#Parting Words of Regret

[cyberwhumper]

  Imran would be lying if he said he was particularly excited about his new work assignment. He’s been proving himself at Kalavinka for years. He has master’s degrees, for crying out loud. Despite the “honor” of being recognized for his work, the role of Henrik’s personal zookeeper is one that feels a little below his pay grade. Nonetheless, he forces himself to grin and bear it. Imran Biyanki didn’t get to where he is by backing down from challenges.

Horus, however, is one fucking hell of a challenge.

It really shouldn’t be this hard, Imran thinks to himself, flipping a page with a little more force than strictly necessary. He’s willing to put the hours in, obviously, but staring at his third week of overtime and an empty bottle of antacids, he can’t help but feel a bit grim. All of the theory makes perfect sense—consistency, discipline, rewards—but putting it into practice feels downright Sisyphean. Horus is stubborn. At first Imran had thought the animal was just stupid, its carefully engineered head totally empty, but he quickly realized that was a severe miscalculation on his part. Horus is smart—smart enough to ignore most of Imran’s instructions, to maliciously comply with the rest, and to spend every damned minute they’re stuck together wilfully trying to make Imran’s life as difficult as possible. It is, frankly, driving Imran a little bit nuts. He’s smarter than an animal. Better than one. He understands the mechanisms that make Horus behave the way he does; he’s read every file, studied the genetic and sociological histories until he could rattle off the animal’s ID code in his sleep, knows the intricacies of Horus’s brain better than he knows his own. He can use that. He can…

Slowly, a plan begins to form in Imran’s mind. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin. The reward functions that teach a dog to behave, simple, transactional, willfully ignorable, in Horus’s case. But what if he maximized them? There’s no reason a dumb animal couldn’t tolerate a bit of a software update. Imran smiles to himself, shoving his glasses up his nose and typing with a sudden renewed energy despite the late hour. He’ll break that goddamned dog if it’s the last thing he does.

Years later, watching Horus shiver in the rearview mirror, he’ll wish he hadn’t done it quite so well.

[Fic by the exceptionally talented @bxtterflystxtches , who I have the honor of collaborating with for this event. Please show him some love!]

[OC INDEX]

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[noforkingclue]

Bitter Words (10th Doctor x reader)

Summary: sometimes, things just can't be mended

Warnings: angry words, shouting

You sighed as you walked into the console room. The Doctor had his back to you and you could see him clutching it tightly. You put down the suitcase and coughed. The Doctor tensed but didn’t turn around. Eventually you decided to shatter the silence.

“Are we back?”

“Back?”

“On Earth. Just after I left.”

The Doctor didn’t answer. You rolled your eyes, annoyed. You picked up your suitcase and marched over to him. The Doctor was looking down at one of the many screens and you said,

“I’m serious Doctor. I want to go back home.”

“I thought you said that this was your home.”

You winced at the statement and the tone of his voice. Hurt was laced throughout it. The Doctor wasn’t one to show this type of emotion so openly. When you first met him, he had been more closed off. Not unkind but there seemed to be something preventing you from getting close. Over time you slowly wore down his walls and the two of you had become closer.

He was also right. You had once described the TARDIS as your home. It had been so warm and filled with a sense of adventure, with a friend who cared about you just as you cared about him. However that was then and not now. Now there was an underlying tension, especially whenever you and the Doctor were in the same room together.

Why?

Why did he have to ruin everything?

Why couldn’t things go back to normal?

“Why?”

You jumped at the Doctor’s voice.

“Why are you leaving?”

“We both know the answer to that.”

Finally the Doctor looked at you. The pain was clearly etched across his face. You wanted to look away, to not face his pain, but you made yourself look. To face the man you were leaving. When you had met Martha she had warned you about what happens if the Doctor travelled alone for too long. You knew all about that. After all, you had met him after such a time.

“I wished I never said that to you,” he said bitterly, “that I hadn’t ruined our friendship my my stupid-”

“Shame you can’t go back on your own timeline.”

You shouldn’t have said it. As soon as the words left your mouth you regretted them. The Doctor turned sharply to look at you and you said,

“I didn’t mean-”

“Yes. You did.”

The Doctor’s voice was cold and hard. It was similar to the tone he used when he first met you. Before you became friends. Before he confessed and changed everything.

The Doctor turned his back to you and pressed a few buttons. The TARDIS lurched before landing with a shudder. The Doctor looked down at you before clicking his fingers and the TARDIS door flung open.

“Go back to your home,” he said, “I hope you’re happy there.”

You wanted to snap back at him. To yell at him everything you wanted to say. Instead you picked up your suitcase and silently left the TARDIS. You paused just outside the TARDIS and turned around to say goodbye. You didn’t want the last words the two of you shared to be bitter and angry. However, you didn’t get the chance. The TARDIS door swung shut and promptly left, leaving you alone and cold.

[hywenhei]

NIGHTMARES: Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.”

"What's it to you whether I have Whumpee or not? I thought you never wanted to see Whumpee again? Or are they more valuable to you now that I have them?"

"Ugh, Whumpee, what are you... are you feeling okay?" "Can- can I sleep in here for tonight?"

"Oh, you've woken up! Well, I must say this is a bit early, but I can get some breakfast started for us, my love." "...What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Caretaker, you don't know, you don't know the things that I've done, that I- I've seen, you can't understand my pain, no one can."

"Trust me, Caretaker isn't coming for me. They don't care about me anymore. You're wasting your time."

full send on dialogue prompts this time because i genuinely couldn't think of anything else :D see you tomorrow for day 27!!

[fantasyismyonlyrealescape]

Whumptober 2024: No. 26 - Nightmares/Parting Words of Regret/ I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions that I have hated

Title: Love Turned to Hate

Fandom: WWE (Professional Wrestling)

Characters: Sami Zayn & Jey Uso (Past-SamiJey)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 1149

A/N: Welcome to another addition to Whumptober, Day 26. This one was fun. I really enjoyed the quote attached to this one. I toyed with it a little, so that it fit the plot a little better, but it instantly screamed SamiJey for me. Cheers!

