “When you are nervous, you play with your hands.” “You tend to sweat right here. Can I feel the area?”
He’s memorized every freckle on you, so when even a speck of dirt is on you, he swipes it off for you, declaring that “you are filthy; let me clean that off for you, love.”
Do not let this poor man get jealous. If you even show another person too much affection, he mopes around for the entire day. But if it's someone showing you too much affection, he will not hesitate to use force to step in between.
At the engagement party, planned by an over-enthusiastic Azlaan, you figure out that Bilal was actually trying to court you, and are absolutely appalled that he is trying to have relations with the enemy whom he kidnapped by accident. Bilal is more enamored that you did not have any feelings for him, and he doubles his efforts to win your heart.
s: You slip into a world where androids rule the Earth and humans have fled to the moon. Despite your constant requests to go home, you have a feeling the androids aren’t too keen on helping you.
cw: rape/non-con, yandere oc x reader, dddne, captivity, isekai, dark content ahead
wc: 4.7k
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co-written with @envy-of-the-apple ♥ read on ao3 here
In your universe, accidentally falling into another is pretty common.
You never fully understood the science behind it, but in your world, cracks lingered everywhere. An object, an animal, or even a person slipping through was not unheard of.
It happened often enough that a system was created to retrieve those who slip. Warnings are issued throughout the city whenever there’s a ‘reality tear’ in Central Park. Certain places of the world are permanently closed off from humanity. Schools make drills educating children on what to do if they’re ever trapped in another universe, alone. The world does whatever it can to protect society and the people from slipping into another world, lost forever.
Slipping isn’t an inevitability, but it’s a possibility. Like getting into a car accident, or getting stuck outside in a hurricane. It’s something to prepare for.
So when you woke up underneath a bright blue sky, away from your bed, your apartment, your town, your entire universe, you weren’t wholly unprepared.
It’s not that you weren’t surprised. It took you an hour to finally give up the delusion that you’re dreaming. Another hour later and you were finally starting to realize this new world played a whole lot differently than your old one.
Firstly, there were no people.
You walked around for what felt like years now, and yet, there was no hint of humanity. No sign of intelligent life. No roads, no cars, no telephone towers in the far distance. There were just trees and plains and valleys. Back home, this would be a rarity. A place untouched by civilization.
But there were remnants of it.
At first you thought it was a piece of furniture–decayed and rotting in the middle of a random clearing. It wasn’t until you took a few trepid steps closer that you realized it was something more intricate.
Clunky and robust with gray metal that was starting to oxidize. It was some kind of robot. It might have been years since this thing was active.
You stared at the find for several minutes. Was it man-made? That didn’t really feel right. You didn’t know how to explain it, but this robot looked foreign to any Earthly element. Alien.
Strangely, you felt as if you were examining a corpse.
Weird, really really weird. But apart from the strange robot, you couldn’t find anything else off with this world. You mostly recognized the animals, as well as the plants. The most you could conclude was that this was some type of post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity was scarce or just gone entirely.
That sounded a bit depressing, but you weren’t surprised. You’d heard of others who’d slipped into similar realities where humanity had blown themselves up till extinction. Or a disease wiped them out entirely. They often talked about how nice it was seeing animals that were on the endangered list, just frolicking about in the thousands. You hoped this was one of those realities. Realities without humanity often sounded more peaceful.
The panic hadn’t set in yet. There was no need for it to. You knew people would eventually realize you’re missing and the system would kick in to find you. Accord was really good at her job. It was what she was created for, after all. Since her creation, everyone who slipped was often found by the end of the day, perfectly safe.
You were in good hands, you assured yourself. Accord would find you. She’s found everyone else, so far. Why would you be an anomaly?
You ignored the tiny voice of paranoia in your head, distracting yourself by admiring the large trees and other vegetation. One field in particular caught your attention. It was not the beauty that made it pop, rather, the familiarity.
You bent down, lightly touching the bright red tomato happily growing from its stem. Beside it was a cucumber vine, creeping along the floor with its dark green vegetables. There were a few strawberry shrubs, something that looked vaguely like a pomegranate bush. All of the plants were bunched together, healthy and growing strong. It almost resembled a shabby garden.
“Oh, hello there.”
You jumped up straight, surprised to hear a voice, and from the sound of their tone, they seemed to share your reaction.
When you spun around to face the source, you were partially expecting to see that robot you’d seen earlier.
It wasn’t that robot. It was a different one.
You stared, the robot stared right back. It was larger than you, bulkier, and a bit more humanoid in shape than the other one. Its metal was old and rusted in some places. What could only resemble eyes were bright green lights on either side of its face.
Given any other situation, you might have run. Maybe even screamed. But being stuck in a world where you didn’t know the rules of the game was enough to leave you stumped, and so you just echoed what the robot said.
“Um, hello,” you replied back nervously, raising a hand in greeting.
The thing straightened up at your voice. You could hear the gears and bolts shudder every time it moved.
“Hello!” It repeated. It almost sounded excited. “How are you, today?”
“Fine?” You responded before your mind caught up to you, force of habit forcing pleasantry. “I’m sorry, but…what–what are you exactly?”
You heard the gears again. “I’m Pascal!” The thing chittered, clearly misunderstanding your question. “What’s your name?”
