He/They 1️⃣9️⃣~♊~🩷💜💙~💛🤍💜🖤~🏳️⚧️~🏳️🌈~white (but well-meaning)(still an idiot but I'm trying)~Black Lives Matter~Stop Asian Hate~18+~If you are a minor, go follow my sideblog (@hankapologist) instead~If I say something dumb or harmful please let me know so I can do better because I don't want to perpetuate any hate
If your family makes the holidays suck, congrats! You’ve been adopted by my birds. Your dad is a cockatiel and dinner is millet.
But seriously everyone, I hope your holidays are happy. You, and the support you’ve given this blog mean more than I can express. Thank you so much for being the best followers anyone could ever ask for. Each of you is undeniably awesome and I can’t wait to share 2016 with you.
alternatives: black cocoa powder (for sweet dishes), squid ink (for savory dishes), black candy melts (for chocolates), mixing red + green + blue food coloring together (general use)
dni if you support relationships between vampires and the vampire they sired. i am so serious, i dont care what your justification is, that is an unforgivable power imbalance. its almost as bad as vampire human relationships (and if you support that i hope you get a splinter in the heart)
🧛♀️ vampbites Follow
op what the fuck is your problem? more maggots in your brain than usual? go out into the real underworld and touch some graveyard dirt. i know at least 7 vampires who are in happy healthy relationships with the vampire who sired them. me included! this may shock you but we started dating when i was human and she was a vamp!
👻 corpsecourse Follow
i hate to tell you this but you're in a toxic relationship and i sincerely hope youre able to get out.
🧛♀️ vampbites Follow
HELLO???????
🦇 battybrained Follow
i keep seeing people saying this shit and honestly i think it stems from the infantalization of humans. humans are capable of making decisions for themselves. do some vampires abuse their powers over humans? of course! but you cant assume that every single human vampire relationship (or sire and sired relationship for that matter) is some unhealthy power imbalance, especially when you dont even know them!!!
⚰ fangs4fags Follow
i think op is forgetting that humans can be just as harmful to vampires as they can be to humans. dont tell me you completely just forgot about the existence of vampire slayers
🧛♂️ coffincreeper Follow
next thing you know op is gonna be saying that a hundred year age gap between fully fledged vampires is problematic
👻 corpsecourse Follow
it literally is. i dont care if you are a 1000 years old vampire, if your significant other is 100 years older than you they have more life experience than you. god you guys are stupid why dont you all step into a sunbeam
🩸 f33d3r Follow
hey guys i just went to ops account and their pinned post was about how they dont consider werewolves part of the monster community cuz theyre not undead. just block and move on it is NOT worth it
🐺vamplovingwolf Follow
isnt it funny how whenever theres some rancid discourse like this its always made by coffinscrews
my girlfriend wanted more than the amount of children you can adopt in skyrim so she taught herself how to mod it so that you could adopt them all, and uploaded it to a skyrim modding community so other likeminded player could utilize her code.
months later, an update was added to skyrim that was basically her code, verbatim, lifted directly from the mod, without credit or even permission. this made her so angry that she, at age seventeen, booked a flight to maryland, went to bethesda headquarters and demanded to see todd himself to yell at him.
of course, she was immediately denied this request and escorted out of the building because she was a scary six foot seventeen year old canadian lesbian who had flown all the way to yell at a man who probably had no idea her code was stolen, but she is still legitimately, 100% furious with him to this day
i’ve long since retired from collecting fake internet stories but this stands out in my mind as one that’s just so bold faced and iconic because at no point in skyrim was there an update that allowed you to adopt more than 2 children. i love this post
Could I request yandere hcs for Riddler from arkham knight vr?
🥀Yandere Arkham Knight VR Riddler hcs🥀
OOOO- this got ideas flowing! This was super fun to write! I feel as if it's an underused concept too.
!Warnings!: this content contains toxic/forced relationship dynamic, yandere trope, kidnapping, reality shifting, being trapped in a videogame, self aware character, paranoia, cyberstalking
Yanderes are OK in fiction. They should stay fiction. They are not example of healthy relationships. These behaviors are NOT okay in real life. This is for entertainment purposes
●It was all fun and games. Literally. You ran around the vr world of gotham with no thoughts of anything going on behind the scenes.