Summary: Jey Uso hadn't been adjusting well to a life without Sami Zayn in it, with both his sleeping and waking hours haunted by the man he once loved. Desperate to be alone, he finds a seemingly empty corridor only to run across the one man he never wished to see again.

Cross posted on AO3 under user wrestlinginjeans.

Jey Uso hadn’t been sleeping well since the Royal Rumble where his family had been fractured by one swing of a metal chair, his adopted brother choosing another over his family. Jey had screamed in his face but couldn’t bring himself to help Jimmy as his twin beat Sami into the mat. Instead, he used his words to direct all of his anger down onto the man that he had once called a brother. He didn’t stop once to think about the consequences and how he would feel afterwards. Jey was so used to leaning into his anger, not addressing his emotions or visiting any situation with a calm head. Roman had encouraged the behavior in his right-hand man and Jey knew better than to disrespect the Tribal Chief.

Jimmy had woken him up once during the previous night in their hotel room, shaking his distressed twin awake and telling him to get his head sorted out. Jey could tell that his twin was getting tired of his problems, but he didn’t know how to move past this as he had never learned how. So, instead of trying to fall back asleep as he didn’t want to disturb Jimmy again, he remained awake throughout the rest of that night. He tried not to think too much but with nobody to distract him he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering, trying to come up with why it had all gone wrong.

The nightmares coupled with the subsequent lack of sleep put Jey in a sour mood as they headed to the arena for Smackdown that night. Jey had torn off from the group immediately after they had entered the building, not wanting to be around anyone if he could manage it. Unfortunately, as he turned the corner and found a seemingly empty hallway with production crates stacked along the walls, he found that there were others with similar ideas of seclusion. Or rather, one other person.

Jey noticed the redhaired wrestler before Sami noticed Jey, his back turned as he looked at a poster on the white cinderblock wall. Jey watched for a moment, his muscles immediately tensing with anger as he turned on his heel to walk away only for a voice to call out after him.

“Jey!” The painfully familiar voice of Sami called after him and Jey could hear his light footfalls approaching quickly.

“No, nah man.” Jey growled, throwing a hand up over his shoulder as he continued to walk away from him until he felt one of Sami’s hands on his arm.

“Get your hand off of me now, Sami!” Jey yelled as he whirled around to face his former brother, the action ripping his arm free as he stalked forward and pushed the redhead up against the wall.

“Hey, relax man I just want to talk.”

Jey couldn’t help but scoff at how relaxed Sami seemed even as Jey was fully in control and could easily beat the man down given their current positioning.

“Relax? You tellin’ me to relax?”

“Look, Jey. Just please listen… I didn’t do what I did to hurt you—”

“—hurt me?” Jey yelled, cutting Sami off. “Hurt me? You think what you did hurt me? Nah. You remember what I said to you when you first joined us? I’ll never like you, I’ll never care about you. Nah, what you did didn’t hurt me because I never liked you. I never loved you!” Jey growled, leaning in so that he was right in Sami’s face.

“I’m sorry, Jey, but I know that isn’t true.” Sami states simply in that endlessly patient tone that now made Jey’s blood boil.

“It ain’t? Ah okay, here we go with the all-knowing Sami Zayn. You think you know me better than anyone, huh? You ain’t never consider that I wanted you to think that? That it was all so that you could let your guard down and then I could destroy you?” Jey says, his tone growing dangerously low. “And that ain’t by orders of the Tribal Chief, that was all me.” Jey adds, jamming a thumb to his chest then to emphasize his point.

“So what? You’ve been living a lie this whole past year? All of those times that you confided in me, that was all an act? I’m sorry, Jey, but no matter how many times you lie to yourself about our past it’s not going to change what I know is true.” Sami says, hazel eyes meeting brown orbs, attempting to convey that he still cared, that he didn’t mean to hurt Jey. “Look, I didn’t come here to fight. I’m sorry about what happened but I did what I had to do.”

And there it was, the apology. Those simple two words thrown into a sentence that threatened to drain the anger from Jey and leave behind… nothing.

“No, you ain’t.”

“Yes, I am! I didn’t have a choice. Roman had that chair aimed at Kevin’s head, he could have killed him… We both know what he’s capable of.” Sami said, his tone lowering to the point that Jey wouldn’t have been able to hear him if not for their close proximity. “I never wanted to betray you… If there had been some other way…” Sami trails off, dropping his gaze to the floor in defeat.

“But there wasn’t, Sami, was there? As you said, you did what you had to do. And now, I’ve gotta do what I gotta do.” Jey states, the words bringing Sami’s eyes back up to Jey’s own. The redhead’s expression was one of confusion, replacing the previously calm demeanor.

Jey’s eyes narrow before he steps back quickly and punches Sami in the face, the force smashing the redhead’s skull up against the cinderblock wall before he crumples to the floor. Jey takes a moment to glare down at his former brother now unconscious by Jey’s hand.

“Yeah, I did love you.” Jey whispers angrily, kicking the fallen body with his red high tops. “But I ain’t ever gonna love you again.” Jey adds before turning to walk away, leaving Sami’s crumpled form behind.

Jey Uso would always be haunted by things beyond his control, his nightmares following him everywhere even in his waking hours. Sami Zayn had been a lie, a lie that he had loved despite every fiber of his being telling him not to. He had been conditioned, wired to not trust anyone, to not love anyone other than his family. But that is what Sami had become for a time, he had become family to the younger Uso twin. Jey knew then that he would be haunted by Sami’s lies and by his actions almost as if Jey’s back had been the one to feel the stinging metal of the chair and in a way he had. Just another betrayal, another scar to add to Jey’s collection.