Not quite what you were looking for, but it seemed friendly, at least? You gave ‘Pascal’ your name with less enthusiasm and more caution. ‘Pascal’ didn’t seem to mind. If anything, the robot strode even closer, clearly not sensing your wariness. If anything, it seemed entirely oblivious to it.
“Is this yours?” You tried, gesturing to the garden. God, you hoped it was a nice robot and wasn’t about to kill you. Pascal gave an eager nod.
“Yes! Yes!” Pascal agreed. “The deer like them, as well as the rabbits. I try my best to keep the plants growing every year.”
An animal lover. You wondered if it was programmed for that. Your shoulders relaxed a little, relieved that the thing was harmless. Probably.
“Really?” You prompted, fiddling with the hem of your shirt. “Do you grow anything else?”
It shook its head. “These were the only plants that sprouted,” it informed you, gears crunching as they got stuck for a second, then continued to operate smoothly. I collected them during my travels and decided to plant them here.”
Pascal’s blabberings simmered. It peered at you with those green lights it called eyes, digging far too deep for your liking.
Robots weren’t supposed to replicate life. Their entire existence stemmed from certainty — a feature of life that often fails to be duplicated.
But maybe you were wrong because, just for a brief moment, he hesitated. Then, he asked.
“...Are you lost?”
-
It’s a village, at least you thought it was a village.
High up in the trees. You weren’t sure if the rickety ladder would’ve held your weight, but you believed the fear was well worth the scenery.
A treehouse village. Each hut was built into the trunk. There were at least two ‘floors’, with another clearly in the process of being built. There were clothing lines where clothes and rags were hung up to dry, though it looked as if they had been up there for a long time.
“Welcome to my home,” Pascal chirped while you gazed around in awe. “This is so exciting! It’s been a while since I’ve had someone see it. Would you like a tour?”
You nodded, finally beginning to feel properly excited about this world you’d fallen into. Pascal clasped his ‘hands’ together, thrilled, as far as you could tell. He led you around the village enthusiastically, pointing out every detail he could find. He talked a lot, enough to fill the space for two people, leaving you to bob your head long to everything he said. It was nice, you were content enough to sit back and let him do the talking. It allowed you to absorb everything just a bit more.
The chirping of cicadas, the rustle of leaves, being able to weave between the trees and never touch the ground — it all called back to the more childlike side of your being. The desire to have a majestic treehouse from which to rule, that childhood dream almost felt fulfilled as you took in your surroundings, learned where all the ‘houses’ were.
The more he showed you, however, the more strange this place became. There were hints of life everywhere, clues that somebody should have been actively living there, occupying the huts, greeting you as you passed. There were multiple ladders and bridges, clearly made for more than just one person in mind. There was something that oddly resembled a children’s toy — a shabbily made see-saw. Clearly, it couldn’t have been only Pascal residing here.
Every so often, you expected someone — a robot, maybe one shaped like Pascal — to pop up. Yet, there was nothing; only the eerie silence, save for your footsteps and Pascal’s metal clanking.
“Where is everyone?” You interrupted Pascal in the midst of his rambling, feeling a spark of guilt at the way he stuttered.
He looked back at you, and by now you were starting to get the hang of gauging his reactions enough to understand that he looked confused.
“What do you mean?” He prodded. “It’s only ever been me here.” He paused to think for a moment. “Actually, when I first got here, there was a lot of junk laying around. It took a while to get rid of.” He hummed good-naturedly. “It’s more than likely other machine lifeforms found this place first before moving on.”
That caught your attention.
“Machine lifeforms?” You repeated. “Is that what you are?”
“Machine lifeforms are those brought by aliens to Earth.” Pascal provided, nodding along.
So they weren’t made by humans. You had a feeling, but it was nice to be certain. It was obvious that this world is far into the future compared to your own by decades — perhaps even centuries.
“Pardon me for asking but…” Pascal tilted his head. “You are human, yes?”
You assented, albeit reluctantly. It sounded more like a yearning for confirmation than actual ignorance. Besides, it might have been pure naivety on your part, but in the short while you’d known Pascal, he’d never once been malicious. A bit weird, but not bad.
You flinched when he threw his arms up in the air, jolted out of your thoughts. The gears within him whirred in delight at your testimony.
“Splendid! I had an inkling you were…but I didn’t want to assume!” He gushed, bypassing your personal space once again to analyze you. “I’ve never met a human before. How exciting.”
You had a feeling you were the only one left, but for your suspicion to be confirmed was a little disappointing. You didn’t want to admit it, but you were holding out a little bit of hope for another human to be around, someone you could relate to more easily. Someone who understood.
“I’m guessing humans here are long gone then.” You murmured, mostly to yourself, but Pascal heard it loud and clear.
“No?” He told you, confused. “All humans are on the Moon. Isn’t that where you’re from?”
“The Moon?” You echoed, glancing up at the sky. “All of them? How did they even–”
You swallowed your voice, perplexed. What kind of world was this? Robots on Earth? Humans on the Moon?
“No, I’m not from the Moon.” You finally told him. “And…I’m not even from this Earth. It’s–it’s hard to explain.”
Sighing, you took a seat on the wooden floor of the village. Pascal followed, watching as you crossed your legs, and he did the same. It reminded you of a child following the actions of an adult, learning from the people around them.