●When Riddler first popped up, taunting and challenging you like usual, it surprised you. Maybe even startled you a little with his greeting.
"So I've finally found you. Yes. You. The brains behind the brawn."
●You figured it was just a clever voiceline detail. Making him self aware and all. RIddler had broken the 4th wall in the past, and Arkham Knight VR wouldn't be the first game to do this kinda thing. Take DDLC for example. It was just a gag. Right?
●You found the riddlers secrets just fine, picking up little cube after cube, faster than most actually. It was fun, challenging rewarding. You'd talk throughout the game to yourself and make some witty jokes. You thought nothing of it, but something else surely did.
●You notice.. maybe after a month. The voicelines seem- they feel, more personal. More directed. More specific, but they're still vague. It was just a coincidence right? Maybe the game was just reading off the information from your VR and connected accounts.
●So the games coutinue! Nothing gets better. He starts talking during segments you know he isn't supposed be. You start to see glimpses of green out of the corner of your eye. Did you meerely get a buggy defective game? Was paranoia fogging your brain? Were you going insane?
●You take a break from the game. Hoping it will relive the stress you were under. You do some chores, go out on a walk, and play some games on your phone or PC.. which are running slower than usual. Strange, you could have sworn it fine yesterday. You check for viruses, nothing. You turn it on and off. It helps a bit. You free up some storage and It's back to working order for the most part.
●You find various electronics turned on when you could have sworn they were off. They're running slow again, barely working. The only thing that works is the VR game.. you reluctantly put the headset on.
●It was fine at first. Then it wasn't. He was talking directly to you. Referring to you by your name. Taunting you. Telling you personal information he couldn't have gotten. Appearing in the darkness of the out of bounds area in front of you. Your heart and mind racing as he gets closer, you desperately reach up to pull the headset off-
●Only to find nothing. There's nothing. No headset to pull off. No controllers in your hand. Nothing. Unable to go back. The only thing you're greeted which is the Riddler standing in front of you.. face to face. Only inches away.
Arkham!Riddler x GN!Reader, word count: 1k
commission: urgh ok thank you @necromances-chances for this soft prompt with eddie!! please also note that in my mind, there was 5 months of constant arguing to get him to the point where he considered dressing up nicely lmao
commission me here!
request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist
minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: stubborn eddie, some angst with eddie's inner turmoil, soft fluff
When you found the source of the noise, and along with it, Eddie, you put on the sternest voice you could muster and flicked on the light switch.
“Shower. Now.”
This morning you had reminded Eddie that he had an event that he had promised to go to. When you placed his lunch down in front of him at his workbench you had reminded him again. And an hour ago, you had told him that he had to stop what he was doing and go take a shower. But when you had walked past the bathroom, there was no sound of rushing water, and the lights were out. And it wasn’t that he had forgotten, because after traipsing around the sewers on the hunt for him, you found him crouched amongst some of his old robotic prototypes, idly tinkering with them.
“I’m a tad busy.”
“With old parts and machines that weren’t up to your standard? Sounds completely believable.”
You placed a hand on his shoulder, showing your support. It wasn’t easy for him to live as though things were normal. In solitary confinement down here he could be exactly who he was without worrying about social conventions, small talk, and the odd rules he couldn’t quite follow with regards to being polite and modest and human.
“Come on, I’ll give you a hand.”
“I don’t think we have time for that.”
It was impossible not to smile, or to blush, at the nonchalant comment, but he was right. You couldn’t indulge yourself. He had to get ready, there was no getting out of it. He couldn’t charm his way out of it by charming his way into you.
He stood with a sour face the entire time you tugged at his clothing in the cold air of the bathroom. Not once did he make an effort to lessen the burden. Instead, his awkward, dead limbed stance made everything harder. And he pouted, sighing and grumbling under his breath when you informed him that you wouldn’t be leaving the bathroom until he was finished. Muttering his complaints under his breath, he washed while you stood cross-armed waiting on him.
