"Shadow"
Demon Hoseok x Reader (feat. Jin)
Summary: A mysterious music box leads to some unsettling activity and dreams. But what happens when your dreams become reality?
Warnings: paranormal/horror themes, swearing, injuries, stalking/yandere-ish vibes(I mean he's a demon so yeah) nightmares? Idk, lmk if I missed something
A/N: ngl this one came out pretty creepy. Thank you all for the support you've shown for Spooktober, the final piece will be posted later this week.
Spooktober m.list
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"Y/n, look at this!"
Jin was holding up an old cookoo clock, covered in tiny decorative leaves and swirling scrollwork. "It's cute, right?"
"Uh, it's not really my style." You said gently, trying not to offend him.
He was supposed to be helping you look for furniture for your new house, but so far, all he had done in every thift shop you two had gone into was get distracted by various knickknacks and old toys, leaving you to basically fend for yourself.
"Oh c'mon, you could hang it in the kitchen-"
You attention was pulled away from the conversation by a shelf of old music boxes. One in particular caught your eye, slightly smaller than the others, almost able to fit in one hand, with a simple diamond and checkerboard pattern carved into the surface.
Curious, you picked it up and gently wound the key, the gears stiff from age and lack of use. A soft twinkling melody began to play, causing a twinge of nostalgia to ring through you, but you didn't know why. The song sounded familiar, like an old forgotten memory come back to the surface, but you couldn't quite place it.
"-what do you think?"
"Hm?" You shook out of your revre, glancing up at your friend in confusion.
"Were you really not listening to me?" He pouted at you.
"I'm sorry, I don't what happened." You said absent-mindedly as you checked the box for a price sticker, but finding none. "I'll be right back."
You quickly made your way up to the counter, griped by a sudden need for the charming little box.
"How much is this?" You asked the lady at the register.
"Oh, that old thing?" She looked at it in surprise. "You can have it, no charge."
"Seriously?" You said in disbelief.
"Mh-hm." She nodded, "It's been here for ages, it doesn't even work."
"But, I just-" You were cut off by the sound of something crashing to the floor, making you both jump. Ducking back around a few shelves, you found Jin standing awkwardly over the busted remains of the cookoo clock.
"I'll take it!" He said, cheeks red in embarrassment.
. . .
You took the box home.
As you climbed into bed that night, you picked it up again, examining it carefully.
There were hinges along one side of the top, indicating that it could open, but the tiny lock on the front prevented you from doing so. You gave a small huff of frustration, about to give up, but then you remembered seeing a similar box in a movie once where the key for the music mechanism had also served as a key for the lock.
Turning the box over, you gave the key a gentle tug, it came free of its housing easily enough. Slipping it into the lock, you found to your delight that it turned and clicked.
Thrilled with your discovery, you gently lifted the lid and peered in. The inside was lined with a teal green velvet, in the center was a small spring that you suppose once held a figurine of some sort, but now stood empty, missing its miniature dancer.
Slightly disappointed, you closed it again and sat it in it's new home on your bedside table before shutting off the lights and going to sleep.
That night, your dreams were full of strange sights and sounds. Strange flashes of color. Someone was laughing, but the noise was foggy and muffled. Somewhere, distantly, you could hear the music box playing.
. . .
Over the next few weeks, you started to notice strange things around your new place. Creaking footstep-like sounds, doors that refused to stay open or closed, the scent of something like woodsmoke and rain that seemed to move about the house.
At first you tried to brush it off. It was an old house, old houses had weird noises and smells, right? You'd known that when you moved in. But then, there were more things that you couldn't find a logical explanation for.
Voices that seemed to echo down the hall from empty rooms. Shadows moving out the corner of you eye, peaking around doorways when your back was turned, catching sight of the flickering movement in the mirror while you were brushing your teeth or watching TV.
At night, it got worse. You were finding it increasingly difficult to sleep. When you did manged to drift off, you kept having the same recurring dreams of smokey figure slipping into your room through a crack in the window or under the door, the swirling and billowing mass drifting ever closer, watching you with eyes like burning coals.