You assumed you spent about twenty minutes on the platform, explaining about how you woke up here no more than a few hours ago, Accord, how you were supposed to be in your own bed at home…and now you were somewhere else.
“I’m still not too sure how it works.” You admitted to him. “But…think of a cup filled with water. Whenever you shake it, the water spills over. That would sort of make me a droplet.”
Insignificant, in the grand scheme of things.
“Fascinating.” Pascal swooned before his posture dropped. “My sincerest apologies. I’m sure your friend is very worried.”
“My friend?”
“Accord.” Pascal clarified. “You mentioned she was looking for you.”
You weren’t sure if you could call Accord a friend. You’d never met her before, but every human in your universe knows her name.
“In my universe, people get into these types of situations all the time.” You motioned to yourself. “Accord is the overseer of my world. She’s a system! Whenever someone goes missing–like I did–she tracks them down and brings them back home.”
Accord would find you eventually. You were sure of it. Ever since her creation, there hasn’t been a single human that wasn’t recovered in a week.
“I bet my friends and family are pretty worried.” You acknowledged, realizing how long you’d been gone. “But I’ve heard that time moves slowly in my universe. A few hours here, might only be a few seconds there.”
A few days here could be a mere few hours there. Weeks and weeks might only be a day or two. Years might be–
“From what you’ve told me, Accord seems very proficient.” Pascal proclaimed, proud for you, somehow. “I’m sure she’ll find you soon.”
You gave a weak smile, your stomach churning at the unsettling feeling that his words seeded. “Of course she will.” You agreed in spite of the anxiety that licked at the soles of your feet. After all, Accord hadn’t lost anyone before, right?
Right?
You just had to stay put, and stay hopeful. You’d be found soon. Someone would notice you’d been gone, or you hadn’t been answering your phone, and you’d be reported. It’d be fine.
Everything will be fine.
Speaking of, you weren’t sure how interdimensional travel worked, but you didn’t want to take a chance of straying too far from your original spot. Pascal’s place wasn’t too far from where you originally woke up. Maybe if you lingered around a bit, Accord might have an easier time finding you.
“Pascal?” You called.
He tilted his head as an answer.
“I really don’t mean to be a bother, but.” You glanced away into the trees. Despite the sun hovering strong and still in the sky, the forest looked dark and daunting. You weren’t sure if it was a good idea to be alone anymore.
“Would you mind if I stayed for a while?”
You wanted to say more. You wanted to explain yourself. You wanted to promise you wouldn’t take too much of his time, or be too much of a burden, but Pascal didn’t seem to want any of it. The most inhuman thing on this planet was showing you the most humanity you’d ever experienced.
“Of course.” He chirped cheerily. “Stay as long as you would like.”
True to your word, you made sure you weren’t a burden. You tried your best to help out in the village, folding the rags of cloth he had lying around, brushing off the twigs and leaves that occasionally cluttered the floor. You didn’t think you were doing a lot, but Pascal was very sweet with his assurances.
“So are there any other machine lifeforms that you’ve seen?” You asked, tucking away another bundle of twigs as per his instructions.
Pascal sat right next to you, showing you the proper way to store the sticks. You lacked the efficiency and the perfection he had, and your bundles looked like complete messes compared to his. Thankfully, he said nothing about it, placing the stacks you made right next to his own.
“Yes.” He answered. “Most don’t stay around these parts, however. The android kingdom is very close, though.”
“Android kingdom.” You quoted, brows furrowing in consideration. Robots like Accord?
“Oh, yes,” Pascal said, “I heard they have contact with the humans on the Moon.”
Okay, so aliens created Machine Lifeforms, and androids were clearly an invention of humanity. What could they possibly have created them for, you sarcastically wondered. You were just glad you came into the aftermath of whatever horrors happened, rather than the midst. You were no fighter, you wouldn’t survive longer than a minute if you were dropped into an all-out war in the middle of who-the-hell-knows-where. Much less one between androids and aliens, of all things.
Still, a kingdom of androids, fully independent from humanity to the point where their creators were up on a satellite doing who knows what. It sounded fascinating, you couldn’t deny that you were immensely curious as to how things turned out this way.
“What are they like?” You prodded, wanting more information out of your walking history book. “The androids, I mean.”
“I don’t know, these days.” Pascal hummed. “ The Android King doesn’t allow much contact.”
So much for history book.
The androids didn’t seem very friendly, then. Maybe it’d be different for you, considering your humanness, but you weren’t ready to take a chance today. The adventure you were on right now was more than enough excitement for a lifetime, throwing in the risk of hostile entities in a single day was too much.
“I was friends with one.” Pascal suddenly murmured. “I don’t think she’s around anymore.”
You waited for him to continue.
He never did.
-
Pascal didn’t know a thing about humans.
You thought you could bear it, but after he kept bringing these robot fish and tried convincing you to eat them, you decided to take things into your own hands.
The fishing pole was basic, but it got the job done. You waded in calf-deep water, your shoes and socks tossed on the shore. The calm river lazily passed you by. You’d never seen water so clear before, rippling around your legs, bouncing off the pebbles and gravel.
“Oh.” You felt a tug on the rod, your heart skipping a beat. “I think I got something.”
“Really?” Pascal asked in excitement, bounding over.
“Pascal, wait–” Too late, whatever was on the other end was scared away by his movements. You watched with a frown as a shadow trickled back into the water. There goes lunch.
