#like most of her relatives hadn't been murdered in them

[theamberfist]

One Blind Mouse | Uncle Alastor + Reader

Familial! Alastor is Reader's Uncle

Description: One day after an overlord meeting, Alastor stumbles upon a giant demonic mouse that he soon realizes is his relative from life.

(Notes: CW Alastor, death, violence) (gender neutral reader) (Reader is Alastor's niece/nephew/whatever term you prefer) (Reader is blind) (Reader is a mouse sinner) (Pretend Alastor had a sister for the sake of this oneshot)

Words: 2,940

Alastor's ears perked at the familiar sound of screams that always seemed to accompany the streets of hell. He'd just stepped out of a surprisingly entertaining overlord meeting and now his high spirits lead him to take a walk down the road. 

This part of the city, being Carmilla Carmine's territory, was significantly less of a disaster compared to most of hell, and although he didn't enjoy the area nearly as much as some others- such as Rosie's Cannibal Town- it was still a pleasurable enough experience. As he walked, he calmly held his microphone-cane behind his back and took in all the sights.

Most of it was nothing out of the ordinary; sinners running in fear at the mere sight of him, remnants of bloody fights and brawls, as well as a few trashed buildings and alleyways the overlord expected Carmilla to be very unhappy about. 

Alastor sighed. If there was one thing he both loved and hated about hell it was that every day tended to be just the same. Territory disputes, murders that were ultimately never permanent, and newly-killed human souls ending up fearful and disoriented as they randomly appeared throughout hell were all nothing he hadn't seen before. In his time living down here, he'd come to place great value on entertainment and breaks from normality. At the very least, they made afterlife in hell a little more fun.

It was because of this he considered summoning Husk or even Nifty to liven things up. That was what he normally did when he lacked any other form of entertainment, but before he could even decide which to rip from their normal lives, a new sound reached his ears that suddenly caught his attention.

It was almost akin to a roar; something he would have expected to hear from a lion or even a dinosaur if they were more common forms for sinners to take on. Glancing up, he now realized the sound had come from just a few blocks away, where a giant figure towered over some of the nearby buildings. 

It looked like a huge...rat? That was the best way Alastor could describe the entity; with glowing grey eyes, demonic markings, and surprisingly sharp claws and teeth. The rat was ripping apart the nearby buildings as sinners screamed and tried to run away, which made the Radio Demon's ever-present smile widen. It seemed he'd found some entertainment at last. 

So of course, he made his way towards where the rat was towering over buildings; realizing it was right on the edge of Carmilla's territory; approaching that of the V's. He hadn't even realized he'd been so close to their space but it hardly mattered now. While he'd at first assumed the rat's goal to be complete destruction simply for the sake of discussion, that didn't seem to be the case now that he observed them. 

They were ignoring most of the frightened sinners around them; aside from a few that happened to scream extra loud as they ran. Instead, their focus was more towards the nearest building; a TV store in which every single piece of merchandise had a different channel playing at once that made for quite an obnoxious display of sound. Even Alastor wanted to cover his ears, not stopping the giant rat sinner as they tore the place apart sloppily. 

He continued watching the scene for a few more moments until a car finally showed up nearby and a tech-related sinner stepped out with a frightened look on her face. Alastor recognized her as one of Vox's employees from back when they'd still been friends, though he was surprised the TV producer hadn't fired her yet with his poor track record of employees. 

Once out of the car, she approached the giant rat cautiously; as if unsure of how to handle the situation. 

"E-excuse me?" The sinner called, though the rat ignored her, "I demand you stop! This store is property of Vox Tech and you're going to have to pay for any damages you cause!" Alastor's smile only widened now, curious to see whether this seemingly out-of-control sinner would even acknowledge the tech demon or if they'd just continue to go about their destruction. If his employee couldn't handle things, perhaps Vox would even come all the way down here himself, and wouldn't that be a treat to watch? 

As expected, the rat ignored her as they crushed another giant flat-screen TV between their claws. The Vox Tech employee seemed almost offended as she came closer to them. 

"How dare you?!" She exclaimed louder now; taking on a more demonic form that was indicative of her anger, "Have you no respect for the art of television?!" This seemed to finally get the rat's attention because they paused, dropping the shattered TV and turning to face her as they gazed down.

"Art?" They repeated, their voice coated with that demonic tone one became accustomed to hearing while in hell. Alastor raised an eyebrow at the realization that this was not their regular form, wondering what they could have originally looked like but not saying anything just yet. "You call this art?!"

The rat grabbed another TV and threw it at the tech demon, nearly crushing her under its weight if she hadn't gotten out of the way in time. "This is pathetic!" 

Alastor had to agree there. Television had always been a lesser form of media to him, and it seemed this other sinner understood that too. Perhaps when they calmed down the two of them would get along.

Though, there was another part of him that took note of how familiar this particular was...

The rat grabbed two more TV screens and crushed them in either hand now; snarling. "Don't pretend to know anything about art if you support him!" Alastor knew without needing to ask that they were referring to Vox, which made his smile widen even more. It seemed he really would get along with this rat. Though, the more he listened to them speak, the more it felt like he should recognize that voice.

"Don't make me tell you again! Unhand our property!" The tech demon tried, though she was shaking as the giant rat stared her down. 

"No." The rat replied before tossing another TV at her. This time, it managed to hit her and she was knocked back into the nearby wall. It seemed the impact was enough to kill her, too, because her body finally went limp. Alastor knew she wouldn't be dead for long before regenerating but it had done the job for now, anyway. 

It seemed the only one that didn't realize that was the rat because they reached for another blaring TV and tossed it in the direction of the now-dead sinner again. Then they grabbed another and did the same before repeating the act again and again until every last screen had been destroyed. 

It was only then that the Radio Demon realized what was going on as he watched the giant rat feel around the destroyed store for any more Vox Tech Products; they were blind. 

They couldn't actually see the tech demon when she'd shown up; they'd only known where to throw the TV based on where they'd heard her voice. They'd been sloppily feeling around and grabbing TV's earlier because they could hear the obnoxious sounds coming from them, and they'd only killed the extra loud sinners because they could hear where they were.

How interesting, Alastor thought as he watched the rat's shoulders rise and fall as they caught their breath. They were far from the first blind person he'd met but they were the first one he'd run into in hell thus far. Based on the display he'd just witnessed though, they were doing just fine down here despite not having sight. He was about to step forward and introduce himself when a peculiar sight stopped him.

The rat, which had been giant just a moment ago, was now shrinking in size before his very eyes. They went from being taller than the nearby building to becoming so small he couldn't even see them from where he stood anymore. 

Curious, he stepped forward, realizing they'd shrunk to the size of a mouse. And, in fact, it seemed that that was exactly what they were; not a rat, like he'd presumed earlier. Like most sinners in hell, they still possessed human qualities, but the big mouse ears on their head and the tail made it apparent which animal they were meant to resemble. 

Amusement shined in the Radio Demon's eyes now as he continued observing the little creature. This tiny mouse had done all that damage just moments ago; leaving one of Vox's stores in complete ruin. He never would have expected them to possess that kind of strength based on how they looked, but it made him all the more curious of their motive as he now approached them.

"Well, hell there!" He called. Immediately, the mouse jumped in surprise and reached for their ears as if they were in pain. "My, that was quite a display!" He went on, ignoring their clear shock, "May I ask what might have prompted it?"

There was a long pause as the tiny sinner regarded him, now bent at the waist so that his face was a little closer to their eye level. For a second he wondered if they really were capable of speaking or if he'd simply imagined it earlier, but then they shouted.

"Uncle Al?!" Their voice, which had lost its demonic edge and returned to normal now, suddenly sounded so familiar that it felt as if the Radio Demon had been hit by a truck. How had he not recognized you before? What other little demon could have casually caused so much destruction to a TV store than his own niece/nephew/etc? 

"Why, is that you, my little mouse?" He asked with a grin so wide it nearly hurt. You nodded eagerly, immediately running up to hug him. You were so small, though, that you could really only latch onto his ankle. 

"It is, Uncle!" You replied, only now realizing how ironic his old nickname for you had turned out to be. You'd known the second you'd heard his voice that it was your favorite family member and finding him again like this couldn't have made you happier. Alastor chuckled, kneeling and placing a hand beside your little body on the ground. Once you felt it beside you, you immediately climbed on and then he carefully held you up so that you were closer to his eye-level. 

"And here I'd thought you ended up in heaven!" He told you, though his tone only held amusement. Your presence had always been enjoyable to him; ever since you were a baby. When he'd died, he'd been surprised to find he actually missed the nights when he used to have to come over and babysit you for his dear little sister's sake. 

"Nope," you told him, "But I'm pretty sure mama is there! I've been alone down here for years." The Radio Demon nodded at that. Like their mother, he'd had no doubt his sister had gone to heaven. Your presence in hell was a surprise, but with how mischievous you'd been as a child, it made some sense, even if he hadn't gotten to see how you turned out when you grew up. 

"It must have been quite lonely being by yourself." He replied as he brought you to his coat pocket now. You felt around the area before seemingly deciding it was acceptable and getting comfortable within the fabric. 

"And loud." You nodded. Alastor didn't doubt that; you'd had great hearing even when you were alive, so he imagined those big mouse ears made it even more amplified now. "I hate television."

"I agree with you there!" Alastor replied as he began walking back down the street with you safely tucked into his pocket now. "Especially since the whole point of it is to see the pictures, isn't it?" You nodded, crossing your arms in disdain. "At least radio is tasteful." In life, you'd always loved tuning into your uncle's nightly broadcasts. No matter what you and your mother had been doing at the time, you'd always made her take you home to hear them. Alastor nodded in amusement now. 

"Uncle Al, where are we going anyway?" You asked suddenly.

"Well, I do still have a broadcast to run!" The Radio Demon replied, "I'm sure the citizens of hell will want to hear about that giant mouse causing so much destruction earlier." You giggled and got a little more comfortable in the demon's pocket. "Now, while we talk, do tell me more about those demonic powers of yours?" The fact that you possessed the ability to grow and shrink between more and less terrifying forms just like he did was certainly not lost on him, and nor was the possibility of capitalizing on those powers with the potential of you two taking over hell as family. 

♡ After that you're almost always found in Alastor's pocket whenever he goes anywhere

♡ Sometimes you like to hide in his pocket and then pop up at random times, which he used to scare some of the hotel guests after the first found you

♡ You go into your demon form whenever you get angry, which usually happens when you're surrounded by way too many loud noises at once and get overwhelmed

♡ Alastor thought it was entertaining at first but after the third time you broke his coat pocket by transforming while he was literally carrying you around, he invested in some cute little earmuffs to prevent it

♡ Everybody at the hotel thought you were adorable once they got past the initial shock of A) Alastor having a niece/nephew/etc and B) the fact that you'd popped out of his pocket and startled them

♡ Vaggie lets you ride on her hair bow sometimes and Charlie absolutely loves to pet your mouse ears (she's very gentle but sometimes gets too excited and Alastor has to pull you away from her)

♡ You were terrified of Husk at first because he's a cat and Alastor, always looking for entertainment, did nothing to help with that fear

♡ So for a while every time you would be near Husk he would have to be super careful not to scare you and make you go into demon form

♡ That was until you realized who you really had to be afraid of; Nifty

♡ She associates mice with uncleanliness so she tried to stab you many times at first. Alastor never let her actually succeed but he did enjoy watching her chase you around the hotel for the first week

♡ That was how you got over your fear of Husk because he would sometimes let you hide behind the bar in between the bottles of wine. He even fed you a piece of cheese once and you were sold on him after that

♡ Eventually though, a solution was reached with Nifty when Charlie suggested they dress you in nice clothes (A red striped suit like Alastor's or a dress version of his outfit, fitted for your tiny self) in order to give the cyclops a visibly difference between you and the actual vermin she was supposed to kill 

♡ That worked well but you're still too scared to go near Nifty most of the time

♡ Sir Pentious dubbed you an honorary egg because you were close to them in size and he thought you were just so cute. He got you a little hat like the ones they wear and would even let you ride atop his hat (kind of like Alice with the Mad Hatter in the live action Alice in Wonderland)

 ♡ Angel Dust also loves you and one of the first things he did was introduce you to Fat Nuggets, whom you adored

♡ Sometimes you ride Nuggets around the hotel like a horse since you're the perfect size for it and Angel has many photos on his phone of the two of you being absolutely adorable

♡ Despite how he may seem, Alastor can be a very protective uncle. Since you've come to the hotel, he makes sure everyone keeps their volume down most of the time so as not to bother your sensitive ears. If anyone so much as raises their voice in your presence they're met with his sadistic expression and radio dial eyes as a warning

♡ No one is allowed to watch TV when you're around either; he doesn't care that English Descriptive Audio exists he just doesn't want you to feel sad that you can't have a normal experience like everyone else because that used to get to really you when you were a kid 

♡ Since you're always in his pocket, you've met most of the other overlords at meetings and things

♡ Rosie adores you and every time she meets with Alastor she brings along a new mouse-sized outfit she sewed for you as a gift. You have a whole wardrobe of tasteful clothes made by her now

♡ Zestial and Carmilla think you're cute but won't ever admit it. They just smile whenever you pop out of Alastor's pocket during a meeting; wanting to see what they're all talking about

♡ You did meet Vox once because Alastor ran into him on the street

♡ That went about as well as expected and you turned into your demon form due to his loudness and the fact that he insulted your uncle

♡ You and Alastor took turns beating Vox up that day 

..........

Headcannons related to this concept: Cursed-Cat and Mouse

#gender neutral reader #reader insert #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral #fanfic #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel fanfiction #platonic hazbin hotel #alastor x child readeer #alastor #platonic x reader #platonic relationships #platonic alastor x reader #alastor x child reader #child reader #niece reader #nephew reader #alastor x niece reader #alastor x nephew reader #dadastor #platonic reader

[sungbeam]

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐒 — part one (i – vii)

nonidol!ji changmin x f!reader

your sister's dead, but apparently that's not the most shocking news. maybe she wasn't killed on accident, maybe ji changmin isn't really human, and maybe the monsters were never under the bed but all around you...

▷ genre, warnings. strangers 2 reluctant allies/friends 2 lovers, slow burn, demon/supernatural creatures au, angst, action, murder mystery-ish au, forced proximity trope, suspense, gore, depictions of violence and blood, themes of death and grief, use/description of weaponry, swearing, a slightly unreliable narrator bc she has no idea what's happening, reader's sister is dead, mentions of stalking, humor bc coping mechanisms, reader has hair long enough to braid sorry, blood drinking, the barest of proofreading and editing done...

▷ part word count. 22.3k words / 47.4k - read part two here

▷ associated songs. teeth (5sos), wet nightmare (bibi)

a/n: i tried to make it scary I SWEAR but changmin brings the clown out of me 🤥 anyways i ripped a chunk of my heart out and im serving it to you bloodied on a gold platter, i hope u love her :') read the warnings ofc and lmk your thoughts <3 also i completely gave up on wrestling w blr so im dropping it in two parts, but both of them at once 🤣 pray for me.

#1—NEXT OF KIN.

THEY TOLD YOU YOUR SISTER'S DEATH WAS AN ACCIDENT, they being the authorities who had shown up at the front door of your apartment with their caps in hand, solemn faces pressed into lines that you could not read between. The world had fallen out from beneath your feet like someone had just yanked the carpet out, and you hadn't yet stopped falling.

The funeral was set on the rolling green hills of Elysium Memorial Park, the cemetery where your parents were buried, where your grandparents were buried, and now, where your sister joined them six feet under. Generations ago, your grandparents had purchased plots for themselves and their future family members while the land was cheap. When it came for your time to leave this mortal coil behind, you too would join them in the dirt of Elysium. It almost seemed right that the sky had opened up to reveal a blindingly hot sun, not a cloud to be seen in the sky. Perhaps the sky would not weep for your sister, but celebrate her life instead.

But while the heavens above would shed nary a tear, you could make up for that loss yourself. Having little to no living relatives left, you had been expected to take responsibility for all the arrangements, all while grieving, all while studying, all while trying to not fall apart some more. You were holding it together by the zipper of your dress pants and the caffeine from your coffee. You couldn't stop crying for the entire service, the forced silence of your cries balanced by the violent tremors in your shoulders.

Your sister Sena's patch in the land was now marked by a heaping pile of dirt. She had a lot of friends—most of whom gathered behind you and had thrown their flowers upon the dirt hill. You had a few distant relatives as well who you'd managed to remember (somehow) amongst all the madness. A couple of them were able to fly out for the event, but most had to decline.

When you heard your name being called, you drew your blazer sleeve over your eyes in a futile attempt to dry them.

Walking towards you now was a couple, middle-aged, dressed in black from head to toe, not far from how you looked right now. You knew them from about a week ago when they had sought you out after the news of your sister's death spread.

You hadn't the heart to sue them when they confessed who they were. It's our fault, they told you in the quiet of the hallway outside your apartment, we're so sorry. We understand if you'd like to press charges.

Sena was a victim of an automobile accident. You didn't know the entire story—was too tired for the whole story—just shocked she was even in the country. She was supposed to be across the world for a study abroad program, but why was she discovered on the side of the road, a few towns over, inebriated and dead? She became nothing more than roadkill and a statistic in death, and maybe that was why you were so bitter.

"Yn, it was a beautiful ceremony," said the woman—Julia, she had introduced herself as that week ago. Her nose was reddened from the friction of tissue paper, her eyes damp and glittering in the sunlight. "I'm sorry you—that you have to deal with all the pomp and circumstance."

"We know you deserve your time alone," joined her husband, Carter. He tucked his hands into his pockets, mustering up a smile for your sake, but you could still see the guilt flooding his eyes with water. "We just wanted to say thank you for letting us come and pay our respects."

And for not pressing charges. But you dashed that thought away. That was the bitterness talking, but these were good people. They had come forward and been honest, and it wasn't their fault Sena was drunk. (Why in the world was she drunk and here and why didn't she tell you the truth—?)

"Thank you for coming," you replied, "I wasn't sure if you would take me up on the offer, to be honest."

You wrapped up conversation with the couple and watched them depart across the grassy hills toward their car. Your eyes surveyed the last bits of the lingering crowd for familiar faces—anyone at all. But all you found were strangers.

These were all Sena's friends, after all. She had always been the more adventurous of the two of you.

You sighed and resigned yourself to start looking for the funeral coordinator to discuss payment and the like. Though the event was over the worst was just beginning. There was so much to do, and so little energy left to perform them.

But as you began trudging through the plush grass toward the far end of the plot, you noticed a man standing beneath the shade of a nearby oak tree. He wore typical funeral attire—the black dress shirt, pants, shoes, and even a pair of rectangular shades to cover his eyes. Like many of the others, you didn't recognize him—at first.

And then he shifted, lenses of his glasses reflecting sunlight and you could just barely put together the puzzle of his face and his identity. Ji Changmin.

What was he doing here?

They were friends, too, Yn, you reminded yourself. Yet, you weren't sure why you were so surprised he was here. Maybe it was because you never remembered extending the invitation to him (but someone could have spread the news by word of mouth). Maybe it was because several months had passed since you last saw him. Maybe it was because you always thought there was something… strange about him (but that could have been your bias; there was always this thing about him that irked you). Either way, you never had anything to say to him before, and that had yet to change even in light of your sister's death.

The two of you stared each other down, and for a moment, you believed he was going to walk over to you.

But instead, he pushed off the tree trunk and made his way toward the trickle of funeral goers up the hill, leaving you to wonder after him.

The next time you saw Ji Changmin was a week after the will reading.

Because you were Sena's next of kin, you were contacted by your shared attorney about Sena's will. Apparently, she had a will. After all these years, you couldn't even fathom the idea of needing one so early, but for some reason, she had. (Maybe that worried you a little more.)

The strangest thing was that your attorney had delivered to you a flat lockbox made of steel and secured with an old fashioned lock and key. Along with the stash of money in her savings account (where the Hell had all of that come from anyway?), Sena also gave you that. Whatever it was.

You had yet to open it when you bumped into Changmin on your way out of your college's academic counseling center. With recent events, your departmental advisor called you in to discuss your academic plans for the foreseeable future.

You can take as long as you like, Yn, she'd said to you. You're already ahead of schedule to graduate anyways. But that wasn't the point was it?—

"Oh." You stopped short as you rounded the corner and nearly crashed into something. "Sorry," you said before you even recognized him.

A pair of dark, feline eyes looked you up and down. "Yn, right?" Changmin drawled. A pair of white wired earbuds hung from his ears and his shoulders were fitted with a dark colored bomber jacket that was familiar to you. You'd seen it draped over the back of one of your kitchen chairs once when Sena had him over for a project.

Your eyes shuttered. "Yeah. Changmin?"

His nod was barely there. He cocked his head to the side in a way that felt like he was trying to gaze into your soul. "I'm—I'm sorry for your loss," he said, grappling for the right words. "Sena was a good friend."

"I didn't realize the two of you were so close," you told him. This was probably the most he'd ever said to your face, and you to him.

Changmin gave a small shrug. "We worked closely together, so it was kind of inevitable. How are you doing?"

You didn't think the conversation would last this long. "Oh, uhm, I'm fine." You inwardly knocked yourself over the head. He's probably just trying to be nice, Yn. "I mean—" you amended, "—I'm doing as well as you can imagine, I guess. Just lots of legal stuff and…" Her room. Cleaning out her room. Opening the lockbox. Reading her last will and testament for the fiftieth time.

When you didn't finish your sentence right away, he nodded again, shuffling on the balls of his feet. Was he feeling as awkward as you were? "I get that. Hey, if you—y'know, like, need anything—"

"You don't have to do that."

"What about coffee? Just… to talk."

Coffee? You considered him for a second. Before, you nor he had ever given any indication to the other that you acknowledged the other's presence. In fact, you confessed to Sena once that he intimidated you, even if he was just sitting there in your shared living room while pouring over JSTOR academic essays.

He was patient, you realized. Then you relented. "Okay. When's good for you?"

You thought you saw a glimmer of relief in his eyes, but that could have just been the afternoon sunlight. "Now?"

Your eyes widened a smidge, and you coughed. "Uhm now? I—I have class…?" You didn't, but the curve ball that was an impromptu coffee session with Ji Changmin wasn't something you needed right now.

His eyebrow lifted as if he didn't believe you. "Okay," he dragged out. "Tomorrow morning?" He offered as a counter.

Your brain did cartwheels in an attempt to figure out if you would have the willpower to do that. "Okay," you said. Better to get this out of the way, right?

"Do you know that one place on Magnolia?"

"The one across from the Eight Ball?" You perked up in recognition. You and Sena used to go all the time. The two of you liked to say that Magnolia was her street because it housed all her favorite places; just the thought of taking a stroll down it made your eyes water. "Yeah, Sena and I used to go all the time."

Changmin paused, his mouth opening, then closing.

You guessed what he was thinking. "It's fine if we go. I'm not gonna like, burst into tears or anything," you chuckled awkwardly, clearing your throat when excess tear fluid made you congested.

His lips pursed, impressing a dimple into his cheek. "Okay, only if you're sure."

"Yeah, I'm sure." It seemed that everything you said to people was something like a lie nowadays.

It was late when you finally faced the lockbox.

The box was an unassuming hunk of metal, flat and slim and no bigger than a standard piece of paper. You warmed the key in your palm until it was hot to the touch and made your skin redden. The sky outside your apartment window had darkened to a blot of ink, the white shutters drawn shut to create a white paneled shield. You just finished up a very lazy dinner, washed up, and decided to confront the last thing on Sena's will.

The lockbox in the bank under my name goes to my sister, Yn Ln. She is the only one allowed access to it until she opens it; what she decides to do with the contents is her choice.

There must have been something important inside it, you reasoned, otherwise it wouldn't have been a part of the will and it wouldn't be under lock and a single key.

"What is this, Sena?" You asked aloud, venturing to twist the lock open with the key. The locking mechanism gave way, and you set the lock and key aside. The shorter end could slide open like a hidden door, and you peered into the dark depths, almost afraid of what you might find between its jaws.

You could make out the silhouettes of shapes at the bottom, the soft-cornered texture of a wad of bills. You reached in.

One of the things she had left for you in her will was all of the money in her savings account. It had shocked you to see the number—you always thought her only job was at the library, but clearly, she was not just on a librarian's salary.

Pulling out a stack of cash from the box was yet another thing that helped solidify in your mind that something was off. The confusion settled first, and then the betrayal. Had she not trusted you with this knowledge while she was alive? You were the one going into accounting and finance, and yet, she hid all of this money from you? Was she afraid of something? Afraid of judgment, of the law?

You tossed the twenties onto the table. The note slipped between the rubber band and the first piece read something along the lines of 'in case of emergency.'

You made a plunge into the box again. This time, you pulled out the last two things at the bottom, a standard white index card and a small, fabric pouch. The card displayed Sena's familiar scrawl:

You're probably wondering what any of this is, but if you're reading this, it means that something's gone wrong—like really wrong. The necklace in the pouch is super important. DON'T TAKE IT OFF. Don't let anyone touch it before you do. Don't trust anyone. This is really important to me, Yn. Please be safe; I love you.

x, sena.

Please be safe? Safe from who or what?

You held the note in your hand for a moment and couldn't believe this would be the last thing you received from her. It would be a tangible legacy, in a way, and you weren't sure how to feel about that. You moved the note to the table and turned your attention to the pouch.

You carefully tugged it open. She said it was a necklace, right?

"Oh," you voiced aloud while fishing out a thin, silver chain.

There was a pendant attached to the end with some heft to it. It was a deep, bloody red in the loose shape of a teardrop. There wasn't a sharp peak, but a slightly flat end on one side and a rounded end on the other. You would guess it was some kind of precious stone, but when you stared at it long enough, it looked like the color pulsed… like a heartbeat.

Your breath hitched.

Eyes narrowed, you held it up to the light by the chain. The vibrant red remained stagnant—perhaps you were just tired.

