Yyayo

[yyayomayo]

Ymthah in a nutshell

[yyayomayo]

Just As Bad

word count: 2.3k Longing for something which has been long lost spoilers for day 3! tw: vomit (briefly), blood, decapitation, descriptions of rotting flesh, death, abusive relationship, manipulation

A low, metal beat plays in the background of your kitchen’s apartment. Not so fitting with the current setting, but a song Khol likes in particular. Not that it really matters, both of you are preoccupied with each other. More so Khol with you, since you’re focused on moving around the kitchen.

“You know this is painful for me to watch, right?” The long-haired man sighs dramatically, slouching over the dinner table. He’s most definitely giving you puppy eyes.

You, not even bothering to meet his eyes knowing he’s just playing tricks with you, look around for a whisk and respond in a light-hearted tone, “Doesn’t working in a restaurant get tiring after a while? You should view this as a break from anything food-related. And besides, I’m not baking this cake for myself. You’re going to get a piece, too.”

Khol just whines louder in response, “But that’s not the point, honey. I’m a chef! I literally cook and bake for a living.”

Now he’s sat up straight again with his pointer finger in the air, theatrically explaining why he’s being neglected, “I don’t care who the cake’s for, as long as I can join in making it with my love. And also I enjoy food in every aspect, thank you very much.” He adds that last sentence with cockiness to his tone.

You glare at him playfully and open a drawer. He pretends to be hurt, but it really isn’t that much of an act as he tries to make it seem, “What’s so wrong with what I said? Why can’t I bake with you? I’d be so romantic!”

You close a drawer, whisk in hand and walk over to the bowl on the counter, “Romantic? How so?”

With the scrape of a chair, the raven-haired man finally stands up, “We measure, we mix, we bake. And then we enjoy our meal together. How is that not romantic!? Just two lovers, making a cake.” He lets out a dreamy sigh, hands clasped against his face.

He’s such an actor it makes your eyes roll, “As much as I enjoy watching you do anything, I wanna help. Pleeaaaseeee?"

You hear his footsteps approaching you as you mix the batter you had prepared, “Khol, you know I don’t want to annoy you, but this recipe is a family secret. I can’t let you join me. It wouldn’t be a secret anymore.”

Your boyfriend stands a few feet behind you, exaggerated pout, and most definitely still giving you those annoying puppy eyes, “Why would you invite me over then? Do you enjoy torturing me?”

You let out a light huff, having to stop yourself from breaking out into laughter at his ridiculous claim, “Because you literally begged me to hangout!” “Cause I missed you!” “And don’t be so dramatic, it’s just a cake.” You retort.

Now he has his arms crossed, but unbeknownst to you his demeanor has gotten a bit more playful, “And why can’t I know this secret cake recipe? I could just taste your cake and find out the ingredients myself.” He mockingly emphasizes the word ‘secret’, clearly trying to get a rise out of you.

You can practically feel his hands waving in the air as he makes fun of your family’s recipe. “Because it’s.. a secret.” You don’t sound too convinced of yourself at this point.

It’s not a very important one, and neither did your great grandmother create something ‘extraordinary.’ You’re simply supposed to add the skins of a few particular seed fruits.

And besides, this is your boyfriend. Even if you’ve been officially together for 3 months, you could just tell him. You’re not even sure why you refuse to do so. Maybe it’s your stubbornness? Maybe a part of you wants to hear him beg?

… that’s so wrong, but maybe not so far off.

Either way, you persist, “And also, you shouldn’t steal someone’s precious recipe by taste-testing.” You mumble and pour the batter into a rounded form.

Now you hear Khol’s giggles behind you, he’s up to no good. You’ve developed a sense for that by now.

“Is that so?” He asks, inching closer to you until you feel his breath on the back of your head, “Well, maybe I should just steal you away?”

In a sudden flash, you feel a pair of warm arms around your waist, nearly hoisting you up into the air with a surprising strength. Your body squirms as large hands begin to tickle your stomach and sides, “-! K- Khol stop THAT! HAHAHAHA WA- WAIT!!”

You scream with laughter, wiggling and twisting uncontrollably. Not only is the sensation of getting tickled overwhelming, but also the fact that your feet are barely standing on the ground.

And that your batter is spilling over.

Behind you, this demon is beaming like he’s not done this before. He’s probably on cloud nine right now in his head.

“I’ll only stop if you’re gonna let me join- heh. And tell me about this recipe.” He teases in a roguish tone.

“Okay- OKAY-“ You wheeze, “PL- PLEASE just STOP, HAH-“ Your feet are finally back on the ground. You breathe out with relief, hunched over.

Khol’s arms are still wrapped around you in a gentle manner, but the threat of another onslaught lingers.

You hear his brash chuckles, but you know the love that comes with them.

He would’ve stopped if you really wanted him to, he would’ve never dared to do it again if you asked. Even if you hadn’t spoken up, he would’ve stopped.