When he was finally finished, you marched him to the bedroom where he stood awkwardly, wrapped in a towel and dripping onto the concrete floor.
“Come sit on the edge of the bed, please. Since you refuse to wear gel, I’m going to brush your hair while it’s wet, that way it might settle nicely.”
Edward did as he was told, but that didn’t at all mean that he was pleased about it.
“I’m not a child. And I am certainly intelligent and capable enough to dress myself.”
“And yet, you couldn’t get showered and ready on time?”
“That has nothing to do with my abilities, and far more to do with my unwillingness to attend this ridiculous party.”
Tutting, you tried to focus on combing his hair, brushing the dark, brown strands into a neater style than you were used to seeing on him.
“It’s not as though it’s some wild party with karaoke and cheap alcohol. It’s Harvey’s birthday. You have to show. It’s in the sort of… ridiculous rogue code, no? You have to pretend to get along. Or something.”
Eddie’s reply was curt, to his usual standard.
“Or something.”
Sitting down next to him, you placed your hand on his. Sometimes, a simple gesture was all it took for him to open up or to better express himself. You hoped it would prevent an all-out huff if you could get him to talk.
“What is it that’s bothering you about tonight, Eddie?”
“Everything.”
“Because it’s out of your comfort zone? Because you have to speak to people? Because you have to wear that suit I bought you?”
You glanced over to the wall where the suit was hanging by a hanger and a rusted nail. In your peripheral, you could see Eddie was staring at it too.
“It’s a boring suit.”
“It’ll look very good on you.”
With a sigh, Edward stood up from the bed and began to pace, as he was wont to do when he found himself overwhelmed or emotionally spent. He picked up the white shirt on one of his loops and began to button it up as he walked, clearly trying to keep to the schedule you had set. Even in his determination to express to you how deeply he did not want to go, he was bound by his odd habit of being punctual.
“Regardless of how it might look when draped over my body, it is not emblematic of the Riddler. Hardly. This isn’t me. That is what I have a problem with. I am stripped of the essence of self. There’s nothing recognisable, nothing truly Edward Nygma about this facade that you-”
His mouth stayed open, lips parted in surprise as he stared at the items in your hands.
“It’s not you as you are right now. But how many changes have you gone through? How much of you is kept in your appearance, and how much more is in your actions and your words? I know it’s difficult to lose the items that make you feel secure, but hopefully…”
You looped the dark, forest green tie around his neck, letting the ends hang over his shoulders against his chest. The tiny silver cufflinks, which you had custom-made, you fastened onto his sleeves, watching his smile stretch out as he admired the shape of them. Subtle, but still question marks. Still something identifiable. Something that made him feel like himself.
“I can assure you, Edward Nygma, that the moment you begin monologuing about their various inadequacies, they’ll know it’s you.”
He smiled towards you, ignoring the obvious but playfully intended insult, knowing it was hard to argue with the reasoning.
“Do you think so?”
“Of course. You’re a very difficult man to forget or ignore. No matter how hard someone might try.”
His lips curled up at the edges, a mischievous grin you were very familiar with. He might not be happy about attending the party, but in true Riddler fashion, he would make sure the party was just as unhappy about that.
General!Boomer x GN!Reader, word count: 500
commission: thank you @skye707 for giving me a reason to write for boomer as soon as possible ;-; have some general boomerang play fighting with reader (and i will be using ktjl boomerang as the image because he's yummy)
commission me here!
request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist
minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: suggestive, mentions of arousal, play fighting
Luckily, the exhaustive panting and exertion were enough to offer a cover, an excuse. If asked, he would say his face was bright red due to the workout he was receiving. Not because he was blushing, not because he was facing up to his crush straight on, not because he was deeply aroused and putting effort into hiding it. And grinning wide with his signature hint of mischief was just another attempt to hide the deeper emotions that ran under the surface.
