While you sleep
Witch!Reader x Demon!Caleb
WARNINGS: yandere themes, haunting, Religious themes, Obsessive themes, Caleb probably needs therapy, Falling and tumbling, Minor Violence, death, hallucinations,non human entity, Caleb's pathetic, kissing, Fem!Reader, sort of slowburn I guess?
Synopsis: For weeks on end you've felt as someone had been watching you from corners, Stealing glances at you, you could feel it grow colder as you were talking to someone, the hairs on your arm standing, and the suddenly gone when the person had walked away, being a witch you were used to entities being around you but this entity was insistent and obsessive…and now terrorizing your dreams.
Word count: 2.9k words
Also on AO3 ↳ : https://archiveofourown.org/works/88430711
Weeks
It had been weeks since you've felt as if you were no longer alone, you couldn't remember the last time you had slept through the night peacefully, everywhere you went you felt its presence looming behind you, closer than your own shadow.
It was not as if you were unfamiliar with entities as a whole, being a witch you had faced your fair share of the paranormal, but this encounter was different. The entities never stayed this close, never showed themselves too much, lurking but at a distance, and they would eventually leave too without much fuss. This one made sure you knew it was behind you. watching and at times it even messed with you while you were busy talking to someone, dropping the temperature of the room, messing with vases, opening and shutting windows and only quitting when the person you were conversing with eventually grew wary or uncomfortable and left.
But tonight it crossed all boundaries.
After what seemed like hours you had finally found the sweet embrace of sleep, only to find yourself standing in what seemed like an endless black abyss, land stretching to as far as the eye can see and even beyond, the only thing in front of you? A mirror. It looked like one of those heavy ones you could find at a noble's house, with a gold frame and beautifully carved out edges that could rival even the works of greek carvers, it called you to it, like a siren to a hopeless sailor.
Your feet moved on their own accord, taking hesitant steps to the mirror, and when finally you stepped in front of it your eyes grew double their size, this isn't what you wore to sleep, you thought, your eyes doing a double take on the simple white dress you were wearing, it had flowy sleeves and was light enough to run around in, exactly kind of dress you had always seen the high born girls wear and wished for yourself but never had the funds for it. Suddenly, whilst you were busy admiring the dress, you saw a shift from behind you quicker than a human, slower than a shadow, a figure you could've sworn it. You turned around to face it head on, you weren't going to let the creature get the best of you, not yet at least.
“‘I saw you” You call out to the deceptively empty… room? Could you even call it that? there were no walls, only an endless ‘sky’ of black.
A beat passed by, and then two of pure silence, you sighed giving up and turning back to the mirror only to lock eyes with the source of your irritation and terror. There he was standing right behind you, a small coy smile on his face. All Muscle, for a demon he was unnervingly handsome,he was tall and purple eyes fixed on you like you were a lamb meant for slaughter, And so you did the only reasonable thing.
You ran.
Where to? You had no idea yourself, but anywhere was alright as long as you were far away from that..that thing, from somewhere far or near you heard him chuckle, his voice boyish a clear antithesis of who he actually was.
“Really? Is that how you wanna play this”’ He spoke, His voice a mix of exasperation and playful teasing, as the plain land you ran on shifted to slabs of cement. You were in a cloister now, running past the cement arches as fast as your feet allowed you too.
“You know, this isn't going to get you anywhere, Why not face me as you did minutes before? Where's that brave girl who valiantly stood up to me?” The demon mocked, his footsteps heard faintly behind you. Turning your head, you saw his eyes glowing now, he was wearing human clothes, specifically a uniform—The royal guards uniform, Navy tunic and white pants, and boots that went up till they eventually stopped at his knees. His arms crossed as he leisurely trailed after you, who were sprinting as fast as you possibly could.
If only you had the demon's name, you could send it back to wherever it had spawned out of, alas, you were too busy running for your life to try and engage in conversation with him.
Perhaps you should have, too, because in the blink of an eye the ground stated collapsing, the very ground you were on bending in on itself, and just as you thought this was the end you open your eyes to find yourself in a ballroom, a glass of champagne in your hand, your still in the same dress, and when you look around the realization hits you: you're not alone anymore.