Everything Khol does and says is for you. Every word, every action of his is a way of letting you know he’s yours, and that you’re safe with him. You can always lean on him.

This moment, even with its intensity, is warm. Comforting in hindside to everything else.

A reminiscence of hope. Hope for this relationship to remain. For this love to remain, even if it’s the worst passion you’ve ever felt before.

You don’t think about his gentleness as you vomit your insides out. How could you anyway? When you’re surrounded by these cold, concrete walls and don’t remember who he was. What he was before he began to visibly rot like everything else in here.

It reeks. The stench is inhuman. You’ve never smelt something so pungent and concentrated before. Something so terrible and yet undeniably recognizable.

The smell is like the air you breathe, unavoidable.

You cough and gasp, delusionally hoping for a breeze of fresh air, trying to get as far as possible away from the reality of everything. But it’s no use.

There is no hope down here. Only death.

When was the last time you were outside anyway?

Your tears hit the ground before you realise it. The sensation of the wet, heavy sounds from that box is the only thing keeping you in reality.

Your sweat covered hands barely hold you up against the musty, dark walls of this prison. The skin, the hair, those charred features.

This is real.

That life, that human stuck in this hell. Just like you, they had existed. They had learned and spoken like you. That wasn’t your imagination, that wasn’t your drugged, failing mind making a fool of you.

Every step, every word, every breath you made in your existence was above this unfeeling nightmare. The chemicals you smell, the flesh you stared at just now.

This is the life ‘you’ have built with him.

Anything in here explains everything else. His beautiful eyes, his luscious hair, his softness and the strength that came with it.

It’s all a lie.

It was never really genuine. His skin? It was just an illusion. A serene display to cover his true, disgusting self.

Your sobs permeate around you. So does the rot.

What could you have possibly done in your actual life to deserve this!?

You feel another wave of nausea hit you as your body, your weak fleshy shell, reminds you of your limits.

This is real. This is the reality you’re stuck in.

And that box could one day be the only piece remaining of you, too-

You instinctively scream when you feel heavy arms around your waist, clasping you tightly against a beating wall. Those arms that once were your safe haven.

His hands that used to hold yours, bring you comfort; cover your eyes securely, way too late to salvage what has already been lost.

“What a mess you made in front of my mother…” You don’t hear a voice. You don’t register anything, except the beating of your heart. Panic and horror cloud every inch of you.

You cry and kick with all your might. Twisting and turning for any space you can get. But it’s no use. It never was. Not when snake-like vines grab at you and keep you useless.

“LETMEGO- LET ME GO letmego let-!”

“This isn’t an ideal first impression, is it now, darling?”

Even with your past self gone, you can still feel his warm smile. With everything you are, you push and shove at him. With everything that happened in these past few days, your whole life, you know you’re weak against him.

You can’t even manage to weep when you’re pinned on the ground, his whole manner having shifted from a sickening warmth to a bleak, distrusting front.

Who was he before? Who was Khol before this, was he ever anything else? Has he always existed like this? Was there any way to save him? To save yourself?

The stinging sensation of what feels like a sharp needle hits the core of your brain, spreading rapidly and blinding you with pain. You only hear your pounding heart and a white noise with increasing intensity ringing in your ears.

Your breathing weakens and your muscles still as the feeling of your brain trying to break out of your skull takes over you.

Only through his fingers are you forced to look up at his haunting, hollow eyes. Which stare right back at you.

Until you pass out.

—-

You hate this. You hate feeling this weak. Helpless. Pathetic.

If it hasn’t before, your whole autonomy, everything you are, has been erased.

Your curiosity had gotten the better of you, and now you’ll suffer for it. Even if it’s for a little bit.

You think of those fuzzy words as your eyes begin to crack open once more. The edges of your vision are blurry, but you immediately manage to notice a male figure sitting on the bed in front of you, by your side.

The second thing you realise is the bitter taste in your mouth from something you had just gulped down. You can’t quite register the taste.

The moment you try to move you feel nauseous. It’s a chemically inflicted sickness, making you dazed and confused. You can feel your throat burning with whatever liquid you just consumed.

You let out a groan and shut your eyes again.

“It’s okay, my love. Everything’s going to be okay. You just need some rest…” For the first time in forever you can actually hear a voice talking to you.

It’s somewhat comforting, but you can’t shake the feeling that there is something very off about it.

… Khol was his name, right? How come you think of that name? You slowly open your eyes again.

You need a brief moment.

That’s not what a human looks like. You’ve never seen a human in your life before, this is the first person you’ve ever seen. But you’re weirdly sure people don’t usually come with pale skin and such static hair.

‘Khol’ looks at you with a tender expression and neatly places a damp cloth on top of your forehead. You can’t help but gaze at him with awe. The dimmed light behind the tall man gives him a tranquil aura, which you can’t help but feel drawn too.

When you try to think about what happened before you woke up in this bed, blurry memories appear. You see a long, creepy hall, and a box. It feels important, but you can’t remember why.