“Dig, you’re doing terribly! I really thought you’d put up a better fight after all your bragging…”
You offered him a sly wink, hoping to rile him up a bit, and succeeding. The moment you tried to shift yourself up to straddle his waist and keep him pinned he seemed to panic, sensing you might gain the upper hand. Grabbing your waist he flipped you onto the soft carpet, kneeling beside you, keeping you there with his strong hands on your wrists. Thankful that you hadn’t noticed the obvious tenting at the front of his pants, he let out a sigh. The way you struggled against him, still smiling, giggling, gave him a feeling in his chest he would struggle to describe as anything other than a life sentence. Playing the field seemed a distant desire. He would keep you pinned there forever if he could, watching you look up at him with playful adoration.
He was desperate not to ruin it, not to taint the moment with his ridiculous and pervasive need to make everything seem like a lewd romp with no emotional attachments. The minute you saw how stiff he had become from pretending to fight you, he knew it would be over. The only solution was to have this over with as soon as possible, despite how much he was enjoying himself.
And again, as though the universe felt it owed someone to Digger Harkness, of all people, his efforts to cover his throbbing attraction with his terrible acting skills were bolstered by the fact that all of his attention was being focused on something he’d never done before: keep someone away from his crotch. Weakened by concentration on other matters, you suddenly had him on his stomach, face pressed into the carpet and telling him to admit you were the better of the two of you.
When you leant down, face almost pressed to his as you smiled, waiting for his declaration of your prowess, he felt that strange sinking and rising feeling again. The one that told him he was in too deep. That it was all over for him. He should be the winner, he should be infuriated that you had won by what was essentially cheating, by being so attractive to him. He should hate you. But he didn’t. Your happiness in victory, the way you helped him up and touched his cheek, making sure he wasn’t actually hurt. That was it. It was scary, it made him panic.
could i please get some hcs for a sugar daddy!arkham!riddler x reader?
Sugar Daddy
Arkham!Riddler Headcanons
look i know how ooc this would be for him but i can fuckkin dream after all isn't that what fanfiction is FOR!? paper dolls with my boy, he will tolerate me and he'll pay for the privilege lmao 💚🔧
request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist
minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: mentions of sexual stuff
he's not top of my list of the mean green beans who would be a sugar daddy
i mean he definitely has the funds for it, but why would he spend his money to make someone spend time with him when he'd rather spend the money to get them to go away
but i do think he could reluctantly have a sugar baby
not so much the idea of compensating someone fairly for their work
more the idea that he would need someone to provide those services in the first place
he's not like some other rogues who would shudder at the thought of having to pay someone to give them some company
eddie is well-aware that he is a difficult person to charm and to get along with
so paying someone offers him the assurance that they will do the job well
(plus deep down he knows it's the only way anyone is willing to spend time with him)
he's coarse and often rude, since this is a transactional relationship
if he wants you to do something, he'll tell you do do it rather than ask
and without much beating about the bush
expect to hear "get on your knees" a lot (no please or thank you)
and he's not shy about instructing you or offering a critique
in fact it comes easier than compliments
if your technique is wrong, if you're talking too much, if you're becoming too familiar with him, he will tell you off
although you can always tell that you've done a good job pleasing him by the amount of pocket money he gives you
if he finds himself developing feelings, which he ultimately will because any amount of affection given to him is bound to trigger his deeply buried emotional traumas, he'll push you away
but a quick "daddy" and a stroke of his cheek will have him right back on side
the intrigue of having someone on hand to fawn over him, to call him such wonderful, authoritative names, to deal with his more animalistic urges
Scarecrow x Riddler, word count: 1.4k
to celebrate our server's birthday we did a little gift exchange, and i got to write for precious @yourewellandtrulyfucked so here's a little scriddler for them!!
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minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: sex, introspection, boys learning that they might like each other
Jonathan ran his hands up Edward’s forearms, ragged nails scratching against his skin as he followed up to his wrists. Clutching tight, he pinned them above Edward’s head, allowing himself a wry smile as he listened to Eddie’s breath hitch on the inhale, excitement overcoming him.
“Have you ever considered confronting this need for control and dominance, Jonathan? Isn’t that exactly the kind of thing you psychologists enjoy?”