At least you think you're not alone anymore,you can't quite make out faces but the ballroom was filled with people as if there was a ball going on, had you imagined things? Was it all a vision and nothing more? Questions filled your brain as you tried focusing on the blurry faces that walked past you, deciding to put blame on the bizarre events you had just encountered, Your brain was just slightly frazzled, that's all. You took a step forward, deciding it was best if you calm your brain down by taking a turn of the room. The sound of music lightly flowed as you watched the couples dance on the floor, you stood on the side of dance floor watching them, but your mind was far away, wondering who that demon could be and why it latched onto you, when you hadn't even summoned it, could it have used on of your earlier spells to slip through from its realm? Or was it just a silly apparition your tired brain had conjured up? Come to think of it, that particular demon did seem more like an angel, perhaps it was just your mind.
You look up breaking out of your thoughts when you hear the music stop, everyone now walking in the room, mingling about, and while lost in the crowd of blurry faces, it was as if you had drunk too much, you saw a tall figure on the other side of the room, standing out from the crowd and staring directly at you, perfectly still and unmoving.
It was him.
Fuck.
You stood frozen in fear, eyes fixed on the demon who tilted his head as if he was saying “gotcha”, you couldn't do much besides stare at him in fear, the rest of the crowd disappearing into background noise.
Who was he? What did he want with you? What would it take for him to stop? Your fear slowly morphed into anger, you had not left the church of astra to be afraid of another being, divine or not, you were not going to succumb to this childish demon.
“Oh don’t look at me like that sweetheart, you wound me.” the demon purred out from across the room and somehow no one turned to look at the obnoxiously tall man, so this was his game, an illusion, none of these people existed, he conjured them up. This is all one big jest and you're the punch line, aren't you? And so, as if you were a dam of pent up emotion,
You snap.
“What do you want of me!” you yell out from across the room, practically shrieking it out, visibly shaking from the anger, your hands fisted, and, for a moment, the creature's indifferent face slipped and surprise clouded his features, taken aback by your outburst. He looked at you for a long second before simply nodding to himself and snapping his fingers.
“Alright, no more games, my dear” was the last thing you heard before the ground started moving, warping everything as if you were on some bizarre ride, knocking the wind out of your lungs and making you lose your balance and falling, only to be caught just in time by a secure hand on your waist. Your throat tightens up looking at your savior's face who's just giving you a sly smile.
“Who are you?” you manage to breathe out, you can't for the life of you figure out his intentions, he's not here to terrorize you, neither is he here because he wants a favor. So why?
“I am the fate that's come to cling at your door.” He speaks, helping you stand properly, now, in the same endless spiral of dark you arrived at. “I knew it from the moment I saw you at the church. You didn't belong there, they didn't deserve someone as kind and compassionate as you, how could they? So I did what I had to do. Unfortunate accidents, unexplainable deaths, whatever had to be done to keep those pests away from you. I had been thinking of ways to reveal myself to you until it dawned on me…all i had to do was make sure you couldn't run. At least until you understood.” He spoke as if it physically pained him, looking away for a second before bringing his violet eyes back to your face,staring at you, with such intensity it made your heart stop.
“Understood? Understood what?” you ask cautiously, unsure of what this was leading to,your hand fisting your dress, preparing to run if you must, but even you knew it would be futile to.
“That you belong here, with me.” he says like it's obvious, eyes wide, and for the first time a smile, not to tease or condescend, but just an actual smile to show his joy. “Id make sure you'd never long for anything, this—” He gestured to the dress, his hands running over the silk for a fleeting moment. “—Is just the start, I could have entire civilizations at your feet by dawn, my lady. All you need to do is give me the chance to prove to you that only I am worthy of you. I will strive to make myself whatever you need, whatever you want. Please” he begged, breathing heavily.
You couldn't believe it. A demon. A creature of hell, was in love with you. You looked at him for a long beat, trying to comprehend what you were hearing, no one had ever fallen in love with you, especially not a fearsome creature of hell. What do you even do in situations like these? Better yet, what did you feel for him? You couldn't deny he was attractive and a not so tiny part of you was willing to let him stay, after all it was you who, rather than look for ways to get rid of the entity, let it wander and linger until its feelings got so strong it trapped you goodness knows where.
“I do not even know you, and yet here you ask me for my love, surely you cannot be serious” you argue back, whatever you felt for him aside, you didn't even know his name, how could he expect you to love him back? You stood more at ease, now that you were no longer running for your life that is.
At your words, his eyes narrowed as if he couldn't even comprehend the fact, to him you just fall in love, love didn't have terms and conditions did it? He wasn't a stranger to the concept of love either, having read about it plenty of times, being a firm believer of it happening at first sight, at least after he saw you. But the fact you didn't freak out as soon as he confessed was reason enough for him to indulge you and your need to know about him.