You grasp his hand before he can move it away, and feel him jolt in surprise, but don’t acknowledge it.

“What happened?” You mumble with a weak, quiet voice.

“You had a scary episode.” Khol whispers as feels your grip tighten.

You don’t meet his eyes, instead you try to look around and think back as much as possible. And yet the pits created in your mind won’t fill themselves up. Both your hands are now grasping his, still in the air above your chest.

“You should’ve told me you weren’t feeling well..” He momentarily looks at the small, empty bowl on top of your nightstand, and his gaze immediately flashes back to you, as if he’s afraid you’ll get swallowed whole by the walls.

“Are you hungry? I’ll get you more soup-”

“Please stay.” You murmur. Khol’s eyes widen when he notices your fearful, almost terrified expression. By now your hands are slightly shaking.

“I don’t want to be alone. Please.” You try to sit up but it’s strenuous. The room moves and creates different shapes as your throat burns and your eyes try to adjust to your surroundings.

The pale man’s smile widens, even if a little. Now both of his hands are holding yours as well.

You don’t notice it, instead focused on remaining with the only person you’ve ever seen before.

“Stay with me.”

You don’t know which one of you said that, or if it was even said at all. But the message is clear when he moves to carefully lie down beside you, making sure to take up as little space as possible.

With your eyes barely open, you lay there next to his tepid self. Not feeling like a husk of yourself, but also not like you belong here.

You’re just here to endure, until you pass like all the others.

[yyayomayo]

Keeping Peace

word count: 1.9k Stay with him, even if you lose yourself

“Soo, we’re together, our second anniversary is coming up, and you’re not human.” You sit across the pale, dark-haired man who’s leaning against the table, staring back at you with adoring, tired eyes.

“Spot on.” Khol replies back.

“And everyday you have to introduce yourself to me ‘cause I keep forgetting?” You ask him.

He gives you a nod. You feel like you’re crazy with how casual his body language remains at that gruesome fact. “Sounds lonely…”

“It’s never lonely with you.” He states like it’s a fact.

You’re not sure if that’s endearing or unsettling to you, but nonetheless you change the subject.

“And is this your normal form? Do you always look like this?” You ask him.

It does seem strange to you how you could build a relationship with someone who is so noticeable in public. Even though you can’t remember what you used to do, or the people you surrounded yourself with, dating someone like him is kind of random.

“Well, I have a human form. And I’ll have you now that I was considered quite attractive.” He answers proudly and looks at you with a wry smile, “Do you think I’m pretty, honey?”

The way he asks the question makes it feel like he does actually care about your opinion, and even if you’re unsure about his true nature, he certainly doesn’t look repulsive to you.

“Yes, I do. I especially like your hair. It’s so weird but nice.” You reply honestly, looking at his static hair.

Khol gives you a satisfied grin, “To answer your question.. I don’t usually look like this?” He says it like he himself doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“What does that even mean?” You think to yourself.

At your confused look, Khol tries to explain himself, “I don’t maintain my appearance as much anymore, because I need to take care of you! Can’t leave you alone now, can I?” He says in a soft voice, smiling without much thought.

“I guess so…” You get a sense of familiarity, like something’s lingering in the back of your mind, but you decide not to address it. “Anyway, what was I like? I mean, I must’ve been pretty interesting if I peaked your interest.”

You put your arms on the table and lean your head against your hand. He doesn’t seem like the type of guy to cause any harm, particularly with his goofy nature.

Khol looks off to the side, giving your words some thought, “Would it be strange to say that I like your humanity? At first it was a general attraction to your character and interests.” He gazes back at you, “But then, you actually wanted to get to know me. I mean, all my life I’ve felt like something was off.. and finding you, getting to know you, it’s made me feel… complete. You make me feel real.”

You’re caught off guard at his confession. He grins and he lets out a small breath. It’s like he could never truly portray his love and state the sheer difference you made in his life for simply existing.

“… I’m glad I make you feel happier?” You say it like a question but his words linger in your mind. Changing someone so much, making someone feel actually seen. You smile heartfully, “I’m really glad.”

The pale man’s grin widens and his cheeks darken at your joyfulness. It’s rare he gets to experience a version of you so happy, at peace.

Not scared or disturbed by the sight of him. The pale man’s expression shifts ever so slightly when he looks at you, to one of wistfulness.

He thinks back to the times when you were unaware of it, being able to be with you for who you are.

He closes his eyes.

Even if he refuses to think about it, sometimes you are hollow.

Abandoned in a way, when he has to explain why you can’t leave.

When you’re afraid of the monster which stands in front of you.

Khol’s hand shifts above his mouth.

He wishes this day was a little longer than the others.

“Khol, what’s wrong?” Your voice rips him from the clutter that is his mind, and his tired eyes rise open.

He finds you observing him with an unknowing expression.

“I was just…” He doesn’t want to ruin this by dumping his grief on you, “… you just look so cute right now, my dear.” His smile persists as he gets up from his lean, taking the empty plate in front of you.