Don't let anyone touch it before you do. Don't take it off. Don't trust anyone.

Strange request about a necklace. For a moment, you wondered if your sister had indulged in some unsavory acts to achieve the numbers in her bank account and the previous stone in your hands. If you put this on, would you be counted as an accomplice to robbery?

"God, you just need to go to sleep, Yn," you muttered, swiftly clicking the chain into place around your neck. There was no way your sister would have anything to do with—

You froze.

From the other side of your shutters, you swore you heard the sound of shuffling. It wasn't unheard-of that the leaves and tree branches knocked against your second-floor window once in a while, but there hadn't been much wind as of late.

A chill spider-crawled up your spine as you strained your ears to hear more.

When you came up with nothing, you shoved the pendant under your shirt and cleaned up the lockbox. You had an early day tomorrow, after all; sleep was dire to face Changmin.

But as you crept into bed, you couldn't help but feel as if the stone on your sternum did have a heartbeat, and that something in the dark was watching you.

#2—GHOSTS ONLY HAUNT.

YOU STEPPED FOOT ON MAGNOLIA STREET looking for signs of your sister.

The morning air was a little cooler as spring filtered into town, and it also meant that this street in particular would begin to swirl with baby pink petals from the trees of the street's namesake flowers. There weren't many people around on a Thursday morning, but the sun peered between the buildings to say hello, at least.

You were in good company.

"Hey."

"Holy shit—" you whipped around to find Changmin almost right behind you. Your heart stuttered against your ribcage, your hand flying to your sternum where the necklace was. You were still getting used to its presence.

He gave nothing away with his facial expression. Damn him.

"I didn't realize you'd be early," you breathed as you tried to get a grip on yourself. Did this guy just materialize out of thin air everywhere?

Tongue in cheek, he said, "Well, I couldn't really sleep, so I figured the morning air might freshen me up a bit. Shall we?" He gestured with his elbow and chin to the establishment to your right.

There sat the quaint, little coffee shop you'd both agreed on yesterday. This one was one of Sena's favorites. She always claimed that their blueberry scones were the best in the world.

When you didn't say anything for a little, he cleared his throat. "We don't have to, if you can't or don't want to."

You hadn't even realized you were being quiet. Thoughts had been muddled as of late. You cleared your throat and stumbled for the door. "No, we can go in."

Two cups of coffee arrived at your table seven minutes later in compostable cups and a pile of artificial sweetener packets and creamer. You straightened in your seat across from Changmin and began ripping open sweetener packets and wondering if you should have gotten something of substance to eat. (You had stared at the blueberry scones for a long minute before deciding that today was not the day you wanted to cry in front of someone, especially this someone in particular.)

Changmin moved his cup toward his side of the table but made no move to add sugar or cream, or to even drink it.

This place was so familiar to you that you knew exactly how many packets of cream and sweetener to mix in, and you gently blew a breath over the steam floating off the surface. When the liquid hit your tongue and your throat, its warmth enveloped your nerves in a warm embrace, assuring you everything was going to be okay. The emotion hit you like a freight train.

You pressed your thumb against the rear gland in your right eye and willed it away. "So uhm," you said, fanning your eyes gently as you attempted to pull yourself together in front of him, "what… what did you wanna talk about? If there was anything?"

He folded his arms over his chest while leaning back in his chair, and you thought you saw his gaze soften. "Why don't you take another sip?" His eyes went to the coffee. "It'll help."

You couldn't deny that suggestion, and you reached for your cup to take another small gulp. The breath you let out rattled.

This was a bad idea.

"Are you gonna be okay if I talk about Sena?"

You nursed the coffee cup in your hands and nodded slowly.

He eyed you for a moment, then relented. "Did she happen to leave anything that was marked for me? Before the—the accident, she said there was something she needed to tell me."

Something she needed to tell him? You racked your brain, eyes drilling into the wood grain of the coffee table between you two. The will hadn't mentioned anyone else but you. And all of the letters or notes from Sena that were given to you were all for you; the attorney would have handled the rest and mailed them off to anyone else she'd written something for.

You narrowed your eyes at him. "No, I can't think of anything. You say you were expecting something?"

The resolve in his eyes steeled over, and that little bit of softness you'd seen before disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. You couldn't read him anymore. "Yes, I have her texts."

He fished out his phone from his pocket and you pursed your lips as he maneuvered to a screen of his and your sister's last messages to each other:

sena: i think i'm going back home soon, so i'll c u then changmin: okay that's fine changmin: wait ur still over there?? i thought u left already? sena: had to talk to someone abt the thing, but it was a dead end sena: just remind me that i have something to tell u changmin: what? sena: it'll be better if i said this in person

That was all Changmin let you see.

You leaned away from his phone, head reeling more from the fact that he knew she had been out of town and knew where she was and why she was there. Never mind the fact that apparently, Sena was holding onto important information for Changmin. You couldn't care less about that.

You supposed the texts were for him to prove to you he was telling you the truth. It wasn't like you weren't telling the truth either.

"Why was Sena out of town?" You asked him. "Did she ever go on any of those study abroad trips?"

Changmin paused, then something flickered in his eyes. "I think I showed you too much."

"I think you showed me too little."

"Yn, did she tell you anything about what she needed to tell me?"

You were going to push against him for your own agenda again, but the slight pressure in his tone made you think twice. There was something urgent in his words, his expression, his body language. You couldn't tell what it was, but something about this had to have been important.

Absentmindedly, your hand rubbed the area where the pendant sat on your chest beneath the collar of your shirt, and his eyes followed for a moment before flickering back up to your eyes. "No," you told him quietly. "She didn't tell me anything."

He must have believed you, because defeat shuddered across his face, and he said goodbye to leave. He didn't even take his coffee with him. Asshole.

You told yourself it would be months before you could bring yourself to go through Sena's things, but after this morning's run-in with Changmin (because it wasn't even a session; you could hardly call it anything but a run-in because it lasted maybe ten minutes), you were determined to unlock her door and do some digging. Clearly, she was hiding more than her money and jewelry(?) from you.

Changmin… he completely ignored your questions confronting him about Sena's whereabouts and her purpose for traveling. You were getting more and more suspicious as to what your sister had been up to lately. Changmin had to be in on it, too, then. He had to be.

Sena's door took up your entire vision as you stood before it with the key in your hand.

You weren't entirely sure what you were expecting when you opened it, but it was as if she had never left. Everything was where she left it—plum-purple covers tucked beneath the mattress, vintage national park postcards hanging from fairy lights by wooden clothespins, jackets layered over the back of her desk chair. There was an empty mug on her desk with the remnants of a red lip tint on the edge, and you knew you weren't going to remember to take it out to the sink later.

The small shelf-nightstand hybrid next to her bed was filled to the brim with books and notebooks and magazines. You settled gingerly upon the edge of her bed, palms pressing against the comforter.

The room still smelled like your sister.

You took the small bottle of perfume on the nightstand and spritzed a little onto your wrist. You pressed it to your nose, letting the scent make your senses woozy. It wouldn't bring her back; it didn't smell exactly the same when it was on your skin.

You set the bottle back onto the nightstand, then lowered yourself to your knees to pull all of the books off the top shelf. You stuck your head into the empty cupboard—you weren't really sure what you were looking for.

All of the titles here were the normal things you remembered seeing her read: assorted mythologies, books on the occult and supernatural, her textbooks for anthropology and archeology. There were about a dozen and a half National Geographic magazines that you flipped through within the next two hours, as well, all of which turned up nothing of curiosity.

None of the bound books were notebooks of any kind.

You crawled over to her desk—rifled through those. Nothing. They were all school related and completely, utterly ordinary.

Disappointment weighed you down into her desk chair as you hit another dead end.

Was there nothing she could give you?

No, she's dead, you thought to yourself. You'd never known Sena to be a secretive person, especially with you—in fact, you were the quieter of the pair, and she always managed to coax the right things out of you.

Sometimes you had felt like the older sister because you handled so many of the logistics and practical things, but when the world became too scary, you could always count on running to her to feel safe again…

Safe.

Sena, were you ever safe? You were beginning to think not so much.

"Do I need to file for a restraining order?"

It was getting ridiculous how many times you ran into Changmin in the past two weeks. It was outside the advising office, on your way to the store, in the hallway outside your finance lecture. And now, he loitered in the lobby of your apartment complex with a wired earbud in one ear and the other dangling freely.

He seemed to be unfazed by your remark as he peered over at you from beneath the brim of his cap. "What if I just live here?"

"But you don't," you huffed, coming to stop right in front of him. You had a feeling you would have definitely known if he moved into this building. "What do you want from me, Changmin? I'm not going to magically lead you to my sister's secret stash of whatever. I just want to get to class."

"Then go to class," he said simply. He gestured with the phone in his hand toward the door. "I'm not here for you."

You narrowed your eyes at him. Perhaps you were being a little silly, and this was just some weird trick your brain was playing on you to make you notice him more. "Answer me something."

"Only if you answer something for me."

"This isn't a negotiation."

"Worth a shot," he said with a sigh. "What shall I answer for you?"

"You and my sister weren't dating, were you?"

He must have choked on his own spit because he coughed, furiously thumping his chest. You would have laughed if this was any other circumstance, and if you and Changmin were friends (but you weren't). He shook his head at you. "No. Your sister wasn't interested in me like that and neither was I. We were strictly colleagues."

You cocked your head to the side. Colleagues… you let that marinate. "Okay, so did she have anyone she was seeing then? Just out of curiosity." A former lover you didn't know about would make sense, something like a Bonnie and Clyde situation maybe. Or perhaps you were chasing after ghosts to get a glimpse into the past.

"Someone I suspect, but I don't have their contact," he replied, mimicking your head tilt and narrowed eyes. "If you had her phone—"

"I don't."

"Ah, a shame then."

"Do you?"

"And why would I withhold such an important item from the next of kin?" He drawled.

Changmin suddenly jolted upright from the relaxed position he stood in. It was so abrupt, it gave your heart a start. "That's my cue."

You followed after him out the front doors. "What cue? Did you hear your microwave go off or something?"

You swore to God you saw his mouth curl up in amusement. But it might have been just your imagination. He yanked his other earbud out and lifted a hand in goodbye. "Something like that! See you around."

He disappeared around the corner before you could follow after him. Plus, you really did have a lecture to get to. (Wait, did he say that she was seeing someone—?)

You sighed, wondering if you should follow him… something in the back of your mind told you it would be safer not to.

#3—MONSTERS AMONG MEN.

YOU SWORE JI CHANGMIN HAD TO BE a psychic with the amount of times he predicted your whereabouts. Every time you saw him in your vicinity, you and he shared either a verbal sparring match or stared one another down. He seemed amused by it; you were growing increasingly concerned, even if it was all just coincidence.

(There was this one time, on a Wednesday this past week, where you were the one who appeared at the anthropology department to see one of Sena's old professors. Changmin was there, as it was his major's headquarters, and shot you a curious glance. The meeting was innocent and an accident. No, you definitely weren't stalking him. Absolutely not.)

(It was interesting to consider whether both of you thought the other would lead you to something of Sena's. You were certain he knew more than he let on, and perhaps he thought the same of you… Shit, maybe you should invest in a taser.)

Additionally, the weird sounds around your apartment had increased. Sometimes when you walked around in the evenings, the hair on the back of your neck and your arms stood at attention, as if you could feel the gaze of someone or… something watching you. However, every time you turned to look, the crazier you were convinced you'd become.

It didn't help that the necklace Sena left for you kept mimicking your heart beat when you weren't paying attention. If you willed it to repeat the steady beat in the light so you could observe it up close, it would cease.

It was as if distance from your skin or touch left it without a heart to echo.

You were half certain you were losing your mind. It had to be all this stress and emotion overwhelming you.

Saturday morning, you decided to pick yourself up and go see your sister. The funeral home had called you earlier this week to say that her headstone was complete, so this would also serve as a trip to ensure everything was engraved correctly before it was placed over her grave. You dressed yourself up in a dark top and comfortable jeans, something you might be able to sit in on the grass as you lingered in her presence, even if she was dead.

Ever since you went through her things, you hadn't ventured into her room again. You thought it might preserve the way it looked, smelled, felt… preserve something of her.

Once you'd gone to the funeral parlor and management center at Elysium Memorial Park to confirm the engraving, you took a brisk walk up the hill to where you remembered Sena's plot to be. The sun peered out between clouds this morning, giving the sky a dual-toned appearance, one half a dark gray, and the other a gossamer yellow.

You started down the hill, head ducked to watch for any graves or hills so you didn't trample over other people's bodies. A bundle of flowers from the grocery store sat cradled in the crook of your arm—a bundle of pink carnations ("I'll never forget you") and dark crimson roses (mourning). You didn't often pay attention to the meaning of flowers, but you thought if you weren't able to choke anything out today, then at least they could speak for you.

Just as you neared the grave between oaks, you lifted your head, your footsteps slowing at the person who stood over your sister's grave. "You have got to be shitting me."

"Isn't it a sin to curse over someone's grave?" Changmin asked as you stopped short of where he was. There was a single stem of sunflower (adoration) seated at his feet on the bundle of earth that was Sena's resting place. "Well, I wouldn't know. That's not my expertise."

"What are you doing here?"

He gave a loose gesture with a flourished hand. "Visiting a friend. Don't leave on my account. She's your sister."

It was as if he could read your mind. You didn't count on anyone being here when you saw her, but he had a right to visit her, too. The bitterness seeping into your bones would have to be squandered for today; the universe just needed to stop making the two of you bump into each other.

You ignored the quickening pitter-patter of your heart and the necklace, and trudged over the grass to where he was.

You gently placed your bundle of flowers next to his, then straightened to stand beside him. The two of you stared at the patch in the ground in silence.

A frown etched itself onto his face, along with a crease between his brows. He seemed almost angry—at what, you couldn't tell. Not you, you hoped.

Quietly, you lowered yourself to the grass to sit down and be closer to her.

I miss you, you voiced into your head, as if you could transmit these thoughts to the dead body in the ground. I'm so… it's too much, Sena. I can't do this. I don't know what you want from me, I don't know what Changmin wants from me. The apartment is cold. Why didn't you tell me you were home all this time?

For the moment, you let your vision blur with tears.

You covered your mouth with your palm to dam the emotion inside, especially with someone else right next to you, but dignity be so fucking damned. Your body trembled with the weight of everything and beyond—you were Atlas carrying the world upon his shoulders. Pressure mounted in your cranium from how hard and freely you sobbed, your fingers pressed to your face to support your head as your tears wet the earth beneath you.

A presence lowered itself to the ground beside you, and Changmin remained politely quiet. He breathed in deeply, but you heard the slight tremble of his breath when he exhaled.

Maybe you were crying for the both of you.

After what seemed like eons, you sniffled, pawing at your puffy and reddened eyes with the sleeves of your shirt. You hadn't brought along any tissues or anything, an oversight.

You gathered your wits about you and clambered to your feet, your knees knocking together like a baby deer. Changmin still had his eyes pinned to the ground.

"Whatever the Hell you want from me," you told him hoarsely, "I don't care. Just leave me alone."

You watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. Without another word, you walked away to head back to the bus stop.

Your skin prickled when you returned home. The air was oddly… off, and a strange smell lingered in the air. It was subtle, only becoming apparent to you with deep, focused inhales. The identity of the smell eluded you and it wasn't something you were familiar with.

You kicked the front door shut behind you, and noticed that the window was ajar. Had you accidentally left that open before you left?

Strange.

You padded across the room to peer out at the street below. There sat the usual tree that occupied the space in front of your window, the one that you assumed (hoped) was the thing making all of the noises outside the past few weeks. (Because if it wasn't that, you didn't want to know what it really was.)

The thought occurred to you that you might have opened the window before you left to air out whatever smell had crept through the air vents. Yes, that made a whole lot of sense.

Settling with that explanation, you cranked the window closed slightly, only leaving a sliver so you could muffle as much of the sounds outside as possible. This part of town wasn't the noisiest, luckily, but when there were vehicles that drove by, they tended to be loud for no reason.

You sighed, settling down onto your couch with your bag. The whole rest of your day was open, and the only thing you had thought of was to go see Sena.

The feeling of eyes on you loitered on your skin like an invisible ant crawling over your body somewhere. You swiped at your neck, rubbed your arm… you couldn't identify it when you swung around to observe your own home.

This was your home, wasn't it? Why did it feel like you weren't alone in it?

You were going to go close the window—

A shadow appeared on the ledge of your window sill and you let out a scream.

The mass gnarled its teeth at the sound, pouncing at you with claws and fangs that glinted in the daylight.

You scrambled backward on the couch, toward the opposite end, your heart throwing itself up against your ribcage. "What the fuck?" You breathed, trying to figure out what in the world it was.

Bad idea. Oh, baaaad. Bad. Bad. Bad idea.

You shouldn't have stared so long; then you wouldn't have realized it had multiple rows of teeth, a face pale as a full moon, and two beady eyes narrowed into slits. Saliva dripped from its maw and down its chin as it crawled on its haunches and arms to you.

It made a guttural noise, then lunged.

You swore and fell over the arm of the couch, dragging along the lamp on the side table. You tried to move your right leg off the arm—it didn't budge. Oh god, it had its claws in your pant leg—

"Mine," it snarled, surprisingly sentient. "Master wills it so."

You kicked it in its face and managed to scramble away, clutching the lamp in front of your body as a weapon.

It ran after you, and your body leapt into instinct.

You nearly slipped as you fumbled to your feet and tipped the coffee table over the creature. "What the fuck are you—SHIT."

Wood splinters exploded as the creature smashed clear through one of the legs and went careening for you.

"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE," you begged, running for the kitchen and the block of knives in your sight.

Your knees hit the wood floor with a vengeance, and you had no time to mourn over bruised knees. You twisted around and just barely shoved the lamp between its jaws before it could enclose them around your neck—

Somebody pounded on your front door. "YN? YN!"

Familiar—that was all that went through your head. "HELP ME," you screeched, your hands growing slippery from the slobber. Desperation filled your veins and you gave a violent shove.

Your front door bursted open, the handle banging against the opposite wall and leaving a dent.

Changmin charged into the room with a dark look in his eyes, a swear on his tongue. "You're the little weasel who's been fucking with me."

The creature shifted his attention to Changmin. "Your Disgrace," it gave a mocking bow.

That seemed to be his ticker.

You couldn't comprehend what happened—only an exchange of blows, a blur of body mass—Changmin brawled with the creature on your floor and you dragged yourself behind the kitchen counter to hide. You reached for a knife from the knife block up above and pulled your knees to your chest, the sounds of snarling and wood breaking and bones cracking—then—complete silence.

You slapped a palm over your mouth, eyes going toward the ceiling to pray to anyone who could hear you.

This was when you died. The creature had killed Changmin and now it was coming back to finish what it started.

You held your breath with your eyes wide open. You strained your ears. The sound of a sigh met your ears, one that was oh-so familiar to you.

"Shit," came Changmin's voice. "Yn. Yn? Yn, where…?"

He rounded the counter, his hair sticking up in different directions and a large tear at the top of his shirt, but other than that, he seemed no worse for wear. He eyed the knife pointed outward at him, and he showed you his palms as if placating a rattlesnake. "Woah, hey, it's okay. It's gone now."

Your body trembled from head to toe with all of the pent up fear and adrenaline. You shook your head, your hand still clapped over your mouth to keep your screams or cries in.

Changmin lowered himself to your level slowly. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise, it's gone and you're okay now. Let's put the knife down."

You slowly, slowly brought your extended hand down, letting the blade point toward the ground and away from the man in front of you. "What—" you choked, "—what was—who are—"

His facial features arranged into something short of stress. "It's a long story…" He roughed a hand through his bangs. "That thing back there? Yn, that was a demon."

You blinked.

He exhaled sharply. "I'm a demon."

"Don't fuck with me."

"You think I'm fucking with you?"

Your free hand clutched at the pendant around your neck. "You—you don't look like that thing though."

He gave a nod. "Right, I don't. I'm… a different kind of demon." When you remained quiet, he prodded, "You're not going to fight back? You're not gonna tell me you're going crazy?"

"Oh, I know I'm going crazy," you nodded vigorously, wiping away the snot that dribbled down your nose inelegantly. He reached over the counter to grab the roll of paper towels and slide it over to you in an act of (rare) kindness. Your head made contact with the cabinet behind you. "Is the carcass lying on my living room floor, Changmin? Tell me it is not lying on my living room floor."

"It's not."

"Then where the fuck is it?"

He licked his lips, closing his eyes. "It escaped."

"Out the window?"

"No, through a portal—"

You wheezed, and you were sure you looked half mad to him. "Oh my god, I really am off my rocker." A portal. A portal! Of course it was a portal.

He pinned you with a look. "Yn. Yn, listen to me. You're not safe here."

"No shit. I almost died two minutes ago." You saw his unimpressed expression and forced an apology out of your mouth. "Sorry. Humor is a coping mechanism. You can't just tell me demons exist without me thinking we've both gone absolutely insane."

Changmin settled into a more comfortable position on the floor, gripping onto the edge of the counter behind his head. "Yeah, your sister reacted similarly when she found out."

Everything came to a screeching halt.

"What?"

He stuck his tongue in his cheek. "Supernatural creatures exist. The ones that you read about in books and in myths and legends, and watch in silly movies and TV shows?" He gestured wide with both his arms. "They exist—we exist."

You could hear your heartbeat thundering in your ears. You swallowed. "And she… she knew this?"

A nod. "Yes. We've all been walking among you this whole time."

"What does this have to do with Sena?" What did any of this have to do with your sister? Was this even worse than you imagined it was?

He pursed his lips, exposing the little mole beneath his bottom lip for a moment. "Sena and I were… business partners. We were in the bounty hunting business, essentially."

There were words coming out of his mouth, but it was too much. All of it hit your head and fell straight to the floor, and none of it truly sank into your sense of reality.

Sena was a supernatural bounty hunter? And she died while on a case. A personal one, he said—?

"—I was coming over to show you something when I felt my trap get triggered."

"Wait, wait, wait," you cut in. "Trap?"

"I've been hunting that demon for weeks now," he explained to you, but the words were coming out slowly like he was reluctant to let them go. "It's been… avoiding me, and I tracked it to your apartment and realized what, or who, it was after." His teeth ran over his bottom lip and his eyes narrowed on you. "You're wearing it, aren't you? The pendant?"

On instinct, your hand shot up to your sternum. "How the Hell—"

"That's what Sena and I were looking for." His sharp, feline gaze remained pinned on you as you slowly lifted the chain to take the pendant out. It glistened like a fat, red ruby in the daylight. "What did she tell you about it?"

"Absolutely nothing," you said plainly. You set the knife on the ground beside you and adjusted your sitting position with a shaky exhale. "Except that I shouldn't let anyone touch it before me, that I shouldn't take it off, and to not—trust anyone."

You stiffened when Changmin reached for something in his back pocket.

"Relax, this is what I wanted to show you." He held his hands up after retrieving a cream-colored envelope from his back pocket, majorly bent and crumpled in some portions, but intact for the most part. He slid the envelope across the kitchen floor to you, and you immediately recognized your sister's handwriting.

You gingerly picked it up off the ground and inspected it. It couldn't have been forged—the way she wrote her R's were too distinct. She was so weird about always writing capital R's even if it was supposed to be lowercase.

You opened the flap and tugged out the letter inside. As you made your way down the note, it came to you that this was his evidence. This was his evidence that Sena knew him personally and that, according to past-Sena, you could trust him.

Your fingers shook as you pushed the letter back into the fold, and you shoved the envelope back over to him. "Okay," you muttered. "What now?"

Something akin to relief washed over his face. "She didn't tell you anything about the pendant? Nothing?"

You shook your head, fondling the stone between your fingers. "No. I found it in the lockbox she left for me with cash and a small note."

"Lockbox?" He perked up. "Are you certain there wasn't anything else in there? Not a second stone or a second necklace? Nothing?"

Your eyebrows furrowed in thought, and you pressed your thumb and forefinger to your closed eyes when they began to sting from dehydration. "No. It was just those three things I mentioned earlier. Why?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," you said. "I am absolutely sure. You don't think I turned that thing upside down?"

Changmin stood up and began to pace around his side of the kitchen, his head buried in his two palms. "Oh fuck," you heard his muttered swear.

"What is it?"

He rubbed his hands down his face, and it reset him to that careful blankness from before. "Do you trust me?"

"No," came your automatic answer.

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Your sister was after something important before she died. She—she was supposed to update me about it when she got back, but she never did." He carded a hand through his hair again. "It could reveal to us more about what happened. Didn't she mention anything about how important this was?"

He wasn't wrong, unfortunately. Sena wrote it plainly in her final note to you about how important this necklace was, and keeping it with you. You supposed you could dash out any thought that she stole this from a bank or jewelry store… a mortal one, at least.

What the fuck was this thing made of?

You enclosed your fist around the stone. "So what are you saying?"

"We need to finish what she started." He considered something for a moment, then added, "And you're not safe here."

Something panged in your chest. "I'm not teaming up with you."

Changmin took a couple steps toward you and from this distance, there was an unmistakable ferocity in his gaze. "I would agree with you, but unfortunately, if I want answers and the pendant, then I'm stuck with you."

Your blood pressure spiked. "You're such an ass."

"Ass or not," he drawled, "you can stay here and risk that cretin coming back for you, or you can come with me, and we can figure out what the Hell happened to your sister."

Your bones, your joints—everything ached as you clambered to your feet. God, you were tired. A grave sort of determination trickled into your mind, though, at the thought of getting away from this. It didn't seem like there was much other choice anyway.

#4—SURVIVE THE NIGHT.

IT WAS LATE WHEN THE CAR pulled into the motel parking lot. Your ass was on fire from the long drive, and your mind hazy from sleep deprivation. Fear kept you awake for the entirety of the eight hour trek between home and nowhere. You would have worried about Changmin in the driver's seat, but considering you found out he was a supernatural being literally eight hours ago, your worries consoled themselves.