[crimsonlyinglilly]

No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

Here's Day 26 of @whumptober 2024, late again

Second Chances a attempt to break the Crescent curse goes wrong in an unexpected way, leaving the oldest three Mikaelson siblings waking in a different time.

In this -Elijah falls back into old habits as Freya witness father's failings.

follows Part 1

Trigger warming for child abuse. (Mikael is terrible father)

----

Walking back was strange, all of this was strange.

He wasn’t unused to being shorter than his brother or the awkward tense silence he normally had when left alone with Finn but this was different, Finn’s arm remained over his shoulder leaving him feeling dwarfed as he was kept at his side like if Finn was trying to protect him from something.

The fact he was swimming in Finn’s coat was another thing along with the way he clung to it and the heat it brought, he hadn’t even noticed he was cold until Freya had mentioned it.

It had been so long since he had needed to be concerned about his temperature, about a lot of things like it really.

He was human, really human.

A very small vulnerable human as what he was walking back too grew in his mind, disappointed angry parents.

He swallowed as he remembered being in chains as Mother tore into his mind with her magic and words, spitting the truth he hadn’t wanted to know.

Actually coming into view of the home that had become a faded memory over the millennia was a short break from the growing nerves he found himself feeling, if it didn’t being back a mix of new feelings.

It was missing a few buildings, Finn and his huts most oblivious, and his smothered the memory of how pleased he had been, when they raised it, a sign he had grown. The home he would bring Tatia hom to and raise a family, dreams and ideals crushed months later with the end of their lives.

Still it looked both too small and too large compared to his memories but he remembered chasing Niklaus, Kol around the long house, braiding Rebekah’s hair to the side, Henrik’s first steps.

His last words with Henrik, parting words of regret. Pointless harsh words spat at each other caused by an argument he couldn’t remember even after centuries of trying.

Perhaps that too was lost behind the red door buried under all the blood that followed, small enough that it was covered by his crimes against Tatia and Niklaus, using Aurora.

It was a nightmare that only grew worst at Mikael’s growl of his name and an order.

One he found himself following before he could think about it.

Elijah had never truly managed to shrug off the fear Mikael inspired in him even after a thousand years, facing him back in a body this small, needing to crane his head up brought it all back a fresh.

It wasn’t helped by the fact he could feel his younger self’s terror.

Elijah tightens his hand around the branch he had picked up, it was going to hurt but when father told you to get a switch you picked one that would leave a mark or father would use his belt and for twice as long.

It was irritating, everything.

He was a thousand years old and had once again folded to fathers’ demands, Freya was unchanged and Finn, who had been dead, was alive in his own body while Elijah was stuck in his child body, alongside his past child self, or this world’s version of him. They hadn’t had time to talk about what had happened much before Finn- Young Finn had found them, but it was clear Elijah would need to play along until Freya found a way to return them to where they should be.

The reminder how and why they had ended up here, of Hayley suffering under the curse and Hope separated from her, allowed him to take a breath and calm the tremors he could feel, a reaction to Far-Mikael rage.

He returns to Mikael and hands it over without a word and the man snatched it from him and pointed to the place.

Elijah took a moment to take off Finn’s coat, laying it over the fence and pull his tunic over his head to join it. There was something strange about the absence of buttons but the sudden biting cold and his body’s reaction to it cut himself from thinking of it too much.

Everything about this was strange and wrong.

He could feel his younger self’s fear in his mind and couldn’t tell if it was from an angry father, the pain they were about to experience or the complete situation. Suddenly finding yourself no longer in control had to be a terrifying experience for a grown adult let alone a child. 

He wonders briefly if Klaus, mother, Finn and Kol had felt the same when they were in stolen bodies or was this different because the other soul was him in a way.

Elijah tuned out Mikael���s words and focused on the alien feeling, the other mind and pictured wrapping it up in a blanket, there was no need for both of them to endure this and Elijah would deal without the terror of a child threatening to overwhelm him.

Mikael towers over him and he finds it grows colder as he finds himself in his shadow, watching the shadow gives him a warning of the first hit and Elijah breaths through it.

One, Two, Three, he counts in his head, Four

He lets out a grunt of pain as the lashes start to land on already bruised skin, unable to prevent himself from flinching and tries to muffle the next by biting the inside of his cheek. 

Five, Six. The taste of blood is different he discovers after centuries of living off it as he bits through the inside of his cheek.

Seven, Eight, He broke, letting out a yelp of pain, his memories of agony and torture from the centuries meaning nothing to a too young body. He could feel the warmth of blood on his back. 

His cheeks felt too hot while his back was both stinging cold and burning fire of pain with each hit.

Nine. The next lash brought another cry, before he could manage to regain control of himself.

He knew better than to beg, it never did anything other than annoy father more, Mikael prided himself on making them strong despite how often he was beating them down.

Ten.

“I was wrong.” he forced out though choked breaths, hoping the words and the damage would be enough to get Mikael to end it as he reciting long forgotten words of habit, Father didn’t want pleading he wanted them to own up to what they had done to deserve this, to be Better.

Eleven

“I failed you.” he claimed, finding truth in it. 

Twelve

He failed Mikael by ever letting him or Esther destroy his siblings

“I disa” Thirteen Elijah choked as a lash caught him mid word, taking another lash before he could restart the word, fourteen “disappointed you.”

His chest hurt as it was getting harder for him to take in the air he needed between the pointless empty words and his cries of pain.

Fifteen

“I will be better.” he hissed trying to cling to his anger over the hurt. 

He lost time and count, until his knees hit the ground.

Elijah blinked and found himself staring down at too small hands in the dirt, they were all that was holding him up as his back burned and his throat ached from his cries and harsh breathing.

“Take him inside to your mother.” Mikael snarled as he stalked away, the Elijah didn’t bother to look up as he panted and felt his racing heart.