Taken aback by his words, you get up from your seat and walk over to his side as he begins to wash your plate. He immediately notices, but not the look you send to his weary eyes. “I can do that myself, y’know.”

“I wouldn’t be a good boyfriend if I allowed you to do that, you could use the time to explore our home a bit.” He hums, focused on the task at hand.

Truthfully he would just enjoy having you to himself.

“So what, are you my malewife?” Khol’s eyes widen at your sudden comment and he can’t help but burst out laughing, momentarily halting his scrubbing.

“I’m serious, you don’t need to do everything. I’m your partner after all, we should work together, right? If you do the cooking everyday, like you said, I can do the cleaning at least.”

Khol’s giggle continues as he turns his head to look at you, “I’ll do it heh- I do this everyday, it’s routine for me.” His laughter dies down and he gives you a thankful smile, “My darling, I love hearing you talk. Why don’t I clean this up and if it’s okay with you, we can sit on the couch together and.. you can just talk.” His expression changes to a more sincere one.

You pause for a moment, “I would like that. But I don’t wanna talk the whole time, I want to get to know you.”

—-

“You even chased that creep outside?” You can’t help but snort at the thought of Khol running like a gremlin to get rid of some scumbag.

“He deserved it, that guy wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Khol annoyance at the man is still very much palpable, but he smiles fondly at your amusement to his story.

“I take it I’m very much safe with you, then?” You ask him sarcastically, “Protected from all sides.” He hums and continues with his gentle massage of your hand.

His ‘skin’ feels rubbery, but it doesn’t affect you as much. As far as you know, he can’t help his appearance, but it never bothered you.

A face like his is fascinating to look at, although you don’t have the memory of any other faces.

You consciously lean against him and he tenses before relaxing a little and sighing. In a way you both missed this calm feeling. He makes sure to lean against you as well, engrossed in your hand.

“How are Phoebe and Zeke now? Do they come over from time to time?” You absentmindedly ask him, looking at your surroundings. It’s a small discomfort, but you can’t sense the familiarity of this place. Only vaguely through Khol’s touch do you feel like you belong.

At your question his intimate gesture falters, but he carries on, “They’re good, but they aren’t our friends anymore.”

You blink in confusion and turn your head to him, “No?”

“No.” Khol’s smile persists and his eyes briefly look at you before returning to your linked hands, but his tone has shifted.

This is the first time you feel like something’s off with his vibe, and it doesn’t help that he’s not getting into further detail.

“…” you face the room and lean against him once me. After a few moments of unwelcome silence, you respond, “I woke up today.. and by tomorrow I’ll forget everything, right?”

His smile weakens and he hesitates at your abrupt shift in tone, “Yes…”

“I’m scared.”

His kneading of your hand comes to a sudden stop and looks at you with an unreadable expression. The answer is obvious, yet he can’t say anything else, “Why?”

You have a solemn look on your face, “I don’t want to forget.”

“…I don’t wish that either.” Khol responds quietly with a melancholic tone.

“I really mean it. I don’t want to go. I don’t want the memories I have right now to vanish.” Your brows knit and your grip on Khol’s hand unconsciously tightens, “With this sickness, if I were to fall asleep tonight, I would.. cease to exist.”

The pale man blinks surprised at your words, “You won’t ‘seize to exist.’”

“Yes, I will.” You look at him, actual fear starting to mount inside of you,

“Everyday you meet another version of me, right? Everyday you have to introduce yourself to me again and again. Aren’t you basically living with a corpse?” Your hands start to tremble. Khol is left frozen at your words, his pupils now dramatically shrunken than before and his lips shut tight.

“Listening to you talking about our friends, whom I’ve never met before, recounting stories I wasn’t a part of, talking about events I haven’t experienced before. Even if I was physically a part of them, I wasn’t present. I don’t have the memories to look back on like you.” You breathe in and stare at the ground, squeezing your eyes shut, “I’m afraid of this existence. I get to be alive everyday, but not with the soul I once had, right? I don’t want to go to sleep and forget everything.”

Khol has no idea what he should do. To say he is overwhelmed would be an understatement.

In these past months where you’ve been forgetting everything you once loved, you never once had to deal with the fact that your consciousness only persisted for as long as the day went. For how long you stayed awake.

Calling yourself a corpse isn’t even far from the truth when you wake up to be someone else all the time.

“I don’t get to keep memories,” Tears threaten to spill from your eyes, “I can’t create new ones.” Your quiet sobs ring in Khol’s ears.

“And I don’t want this fate for you.” Your tearful eyes stare up at him and he involuntarily lets out the faintest gasp.

“I don’t want you to meet a different version of me everyday, not when I don’t remember who you are.” You breathe out shakily, “No wonder you are so tired, having to take care of someone who can’t love you the way you love them.” Your lips quiver.

“Please don’t say that.” He weakly responds, but his strong grip of your hand tells a different story. He’s holding onto a shred of you, a selfless shell of what remains.