"This was the best out of the selection," he murmured, barely audibly, as he put the car in park. The glow from the motel lights was the only light for miles, and the red-violet from the neon sign washed over Changmin's sharp side profile like a grungy teen thriller show.

A yawn stretched out of you and you reached for your seatbelt. "Wasn't complaining."

He sent you a pointed look. It was a silent "Really?" You pointedly ignored it.

The two of you clambered out of the car and you massaged your back and butt with reprieve. Your hand reached for the red ruby settled beneath the fabric of your T-shirt, the warm stone solid and present between your fingers. Changmin slammed his side of the car closed as he slung his bag over his shoulder, and you were swift to follow his lead.

Your fingers drummed against the side of your pants just as the main office came into view. There was someone seated behind the front desk with her head buried in her phone and Candy Crush on the screen. You and Changmin walked up to the counter and her head flicked upward.

Her eyes darted between you two and something or other clicked in her head. "Room for two?" She droned, already clacking away on her computer screen.

"Yes please," you sighed. You knew there was no way you were getting around her assumptions.

She smacked the gum in the side of her cheek, twirling around in her chair to reach for a key on the wall behind her. "It'll be thirty bucks," she said, sliding the key across the counter, "and we don't have condoms."

You and Changmin both coughed, heat rushing to your face. "None needed," he muttered as he slid a twenty and ten dollar bill over to her.

You collected the key and checked for the room number. Sleep crept into the corners of your eyes again and they were starting to sting from dehydration.

Changmin eyed you from his peripheral vision and nodded his silent thanks to the girl. He swept an arm loosely around your shoulders to guide you back out to the night beyond the main office. The room you were assigned was on the second floor of a building just a little ways down the complex. It was outfitted with a single queen-sized bed and bathroom, and the lights fortunately worked well enough. You couldn't decide if it was a good thing that you were too tired to assess the cleanliness of this room, but you made a beeline for the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower," you announced, already closing the door.

The last thing you heard was his grunt from the other side.

You dumped your backpack on the lid of the toilet then braced your forearms on the sink counter. The lights in here were a dull gray and made you look sickly in the mirror. Dark bags hung beneath your pinkened eyes—the receptionist probably thought you were drunk or high. Exhaustion hit you like a bus, your limbs sluggish and heavy.

So much had happened in the past 48 hours.

You ripped the shower curtain back and fiddled around with the shower until cold water spouted from the top.

Changmin was a demon. He was Hellspawn. You'd messed around with the idea of him being a pain in the ass before, but you never expected his demon-ness to be true.

When the water warmed as much as it could, you stepped beneath its drizzle. The ruby pendant from your sister sat on your sternum, safe and warm, and you watched it pulse with a glowing scarlet beneath the stream of water.

Your sister.

A few weeks ago, you watched her body lowered into a ditch in the ground. A little before that, you were told her death had been an accident. Now, you were on the run.

From who or what? You weren't completely sure. That was what Changmin was here for. Well, technically he was here for the necklace your sister left with you, but after what happened at your apartment that caused the two of you to go on the run, here you and the necklace were. Plus, the note your sister left explicitly instructed that the necklace be kept with you—on you. (You still weren't too certain of anything.)

When your fingers began to prune, you reluctantly stepped out of the shower to slip on a new set of clothes from your backpack. You went through the motions of getting ready to sleep, too, mind fuzzy and unable to make sense of anything.

You wrestled down a sigh and desire to cry. You were tired, for fuck's sake, you were so tired.

But when you opened the bathroom door, flicking the light off, you paused. The room was dark.

Your breath hitched in your throat and the hair on the back of your neck stood at attention. Heart pounding, you took a step into the main room.

"Chang—" A palm closed around your mouth, another cupping the back of your head.

Panicpanicpanic—

A warm breath by your ear. "Calm down. It's just me." Changmin.

Fucking Hell.

You found his eyes as yours grew more accustomed to the dark. His head twisted over his shoulder to the window by the door where you could see silhouettes walking past, silent and stalking.

"Someone's here," he exhaled as he slowly removed his hand from over your mouth. His dark bangs hung in his eyes, his mouth set in a firm line. "They can sense the pendant, I think."

Your heart thundered against your ribcage—ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom—

Changmin's head whipped back toward you and he fished something out of his pocket. He reached for your hand, closing your fingers around something cold and metal. "Slowly put your backpack down and barricade yourself in the closet over there," he instructed quietly, finger pointing in the direction of the sliding doors just to your left. "If it comes to it, use the knife, Yn."

You bit your tongue to keep your breathing as steady as possible. Your hands shook around the switchblade he'd passed to you, and under his sharp eyes, you carefully lowered your bag to the ground without making as much noise as you could. Then, with his go-ahead, you crept as quietly as possible toward the closet.

Just as you reached for the slot in the door, all Hell broke loose.

The window shattered open, the door kicked off its hinges. Your entire body tensed as you dropped to the floor behind the bed, clutching the knife in front of you.

Changmin swore, nice and loud.

Shadows pummeled him to the ground until he was tangled in darkness, like nightmares brought to life. You saw a flash of claws in your view, your scream caught in your throat.

"You."

A blur of shadow whisked across your vision and your eyes went wide.

The creature crawled over the bed and pounced toward you—you rolled away from him, blade held out in front of your body. Oh, there was an awful wave of déjà vu coming over you.

"You are a difficult being to find, pet," the creature hissed. You were beginning to make out its features now—dagger-like eyes, claws that could easily rip flesh apart like cloth, and a maw of knives for teeth. Shit straight out of nightmares.

It cocked its head at you, crouching on the floor a few feet away. Why hadn't it attacked you yet?

"Curious," its scratchy voice croaked. "The master will be pleased when the asset is brought home to her."

The asset? It must have meant the necklace.

You heard a snarl from your right, and in horror, noted the thick, dark liquid splattered all over Changmin's clothes and body. When he snarled at the demons holding him down, you spotted the gleam of fangs.

"What do you want from me?" Your voice trembled, returning back to your main problem. The necklace sat warm and present, the pulses matching your racing heartbeat.

The creature released a sound like grating metal, something akin to a laugh. "Your guardian is more dangerous than he appears," he said instead while tilting its head to the side. "Clever being, that one. Master will be pleased when we bring his rotted corpse home."

You didn't anticipate how quickly it would move. You screamed as the creature dove for you and you swung out of the way. Its claws dug into the meat of your thigh, clinging to the flesh there with all of its might.

Fear struck painfully through your chest and you desperately twisted around to stab the blade into the side of the creature's neck.

It screeched. You drew the knife out to impale it in the back area, messily splattering an arc of its black blood everywhere.

You sucked in a sob as you scrambled backward. Its body dragged along the ground from its claws still sunken into your leg. The body was limp, but your nose wrinkled from the acrid, hot smell reeking from the corpse. It smelled burnt.

You peered at the blade in your fist with new eyes. The silver glowed gold in the darkened room; you shouldn't have expected anything less. Why did you think a mortal weapon could defend you from demonic creatures?

"YN!"

Too late.

Claws sunk into the sides of your throat and trapped your voice there. You thrashed around; panic stabbed your chest. Pathetically, desperately, you reached your arm back to try and drill the blade of your knife into the creature behind you.

Hot blood squelched down your throat—you were losing feeling there. Numb numb numb—it hurt, oh fuck, you were going to die—

All at once, the pressure subsided.

Breath could only flood into your lungs as quickly as blood spilled from your throat. You were choking, eyes wide up at the ceiling.

This was it, this was it. Maybe you'd see your sister in Hell.

A face appeared above you, sweaty but familiar. Your blurry vision couldn't make out the emotions on his face, but you could hear him… boy, could you hear him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he cursed, rustling around and adjusting his position above your body.

His rough palms cupped your face. You could hear your heartbeat slowing in your ears. Ba-boom… ba-boom… ba… boom.

"Stay with me," he panted. His left hand pressed against that side of your neck to staunch the blood flow. He sucked in a breath and he ducked out of your view.

You felt a different wet sensation over your open wound. His tongue was rough, yet soothing as he lapped and sucked on the gouge in your throat. Feeling sparked in that area; you could feel your skin physically stitching itself together. If you could squirm, you would have.

He was swift to switch to your other side and copy those actions there. He groaned low against your skin, one hand cupping the side of your head to hold you in place.

Oxygen rushed through your lungs and you gasped. You tore your neck away from his mouth to dry retch. Blood dripped from the side of your lips to the dusty carpet. You had been asphyxiating on your own life force.

You flopped back onto your back, tears rolling down your cheeks as you gestured wildly at the steaming demon carcass still attached to your thigh. "Ple-please," you whimpered. "Please, get it off."

Changmin crawled onto his arms, sliding down toward your leg. "Yeah, sweetheart. I got it."

He looked up at you as he dug his fingers into the creature's skull, ready to pry the thing's claws from you. Something dark was smudged over his face—his nose, cheeks, across his eye. "It's gonna hurt," he warned, voice hoarse.

You moved your head in a microscopic nod.

Tears pricked at your vision, and your leg screamed. Blood filled your mouth even more from the force you used to clamp down on your tongue. Changmin was swift, but gentle as he removed each claw from your thigh, then tossed the body somewhere behind him. He lowered his face to your leg to carefully lap at your wounds like he'd done before.

When he was done, he flopped onto the floor with you, his sigh filling the awful silence.

You could feel everything. It was pulsing all over your body. Your skin, threading together, tingled and ached and throbbed. Your cheeks were damp with tear tracks and your fingers finally loosened their grip on the switchblade. Your mouth was coated in the metallic iron taste of blood.

The only familiar feeling was the pendant on your sternum. The bane of your existence.

"So you have magic spit?" You croaked, your voice scratchy from your sore and bruised throat.

You heard his huff, the closest thing you'd ever heard to a laugh from him. "It's regenerative," he exhaled deeply.

You snorted, then winced when it hurt.

If you could look up, you would've seen the corner of his lips twitch.

"Are you sure you're not a vampire?"

You heard a soft shuffling sound as he clambered upright to lean against the wall. His head thumped against it, eyes fluttered closed. "I don't drink blood, sweetheart."

"I didn't say you drank it."

You grimaced as you struggled to swallow. Reality was swooping in on you like a vulture above a carcass. Doom swirled in your stomach—you almost died just now. You choked on a sob, and you reached up to your face to brush away your tears.

Oh god, everything hurt.

"I want to go home," you whispered. It wasn't even to Changmin, just to whoever could hear you. Homehomehome, but where was home? They could find you anywhere.

A beat passed.

"I'm sorry." Changmin's head hung, either out of exhaustion or genuine regret. "I promised your sister I wouldn't get you involved."

You still couldn't move your head much, so you kept your gaze on the speckled ceiling. "What?"

"I have… had sisters."

You didn't hide your surprise. You didn't think you would ever get anything personal out of this guy, let alone the fact he had family. But his confession planted a seed of sympathy in you… maybe he was human before, or maybe he wasn't at all, but he had family. That had to count for something.

He released another haggard sigh. "So that was one of the few things we could agree on—keeping you out of this unless necessary."

Necessary. You should have never put on the necklace, should have never touched the cursed thing. Now, you were literally chained to it and its fate.

He went quiet again and you could hear your heartbeat in your ears. You thought he was going to say something else, but instead, he rose to his feet. Taking slow, careful steps, he made his way over to your body.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," he murmured as he tucked his hands under your armpits to haul you upright.

You cursed under your breath at the ache and the blood rushing to your head. Your left leg was pretty much useless, and he had to cup the nape of your neck to his shoulder so you could lean on him.

"Can you walk?" He asked, his breath by your ear again.

You shook your head, pressing your mouth against the muscle of his shoulder. He smelled like demon blood, and you shifted to lean your cheek on him instead, holding in a gag at the wretched stench.

"Okay. Hold on a second."

He helped you sit down on the ledge of the bed, before going around the room to collect things. He plucked up your backpack from the floor, then his own bag, hoisting them both over his shoulders before returning to you. From your vantage, you could see all the limp demon corpses lying on the ground, unmoving. You wrestled down the bile creeping up your throat and looked away.

Changmin scooped you up in his arms with a grunt, and you looped yours around his upper body, tucking yourself into him. "We have to get out of here before someone comes to check this shit out," he said to you as he exited the room.

You gave a nod. "Aren't you tired? Hurt?" You asked, guilt and fear twisting something horrid in your chest.

"Don't worry about me."

"How could I not?"

His lips twitched. "Oh, so you care about me now?"

You closed your eyes against his shoulder. "Don't be an asshole."

"Sure, sweetheart." He made it to the car and instructed you to reach around his back to get the car key hanging from his bag strap. Changmin managed to get the car door open and deposited you in your seat. Your body molded into the material, exhaustion settling once more into your bones and joints.

In a blink, the two of you were back on the road.

Changmin carded a hand through his damp hair as he pulled out onto the barren street. You rolled your head to the side, eyes drinking him in. There were scratches over his exposed skin, barely there, but still present as if they had healed over already. His clothes were splotched and stained, as well as ripped in other places. And of course, there was the blood smeared all over his face, his neck. The bastard didn't even look fazed.

Right, demon. What did that even entail?

Your eyelids were beginning to droop, yanked down by the force of gravity and the human necessity to sleep. You didn't want to sleep though; you didn't want to be attacked a third time. Though most of the adrenaline had dissipated, your shoulders were still tense, your senses alert and unable to relax just yet.

Changmin glanced over at you briefly. "You should sleep."

You moved your head. "Can't," you rasped.

He reached over then, his palm warm against your head, as he gently brushed his thumb over your eyelids to coax them closed. "You're safe with me, Yn," he promised. You were reluctant to believe him, but after what just happened, at least you knew he could take care of himself and you.

Sleep was already coaxing you into its jaws to devour you, and the pendant under your shirt pulsed to a steady beat to encourage your descent. "Morning will come soon."

All you could do now was trust him.

#5—THE ANGEL BLADE.

THE DINER OFF THE INTERSTATE was like the ones from the movies: red, vinyl seats that squelched when you scooted over them; blind fluorescent lights that flickered every time a fly died against them; people minding their own business as they hunched over grainy coffee and burgers that looked a little too good to be true. You sat across from Changmin, hands laced over the white table surface while he had his arms braided over his chest.

Another eight hours had passed since the motel. You'd found a rest stop to clean up and change clothes on the way, but when you could no longer deny your need for food, Changmin made the executive decision to feed the monster that was your stomach. Executive decision meant he was driving you somewhere to eat something so you wouldn't pass out from stubborn, self-induced hunger.

You're not gonna die if you want fries and chicken tenders, Yn, he'd said with a roll of his eyes.

Easy for him to say. He wasn't the target of every other supernatural being within a fifty mile radius. Perhaps by association, but still.

It was fascinating what a few hours of rest and magical demon saliva could do to help the human body. All of your wounds had pretty much closed up—albeit a tad sore, but nothing as awful as the pain you were in when being clawed in the moment. It was even more fascinating how alive Changmin looked despite literally not being alive. And the fact he hadn't slept a wink within the past day at least.

You, on the other hand, looked like a dumpster fire. Your hair was a bird's nest, eye bags more expensive than Louis Vuitton. Your stomach gave another whining growl; you'd ordered not five minutes ago with a middle-aged woman in too-bright red lipstick and a blue collared dress uniform.

"Are you sure you're not like, a vampire?"

His face dropped into a deadpan you'd seen before. "Oh my God."

"You can say His name?"

Your lips curled into a self-indulgent smile at the way he rolled his eyes so hard, he could probably see his brain back there. (If he had one.) "Sorry."

"You're not sorry," he said, eyebrow arching. "Do you have any real questions?"

Your hands shifted to your lap as your gaze moved to the window next to you. The sky was an ugly, sickly shade of gray-green. It reminded you of the lighting from the first Twilight movie, and you gagged at the thought. The bright red and neon of the diner clashed horridly with the sky, too. All of it was a little disconcerting.

Back in the car, when Changmin was first introducing you to the real world, he'd given you the short version of the supernatural who lived amongst oblivious humans. He hadn't gotten down to the nitty-gritty, just the shit he needed you to know so he could justify hauling you across the state, and to understand all the supernatural creatures after the little pendant resting beneath your shirt collar.

Two mugs of coffee were set onto your table, the dark liquid sloshing over the sides to stain the white below it.

You reached for your mug first, gently cooling it down with a breath. When you took a sip, gingerly, you grimaced. You somehow managed to wrestle the liquid down, but the searing bitterness was enough to make you push the cup away and reach for the sugar packets at the end of the table.

Changmin watched you in amusement, tongue poking the inside of his mouth.

You narrowed your eyes at him as you ripped a Stevia packet open. "What're you laughing at?"

"M'not laughing," he shrugged. He picked up his cup of coffee, clinked it against yours for good measure, then chugged the cup of shit in one sitting.

You watched in ill-concealed disgust, horror, and… maybe you were a little impressed.

When he set the drained cup on the table, he wiped his smug mouth with a napkin from the aluminum dispenser.

It was your turn to deadpan. "Show off," you muttered, stirring your artificial sweetener into the dark brown brew.

He shrugged again. "What? Like it's hard?"

"Oh my god, you can be funny."

Your chicken tenders arrived. Steam wafted from them and you closed your eyes to inhale the beautiful smell. Happiness on a plate, you liked to think.

Changmin thanked the waitress who had also delivered him a plate of blueberry pancakes. He eyed you quietly as you inhaled the food on your plate, despite the dull throbbing in your throat.

You caught his gaze, stopping mid-tender. "Want some?" You asked after swallowing the bite, gesturing to your fries.

He shook his head and began buttering up his hotcakes. "Nah. Have at it."

The two of you settled into a comfortable silence as you ate your separate meals. Changmin had told you before that demons didn't need all the typical things humans needed to "survive" or "live." Technically, since he was undead, there were only a handful of ways he could die. Eating and sleeping were necessary for human life, but they were more so preferences for him. If he wanted to eat, he could eat. If he wanted to close his eyes and dream, he could try.

The thought had you waving a fry at him. "The switchblade," you began, drawing his attention and pancake-stuffed cheeks, "what was it? It definitely wasn't something human-made."

Changmin swallowed his bite. "It was an angel blade."

"You're kidding," you drawled in disbelief.

He challenged your stare. "Believe it or not, it was. Forged up there." He lifted the prongs of his fork up toward the ceiling, shaking his bangs out of his eyes.

Your jaw dropped. "So the Big Man Upstairs does exist?"

"I mean, I don't really know. I've never met him if he does. I just know the angels are ruled by the Seraphim," he told you. "Lots of hierarchical bullshit I didn't care to pay attention to."

He impaled another piece of pancake. "Angel blades are one of the few things that can kill a creature like that."

"A demon?" You asked.

"Yes. Lower level demons are easier to kill, especially with a blade like the one I gave you." He shoved the bite into his cheek to continue, "That's why I was able to take on multiple at once."

You made a noise of indignation. "So you're telling me you're a higher level demon?"

His shoulders fell in a half-hearted shrug.

"Helpful," you muttered as you washed your meal down with bittersweet coffee. You paused for a moment, cleaning your fingers off with a napkin. "The… the licking thing."

Changmin's eyes could not meet yours. "Mhm."

"Do you… do you do that often?"

"No," he said curtly. "That party trick only works on humans and I don't really enjoy the taste of blood."

You pursed your lips at his rather clipped response. "Oh." You recalled the sound he'd made as he cleaned your blood up with his tongue at the motel… maybe it was something out of disgust. You suddenly felt out of place, like you had made his shoulders tense up and the air crackle. You racked your brain. "I—thanks, by the way."

With a cough, he murmured, "Welcome. Couldn't have you dying on me."

You nursed your coffee cup, reaching up to absentmindedly fondle the pendant under your shirt. "Yeah."

"Have you ever met an angel?"

The car was quiet as Changmin peered over his shoulder to switch lanes, the blinker tick-tocking away until it was turned off. "Yeah."

You stared out the front windshield to count the white colored cars on the highway amongst you. "What're they like?"

"They're like every other species," he said, unenthused. "Some are more asshole-ish than others. You'll find good ones and bad ones." A sigh. "The ones I've met have largely been the latter though."

"Oh." You weren't sure if you were disappointed by that answer.

The diner had been less than half an hour ago and you were back on the road again. Yours and Changmin's ETA to your sister's safehouse was supposedly another five or so hours. You couldn't believe she owned safehouses. For fuck's sake, she lived with you for majority of the time before she went to study abroad… she probably wasn't even abroad all those times, you realized anxiously.

It was like he could sense your change in mood from bored curiosity to tense overthinking. He dug around in the pocket of his pants and handed you the pommel of the switchblade from the motel. Angel blade, he'd called it.

You glanced at him in question, but he only pushed it into your palms.

"Get comfortable with it," he said. "It's a decent size as far as angel blades goes, since those fuckers don't really like to give them up. It's good for self defense."

The blade looked like something one could buy at a gift shop, slim with some heft, painted a shiny white color. There was no logo on it, but if you looked at it from the right angle, it shimmered. You unlocked it and let the blade whip out of the slot. The blade was shaped like any other box cutter you've seen before, but the underside had a serrated edge for extra ease in slicing through tougher materials. Your finger ghosted over the glowing metal, silver warming to a yellow-orange, but only if you didn't blink in the daylight.

You killed a demon with this. The blade burned the creature.

"How'd you get this if they don't like giving these up?" You asked as you figured out how to put the blade back into its sheath.

His fingers drummed against the wheel. "Won it in a poker game," he said.

Your eyebrows lifted. "Seriously?"

You swore there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Seriously."

With nothing better to do, you flicked the blade in and out, in and out. You'd only ever really held blades in the kitchen and when opening packages. "Do you have a name for it?"

"A name?"

"Yeah," you said, shifting slightly in your seat as an ache crept into your spinal cord, "y'know like the fantasy books where they name their blades." You inspected the switchblade again, rotating it in your hands. "Looks like a Clyde."

Changmin let out a huff from his nose. "Clyde?"

"What? Got any better ideas?"

"How about we don't name dangerous utilities for murder," he drawled.

"I can't believe you didn't just say 'weapons.'" When he didn't answer you, you made an indignant little noise you hoped annoyed him and admired the angel blade in your hand in a new light. Clyde. Hi, Clyde. You're pretty.

"Don't tell me you're communicating with it," he said to you.

You ran your finger over the flat side again with a fond smile—just to annoy him. "It doesn't give me lip."

A sigh. He tended to do that a lot. "How's your neck?"

Your hand lifted to your throat and massaged it lightly. "It's doing alright. Does it still look bruised?"

You tilted your neck so he could take a good look at it. He eyed the span of flesh there, his dark irises taking on a strange tint. The corner of his mouth curled downward as he turned his focus back to the road. "Yeah."

"It doesn't hurt as bad anymore, if that's any better."

"I guess," he grumbled. "Humans are so fragile."

"Hey man," you huffed, "is it my fault that I don't have magic spit or my skin doesn't heal fast—"

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's not magic spit. That's just how human biology reacts to demon saliva." Changmin tapped the back of his hand on the steering wheel as a vague gesture.

You shifted in your seat to look at him and so that you could take pressure off one side of your back. "I have a question. Why does demon saliva have healing properties when usually lore says that you guys are opposite in nature? Actually, that kind of sounds prejudicial," you thought aloud.

"It is prejudicial," he replied. "Well, mostly. It depends on the demon, but we're just like any other species. It's just that most pop culture depicts us as evil. Demons and vampires are derivations of each other in that—"

"So you are a vampire!"

He didn't even try to counter you this time. "Both species have saliva that can heal wounds, not large wounds, but you can probably imagine that vampires use it to seal puncture marks post-meal."

That made sense to you. "But why do demons need it?"

"Human blood…" he trailed off for a moment as he narrowly missed a car zooming past, his glaring eyes trailing after them, "...is like our saliva. It regenerates us. It's kind of like an energy drink, so it's not a necessity, but more so like a luxury or privilege."

You swallowed and you could've sworn you heard a soft huff from his mouth like a laugh. The thought of your blood being like an energy drink for him—and he'd literally licked your wounds clean at the motel that night. Was that how he was able to heal so quickly? It was a marvel he hadn't drunk you dry. But then again, he'd also said blood wasn't his taste…?

"Are you sure you don't like human blood?" You asked, sounding like a broken record, but more apprehensively this time.

"Sweetheart, you really think you'd still be here if I did?"

Touché.

Out of the corner of your eye, you caught Changmin stiffen. His hands tightened the slightest amount around the steering wheel, his eyes darting from the front windshield to the rearview mirror.

"What?" You asked, taking a look through the side mirror on your side. "What's wrong?"

Changmin's face washed over in a careful blankness. "We're being followed."

Your whole body tensed and you had to physically restrain yourself from twisting around in your seat. "What?"

"Hey, stay calm." He flicked his turn signal on casually as he exited off the freeway.

"Why are you telling them where we're going?!" He was literally signaling to whoever was following you exactly your next move.

"Just because we're on the run, doesn't mean we shouldn't follow basic driving safety."

You sent him a very emboldened stink eye. "Out of all the times, you choose now to have a sense of humor and to be an upstanding citizen?" Where was this during the entire road trip thus far?

Changmin made no other comments as he turned right onto the street leading further away from the freeway. You sat quietly for a moment, monitoring the cars behind you from your side mirror. Your knee started bouncing as you took note of the white sedan following behind, not tailgating, but its intentions were clear enough where even you could pick it out.

"What're we gonna do?" You murmured.

Changmin glanced over at you briefly. "We're gonna be fine. We just have to lose them."

"No shit."

"And you say I give you lip?"

Without any forewarning, Changmin jerked the car to the left, practically zooming across the intersection to catch the yellow light. Your whole body sailed across the center console, and before you could give him a piece of your mind, he was sending you crashing into your doorway from another sharp turn. You glared daggers at him, but turned to peer out your window.