“What would you like to know, my sweet?” he raised his eyebrow as if encouraging you to ask, he reached for your hand before backing away, worried it might startle you. Little to his knowledge, you noticed and took his hand before you could even process it, you froze for a moment wondering what you had done, while his eyes lit up like a child with a candy.
Sighing, you let it go, his hand was oddly comforting to you, and it was you who reached out anyway. “Well, for starters…whats your name?” you ask, gently, careful not to scare him off, wondering what kind of name he'd have.
“Caleb” he answers without hesitation, eyes shining into yours, affection dripping out like honey from his violet eyes.
“Oh, that's far more simple than what i was expecting” you burst out laughing, for a demon you were expecting a more terror invoking name, something in latin. You shake your head, clutching your stomach from how hard you were laughing. At the sight of your amusement Caleb's eyes crinkle, a huge grin on his face forming.
“I am terribly sorry to disappoint you then, my lady” he jests teasingly, crossing his arms, happy to see you be yourself freely. It was all he could have asked for. Truly. “I am glad to see you are warming up to me” he admits softly, the demeanour shifting from playful to soft and wholesome in seconds.
“You are not all that bad, Caleb” you chuckled and for the first time this entire night—no for the first time in months, you felt at peace, like no one was after you, you were safe and accepted as you are, something not even your own parents could do. Caleb seemed to catch on to what you were thinking because the next words out of his mouth, you were not expecting.
“You don't have to pretend with me, love” he tilted his head, looking at you with pity, and for some reason it felt good to be pitied for once, not blamed or chastised. “I know life has been far too tough on you, I've witnessed it for myself, and I'll be damned if I allow you to feel like that again. No one will ever hurt you again” he spoke as if he was making a vow,and for some reason you believed it, it was hard not to with the way he was saying it, would it be that bad if you just let him stay? You wondered, looking at him.
The rest of the hours flew by, with you asking questions and him answering as honestly as he could, even sneaking a joke here and there. You told him about yourself too, on how you were cast out from church for asking ‘too many questions’, how your parents threatened to marry you off until eventually, you ran away and became a governess to a wealthy family, and now practiced witchcraft in your spare time, helping families ward off ghosts and spirits and occasionally selling desperate women love potions or spells. He told you of who he was, and how demons lived and how he got to earth in the first place, being summoned on a whim, and now unable to leave or rather now unwilling to leave.
You didn't have much track of how much time you spent because of the lack of clocks and sun, but you did have a feeling it had been hours since you first came here, you look at Caleb wondering if he would grant you leave or would remain steadfast in keeping you here.
“Hey, Caleb?” you called out to him, your gaze turning soft and apologetic like you were already apologising for cutting your time together short “as much as i’ve enjoyed talking to you, i think its time i headed back” you didn’t say it harshly but there was a firmness that proved you weren't about to argue with him over this. He paused looking at you for a second, as if debating something, before reluctantly sighing and nodding.
“Alright alright, I don't think I have much say over your stubbornness anyway” he teased but there was a certain fondness in his eyes that made you forget to breathe, you thanked him, a smile bright on your face as you contemplated something. You liked him this much even you can tell, and he liked you too so what if you just kissed him? A tiny peck wouldn't hurt anyone surely? These were the thoughts that led you to leaning forward and placing a light peck on his lips, smiling giddily as you watched Caleb's expression change from a wistful one to one of pure shock and delight, laughing a bit dazed.
“Goodnight, Caleb” you wished him farewell, shifting your weight on both feet, a playful smile on your lips, you had never felt this giddy before, the sensation was a bit addictive if you were being honest, you looked at Caleb who had finally returned to the life of the living, snapping out of his lovesick expression.
With a snap of his fingers, you woke up back in your bed, in the same clothes you fell asleep in, the rays of sunlight seeping through your white curtains, the dawn breaking into the sky, as you sat up, leaning against your headboard, uncertain if it was all a dream your bored head had conjured up.
The thought of Caleb not being real almost felt hollowing.
But then from the corner of yours eyes, you saw the same figure staring at you as you saw in your dream, now not bothering to hide in shadows as he looked and smiled at you, you felt a chill run up your spine,however it confirmed one of your suspicions, that this was far from over, you had just bound yourself to a demon for the rest of eternity, your fates now intertwined, for better or for worse,then he spoke his words echoing in your room or perhaps it was your mind
See you Soon, My love
A/N: fin! i hope you enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed writing it, its my first work in the fandom and i hope i delivered, i know with everything going on with valko and infold is stressful but atleast we have fanfics right? Reblog if you liked it!
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