You breathe in once more, “I’d rather you let go of this.”

Please. He really can’t take this guilt.

He gently wipes your small tears away and carefully takes you in his arms, staring at the surrounding walls closing in on your figures.

He wants you to yell at him than cry.

He wants you to slap him than feel like a bother simply for existing.

He wants you to stab him with a knife than you feeling afraid of your own mind slipping away.

But he’s not like that, is he?

No matter how much you cry, and how much it hurts him, he can never look back. If your pain means keeping you with him, then so be it.

After all, he accepted this a long time ago.

Just like you he shuts his eyes and avoids what scares him the most.

—-

I find the idea of the reader getting existential dread to be interesting, realizing their consciousness is a small speck of who they are, and that things seemingly can never go back with being ill.

[yyayomayo]

I would like to share some of my thoughts and theories about what is going on with the relationship of Khol and the MC, from least to most probable.

The doctor is Khol’s father

I believe this to be very far-fetched, but it’s just a thought I had. In the book Khol had written for us, he mentions a doctor who presumably claimed that Khol is driving the MC insane. I found it interesting that Khol refers to the doctor as “that doctor,” like there was a certain someone in Khol’s way.

As far as we know, Khol doesn’t have a good relationship with his parents, and even moved far away from them. We don’t know the exact reason as to why Khol was making the MC insane/sick, and how, but maybe it is because he is a monster and he’s unwillingly influencing humans, who are in longer contact with him, to become ‘insane’?

This would also count for Zeke, which is maybe why Khol, Zeke and Phoebe mainly hangout together, because they can’t make eachother insane lol. With that in mind, Khol’s parents are most likely monsters like him, and with Khol’s dad being a doctor (in the story, he’s referred to with he/him) and disapproving of Khol’s relationship with the MC, he’s told his son to stay away from them.

But I have too little information to make that assumption, it is again far-fetched

Secondly, now that I think about it, Khol could also have a strained relationship with his parents just because they disapproved of his relationship with a human

2. The pills are used against humans who Khol and Zeke prey upon

It is well-known that Khol drugs us with every meal he prepares for us to make us forget about everything which has happened the previous day, and our life basically. 

However, it is not known why Zeke supplies Khol with these drugs, in other words, why he would own such drugs. I could imagine that as a monster, he reacts to those drugs differently, but I don’t believe that is the reason for him having them.

I believe that these pills cause humans to pass out if they experience any strong emotion (like adrenaline or anxiety). I’m not sure if it was ever confirmed by the creator if Khol possesses the power to ‘paralyze’ the MC at or not at his will, but perhaps because of these drugs the MC can’t fight back?

The reason why I believe the pills cause someone to pass out is because they would be helpful for ‘hunting.’ Imagine if Khol and Zeke had found a victim, slipped the pills in the victim’s drink or food, afterwards went out with the victim, turned into their horrific monster forms, or just scared the victim, which caused them to pass out after a short while and they had their meal.

That sounds more disturbing than I imagined

Also, Julian made a post on how Khol and Zeke find their victims, but didn’t exactly specify how they kill them

This could be very much debunkable though, it’s highly possible the pills only have the function of making someone forget everything

3. The MC discovered Khol eating human flesh, and it became a starting point to MC’s insanity

Of this I am more sure. In the game, when Khol talks about his appearance, and why he doesn’t try so hard with maintaining his human appearance, stating it’s because he needs to take care of the MC and can’t leave the MC alone, a light flickers in MC’s head, “Like a piece of the past was trying to make itself known again.”

The MC, very unsurely, asks Khol if he did anything in particular to maintain his human appearance, to which Khol immediately gets quiet and changes the topic.

To me this foreshadows the fact that the MC caught Khol in the act of ‘cannibalism’, got traumatized, slowly turned ‘insane’, (which also could possibly support the speculation of the doctor being Khol’s dad telling him to kill/leave the MC, or just that he’s another monster who’s trying to get the situation under control) got kidnapped by Khol, cut off from everyone else and now gets fed drugged meals to forget everything.

This would explain Khol’s guilt over not being human, being shunned by other monsters perhaps and not being the same after not eating meat for two years, literally. And also, how paranoid he becomes when the MC retains their memory of the previous day and he looks around at the walls as if they are listening.

I also decoded the morsecode messages Julian had posted in the reveal of the full release date.

They stated:

IT’S ALL HIS FAULT. DO NOT FORGIVE THE MONSTER

DO NOT FORGET THE CELLAR WHERE DEATH PAINTS THE WALLS.

We have never seen a cellar in Khol’s house. Could that be the place where the MC discovered Khol’s secret?

—-

I haven’t even covered the ambiguity of Phoebe's death, or the strange ceiling in the April Fools game, who was in a relationship with Phoebe, which could’ve been sarcastic and not canon at all. I hope my theories were understandable, and I’m curious about your thoughts.