The white car was still following after you. They must have run the red light then.

Changmin's sharp eyes sliced across the rearview mirror, and his foot lowered on the gas pedal like a challenge. His eyes whipped back and forth for somewhere he could go next, brain working double the speed. "Hold onto something, sweetheart."

"I don't think that would—HELPPP!" You sputtered and yanked on the handle above the door, hugging yourself to that side of the car.

You could hear the tires of Changmin's car burn rubber and squeal as he zigzagged through streets. You were pretty sure half of this was residential, you thought as the landscape blurred past.

"Do you even know where—" You swore as your body flailed around from another one of his god awful swerves, "—we are?"

He shook his head and floored the gas. "Nope."

Great.

It was about fifteen minutes of this supposed drag racing before his driving finally began to even out. You were seconds from hurling up diner food when you realized…

"Where the fuck did the trees come from?" You asked, lowering your tense form from the door handle.

You pressed your nose against the window to gawk up at the towering trees on your side of the vehicle, all dark green and beautiful. A light fog clung to some of the leaves, making the sunlight streaming through them look like golden strands of gossamer. The road you drove on held to the side of the mountain, but from what you could tell, Changmin had officially lost the white sedan.

Changmin visibly relaxed. "You might wanna pull up a GPS."

You reached over to your phone in the cupholder. But you pretty much tossed it right back. "No bars. Where did you take us?" You didn't even realize there was so much forest in this area. How come you hadn't seen it from the highway?

He gave a sigh, raking a hand through his hair. "Shit."

The car sunk into silence. Changmin could do nothing else but follow the road until you hit civilization or some kind of sign as to where you two were. You hadn't been in this part of the state before, so it wasn't like you could point out any landmarks. But as you both continued along, you settled into a sort of calm—the trees here were beautiful, untouched by man. Even from inside the car, you could feel the serenity.

Your finger pressed down on the button on your door to lower the window. You stuck your head out, hair flowing behind you. With a great inhale, your mouth broke into a smile. It smelled just as gorgeous as it looked. Fresh and clean and—

"You've got to be shitting me."

You pulled yourself back into the car and raised the window back up. "What?"

Changmin's mouth was set in a firm line, a dimple pressing deep into his cheek. "Wolves."

Your brows knitted together. "Huh?"

"We're in wolf shifter territory."

Just as he said this to you, the car rounded the side of the bend and revealed a large green sign that read: WELCOME TO MOONSTONE CREAK! Population 276.

The sign following it did not make you feel any better: CAMPERS! BEWARE OF WOLVES.

#6—BEWARE OF WOLVES.

AT THE FIRST SIGN OF WOLVES, you sunk low in your seat. You'd made eye contact with one of the furry creatures hidden in the brush, their sharp predator eyes narrowing at the sight of a foreign entity in their woods.

"By wolf shifters," you said quietly, holding onto Clyde in your lap, "you mean like… werewolves?"

Changmin's eyes stayed on the road ahead, but every once in a while, you would catch him scanning the forest, too. "Those aren't the same things. Werewolves are the things you read about in lore, half-man and half-wolf. Wolf shifters can change completely from man to wolf and vice versa."

"Oh." Well, that cleared some things up. "I'm guessing they don't take kindly to trespassers?"

He bit his lip. "I mean, it depends on the pack. If my hunch is right about where we are though, we shouldn't have to worry."

You gulped. "And if you aren't?"

"Well, I told you to get used to that angel blade, right?"

The trek further into the forest and mountains continued. The scenery around you was still as stunning as it was before, and you thought to yourself how dangerous a beautiful thing could be. Every time you peeked out of the car window, you saw a flash of something in the woods beyond the road. There had to be a reason why they hadn't attacked the car yet, right? If this was a pack of wolves who didn't like trespassers, then why were you and Changmin still alive?

Maybe they wanted you in a place where there was no chance of outsiders hearing you scream…

Your intrusive thoughts were getting to you.

There was a dead end, a near broken road sign and fence directing all passers-by that this was the end. Changmin was forced to take the off-road path, beaten into the dirt as it wound through the forest. If you didn't have signal up on the main road, you definitely would not have any here.

It was a few more minutes of traveling down the path that two wolves appeared before the car. Changmin brought the vehicle to a slow halt. The wolves were relatively large, spanning about six feet and about as tall as the bottom rim of the car door window. One of the wolves had black hair like a raven, and the other had hair like a field of grain.

Your heart stuttered in your chest as the wolves stared right at you. "Changmin…?"

He met their staring contest with little intimidation. "It's… it's fine. I think they recognize me."

After a moment, the two wolves broke their strange staring contest and trotted off to the side of the road. They were back so quickly, you almost didn't realize what had happened. Like magic, they had transformed into two toned young men, both nicely built with their lean upper body on display. They must have had a strategic stash of shorts hidden behind a tree for after they shifted to their human forms. One had cropped black hair, the other blond. Well, at least that made sense.

Changmin slumped in his chair, relieved. The corners of his mouth curled upward in an almost-smile, as the two wolf shifters came over to greet him at his window.

The brunette bent his head down to the window with a broad smile, the kind that made your stomach fill with butterflies. (Not to mention the eyeful of abs you and Changmin were getting…) He leaned his arms over the top of the car window, eyes flickering from the demon to you. "Long time no see, Changmin. Who's your friend?"

"That's Yn," your demon guardian said, clasping one of the man's hands in greeting. He reached for the second wolf shifter. "Haknyeon, nice to see you, too."

"Good to see you, Changmin" said the blond.

Oh, so he knew them.

Changmin gestured to the two men. "Yn, this is Kevin and Haknyeon. They're with the pack."

"Not that we're unhappy to see you," Kevin drawled, "but how did you find us?"

Okay, wait. If Changmin knew them, then why wouldn't he know the location of their pack? You sat quiet, waiting for someone to explain it to you… or just explain everything to you.

"Someone was following us and I lost them," Changmin told them, "but I managed to get us lost, too. Coincidence that we ended up here. I'm glad it's you guys and not another pack."

Kevin's eyebrows flew up. "Yeah, for sure. Well—" he turned his head up toward the treetops and scanned the skies. They were beginning to bruise like your skin as the sun sank somewhere amongst the trees and into the horizon. You hadn't even realized how dark it was starting to get. "—sun's already pretty low right now. Why don't you guys shack up with us tonight and then we'll help you out in the morning?"

"That would be great actually." Wow, really? You kept your surprise at bay. "Lead the way."

With no further discussion needed, Kevin and Haknyeon disappeared behind the same large tree trunk from before, then re-emerged as the wolves from before. Kevin, the one with black colored fur, pointed with his snout in the direction the path would take you. The two wolves began to trot down the path, and Changmin waited for them to get somewhat ahead before he flicked his headlights on and followed.

It was a curious act of consideration, you thought.

You watched as the wolves began to pick up speed, your eyes flickering to the speedometer. "So…" you drawled, "what the fuck just happened?"

A sharp huff, his version of a laugh. "They're old friends," he said.

"How'd you not know this was where their pack was if they're old friends?"

"I met them out of the pack," he explained. "It was somewhere in the New England area, and we just happened to be hunting the same thing."

Hunting? Oh, bounty hunter. Right. "And the—the shifting thing."

"What about it?"

You made a face of frustration. He always made you pull teeth when you wanted background information. "Everything."

He glanced at you. "I think it'd be better if one of them explained it to you. Better to have one of their own say it right than risk me getting something wrong."

That was, unfortunately, a very fair answer.

Instead of pushing on the wolf topic, you had more questions that he could answer. "So what now? Are we just gonna stay the night? Is it safe?" What if that white car found a way in here? Neither of you could see who the driver was, and so how could either of you be sure they weren't trying to perhaps get you both here? And if they also had the means to come in here without being marked as trespassers?

"It's safe," he said with such confidence that you arched your brows. He saw your expression, making a soft turn along the road as the wolves had, the pads of his fingers lifting off the steering wheel for a second in gesture. "I know what you're probably thinking, but it's safer than sleeping out in a motel off the highway, alright? Packs usually don't drive cars, and they have maybe one or two for convenience sake. They can smell trespassers from miles away, and they usually have people on watch all the time, which is how they found us so quickly."

You supposed that made sense. The forest here seemed denser, and with the quickly fading light, it made it all the more unnavigable. If you were to try to run… good fucking luck.

You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out. As the car rounded the bend, yours and Changmin's faces illuminated with the glow of light.

The town was laid out flat before you, not over a ridge, not over a mountain, but a path that led into a central meeting place with wooden buildings all around it. The lights were all from candle-lit lanterns rather than the LEDs and fluorescents of the human world. There were a mixture of both wolves and people milling about, an air of warm cheeriness that you could feel even from the car. You felt a fuzziness manifest in your chest at the sight.

Kevin and Haknyeon directed Changmin toward a back road to the right behind a row of buildings. It was most likely to avoid getting in the way of the pack members, you guessed. You kept silent as you averted your eyes from the void-like darkness of the forest beyond to your right.

Up ahead, you saw the two wolves trot into a small paved area with one other car parked along the walkway. It seemed to be like a makeshift alleyway of sorts between two blocks of buildings. With some maneuvering, Changmin managed to parallel park into the space that was just big enough for his vehicle.

When he parked, he gestures for you to follow his lead and get out of the car. "You should be safe to come out with me. We'll probably meet the pack alpha and get everything settled—" His head tilted to the side, "—hopefully."

Your eyes shuttered. "Hopefully?" You echoed. Pack alpha? What the fuck did that entail? From what you remember in the books and shows, you thought to yourself as you clambered out of the car and stretched your sore limbs, wolf packs had an alpha that would lead everyone. You weren't sure if you would have to go through some kind of cult initiation or something to be granted permission to stay the night.

The angel blade sat tucked into the pocket of your pants along with your phone, and you slammed your car door shut. From here, you could peer down the alley and see out into the glowing atmosphere of the town center. It sounded like fun, actually—all of the chatter and laughter. You hadn't been anywhere so lively-sounding in awhile.

"Yn right?"

You startled a little, whirling around to find the brunette—Kevin was his name—smiling at you sheepishly. He was back in human form with a pair of shorts and a plain white T-shirt on. "Sorry I snuck up on you," he said.

"Oh, it's totally fine!" You laughed bashfully, smoothing a hand down your hair. "And yes, I'm Yn. You're Kevin, right?"

Man, he was so much prettier up close…

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, it's nice to meet you. Changmin says this is all pretty new to you." He gestured loosely to the world around him, an all encompassing notion to the entire world you had just unearthed beneath your nose.

Your eyes darted behind Kevin where Changmin and Haknyeon were gathered on the other side of the car, pulling yours and Changmin's bags out the backseat. Changmin caught your eyes, lifted his eyebrows, then returned to his conversation.

So he was just gonna leave you in the hands of the very handsome wolf shifter? Cool.

"Yeah, it's kind of a crazy story," you mused. Understatement of the century. "Thanks for taking us in, by the way.

"It's no worries," he chirped. "Changmin and us? We go back pretty far, I'd like to think."

"Oh, cool! He mentioned something about that… and something about meeting the pack alpha?"

Kevin's eyes flickered to something behind you, and you turned around to see what or who it was on instinct. "It's nothing to stress about—he's coming this way, actually."

You felt his hand, warm and large, gently settle between your shoulder blades to guide you toward the two men making their way down the alley toward you both.

One of them… well you could feel the subtle shift in the air. It was as if molecules in the air moved for him. He boasted a powerful sort of stature, with dark hair parted neatly to frame a carved face. For a moment, you didn't know if you were supposed to bow or something, but then he smiled, and you nearly fell over from that alone. He wasn't so scary once he smiled.

The man next to him was a lighter brunette with a cheery expression engraved onto his face as if that were his default setting. There was something about him, however—you thought he glowed a little in the dim light. The angel blade in your pocket seemed to warm slightly at the sight of him.

(So was everyone just super attractive in the supernatural world?)

"Changmin-ah," greeted the man with darker colored hair. He clasped his hand with Changmin's in greeting. "It's been awhile."

"It has," your demon counterpart agreed. "Thanks for taking us in on such short notice. I wouldn't have intruded had I known."

The man brushed the thought away. "It's okay, really. Nice to have a couple new faces around."

"Speaking of new faces," drawled the second man. He beamed a pretty smile your way, waving. "Hi, little one."

Something warm blossomed in your chest. "Hi," you said softly. You weren't certain of etiquette—if you were expected to speak for yourself, to bow…

But it seemed Kevin had your back. He clasped his warm hand on your shoulder. "This is Yn. She came in with Changmin."

"Nice to meet you, Yn. I'm Sangyeon." This was the man with black hair, who felt like the tangible version of power. He must have been the pack alpha. He had to be.

The other man placed a hand on his chest. "And I'm Jacob!"

"We're just looking for a place to stay for the night," Changmin piped up. He tucked his hands into his pockets, eyes shifting over to yours.

"Well, why don't we head over to the pack house and we can talk about all the details of a plan," said Sangyeon. He inclined his chin in the direction of where you assumed the pack house was. Then his eyes, you watched their keen movements, latched onto Kevin's as if they were communicating silently. "Yn," you nearly jolted when you realized he was addressing you. "Kevin's gonna take you to the small inn we have here. It'll give you a little more privacy, and I'm sure you've felt pretty overwhelmed."

It didn't sound like he was asking you, but there was a warmth to his smile. You couldn't help but feel inclined to agree.

Changmin's head went on a swivel. "Wait, she's not coming with us?"

Haknyeon and Jacob were already rounding on either side of him to guide him in the opposite direction Kevin was leading you. Something in the back of your head made you turn over your shoulder to look at him. Was being separated such a bad thing?

Haknyeon suddenly tossed Kevin your backpack, the latter shouldering it.

"Come on, Yn," Kevin chirped, angling his body as he nudged you along so you could no longer see Changmin. "There's a lovely hearth in the main lobby, and the auntie who runs the place makes the best cookies ever."

You nodded slowly as your brain struggled to think of any reason why they would separate you from Changmin. And why did he sound so surprised? Your hand drifted toward the pocket that hid your angel blade. "Oh, really? That sounds nice."

They didn't drug them, did they? Your shoulders tensed at the idea.

Why did they separate you and Changmin—

The inn was the building right outside the alley with a porch that spanned the front facade. The architecture reminded you of an upscale cabin with large oak logs piled atop each other to make up the structure. A warm light emitted from the front windows and glass doors, and you swore you could smell the cookies from here.

When you and Kevin entered the building, he called out a greeting to an older woman stationed behind a reception desk in the back corner. She greeted the both of you with a cordial smile, wiggling her fingers in a wave. Her head tilted curiously at you, however, her eyes zeroing in on…

Your attention was drawn away and you were directed toward the seating area on the other side of the lobby.

"Can I get you any water or anything?" Kevin asked you as he motioned for you to take a seat in the armchair adjacent to him. He set your backpack at your feet for you.

You lowered yourself onto the edge of the seat, hand reaching for the pendant beneath your shirt—you stopped short. Could he sense the power of the pendant? Was that why they separated you from your demon bodyguard? Oh fuck—

"Hey, hey," Kevin suddenly said softly, face morphing into an expression of concern. "No need to get panicked, okay? You're safe now."

Wait. What? You wrung your hands in your lap, heart still throwing itself up against your ribcage. "Safe? What do you mean safe? Safe from what?"

Kevin considered you for a moment, but the gentleness from his voice and body language never left. "You're safe from Changmin."

"Safe from Changmin?"

"Yes," he affirmed patiently. "The bruises on your neck—"

Your hand went to cover the side of your throat where it had been pierced by the maw of a demon, but not Changmin.

"—does he feed from you? They look fresh—"

You immediately put your hands up to gesticulate in wild opposition. "Oh, no, no, no. He—he didn't feed from me; he saved my life, actually. We were attacked by other demons and I was bleeding out, and he just closed the wounds. He… he isn't, uhm… yeah."

Kevin's posture changed, and his smile became relieved—sheepish even. "Well, shit. I'm sorry for assuming, Yn; it's just that a lot of people end up here because they're in unhealthy relationships, and I saw the marks on your neck and just assumed the worst." He cupped the back of his neck. "This must have been really confusing for you. Sorry about that."

Okay, now that made a lot more sense. Your adrenaline was slowly teetering out and the tension left your shoulders. "No, please, that's honestly really nice that you would help victims like this. It did give me a little scare, but… yeah no, this wasn't Changmin's doing."

"That eases my mind a lot," he chuckled. Then he turned and nodded to the auntie behind the reception desk. You watched as she disappeared out the doors of the inn. "She's just gonna let Sangyeon know that everything's good."

"I thought you said you and Changmin go way back…?" Did they not trust him?

Kevin leaned back in his armchair. "We do. It's just protocol, you know? Whether or not we know them, it doesn't matter."

That was good for victims, you thought. Though, you couldn't imagine what they were really discussing with Changmin then… "So Changmin…"

"Sangyeon, Jacob, and Haknyeon would have taken care of him if I told them he was harming you," he replied, lips pressed together. "They really are talking about how you both ended up here though—that, and plans for the morning."

It was like he could read your mind.

A lot had happened just now, and you were still reeling from the fact that you didn't need to prepare to run. Though, you were still hyperaware of Clyde's warmth in your pocket.

Kevin noticed your far-off expression. He leaned forward onto his knees, that kind smile of his curling onto his face and making you feel some sort of woozy. "I know it's probably been a lot for you. Do you have any questions for me?"

He was so different from Changmin. While with the demon getting information was like pulling teeth, here was Kevin offering you information. They were polar opposites, really. You wondered what it might have been like if Kevin had been the one to take you on this quest instead—your mind shuttered. What a strange thought. Changmin might have been a pain in your ass in the beginning (and still now), but… it wasn't like he hadn't protected you. You didn't know.

"I guess," you started, "what's gonna happen now?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Well, uhm, I think we're both gonna find out once Changmin gets back. See what they've all decided on. But for sure, you and he will be able to shack up here for the night."

You gave a slow nod. "Is Sangyeon the pack alpha? Kind of a stupid question—"

"It's not a stupid question at all," Kevin said. "But yes, he's the pack alpha. You can just consider him as a community leader, essentially."

"And you're all wolf shifters?"

A nod, then he paused, tilting his head. "Yes, but Jacob's not a wolf shifter; he's an angel."

Your eyebrows flew up. Everything was suddenly making a lot more sense. "An angel? So he and Changmin aren't, like, mortal enemies or anything?" You hadn't noticed any wings on him…

Kevin laughed. "Oh, you're cute. No, thankfully they are not mortal enemies. Jacob's too nice to have enemies."

"Even someone like Changmin?" You jested.

"Even someone like Changmin," he said, humoring you. "Speaking of the demon, you two aren't…?"

You sucked in a breath. "Definitely not. We're not together or anything. It's a long story, but our meeting and traveling together is just because of a common goal." You couldn't tell why the thought of you and Changmin being an item made your heart cartwheel. Perhaps it was simply the anxiety of being thought of as Changmin's significant other that made you want to jump to correct that assumption. Yes, that was it.

Kevin bit his bottom lip like he was trying to hide a smile. "Ah, I see. That's good to know."

"And why's that?" You asked.

You could have sworn if he was in wolf form, his ears would have been tucked against his head. "Nothing!" He insisted. "It would just be a shame to not take a chance when it's presented, you know?"

You weren't quite sure what he meant by that, but for some reason, you were eager to find out.

It was late still when Changmin knocked on your open door, lingering on the threshold. You had just stepped out of the shower in the private en suite your accommodations had, a towel settled upon your shoulders to act as a barrier between your wet hair and dry clothes. He didn't look any worse for wear—then again, he never did.

"Everything okay with Kevin?" He asked, clearing his throat. You felt his eyes on you, scanning your body as if searching for any signs out of the ordinary.

You were searching for your phone charger in your bag. "Yeah, it was good. What—what happened with you?" You asked and lifted your eyes to meet his as you fondled the cord between your fingers.

He stuck his tongue in his cheek. "Well," he drawled, "Sangyeon offered to send a small group out to scout for any signs of our pursuers from today. In the meantime, we're invited to stay here to recuperate for a couple days. If not, then they'll restock our supplies and help us out of here."

"I'm guessing you already made a decision." You paused when you realized there weren't any outlets in this room. Anywhere. A curse fell from your lips and you dumped your cord and dead cell phone into your bag.

"I figured you could use the rest," he said.

Your head whipped upward.

He arched a brow at you. "If that's alright with you."

Was he really asking you? No buts, no ifs, no snark? "Yeah, that's fine with me."

"Maybe a couple days here will be good for your frail, human body anyway."

There it is. You rolled your eyes so far back, you swore you saw your brain waving at you. "And maybe some fake demon sleep will make you less grouchy."

You thought he smiled. It could have been a trick of the light or sleep deprivation. "Whatever."

Just when it seemed like he was about to turn and leave, he stopped. "Kevin's taken a liking to you."

You stilled, attention piqued. "Really? How could you tell?"

Changmin gauged your reaction, and again, you couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. "You need to sleep."

"Wait, you're just gonna ignore my—and he's gone." You huffed and collapsed onto the bed. It was awfully comfortable.

Leave it up to Changmin to leave you high and dry like that.

You rolled over the surface of the bed to close your door. Quietly, you went around the room to close the knobs of the lanterns to put out the lights like Kevin had showed you earlier. The only light now came from outside the window, the campfire and lanterns in the pack center streaming through the shutters to create an elongated stripe pattern along the walls and floors.

You climbed into bed—it was a strange, but welcomed feeling.

Only a couple days without a bed, yet it felt like years had passed. You could only hope you didn't wake up to a demon at your throat this time.

#7—THE ONLY ONE.

WOLVES BEAT EVEN THE SUN from her slumber, you came to find out. The next morning, you rolled out of bed to hear the sound of muffled voices outside your window. Your body ached in places you didn't even think they could ache, and you stretched your arms up over your head as you opened the shutters.

Just a little off from your window stood a small gathering of creatures, both in human and wolf forms. You recognized Kevin as one of the human ones among them. It was the noise of your open shutter that had him turning his head up toward your window. He saw you there, and a smile blossomed on his face, bright and easy. He wasn't wearing a shirt again, as was the other man standing beside him. The other two in their group were wolves.

Kevin waved at you, catching the attention of the others with him. The man beside him beamed and waved, too.

You chuckled to yourself and returned the gesture.

Kevin beckoned you down with his hand.

You searched the window sill for the latch, muttering in triumph when you managed to notch it open.

He had walked over to stand directly below your window by the time you stuck your head out. "Good morning!" He chirped. "Good sleep?"

"Good morning, and so far I think so," you mused, unconsciously smoothing down your hair. You hadn't even checked the state of your bed head. Yikes.

"There's breakfast in the pack house if you'd like," he offered. "I can walk you over?"

You leaned your cheek against your fist. "Sounds great. Give me some time to get ready."

"Take your time!"

You locked the window back up, dropped the shutters, and hurried to get changed. It occurred to you, as you were getting yourself prepped and primed to face another day in a new world, that you hadn't felt so giddy in awhile. And about a boy nonetheless. The skip in your step was crazy to you, and—did you even have anything nice to wear?

You just managed to yank one of the nicer of your graphic tees over your head when you heard a knock at the door.

"Just a second!" You called, carding your fingers through your hair and separating into three so you could braid it out of your face.

You ripped the door open. "Hi."

Changmin stood on the other side looking slightly refreshed with his dark hair damp and plastered over his forehead. His eyes narrowed slightly at your lightened countenance, the way you actually cared about how you were doing your hair, the… everything. He sent you a look. "Breakfast is in the pack house, but I have a feeling you already knew that."

"Yeah, I was just headed down, actually." You stepped out into the hallway with him, closing your bedroom door behind you. Clyde sat in your pocket, replacing where your phone would have been stashed had it any use.

He cocked his head to the side. "You seem a lot more…" He made a gesture with one of his hands. "Alive."

"Well, considering I don't have magic regeneration—"

"Forget I said anything," he said, shaking his bangs from his eyes and beginning to walk down the corridor toward his room. "Go get sustenance, Yn."

A small smile tugged at the corners of your lips. You watched him disappear into his room before you made your way to the stairs.

Kevin was waiting for you in the lobby, perking up when you appeared on the stairway landing and made your descent. He took a couple steps to meet you in the middle, and you noticed that he had found a shirt to put on. Damn. "Hope you like waffles," he said as the two of you fell into step beside each other to head out of the inn.

"Love 'em."

It seemed that the entirety of Moonstone Creak was awake, even at such an early hour. The sun had yet to even clamber up above the treetops, leaving the sky a soft mesh of purple and orange. The air was as fresh as it had been yesterday, cool and pure, washing your lungs and waking you up some more.

"Is everyone awake so early?" You asked him, inhaling as much of the peace as you could.

Kevin nodded. "Pretty much, unless you're just coming back from a night watch. We usually encourage the pups to come out and exercise with us."

"Us?"

"The pack's primary watch," he clarified. "You probably saw me talking to a few of them earlier."

"Ah," you hummed. "That's nice though. You're all such a lovely community… It's refreshing."

His eyes twinkled as he smiled at you. "Thank you. I like to think we're a really big family."

You could see as much. By the way Kevin greeted all of his fellow pack members, a part of you wondered what it might have been like to grow up somewhere like this instead of always chasing after safety and security.

You and your sister had always got by somehow, but it had never been like this. With your parents gone so early in both of your lives, you only really had each other to rely on, besides the occasional aunt and uncle who took turns caring for the both of you until your sister turned 18. And now with your sister gone?

For some reason, it felt like you were still taking care of her in death. But perhaps that was the cost of seeking closure.