Edward gasped, a smug sneer covering his face as Jonathan lifted his wrists and pushed them back down again. With his fellow inmate, or colleague, he supposed, straddling him, it was all Ed could do not to lose himself then and there.
“Perhaps you would like to discuss how easy you’re making it for me to be in control?”
“Look at me, Jonathan. What about this lithe, brain strong body makes you think I could overpower anyone, even your ragged figure?”
He leaned up, taking Jonathan by a surprise as he placed a gentle kiss to his lips.
“Besides, I enjoy letting someone else do all of the work.”
With that invitation, Jonathan lunged, dropping his head to Edward’s neck and ravishing him with kisses that were interspersed with nipping bites. He’d hate to admit it, but Ed tasted just as he imagined. And he had spent quite a lot of his periods of solitary confinement imagining just that.
He couldn’t admit it though, not now, this was a bold enough move for Jonathan. He stuck to the shadows. He remained invisible until he needed to be seen. Unfortunately, his desire to experience the pleasures of the flesh that lay within his associate had indeed become a definitive need.
Laying on the standard mattress, worn down by years of other inmates who inhabited the cell before them, Edward looked up into Jonathan’s eyes, searching for the answer to a question he hadn’t really constructed yet. It was a hunt for meaning, understanding. He didn’t want to verbalise it, as it suggested an interest, or a deeper one, and a weakness, a vulnerability that Jonathan may choose to exploit. But Edward was curious as to why he had been chosen as the object of Jonathan’s affections, or at the very least, his carnal desires. They didn’t always see eye to eye, and more often than not, Ed was certain that he provided a sense of perpetual irritation in Jonathan’s life. Perhaps, he pondered, this was an exercise in rage letting. That would explain the dominance. But it didn’t explain the way that Jonathan looked down at him, when their eyes met and their breathing synced. It didn’t explain the soft touch, the way that, when he wasn’t being ravished by bites and kisses, Jonathan was gentle, careful.
A caress so soft wasn’t born of hate. There was obviously something more there. Edward could wait though. He wasn’t willing to risk this moment of bliss, of sheer joy and unseemly pleasure. Besides, with both of them in the same cell, naked and cold, they had to be quick to beat the temperature and the wandering eyes of other inmates, or the guards. So, not wanting to waste any moments on idle speculation or intimate tension building, Eddie reached up and planted his lips against Jonathan’s.
The kiss was long, deeply passionate, and led to Edward’s arms being thrown around Jonathan’s neck, keeping him there in the embrace as long as he could. And while Edward stroked the hair at the nape of Jonathan’s slender neck, Jonathan himself was working his coarse palms up the front of Ed’s torso. The slender, but still more muscular than Jonathan’s own, build of the body below him sent him diving back in for another session of playful bites, this time trailing over Edward’s collar bone, turning to kisses as they reach his chest. And when he reached Ed’s nipples, hardened in arousal and from the cold of the room, he let his tongue flit out over them, producing the most delicate whine from Edward’s gaping mouth. In response, Jonathan felt his cock twitch. The anticipation was killing him, he needed Edward, needed the warmth of his body. Now.
With his fingers clutching into the skin around Edward’s hips and ass, Jonathan cupped his hands around his body and shifted him, unexpectedly, closer, Ed’s legs bent at the knee so he was curled into Jonathan’s body, vulnerable, surrounded. With a smirk, and receiving one as a sign of consent to the deed he was beginning to partake in, Jonathan tugged down the orange, prison issue sweatpants and freed Edward’s already fully erect cock. As it bobbed, resting against his abdomen, Jonathan felt his own arousal surging, another twitch within his own pants urging him to hurry up and get on with it.
Slipping his slender fingers below the waistband, he gripped his cock at the base, flinching at the sudden touch. Taking a deep, slow breath, he pumped at the contraband lotion Edward had somehow obtained and ran his hand along the length, coating himself. With a tentative finger, he pressed against Edward’s entrance, easing it into his asshole, watching it disappear up to the first knuckle, then the second, and watching in curious delight as Edward’s body trembled. Crooking it up, he pressed into the exact spot that he knew would elicit the reaction he hoped for, smiling in self-satisfaction as Ed whimpered, biting his lip, cheeks flushing as his smile pushed up into them.