[yyayomayo]

Ordinary Days

word count: 3k You wake up to a stranger claiming to be your boyfriend

“Y/n.. it’s already very late. Come on, I’ve made breakfast.”

You hear a male voice speaking your name. Half-awake you open your eyes to the sight of a large.. person? Sitting at the end of ‘your’ bed.

Your eyes rise open and you quickly scramble to sit up at the other edge of the bed, grabbing at the blanket.

“Who are you?” You ask carefully, not taking your eyes off of him.

“My name is Khol, I’m your boyfriend.” He says with a soft, almost monotone voice. You have never seen this man in your life before. You’re not even sure if that is a man, let alone a human.

“Why do you look like that?” You ask with a deadpan, staring at his static hair and way too pale skin. Your confusion is getting to you.

He grins at your question, but it doesn’t reach his dark eyes. “I will answer all your questions once you’ve eaten. I’ll let you know when breakfast is ready.” He stands up from the bed, at which point you notice his greyish-black hands, and leaves ‘your’ room, gently closing the door behind himself.

“Is he wearing gloves?” You wonder and look around. The room is designed blankly, quite how you feel right now, with its white walls and wooden floor.

It’s all unfamiliar, there is a small shelf standing at the end of your bed, filled with what looks like books and two picture frames on top. On your right is a closet with five of the same sweaters, and an open door leading to the bathroom.

After a few seconds of silently observing your surroundings, you recall the man, whose name you’ve already forgotten, claiming that he is your boyfriend.

“Why would I date someone like him? Did he lie to me?” You think to yourself as you grasp your blanket tighter, before feeling grateful that you seemingly at least have your own bed.

You breathe out and get up from the bed, walking over to the door and leaving the room. You see two other doors but don’t pay them any mind, after all your supposed boyfriend wanted you downstairs.

You have an uneasy feeling as you take the steps, but you ignore it, fearing the threat this person could be if you don’t comply with his requests.

Arriving downstairs, you notice just how open-spaced this place is, with a living room on the left, on the right a doorway probably leading out, and in front of you the kitchen, where the tall man stands at the counter, humming and making your breakfast like he said. You quietly walk over to him and sit down at the dining table. Like clockwork the pale uncanny man turns around and smiles at you, “Good morning, my dear!” He says as he places the dish in front of you.

It’s a nice breakfast, with bacon and a fried egg served on top of golden-brown toast. Your mouth waters looking at the food, but before you dig into it, you spot little specks on top of the sunny-side-up egg. “What’s that?” You ask without thinking.

“Seasoning.” He replies instantly, in the same soft voice as before.

“…” You wish to act on your gut-feeling, telling you this might’ve been poisoned, but the hunger you’re experiencing overpowers your perhaps not so reasonable reasoning. You are prone to overthinking anyway, right?

Instead of an identity crisis, you cut your food into pieces and begin eating, quickly devouring the meal. “Looks like someone’s hungry.” The stranger chuckles. You have a final swallow and meet his eyes, noticing the deep shade of red his cheeks are, “What are you?” You ask him in a scrutinizing tone, as if you didn’t just heartily eat a meal he prepared for you.

The stranger looks at you for a moment before sighing but retaining his unnerving smile, “You’re too observant for your own good,” you’re not sure if he meant that sarcastically or not, “I’m not human.. more like a monster, but not an evil one!” He grins, “Not since I’ve had you in my life.”

You remain silent for a second, not sure what to say to that, “Did you mean that as a joke?”

The stranger tills his head slightly to the side, “What part?”

“Well, that “since I’ve had you in my life.””

His smile widens a little, “Nah, I mean that. You changed me.” He says nonchalantly.

Now you’re unsure what to think of him. On the one hand, he’s a stranger who seemingly kidnapped you and possibly is lying to you, because you have never met this guy in your life before, or he could somehow actually be your boyfriend, who’s really nice to you and takes care of you.

His eyes, figure and hair make him look very strange and kind of scary, but he’s as red as a tomato and smiling like a madman. In a weird way he almost looks cute!

“How come I don’t remember you then? I don’t even know your name.” You get a little embarrassed at your statement.

“You can call me Khol, my love.” He looks at you warmly, “The reason you forgot about us is for your own safety, of course. Your mind was going through some things, it is best to make you forget.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” You’re on high alert again. Khol notices the shift in your attitude, “I don’t want you to wrap your pretty little head around it, honey.” His warm smile remains as he takes your plate and carefully pats your head.

Surprisingly enough, you don’t flinch. You feel like you know this gesture, but it doesn’t exactly feel right. His skin is rubbery, non-human.

In a matter of seconds he takes his hand off of your head and walks over to the sink, washing the plate and silverware, “If you want to, you can explore around our home.” He says absentmindedly, focused on the task at hand.

You glare at him and stand up from the chair, “Rude.” You think to yourself. You don’t appreciate his dismissiveness. How could he make such assertions and act completely normal about them?