You weren't sure what you were expecting when they said pack house, but what you saw was about what it sounded like it was going to be. It was similar to the inn and many of the buildings around the area with its log cabin likeness, but this one was much, much larger. You could hear the squeals of children from out here, and there were smaller wolves chasing each other's tails around the wraparound porch. A few stopped to sit and cock their heads at you as you passed, their tails tick-tocking behind them.

It was strange seeing wolves carry around infants and toddlers in their hulking jaws, too, and Kevin chuckled when you almost stopped in your tracks. "It's no harm to them, don't worry."

"Yeah," you laughed nervously, fingering the pendant at your sternum. "It'll take some getting used to. Are you born as a wolf or as a human?" You asked him as the two of you stepped up the front steps of the porch and walked through the entryway.

"Depends—woah, hey guys. Careful!" Kevin clicked his tongue as he caught and lifted one of the younger boys off his legs just before he accidentally knocked over a table holding a vase of flowers.

The kid and his friend giggled as Kevin put him down away from the table. "Sorry Kevin!" And they were gone, out the front door.

He shared a smile with you, cupping the back of his neck. "Where was I?" He gestured to your right down a hallway; you could smell the sweetness and buttery goodness of breakfast. "Oh, right. It depends: since wolves and humans are mammals, giving birth is a little easier than other non-mammal shifters."

"Non-mammal shifters?" Your eyebrows shot up. "What other shifters exist?"

"Any you can think of, to be honest," he said. "All pups learn about their own growth and development though, especially since learning to shift and stay in touch with both their animal and human sides is so integral. It would probably be better if I connected you with someone who identifies as female to talk about birth specifically though," he admitted.

The kitchen was painted a pale shade of yellow that reflected the golden rays of sun and made the whole room much warmer and brighter. There was a mishmash of wolves and humans milling about the central island where a buffet-style breakfast was being served. The variety of food before you was enough to make even—as you liked to think—Changmin's mouth water. (He didn't need to eat, your ass. You saw the blueberry pancakes on the far end and wondered if he had some yet.)

Kevin passed you one of the plates stacked at the end before grabbing one for himself. "Lily, thank you for breakfast!"

Lily, you identified, was the woman leaning against the sink with a pale blue apron tied around her waist and baby bump. "You're welcome! Haknyeonie helped out, too."

Haknyeon's blond head poked in from where he was partly hiding in the butler's pantry, his cheeks stuffed with food. "Hm?"

You laughed to yourself as you started off by transferring a waffle to your plate. "Yes, thank you so much for breakfast. It looks delicious."

"Oh, no need for that," Lily beamed as she came over to the island across from you and put more food onto your plate. "Take more, please. We have so much to go around."

"Oh," you blinked, watching Kevin start to pile things onto his own plate. "It's so much; I don't want to take more than I can finish—"

"I'll help you finish," Kevin offered, shoving a strawberry into his mouth. "I'm sorry if it seems like we're pressuring you, though. I guess we're all just used to making sure the other is fed around here."

You could melt like a slab of butter between two warm hotcakes. "Thank you—I appreciate the thought."

Kevin ruffled your hair as the two of you continued around your tour of the island. "Of course."

From the entryway you had just come in, Sangyeon arrived whistling an offhanded tune under his breath. "Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning!" Chorused around the kitchen at differing intervals as everyone greeted their pack alpha.

Sangyeon beelined around the island and over to Lily, the two of them exchanging fond touches and a warm kiss in greeting. "Morning, love."

"Good morning," Lily said. "Eaten yet?"

The dots connected in your head and you nudged Kevin as the two of you finished up at the island. "Lily and Sangyeon—?"

"Yeah, she's our alpha female," Kevin confirmed. "Six months pregnant. They celebrated nuptials about a year ago."

"Ah." You didn't mean to stare, but they were such a beautiful couple. Though you thought Sangyeon's smile was warm, it was nothing compared to the one he saved just for his partner.

He must have felt your eyes on him, and he lifted his gaze to yours while he held one of Lily's hands. "Yn, sleep well?"

Your eyes widened. "Oh, uh, yes. Yes, thank you."

"All of your accommodations are to your satisfaction, I hope?"

"More than satisfied," you stammered with a sheepish smile; he was talking to you, right? Everything was way beyond what you had been living with for the past couple of days. A demon-infested motel or this? Well, no competition there. You could still feel the impression of Changmin's passenger seat in your back.

Sangyeon nodded. "Good, I'm glad to hear that. I was hoping to speak with you and Changmin after breakfast about your situation. It'll be with myself and my closest advisors, plus the two of you."

"Yes, of course," you said. "Does Changmin already know?"

"I'll have someone run and let him know."

You and Kevin were dismissed to go forth with breakfast. The two of you settled in a room next door to the kitchen fitted with a long dining table that reminded you of a cartoon rich people banquet table. You sat adjacent to each other, Kevin at the head, and you with the seat to his left.

You smeared butter over the slots of your waffle. "Do I have to worry about what Sangyeon's gonna talk about at the meeting?"

Kevin shoved his bite into his cheek. "To my knowledge, no, but if you're worried, Sangyeon's advisors are a pretty cool crowd."

"Oh yeah?" You asked.

His lips turned up as he chewed. "Mhm," he hummed before swallowing, "I should know since I'm one of them."

Sangyeon had an office deep within the first floor of the pack house. It was tucked away somewhere between the living room in the back and the door down to the wine cellar. (Kevin joked that the first pack alpha had planned the layout of the first floor deliberately.)

Following your hearty breakfast, you found yourself seated in one of the armchairs in the leader's office chambers, amongst Changmin (in the chair next to you) and the other members of the so-called inner circle. Kevin lingered nearby, leaning against the office's hearth with his arms and ankles crossed idly. It seemed that the advising board included not just Kevin, but also Jacob, Lily, and someone named Juyeon. You learned that he was out on night guard when you came in last night, so you weren't able to properly meet him until now.

Sangyeon stood next to the office chair seated behind the grand, mahogany desk; Lily was automatically given the chair because of her pregnancy, and because she'd been working all morning. "Concerning the white sedan you said was trailing after you two yesterday—" he said, "—none of our scouts could follow a solid scent past the freeway entrance. It was interesting, actually."

Changmin leaned forward onto his forearms. "How so?" He asked, eyebrows creasing.

Sangyeon nodded to Juyeon, who filled in, "Well, we couldn't figure out what their scent is."

"How is that even possible?"

You blinked, brain whirring into overdrive. There was something you were missing yet again. What was the context here?

Kevin stepped over to your side and murmured to you, "We can usually pick apart scents to identify the layers, so this is why it's… concerning."

"Ah," you nodded. "Thanks."

"It was distinct for sure," Juyeon supplied with a vague gesture of his hands, "but it was nearly impossible to tell what species they were. It was easy enough picking apart the entity from the car smells—" Exhaust fumes, metal, seats, you assumed, "—and we could follow the smell as far as the entrance to the highway you guys came from, but…" He shook his head. "No-go. In all my years, I've never come across anything like it."

The helplessness that settled into the grooves of the room made you squirm, and your fingers fondled the red pendant at your collar again. Here was a space of the all-powerful, and yet, something as simple as a scent was throwing them all for a loop. You couldn't begin to wrap your head around the implications, because, well—you didn't know the implications.

(Dark. You were always sitting in the dark.)

Changmin passed you a glance, and you couldn't tell what he was thinking, as usual. "There has to be a way to somehow analyze it. Could we consult a witch?"

"I've already called an old friend," said Lily. "They're on their way over presently."

"Could I see the pendant?" Jacob's voice carried out into the room. Though he himself was soft-spoken, one could not mistake his volume. Everyone's attention cut over to you, and you wanted to be swallowed up by the earth beneath your feet. "If that's okay," he added. "It feels familiar."

"Feels?" You echoed, gripping the stone in your hand. The chain dug into the flesh of your neck as you anxiously yanked on it.

Changmin's eyes darted from the stone to you. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" You were overwhelmed; that was what you thought. You fisted it in your hand, suddenly reluctant to part with the thing that had caused you so much trouble as of late. You felt… an uncanny urge to keep it in your possession. "Uhm… you can see it, but I won't take it off."

Your devilish counterpart narrowed his eyes slightly, cocked his head to the side, at your behavior. He didn't say anything though, as if this truly was just all your decision. Perhaps this was because he knew that you weren't exactly buddies with these people yet. In retrospect, they were still strangers, and thus, potential threats to you.

Jacob took easy strides over to you from where he was standing by the desk. He passed you a reassuring smile as he knelt in front of you, close enough that you could see the eyelashes brush his cheeks. There was something warm radiating from him, and you swore you saw a flash of gold in his eyes.

Angel, right.

He rose up on his knees, holding out his hand, but not touching you. "May I?"

You pinched the part of the pendant attached to the chain and stuck it out toward him.

Jacob's eyebrows knitted together as he touched the pendant with only the tips of his fingers. You held your breath throughout the entirety of his assessment. When he finally leaned back onto his haunches, you blinked away whatever angelic warmth still lingered. "Juyeon, come smell the pendant."

Your eyes widened. "Uhm—"

"Hold on, what?"

"Wait, Jacob."

The latter two responses came from Changmin and Kevin, respectively, the two startling at Jacob's request.

There was a swift exchange of glances between everyone else and the alpha wolves in the room.

Lily said, "Yn?"

"Why are we sniffing the pendant now?" You asked, finding your voice.

Jacob looked up innocently. "Sorry, I probably should have explained myself. I think it might smell like the scent Juyeon was trying to track."

Something in the room shifted. You glanced down at the pendant in your grip and the questions in your head accumulated and accumulated and accumulated. What in Hell did you get me into, Sena?

"Okay," you said, "you can… smell the pendant."

You weren't sure why he couldn't smell it from where he was, but he took a couple steps over to you and replaced Jacob's position. Changmin's hand appeared on the arm of your chair as he leaned forward slightly.

Juyeon took a cautionary sniff, and his eyes widened. "That's it. It's—it was slightly different, but similar enough where it has to be the same entity." He looked up at you. "Is this the only one of its kind?"

You met Changmin's eyes.

He looked away first. "No."

Your gaze became earnest in his direction, and if you could, you would burn twin holes in the side of his head like a snakebite. More shit he hadn't told you. Were you surprised?

No? What did he mean no?

"We need to talk," you forced out of gritted teeth, gripping onto the arm of his chair now.

He passed you a glance. Later.

"Well, we can only really assume that the person following you was most likely after the pendant," Jacob said plainly as he stood from the ground and dusted off his pants. "But now that we know the origin of the scent, per se, it'll make the hunt a little easier."

Sangyeon gave a bob of his head. "Kevin, you're leading the search party for the day."

Kevin's head perked up, hand on the back of your chair. "But—"

A single look from his leader made his mouth snap closed.

"Yes, sir," Kevin murmured with a shallow nod of acknowledgement. He gave the back of your chair a small pat, then departed without another word from the office. You thought you could feel his presence leave your side, from the room. All of this feeling… was this how the supernatural operated? Was this what a sixth sense entailed all along?

"Juyeon—" the man in question raised his head, "—go find where Haknyeon and Eric are." Sangyeon scratched his temple with a sigh that sounded suspiciously like exasperation. "Grab them and round up the pups."

Juyeon brightened. "Are we taking them down to the creak?"

Lily nodded her approval. "Ooh, nice idea. Yn and Changmin, you're both free to join us. It's lovely down there."

You forced your hand to fall away from the pendant, but not before tucking it back beneath the collar of your shirt. It felt too exposed out here, sitting on your sternum for all to see. You nodded though, trying for a small smile. "Sure, sounds nice."

Sangyeon patted the desktop. "Excellent! The two of you can continue to make yourselves at home."

Though this was a physical conclusion to the meeting, your stomach continued to sit uncomfortably. This conversation should not have been over so quickly… right? Was there not more to discuss? Perhaps not now then. Maybe it was better to take your time letting this all sink in.

"Ah, before the two of you go join the little ones," Jacob cut in. He shot Changmin a pointed look. "You owe me something."

Changmin roughed a hand through his bangs, but you could have sworn his lips curled up with a smile. "Aish… your memory."

"It never fails me when I need it."

You glanced between the two; Changmin did owe you yet another explanation, but if there was something these two planned to settle… "What? What is it this time?"

Jacob grinned, and you definitely hadn't been hallucinating when you saw flickers of gold in his irises. "He owes me a sparring match."

a/n: i am clasping my hands in prayer for a reblog, comment, or ask. take a moment to grab a snack, drink some water, and head over to the second part! thanks for reading

read part two here (if it's not linked yet, refresh and it'll be at the top)

permanent taglist: @flwoie @vatterie @seomisaho @hqrana @ja4hyvn @tinkerbell460 @kaaimins @hyunjaespresent-deobi @otterly-fey @zzoguri @floatingpluto @winterchimez @ethereal-engene @gyulfriend @polarisjisung @jaehunnyy @shakalakaboomboo @loveliestfelix @bless-311 @zhaixiaowen @leaz-kpop-life @amourdsr @pxppxrminty @kqyutie @sseastar-main @kxthleen14 @fluorescentloves @mosviqu @justalildumpling @jaerisdiction @super-btstrash-posts @jundundun @http-gyu @mvvnsseul @outrologist @vernonburger @maessseongs @ericlvr @kflixnet

#kflixnet #deoboyznet #bjnet #the boyz x reader #ji changmin x reader #q x reader #changmin x reader #the boyz oneshot #the boyz imagines #the boyz scenarios #the boyz drabbles #the boyz fanfic #ji changmin imagines #ji changmin oneshots #ji changmin drabbles #ji changmin scenarios

[loonylooly]

at this point i'm wondering what sarah is thinking when writing her love interests, like ok it's clear she finds them hot but like....are they good people

Rhys:

UTM lap dance shenanigans

throwing Feyre into danger constantly (Weaver, destroying cauldron, getting the book from Adriata, etc etc)

Still not doing jack shit about wing clippings in Illyria?? Emerie is right there, Rhysand, go enforce your damn laws

Insulting his wife's sister constantly

Almost killed his wife's sister cause she dared give her important medical information

Locked Lucien (MY BOY!!) in the house of wind

Locked Nesta in the house of wind

Didn't give Mor any warning that time he made her face her abusers and she cried i think (ngl i forgot most of it)

Ignoring Hewn City even tho...Kier is like the only bad guy we've seen from there?? Surely there's decent people in Hewn City, don't gotta make everyone suffer

Nesta windhaven kidnapping intervention so she stops spending Rhys' money (if it was really about her own sake, they would've put a stop to it much earlier)

Seemingly alienates everyone in Feyre's life that could and would stand up to Rhys for Feyre's sake. Lucien? Nah, shoo. Nesta? Nah, shoo. Weird thought but Tarquin? Yeah, makes her steal his book.

And last but DEFINITELY not least; demon baby wife death

HE COULD'VE TOLD FEYRE... OR ATLEAST NOT THREATENED TO KILL HER SISTER FOR TELLING HER WHEN HE HOULD'VE TOLD HER IN THE FIRST PLACE??

THERE'S PROBABLY MORE BUT MOVING ON

Cassian:

Barely ever stands up for Nesta in the IC

Aids in kidnapping Nesta to Windhaven so she stops spending whysand's money

Laughs at Nesta when she falls down the stairs

Aids in punishing Nesta for daring to tell Feyre important medical info

Constantly going agaisnt Nesta's wishes and trying to "save her" when she doesn't want him to

That one time Azriel asked Nesta if Cass had pushed her down the stairs...Like are we gonna ignore that?? Personally I'd have a quarter life crisis if my closest friend, who is like my sibling and has known me most of our lives, seriously entertained the idea that i would physically assault the girl I like

general aggressiveness all of ACOSF

aids in bulldozing Nesta's apartment

Rowan goddamn Whitehorn (Who I've yet to see people bashing him somehow,,, HoF rowan was like if ACOSF cassian had a horrific murder baby

Left his pregnant mate alone during a war cause he wanted to prove himself....like..idk man if i had the choice between war and taking care of my pregnant wife i'd pick the wife (did he know she was pregnant? i've kind of forgotten by now)

Rowan's kid would've been hundreds of years older than Aelin.....just think abt that

Literally everything he did to Aelin during training in HoF

Their argument where he PUNCHED HER IN THE FACE

Threatened to whip Aelin...I repeat....Threatened to whip Aelin, an ex-slave....

Told Aelin it'd be better if she died 10 years ago (unprovoked?? bitch you met her like 2 weeks ago just cause she's getting on your nerves doesn't mean you gotta wish DEATH upon her)

Literally was relieved to find out she was only 19 because if she was a few years older she could've been THE CHILD OF HIS BEST FRIEND.

No issue with marrying the cousin of his best friend's child....Imagine if he hadn't met Aelin first.. If he'd met Aedion first, Aelin would've always been the relative of his friend's son to him

FOR THE RECORD i hate all of the SJM age gaps but rowan and aelin's specifically irks me because Aelin LITERALLY CALLS HIM OLD throughout the WHOLE SERIES

Literally tells Aelin he doesn't care about what she's been through and that she is nothing to him after she confronts him for leaving her

Puts Luca in danger by sticking him on to a frozen lake with a monster inside where he'll DIE if Aelin can't save him

Funnily enough, some of the only seemingly decent person guys in SJM 1. Are completely forgotten about in the books or 2. SJM had to make them violently unlikeable

Like we've got:

Tarquin, seemed like a pretty good guy, rightfully pissed that the IC stole his family heirloom, shows up like twice in the books (LET HIM COME BACK SARAH I LOVE HIM)

Tamlin, was pretty decent in book 1, was made violently unlikeable in book 2 onwards

Chaol, very strong morals, generally a good person, loves his wife, made violently unlikeable and boring in late CoM, HoF, and QoS (ToD is one of my favorite books in the series, will praise ToD till the day I die, my boy EARNED his own book)

Aedion, seemed like a good person, strong morals, spent years trading his dignity for the sake of Terrasen, loved his cousin above all else, made violently unlikable in KoA (even tho I think he was justified in being angry about it, i'd be SO pissed)

Sartaq, good guy, strong morals, Nesryn's chapters were some of my favorites in ToD, Sartaq is one of my favorite SJM love interests, i'll never forgive author lady for forgetting about him in KoA (tho i guess she forgot about everyone from ToD? Yrene and Chaol are the only important ones, she barely even mentions Nesryn even though Nesryn's BEEN an integral part of the gang since QoS, giving her the Suki from ATLA treatment)

#acotar #sjm #sarah j maas #throne of glass #tog #anti rhysand #anti rowan #anti cassian #anti nessian #anti feysand #chaol westfall #sartaq #tarquin #tamlin #aedion ashryver #nesta deserves better

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

omg…HIHIHIHI HELLOOOOOO‼️

ENDISBDID I JUST LOVE YOUR WRITING SM I NEED TO REQUEST SOMETHING AASJSJDJ

anywho, CAN. Can can can caaaaan you write a one shot about where the reader is a young well known killer, she wears a mask to hide her (or their. Any pronouns you’re comfortable with!) identity from the people BUT she gets to go school without the mask so they’re safe! :D

AND THEN (idk but something something happened at school that caused the reader to kill someone out of pure rage.(anger issues RAH)then they run away from school and into the woods and all that stuff) Masky or any other Creepypasta sees the reader and recognizes them by the mask and convinces them to join them AND ALL OF THAT

OH and their killing method is capturing the victim who has done bad shit in their life(like bullies, bad parents and these type of people) record them in tapes, then torturing them to admit the horrible shit they done, then send the tape to the relatives of the victim for them to know AAAAAAAAAAND scene.

:3

I WILL BE KNOWN AS 🐰 TO YOU and be a regular :D

Take your time with this and take care!!

Smooch

-🐰

Omg this is totally giving early 2010's creepypasta fandom/pos

Thank you so much for requesting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Masky discovering a new creep

Being a world famous killer blows. First world problems, amirite? Anyways, it really does stink. Having such an occupation is filled with endless controversies, people debating over what your doing is right or wrong. You also don't get much sleep, so school is 10x harder. You know that what you're doing is for the greater good. What you do is so others can live peaceful lives, not for your own selfish desires. But it's not like you can explain that, lest you be arrested and charged with murder.

And so, you put up with the tiredness, sores and cuts you get from your little "hobby". This being said, your temper tends to be quite short when it comes to people messing with you. While you rest your head on your desk to try and get some sleep you hear your name, as well as some insulting words and laughs from the girls in the desks behind you. If you actually zeroed in on their conversation, you can tell that they are talking about how greasy your hair looks and how beat up you always are, this being said they are making fun of you for what they assume is abuse at your home.

It is true that you haven't showered in a while, you just hadn't had the time or willpower to. But to make fun of someone for potentially getting abused? That had you all sorts of ticked off. You try to bury your head further into your desk to try and ignore them, but it seems that they only get louder and meaner with their insults. When your anger builds up to a point of no return, you lift your head and turn to face them. "I'm not getting abused, ok? And even if I was, what kind of right do you think you have to make fun of someone for that?! It's obvious your mommy and daddy don't love you, but if you think you can take that out on me, you are dead wrong because baby, I am not the one."

Your yelling has caused most of the class to look at you, and the girls are silent for a moment before laughing amongst themselves again, calling you weird and saying that they must have been right if you were getting so defensive about it. Their words swirl in your head and it gets to a point you can't take anymore. "Shut up." you say "Shut up shut up shut up!" You get out of your desk and push one of the girls out of her chair, climbing on top of her and beating her senseless. The other girls are now calling you crazy, trying to pry you off of their friend but it's no use. Your teacher is calling up the principal but when she sees your hands being coated with blood and the girls face getting bashed more and more into her skull, she instead calls the police.

By the time you have come back to your senses, blood is splattered all over the classroom, all over your clothes, and the girl is nonresponsive. You gasp and stand up, covering your mouth in utter disbelief at what you had done. Without even looking at your scared classmates and teacher, you run out of the classroom, knowing that if you want any chance of escape, you have to go now. You run past multiple teachers who don't even know what's going on, they only try to stop you for running in the halls. You don't listen and keep on running until eventually you realize that you are in the woods. You're a ways away from your city, and you can hear sirens blaring in the distance. No doubt they're looking for you.

The adrenaline has worn off, and you're tired. You are stumbling through the woods blindly. Your legs give out and you fall to the leaf covered floor, catching your breath and letting your sore legs rest. After a while, you hear footsteps approaching you. You curse under your breath and try to get up to run some more, fearing a cop might have found you. Your legs don't work, and the footsteps catch up to you. You are lifted off the ground by the collar of your shirt and met with the face of an older man, eyeing you up and down with a hatchet slung over his shoulder. "Yeesh kid. What happened to you?" He asks, putting you back down on the floor and awaiting your response. You are too scared to answer, only looking up at him worriedly.

He raises a brow and looks at your hands. "Is that blood...?" he asks, leaning down and looking at your hands. "Hey, you're that kid everyone in the city over is looking for!" he finally concludes. This has your heart beating out of your chest. "I heard what you did....I think you better come with me. There's someone I think you'll wanna talk too." He says, picking you up again and half carrying you. "Don't worry, we aren't going to the cops" He says with a chuckle, as if the idea is absurd. It is after this that you begin to feel dizzy, only to pass out again.

#creepypasta #slender mansion #creepypasta x y/n #creepypasta x you #creepypasta x female reader #masky mh #masky creepypasta #creepypasta masky #masky marble hornets #tim masky #masky x reader #masky #mh masky #tim wright #mh tim

[good-beanswrites]

I’m thinking about the angst of the restraints headcanon again. There’s the two with the least physically violent crimes, and they rank relatively low in strength. There’s the child who was violent but had to be really crafty about it; she’s the weakest of all of them. And the most dangerous of the guilty prisoners cannot be restrained.

This makes me so emotional!!! All three are the smallest of their circles. Two of them are extremely ordinary people who have never experienced/expressed physical violence before. One hadn't even fathomed the idea of someone dying until they actually did. And yet, they're subjected to the type of restraints you'd expect to see on someone who is uncontrollably violent. The fact that prisoners who committed very gruesome murders can walk free (including Mikoto) just adds insult to injury. I still couldn't everything into words, but here's a Mahiru-centric drabble featuring the same thoughts. It takes place after T1 closes but before the attacks.

“Where are our rights?”

Fuuta’s shout caused Mahiru to wince. She perched on her bedding, watching the two prisoners she’d invited to her cell. It hadn’t been the fun kind of invitation, though. Back in school, she always wanted to have parties and dates back at her place. Moving to the city, she imagined what it would be like to make university friends and take them back home with her to talk, eat, and have fun. 

Sitting in her dim gray cell with Fuuta and Amane, all of them held fast by complex sets of restraints, was not what she’d had in mind.

Amane knelt in the corner. Her arms were crossed, as if pouting, though the opposite was true. A moment ago her eyes had lowered in prayer, but it was difficult to find any peace of mind now. Fuuta snapped and shouted as he paced the length of the cell bars. They were unlocked, but like the others, he didn’t feel like being out in front of everyone. He’d give his uniform a violent jerk every now and then, but it didn’t do any good. Between his strides and growls, he made Mahiru think of those poor wild animals they keep at the circus.

“Take it easy, Fuuta.” She mustered up a smile. “Come rest with us.”

“I can’t believe you two. You’re just gonna sit here and take it? I didn’t do a fucking thing! They’re acting like I’m some big danger to society,” he yanked his arms again, to no avail. “All I did was type some things onto a screen. I’m not gonna go around stabbing anyone or anything. And you, you didn’t hurt anyone either!”

He nodded his head to Mahiru. If her arms weren’t already folded over her chest, she would have hugged herself anyway. 

“Well… I did hurt him in the end… I broke his heart badly enough that… I mean, he…”

Fuuta made a disgusted sound. “That’s all stupid romance stuff. I’m saying, you never stabbed him. Never strangled him. Never poisoned his food, or –”

“Oh god, no! How horrible…”

“Exactly! From what we’ve heard, it sounds like Haruka killed someone with his bare hands. I think Muu had a knife or something. Shidou had a whole arsenal of grisly doctor tools. Kotoko has openly talked about how she beat that guy to death. Why are they allowed to walk free while we’re tied down like wild animals?”