“Do you think you’re ready for this?”
The question was tinted with concern, though it was obvious to Edward that Jonathan had tried to make it sound like a seductive taunt.
“I can handle you, Crane. Don’t flatter yourself.”
His mischievous grin pulled a growl from Jonathan’s throat, an animalistic sound that was less aggressive and more like a satisfied and curious purr. How much could he take, exactly? Always keen to experiment, Jonathan pulled Edward’s body to the edge of the bed, his cheeks coming into blunt contact with his throbbing cock before they were separated, Jonathan’s glistening head disappearing between them.
“Ah… ah… aaaaaah.”
Edward’s body relaxed into the pleasure, tension dissipating as he succumbed to the power Jonathan held over him in that moment, with each inch of the Scarecrow’s cock slowly being buried within him.
Jonathan shuddered at the warmth, the tight caress of Edward’s body around him. It felt like being held in such an intimate way, There was a sweetness to it, a shared vulnerability that he wouldn’t have thought of before. Even in this role of dominance, exerting complete power of Edward, he knew his own vulnerability was on display. Without thinking, and only adding to the odd romanticism of this carnal act, Jonathan’s hand found Edward’s, fingers entwined together. And as he pumped himself in, deeper, harder, he kept clinging to Edward, holding his hand, letting the strength of Edward’s grip let him know when to ease up or to push further.
Strange, how they had worked together for so long, Jonathan considered, and yet now he felt like he knew the man below him. He was grateful for that, in a way he hadn’t expected. And Edward, laying back, opening himself up literally and metaphorically, to Jonathan’s strength, and softness, felt similar. Whether this was an expression of something deeper, or of primal burgers only, it didn’t really matter. They had both found something more than a quick fuck to release some tension in the other man.
When Jonathan felt himself losing control, his body pulsing with the looming threat of orgasm, he brought his free hand to Edward’s cock which bounced with every thrust against his abdomen. With his hand curled around it, Jonathan stroked in rhythm, watching Edward, bound by pleasure, muscles rigid as they tensed in preparation for his own release. And as he spilled himself over Jonathan’s fist, short spurts landing on his own chest and abdomen, he was rendered silent from his own gasps as he felt Jonathan flood him with his seed.
There was a brief moment where they smiled together, an unspoken connection, a silent commitment to allow this to happen again. But as they pulled themselves apart, tainted with the others’ intimacy, the moment faded slightly, camouflaged in the backdrop of their circumstances. Any romantic notion hindered by the damp, dark confinement of their lives at Arkham. It only served to strengthen their desire for more.
Summary - Trapped in an abandoned house with his partner, Edward is quick to find out that not everything is truly as it seems.
This fic is part of a stunning collab with the wonderful and thrilling artistic talents of both @enigmamuse and @plushievash as part of a fun Halloween exchange. Their amazing artwork can be found using this link 🎃
The scent of damp tickled Edward’s nose as he sought refuge in the smallest of the upstairs bedrooms, one which neither he nor Jonathan seen fit to visit before due to the scale of the weathered damage in the old walls. Having stepped into the bedroom, the ghostly sheets which covered every inch of the meagre possessions drew a sharp shudder from Edward’s lips as his left palm pressed into his right shoulder harshly.
“Does it hurt?” Jonathan asked. Pulling his mask free of his face and tucking it below his armpit, Jonathan dipped his head slightly to investigate the source of Edward’s wound. The metal had torn through the suit like butter, leaving a messy hole in its wake.
Edward pulled his palm away, the skin disturbingly wet and coated with crimson. “Yeah, but it’s not too deep. A few inches possibly but I still have full mobility. I’m more concerned by the rust that coated it and what, exactly, knocked me onto it.”
“You should be thankful,” Jonathan muttered as he stood with a collected calmness which made Edward’s panicked state even more clear, “that it was only the shoulder which you clipped. Had you fallen more awkwardly, we would not be having this conversation. A fall can be a terrible thing.”
