sufferthesea's 31 Days of Falloween - Day 9
Fandom: CREEP
Word: Orange
Pairings: The Creep/Josef x Reader
Warnings: Mentions of death/dying, The Creep being The Creep (I know he changes names after he kills someone, but I’m sticking with “Josef” for this fic)
You followed behind Josef, the camera capturing shaky images of his form as he hurried up the mountain trail ahead of you. You didn’t know you’d be hiking along a rugged path through the forest, so you hadn’t packed your hiking boots. You were attempting to keep up with the man while only wearing a pair of Keds, which were killing your feet now.
Josef wasn’t wearing anything much better. Black jeans, an orange turtleneck sweater, and black tennis shoes. The shoes had looked worn and thin when he put them on back at the house. It was a little strange that he picked that pair since he had a seemingly brand new pair of hiking boots sitting right next to them. (Of course, it wasn’t strange when he did it. It was only strange in hindsight, when you had spent at least twenty minutes following after him with your camera, badgering him for information, and being ignored.)
“How much farther is it?” you called after him, but he didn’t answer. He just kept pushing forward, practically sprinting up the barely-worn path that cut through the large pine trees.
Your shoes slipped (you’d had these Keds for about five years now and they had almost no tread left) on the dirt and you landed hard on your palms and knees. The camera tumbled out of your hand and into the underbrush.
You cursed under your breath as you rolled back onto your heels and examined your palms. They were scraped up and bleeding, but you’d survive.
Searching through dead leaves and broken branches, you eventually found the camera. It was unharmed, and it was still recording. You turned it toward yourself and caught a glimpse of your face. It was dirt-streaked and sweaty, your hair unkempt, mosquito bites covering your cheekbones.
“Nice,” you muttered, turning the camera around and scanning the path ahead of you. “Josef? Where did you go?”
There was no answer. You fell silent as you listened to the world around you. Birds trilled to one another, but it didn’t sound much like music. It sounded almost frantic. Almost anxious. Red and yellow leaves rustled in the breeze and then spiraled to the ground. Then the birds stopped altogether. And so did the insects.
“Josef?”
A wolf leapt out of the trees, brandishing an axe up high. You screamed (and, you were pretty sure, it screamed) as you tumbled backwards, slipping off the edge of the dirt path and down a leaf-covered embankment that led down to a ditch. You stopped rolling halfway down the slope, dizzy and disoriented. Out of your spinning vision, you could see the wolf standing on two back legs, axe still raised.
You scrambled to your feet, slipping in the damp foliage. You were about to throw yourself down the rest of the slope and into the ditch when you heard a muffled voice shouting after you.
“Wait! Wait, don’t leave!”
Heart pounding in your ears, you grasped onto the trunk of a tree to keep yourself steady. You watched, horrified and confused, as the axe was slowly lowered to the ground and the wolf’s head was removed. Josef stood on the trail, beaming down at you as if he’d just told you wonderful news.
“I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”
“What …” you panted, lungs burning. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I thought we were having fun.”
“What part of that was fun, Josef?”
The man continued to smile down at you, the axe resting against his leg, the wolf’s head in his hands.
“Come on up here. I’ll show you — it’s just a mask.” He waved the item in the air, the long gray hair shaking with the motion. “I want you to meet it.”
“Meet it?”
“Yeah. Come on.” He waved you up the slope with his free hand. “Come on! It’s not gonna bite.”
You dug your nails into the trunk and considered your options. If you were being honest, you were not faster or stronger than Josef, especially if he had an axe (you were praying that that thing wasn’t real, but you were seriously doubting it). You also had gotten turned around in the woods, even with following the thin, barely-worn trail. If you took off and tried to get back to the house on your own, you more than likely would actually get lost. And if Josef didn’t track you down in the forest, he could just as easily make it back to the house first and wait for you. And he might not be in such a good mood after watching you run away from him. (He had hired you to film his entire day, after all. Good, bad, and weird.)
“Come on,” he said again, waving you up eagerly. The smile never left his face. That was somehow worse. “Get up here.”
“I have to find my camera first.”
Josef bent over and picked something up. When he stood, he held your camera. “You dropped it up here. Come on.”
