#after all in this AU america they still have fuckin vans n shit. not even hover crafts yet

[snekdood]

i think my comic runs on dragon ball z time

[the-roanoke-society]

i was working in the lab late one night...

when my eyes beheld an eerie sight...

welcome to the final post of horror aus for halloween 2020! i hope you all enjoyed the ride. i apologize for not having everything ready on halloween like i originally planned. remember that the inbox and dms are always open for questions, comments and concerns. if you missed them, here are parts one, two and three. all warnings still apply, so be forewarned.

i know things are scary right now. but to quote the infamous n. gaiman: fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

take it from me when i say that we outnumber the monsters of this world--and more importantly, take heart.

click below the cut if you, too, like doing the monster mash (no offense but it is kind of a graveyard smash...)

there’s bloodstains beneath the carpet - a ∆ au inspired by the super, co-starring technical officer drake and @agents-of-virtue​'s agent annabelle

it was a new start. for both drew and matthew. a new city, shining with opportunities and adventure. they had no shortage of hope--but maybe did have a little shortage of cash.

all the same, the knox-edwards boarding house wasn’t that bad. grimy and with a level of grunge akin to a garage band circa 1995, sure, but nothing unbearable.

but as drew was stuck in the hallway holding up their couch, matthew trying to figure out who needed to pivot and in what direction in order to not have furniture stuck in the doorway, he overheard it:

“what? another one? are you serious?”

two people were walking down the hallway, and they didn’t look to be much older than himself, or matthew. a man and woman, close together, as if they were conspiring.

“wait, drew, i think i got it, turn left a little bit--”

“as a heart attack. that makes it four people in three months. i’m telling you bekah, something fuckin’ weird in goin’ on here. people don’t just up and vanish from their own homes, and--oh!”

“drew! are you listening to me? turn it left!”

oh shit. oh shit. don’t act like you were obviously eavesdropping, maybe they didn’t notice...

“drew!”

“hi!”

welp. all right. be cool.

“uh--hello!” but he yelped when matthew unexpectedly let go of the couch, and it landed on the ground with a hard thud.

but drew was still processing what he heard. four people in three months? what did that mean?

mini soundtrack sampler includes: rockwell, ‘somebody’s watching me’ + absofacto, ‘dissolve’ + barns courtney, ‘99′

won’t you cut me down? - a second chances au inspired by seven in heaven

joan, normally, wasn’t so forward. at least, not a society-thrown event where multiple agencies were represented, and especially not when he knew lilith was around and not above reprimanding an agent in front of god and everyone else in the room.

but he’d had quite a bit to drink.

the evening was winding down.

and josie... josie was breathtaking.

he couldn’t help it.

“joan--joan!” she laughed as he turned her, taking her elbow and leading her down a hallway close to one of the larger coat closets. “what are you d--”

her voice cut off abruptly to the tune of joan’s mouth on hers, and the closing of a closet door.

joan didn’t stop to think about how this particular door wasn’t room he distinctly remembered. he was tipsy and enamored and his wife consumed his senses. he didn’t care.

but he did care a while later, after they’d made themselves presentable again and opened the door to a manor that was much, much quieter than he was expecting.

and josie felt it too.

it was an odd sensation, to feel that he’d stepped out of one place and into another entirely.

josie asked quietly, “where... where did everyone go?”

mini soundtrack sampler includes: jack white, ‘i’m shakin’‘ + konrad old money & sleep steady, ‘rage’ + k. flay, ‘blood in the cut’

my hands are growing colder - an inverse functions au inspired by eli

ginny knew erik wasn’t broken. she would rather have faced down a demon or some unholy thing sprung out of the gate than ever describe him like that.

but he was--unique.

beyond the understanding of most medical doctors, at least. even aly and caroline were struggling to treat his symptoms. it was like he’d become allergic to everything around him over the course of just a few days. his symptoms were sudden, severe, and left her nervous.

it wasn’t just allergies. she knew that. and if she had to seek help outside of the society, then so be it. all that mattered to her was seeing him brought back to health.

and late one night, during a despair-fueled search through some files in the archives that looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, she found a name: dr. isabella horn.

the fact that lacey, who’d been overseeing the roanoe medical wards for ages, hadn’t heard of her, should have been a warning.

but desperate times call for desperate measures.

the next day, they were on their way to a facility in the middle of the midwest--though ‘facility’ wasn’t quite the right word. it looked more like a mansion, with nothing but wheat fields all around as far as they eye could see. the horizon was only broken by the occasional oil derrick.

and they were surprised when they had to be buzzed through pressurized, completely sterile chambers to even get inside.

but there, right at the front of the welcoming committee, was a woman with dark eyes, and an easy smile.

“good afternoon! you must be ginny and erik, welcome. i’m dr. horn.”

but ginny didn’t trust her grin.

and that should have been the second warning.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: stevie wonder, ‘superstitious’ + the killers, ‘when you were young’ + the revivalists, ‘wish i knew you’

i saw your bones on the road - a pastel goth au inspired by the silence

meli would look back on it and realize with no small sense of irony how loud it was when it began.

the screaming, the terror. how she blasted her spotify on her furious drive to guiliana’s house in the blessedly quiet suburbs, eyes constantly searching the sky. she knew that the responsible thing to do would be to listen to the coverage on the radio, but honestly? she’d heard enough. she had more than half a brain, and she knew exactly what to do.

get her girlfriend and head--okay, maybe she didn’t know exactly what to do.

but giuliana was smart. they’d figure it out together.

the government didn’t know what they were, exactly. nobody did. meli only knew that they were calling them vesps.

it was a word that she mulled over frantically. linguistics was always a welcome distraction. she thought she’d heard it before, but all she could think of was the latin vespere. it roughly translated to ‘from the evening,’ or ‘from the night.’

from the dark.

perhaps that was an apt name.

the sunset had painted the sky in shades that were obnoxiously beautiful given the circumstances, and her jeep lurched in protest as she abruptly slammed the gear shift into park in the glow of guiliana’s porch lights.

in the distance, she could hear shrieking--but not that of human beings.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: mourning ritual, ‘bad moon rising’ + twenty one pilots, ‘ride’ + royal blood, ‘trouble’s coming’

waiting for the vultures - a time traveler’s husband au inspired by the houses october built

it had been dara’s idea.