Everything in your body said that you should be terrified, but for some reason, you weren't. In fact, you felt oddly serene as he gently reached out and took your hand, tugging you up out of bed and pulling you close, seeming to dance about the room with you. Everytime, you would wake up shaking and sweating.
. . .
"Y/n?" You jumped slightly at your name, looking across the table to see Jin eyeing you with concern.
"You alright?" Jin asked.
He'd noticed the recent changes in you and to say he was worried was an understatement. You were pale and jumpy, shadows under your eyes from lack of sleep.
You looked down, sighing. "I- I don't really know, Jin."
"What's wrong?"
"Promise you won't make fun of me?" You asked.
"I swear." He held up a hand in oath.
"I think my house is haunted." You started, half expecting he would think you were crazy. But if anyone was going to believe you, it would be Jin.
As you spoke, Jin had gone still and pale, his brow furrowed as he listened.
"And then, there's these." You pulled back your sleeve, revealing fingerprint like bruises littering your arms. They didn't hurt and they would fade almost as fast as they appeared, but you could still sense them, like invisible sootstains on your skin.
He swallowed hard, mouth pressed into a thin line
"Maybe we should call someone, like-"
Jin's voice faded out as you froze, staring out the glass front of the restaurant over his shoulder.
He was there, a faint, greyish figure, semi-transparent like a reflection, except that he standing outside on the sidewalk. He tilted his head slightly as he grinned at you.
"Y/n? What is it?" Jin turned to see what you staring at, looking back at you confused.
"He can't see me, Love, only you can." The figure mouthed, but it sounded like he was right next to you, sending a shiver up your spine.
"Nothing. It's nothing." Snapping your attention back to your friend, you spoke quickly, gathering your things. "Look, don't worry about it, I've got a handle on it." You turned to leave, but Jin grabbed your arm.
"'Got a handle on it?' Wait a minute, y/n, I don't get this. Are you scared or not?"
You stopped.
Were you? The same question had been plaguing you for days.
"I... don't know."
. . .
'It was a dark and stormy night.' You rolled your eyes at your own joke. It was Halloween night, rain pouring down outside with thunder and lightning as you finished washing up for bed. 'How cliché.'
As if to prove your point, there was a loud clap of thunder, and the room was plunged into darkness.
"Shit." You whispered, fumbling your way down the hall. Where the hell had you packed the flashlights?
Making it to your room, you stilled as you heard a soft twinkling melody floating through the air. The music box.
You were frozen, heart was pounding so loudly in you ear that it took you a several seconds to realize there was another set of breaths in the room.
Another flash of lightning illuminated a figure standing in the center of the room.
You fell back against the door as you let out a shrill scream.
"Don't be afraid." He spoke in a low, raspy voice. At that moment, the lights flickered back on, revealing the intruder.
He was tall, very slim, a mop of messy black waves partially covered dark eyes with deep shadows beneath them
"Please don't hurt me." You whimpered.
"Hurt you?" He tilted his head at you. "Why would I do that? You let me out."
"I-what?"
"My box, you opened it." He let out a small laugh as he picked it up and pointed to you. "That was impressive, you know? Not everybody can do that."
"I don't-" You stopped as you realized.
You recognized that voice, the angular face, those eyes, though usually they had a different glow than the playful glint they held now.
"Oh my god." You whispered, slumping against the door again.
"Not quite." His lips quirked up in a smile.
"I'm going crazy." You ran a shaky hand through your hair.
"Crazy looks good on you then." He said, taking in your features more closely. You were cute, weren't you? 'Lucky me.' He thought, watching you fidget nervously. If he had to be indebted to human, at least it was someone fun.
"What are you?" You asked
"I've been called a lot of things," he said softly, Cheshire grin on his face as he crept closer. "but you can call me Jay."
Everything felt jumpy and distorted, like an old, fragmented movie reel. The closer he came, the worse it got.
"We had such a nice time before," he breathed, as his fingers brushed your arm. "Imagine how much nicer it would be now that I'm real, that I can actually touch you."
"I-" You pulled back slightly, but you it was a like you were a rabbit and a viper. You couldn't look away.
He cupped you face gently, everything feeling like it was in slow motion.
"What do you say to another dance?"