You pulled back the empty rod. Pascal stood still next to you in the water.
“I startled it, didn’t I.” He realized in disappointment. “I’m sorry.”
You shook your head and offered a placating smile, reaching out to pat his shoulder comfortingly. “There’s plenty of fish in the river.” You told him kindly and held out your rod to him. “Want to try?”
He grabbed the stick eagerly, mimicking your movements. Pascal didn’t try to hide his curiosity about humans, nor his willingness to learn from you. He was clearly being honest when he claimed he hadn't met one before you. Since the moment you got here, you’d been barreled by questions about humanity and the world you came from. He was floored when you revealed there were billions upon billions of humans in your universe. It must have been an unfathomable number where humanity was scarce.
“Did you eat fish back home as well?” Pascal questioned, flailing with the rod. At least he was having fun. You sat back on the shore, enjoying the sun beating down on your skin.
“Hm, sometimes.” You answered lazily, closing your eyes. “But humans eat other things: Other types of meat, fruit, vegetables. We use spices to make them taste even better.”
“Really?” Pascal asked. You gave him an affirmative, dipping your toes back in the water, feeling the biting chill and the trickle of water weaving past.
“Humans do a lot to make food taste good.” You admitted. “Regardless of how healthy it is. The most popular foods are sweets; cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies.” What you wouldn’t do to have one of those right now.
“I’m sure we can make those!” Pascal exclaimed, and you realized you muttered that out loud.
You smiled warmly at him, appreciating his wishes to help bring you joy. “That’s sweet.” You told him, letting him down gently. “But I highly doubt it. Those foods are pretty complicated. We’d need a lot of ingredients like eggs and sugar.”
“I wonder if the android kingdom has those items.” Pascal pondered.
“I thought the android kingdom was closed off to outsiders?”
“Sometimes the Android King allows trading.” Pascal answered back.
That’s the second time Pascal mentioned him. What kind of person was he to forbid entry to his kingdom, and only occasionally open routes for trading? Was he scary? Cruel and tyrannical, keeping his people clutched in an iron fist?
Or was he simply protecting his citizens?
“It’s a little funny we went back in history, though.” You said out loud.
“What do you mean?”
“Back home, most governments aren’t monarchies anymore. We mainly have democracies.” You enlightened Pascal. “If you asked any modern-day human, they’d have some pretty choice words about royalty in general. So now, centuries later, with even androids adopting monarchy…makes me wonder if there’s a human king up on the Moon now.”
Pascal’s machinery droned. “Well, on Earth, I think the Human King would be you.”
You barked a laugh, taken aback by his declaration. “Yeah? Are you the Machine-lifeform King then, Your Majesty?”
He preened. Something simmered in your chest as you continued to look at him. You were so happy to see your friend so happy.
“Still, what are humans even doing up there?” You questioned aimlessly, gazing up at the sky. “When I was young, every kid on the block wanted to be an astronaut. And now, apparently, every human is born one.”
Pascal didn’t answer. He was distracted by something tugging on the fishing pole.
“Did you get something?” You perked up, jumping to your feet. Please, oh, please be a fish. You were starving. Hell, even those robotic fish were beginning to look appetizing.
“Yes!” He chirped back animatedly. “It’s rather big, I hope the rope holds…” He trailed off as the thrashing got louder and more violent, droplets of water splashing every which way.
You were both silent when he finally pulled it up, a clump of algae hanging limply from the hook, peering back at you.
“Yeah.” You said after a pause. “I don’t think fishing is either one of our strengths. Maybe we should try to make a salad instead.”
“Agreed.” Pascal grumbled.
-
It was the strangest thing. You'd been here for a couple of days now. You were sure of it.
And yet, you hadn’t seen the sun move an inch.
It was still hovering above Pascal’s Village, sunlight filtering through the leaves and branches. You lied flat on the wooden pathway, staring up blankly. Pascal was next to you, fiddling with one of his machines.
“Pascal?” You summoned his attention. “Do…sunsets not happen here?”
“Sunsets?” Came his response. “What are those?”
You sat, propping yourself up on your elbows. “Seriously? The sun just stays up there? There’s no day-and-night?”
Pascal considered you with what you equated to a frown. “Are you referring to the night kingdom?”
“Night kingdom?”
He pointed across the village, far past the trees and plains.
“It’s on the other side of the world. Sunlight can’t reach there, so they mostly rely on artificial light.”
You tilted your head. “People actually live there?”
He nodded. “I believe a small group of androids, also a multitude of machine lifeforms.”
You kept forgetting that humans no longer lived on Earth. It was overrun by androids and machine lifeforms now.
“I was there a few centuries ago.” Pascal happily continued, oblivious to your disquiet. “I bet a lot has changed since.”
“Centuries?” You repeated. “Pascal, how long have you been on Earth?”
He’s not human, and yet you’d learned how to read his emotions. It wasn’t hard; he practically wore everything on his face, in the way he moved, the tone of his voice.
His arms dropped into his lap. His body language became stiff. He’s hesitating.
“I can’t remember much from that time, Machine Cores aren’t made to last this long.” Pascal divulged to you. “But I believe I was created between the 7th-8th machine war.”
You gaped at him, eyes flickering over the dents—battle scars, metal bent by violence and a bloodless war.
