Of course, Whumpee couldn't know that. Surely they wanted to, right? How could someone stare at their scars for any reason but enjoyment? How could concern drive someone to watch their fear with rapt attention? As much as Whumpee tries, they can't bring themselves to believe Caretaker's gentle reassurances, can't curb the panic that rises beneath their gaze.
Caretaker would never hurt Whumpee, never.
But Caretaker does hope they can suppress these awful feelings, before Whumpee realizes how right they are to doubt.
We vibe. I really like this part, actually, especially at the end. The basis of this is that one time my mum gouged her hand on accident, and it hurt a lot when it healed because there had been a nerve ending that needed to grow back there a little.
Now imagine it for an entire body.
Content: Vampire whumpee, questionable caretakers, discussions on how to keep a vampire trapped, blood, semi detailed description of a vampire growing back their body, burning
Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list
Part 1
.......................................
“Eurgh,” Joanna muttered to herself. She stood in the bathroom stall, case open on the back of the toilet. They only had about 20 minutes of stillness from the heart so she waited till she and Kyle were near the front of the line before going to the bathroom to hide the heart. She had lifted the board she’d use to get the heart to freeze flatter and saw the now white thing covered in ice crystals. She had a tanktop under her bra to try and keep the ice off her skin directly, but this was still going to be unpleasant.
“Are you alright?” a heavily accented voice from another stall asked and Joanna nearly swore and dropped the heart into the toilet.
“Er, yeah. I’m fine,” Joanna said, steeling herself to be silent as she hid the heart.
She slid the heart under her shirt, leaving the case in the bathroom and leaving the stall. She washed her hands, checking to see if the heart would be too visible, and left the bathroom before the other woman could leave her stall. She took her place in line next to Kyle.
They put their bags on the conveyor, put shoes and belts where they needed to be and passed through the detector. The cold of the heart was starting to melt and she was grateful that she'd put it in a ziplock bag so the water didn’t show through her thick shirt, though, at this point, any water stain that showed up would probably match her pit stains.
She sighed as they were passed through and her and Kyle started heading to the plane. As they finished loading, the heart began to move and she quickly slipped it down her shirt and into her bag.
“You’re doing it next time,” she muttered to Kyle, who just made a face.
…………………
There was a heart on her kitchen counter. And she didn’t know what to do with it. Kyle had gone home after making sure she was settled. As settled as one could be with a heart beating steadily against the cold marble. She should sleep. The plane trip had been stressful and there had been some confusion with the luggage, but she couldn’t… well, she couldn’t help but feel bad about just leaving the heart to thump alone through the night.
The heart hadn’t shown any sign of growing back, and according to the internet, that wasn’t a good thing. It meant that the vampire was either diseased or severely starved. How long had the heart been out there to let a vampire drain completely dry? Did the sun speed up the process? How long?
Joanna felt like she was losing her mind watching the heart on the counter. It hadn’t even healed where she had torn it off the pole. She couldn’t…. Leave it like that, right? From what she understood of vampires, being just a heart was incredibly awful.
Joanna bit her lip. “I’ll be back,” she muttered, brushing her hand over the heart. She got out a thing of frozen beef, poking a hole in the wrapping and leaving it on the plate. A bit of beef blood should leak out and she could leave the heart in it overnight. She wasn’t really interested in poking herself to feed the vampire, especially if it turned out that the vampire was dangerous.
Still, she’d see if there were any butchers nearby in the morning where she could buy some blood for the heart.
She stayed up, listening to music and reading up on vampires and how they work and all the details about them while the meat thawed. Finally, she moved the meat to another plate and stuck it in the fridge. She might use it for breakfast the next morning.
Joanna picked up the heart and it pulsed against her hand in what she interpreted as a friendly way, though its pulse picked up whenever she held it, like it remembered being frozen.
“Sorry about that,” she said softly. “You’ll like this much better.”
She put the heart on the plate in the middle of the blood, stared at it for a moment, and then turned to go to bed without any further decorum.
………………………
The Heart sat in the East hands. The Heart wasn’t certain of what the hands would do to it this time. Last time had been…. Unpleasant? The Heart couldn’t truly decide what to feel about it. It had been cold and dark and then it had been warm and the Heart could feel the East Heart very near. What was the purpose of it? What did it mean? What did the hands want with it now?
Then, the East hands gently placed it on a surface slick with-
The Heart was very content that night and the faint pain of missing flesh on the heart faded after only an hour.
………………………
Kyle stood nervously at Joanna’s door, waiting. He rang the doorbell more frequently than he probably should have, but all he could imagine was Joanna bleeding on the heart and the thing exploding into a monster that killed her overnight. The stake hidden in his pocket didn’t feel heavy enough to be a good weapon, though he knew that it would be enough. Everyone knew. It was just a fact, wasn’t it?