“Khol, as far as I’m concerned, I still have no clue of what’s going on and I want to le-“ You interrupt yourself. It’d be stupid to reveal that you’d want to leave. But before you can take your words back, the very long-haired man stares back at you with a disappointed expression.

A chill runs down your spine, “My darling, I don’t wish to make you upset, but you have to understand…” He dries his hands and walks over to you. For the first time you actually feel kind of small next to him, “…you. can’t. leave.” He holds your shoulders and watches you intensely.

Out of instinct you push him away with your hands on his chest, “Don’t touch me!” You yell at him. Abruptly, the front of your head feels like it has built up an immense amount of pressure and you gasp. Your breath quickens and you grasp at your forehead out of pain. “Look what happens.” You barely hear his voice as you fall to the ground, “It’ll be okay…” You can barely make out what he’s saying, not noticing him crouching in front of you before you pass out.

—-

You wake up disoriented on a couch with your head throbbing. Letting out a groan, you sit up and look around, finding Khol in the kitchen humming again. “… I’m awake.”

Khol immediately whips his head around and quickly walks over to you, helping you up the couch, “Are you okay, honey?” Once more he’s wearing that creepy grin.

The throbbing lessens and you meet his gaze, “I guess.. what happened?”

“I’m not sure. I found you unconscious so I laid you down, but you feel better now, don’t you?”

You feel very unsure, not being able to recount what happened before you passed out, “Yeah.. how long was I out?” You look around the room for a clock. “Long enough for lunch time.” Khol gently takes your hand and guides you over to the dining table.

Again, you sit at the table with a sandwich presented to you and your boyfriend resting his elbows on the table.

“You should eat.”

—-

After lunch you debated leaving the house through the front door, only to turn around at the last second and see Khol peeking through the behind the wall, smiling pleasantly at your decision to not go through with your plan.

“Weirdo..” You think to yourself as you walk up the stairs, feeling the need to find a different exit. The thought of talking to him is unpleasant to you.

In the hallway you can see three doors, one of which has a different door handle and a lock, presumably Khol’s room, and the other is boarded up.

Now that you think about it, the windows were also boarded up, which isn’t unusual whatsoever, sure.

You decide to enter your room. There aren’t any windows, but on the small shelf is a shoebox and some picture frames.

“Maybe I can find some clues on what’s going on?” You firstly grab the frames, but aren’t able to identify what’s on them. Looking through the shoe box just gives you a sense of dread, finding it more plausible to believe Khol’s statement of him being in a romantic relationship with you.

You sigh, feeling even more lost than before. “I have no idea how to feel about him…” Disappointed, you put the shoe box back where you found it, spotting a book on the upper shelf which is slimmer than the others.

You grab it and immediately notice the wobbly feel of it. The pages reveal a story of a seemingly heartbroken Khol having to deal with.. your diagnosis? Is this actually true?

They said he drove you insane, but you need him, you’re perfect to him.

The last page especially causes you to tense up, with it being ripped and his declaration that he can’t stand to leave you alone.

He would leave everything behind for you.

He loves you.

“Y/n, dinner is ready!”

Startled, you accidentally shut the book close and put it back in its place, getting up and leaving your room.

Downstairs you go over to the table and sit down. You can see Khol plating the dish, it looks to be spaghetti with.. some kind of sauce? Meatballs maybe?

“I hope you had fun today.” He states as he puts the plate on the table and, like always, leans his elbows on the table, watching.

You don’t want to eat. This feels different, but nonetheless you don’t want to make him upset. Slowly you use your fork to twist the pasta and with your spoon guide it to your mouth.

The food felt like it was still alive, it makes you feel sick.

“Anything new, honey?” He asks sweetly. It pisses you off how seemingly kind and caring he acts.

“Did you write that book I found on my shelf?”

He grins like he expected you to find it, “Yeah, I thought it’d be nice if you could see how I bare my heart to you in every way.”

You cringe, “Huh, did that actually happen though? Like, what you wrote about?”

Khol looks at you blankly for a moment, “In a way, yes. I wrote that book after your first diagnosis. Can you believe they wanted to take you away from me? As if they know you better than I do.” He had a cold, manic expression on his face at the last sentence.

He sounds unstable.

Khol straightens up from his postion and takes the plate and the utensils, walking over to the sink to wash them, “It’s getting late, you should go to bed.”

Fair enough, you feel tired.

—-

You lie in your bed again. The room is dark, only being lit up by a small lamp next to your door. Khol sits down at the end of your bed, where he sat in the morning.

You still are unsure on how to feel about this stranger you’ve just met today. He is your boyfriend, you’re sure of that, but the connection is missing.

Around your shared ‘home’ you have seen some pictures of a dark-haired man similar to him but human, and he does look attractive, but you getting sick? Being held captive in this house? It doesn’t add up. And him in that uncanny form.. how did he get like that?

“Goodnight, my love.” Khol pats your shin covered by the blanket as you doze off to sleep.

It’d be dumb to trust him just now.