It was like pulling out teeth. Pascal revealed to you the history of the wars that had ravished Earth for centuries upon centuries. Aliens created machine lifeforms to take over the planet. Humans created androids to defend Earth. How overwhelming the machine lifeform army was, to the point where humanity retreated to the Moon, letting androids continue the war. He talked about the brief memories he had of those times, where he was hunting down androids from orders — where he was nothing but a machine.
“And then, one day, you woke up?” You probed, when he grew silent.
Pascal confirmed with a droll hum. You leaned back on your hands, thinking on all he told you, processing all the information you’d received.
“Humans and aliens are enemies.” You said out loud, “Does that make us enemies, Pascal?”
Pascal flinched. “No! Of course not!” He vehemently denied it with so much certainty you had to smile at how seriously he took it. “I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know, I know.” You assured him. “I’m glad. I consider you my friend. I don’t care about anything else.”
You didn’t know how you could’ve survived out here, had Pascal not found you. How much did you owe him? Hundreds and hundreds of lifetimes over. He was practically the only thing keeping you afloat. You didn’t care if Pascal was created to end humanity. That wasn’t who he was. He was the kindest, gentlest person you’d ever met. You wouldn’t let his past taint his present.
“I consider you a friend as well.” Pascal voiced sweetly. You thought, if he could, he’d be smiling right about now. Maybe even blushing.
You wished you could stay here forever with him. It could be a nice life. You could help Pascal spruce up the village. In the late evenings, the two of you could go fishing. In the mornings, you could tend to the garden. Maybe the two of you could start a new adventure to the night kingdom one day.
It would be really nice, but you knew you couldn’t.
“It’s been days,” you finally started, “and there’s still no sign of Accord.”
Pascal’s movements stopped. You knew he was sharing your thoughts.
Accord should’ve been here days ago. The fact that she hadn’t showed up yet was alarming. Despite enjoying your time here, you missed home, your friends and family, the internet. Your patience was wearing away. Anxiety was starting to grow. You needed to make your own move.
“Accord is an android,” you spoke, trying to avoid Pascal’s eyes, “I was thinking, maybe if I talked to the android kingdom, I could get closer to going home.”
You didn’t say it out loud. You’d have to leave Pascal.
The thought made your stomach twist.
Pascal, who was nothing but kind and gentle to you. Pascal, who had made sure you were safe and protected. Pascal, who was your friend. You were leaving him just for a bleak shot of getting home.
The machine lifeform said nothing. He just turned away, looking up at the sky. The sun was still up, lingering over the world, you could feel its warm rays on your skin. They almost scorched you now, burning you for scorning your only friend in this world.
“I’ll contact them later today,” he finally said, “they’ll be here tomorrow.”
His gears and metal felt awkward under your skin as you threw yourself at him, but you didn’t care. You squeezed him into the tightest hug you possibly could, even as his endoskeleton pinched your forearms and hands. Pascal barely seemed to register the hug. He froze for ten whole seconds underneath you. You knew, because you counted each one.
“Thank you,” you whispered to your friend, “thank you so much.”
Pascal stayed silent, but when he hugged you back, his hands were warm.
C/W: gore, violence, cults, general zombie shenanigans
A/N: I've been in bit of a Summerween mood recently, so enjoy this little thing I made to tide it over and keep myself a bit more active in-between other projects. I might make a continuation if I can come up with an idea for a second part. But in the mean time, enjoy!
He wasn't particularly bright; even in life as his brain was as smooth as his biceps were big. But now as an undead maneater, it just doubled. And so did your troubles.
So, how did all of this start?
Simple: by ignoring the one rule of every horror story.
---
If there was one man that you could gladly live the rest of your life without dealing with, it'd be Cody Wood.
Yes, he was handsome, but holy shit was he the definition of a fucking dumbass. The only way this man could be dumber was if he literally had rocks for brains. For example, you once caught him trying to stick a fork into an electric socket because he 'wanted to see if it would work just like in the cartoons,' and you had to give him a ten minute-long explanation to him as to why that was a bad idea.
Yes, he was nice, but he was more clingy than a leech with attachment issues. You couldn't go more than ten steps away from him before he whimpered for your attention again. You still shivered at the memory of when he hugged you after you were already having an absolutely rotten day.
You could still remember how a part of your soul withered when he hugged you. The feeling of him shoving your face deep within his heaving man bosom. The smell of body spray and energy drinks crawling down into your nose. And by God, how you wanted to cry just like his mother did when she realized that her son was an absolute idiot.
"There, is that better?" He asked, patting your head. His large, dark brown upturned eyes shining innocently like a puppy's while he softly rocked you back and forth, making sure your head was securely wedged in his cleavage.
You still shiver at the memory of him rubbing your back while shushing you, prompting you to reach for the nearest bottle of liquor. But unfortunately, due to him being one of many of your brother's friends, you had to put up with him being in your nearly-daily proximity. Even with everyone else splitting off and moving out of town, only the two of you were left behind-- you due to job prospects being the only thing more dimmer than Cody, and him.... for some reason you weren't entirely sure of.
Regardless, you were stuck with him.
---
Today was the start of a three-day weekend. It'd been a while since you last been in the great outdoors and given that the weather was going to be nice, you figured it'd be good to visit the nature trails about a thirty-minute drive from your place. Loading up your bag with the necessities, you hopped into your car and drove.