Mahiru was glad she hadn’t mentioned the circus.

“And Amane! It’s not like she did anything violent, and here she is!”

“That is not true.”

Both paused as Amane spoke up for the first time. 

“Eh?”

“While I disagree with my verdict, the restraints make sense.” The others still stared blankly. As matter-of-fact as always, she continued. “I killed with my own hands. I used the amount of force I was instructed to. Just as the sinner fears the wrath of heaven, I can understand how the godless warden would fear my justice.”

Fuuta’s passion wavered, but Mahiru could feel her heart ache for the girl. “Oh Amane… I had no idea. To be pushed to the point of violence at your age…”

“I am not to be pitied. As I said, I am dangerous, and proud to be. I am doing god’s work. All heroes must be dangerous.”

Fuuta grunted, but said nothing. Mahiru gave her a gentle smile. “It’s not pity. Even if you were dangerous, it’s horrible to restrain someone like you. You’ve already had to brave so much, as the smallest of the bunch.”

She looked between the two. A sad laugh escaped her. “Now that I think of it, I guess we’re all the smallest here, hm? Aside from maybe Muu, we don’t have much height or strength on the others…”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Fuuta cried. “The fuck do they think we’re going to do?” Mahiru was just glad he’d focused on that rather than the fact she’d just called him weak. 

Voices raised in conversation down the hallway. Mikoto’s laugh echoed faintly into the cell.  

It warmed Mahiru to hear. Things had been so hard on him here. Though it had been frightening to hear him shouting at the restraints til his voice was raw – well, it wasn’t him shouting – it had been a relief when he appeared free and relaxed the following day. He seemed sheepish that he wasn’t able to help the others, having no memory of his escape. Mahiru just kept telling him how happy she was for him.

Fuuta didn’t share in the sentiment. “Meanwhile, Mikoto gets to stroll around free, and he beat the shit out of Es! He could snap and kill any one of us here, and they don’t even give a damn. But ooohhh, god forbid the guy who’s never been violent a day in his life is allowed to use his own two hands!”

The harshness of his voice wasn’t doing his argument many favors. Still, his words were beginning to get through to Mahiru. 

She’d worked so hard to be a model citizen. She was supposed to have a perfect life. She could cook, clean, sew, and take care of children. She did herself up every day; she was never a slob or a slut. She was generous to everyone she met. She showered the world around her in love. Wasn’t it unfair that her hands were tied like some common criminal? What was all that effort for – being patient when people upset her, being kind even when she disagreed with someone, all of that – if she was going to end up in the same place as someone who had stabbed another out of sheer malice?

Amane didn’t seem to be whirling with the same doubts. She closed her eyes once more. “It is simply a trial from heaven. We may be small, but all of us have an internal strength that will carry us through the ordeal.”

“I don’t think it’s any sort of religious thing, but you’re right,” Fuuta puffed his chest out. “Trials like this only make people stronger!” 

“Do you think so?” Mahiru wasn’t sure if she was asking either of them or just musing to herself. It was a nice thought. This was all part of destiny, something meant to be that would make her stronger in the end. 

But she wasn’t so sure she believed in destiny anymore. It hadn’t quite worked out the first time. 

“Hell yeah!” Fuuta must have assumed she was in fact asking him. He gave a wide, toothy grin. “It’s not like we can get any weaker, right? The warden better watch out next trial – they’ve got a big storm coming!”

#milgram #mahiru shiina #fuuta kajiyama #amane momose #and then we had a big storm coming 😔 #thank you for the ask pal!!! im not sure if the drabble is what you had in mind but it was really fun to write lol #mahiru canonically being really tiny and trying to be the model nonconfrontational woman... #fuuta being so small and specifically saying hes never been violent toward anyone and never wanted anyone to get physically hurt... #(and something about fuuta being the closest to the average milgram fan) #amane being very small and weak and only killed a specific person for a very predictable reason... #and theyre all treated like wild animals that could snap at any time :(( #meanwhile the actually unpredictable one who Did lash out and hurt someone just strolls around free #not that its anyones fault hes free -- it wasnt on purpose -- but still it makes the situation that much more painful #it makes me crazy!! i thought putting it into action would help communicate my ideas but idk #drabbles

[streetslost]

BACKSTORY UPDATES

for those who haven't noticed, i finally got an update done to cat's backstory that i've wanted to for years, but just couldn't quite figure out the story i wanted to tell. is what i've come up with final? possibly not, but i love it much more than the original idea... juvie was the last part of cat's story that literally hadn't been updated since i made her nine years ago. it was so. out there in her story. this post is going to be my best to summarize the changes, but if you've never invested time into reading cat's backstory, i'd appreciate it tons! here in the link for the lazies.

the lead up ( relatively unchanged ):

tinder, margie, and flint still help cat locate her aunt and uncle when they happen to be in the same area, and tinder helps cat find them.

the main difference is cat is now fifteen instead of fourteen.

cat, in her overcoming swell of emotion, proceeds to attack them... mary is protected because she holds timmy, but robert takes an absolute beating with one of her throwing knives.

he does not die, but it definitely doesn't look good when police arrive.

juvie ( updated with some minor non-changes ):

cat isn't charged for most of her crimes. due to the functioning of the ring, and the way she talks about being used and abused by them... she is never pinned for anything relating to murder or drugs or the like. thus, her charges consist of stealing, mostly, with the attempted murder on her uncle. this serious situation is what lands her in juvie.

cat still arrives in tears, she still is battling the absolute panic and anxiety that is building. this change in environment, this struggle... it causes her to remain uncombative. so she lets the others bully her relentlessly.

mary does not come to visit her.

cat is still pushed into sessions with margaret where she remains largely quiet for some time. it would take three months to get anything out of cat.

during those three months, cat remained apathetic in regards to those around her. the only person she befriended was vinnie. if one can call it a friendship. vinnie liked to chat and demean... cat listened. and much of what he would often say was degrading towards her. he would laugh about her and anything he found out, making her feel useless, unwanted, and even more isolated.

because of this, cat would still make a few attempts at suicide, but it was one of the guards, louie, who found her and stopped her each time. cat eventually gave up after only around three tries, never getting far enough to do lasting damage. too many cameras, security, eyes...

due to these attempts and the bullying, margaret actually appealed to get cat transferred to a different facility. as she fought to get this, cat finally leaked information about amy and jon, enough for margaret to get a hold of them.

amy and jon did come to visit, but cat basically ignored them and spurned the visit.

her emotions came to a head from this confrontation, and when rissa next attempted to bully her, cat finally fought back. and she fought back hard, even causing a few broken bones on the other.

rissa, who had thought cat was just some weak thief, was actually impressed by this and her bullying would actually turn to advances and interest, which in turn only made cat retaliate more.

cat's shift to violence led to the facility finally agreeing with margaret's transfer.

the "escape":

turns out cat hadn't escaped copper... no one left the ring willingly while he had the power.

he, crackshot, and birdie caused the van cat was being transferred in to crash. they killed the driver and guard with her, then they broke her out of the back and took off her handcuffs. copper gave her the chance to come back or die.

cat spat on him.

as copper was going to shoot her, the police did manage to arrive timely. he was forced instead to focus on them, giving her time to slip away, grabbing what things she had left in the van before taking off.

crackshot and birdie tailed her. but cat managed to escape into a river where crackshot fired his weapon. she didn't seem to surface so they returned to copper and pronounced her dead.

cat washed up downstream, barely having survived.

this all takes place within her fifteenth year. she turns sixteen not long after the escape, just before hackett.

the only other major change:

the only other thing is in cat's verse with scott ( homeward bound ), she does finally get to finish off copper when he, crackshot, and birdie basically launch an attack on her, amy, jon, scott, and his other family. she's forced to kill him to defend them while crackshot is arrested and birdie chased off.

#long post // #&&. ooc ( an athlete with nerd credentials ) #HOPE I GOT EVERYTHING I THINK I DID

[starrgaziinggg]

BEGIN AGAIN | hwang hyunjin

CHAPTER TWELVE

Hwang Hyunjin messes with your head, unknowingly, for over a month. Until you can't take it anymore.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Growing up with Chris Bang as your best friend had it's perks - a permanent bodyguard, a shoulder to cry on... and seven other boys who also became your best friends as you grew up together.

Week in, week out, your routine stayed the same. Study, go to class and patiently wait to attend your regular Friday evening home cooked meal with your friends. You just couldn't wait to graduate and start working, to rid yourself of exams and finally start earning some proper money like the boys.

Desperate to put some light back into your mundane, studious life, Chris forces you to start blind dating. Two miserable dates down and ready to murder the man, someone completely unexpected appears and makes a mess of your orderly life.

And a mess he does make.

|fake dating|friends to lovers|slow burn|non idol au|

chapter twelve

The week flew by, just as the previous weeks had. Studying day in, day out passed time relatively quickly, and you soon found yourself reaching Friday, your favourite day. You had hardly spoken to the boys throughout the week, most of them swamped with work. You'd FaceTimed Jeongin one night over dinner, to give each other company since Seungmin had been out.

You'd heard there was some problem at the entertainment company over the past week, but you didn't really know what had happened since you hadn't spoken to any of the boys working there other than a quick text here and there. Jeongin had only mentioned it briefly, as out of the loop as you were, knowing only because Seungmin had mentioned it. Apparently, there had been a bust up between Hyunjin and one of the higher up managers, over what you didn't know, but you got the vibe that Chris was caught in the middle of it because when you brought it up to him over text he ended the conversation instantly.

Luckily, nothing had got out to the media, so you hoped it wasn't too bad. You didn't want to make the boys week more stressful that it appeared to be, so you had kept contact with them to a minimum. It also meant you hadn't talked to Hyunjin at all. Not even a text. The radio silence had been beneficial to allow you to study, but you were overthinking things - as usual.

Anyway, it was Friday night, and you couldn't wait to go out and enjoy your night. The mutual friend who's party it was was Su, someone you'd gone to highschool with. She was older than you, so she was celebrating her 25th birthday, and since she worked for CBH entertainment now all your friends had been invited to the party. She'd rented out a bar for the night, and you couldn't lie about being excited to get dressed up for a special occasion.

You were wearing a navy blue minidress, with long sleeves and a cut out in the chest. It was one of the more suggestive clothing items you owned, but you couldn't deny how good you looked when you wore it. You had paired it with your white bag and matching white heels, not bothering with a jacket since it was roasting outside today. You loved how your makeup had turned out for once, and had even gone as far as curling your hair, something you could never be bothered to do.

You had gotten an Uber for yourself, since none of the boys had offered a lift and you didn't want to cause them stress accommodating you. You didn't mind much, as Felix had said he'd meet you outside the bar, so you weren't walking in alone. You could always count on Felix to be mindful of you.

The Uber notified you that it was outside, so you grabbed your belongings, locked the door and made your way downstairs. You checked your phone and saw Felix had texted you a minute ago to let you know he was outside, so you replied that you were a couple of minutes away. The bar was pretty close to your apartment, but you didn't dare walk there in your heels.

You saw Felix as you got out of your Uber, a grin on his face. "Hey, mate," you said to him in an Australian accent. "How have you been?"

He gave you a quick hug and the two of you made your way inside the bar. "Oh you know, same old. How are you?"

"I'm fine, just stressed. And super confused, by the way. What's been going on at your work?"

He gave you a grimace. "Don't ask. It's a mess. Has nobody told you?"

You shook your head.

"Long story short, one of the managers at the top of the company who was recently hired was being extremely racist, and I mean saying horrible things, to some of the trainees that are mixed race. It was overheard by a couple of staff members and reported to HR, but when word got to Hyunjin he went ballistic. Called the manager in for a meeting himself, and I have no idea what happened but they got into a physical fight," Felix explained, and you literally gasped.

In all the years you'd known Hyunjin, he had never laid a hand on someone. Albeit, he had been a very difficult person to get along with at points - him and Jisung didn't see eye to eye for a good year until the realised they were strangely the perfect friendship, he had never gone as far as to get physical with anyone. He put on a good tough guy act sometimes, but the boy was one of the most gentle souls you'd ever met. Something really bad must have happened for him to react like that.

"Jesus, that's insane," you said with wide eyes, walking into the venue and closer to the music. "So what's going on now?"

"Basically, the manager is threatening to sue, but the legal team are going to shut it down quickly, I think. I don't really know the ins and outs, that's just what I've been told," Felix shrugged, heading towards the bar. "But don't talk to Chris or Hyun about it, it's a no go topic tonight."

You pretended to zip your lips shut and throw away the key as you stood at the bar, the two of you ordering drinks. When you received them, you walked towards the group of boys you recognised. They all seemed to be in a relatively good mood, which you were thankful for.

"Hey, kid!" Chan greeted you by saying, giving you a hug. You hugged him back warmly, sensing he could really use a hug. "You look somewhat presentable."

"Can you just give me a non backhanded compliment for once in your life?" You laughed as you pulled away. The other boys, however, were staring at you. "What?"

"It's just - we've not seen you look this nice in forever," Seungmin explained, and you flicked him on the head. "Okay, violence was not necessary there. That was a compliment."

You rolled your eyes. You didn't notice Hyunjin, who had been standing behind Jeongin, staring at you until you looked right at him. At even in the dark lighting of the bar, you couldn't mistake the cut on his lip and the bruise forming on his jaw.

"Fucking hell," you said, more to yourself than anyone else. You stepped towards Hyunjin and Jeongin moved, immersing himself in a conversation with Felix. You tentatively put a hand up to Hyunjin's face, careful not to press too hard on his bruise. He grimaced nonetheless. "Been through the wars, Jinnie?"

He almost looked sad. "Can we not talk about it? I'll explain later, but tonight I just want to forget about it," he said. You noticed he had a glass in his hand and figured he must be drinking tonight. You only nodded with a sad smile.

At that moment, you were interrupted. The music stopped and a spotlight shone onto the stage in the bar where a mic had been set him. Su burst through the curtains with a huge smile on her face. Everyone clapped, and she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Welcome everyone! Can I get a 'happy birthday?'," she shouted into the mic, and of course even shouted happy birthday back to her. She squealed in excitement. "Yay! Anyway, I won't drone on for long, I just wanted to let you know that there's a free bar for the next hour and Thank you all for coming!"

You laughed at how sweet the girl was, in her amazing fluffy matching pink outfit. She was really going all out for her birthday.

"Want another drink?" Felix asked you, as you both were running low on the one you were currently drinking. You nodded and finished off you drink, handing him the empty glass and giving Hyunjin a smile before following Felix back to the bar.

It took much longer to order your drinks as the queue was huge due to the free bar, but you managed to get them and also ordered shots for the two of you as well. You clinked your glasses together before downing them, the burning sensation running down your throat. Felix shook his head, his blonde mullet spraying out as he did so.

"Yikes, that's strong," he grimaced. "Cmon, let's go dance!"

You followed him to the dance floor where Jisung and Minho currently were. You all danced together as you sipped on your drink. You felt yourself getting tipsier by the second, and just when you were about to excuse yourself to sit down, you looked over to where the boys had been and noticed a girl you didn't recognise talking to Hyunjin.

She was drop dead gorgeous. Pitch black hair and the longest legs you'd ever seen. Everything about her just screamed 'expensive', and from Hyunjin's smile he seemed to be enjoying the conversation. It gave you the worst feeling in the pit of your stomach, all twisted knots. So you practically marched over to the bar and got yourself another drink. Seungmin came up to you since you were alone.

"Please don't wander off by yourself, dummy. You'll worry us all when you get kidnapped," he states lazily, ordering another drink for himself and following in your suit.

"Do you want to come and dance with me?" You asked him, shouting over the music. "I have two left feet, but I can try my best."

"Sure," he said in your ear, and the two of you made your way to the dance floor. The other boys had left, so it was just the two of you and a bunch of Su's other guests. You danced for a while together, saying things to each other here and there, before you felt a tap on your shoulder.

"Can I interrupt?" Someone said, and you hated the fact that it wasn't a voice you recognised. You turned to the face of a handsome man, and Seungmin only looked at you as confirmation. You shrugged and he leaned into your ear.

"I'll be with the guys, just come to us if you need me."

You smiled and waved him off, turning to this new guy. It was nice to have a bit of attention, anyone could admit that, but you had absolutely not interest in getting to know this man beyond having a boogie. He kept trying to make conversation, and you continuously gave him short answers in response.

The night continued on, and you were oblivious to Hyunjin's eyes burning into your dancing form. Eventually, your feet began to kill, so you excused yourself and headed to where your boys were. At one point, you almost tripped up and Chris caught your arm.

"Woah, careful kid. How drunk are you?"

"I'm not drunk," you lied. "It's just these damn heels. They're killing me."

You took a seat on one of the chair and attempted to massage the exposed parts of your feet. A fair amount of people had already left, so there was only around twenty of you left in the bar since it wasn't a huge gathering. You saw Su talking and gathering people together and you wondered what she was up to until she walked towards your group.

"Come on, we're going to play a game!" She said excitedly, evidently drunk. When the boys looked skeptical she huffed. "I have birthday rights, you will all do as I say. Now come on and sit in a circle.

So reluctantly you all obliged. It was only your group and some of Su's close friends left, so she decided to make everyone play her favourite game - spin the bottle. You internally groaned as she said it.

"Okay so, my version of the game is this. We spin, and if you land with the same person once, you have to kiss. If you land twice, you have to do two minutes in heaven, or in this case the back room, and if you land three times you're out the game," Su explained. You were only half listening, your head spinning.

She started spinning the bottle, and it landed on two people you didn't know. They kissed quickly, it was boring, and the bottle was spun again. This time it landed on Minho and another person you didn't recognise, and Minho decided to kiss them on the cheek. You laughed at his sudden aura of respect. This went on for a little while, and you hardly paid attention until the bottle landed on you.

"Okay! Now, you spin and see who it lands on!" Su squealed. You obliged, and the bottle seemed to spin forever until it landed on the one person you were hoping it wouldn't land on.

Hyunjin.

Your friends spluttered and laughed, but you just rolled your eyes and walked over to him, forcing yourself to appear composed. Instead of actually kissing him, though, you just pecked him on the head. You couldn't dare look into those gorgeous brown eyes that looked up at you as you did so. For some reason, he seemed to have an annoyed aura surrounding him. You sat back down in your seat, your heart hammering in your chest. You didn't dare peak at Hyunjin as he spun the bottle next.

Until it landed on you.

Everyone starting talking loudly at the fact the two of you would have to do two minutes in 'heaven', having to go into the back room alone together. It was such a childish high school game, so you wanted to kick yourself as you got butterflies when you and Hyunjin walked into the back room together and someone shut the door from the other side.

Silence.

Neither of you spoke. It was the strangest vibe you had ever felt. You cleared your throat before you spoke. "You okay?"

"Fine," was all he said. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "This is just stupid."

"Okay, what's wrong? Why are you being such a grouch?" You questioned, annoyed with his tone of voice.

"I'm not, I literally just said I'm fine."

You scoffed. "Well you don't seem fine."

He undid his arms, throwing them to his sides as he spoke. "Well maybe, it's because that guys been over you all night when you're supposed to be seeing someone."

Your jaw dropped, visibly. "What?"

"You heard me. Our friends think your actively dating someone and you're willingly letting some random dude dance all over you," he said, the edge in his voice sharp. His expression was stoic, and you couldn't read it.

"Wow," you almost laughed. "Really, wow. I didn't expect you to be so shallow, Hyunjin. Why don't you just shout, 'stop acting like a slut!' And be done with it?"

His voice lowered. "I never said that -"

"And your one to talk," you interrupted him. "I never made any comments when you were sleeping with half the city when you were nineteen."

"How many times do I have to say that I'm done with that! And you still hold it over my head!" He raises his voice to match yours, taking a step closer to you out of frustration.

"What, just like you're holding the fact that I danced, once, with a guy at a party. And, might I remind you, our fake dating this is just that - fake! So why the fuck do you care so much?"

"Why do I care?" Hyunjin says, emphasising his words. "I care... I care because -"

"Times up!"

You snapped out of your mentality as you heard Su squeal as she flung the door open. You quickly tried to force a smile on your face, but you droned out her making comments about the two of you.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves when you walked out, and without paying anyone a second thought you walked towards Minho. He wasn't drinking because he'd be working tomorrow, so he had already offered you a ride home.

"Hey, is there any chance you could take me home?" You said quietly to him. He nodded and stood up straight away, walking over to the table the boys had claimed for the night to pick up his jacket and keys. You got your back at the same time, and without glancing back, walked out of the bar with Minho on your tail.

"You okay?" He asked you as you walked towards his car and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just started feeling rubbish," you said, not wanting to out your argument with Hyunjin.

"You sure? You seemed okay before you did that game with Hyunjin," he said, starting the car. You hated how observant he was sometimes.

"Yeah, well, I don't know. We had a small argument, but it was over something insubstantial so it really doesn't matter."

Minho just nodded to your words silently. "Do you want to grab some food before I drop you off? I'm starving."

"Yes, please," you said, the thankfulness evident in your tone of voice. He drove to the nearest drive through and ordered both of your usuals. He parked up when the food was ready.

"Mmm, this was a good idea. Thanks, Minho," you said gratefully. A lot of people told you they found Minho mean, or abrasive, but you knew that Minho was just a good judge of character and was an extremely kind, soft person. You loved that he knew exactly what you needed, when you needed it.

"Couldn't let you go home all mopey. I wouldn't worry too much about your argument with Hyunjin. The idiot speaks before he thinks."

"I know," you said as you took a bike of your food. "But what he said hurt me. He's never spoken to me that way before."

"I understand, and I'm not trying to defend him, but he's had the worst week ever. I don't know how much you know, but Chan is furious with him, and the legal representatives of his company have been berating him all week. I'm sure he's just stressed."

Thinking about it that way, you tried to but yourself into Hyunjin's shoes. And when you actually dwelled on it, you were the one who was brushing Hyunjin off all night because of that girl he was talking to. If you were being honest, the only reason you really danced with that guy was to make him jealous, as much as you didn't want to admit it. Although what he said was completely out of line, you understood why he would have not been in the best of moods. He just took it out on you.

You groaned, leaning back in your chair. "I'll figure it out. I hate fighting with my friends."

Minho says nothing, and you settle into a comfortable silence whilst you ate. Once you were finished, you headed off back to your apartment. You smiled and thanked Minho for driving you home.

"Don't worry about it," he said to you before you left. "And get some sleep."

"Goodnight, Minho," you replied, walking up to your apartment and flopping down onto your couch with a sigh.

Your phone started to buzz, and you realised Felix was phoning you, so you picked it up.

"Hey, Lix."

"Hi, you okay? You left really abruptly! You never leave without saying bye," he said, and you could hear the pout in his tone of voice.

"I know, sorry bub. I just started to feel really ill. How did the rest of the party go?"

"We played that game for a bit longer, but when Hyunjin left abruptly, none of the girls were interested in continuing to play."

"Unsurprising," you say, rolling your eyes. "Did he leave after getting a phone call, by any chance?"

"Yeah, I think he did," Felix replies, and you switch your phone to loudspeaker so you can make yourself a cup of tea. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

Typical. You couldn't help but let this annoy you. You two had argued, and instead of calling you to fix the issue he had left to wherever the fuck this phone call had led him.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to go since I'm getting up early tomorrow, but I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Love you, bye," Felix said sweetly, and you made a kissing noise before hanging up the phone. You'd received texts from the other boys, making sure you'd got home safe and that you were well, so you replied to them to save them worrying. You took your mug and settled on the sofa, preparing yourself to have a chill rest of your night.

Until you got a phone call that set you off again.

#stray kids #hwang hyunjin x you #hwang hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin #felix lee #lee know #changbin #bang chan #jeongin #seungmin #han jisung

[thornfield13713]

6, 13, 15 (I was thinking for Rosie bc she's the bg oc I've seen most about, but feel free to go with someone else if you have more interesting answers for them!)

What companion are you platonically close with?

I have...a lot of trouble not befriending everyone all the time, in this game, but there are a few people Rosie is closer to than others.

The most notable example is Astarion, because they got close enough in this runthrough that I actually got his proposition at the tiefling party, and was planning to accept (with the intention of doing the 'you need a friend more than a lover' break-up later) if Karlach hadn't already made her move in the Underdark. Even without having briefly been lovers first, though, Astarion is probably Rosie's best friend in the party, in the same way that Wyll and Karlach are undeniably each other's. She was good friends with the rest of the party in various ways, but Astarion cemented his place as the closest to her by being the one who understood her situation with Bhaal most. They also shared a very dark sense of gallows humour that was often a bit unsettling for other members of the party.

She's probably second-closest to Wyll, though this doesn't emerge until after he's one of the only members of the group not to be (understandably) furious at her after her role in starting the Absolute plot comes out, despite the fact that, of the group, he's probably the member with the highest moral standards. The fact that they're both fundamentally dreamers who wanted to be like the heroes of the storybooks they grew up with helped a lot - Rosie, like Wyll, constructs a lot of who she is from half-remembered stories. She's doing it differently to him, but there's a certain amount of looking at each other and recognising the same coping mechanisms and the same careful construction of outward identity.

Minsc and Jaheira also very quickly became very close to Rosie indeed, once they joined the group as full-time companions. Those relationships are more familial than anything, given both of them make statements to the effect of 'you're family' over the course of the game, whether it's the 'cub' nickname or Minsc announcing that being Bhaalspawn makes him your uncle. And Rosie, who hasn't had a family since she was forced to murder her foster-family as a young child, likes having that to fall back on.

What are their thoughts on killing? Is it a necessary evil or do they enjoy it?