Remaining stubbornly silent as the fear which simmered in his chest recalled the unnatural strength of the shove which had sent him sprawling to the floor, the only noise to escape Edward’s lips was a pained grunt as Jonathan tore free a length of his shirt used the length of fabric to wrap his shoulder as best he could. His hands were firm and clinical, taking care not to aggravate the wound while also sparing very little care to ensure that he avoided the worst of the pain.
It was a touch Edward was familiar with, very similar to the type of affection which Jonathan often deigned to give him, and Edward felt oddly dizzy as he pressed the back of his head against the wall.
“Do we have a plan for escape?” Edward asked.
“The doors and windows are all rotted, incapable of being opened without a key. You may have to search for something heavy to smash through one of the weaker doors.”
Having sought refuge in an old farmhouse after a plan gone horrendously wrong, the pair had passed out on the moth-eaten furniture which sat in the living room. Awaking in the dead of night, Edward had been the first to notice the changes to the house – panic making his voice loud enough to draw Jonathan from his restless sleep.
An agreement to split and search every inch of the house had started out well, but things were brought to a screeching halt when something attacked Edward in the living room, pushing him to the floor and causing a discarded metal frame to pierce the front of his shoulder. His yell had echoed throughout the house and Jonathan had appeared immediately to investigate.
“Smash through?” Edward scoffed. “With my shoulder in tatters and your meagre strength? We might as well take two of the kitchen knives and end it all now. Would be preferable to being attacked by that thing again.”
Thing.
Edward himself wasn’t even sure what it had been.
“Are you worried something terrible will befall you, Edward? Some terrible accident? Something to splatter those vast brains across the floor?” Jonathan’s lips settled into a fine line, his tone playful in a way which made Edward’s spine stiffen. It passed quickly though, as Jonathan was quick to gain his composure. “But now is not the time for petty squabbling, Edward. All debts are paid in the end.”
The words were simple yet something in them chilled Edward’s blood and he narrowed his eyes at Jonathan – who only watched him back with a blank expression.
A crash, the cadence like something dense being knocked to the floor and shattering into parts, made Edward startle in place as he pressed against the wall of the small bedroom - the noise sounding as though it came from the attic, high above.
“Do you think we’re alone here?” Edward whispered, using a great amount of control to keep his voice even and without tremble.
“No.” Jonathan answered. “Something is coming, and you will need to face it at some point, I fear.”
Edward paused, anxiety striking at his chest like a glancing blow. “You?”
“We.” Jonathan corrected with a mirthless smile, one which exposed the slightest hint of teeth. “It was my mistake.”
“Then we should check the next bedroom.” Edward insisted, ignoring the tickle of guilt which snared itself around his neck. An odd feeling which made his footing feel light as he shifted forward. “There is nothing here we can use to so much as create a dent in the walls.”
Baring his teeth, Edward opened the bedroom door slowly to prevent the creak of the rusted hinges. The floor beneath their feet was old and in the early stages of rotting; every floorboard feeling less stable than the last as he crept to the nearby room with all the tension of a church mouse who sought to escape a particularly furious cat.
In the corner of the hallway lay a spider web and Edward watched with bright eyes as the sizeable creature skittered across the wall to safety – all the while seeming to watch the pair with unseen eyes. Opening his mouth to comment on it, Edward’s words caught in his throat as a harsh thump sounded out from the space behind his back.
Whirling in place, Edward turned to see an empty hallway.
A look of uncertainty flittered through Edward’s panicked expression – his boyish features twisted into something that did not sit well on his face – as he paused long enough to stare between Jonathan’s vacated space and the stiff door of the next bedroom.
The darkness of the hallway took Edward’s breath away as his eyes widened in the gloom, determined to seek out anything which he could focus on as his panicked fingers scraped at the wall space beside the door – desperately attempting to locate the light switch.
Finding none, he instead focused on the flashlight in his hand; breathing a sigh of relief as the light flickered to life, a single beam of light offering some scant illumination to the decaying space.