Outside your car window, the scenery changed from apartments and sky-rises to townhouses in neat little rows. Eventually onto the highway where only a few other vehicles zoomed by. By the time you were at the park, the dawn's rays were just poking out from the horizon. Clouds drifted by in soft shades of wisteria and lavender as the gravel crunched beneath your wheels as you came to a stop.
Swinging your legs over, you walked out and slammed the door shut. The fresh air was a welcome change. You closed your eyes, taking in a deep breath before letting it go. Up ahead, was a visitor's notice with the usual warnings about poison ivy, ticks, and wild animals besides the map.
Beneath the cliff was a bay with dark blue waters parted aside rolling swaths of green trees; the waves gently lapped against the beige sands and dock. An osprey glided rather close to your position before it landed on a branch.
After a few more moments of taking in the scenery, you followed the path to your left. Pebbles flew with your steps while you listened to the sounds of squirrels and birds chittering. You taking careful not to trip over a rock or tree root.
I should do this more often. You watched as rabbit darted behind a moss-covered log. Nice change of pace.
As you were about to another pair of footsteps.
You stopped. Your muscles clenched up, knuckles tautening over your water bottle's handle.
"I know someone's out there!" You yelled out, suppressing the fear from leaking into your voice. "So fuck off and leave me alone!"
There was no response.
"I'm serious!" You growled. "Piss off!"
You glared over your shoulder before resuming your trail. Dread slammed against your heart while you strained your ears for the footsteps or heavy breathing besides yours. Just when you were about to take a left, a branch snapped.
You screamed and swung your water bottle into your pursuer's head. The sound reverberated with a loud clank! And a familiar, large figure fell to the ground.
"Ow!" Cody yelled, rubbing his face where you struck him. A few branches had fallen into his bleached hair with his black roots starting to show.
"What the hell are you doing here!?" You snapped.
"I just wanted to surprise you." He whimpered, trying to make him as small as much a 6'04 dimwitted hunk could.
"And you thought that coming up behind me, when I'm all alone in the middle of a fucking nature trail, is a great time and place to do that!?"
"Well, uh..." He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "When you put it that way, yeah... That wasn't a good idea."
Groaning, you rubbed your forehead. "What do you want?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you here?"
His averted eyes said it all.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Well, I didn't want to have you be here all by yourself-- in case of a bear or something!"
"I'd sooner deal with a bear than some idiot stalking me!"
"I wasn't stalking you! I was making sure you were safe!" His face took on the same shade of red as one does while straining on the toilet. "Besides, I found something you might wanna check out."
"I am not following you!" You snapped. "Now leave me alone, dammit!"
"Listen, please." He pleaded, getting to his feet and dusting the seat of his pants. "I'm not gonna do anything bad, it's really cool."
"No."
"You do know about the house out here, right?"
You froze up. "The... house?"
"Yeah, that house."
"And what about it?"
"It's real. It's not too far from here."
"I am not getting off the path."
"It's on the path! Just follow me!" He grabbed your wrist and dragged you with him.
"H-hey! What the hell! Get off of me, you lummox!" You raised your water bottle once more.
"Okay! Okay!" He dropped your arm and raised his calloused hands up. "Just follow me, please? I won't grab you!"
"The moment you try anything-- and I mean anything-- I don't like..." You trailed off, letting the silence sink in.
"I know, understood!" He gulped. "Now, please follow me. I'll make it quick."
"You better." You hissed.
"C'mon! This way!" He pointed towards the right path.
Rolling your eyes, you followed after him while grumbling a few swears. Now and then, you nervously glanced up as the forest's canopy grew thicker the further you ventured. Just as you were about to yell at him, he finally stopped in front of a massive clearing.
"Right here!" He exclaimed.
Your mouth dropped as you looked up to a dilapidated Victorian mansion. "Holy shit..."
The Blackwoods Manor.
Everyone in your town and the surrounding ones knew about Blackwoods Manor. It was constructed around the early-mid 1800s as the holiday home for an eccentric writer named Edgar Blackwoods. When he was alive, people said that he was practicing occultist and necromancer, and maybe even a serial killer as many people had gone missing around his estate.
Some people said that servants and guests would spot ghostly figures wandering around, hear whispers when all alone, and even feel a cold hand graze their cheeks as they walked through the many halls. Many of your classmates claimed that he had hidden passages snaking through the house which led to secret rooms full of the most horrific things imaginable. There was even one version that said he sacrificed his own parents to summon a demon during one Halloween night.
Whatever actually happened within those walls, it was known that Edgar disappeared in the summer of 1885. Since then, the manor was left to rot. However, some say that in a clearing out in the woods, the manor would appear... Waiting. Watching. Starving.
Up close, the infamous manor was more ominous than what you already pictured: a towering mausoleum with crumbling gray walls suffocated by webs of ivy. The dark and cracked windows glaring at you like spider eyes and a chimney sticking out like a fractured bone. Its gingerbread trim tangled with thick cobweb drapes slowly drifting in the wind. A lantern hanging from the porch's ceiling swayed like a noose waiting for its victim.
Just looking at it made a deep coldness sink at the pit of your gut. Already, one of your feet was pointing towards the clearing's exit.
"See? Told ya." He puffed his chest out as if he was standing first place on an Olympic podium.