I mean. Rosie is a Dark Urge, which means that she automatically enjoys killing far more than she is comfortable with. Even early in the game, when she was just under the impression that she had a really bad case of the intrusive thoughts, she was very unsettled by how satisfying she found it to kill things, how much she enjoyed it. Which is a big part of why she did her best to avoid killing wherever she possibly could, lest it feed that part of her. This was...not an ideal strategy, as the Urge only got worse for not being placated, but thankfully for a while there were at least enough legitimate instances of no-other-option-but-violence to keep her mostly on top of her urges without random murder sprees.

That said, even killing in battle had a bit of a tendency to leave her guiltily torn between the part of her that loved every second of it, and the part of her that felt that killing ought to be a necessary evil and enjoying it was a slippery slope to whatever it was that led her to vivisect people in her former life (falling down to the Underdark early and getting her hands on noblestalk was enough to give her a relatively early insight into just how bad her past actually was, even if not the fact that she had greater ambitions than just back-alley serial killing) or kill people she wanted to be friends with in their sleep.

After losing her connection to Bhaal, this changed a bit, and Rosie had to come to terms with the fact that she still enjoyed fighting, she found satisfaction in it, and even the moment of the kill had something exhilarating in it still. She'd sort of been hoping her love of violence was purely Bhaal's influence, and it took a few conversations with Minsc and Karlach and other members of the party who enjoy violence, and whom Rosie feels, justifiably, have better grasps on the whole 'morality' thing than she does, to start getting past that sense of shame she feels about her enjoyment of fighting and killing.

What NPC's do they like? Which ones do they dislike?

I'm not sure her complicated feelings re: Gortash, Orin and Ketheric come under this one, but here's a quickfire of some of the major ones:

Depressingly, Rosie liked Alfira from the moment she first met her, and it was probably this immediate liking that led to Bhaal wanting Alfira dead right off the bat. That and Rosie having offered to help with her songwriting, which the Urge does not like at all. Unfortunately, Rosie being in some denial about how serious her urges are at this point, just assumes it's the same as thinking about Astarion's corpse the moment she meets him and lets Alfira come along with her, and- Well. You know the rest. She liked Alfira's hopefulness in the face of everything, she thought her song was beautiful, and was charmed and delighted by her eagerness to see the world - there was the beginning of a real friendship there, which just made what followed even worse.

She's also got a whole mess of feelings about Zevlor. At first, she admires and appreciates his protectiveness of his people, but then...well, then she finds him at Moonrise Towers after hearing everyone talking about how he broke, and there's a moment of absolute, agonising connection when he talks about how much he wanted to be a paladin again, and his guilt for what he was enthralled into doing. Sadly, that was the last she saw of him until the final battle, but there's something going on with those two and their relationships with their oaths and with the idea of being a paladin in general, and I sort of regret that, if Zevlor is anywhere in act 3 before the endgame, I haven't found him yet.

After they start talking, she and Dame Aylin also end up getting on surprisingly well, and I do slightly regret that there's no chance in-game to talk to her about the 'both children of the gods' thing, because it would be an interesting dynamic. Aylin is a bit more bombastic than Rosie, but she's also- in many ways, the sort of paladin Rosie wanted to be, but never quite lived up to. Which means that Rosie likes her a lot, admires her, but is...also somewhat envious of her.

Despite the above, Isobel is...uncomfortable...for Rosie, in that there's a certain...immediate, instinctive dislike there, exacerbated by the Urge screaming at Rosie to kill her even before Sceleritas turns up to make it an ultimatum. The Urge thing does just make Rosie dig her heels in, but that does just mean that she's quiet and awkward around Isobel, has a lot of trouble not rolling her eyes, and just does her best to avoid her at camp, despite getting on quite well with Aylin. Rosie herself can't even justify her dislike, it just...sort of happened?

Someone she is much firmer in her dislike for, however, is Wulbren Bongle. Yes, I know, if not the least controversial opinion in the game, it's up there. It's just- he has someone who cares about him enough to walk into danger and death for the chance of saving Wulbren. And Wulbren spits on it at every turn, treats the person who has gone to such lengths to rescue him like shit, and Rosie, who has...strong and complicated feelings about how people relate to one another, and about the idea of having people who cared enough to look- She wanted to throw Wulbren out into the shadow curse long before things came to a head, but that is the way it goes.

And then there's Sceleritas Fel, who scares her. Not because she fears him personally - even without her memories, she is quite confident in her ability to deal with him - but for what he means. She's as terrified to learn that she used to murder him on the regular (from the noblestalk thing) as she is by his delivering demands to kill her lover, because every word out of his mouth seems to confirm that she was an even worse person than she thought until he started talking, and she's genuinely terrified of just how deep and dark that pit truly is. All the same, seeing him killed to summon Bhaal hurt, in a way she has trouble explaining even to herself.

There are probably others I'll remember later, and kick myself for not including, but those are the ones that came to mind while I was writing this one.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #rosie fatrabbit

[myc-ology-whore]

She'll Be Okay, Pt. 2

Reagan Ridley x GN!Reader

Read Pt. 1

So it's been several months since I posted the first part of this, and I apologise for that. I'm not quite as practiced as I was since it's been a while since I've written for this show, but I just binged all eighteen episodes to get me back into it, so hopefully I've at least kept things relatively accurate to the show.

As a refresher: (Y/n), Reagan's S/O, never got along with Rand. When Rand stole Reagan's position as CEO right out from under her, (Y/n) decided to take matters into their own hands, and now they've been detained at Cognito.

Thanks for your support!! <3

Reagan's sneakers slammed on the tiles with force as she ran toward Cognito's Underground Law Enforcement facility. It hadn't taken more than fifteen minutes after your arrest for word to spread around the company that the newly installed CEO had been murdered. Though it wasn't something anybody was particularly upset about, it was still startling to know that someone had just been killed in the building. Even if it wasn't, people love to talk; word was bound to get out at some point. However, not everyone knew who the killer was.

Sweat was beginning to bead on Reagan's brow as she turned a corner, rushing toward the elevators despite the aches in her calves from overuse. Gigi had heard of the shooting first out of your friend group, and she was quick to run to everyone else's offices to let them know. You were the only one missing, nowhere to be found, and unless this was some disturbing coincidence, they all could only think of one place you could be. Without thinking, Reagan had run off ahead of the group, though they weren't far behind; she heard their panting breaths and pounding footsteps just down the hall as she clicked the elevator button furiously, right on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Come on, come on, fuck! How are we one of the most advanced companies in the world, yet we can't get a fucking update on the lower level lifts?!" She slammed her fists against the metal doors, willing them to open, but the elevator only responded with a quiet beep as it hit the next floor. The gang finally caught up to her, all of them but Brett doubling over and resting their hands on their knees.

"Girl, I ain't-- I ain't never seen you run like that," Gigi remarked breathlessly, her heels in her hand. Smoothing her hair out as best she could, she straightened up and rested her hands on her hips. "You even outran Mister Olympian over here!"

She gestured incredulously at Brett, who was pacing nervously a few steps away. Reagan never took her eyes off the doors, her face desperate. "We have to find (Y/n)," she fretted, her whole body clammy from anxiety and adrenaline. "We... We have to..."

"Try to keep calm, Reagan," Andre comforted, placing a hand into her shoulder. He thought about offering her something to chill her out, but thankfully pushed the thought away. "We're gonna get there soon enough, you just have to keep it together, and--"

"It's here!" Reagan cried as the elevator dinged, signalling it's arrival. She forced the doors open faster as they just barely began to slide open, pushing them with all her might and not even waiting for her friends to pile in before pushing the button for the atrium level. Everyone crowded in beside her, barely managing to make room for each other in the tiny space before the doors were closed again behind them.

"Fuck, can't this thing go any faster?" Myc was pushing himself so tightly against the walls that he might as well have been crawling up onto the ceiling. "Hey, watch where you're stepping, mutant!"

"Now, you watch your mouth," Glenn barked back, glaring so hard that it looked like his eyes might pop out. "I can't help it none if there's no space to stand in here."

"Will both of you idiots shut up?" They looked to see Gigi glaring at them over Andre's shoulder, her eye twitching as she tried to restrain herself from shoving one of them. "We're all stressed and uncomfortable in here, alright?"

They grumbled something in response, continuing to glare at one another but keeping their mouths shut as they waited. After what felt like several minutes of tense silence, the doors opened up into a maintenance hall leading to the atrium. Reagan was gone in a flash, adrenaline helping her to ignore the feeling of her legs turning to lead from lack of exercise; the rest of the gang did their best to keep pace, but only Brett managed to remain right at her side.

"Reagan, Rae-dog," he huffed, nervous laughter permeating his voice. "You don't think (Y/n) is, uh... Well, they're not in trouble, are they? I mean, serious trouble."

"We work for the fucking Shadow Government, Brett! We erase people who get too out of line!" A sob wracked her body as she ran, making her stumble, but Brett snatched up her arm before she could trip. She sniffled as they fell to a jog, her best friend not allowing her to go any faster than that. "Thanks," she mumbled, "but I'm okay. We need to keep going."

"Reagan..."

"We have to!" Brett didn't argue any further, and let her lead the way to the detainment center on the second floor in the atrium, the others slowly catching up as they hit yet another elevator. "We're almost there," Reagan wheezed, easing into the lift; her energy was starting to fade, even though her mind was still steeped in anxiety. "Just... a little further."

They reached the second floor, and after a short trek down the hall, they arrived in the detainment center. Despite a murder just having taken place, things seemed calm; a few security guards milled about behind a window, and the assistant at the desk looked as though nothing interesting had happened all day. He barely moved when Reagan and the gang burst through the doors all sweaty and exhausted, merely flicking his eyes over at them.

Reagan swiftly made her way over to the desk, and the dead-eyed clerk raised a brow at her. "Can I help you?"

"Someone was brought in here earlier," she panted, leaning heavily on the counter. "(Y/n) (L/n)? We're here to see them."

"Sorry ma'am, but I can't let you in without the proper--"

"I have clearance, asshole!" Reagan slammed her company ID down on the counter with enough force to make the clerk jump in his seat. She sighed irritably and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sorry. This has been... a rough morning. Can we please just hurry this up?"

"Y-Yes ma'am," the clerk nodded, quickly moving to scan her card. His expression dropped with dread when something popped up on his screen, and he winced as he glanced up at her. "Uh, it says here--"

"Move, son," came a gruff voice, and another security officer appeared over the desk clerk's shoulder. He looked at the screen, then up at Reagan and the rest of the party, then sighed. "You're not supposed to be coming back here," said the guard, "but I've been talking to your friend back there. I'll let you back, but you won't have long, only a few minutes. You leave when I tell you to, understood?"

"Yes, thank you so much," Reagan agreed, nodding vigorously. "I just need to see them."

The guard left the room on the other side of the window and came to the door leading from the waiting area to the corridor connecting the entire holding wing. He held the door open and waited for everyone to pass through, then began leading the group down the hall to the cells. "My name is Grouper," the guard introduced as he walked. "I'm head of security here. I was the one who found your friend in the CEO's office."

"Is it really true?" Andre spoke up. "Did they really... kill him?"

"Mm, seemed damn proud of it, too," Grouper huffed. "Said it needed to be done. Can't say I disagree with 'em, but I wasn't gonna lose my job over it... or worse."

Reagan walked closely with the guard, at the forefront of the group. "Are they okay? Were they hurt?"

"Only one that got hurt was that asshole Rand Ridley," the guard snorted. He paused to fiddle with his keys as he reached the end of the hallway; a heavy-looking metal door was the only thing standing between (Y/n) and the group now. Reagan felt herself growing impatient as Grouper finally found the key he was looking for. She took a sharp breath as he unlocked the door, and held it unconsciously as it creaked open. "Here we are."

All the air left her lungs when (Y/n) came into view. They were sitting on a metal bench in the very first cell, eyes closed and head leaned back against the wall. Their hands were still cuffed behind their back, but otherwise, they looked completely at ease where they sat, their clothes still unmussed aside from a speckling of red across their stomach. "(Y/n)!"

. . . . .

You opened your eyes immediately upon hearing her voice, and stood as you saw her and the rest of your friends entering the room. "Reagan? Guys? What are you doing here? I didn't even know you guys could get back here!"

"Grouper let us back," Reagan blubbered, her eyes already seeping tears as you approached the bars of your cell. She pulled you tightly against them as soon as you were within reach hugging you despite your inability to hug back at the moment. "(Y/n), I was... I was so worried! How could you run off on me like that?"

"Seriously, dude," Brett agreed, coming to clap a hand on your shoulder between the bars. "We'd never have let you go if we knew you were gonna get yourself arrested!"

"Brett, I think you're the only one who didn't suspect that," said Andre, patting your arm from Reagan's other side. "Anyway, how'd you do it? There wasn't anyone around to stop you or anything?"

"Y'know, Andre," you laughed awkwardly, pressing a soft kiss to Reagan's forehead as she continued to grapple you through the bars, "I feel like this isn't the best time to talk about something like that, for several reasons."

"Still, you certainly could've been more subtle," Gigi griped. "If you'd just sat your ass down and waited for a minute, you could've brainstormed with us and not gotten yourself an express ticket to Shadow Prison X."

"I told you we shoulda just poisoned his coffee," Myc laughed. "Now look at you."

"Yes, this situation is absolutely fucking hilarious, Myc," Reagan snapped, tears streaming down her face when she finally pulled away from you to glare at the mushroom. "(Y/n) could be sent to Shadow Prison any minute now, and you're laughing? Some fucking friend you are."

"Hey, I never claimed to like any of your skanky asses," Myc sneered back, but Andre set a hand on his stem before he could go any further.

"Myc, c'mon man," hissed the scientist. "You're gonna get us kicked out of here."

"So what? I told 'em not to leave, and look where not listening to me got them..." Myc scuttled up to the bars, jabbing a flagella through to poke at your chest. "Right fucking here."

If you didn't know him better, you might snap back at him right now, but the mycelian was your friend. "I'm sorry, Myc. I did what needed to be done, though."

"Yeah, well we coulda done it together, dipshit," he grumbled, poking at you again. "Then you wouldn't've gotten caught."

"You can't know that though, buddy," you chuckled. Looking over each of your friends, you went on, "I am sorry - I would've saved some action for you guys, but I just felt the need to take the glory on this one."

"Selfish bastard," said Glenn, shaking his head. "And I was gettin' all fired up in the war room thinkin' about how we coulda taken him out..."

"I know, I know..."

"You're stupid, you know that?" You looked down at Reagan, whose hands were still fisting your button-up. "I hated Rand, you know that better than anyone, but... I still loved him. Not as much as I love you, not after what he did, but still." She closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "You really killed him..."

"Reagan," you soothed, voice soft, "you know it was for the best. He never could've run the company like you're going to. This is what you're meant for, you know. You didn't need him."

"I know that," she nods, sniffling. "He was still my dad, though."

You frowned, looking away. "I'm... sorry."

"No, no," she replied quickly, shaking her head. "You... You did right... I think? I don't know. Everything's just so confusing now."

"It's my fault."

"No, it wouldn't be so hard to know what I'm feeling if Rand wasn't such an asshole," she sighed, running a hand down her face. "I feel... relief? Guilt? Grief, of course, but... not as much as I thought I would. And... love." She looked up at you, grabbing your chin and gently turning you to face her again. "I love you, and I know you did it because you love me, too."

"Of course I do," you said, leaning your head as close to hers as you could through the bars. She leaned up to meet you, and your foreheads touched, but anything else would've been awkward - especially with your friends surrounding you. "I love you more than anything, Reagan. I'd do whatever it takes to make you happy."

"Jesus, would you can it with the mushy stuff already?" You glared over at Myc out of the corner of your eye. "This crap's making me nauseous."

"I'll just... go ahead and take him out," Andre laughed nervously. He came up to give you a friendly punch on the shoulder first, though. "You'll get out of this, man. We'll see you soon."

"I hope so," you smiled, rolling your eyes as Andre began leading the mushroom back out into the hallway. Gigi and Glenn approached too, their expressions sympathetic. "Don't look so sad, guys," you huffed, shaking your head. "You're bringing down my mood in here."

Gigi reached out to tap your cheek, a fond smile on her face. "You're just a ray of sunshine 'till the end, aren't you?" Her face falls a bit when you smile back. "I just hope things work out. It'll be a lot quieter around here if you don't make it out of this, honey."

"You stay strong, soldier," Glenn ordered from beside her, his face stern. "If you don't walk out of here on your own, we're not gonna let you go without a fight, y'hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Dolphman," you chuckled. As they turned to leave, you looked to Brett, who remained silent at Reagan's side, thoughtful. "Hey," you called softly. drawing him from within his head. "You alright, man?"

He was quiet for a moment, looking between you and Reagan, who'd buried her face in your chest again. He nodded to her, since she was looking away. "I'm just worried that... that things won't be the same again, if something happens to you. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but..."

"Things'll move on," you answered easily, resting your chin onto your girlfriend's head. It hurt you to think about it, but you knew Reagan was strong and determined. There was no way she'd fall apart just because you got 'disappeared'; you'd always been far more into her than she was into you, of that you were certain, and you liked it that way. It meant that if anything ever happened to your relationship, she'd bounce back. "I'm not so important around here that things'll stop moving forward when I'm gone. I'm just--"

"You are important," Reagan murmured into your chest, peering up at you with wet eyes. "You're the most important thing in the world to me, (Y/n), way more important than my shitty dad. I don't know what I'd do without you, I'd... I'd--"

She cut herself off with a sob, and you found your heart clenching as she wiped her tears away on her sleeves helplessly. "Reagan--"

"I can't lose you, too!" That shut you up. She sniffled and tried to catch her breath, her lips trembling as she tried to find her words. "I don't hate you for killing Rand, I don't, but he was still important to me, (Y/n). If I lose both of you in such a short span of time, I'll... I'll break."

Her cries overtook her, and you looked over her head helplessly at Brett, who looked just as lost as you did. Regardless of how well either of you knew her, Reagan didn't often cry; dealing with it wasn't easy, to say the least.

Brett set a hand on her shoulder, and let out a short sigh of relief when she didn't immediately shake him off. "Reagan, we still don't even know if they're actually going to be... taken away," he said carefully. "Just breathe for a second, take it easy."

"Reagan," you mumbled, watching as she tried to pull herself together. Guilt was starting to overwhelm you; you'd killed him for her, to prevent him from hurting her anymore, but if killing him hurt her too, then what was the point? "Reagan, I didn't mean for this... I didn't want... I just wanted to--"

Grouper cleared his throat from where he stood by the door, drawing your attention. He tapped his watch, then pointed his thumb at the camera situated in the corner of the room. You sighed, looking back down at Reagan, who'd also seen the guard's gesturing. She met your eyes, hopelessness swirling within her gaze, and your stomach twisted into a knot.

"We, uh... don't have much time left."

"No, we don't," she replied, touching your face tenderly. "Oh, (Y/n)... wasn't there some other way you could've made things better? I would've taken ice cream, you know."

You laughed abruptly at that, shaking your head. "I'll keep that in mind, next time," you snickered, ignoring the sinking feeling in your chest saying that there probably wouldn't be a next time. Reagan seemed to be hearing the same voice, her expression saddening more by the second. "Hey," you clucked, frowning at her, "I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I'll be with you no matter where I'm at."

She grimaced. "Don't talk like that," she chided. "You'll be with me here, in the office, saving the world from catastrophe together." She paused, a look of quiet determination taking over her features. "I'm not going to let you rot in here."

You raised a brow. "Is that a promise?"

Reagan grinned in return. "You can count on it."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Brett tittered nervously, not liking the plotting energy that was beginning to surround his friends. "I'm sure everything will work out fine. It's not like it's really an issue for the Shadow Board, right? I mean, they didn't like Rand, did they? So why would they be mad?"

"Whatever happens," Reagan said, her hands cupping your face, "I'm not leaving you behind, (Y/n)."

. . . . .

Alright folks, that's it for now. Frankly, I'm aware this isn't half as good as what I had down before, but I'm not feeling particularly inspired by this one. I liked where I left it before, truthfully, so I hope this isn't terrible. I feel like it was just a whole lot of nothing, but I just can't think anymore lol. I hope this isn't too terrible, but if it is, well, blame the writer's block.

I do have some other stuff in store that I'm more confident in, stuff that holds up to the old stuff I was writing on here. It's mostly Myc, but if you put in a request for another character, I'll see what I can do. Anyway, have a good night, y'all - I think I'm off to bed.

#inside job x reader #inside job netflix #inside job #reagan ridley #reagan ridley x reader

[ladyoriza]

@vampireninjabunnies-blog and I were talking about how Hannah would have figured out what Joseph did to Esther in about three seconds, called Suze, and had her rescued within a day or so, and my brain produced this:

Hannah got into her car and punched Suze's contact info before she'd even buckled in. Esther's "funeral" had been a bit of a shitshow, and while she felt bad for leaving John with Joseph, getting a hold of Suze was the current priority. Getting a hold of Suze was how she was going to help John. And Esther.

"What did he do now?"

Hannah startled, because Suze usually screened her phone calls. She hadn't expected her to actually pick up.

"I can call you for things besides Joseph's bullshit."

"Yeah, but you always text before those calls. So now what did he do?"

"I'm almost certain he just murdered, or attempted to murder, John's wife, Esther. Or he's abducted her." Hannah pulled out of the dirt road leading to Joseph’s church and turned right, away from the peggies, and her ex-husband. It had been awkward as hell, and she’d left the twins with Kim and Nick, claiming they both had colds and she didn’t want them spreading it to half the county, but she wanted to be there for her colleague’s funeral. Esther was a brilliant psychologist, much like Hannah herself, and she’d joined her practice a few years after Hannah set it up.

"The mad cute redhead? The fuck for- ohhh. Oh. She finally talk John into leaving?"

"Well, apparently there was an…argument. A few nights ago. Joseph got physical with her and Jacob had to pull him off. He says he'd never seen John so pissed off."

"So they left. Together?" There was chatter in the background- she sounded like she was home, which always tended to be filled with people.

"As far as I know. Apparently her car went into the Henbane and only John made it out." Which was the first sign, the river wasn’t terribly deep, and she knew John was, in fact, a fairly strong swimmer. Not that he couldn’t have been knocked out or otherwise incapacitated, but it still raised the alarm in her mind.

"Oh, that's fucking obvious. Let me guess- some conveniently placed peggies fished him out and left Esther?" The chatter in the background died, meaning Suze had likely moved into her bedroom, and considered this a relatively serious situation. 

"That's the thing- she wasn't at her own funeral."

Suze groaned, and started laughing. "Why is he so fucking bad at this? What does Jakey think?"

"Let me get him, if Joseph has Esther somewhere, he's going to know where she might be, he's got a map of all the bunkers in the county."

"Even yours?"

Hannah huffed, "It came with the house! And it's an excellent storm shelter."

Size laughed, again, "Yeah, yeah, excuses."

Hannah pulled off the road to punch in Jacob's number to start a three-way call. It rang a few times, then he picked up.

"Hannah?"

"Hey. I have Suze here, too."

"Wonderful. Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Did you not notice what a farce Esther's so-called funeral was?"

"This really isn't the time for your issues with Joseph."

"If they got John out of the car, they could have gone back down for her. Joseph could have had your scuba-certified chosen go down and get her, or hook up the car to something to pull out of the water. Instead he what, leaves John's wife down there? Lets him go mad without anything to bury? We both know he never liked her." She braked for a group of turkeys on the road, who took their sweet time crossing.

"It's the most basic-ass cover up. It's even more basic than arson. Come on, Jakey, use that giant head of yours for once." Suze didn’t like any of the Seeds, especially not Joseph, but over time she and Jacob developed a strange sort of understanding. 

"So what, you think he's got her somewhere?"

"He has to, it doesn't make sense otherwise. I don't know if it's just his usual possessiveness over you two or something else, but I know she's not dead."

"And before you ask- I'm why he hasn't tried this shit with Hannah. I can be here in 6 hours, tops, and I have Whitehorse on my side."

"How the fuck did you do that?"

"Because I'm a fucking delight. And her kids are the darlings of Hope County, all I had to do was loan a few of my guys to him and we're golden- yeah, yeah, get that ready and load up my bike, too. I wanna be in the air in an hour, tops." The background chatter resumed, but Suze now sounded echo-y, like she was in her garage, giving orders to the Saints that managed her vehicles. Neither of them had asked Suze to come, but she didn't wait to be asked, ever. 

"You're positive Esther is alive?" Jacob sounded like he believed her, but didn’t want to.

"Jacob, we both know it wouldn't be out of character for Joseph. We both know he hates how happy she makes him, and we both know he'd stop at nothing to keep you two under his thumb. I know you love him, but you're beyond sticking your head in the sand about the type of man Joseph is. And I know the only reason he was even at the birth of our children is because you made him fly to Ann Arbor." He’d never told her that part of it, but he had slipped up once and mentioned that Joseph almost missed his flight because he was too busy preaching. In retrospect, that should have been the moment Hannah dumped Joseph, but she was young and naive. Now older and wiser, it was too easy to slot the rest of the pieces in.

"Wait. You think he could be trying to replace Hannah? Like, being divorced is a bad look for him. You think he's trying to pull some stepford wives bullshit? He'd get a replacement baby mama and knock John all the way back to rock bottom." 

"Considering the fit he pitched when I was given primary custody? He might be wanting to reassert control."

"...Hannah. This sounds insane."

"Do you think I'm wrong?"

Jacob was quiet for a long moment, long enough for Hannah to pull into the Rye's driveway to pick up her kids. She quickly texted Kim to tell her she was on a call, but would be in shortly.

"I understand that accepting this aspect of Joseph is hard. You want to protect your family- but Esther is also your family. Fauna and Ethan are your family. And if did this to John, what would stop him from doing something to me, or to the kids?" Hannah sighed, "Look, we don't like each other. But you are the only person in Eden’s Gate that has my full trust. I wouldn't have called you if I wasn't completely sure that Joseph's done something. Besides, when do I ever call you when it's not a genuine emergency?"