The door opened and Joanna in all of her PJ glory glared at him.
“Get in here,” she said, annoyed, stepping back.
“Sorry,” he said, glad to see her okay and also quite displeased with her tone of voice. “Don’t mind me. I was just worried you’ve been eaten.”
She scoffed. “Eaten? Seriously, do you know anything about vampires? Even with a barrel of blood the heart wouldn’t grow back enough to eat me in one night.”
“Can I see?”
She waved him over to the kitchen where the heart was laid out on a plate. It pumped along happily enough. There were some stains on the plate, but it seemed that the now pink heart had absorbed most of it. The damage to its side was healed and it had even started to grow back its aorta and some fatty tissue.
“See, harmless,” she said, rolling her eyes as Kyle gently poked the heart, noticing the way it flinched back a little.
“Okay, harmless, but you’re not actually thinking of growing it all back, are you? It’s not safe!”
“Kyle. I’m not stupid. I’m making a plan, okay.”
“What kind of plan?”
“Well,” Joanna said, sounding a little uncomfortable now. “It’s, ah, I have a shed out back. I'm gonna clear it out and line it with silver or something. I was going to start planning it out today.”
“You’re….going to keep a vampire in your shed?”
“Only until I know it’s safe,” Joanna said with a shrug.
“And how are you so sure?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. “That it’ll be safe?”
Joanna shrugged, glancing at the pulsing heart.
Kyle shook his head. “You’re insane. We’re insane. We shouldn’t be doing this. We should pass it off to one of those organizations that deal with this sort of thing.”
Joanna frowned, glancing at the heart herself. They should. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to know what the vampire knew, what sorts of things it saw. She… almost needed to know. The vampire was in the middle of Africa in a hidden jungle with enough ash to make a permanent clearing. How old was it? Where was it born? She needed to know.
“I’ll handle it, Kyle,” she said cheerfully. “Okay?”
Kyle gave her a look. “Okay. I… have to go help some friends write up some papers. Talk to you later.”
“See ya,” Joanna said, and Kyle was gone just as nervously as he came.
……………………………..
Joanna let the heart only have faint blood leavings as she worked. Now that she had decided to build up her shed to hold a vampire, she worked on it faster than anything else she’d ever done. Of course, silver was very expensive so she had taken to looking up other ways to keep a vampire contained. If she just had silver cuffs attaching the vampire to something like a silver pole, it shouldn’t be able to cause her harm, and she would always carry a stake with her. The internet had revealed that vampires tended to be very weak after growing all the way back and would remain so for a while, so it ought to be easy.
Joanna looked at the prices of the items she would need and winced. It was all so expensive. She wished she could have taken the silver chains from that clearing and just paid a silversmith to use some of the links to make the cuffs.
She sighed and left her computer alone. She opened her kitchen drawer to grab a fork, prepared to eat some leftovers when she paused. She got the forks from a garage sale and found out later that they were silver. She wondered…..
…………………..
“So, uh, I thought you were growing it back,” Kyle asked, watching the heart on the counter. It pulsed along contentedly, now nearly covered in fatty tissue and starting to develop more veins. Still, it hadn’t grown much from where it had been.
“I am,” Joanna replied cheerfully. “Slowly. I’ll give it what it really needs when I have the shed done.”
“And how’s that going?”
“Great! I’m planning on putting a table or cot or something for it to lay on and covering the floor in these silver coins. I got them for a great deal from some older people who are cleaning out their house. I also managed to get in touch with a silversmith who agreed to get me some of his oxidized shaving I can put down too. Then the vampire can’t touch the floor and I’m going to figure out something to cuff a leg or whatever to the table so it can’t jump at me. Silver lock on the door, of course, already got that.”
“You’re really going for it,” Kyle said, feeling a little… sick? This was a person they were talking about. They were talking about how to trap someone in her shed. Then again, he had suggested it. He had wanted her to be safe but now…..
“Right? I can’t believe I was just going to grow it back without thinking about precautions. Thank you, Kyle.”
A needling voice in the back of his head said, yeah, thank you Kyle. He couldn’t help but imagine it was the vampire saying it.
…………………………
It was finished. Joanna stood in the shed, plate in hand with the heart and smiled at it all. The floor was covered in little silver trinkets, the silver lock shone in the sun, and the wood table stood ready for the Heart. She put it down and grabbed the bucket of pig's blood she had bought, opening it up and breathing through her mouth as she used a measuring cup to scoop some out and pour it on the plate around the heart. The heart pulsed faster in excitement and began to turn red as the blood infused with its cells, spreading all throughout. With so much blood to feed from, Joanna could watch the tissue grow back, the veins spreading out like little feelers, flesh starting to form properly around the heart, and even the pale beads of what looked to be bone beginning to form under the heart.