"And?" You stuck your head out.
"Well, aren't you impressed?"
"What are you getting at?" You responded, trying to suppress the groan at the bottom of your throat.
"I'm saying we get some photos of us in here!" He pointed at the decrepit house.
"Uh dumbass, have you never seen a horror movie?"
"I've seen plenty!" He enthusiastically nodded. "I've watched It, Friday the 13th, Cabin in the Woods, My Best Friend's Exorcism, also... what was it called? Uh.... Trick 'r Treat, and also--"
"Then you'd know entering the creepy fucking abandoned house believed to be haunted or have some sort of sordid past, is a stupid idea!" You snapped. "Even if it isn't haunted by some evil ghost or demon or whatever, you're gonna get jumped by some tweaking squatter or a whole group of them!"
He stared at you while his last two braincells were battling it out for third place. "Oh... right. But anyways, even if there's like a crazy person in there, I can always beat them up!"
"I highly doubt gym muscles are any good against crack-fueled rage with a crowbar." You shook your head.
"These aren't just from the gym! They're also from years of doing martial--"
"I don't care--"
"And besides, everyone knows that the virgin survives in those movies!"
"What?" You flatly stared.
"I'm saying, if we come across a demon, I'll survive and defeat it!" He beamed.
"What the fuck does your lack of experience have to do with--"
"Enough talking, now come on!" He raced towards the front doors and waved towards you.
Grimacing, you gingerly put one foot on the porch. The gray wood crunched like a bone underneath your weight. A shiver ran down your spine as you stood there.
"(Y/N)! Come on!" He pouted.
"I'm taking a picture out here as proof and then we have to turn around!" You demanded as you pulled out your phone and took a quick photo. "I am not going in there!"
"But, being outside it isn't enough evidence!" He responded.
"No, no, no! I like having my skin on my back!" You said. "If you want to prance around in there and take stupid photos for your Instagram, go right ahead! But keep me the hell out of this!"
"Then at least stand in the doorway." He pleaded and pushed open the front doors. They let out a deep groan as he stepped in and posed in front of the staircase.
"Fine." You sighed. "But that is the absolute furthest I am going."
"Fine, scaredy cat!" He stuck his tongue out while you took a few more pictures. "Anyways...."
"Oh no..." Your eyes widened as you saw that gleam in his.
Before you could protest, he bounded up the stairs and vanished from view. You heard his energetic steps alongside him shuffling through the shelves.
"Come on up, (Y/N)! There's a lot of cool stuff up here!" He shouted from upstairs.
"No."
"There's even a suit of armor!"
"I don't care, I am not going up."
"Hey! There's even this old book here! You think it's his spell book or something?"
"If it is, then put back down and don't read out anything from it!" You yelled before grumbling to yourself: "Not like you're very literate to start...."
"From blood and bones of where I came. I shall I come once more upon the gloom of night! Let old blood flow out and let new blood flow in me! And once more, I shall return from the coldness of the other side to feel the warmth of this realm once more!" He shouted.
"Oh my God..." You shook your head. "We are so fucked."
For several long moments, there was total stillness. Your heart's heavy pounding was far too loud in your ears. Your toes curled inside your sneakers as you waited for the ground to split open-- the trees to come to life and grab you-- a demon screaming and rushing towards the two of you-- something-- anything, to break the silence.
"That didn't do anything..." Cody finally spoke.
"You know what? Your funeral. I'm done." You rolled your eyes and stormed away before he could protest.
You weren't even fifteen steps away, when the doors slammed shut behind you.
"Huh?" You turned around.
Something groaned inside the house and he yelled only for it to be cut short. Dread crept through your bones as your feet shuffled towards the door once again. Gingerly wrapping your fingers around the dented doorhandle, you opened it.
"C-Cody....?" You trembled out.
No response. You couldn't see him. It was far too dark.
A cacophony of malicious whispers came from the darkness as a tall figure stood in the doorway. Two pairs of white, beady eyes glowered at you as an impossibly wide grin flashed like a blade's glint. Without another thought, you slammed the door shut and sprinted all the way back to your car. You didn't dare to look back to see if that thing was chasing after you.
"Come on! Come on!" You screamed while your shaking hands fumbled for the keys in your bag's pocket. You yelled several swears before your fingers finally wrapped around them and you unlocked your car before slamming the driver's side door shut.
As soon as the keys were in the ignition, you sped out of the parking lot-- gravel flying in your path. It wasn't until you were on the now-busy highways did you finally feel safe to look at your rearview mirror.
No demon, no ghost, no shadowy figure. Just part of your face and the cars behind you.
"Holy shit...." You breathed as your shock and terror wore off, and was replaced with the realization of what just transpired.
---
Later that night, a group of occultists were walking about that same forest. Black cloaks pulled up, obscuring their faces in shadows as they made their solemn journey towards Blackwood Manor.
The leader pushed open the front doors, marching inside as the others followed in a single-file line. He stopped at a specific bookshelf in the living room and twisted the left bust's head. A rumbling sounded out as part of the wall to their right turned to reveal a hidden tunnel. Down the spiraling staircase they went, torch flames lighting up along the way.
Crumpled on the ceremonial circle was a body-- a fresh one at that. His shirt stained red from a stab wound and his eyes were wide with shock. The man's blood already filled the engraved lines in the floor, the crimson streams almost glowing in the heavy gloom.