The switch landed in his view, an innocent branch if it wasn't covered in red, his blood, blood he could feel trailing his back beside the throbbing pain.

He missed his healing already and he’d barely been human again for an hour. 

Elijah stared at the ground below him feeling disconnected as the arms shook and waited for them to give up and send him into the dirt. 

“Elijah” Finn’s voice came closer than he thought he had been, younger than he had gotten used to as an arm came into his vision “come on, get up.”

Elijah gave into the darkness and its absence of pain.

His last memory was feeling Finn’s arm catch his chest preventing him from falling into the dirt.

—

It was Finn's hand on her shoulder that stopped her moving, the knowledge that he would have them away from this place if she made a noise, tried to bring any attention to them and she couldn’t allow that, wouldn’t leave Elijah alone to face it.

She brought him back, this was her fault.

She had wanted to see her family for whole life; she had never given much though of the bad she would see.

Elijah, Klaus and Rebekah had all explained what Mikael had been to them, Finn had warned her he had changed but when she had seen him, he was only her father.

The only adult who hadn’t failed or tormented her.

Finn, both of them, the man holding her and the boy who had stood feet away from the nightmare of her little brother being whipped, were unsurprised by it.

Even Elijah in the tiny body of a child had only been seemed annoyed until he stopped holding in the noise each lash caused.

Freya's love for her father died with the cries of pain he drew from her little brother.

Even when Finn gets them away from there and started to set up a temporary camp, Freya can still see the bloodied tree branch Mikeal had left on the ground when she closes her eyes.

How many others had there been, how many more in the future, more of Elijah’s blood spilt by the man who was meant to protect them, Klaus’, Kol’s.

“Finn.” she called

“Yes.” he answered, appearing beside her crouching with inhuman speed.

“Were you- how often-” she can’t finish any of her questions, but she really didn’t need to as Finn’s expression darkened as he stood up and stepped away.

“I told you, he changed after you-” he trailed off but Freya can’t help the anger that bubbled up.

“You were children, his children.” she snapped, making Finn freeze from where he was attempting to busy himself.

“Yes,” he agreed after a moment of hesitation as if the idea had just hit him “we were.”

And she was meant to leave them to this, to take return back to where they came from, knowing what she would be leaving, to happen again, again until they became the adults she knew.

She wasn’t sure she could.

[psychologeek]

Whumptober #26: The Baby

nightmares | Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

pt. 1

Background: In the Sweet Dreams AU: Evil!Batman (Badman) has been abusing his kids: Dami, Timmy, Jay and Dickie. Good! Batman saved them, and they are now in another universe. (But being safe and knowing it are very different things.)

~

He's dreaming.

There's pain, and blood, and loss.

There's -

There's quiet, after.

It's all so very quiet.

(There's a quiet sobbing, but he can't tell weather it's in or out of his mind.)

~

Dami's hands are bloody, and his brother doesn't react.

(It's not uncommon. This is the only way he has to escape. Some days, there's a body that keeps breathing and despite it all, Dami always wishes his brother will return.)

He carries the body of his brother to the bathroom.

(Too thin, his ribs are still showing).

He cleans up his brother and the blood, and washes him carefully. Dry him softly with a big towel.

He takes layers of toilet paper from the bathroom and folds them together. He dresses his brother - underwear and long sleeves and warm pans.

(This way, they can't see the blood. This way, they can't know. Can't take him away and make him –)

Dami's hands are bloody, but this isn't new.

There's nothing new about his brother's bleeding, or about the way he has to clean him. There's nothing new about the pain and the horror and the fear.

(At least this time, there's no one else involved.) 

~

He gets a little better after the shower, after he's warm and clean and dressed up.

(After Dami gently press his joints, a quiet massage that it is safe now. As far as it can be, for them.)

Dami's brother stays quiet and distant. At breakfast, he keeps dropping his fork and jump in his place, his eyes looking for something the rest of them can't see.

(Can't hear.)

Dami's brother is hurt, and there's very little he can do.

Very little but signaling Jay

(Distraction)

Signaling Dickie 

(Protect)

Trying to draw the fire away from him.

~

The baby is crying.

He can't find it. He can never find it

(He can't stop looking for -)

The baby is crying. 

Loudly.

And he can't -

There's a warm weight by his side. Soft skin and quiet voice, asking him to take another bite. Just another one, please. Just half the plate, you need to eat to be healthy, Timmy.

There's ashes in his mouth, but the child by his side is warm and alive and that's all he can do to try and stay away from the consuming pain.

(The baby never stops.)

Like it? I have more mini-fics Whumptober index | And full size fics on ao3. )

[tildeathiwillwrite]

Whumptober Day 11 + Day 12 + Day 26

Day 11: SEEING DOUBLE | Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.”

Day 12: STARVATION | Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

Day 26: NIGHTMARES | Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.”

Whumptober Prompts List | Masterpost

Fandom: Original Work

Words: 1200

Tag List: @fourwingedsnake @whumperofworlds @pigeonwhumps @mr-orion @scaewolf

@the-ellia-west

CW: missing person, found footage, lost, separated, darkness, parting words regret, mystery, supernatural occurrence, running, screaming, implied death

----------

The detective stared at the phone on his desk. It was unremarkable, with a light blue case, a crack in the lower left-hand corner, fingerprints highlighted by the dust from the cave where it had been found, abandoned, the battery dead. After bringing it back and taking fingerprints and dust samples, all that was left was to charge it.

It finished its start-up sequence, showing the lock screen, a photo of a field of flowers at sundown. The detective hesitantly swiped up on the lock screen, expecting a password or code. Instead, the phone opened, showing a home screen that was a selfie of a woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties, with a couple other people the same age. The phone’s owner, presumably, and some friends.

He tapped on the messaging app. All the recent messages were from three days ago. The phone wouldn’t have had any signal in the caves, it was likely the young woman had been using it for pictures or video. The most recent message was from a contact named “Hannah”.