Joanna grinned and watched for a long time. She left only to get a stool to sit on and watch. She felt almost special to see a vampire regenerate from its baseline, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away. As the ribs started properly forming, she even pulled out her phone to record it as muscles formed behind the heart to separate it from the bones. It seemed that once the beginnings of bones formed the body focused on reforming those and the muscles and ligaments needed to hold it all together before worrying about the other flesh.
A spine had developed and the beginnings of a skull when Joanna finally convinced herself to sleep. She took the cup and drizzled blood all over the body one more time before closing the bucket and leaving, locking the door behind her.
……………………
Blood. There was so much blood. The Heart had been content with what little it had been given as it eased the aches and gave it something interesting to focus on. Now, there was a plethora of it. The Heart consumed it eagerly, healing and regenerating. It could not feel outside of itself yet, but it knew it had more flesh than before, and would happily keep growing it. There was a faint strangeness that started to develop away from it. Like the awareness was beginning to migrate ever so slowly up a column. The heart sensed it with interest, intrigued by the feeling of it all.
There was a snap and suddenly there was only pain. He had no mouth with which to scream, no ears to hear or eyes to see. There was just the violent pain that seared up his spine, like someone was taking a silver knife and splitting him in half. He couldn’t move since he didn’t have enough muscles built yet. He couldn’t do anything but lay there and take it.
His mind whited out with the pain, the exact sensations printed into his memory. Esial was a being made of pain, and the pain was spreading as nerve endings spread into flesh. It felt like he was having his flesh gouged out with sharpened spoons. What little muscle he had was beginning to cramp as it flinched and pulled, trying instinctively to get away. He still couldn’t scream, but as more muscles formed, he started to spasm and move what little of his body he had, which was little more than a ribcage, skull, and spine.
He writhed on the surface he was laid upon. The surface disappeared and he landed on something that burned him, adding to his pain and slowing the regeneration. He writhed about, trying to escape the burning. He didn’t deserve this. He killed those people to protect himself but he didn’t deserve this! Why was this to be his eternity? Constant suffering was all he had known for so long. What had he done to deserve this? Why were his thoughts so loud? Why couldn’t he get away from the burning.
Inspired by the protective caretaker anon. How about a possessive and protective caretaker being like, if whumpee is mine they can't be hurt and are safe since caretaker has higher status than whumper
Honestly caretaker’s who really just sit on the edge of straight up being whumpers are cool
The caretaker was used to having everything they wanted, so the whumper not only stealing, but hurting the whumpee was a serious insult against them.
The whumpee still doesn’t like their new situation, but the caretaker does seem to like them- even if they are not exactly a good person either. As time goes on the caretaker even seems to become nicer.
The whumper is surprised to see that the caretaker is someone higher than them- and someone so determined to take the whumpee at that.
CW: Whumper turned whumpee, torture very lightly implied, vengeful caretaker
part 2
It had been a week since Caretaker took Whumpee from them. They were thankful they weren't there when they came, knowing what Caretaker was capable of. They were ruthless and angry, especially with the condition they had left Whumpee in.
So Whumper packed their bags, said goodbye to their burned down home, and left. They were almost excited, a fresh start, a new town and opportunities. With the key in hand, they cracked the door open and slumped their bags on the floor, their hand fumbling for the lightswitch after they shut the door.
The small table lamp clicked on, Whumper's breath stopped when they saw the silhouette of two legs crossed in the chair. The figure slowly cocked its head to the side as a quiet chuckle came from the darkness. The figure stood, stepping into the light as Whumper shakily took a step back.
"No... No that's not possible! You couldn't have found me, not after every precaution I took...!" Whumper rasped.
Caretaker just smiled with a shrug, their hand slowly reaching for the lamp as they flicked it off, the room crippling into darkness.
Whumper gasped as they spun around, blindly feeling for the doorknob with desperation. As soon as their fingertips grazed the handle, two hands shot out around their lips and waist, throwing them back as they hit the floor with a muffled grunt.
Then they heard distant chuckling surrounding them, before a clear and direct voice whispered in their ear-
Do you have any prompts for a suspicious caretaker? Like one who helps the whumpee but does..questionable things in the background?
Why yes I do! I also have a similar one here
Caretaker is painfully secretive, always leaving whumpee in the dark about personal information about themselves. Sometimes even information about whumpee that they mysteriously know all about-
Caretaker disappears at certain times and returns with something new, maybe a briefcase, or a black eye-
Caretaker has a tough persona with everyone else, but they switch to a gentle soothing one with whumpee. They don't find out until they overhear a threatening conversation between caretaker and a stranger.