A heavy sigh, "When will Suze be here?"

"Choppers set to lift off in like, half an hour…so about four hours. I'm coming with a handful of guys, too, just to cover my ass."

"We can talk in person when she lands, if you want to surprise visit the twins as a cover." She felt slightly guilty for using the twins to sweeten the pot, but, he did love them. And didn’t really need any reason to go see them.

"Want me to bring John?"

"If you think he can handle it, yes. Otherwise I'll leave that up to you."

"Alright. If you're right about this, what's the plan then?"

"Beat his ass." Suze said bluntly. As if she ever had a different plan.

"Fair. Seven?"

Hannah looked at the clock, it was currently 2pm. "Seven works, we'll just have to be quiet since the kids go to bed at eight."

"I'll give them coffee."

Both Hannah and Jacob let out an exasperated "Suze", because she'd done it before and absolutely would do it again.

"Ah, and you two say you don't get along. Alright, I'm out, see y'all later." Suze hung up, leaving Hannah and Jacob alone on the line.

"I am hoping to be wrong, if only because this would really be a new low for Joseph."

"It wouldn't be. See you at seven."

#hannah lamb phd

[singofsolace]

Rewatching some of Larissa Weems' scenes in Wednesday, I'm a bit confused by the dynamic shown between Larissa Weems, Mayor Walker, and Sheriff Galpin.

Supposedly, they've all known each other for over 32 years, at least since the 1990 Rave'n, and have worked relatively closely together for as long as Weems has been Principal of Nevermore. It's canon that Weems contributes money to Mayor Walker's political campaign, and in episode 2, she tells Galpin to "play nice" with Wednesday, or else she'll call the mayor--the implication being that Weems has more power/sway over the mayor than Sheriff Galpin does, despite the fact that Galpin and Walker have a longer-standing relationship from back when Walker was still Sheriff, and they used to sit in a booth at the Weathervane discussing cases.

I could buy that Weems has more political power purely due to her financial contributions to Mayor Walker, because money is power in politics, but then there are other moments that don't really make sense, considering their long history.

For instance, when Sheriff Galpin first meets Wednesday in episode 1, he hears Weems call her "Miss Addams," and he immediately stops them in their tracks and says, "You're an Addams? Don't tell me Gomez Addams is your father? That man belongs behind bars for murder. Guessin' the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

When Wednesday then asks what the sheriff meant, Weems says dismissively that she has "no idea," despite that later being revealed to be a lie, since she's the one who witnessed the murder in the first place, and made a statement to police (?!). The problem is, there's no indication to the audience that Weems is lying at this point, and so it seems more like a logistical writing error/oversight than a conscious choice of the narrative for Weems to lie.

Sure, maybe Weems is just really good at lying without anyone being able to tell, not even the audience, but I get absolutely no vibe from the scene that she is meant to be lying. Gwendoline Christie doesn't do any subtle or nuanced acting in that moment to show that there is more to the story (most likely because Gwen herself didn't know at that point that Larissa was lying), and that just pisses me off, frankly, because it's moments like that where it becomes glaringly obvious that the writers hadn't actually figured out in episode 1 where the "Gomez-is-possibly-a-murderer" storyline was going to go, or who was going to be involved in the reveal.

The murder of Garrett Gates is treated in such a strange way by the narrative overall, actually, now that I think about it, because at no point do Larissa, Gomez, or Morticia make any allusions to the Rave'n being a huge event in their lives before episode 5, nor does it come up when they're "reminiscing" in Weems' office.

In fact, Larissa appears to remember the Rave'n dance wistfully when it's introduced, and only regrets that the boy she wanted to go with took someone else. At no point does a scandal as big as the murder of a normie and subsequent arrest of Gomez come up...? And at no point do Gomez and Morticia mention that their final year at Nevermore was not exactly a happy time...? I can buy Gomez and Morticia not wanting Wednesday to know about it, but Weems comes off as incredibly petty and frankly messed up, even for Nevermore's standards, for focusing on her roommate's boyfriend not taking her to the dance when she witnessed a literal murder at that same dance...? Like what reason does Larissa have for hiding that whole chapter of their lives, when she's constantly making passive aggressive remarks to Morticia anyway...? Was what happened at the Rave'n "off the table" in terms of being ammunition for petty jibes? Perhaps, but when you share such an enormous event, surely it would come up, even just in shared looks and uncomfortable moments...? Like, I'm not saying they needed to make such a big deal of hinting at it that Wednesday would then ask too many questions; I just wanted such a huge event to be acknowledged and hinted at in some way before it became the central plot of a whole episode...?

Anyway. It bothers me, because if it's established from episode 1 that Gomez was accused of murder, why does it seem like none of the cast besides Galpin knows about it, or even remembers it, until episode 5...? And why doesn't Galpin or Walker bring it up when discussing murders being potentially linked to Nevermore? When Galpin says, "Oh, I forgot, you only teach the good outcasts at Nevermore, right?" it would've been an obvious moment to bring up the fact that Weems witnessed one of her classmates murder a normie...? Or at least phrase it "you know better than anyone that Nevermore students aren't above murder" so that the audience would've gotten to wonder how Weems was related to whatever murder Gomez was accused of.

Did anyone else notice this? Do y'all have thoughts?

#larissa weems #morticia addams #gomez addams #sheriff galpin #mayor walker #wednesday 2022

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Frozen Needles || Part 2

Dubois was right. And working with Songbird's whole team isn't making it any better. The whole conflict is happening in a dimension they can't access with their tools.

His eyes flicker over to Click, who has yet to wake up. Songbird is sitting with her, his wife's eyes securely on her vitals and constantly comparing them to the Paresse of this same timeline. She still has active signals and her sphere was still lit.

The Paresse still appears alive, his systems functional and capable of receiving signals to move... But he isn't sending them on his own. His sphere is also dull, barely functional.

Songbird's hand is occupied gently running her thumb over the back of Click's hand.

Dubois sighs softly, "Song, has Enlil reported anything new from the Parasite timeline?"

Parasite and Host. One timeline feeding on another and causing nothing but the suffering of the Host.

She looks up, then shakes her head. Nothing yet.

"Damn." He hisses, "It's been hours."

"How's Cross doing with tracking down all the possessed?"

"He's still trying to figure out if Rage is possessed or just under the Para-Snake's influence." He rubs at his temple, "Where the hell is that bastard hiding? And why hasn't he possessed this one?" He makes a motion to the unmoving body of the Host-Paresse.

Songbird just shrugs, "The only lead we have is Parasite-Fusataro's string of murders before her execution."

"Really gotta come up with a new codename." Puck sighs from at his desk nearby.

"You'll live." Songbird hisses. She doesn't approve of Dubois' choice in his team's new secretary, and she makes it known often. Her anger in the current situation only magnifies it.

Dubois just rolls his eyes, "Go easy on him, Song. He primarily worked with the Infecta Vas and variants before I recruited him."

She snorts and puts her attention back on the monitors. She has to, anyways. She's monitoring them for Kilter while the medic is tending to Taglamig in the next room.

It's daytime in both timelines. All involved who aren't dead are awake, so Click is likely relatively safe, wherever she is.

At least she should be.

And then her signals start to fluctuate.

-----

Click's only regret in volunteering to be their dream-scout is how long it's taking.

She idly gnaws on a piece of frozen bark as she stares at the lake, perched in a tree far from the rocky shore.

Goldie, as she's taken to nicknaming the Fusataro instance, had been pacing at its edge the night before. Watching the waters. Why?

She doesn't dare get close. She was there when the Host-Paresse was drowned. It was almost instant. Maybe from the shock of the water?Either way, she isn't planning on touching it.

She's circled the lake multiple times to try and find a better vantage point to see what the hell is in there. No such luck, unless she wants to risk the rotten corpse of a tree hanging over the water.

Absolutely not. She can't fly here, can't use her augments--hell, her fucking tits are gone!! That, she's the most pissed about. A factory reset. Gross. She shakes her head and stands up. She should get back to Desir's little burrow. The Kingsnake won't tolerate her being out and about for long.

Some of the 'ghosts' stay behind, their bodies killed in the waking world while they slept. There was... An almost comforting sense of companionship among those who hadn't been changed.

Desir was one of them, and had been insanely confused to see her, but happily welcomed her in.

She stays in the trees until the lake is out of sight and then drops down to the forest floor. The forest is always changing, the trees can't be trusted for more than a few meters. She relies on the rocks and the snow for her landmarks. She spits out the mangled bark and continues until she sees the snow start to turn brown from old blood. Then she follows the edge to a rocky outcrop. And there, just under a ledge, is a little cave with the faintest warmth coming from inside.

It was a squeeze, but opens up further in. And inside is a warm orange light and a mangled busy-body-bunny trying to help patch up whatever thin skin Rage has broken open again.

The beastial form being patched up thumps its tail as she comes into the firelight. Desir looks up and grins at her, "Hey. Anything fun happen this time?"

"Actually, yeah. Not sure about fun, per-say, but definitely something interesting." She goes over to the other side of the cave, where a map has been carved into the wall. She taps at one spot on the edge of the lake, "Goldie was pacing here, where you said the second Fusataro was drowned. Like she was waiting for something."

"..." Desir hops up and the Rage-Beast sits up, looking, too, "That's... Odd." The rabbit narrows the eyelids on his working eye, "Why?"

Click shakes her head, "I don't know. She looked nervous, though. I need to get a closer look at the water, without falling in. There's gotta be a reason the Kingsnake keeps the trees far away from it." She bites down on her knuckle, staring down the map, "But why?"

Desir sighs, "Short of flying over it, there's no way to get over the water to look without risking getting cornered."

Click nods, "But Goldie is nervous about something. It looked like she was ready to fight, but nothing happened."

Desir sighs, bites his lip, and then seems to decide to say what he's thinking, "If the Kingsnake decides to wake up today, Rage and I can keep watch as you go by the water's edge. Maybe test that dead tree? If the Kingsnake is awake, we can guard you from the other Frostbite."

Click makes a face, "Maybe. Not sure about the tree, but." Her eyes drift north of the lake, "I want to explore this cliffside after I warm up some more. Maybe if there's a large enough rock that we can knock down or get Eater to move, it'll land in the lake and give a more solid platform than the dead tree."

Rage scoffs and she can hear him plop down next to the fire behind them.

Desir sighs, "Eater is nearly Frostbitten."

"I know, I know." Click crosses her arms. Maybe she has so much faith in the douji because of her teammate, Taglamig, "But he's not yet. Let's wait for him to fall asleep tonight. And anyways, if Goldie is afraid of something in there, it's probably better that we make sure we do this as safely as possible."

Desir hesitates, "I hope you're right." He sighs before going over to Rage's side again.

Click can feel the doubt in their hearts. She's just about the only hope they have, but she's not Songbird. She knows they feel like she's turned down every single one of their ideas or plans to help. She wishes she could send out a signal to her captain to ask for help. To make sure she's doing the right thing...

"...how about this, if the Kingsnake does wake up in the next few days, we'll go test the dead tree. If he doesn't, I'll investigate the cliffside and we'll try and get Eater to move something."

A soft huff, but Rage's heart does lift some.

"Sounds like a plan."

#the facility: frozen needles #ress writes #mostly exposition and some angst #songbird is absolutely a mother figure to click

[voidsnarrator]

Author had been in this facility for more years than he could remember. It was grating on him, his anger for this place and the people inside it growing day by day. He hears of a clone. Their way of attempting to get a docile and pliable Author, to use for his powers. A little distraction is all he needs to tear this place apart.

~

Since the "chapters" are all about 500-1000 words I'll just post them here

Not that. Anyone will reblog it either ways haha

~

All Author needed was one distraction at an opportune moment. Being as restrained as he was, he needed to get lucky enough to have one of his hands free and usable, and acquire a writing utensil somehow. Preferably a pen, something that could write on skin.

Just one

opportune

distraction.

He glared his most murderous glare at the scientist as she entered the room. Being restrained to a chair wasn't fun. Being muzzled so he couldn't bite also wasn't fun. Having his hands wrapped up in a way he couldn't use his hands properly was, probably, the least fun. It was time for exercising, Author knew. Because he had already had “breakfast”, and he's had some additional water since then. It was about time. He watched as she began undoing his restraints to get him out of the chair. Undoing his arms and middle, working carefully and slowly in case Author decided to try something. He usually behaved, so the threat was relatively low.

“My hands hurt.”, Author said, watching with an almost predatory gaze as the scientist tensed, freezing where she was undoing the last strap around his middle. “I'm still forced to stay seated. I can't get off the chair. You can unwrap my hands and let me stretch my fingers for a moment.”, Author continued, head slightly tilted, golden eyes sharp as they stayed focused on the woman in front of him. “They've not been unwrapped for days.”.

The woman was clearly feeling conflicted as his words went through her head. She should be able to unwrap a hand and let him stretch his fingers before re-wrapping it. Keeping him healthy did mean letting him stretch his fingers. And it wasn't like he'd be able to grab anything from her- right? “I suppose I can let you.”, she finally settled on. Normally it would be done with him fully restrained, but... he was still restrained to the chair, and leaning forward from it wouldn't be able to do much for him. Author's expression stayed stoic as he watched the lady take his right hand and start to unwrap it carefully. They still thought he was left-handed, and he was quite glad for it. Letting them believe he couldn't use his right hand for writing would come with its advantages eventually.

When his hand was fully unwrapped, Author stretched out his fingers, cracking his knuckles by bending his fingers, clenching and unclenching his hand. His hands did hurt, he hadn't lied about that. He was just hoping for some luck. He had already spotted the pen sticking out of the scientist's pocket on her sleeve, and she wasn't that far away from him.

Frantic beeping filled the room, the lady in front of him flinching and fumbling to get her pager out of her pocket -the source of the excitement. It sounded like something important, but Author didn't care about that. He quickly leaned forward, the scientist turned away slightly to look at her pager and read what was on it, letting him pull the pen from her pocket as she was distracted. Immediately he began writing onto his other arm- She turned to him in shock, suddenly realizing she had taken her attention off of him with his hand free, before she suddenly collapsed to the ground. Dead. Author continued writing, knowing he didn't have much time. His cell was constantly monitored, and they would have seen him take the pen -or at least the scientist collapsing dead to the ground. He just had to take care of the essentials -free himself from the chair, get his bat.

The door to the cell opened, but Author was already free. A manic grin on his face and bat clutched in his hands, he didn't hesitate to attack them. His anger had had enough time to steep over the years, had grown more and more, the fury of knowing he was cloned tipping him over.

Red decorated the pristine white floors, spattered onto the walls and Author. He laughed, on the edge of deranged, nothing able to stop him now. He made sure to use the pen to make sure he wouldn't get hurt or captured by the armed security -soldiers, perhaps was the right word- before he continued. He'd have to find the exit, but that wasn't actually his priority right now. No, as he listened to the metal of his bat scrape against the floor, nothing but a need to destroy and kill filled him.

He would see this facility covered in red before he would thought of leaving.

And that meant finding and killing his clone as well.

The thought of a second Author did not sit right with him. No, it disgusted him, it brought his blood to a boil the moment he thought about it. Thought of himself being a good little pet for these people. It filled him with rage, fuelling him when he crossed paths with another panicked employee, smashing their head in and decorating the wall with their brain.

He'd find his clone. He'd break it. He would make sure that there was only one, and that was him.

#admin writing #the host #the author #markiplier

[dearestagony]

Prudence Headcanons.

Just thinking about some Prudence lore and wanting to dive into her personality a bit more. Specifically, how possessive and obsessive she gets with people. And how irrational it makes her. Like Prudence could meet someone one time and is suddenly like: We're friends. Or she could've kissed someone once and is instantly like: I'm in love with you. You're my boyfriend now.

She's the type of person that will stalk the people she cares about. She will either stalk people as a means to protect them and keep an eye out for them. Or she will stalk them because she feels paranoid. She's afraid they might abandon her or replace her, so she will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn't happen.

Prudence has also been known to believe that she is the only person anyone needs in their life and gets very jealous if she sees that person with anyone else. She'll be like : You don't need them. You have me and you only need me. Doesn't matter who they're with. Some examples of this could be: a persons relative, their neighbor, a co-worker, a romantic partner, another friend, and so on. If she feels like they're a threat to the relationship she has with the person of her affections, she will kill them without remorse. She's so good at what she does that no murders are ever traced back to her and no bodies are ever found. And she even goes as far as to make people forget she knew the deceased, not wanting the police to catch on. Or if she's not feeling that extreme - which is rare - she will just attack them and make them forget what happened afterwards. There has also been a time or two where she's kidnapped someone who was close to the person of her affections. This usually lead to the kidnapped person being murdered later.

She gets upset when people come to visit her and have to leave. Most of the time she will just gilt trip them or beg them to stay with her a little bit longer. But if they make her mad and refuse to listen, then she might get angry and hurt them. Usually regretting it later and apologizing. Usually the apologies going something like this: I'm sorry I hurt you, but you were trying to leave and I got upset. If you hadn't tried to leave me I wouldn't have hurt you.

Prudence has also kidnapped some of the people she's become infatuated with. But this is extremely rare and usually only happens with uncooperative people or people she thinks might be trying to abandon her.

She has also been known to kill the people of her affections. This has occurred when people have rejected her in a certain way - which lead to her getting angry and being unable to control herself. It has also occurred when she's come to the conclusion that someone is trying to replace her (Master Stine is an example of this). Or when she thinks she's being abandoned by the person she cares about.

However, Prudence is also the type of person who will literally do almost anything the person of her affections asks of her. If the person of her affections happens to be very dominate in nature, then she will be more submissive and docile. Much like she was with Master Stine. I imagine she probably had a bit of stockholm syndrome in regards to him. Though her feelings towards the master were never romantic - they were more platonic I guess? Sometimes she greatly detested him though.

Also, because I forgot to mention this, Prudence will never purposely hurt children or animals. That's where she draws the line. If she does hurt them, it's an accident.

#— ✿ maybe i’m the one who is the paranoid freak oh yeah. › prudence headcanons. #kidnapping tw #kidnapped tw #murder tw #death tw #let me know if i need to tag anything else #i tried my best to tag everything but i probably forgot something

[crumpledfoilmind]

Emille's lips curled into a sneer as soon as I walked into the hall.

"If it isn't the family failure," he said.

I blinked. "Emille…" I started.

The glitzy chandelier hanging at the hall entrance disoriented my eyes. Soft, prismatic light reflected off the mirrors on the walls and created fractals on the glass windows. Even my shimmery green dress became a gown of glittering emeralds in this atmosphere.

Concern flashed through Emille's eyes. He had been smiling, and he had been greeting me. Emille Cointreau, my first cousin. I was going to kill him. Tonight.

"Rebecca, are you alright?" Emille said. He had the Cointreau voice, as though my brother were speaking from the grave. The brother Emille had murdered in cold blood.

Emille offered me his arm, which I immediately took with what I intended to be an abashed smile.

"The lights- I was momentarily dazzled is all," I laughed. "Extraordinary- fitting of our family name,"

"Our family name," Emille echoed, steering me to a group of relatives- all with those eerie green eyes and ghostly voices. Except, the way he said it caused a spasm of irritation to unnerve me.

Our family name.

"That you , Rebecca Cointreau, should have this name as well, is a disgrace. You can only make up for your failure by killing me."

"Emille?" my voice broke. He was already weaving his way through the crowd of lookalikes and bealikes, to welcome another guest. I rubbed my eyes.

Trust the Cointreaus to come up with the most headache inducing setup for their gatherings.

I set my jaw and strode towards the table of refreshments. No confusing reality, Rebecca. We're past that.

A Cointreau standing at the table end beckoned me with a smile and a raised glass. Liquid sparkling like diamonds. I squinted, walking up to the figure. Was it Emille?

The woman had all kinds of lines on her face. Laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, creases on her forehead and brow bones indicating an anger not to be tried. I was sure I knew her, and the fact that I couldn't quite recall who she was made me uneasy.

I plastered on my most bland smile, and bowed my head in greeting.

"Rebecca!" she said, handing me a glass. She had a deep, commanding voice that would've once made me shrivel up on the spot.

I resisted the urge to glare, or worse. Instead, I sipped my proffered drink with due deference.

"It's been such a long time, love. After Cassius, we weren't sure you would ever be ready for… society…"

My fists were clenched, and my nails dug into my skin. Luckily, a light hand on my shoulder distracted me. I looked up.

Emille smiled brightly at me and said," You couldn't kill me even if you tried, Rebecca. Once a failure, forever doomed to fail."

I stepped back, lifted my arm and raked my nails across his face. They sliced through like a knife through butter, and his visage burst into a million shards of light.

I blinked. In reality, I was doubled over slightly, and I was clutching my stomach. "Cassius…is…"

Thank the Lord for bringing me back before I said anything incriminating. I took a deep breath and righted myself, sweeping my hair behind my ear with a flourish. "Forgive me, my lady. I was simply overcome… My brother was a great man, and his loss..." I trailed off.

Emille was nowhere to be seen. My eyebrow twitched. The light show was truly distressing me.

But I wasn't imaging the derision in Lady Veronica- I remembered the matriarch of the Cointreau clan now-'s voice as she said,

" Yes, yes, a man of great sentiment without substance. No offense, love, but taking in an insane ward with little claim to the Cointreau name was the least of his misguided actions.

Now Emille- my son, Emille Cointreau-" Pride lit her green Cointreau eyes and made them glow as if she were possessed. "is a man worthy of the Cointreau succession."

I blinked rapidly. I hadn't been imagining her words. She had really insulted Cassius to my face. Insulted me to my face. Veronica Cointreau, sister of the father I never knew. Mother of the one who killed my brother.

Emille- the real Emille- I closed my eyes tight for two seconds and then opened them to make sure- came up to us. He said something to me that I didn't register and kissed his mother's cheek before swiveling away into the crowd. Lady Veronica's eyes softened, and for the slightest moment, she looked human. I took that as my cue to slink away as well.

Letting myself believe they were human would lead me to abandon my final claim of humanity as well.

Because no matter how my feelings flitted and fluctuated this night, Emille Cointreau had to die by the end of it.

I found a quiet space to calm my nerves-

I ducked into a corridor with wood paneled walls. None of that bizarre light work. The corridor was softly lit by quiet lanterns. I padded up the thick carpet, trailing my fingers across the polished walls. Ridges, real and delicate. Telling me there was no blood spurting from my fingertips, even though I could see it with my eyes.

I walked and walked for what seemed like an eternity. In actuality it was likely a minute at most. The corridor opened up to a small balcony. Nothing opulent, just a sturdy door that opened up to a railed platform. Iron and concrete. Looking over the back of the hall- gravel road and then the tree line.

But I wasn't looking at the scenery. I saw Emille, standing there with his back towards me. In the dark, I couldn't be sure it was him, but somehow I knew.

Was providence playing a joke on me? There was only one way to believe. One chance as well. If I were right, I'd have accomplished my goal. If I were wrong, another vision would splinter into dust.

I crept up to the figure , sliding the knife in my left sleeve to my right hand. There was no moon and a cloud bank prevented the light from reflecting on the blade as I plunged it into Emille's back.

Right between the shoulder blades. And I knew it was real. Because there was resistance; I had to force the knife in with all my might. It was okay, though, I knew how much to twist. Because I had done this before. When I killed Cassius.

I stumbled backwards, reeling. "Cassius is… dead." I whispered.

Emille crouched on the ground where he had fallen, the knife still in his back, though with the dark and the dark of his suit jacket, its handle couldn't be seen.

"You…" I was hissing now, but not out of malicious intent. I was just having a hard time speaking because of the shock. What shock?

"You killed Cassius…" I gasped. Though I wasn't the one who had a knife in my back, I was somehow on the ground as well, keeling over, clutching my chest.

"No, Rebecca," said the Cointreau voice like my brother's, coming from above me. "You did."

Rage. My being quivered with rage. I looked up and I could see in the dark. Glowing Cointreau eyes glowing green.

"How..." Then, "Cointreau…" I giggled. And then I laughed from deep within my core. I coughed and rattled with mirth. I spat up warm blood, slippery blood. I could feel it, which meant it was real.

"Ahhh… You can't blame me for trying," I sputtered. "It was me or you, Emille. Cassius would want it that way."

The dark grew foggy. The Cointreau spoke in my ear though, because I felt his breath. He sounded exactly like my brother, whose ghost I was likely soon to meet.

I was so tired, I was past caring if this was a vision. But the humid breath in my ear cruelly made it clear that the real, real Emille now spoke to me. The most real and most honest one. The only one I could trust to be spewing any kind of truth.

"Cassius loved you, Rebecca. I liked you too, but you've created too much trouble…"

I ceased to feel his breath, but high pitched laughter resounded in sharp focus instead, slicing through my ear drums. "You're a failure, Rebecca! You failed to kill Emille!"

I helplessly floundered in the dark. The lights then came on, blinding my eyes, from all directions, reflecting from all surfaces and trapping me in between. So nobody heard me, I'm sure, when I screamed in protest-

"But who- just who is Emille?!"

#tw: violence #tw: murder #tw: death #tw: mental instability

[weakzen]

man, now i'm thinking again about how obsidian gave your courier the opportunity to canonically speak latin, a language that was obscure and functionally dead even before the apocalypse, but it was apparently too much for bethesda to assume that a player character would be able to speak any form of chinese, y'know, a language spoken by billions of people around the planet lmaooo

#fallout #really loved that for my (canon) chinese-american sole survivor #lemme tell ya #also just l o v e d being forced to pine for how 'good' it was before the bombs fell #like the concentration camps weren't a thing #like most of her relatives hadn't been murdered in them #like she didn't actually feel *safer* a lot of ways in a post-apocalyptic world #more free to be herself #'cause at least the people trying to kill her now weren't doing it because of her race #anyway gettin' mad about video games again lmao #💀💀