---

You (1:54): I’m going to the intermediate cave it looks like.

You (1:54): It goes as deep as the hard caves, but it’s not as claustrophobic.

You (1:54): The guide seems to know what he’s doing, which is good at least.

Hannah (1:55): Cool.

Hannah (1:55): Call me when you get out?

You (1:55): Will do.

You (1:56): I’ll send some pics and video and stuff

Hannah (1:58): 👍

Hannah (4:17): Hey, you out yet?

Hannah (4:17): The intermediate cave is only an hour and a half

Hannah (4:18): I’d love to see those pics

Hannah (4:21): Hello?

—Missed call from Hannah at 4:25 p.m.—

Hannah (4:25): Jessi this isn’t funny

Hannah (8:52): I’m calling the police

---

The detective frowned and jotted down Hannah’s phone number. If she’d known this young woman, Jessi, had gone to the caves, perhaps she’d filed a missing person’s report when she didn’t come back? Or perhaps Jessi had simply lost her phone during the spelunking trip. Still best to check the records.

The camera roll yielded more promising results. A few pictures of the cave formations lit by flashlights, some of Jessi and a few other spelunkers, nothing too out of the ordinary. But the most recent item in the camera roll was a fifteen-minute-long video that appeared to have been filmed in complete darkness.

The detective turned the volume up and pressed play.

Silence. No, not quite silence. Ragged breathing, coming from somewhere nearby.

“I… I got separated from the group.” Jessi’s voice shook, as if she was on the verge of tears. “I don’t know how… there was really only one way to go… and we were starting to head back. And then… and then they were all gone….

“It’s so dark. I didn’t have a flashlight. I don’t… I don’t wanna drain my phone battery any further, I’m already sapping it by taking this video.”

She chuckled derisively. “I don’t even know why I’m taking this video. Maybe just to talk, and have something listen, even if it’s just a microphone. Maybe if I… if I don’t make it out of here… this is so my friends and family can have something.

“Hannah… I’m sorry I never got to send those pictures. I’m sorry we had that fight, and I want you to know I don’t hate you for what you said in the heat of the moment.

“Mom, Dad, I love you so very, very, very much. I’m so sorry you had to lose your only daughter this way.

“I’m trying to be optimistic here. If I stay put, eventually the guide or someone else in the group will realize I’m missing and they’ll come back for me. I guess I could just make my way back up the cave… but I honestly don’t know which way is which. I might get farther and farther away.”

Jessi trailed off and stood in the darkness for a few minutes.

“I’m scared,” she said, “I never thought… I never thought this was how I’d die. I just… I feel so alone down here, so deep underground. Just the complete absence of other living things… only rock and water and darkness. And me.”

She blew out a long, slow breath. “Ugh… now that I say that, the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. You ever get that feeling of being watched? It’s stupid. Maybe it’s just having the phone recording.”

Another few beats of silence.

“I want to get out of here. So badly. I can yell for help, but I don’t know how far my voice’ll carry. I can’t phone or text anyone, I don’t have any service. Maybe Hannah’ll notice? It’s a good thing I told her which cave. I just hope she’ll realize in time. I just need to wait a little bit more.”

More silence.

Then: “Hello? Is anyone there? I can hear your footsteps.”

Footsteps echoed as Jessi moved towards the sound she heard. The phone hadn’t picked up any audible noise, or it was so faint the detective missed it. “Hello?” she repeated. “Please, I got separated from the group. I need help.”

Jessi fumbled with her phone, and the flashlight suddenly turned on, revealing the stone floor. The camera whipped up to point down the corridor, illuminating only a few feet before the cave curved out of sight. She pointed it the other way, revealing an almost endless corridor in the other direction.

She gasped softly and stepped back. “Who are you?”

The detective squinted at the phone screen. No one else was there, but Jessi certainly acted otherwise. She backed up until she made it around the curve and whatever she supposedly saw was out of sight.

Then she turned and ran.

The video became a confusing blur of gleaming stone, darkness, and the occasional flash of blue jeans, the audio coming in and out. “Help!” she screamed, “—lease! Hel—me!”

Crack.

The phone clattered to the floor, the audio becoming pure static for a few precious seconds. It landed face-down, the camera only showing a blurry close-up of the floor. For a moment after, everything was still.

And Jessi screamed. It lasted for two long, agonizing seconds before it was suddenly cut off.

Silence.

The video ended.

The detective stared at the phone for a long time, trying and failing to come up with a logical conclusion. Had she encountered someone in the caves, someone who'd chased after and killed her? That would be the logical explanation. But the complete lack of another person in the camera frame, presumably in the direction she had been looking right before she fled….

It didn’t make sense. None of it did.

The detective’s eyes fell on Hannah’s phone number. Jessi’s friend and parents would want to see the video, even if it was of her last moments, even if it didn’t make sense. The video would need to get copied and downloaded to the database first as evidence, along with any other photos and files that might offer clues. Then check for the missing person report filed by Hannah. Then get in contact.

This was going to be a long afternoon.

[i-eat-worlds]

Wow Birthday Whump Day 3: Crying / Parting Words Regret / "Why...?"

Aaroseph nightmare deliciousness!

Contents: past character death, grief, panic and anxiety

Someone’s missing.

Joseph can’t place who it is, but the ache is deep in his chest and his veins are screaming with urgency. There are whispers swirling around him, screaming at him to move, to run, but he can’t go anywhere.

He’s stuck.

The panic is about to boil over, he can feel it coming, rising ever high by the second.

“Joseph!”

Everything shaders, cracks splintering across his mind, and he’s back there, inside a crumpled building, Pat laying in his arms.

Pat.

“I don’t wanna die,” she begs, like she did, like she always does, like she always will, again and again and again.