CW: Stockholm syndrome, intimate whumper, questionable “caretaker”, manipulation, gaslighting
Masterlist
Universe belongs to @wildfaewhump <3
---
A startled yelp, glass shattering against the wall.
“R,Ronin, didn’t mean to, I didn’t, I-”
“You didn’t have to, Kefi!”
Kefi flinched hard when another piece of glass shattered against the wall, another vase, watching the man in terror.
“After everything I’ve done for you, you try to leave? You’ll die, out there, Kefi. DIE, you hear me? Nobody is going to protect you out there, nobody is going to care about you.”
Kefi shrank back, stumbling to find words to explain themself. They had a bundle of blankets and clothes and food abandoned on the floor, it was an impulse, really. They..woke up feeling homesick, panicked. They just wanted to go home.
“But Metilia, Metilia cares, she does, she does. Sorry sorry sorry-” Kefi held their hands up defensively, wary of the anger Ronin had never shown like this before. “-sorry, cares a,about me, she does, just wanted to find her, I did, just wanted to find her.”
Ronin was pacing now, shined shoes clicking harshly on wood before quieting on the rug, clicking again when he paced back.
“No, you were going to leave me, Kefi. If she gave a shit about you, why were you left by yourself? Why were you abandoned, left to your own defense when you were useless. Why would she do that, Kefi? Why would she ever do that if she cared about you?”
“I-”
“She doesn’t, Kefi. She never cared about you, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”
Kefi bit their lip to keep it from quivering, arms held close to their chest.
“Was..was homesick, I was, I’m sorry..” Their voice was barely a whisper, a weak defence against Ronin’s fury.
“Kefi, the closest thing you have to a home is here.” He sounded..annoyed, exasperated almost. “There's no way for you to be homesick, sweetheart. You don’t have anything left there. You’re going to get yourself lost, hurt, scared, all by yourself out there where I can’t reach you. Can’t you see how it scares me, for you to be out of reach?”
Kefi nodded, eyes darting to the floor, their bandaged feet shifting on the wood. They choked on a sob, throat hurting from the effort it took to hold back.
“Kefi, look at me.”
They raised their eyes hesitantly, soft yellow meeting piercing blue. Ronin’s expression softened, seeing the tears streaming down their face. He ran a hand over his face, expression lined with a mixture of anger and sympathy. It was a combination that confused Kefi endlessly.
“C’mere, sweetheart.”
Kefi didn’t hesitate to launch themself into Ronin’s arms, sobbing as they were bundled into the warm embrace.
“You don’t have a home to go back to, not anymore.” He held Kefi as they sobbed, wailing into his shirt, trembling. “There isn’t anything left for you there. You have to move on.”
I don’t want to
“There isn’t anybody waiting for you. They all left, don’t you understand? They moved on without you.”
Their always bandaged wings lay limp behind them, shuddering as they cried until they couldn’t anymore, held and comforted by the only person left for them. They just wanted to go home.
Universe belongs to @wildfaewhump, I didn’t do a whole ton with the language in this one but its a start <3 thanks for the help!
---
The door wasn’t supposed to be locked when Kefi went to go back inside. They hadn’t been that far behind Ronin, and it was already raining. They tugged at the handle desperately, glancing up at the sky in panic. It was strange, how something that used to promise so much freedom and life could instill such terror in the earthbound fae.
“R,Ronin? Sir?” Kefi knocked on the door, glancing nervously around. House was their only shelter, the only safe place. The stained glass of the windows glowed with warm, inviting light, now feeling like a cruel mockery. It was dark, their surroundings feeling threatening in comparison to the warm home they knew was the only guarantee of safety.
It started raining harder, water and wind feeling harsh and cold against their skin, already soaked through their clothes and chilling them.
They shrieked when lightning struck overhead, feeling like everything was caving in around them. Their palms slammed on the door in a panic, eyes wide as they begged, voice trilling in fear.
“Thille,” They begged, choking on the force of their sobs. “Mháistir, thille lidom,”
They couldn’t stand this, they needed Ronin. Ronin meant safety and warmth and outside was dangerous. They couldn’t stay out here, they’d die, they’d be hunted and hurt and killed because the outside was full of nothing but people who wanted to hurt them.
Kefi was more than happy to rush inside when that door finally swung open, barreling into Ronin without hesitation. They were wrapped in towels, whispered reassurances of I had no idea, I thought you’d gone in to rest
Kefi sobbed against Ronin’s chest, dripping wet, shaking like a leaf in the entryway of the home. They gave themself freely to the comfort offered, the sense of belonging and being wanted. This was where they were safe, with Ronin. They were never safe without him.