Heart thudding in his chest, Edward watched with horrified eyes as the flashlight in his hand stuttered after a moment and went out. His throat tight, he shook the plastic hard and almost sobbed out his relief when it shot back to life. However, his peace was short lived as a sharp crack of screaming floorboard sounded in the darkness of the corridor behind him and he whirled around in an instant.
Edward, his hand as heavy as steel and yet unable to stop shaking, brought the flashlight up to the gloom and the frantic rhythm of his pulse stopped for a moment as the light illuminated the deep void of blackened eyes to reveal the beast which had attacked him earlier and continued to stalk him through the old house.
The tendrils of fear which crept around his heart chilled him from the inside out as wide eyes watched the beast approach.
Its face was inhumane, bearing a terrible hint of familiarity within the look of pure hunger which radiated from its dark eye - the black void of iris only punctuated by a slight orange tinge where the dim light caught it. The other eye was missing, replaced by a ragged hole. Skin, translucent and grotesque, sat around it and it lay over flesh so pitted that certain areas appeared littered with holes, giving a peek of the raw, pulsing flesh below.
A mockery of hair sat atop the beast’s skull. The straw-like material thin and a shade of deep brown which made something within Edward's stomach turn as he gazed at it.
It almost looked the same shade as-
No.
It was impossible.
Denial stabbed at Edward’s heart, but his gaze could only remain frozen on the ragged hair for so long as the humanoid beast opened its maw to expose what lay beneath.
A single row of sharp teeth, like a collection of short swords, jutted free of the creatures’ gums and their off-white colour was contrasted by the vivid red which stained the tapered end of each tooth – the evidence of a recent violence which made Edward’s stomach lurch. Just above, a hole sat where the nose should have been and only the slightest hint of cartilage remained.
Its movements were a twisted mess. The heft of the creature moving jerkily; almost like a human dangled on the end of a marionettes string as each limb appeared to fall limp in the moments where it was not required for immediate use as its extremities crawled along the floor.
Something in the uncanny flexibility made Edward's stomach turn and bile rise at the base of his throat. It was a living corpse - puppeteered by a darkness which made the air dank and stale, every breath making his lungs recoil. It pulled itself along the floor, shambling without thought as each limb moved of its own accord towards its prey.
Jonathan's movements had always been jerky and unpredictable. A talent which accented his thin frame and kept his victims in a decent state of anxiety as he used his uncanny frame to his advantage.
But this.
This was a mockery - something profane - and every nerve in Edward's body screamed just how wrong it all was.
"Edward."
A single word and yet the terror which shot through Edward's chest was almost enough to pause his heart. The voice did not seem to come from the lips of the creature, but rather from within in; somewhere deep inside its rotten chest where no air could naturally flow.
His eyes dragging themselves up from the stomach, Edward gripped the flashlight so tightly that the faintest crack of the plastic trembled through his fingers.
“Jo-Johnathan?”
Holding his attention, the skin of the Jonathan-shaped creature seemed to shift and roll, eventually splitting open at the scalp to reveal a dark cavern where the skull should reside. Cracked open and revealed, the revulsion in Edward's stomach reached a new peak as the scent of blood pressed at his nostrils.
“You did this.” The beast accused, continuing its painfully slow movement through the corridor. “You did this to me.”
“What?” Unable to stop the tremble of his hand, Edward watched the beam of light shiver against the rotted skin.
“You left me. Like this.” The beast tilted its head, showcasing the tear in its skull with a grim determination. “You saw me fall…heard me scream…and left. Ran…coward. You ran here…to hide.”
Every short, broken sentence was a death rattle; the words grotesque but alluring in a way which Jonathan was very skilled at. A spider attempting to lure in a very sophisticated fly.
The echoes of a scream, something filled with genuine terror, ripped through Edward’s mind. A scream of surprise. A sharp crack of metal. A horrified yell ended by a definitive thump which Edward had not investigated.
A sound of a plan gone horribly wrong.
A sound of a lover, lost to the smashed skull from which his life cracked free.
The stench of death - reeking from the breath of the beast - washed over his face and, unable to stop the fuzziness which pressed at his senses, Edward felt his knees give way as his vision dimmed and his mind rejected the fragmented memories and collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.
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