Day 4 of @weeklygrishaprompts (I highly recommend to take a look at the event, it’s lovey and funny to participate!)
Prompt: Horror
Fandom: Six of Crows
Warnings: Horror, nightmares, canon typical violence.
I added two elements from the SoC 3 story I have planned with @mandrake-arya, that are: Van Eck died in prison and Brum was killed by Jesper (long story, but I love the scene we imagined).
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa; Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck; Nina Zenik/Matthias Helvar
Plot: Wylan, Nina and Kaz are tormented by nightmares that follow the same scheme.
Ghosts from their past are back to haunt their dreams, but, luckily, they're not alone.
You can find the fic on Ao3 HERE
WYLAN
He was wandering alone, in the dark hall.
Thousands closed doors on each side, a single source of light from the candle he was holding. Wylan knew someone was hiding from him, waiting for the right moment to attack.
He tried to open one of the doors, with no results. He swore behind his teeth, trying to protect the feeble flame of the candle.
Suddenly, a creepy noise behind his back: a door was opening.
“Who are you?” the boy screamed. “What do you want from me?”
A dark figure towered over him. Then a voice... his voice...
“I am the man who you once called father. And I'm here to finish what I started in life...”
“Go away!” Wylan cried, taking a step back. “Leave me alone! You have no more power on me! You're dead! You're just a shadow!”
Van Eck let a cruel laugh out.
“I am a shadow... a shadow that will erase the mistake you are!”
With the free hand, Wylan tried to punch the dark ghost, but his knuckles meet nothing. Van Eck vanished, in a scary whisper.
“Where are you?” the young man growled.
The voice spoke at his ear.
“Behind you.”
Wylan turned around, trembling. The flame of the candle enlightened the spooky, rotten face of Jan Van Eck, his eyes two white balls, his grin a sharp, bleeding cut.
He blew on the flame and everything went black.
Wylan screamed, while two cruel, familiar, cold hand surrounded his neck.
Then... a voice, a sparkle of hope in the darkness, called his name.
“Wy! Wylan! Hey, merchling, wake up!”
The redhead awoke screaming, grabbing Jesper's wrists, who was gently shaking him. The Fabrikator cupped his face with his soft, warm hands.
“Hey, hey, calm down, it's okay! You fell asleep on the couch, while studying for a new chemical combination.”
“I did... what?”
It was true: Wylan realized he was sitting on a couch in the library, he still had a Chemistry book open on his lap.
He took a deep breath, struggling to keep his eyes dry.
“My father... He still haunts my dreams...”
Jesper kissed his nose, then, he made their forehead touch: “I should enter your dreams too, to kick his ghostly ass, then!”
They both giggled. Jesper's voice became sweeter.
“He's gone, Wy. Maybe he can still haunt your dreams, but he cannot hurt you anymore, in real life. He can be nothing more than a bad dream, now.”
Wylan sighed, then, his lips curved in a little smile: “You're right. Nothing more than a bad dream.”
NINA
She was wandering alone, into the dark woods.
Black, naked trees surrounded her, their branches looked like claws of shadow, ready to grab her, to drag her into a hollow world of darkness.
She didn't know where to go, where to hide. She knew he was there, she could feel his presence, his hatred, his thirst for blood and revenge.
A whisper behind her back made her shiver.
She turned around. No one was there.
“I know you're here!” she cried. “Show yourself, you coward!”
“I'm here...”
His voice, his cruel laugh filled the air. “I'm everywhere, witch! You will never be freed from me! I will haunt your and that traitor's dreams and minds forever!”
“Come out and fight me!” she insisted, her hands raised. “So I can destroy you again and again!”
A cold hand suddenly grabbed her throat and she saw him, Jarl Brum's ghost, his eyes two dark wells. There was a hole, on the left side of his head, a hole left by Jesper's bullet.
Nina struggled against the phantom's grip, growling. She instinctively dug a finger into the bullet wound and the monster screamed, letting her go.
Nina tried to use her powers against him, but the branches of the trees moved towards her, surrounding her. She was trapped.
“Filthy creature! You will pay for everything!”
The ghost ran towards her, his hands, stretched ahead, looked like claws.
A voice called her name. Once. Twice.
“Nina!”
The dark woods, the cruel branches and Jarl Brum's ghost vanished. Nina found herself in her bed, panting, sweating, trembling.
Matthias was holding her in his strong arms, gently caressing her wet cheeks: “Nina, love... I'm here... it was just a nightmare...”
The young woman looked around, almost afraid to see Brum's shadow in the corners, but then, she tried to regularize her breath, focusing on her boyfriend's blue eyes.
“It felt so real...” she whispered, touching his bearded cheek. “So real... it was him... Brum...”
For a moment, Matthias' jaw clenched, hearing that name, then, he wiped out her tears with sweet kisses.
“He comes to my dreams too. But he can be nothing more than a bad dream, now.”
“Nothing more...” she echoed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, to impress that words in her mind.
“Yes... you're right...” she whispered, pressing her body closer to his. “Nothing more than a bad dream.”
KAZ
He was wandering alone, into the dark waters.
Cold, salty waves around him, pieces of everything floating on the surface. He struggled to swim, to keep his head out of the water, but there was no land on sight and he was feeling tired, so tired...
“I... can' stop...” he told himself. “They will catch me...”
He knew they were there, under the surface, their pale claws ready to grab and drag him down, in the depths.
He never looked down, he couldn't bear the sight of their ghostly, emaciated faces, their cruel grins, their hollow eyes. And... and the possibility that Jordie's face was among them...
Kaz swallowed, forcing himself to ignore the pain that was making his leg stiffen. If Jordie was there... if Jordie was one of them... Ghezen... he would have been driven insane...
The pain finally won. His injured leg was completely paralyzed and his other limbs were losing their strength.
“No... no, no, no, no, no...”
A skeletal claw grabbed his ankle and he tried to scream, swallowing cold, salt water.
“No!”
The monsters surrounded him, their cruel hands on him. Their rotten nails scratched his skin, their horrible voices tortured his ears and his mind.
Kaz tried a last, desperate last effort. Then, they dragged him underwater
He found himself praying to faint, to die quickly, but something was keeping him awake, his brain was refusing to surrender to the darkness.
And then... her voice. Her voice. Like a sudden music in a silent, hollow day.
He opened his mouth, to call her back and... and he suddenly found himself in his studio, his face over a pile of documents. He has fallen asleep while sitting at his desk.
He growled, taking a peek at the pendulum clock: it was half past three in the morning.
“Inej?” he called. His voice sounded horrible and weak.
“Kaz?”
She was still awake, not a surprise. She entered the room with her silent walk; a long, violet nightgown wrapped her petite body.
“Are you okay?”
The young man stood up, rubbing his eyes: “Yes... I mean... no...”
Inej surrounded his waist with her tiny arms and rested her head against his chest: “What happened?”
It was so good feeling her warmth through their clothes. It was like sitting before a crackling fire, with a cup of hot chocolate and a sweet music in the background.
He quickly kissed her head, sinking his lips into her soft, black hair, and, even though he knew it wouldn't have lasted, he felt safe and free from his nightmares.
“Nothing, Inej. Nothing more than a bad dream.”