—-

You’re sitting by a table at a cafe. The ambiance is nice, warm, with soft lofi melodies playing in the background.

Impatiently, you tap your foot on the floor. On your right is a glass wall allowing a view to the street, which is quite convenient for you. Watching other people can be amusing.

“What’s taking so long?” You grumble. You’ve waited for this date for two weeks because your boyfriend is all of the sudden ‘Very busy’ now and ‘Needs to finish a few things.’

“Yeah right..” You think to yourself. And now that he has finally the time to see you again, he won’t even arrive on time! Like he didn’t set this date up himself!

You sigh out in annoyance and lean back against the banquette, crossing your arms. You’ve waited for quite a while to see him, especially with how you’ve been feeling recently, you can’t actually wait to talk to him. Maybe he’ll understand, right?

“If he doesn’t appear in the next few minutes, I might as well-”

“Yoohooo!”

You hear Khol’s voice in the distance. Turning your head, you see him cheerfully holding two drinks, walking over to your table. “There you are. I was waiting for you…” You mumble that last part. He places your favorite tea/coffee in front of you. 

“Sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean for you to wait that long.” Khol says with a relaxed tone.

“Oh? But you knew you would be late and didn’t text me?” You try to suppress your smirk and take a sip of your favorite beverage from this cafe. “What can I say? I’m spontaneous, but it’s okay now. I know you have been waiting to finally see your favorite boyfriend again!” Khol grins at his statement and sits down at the banquette opposite to you, drink in hand.

You can’t help but immediately shift from your annoyed attitude to an upbeat one at the sight of your beloved boyfriend. He even got you your favorite drink, it’s hard to stay mad at him, even if it had been nearly 20 minutes.

“How is my lover? I hope you didn’t miss me too much.” Khol places an elbow on the table and rests his head against his hand, gazing at you lovingly.

“As if. Well, obviously yeah, but it could’ve been worse. Like a lot longer, I think I haven’t seen you in like..” You think for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, “.. two weeks?”

Khol sighs, seemingly a little disappointed in himself for not making time for you, “Yeah, about two weeks. You know I was a little busy, but now I’m back, and free. Today is all for us.” Your boyfriend smiles warmly and twirls his raven hair with his fingers, “What did you do in those unbearable times?”

Your smirk slightly falters, unbeknownst to you, Khol notices immediately, “It’s been fine. I was mostly working my ass off and in my free time I was either at home chilling or going shopping for groceries and such. Nothing special happened.” Your beam fully leaves your face, leaving you with an uneasy expression,

“It’s just that I’ve been feeling.. weird? I can’t really explain it, and I probably sound ridiculous, but I feel like someone’s watching me, constantly.” You have your gaze to your lap and swallow, “What if I’m just overthinking?” You wonder to yourself.

“Y/n, that’s not ridiculous at all.” You look up to see Khol with a rare serious expression on his face, “Have you noticed anything unusual at your apartment or at work? Like missing objects or a certain customer appearing more often?”

Your shoulders relax with relief. So you aren’t that crazy to think you have a stalker.

“No, no. Nothing like that. It’s really whenever I go out in public. I don’t feel anxious at work or at home.” You fumble with your cup a little.

Khol looks at you with a worried, almost saddened face, “Do you think they followed you here?”

“I’m not sure, but I honestly don’t think so. Sometimes when I went outside, I didn’t feel tense or paranoid. It’s on rare occasions, but when I experience this sensation-

I’ve never felt that before. It’s a different kind of fear.” Your fumbling continues and you breathe out, “But with you right now, I feel very safe.”

The raven-haired boy smiles gratefully, “I’m glad you feel safe with me. It scares me that you feel this anxious, like someone could hurt you.” He has an ashamed expression on his face, “But I promise, I won’t let anyone hurt you, or take you away from me.” Khol looks at you with knitted brows and a stiff smile, “Nothing bad will happen to you, ever.”

He grasps your fumbling hand with his own, causing you to relax. “Thank you Khol, really. For believing me, and making me feel safe.” You tighten your grip on his hand and he returns the gesture. “And for my favorite drink.” You chuckle a little, gazing at his eyes with the same love.

“Of course, my darling.” He gives the back of your hand a peck, “How about we drink up and do something fun later, hm?” He shoots you a smirk.

You open your mouth to respond but the cafe lights flicker, the hum of the soft background noise distorts. Khol’s smile lingers, but the edges blur, melt into darkness.

—-

I hope you enjoyed this fic and that my characterization of Khol is accurate. I’ve been following this game since the demo, and am excited for the full release! I took a lot of inspiration from the creator, the last part is copied off of him, but that’s because the end of the dream sequences are always described this way, and I thought it would be fitting. The dream is inspired by the cafe receipt revealed in Julian’s Patreon. I was also thinking about why/how Khol was making the MC insane, as stated in Khol’s book to us, so I thought about some possibilities and found it interesting if he had been stalking us or somehow making us very paranoid etc.