The blood is sticky on his fingers and it smells awful. It’s everywhere, on her and on him. There’s a thousand things he should be doing but he can’t make his arms move. She’s dying and he can’t even look away.

“Joseph! Wake up!”

She gasps, hands clawing at his immobile arms, tears welling in her eyes and in his. Her expression is frenzied as she fights to keep living.

She’s losing.

She’s dying.

“Shhh, Pat, it’s alright, I’ve got you.”

He’s lying. He’s lying. He's lying.

“C’mon Joseph, wake up!”

The dream faded, the smell of blood replaced by sweat and the feeling of Pat in his arms replaced by the feeling of hands on his shoulders. Blindly, he lashed out a hand, swinging at whoever was holding him down.

“Woah, Joseph.”

It was only after that he realized who it was.

Aaron.

His face was cast in shadow by the dim light of the lamp, brow furrowed with concern. “You with me now, Jo?”

“Yeah,” he wiped the tears away from his eyes while he tried to slow his breathing down. “Did I wake you up? Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Aaron plopped down on the side of the bed, removing their hand from his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” He sat up slowly, the sweat soaked sheets sticking to his back. “Really, it’s okay.” The darkness hid the tears burning his eyes.

An awkward beat of silence passed between them. “You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” He took a deep breath. “It’s been a while since I’ve had one that bad.”

Aaron reached out and comfortingly squeezed his hand. “You wanna talk about it?”

“No, not really.” He slouched, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. Nobody was dying. He was fine. Aaron was fine. No one was going to die. “Thank you though.”

“No problem.” Aaron patted his shoulder. “If you ever want to..”

“I will.” Joseph nodded solemnly. He laid back down in bed, watching as they walked away and gently closed the door behind them.

His heart still ached, but it was softened by the left over sensation that Aaron’s hand had left on his shoulder.

Everyone was safe.

No one was going to die.

Taglist: @pigeonwhumps @rainydaywhump @painful-pooch @rainbowsandwhumperflies @snaillamp @whumperofworlds

[artfulbok]

WHUMPTOBER No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

Hohenheim sat at the table, alone besides the screaming whirlwind of souls inside him, remembering the one day, out of the thousands that he had lived, that he most regretted.

He didn’t regret leaving. He’d had to stop the Dwarf, after all.

He did regret not waiting slightly longer, being with Tricia in her final moments, or even preventing her death entirely. He could have explained to the boys what was happening, why he was leaving.

He could have stopped them from attempting the transmutation.

Yes, he thought, taking a sip from his coffee, that had been handled very badly.

[moonlight0934]

I'm haunted by the lies I have loved

Dazai puts a hand on Akutagawa’s shoulder, and tells him that he’s gotten stronger. Akutagawa completely freezes, knowing it’s a lie, but loving the feeling anyway. Dazai doesn’t mean it. He’s never been proud of Akutagawa before, and this one stupid incident isn’t going to change anything. He’s stupid to think otherwise, but his heart still soars. Then he ends up passing out. When he wakes up, he can’t help but wonder if it happened at all, or if the incident was just a figment of his imagination.

Akutagawa pulls himself out of bed, and moves through the motions of getting ready for work early that morning. The Black Lizard is having a meeting early, so he heads straight to their office. He can hear voices talking when he enters the building.

“Why do you think Akutagawa does some of the crazy stuff he does? It’s like he has no self preservation,” Tachihara says.

“You have to be more specific,” Hirotsu replies, sounding tired.

“I mean all of the reckless shit he does. Like when he-”

Akutagawa doesn’t let him finish. He walks into the room, and it immediately goes dead silent.

“What, you don’t have something to say to my face?” Akutagawa asks, sitting down in one of the open seats.

Tachihara doesn’t say anything, choosing to keep his eyes on his shoes instead. Akutagawa decides to drop it there. Hirotsu puts out his cigar, and leans back.

“Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?” he asks Akutagawa.

“Yes, I have all of your assignments for the next couple of weeks. You’re all being put on month long assignments instead of your normal shorter ones. You’ll get the first two weeks worth of work today, and the second half in two weeks.”

“That’s… new,” Hirotsu offers, and Akutagawa smirks.

“Yeah, Mori has a lot of stuff he’s doing right now. You should see how packed the Executives’ schedules have been.”

Gin walks in with Higuchi trailing behind her. Gin sits down beside Akutagawa while Higuchi sits in the next chair. Akutagawa stands up, and opens his backpack. He starts handing folders out, and explaining each of their tasks.

Once he’s done, Higuchi asks, “What are you going to be doing?”

“Why?”

“I just don’t know if it’s safe for you to work completely by yourself.”

Akutagawa rolls his eyes.

“I don’t have an assignment yet. Mori said he wanted to talk to me personally after the Executives meeting today.”

Gin looks up at him with a quizzical look.

“Speaking of which, I need to go. You guys should review your packets, and get started as soon as possible.”

He walks out, heading back towards his car. The building is packed when he gets there, but someone escorts him to Mori’s office. Chuuya is there too, sitting in a chair across from Mori’s desk. He’s flipping through paperwork, but he perks up when Akutagawa walks in.

“Hello, Akutagawa,” Mori says, motioning for him to sit down next to Chuuya.

Akutagawa complies immediately, his eyes flickering between Mori and Chuuya.

“I called you both here, because you are going to be working on a joint mission with the Agency.”

Chuuya’s face drops immediately, and Akutagawa hides his snicker behind a cough.

“I don’t want to.”

“Chuuya.”

Chuuya drops back against the chair, folding his arms, the papers still in his hands.

“Thank you. Anyway, there’s a gang that’s been causing too many problems for everyone. I wanted to deal with it myself, but Fukuzawa got his charity cases involved. He said that either we could be caught in the crossfire, or we could be cooperative. I wasn’t in the mood, so I just said I would send you two their way. That would be more than enough firepower to handle the situation, and then you could do cleanup afterward.”