No other options now. You hesitantly made your way back up the leaf-strewn slope and to the trail. You kept a good distance between yourself and Josef, eying him with caution. He held up the mask and turned its twisted face toward you.
“This is Peachfuzz. Isn’t he so friendly?”
You glanced at the mask with its creepily bright eyes and unsettling smile. You almost laughed out loud when you realized it had the exact same smile as Josef.
“Peachfuzz won’t hurt you. Promise. Here, why don’t you hold him?” Josef held out the mask to you. He stared at you expectantly, patiently.
“That’s okay …”
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, shaking the mask gently. “He won’t bite.”
From the look in his eye, you knew Josef wasn’t going to drop it. You took one step forward and grabbed the mask. The hair was coarse and dry, the face plasticky.
“See? Peachfuzz is a really good friend. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
You felt silly being scared of such a cheap Halloween mask, but you also hadn’t been expecting Josef to jump out wearing it while wielding an axe. “You’re right. He, uh … Peachfuzz?”
“Yeah.”
“Peachfuzz is very nice. Have you had him long?”
“Oh, a very long time. He’s practically family.” He paused, then added, “You can wear it, if you want.”
“That’s okay,” you said, handing the mask back to Josef. “Thanks, though. Could I … get my camera back?”
“Oh. Sure!” He placed the camera in your hands. “You know something? I feel really good about this.”
“About what?”
“This. Us. I just had the feeling you were the right person when you answered my ad. I just …” He inhaled deeply through his nose and smiled again. “We were brought together for a reason. I just know it.”
You studied Josef’s face and felt a twinge of guilt settle into your body. He was just lonely. Weird, but lonely. Living all the way out in the middle of nowhere, dealing with his health crises, thinking of the end of his life. You supposed you might also act a little crazy if you were confronted with your own impending death. Who wouldn’t?
Besides, you had told Josef that you loved scary movies, and Halloween, and the occasional prank. You’d even listed off all the haunted houses you’d visited over the years. Maybe he just wanted to share a moment like that with you, since his prognosis had said he would be gone before Halloween even arrived. Maybe it was just easier facing the inevitability of your own death when you could pour that anxiety and frustration into scaring someone else.
“Why don’t we go back to the house?” you offered. “I’ll make us some lunch and we can do some more interview segments. If you want.”
“That would be great.” He tucked Peachfuzz under his arm and picked up the axe.
“I could carry that for you.”
“Which one?”
“Either. Both.”
Josef grinned and blushed excitedly. “I have an idea.”
“Okay. What?”
He quickly exchanged his axe for your camera, and placed the Peachfuzz mask on your head. Through the eyeholes, you could see him as he held up the camera and filmed you. Your grip tightened around the handle of the axe. Even resting on the ground, it was incredibly heavy. How had he managed to lift it over his head and chase you? He must have been a lot stronger than he looked.
“That’s so great!” Josef said giddily. “Let’s walk back to the house like this. I’ll film you while you’re walking.”
“I don’t know how to get back to the house.”
“That’s okay, I’ll direct you from back here. You look great! Peachfuzz is really happy. You’re the perfect person to wear that mask. You see, I knew there was something special about you.”
Hoisting up the axe to carry it in both arms, you headed back down the trail, shoes slipping in the loose soil and wet leaves. You could hear Josef behind you, directing you through the forest and back to the house.
To your surprise, he managed to direct you right to it. You were hot and sweaty under the mask, and your arms ached from carrying the axe, and your relief was palpable when the house came into view.
Josef popped into your vision, eyes bright. He pulled the axe out of your arms, dropped it onto the ground, and drew you into a hug. His body was warm and his arms strong, but he was surprisingly gentle. Not surprising for how he looked, but surprising for how he’d acted over the last two hours of your hike.
“Thank you so much,” he whispered, his voice barely audible through the plastic mask. He stood back and put one hand on your shoulder, the other hand still holding your camera. “Tonight is going to be a really great night. It’s going to be unlike any other. I can feel it.” He inhaled deeply again and closed his eyes. “I’m so glad it’s going to be you with me. It was meant to be.”
You reached out and gently touched his upper arm. His eyes opened and he stared into yours. It was impossible, as all he could see was the mask, but you were sure of it. He was staring straight into your eyes.
Even behind the mask, you smiled.
“I think you’re right, Josef. I think we were meant to be.”