"Change of plans." The head one said, inspecting the man's corpse. "This one is a perfect subject. He even filled up the blood circle."
"Look at him!" Another one pointed. "He's massive!"
"He's got at least D-cups!" Someone else exclaimed and poked the corpse's chest.
"Even if we were to bring him back, what are we gonna use him for?" The shortest member asked.
"Putting him in stupid costumes?" Someone else suggested.
"Putting him in stupid costumes." The leader nodded.
With that, the occultists got to work. They lit up tall, skinny bone-white candles, placing them on the skulls at the seven points of the summoning circle. Wax bled down their sides, turning red as they mixed with the blood.
Producing a ceremonial dagger from the folds of his cloak, the leader pierced his fingertip and let a bead of blood well up. They watched as the droplet fell into the corpse's mouth.
"From dust we decay, from rust we rot, from bones and blood we were formed." The leader chanted, raising his hands up as the circle grew brighter. "From sun to moon, to moon from sun, let what was once gone return!"
A thick silence fell over the dungeon as if the world had gone mute. Not even the howling night's air nor the drones of cicadas from outside dared to break it. They looked over at each other nervously, then back down at the body.
A rasp tore out of the man as he violently arched up, letting out a deep groan.
"Hey! It work--"
The occultist didn't have time as the undead man lunged at him and ripped open his throat with his teeth. Blood jetted out while the victim flailed and tried to scream-- only letting out wet gurgling as he slumped over. The sounds of meaty tearing and crunching bones with loud slurps and groans filled the room as they watched in horror.
"Holy shit! He just ate Toby!" One screamed out.
The zombie stopped, dropping his victim and looked at the remaining four.
"Oh fu--"
---
Even though it had been two days, you still couldn't enjoy your now Cody-free life. The sinking guilt weighed down at the bottom of your guts even though you reported the incident when you finally had regained enough of your wit. However, they said they couldn't find either Cody or the house. The only thing there was a clearing with some old blood stains and torn clothes.
You weren't sure how to break the news to your brother. Even though as much as you disliked Cody, he didn't deserve to meet a grizzly end in haunted house.
Your finger drummed against your beer can as you tried to focus on Night of the Living Dead that was currently playing on your TV. Quickly, you swung the rest of your beer down before reaching for another. By now, you were starting to get a little buzzed-- yet even the booze couldn't entirely drown out the gnawing guilt.
(Y/N), you did what you could. You did the best that one could in that situation. You acted in self-preservation and did the smart thing by high-tailing it. You reported it to the police and gave an honest account of what happened. You aren't at fault.
You exhaled a shaky breath and slowly sipped before grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. He didn't listen to you. That's on him. You warned him. You're not at fault here.
As the film was reaching its climax of the zombies breaking through the farmhouse, the door thudded open. You gasped and spun to face a familiar bulking figure filling the threshold.
"W-what the--"
You didn't have time to finish as Cody stumbled in and your heart stopped. Blood smeared all over his face while he gnawed on the arm of some hapless person. His soulless, white eyes stared past you as the can in your hand slipped. A low groan pushed out from his mouth as he dropped the arm and stumbled towards you.
This should have been impossible. There was no way.
"(Y-(Y/N)...." He moaned, reaching a hand towards you.
You flinched back and took a few steps away, eyes darting around for a weapon. "G-get away!"
However, he ignored you and kept lurching. Low groans came out of his slack jaw, one hand reaching for you. Your back hit against the wall and you gasped as he finally touched your shoulder.
"(Y/N)...." He repeated and pulled something out from behind his back...
...
...
...
... A teddy bear?
"What?" You rapidly blinked.
"Gift from me!" He smiled, revealing rows of bloodied teeth. "Want to give you it earlier!"
Your eyes rapidly darted from the stuffed toy back to him. "What the...?"
"No like it?" He pouted.
"Uh... what? How are you--"
"Me put here for now." He placed the stuffed animal on the coffee table, patting it on the head. "Now: hug!"
"Aw, hell no!" You yelled.
Too late.
A sharp gag tore out of your mouth as he wrapped his arms around your waist and dragged your head deep into his bloodied cleavage.
"Damn it! Let go of me!" You demanded, smacking your hands against his chest. Your body shuddered in disgust at the sticky texture of gore smeared over him.
"Hug!" He repeated and patted the top of your head. "Like hug!"
"No like hug!" You snapped, trying to pry free from him. "Now get the fuck off of me!"
"No like.... hug?" He pouted. "But hug feel good."
"You're coated in blood, you idiot!"
At that, he hesitantly let go of you and looked at the red streaking all over him. He glanced back up at you. "But me keep you safe! Me keep protect you!"
"No! No! No!" You hissed, hunching over. "Get away from me!"
"Me want cuddle!"
"Hey... shouldn't you be finishing that first?" You pointed to the chewed arm lying on the floor. "You know... because, protein."
He looked at you for the longest time before his milky eyes widened. "Right! Need to keep strong to keep you safe!"
You just stared at the undead nuisance resumed eating away at the forearm in his hands. When he caught you looking, he flashed a goofy smile at you. Bits of flesh clung between his red-stained teeth before he turned back to the limb, moaning and snarling as he devoured the limb.
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