“Where are we meeting them?” Aktuagawa asks once he’s sure that Mori isn’t planning to continue.

“At their office building.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

Chuuya stands up.

“Ok, fine. I’m going to go smoke a cigarette while you fill Akutagawa in on the rest of the details. I already know what gang you’re talking about.”

He walks out with his paperwork, leaving Akutagawa and Mori alone in the office.

“You don’t need any more details. The Agency will tell you everything you need to know, and then you just follow orders.”

Akutagawa nods, also standing. He waits inside the building for a few minutes to give Chuuya time to cool off. Chuuya puts his cigarette out when Akutagawa walks up. They head to the Agency in silence. Kunikida is outside when they get there.

“Come inside. We have a lot to discuss.”

Chuuya continues angry sulking as they follow Kunikida through the coffee shop on the bottom floor. He stops outside of the first door they come across.

“You’re going to stop here. Dazai and Atsushi are in there, and you’ll be on their strike team. Nakahara, you can keep following me to the other strike team.”

Chuuya glances at Akutagawa, then follows Kunikida past the door. Akutagawa, on the other hand, walks inside. Atsushi and Dazai are standing in one corner of the room, talking about something.

“Akutagawa, you made it,” Atsushi says, trying to sound polite.

“You can drop that. What do you need from me?” he asks, turning to Dazai.

“Well, someone’s in a rush. We’re going to be taking over their main base. Then we’re going to send out a distress message, and wait for the others to show up. Our job is to take the base without alerting the other parts of the organization that it’s a trap. That’s why you two are doing it, because you have the power to do it, but your abilities aren’t that loud.”

“Ok, and when are we leaving?”

“In ten minutes.”

Akutagawa nods, and then leans against the wall to wait. Dazai keeps giving him odd looks, but he tries his best to ignore him.

I do not have the bandwidth for this right now.

Finally they get going. Dazai drops them off a block away from the actual building.

“Ok, be careful. We think they have ability users of some sort.”

Atsushi nods, and Dazai keeps driving.

“How do you want to work this?” Atsushi asks.

“I don’t know. Let’s just go in and kill everyone.”

“No, we’re not killing anyone.”

“Fine, we go in and knock everyone out. Then we can restrain them so we can find the distress message system without interference.”

“Ok, that doesn’t seem very detailed, but whatever.”

They’re able to clear the building quickly, knocking out everyone within fifteen minutes. They work their way in, finishing at the control center.

“These systems are fairly simple. I’m going to send out the distress signal as soon as I can hack the computer. Just watch the door,” Akutagawa says, eyes scanning the computer.

Atsushi hums, turning back towards the door. Akutagawa gets the computer open right as the door bursts open. They both turn, and Akutagawa makes eye contact with the man standing in the doorway. His vision immediately fades.

Akutagawa walks into the warehouse that Dazai said to come to yesterday when they were training. It’s dark in the warehouse. No light comes through the open doorway either, because it’s still dark outside. Dazai is standing in the dark room, his arms folded.

“You’re early.”

Akutagawa stays quiet, because he doesn’t really know what to say.

“I didn’t have time to finish setting up. Do you know what this place used to be used for?”

“No, sir.”

“It was used for crime scene cover up. There was a team that worked out of this building. Go into that room,” Dazai says, pointing to a door.

Akutagawa walks over there, cautiously opening the door. He walks in, and can immediately tell that it’s a walk-in freezer. Dazai shuts the door, and Akutagawa sighs.

“Here we go.”

Akutagawa ends up settling on the floor, his feet tucked against his legs. He’s not sure how long he ends up spending there, but the door eventually opens. Dazai comes in, and immediately kicks Akutagawa in the face.

“What, you can’t work when you get a little cold?”

Akutagawa coughs, and Dazai kicks him in the chest. Akutagawa can hear something crack. Then Dazai steps on his knee.

“Well, are you going to get up?” he asks, leaning more weight on his foot.

Akutagawa flinches, then knocks Dazai’s leg away. Dazai looks mildly surprised. Akutagawa knocks his feet out from underneath him, then scrambles backwards. Dazai gets up slowly, his eyes bright with rage.

Akutagawa wakes up to Atsushi shaking him.

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi says as soon as they lock eyes. He sounds so relieved. “I thought you were going to die. What happened?”

Akutagawa sits up, pushing Atsushi away. The man is tied up to the side. Akutagawa recognizes him once he gets a good look at him

“The mafia has a file on him. He makes people relive their nightmares,” Akutagawa explains, then looks away.

“What did you see?” Atsushi asks, and Akutagawa can feel his ears turn red.

“None of your business.”

“The second strike team is taking out the rest of the organization already. Do you want to join them outside?”

Akutagawa nods, and climbs to his feet. Dazai and Chuuya are arguing outside.

“Atsushi, Akutagawa, you’re back. What took you so long?” Dazai asks, scrunching up his nose a little bit.

“Can you shut up?” Akutagawa asks.

All of them go completely silent, and everyone is staring at him now.

“What was that?” Dazai asks, his eyes flashing.

“I said, can you shut up? I have let you belittle me, and make fun of me for years. Then you up and leave, and when you come back, you think everything is the same? I’m tired of this. I regret everything I’ve ever done with or for you. I regret the person that I’ve become, and I hate how much you had to do with it. You’re only weighing me down, and I’m done with you. I don’t want to hear from you, or see you again. I’m leaving.”

“Akutagawa,” Atsushi says, his eyes blown wide.

“Goodbye, Atsushi.”

Akutagawa walks away before anyone can say anything. Chuuya jogs to catch up with him, but thankfully stays quiet.

“Can you just drop me off at home? I want to get some rest,” Akutagawa says, and Chuuya nods. So, he heads home to wonder if he did the right thing.

[vulpeskorsak]

Day 26 of Whumptober 2024: Baking bread

No. 26: NIGHTMARES Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I’m haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

AO3 got banned in my country and VPNs have not been working well on my PC lately, so I am not going to post these there for now. But hopefully I can do that at some point.

This is taking place in my own DnD/fantasy world.

Dr. Victor Moreau is my mostly human fleshsmith inventor (KibblesTasty Homebrew class).

Ludwig Richter is a tiefling and a former gravedigger turned archeologist who wields a rifle and a battle shovel named Charon.

--------------

Baking bread

Ludwig does not remember the last time Victor sat down with him to have breakfast.

Their kitchen is filled with the smell of fresh bread and fried eggs. He does not remember cooking but Victor must have done this to take care of him after all the writing he had to do the previous night.

Right.

That must be it.

He is so thoughtful today.

Victor smiles and nudges a basket of fresh sliced bread towards his partner, encouraging him to take a piece.

"Where did you get this?" Ludwig wonders out loud.

"I baked it," he grins.

"Huh? When did you learn that? You barely ever cook."

"Oh, it is not hard to learn at all. It is basically the same as alchemy. You put specific ingredients together in a specific manner using specific temperature and it is done."

That makes sense to Ludwig. What does not – is the way Victor does not move his lips when he says that. His grins stays perfectly in place but the sound keeps coming, making Ludwig feel extremely uneasy.

"How did you say that? Don't tell me ventriloquism is also the same as alchemy."

"Is that the only thing that you find weird in this situation?" Victor asks, lips still unmoving. "Really?"

A shiver runs down Ludwig's spine. He frantically looks around, trying to figure out what else he might mean. The bread? Cooking?

"Ludwig. My love." Victor calls out to draw his eyes to himself again. "You don't live in this house."

How did he not notice?

"You don't even own a house. You live in a giant magical tower, Director Ludwig. How did you even come up with this?"

The chair under Ludwig breaks and crumbles into dust as he falls to his knees. He tries to get up or move away but his limbs feel frozen. The table between them rots and disintegrates in seconds followed by his partner's chair, leaving Victor sitting on air.

"What is happening here?!"

Ludwig helplessly tries to move again and fails again.

"Nothing. Nothing at all, my dear."

Victor's skin turns gray rapidly as it begins to rot, only his smiling head remaining untouched.

"Victor! Wait!"

Ludwig watches his skins, muscles and organs all vanish one by one, until only a skeleton is left. Seconds later it shatters into sharp bone shrapnel, showering Ludwig who is unable to turn away from the shards that pierce his skin.

The heaf falls to the floor.

"I am waiting," Victor's head says as it rolls up to him and stares him straight in the eyes. "I am waiting for you to say it."

"Say what?"

Ludwig remembers right as these words leave his mouth. He remembers Victor dying. He remembers killing his undead body afterwards. He remembers severing his head from his body.

He picks up the head as the entire building around them begins to disappear, able to move again but feeling no desire to run or do anything else. Victor's head turns gray as his eyes turn entirely black. His teeth grow and sharpen.

“Victor…” Ludwig lifts the head up to give it a long soft kiss on the lips and teeth sticking out here and there. “I love you. I’m so sorry I never actually said that. But I love you.”

Just like he did all those years ago.

"Goooood. Good. I love you too, Ludwig, but that kiss was lackluster," the head laughs before unhinging its jaw and lunging at his face.

Ludwig wakes up shaking, feeling tears in the corners of his eyes. He curses under his breath, wiping them away, and turns to lie on his stomach, hoping to fall asleep again as quickly as possible.

[thefootnotes]

and the words i most regret are the ones i never meant to leave a fic by @thefootnotes for @whumptober

Eddie hasn’t heard anything from Chimney, or Maddie, or Buck, for that matter, since he left the firehouse; the last one seems somewhat irrelevant, seeing as the last they spoke Eddie essentially told him to fuck off in the middle of a supermarket, but the chill down Eddie’s spine echoes the disturbance in Carla’s voice. And if his gut is right, if the panic creeping like sweat across his skin is warranted, then something very, very wrong has happened.

Or the one where Buck loses his life right in the middle of the lawsuit, and Eddie regrets all the last words he spoke.

T | eddie diaz & evan buckley | 1.2k whumptober day 26 - nightmares: breakfast table, parting words of regret, "i'm haunted by the lies that i have lvoed, the actions i have hated"

read on ao3.

[fartasticdurge]

Nightmares

Caught up in the web of my sweetest obfuscations

I glance at the ebb current of your malevolent conversations

I turn into the pavement of old battles and wounds

I regret the summer, for it brought you dark and gloom

And to think that I have yearned for the blinding light

Until I heard the vociferation of the silent night

But then I'm caught up in the sweet reprieve of silence

I keep turning and turning, restless in my new nightmare

I hate the ghost of light, for it will never touch your skin

I know this is the last time that we'll meet again

I wished beyond it all that you might yet forgive me

But without tadpole to bind us, I don't think I might yet be privy

To glance upon your face, the one I had betrayed

Or so the story goes, the one of your former master's embrace

I hoped you would see reason, deny your basic nature

So when I pulled you from the path, you cast me with a vengeance

The venomous retort sung by the palest of complexion

I bid you all the best, my shadowed prince of deadly tendance.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/58887244/chapters/152766415

[cartwrong]

...for marcus - cartwrong - Slow Horses (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

“Shirley, I got this.”

The biggest regret of Shirley’s life was believing him.

Day 26 of @whumptober - parting words of regret

[ahmoseinarus]

Day 26 Nightmares | Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | "I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated." BRIAR STAINED SAGA TIE IN!!!!

[joemerl]

Summary: A teenager named Ethan is told a secret about himself, runs away, and finds himself is a much worse situation. Or: two werewolves bond from neighboring prison cells.

In this chapter, Ethan and Bastian meet. Briefly.

Word count: 3,210

The big turning point in the story, to earn that M rating.