“oh it’ll be fun! think about it, italy and the states celebrate halloween with way, way different aesthetics. think of this as getting a sampler of how america does it,” she said, sitting in silvano’s lap, charm volume as far up as it would go.

and he agreed. “all right--okay. a grand adventure across the country hitting as many haunted houses as we can.”

“geez, try not to sound too excited.”

he murmured into her shoulder, “i’m mostly excited to spend time with you. but if a road trip through october is what you want, then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

he was rewarded with kisses peppered all over his face and a very excited dara dragging him excitedly to best buy to pick up a camcorder. “what? of course we need a camera! if we record everything then it’s like--i don’t know. like it’s ours. we can go back to it whenever want, and we can show all our friends the cool places we saw when we get home!”

dara hadn’t known then.

she didn’t know it would start with one lone figure in a clown costume standing in front of the rv like he was going to charge at it. she didn’t know that they would end up surrounded, followed. abducted.

it had been dara’s idea.

and she would never forgive herself.

mini soundtrack sampler includes: van halen, ‘runnin’ with the devil’ + the 1975, ‘if you’re too shy (let me know)’ + afi, ‘miss murder’

[you-andthebottlemen]

23 - AU

Request: Since you do AU's and your uni story was incredible how would you feel about doing Frat!Van?

Thank you again, anon for your messages explaining the whole frat thing. Sorry I didn’t respond to them! Hope this is okay xxx (I still have no idea about frats but I tried lol) <3

Thank you to @catfish-and-the-pacifier and @storiesaboutvan for helping me with plot advice for this <3 

Also, I used quotes from this interview when Van is talking about drinking games. 

*********

You’d been in America less than a week and you were already being dragged to a party by a bunch of girls you’d met at orientation. You were nervous, kinda overwhelmed and really unsure of what to expect. You’d heard crazy things about American frat parties; most of them bad. Especially about frat boys. You just hoped you’d be okay. Maybe you’d make friends? Maybe you’d even enjoy yourself?

You’d been worrying all day about what to wear as you’d not been able to bring much with you. You decided on the one dress you had packed; the black metallic one. It was shimmery under the lights and it made you feel pretty and magical. You left your hair natural and did some simple makeup, letting the dress be the star of the show. 

Being the new exchange student at your university, people fawned over you. People wanted to hear you say things in your accent and they were quick to offer to show you around. It was nice, but all the attention made you feel a little freaked out. 

“You ready?” Rosie, your roommate, asked and you nodded nervously. 

“Do I need to bring anything?” You asked, unsure of the party customs here.

“Girl, no,” Rosie laughed. 

You went to meet the other girls and found that they all looked like they were going off to a nightclub. You felt overdressed and started to feel a little stupid. Too late now though. 

You could hear the pumping techno music coming from the house a mile off. People came from all directions and piled through the doorway. The sun had just gone down and people were already drunk. One guy was laying out on the front lawn making a snow angel, but there was no snow. You laughed and shook your head as you walked past him. Once inside you were exposed to the many awkward couples, who were probably strangers, grinding and hooking up all around the place. There was a kid in a neon green shirt that said “sober”, monitoring the beer keg and had people absolutely swarming him. You felt kinda bad for him having to deal with that. 

“This is mental!” You yelled at Rosie over the music and she agreed.

Rosie took your arm and led you to the kitchen, past the chaos in the living room. You had thought the kitchen would be some kind of refuge, but you couldn’t have been more wrong. There were guys forcing freshmen to chug massive bottles of beer. They’d cellotaped cans together with a hole through the middle and were drinking through the bottom. Everyone was shouting and cheering them on. It looked painful. While you were trying to pour yourself a drink, a skinny guy with glasses almost choked and his beer went all over you in a large spray coming from his mouth and nose.

“Fuck!” You exclaimed, the older guys just laughed and the skinny guy turned and threw up into the sink behind him. Rosie quickly grabbed some paper towel to try and sponge your dress dry. 

“That won’t work. Where’s the bathroom?” You asked her. She took you by the hand and led you through the sea of people. As you walked, you held the wet parts of the dress out so it didn’t stick to your skin.

Rosie pointed you to the last door up the hallway and then turned to go and get a drink, promising to find you later. You knocked on the door, no answer. You slowly turned the handle, it was unlocked. Holding your breath slightly, you pushed it open. But as soon as you did, you glimpsed a figure in all black.

“Oh shit! Sorry!” You said in a fluster, quickly turning around before you properly saw him.

“I’m not taking a piss love, you don’t have to run out,” a very strong British accent replied. 

You turned back around slowly, opening one eye at a time. There was a guy standing on the toilet, one arm out the small window and his head strangely jammed in the gap, his messy brown hair falling into his eyes. You shut the door behind you and breathed a sigh of relief as the music muffled. 

“What’re you doing?” You asked, raising an eyebrow as you went to turn the tap on. 

“Havin’ a ciggie. Not allowed to smoke in these frat houses, see. Gotta do it in secret,” he said, bringing his head upright away from the window. As he did so, you could smell the smoke faintly. You just nodded at him and went to wet a towel for your dress. 

“What’re you doing?” He asked curiously before taking another drag.

“Cleaning my dress. Some kid spat beer on me.”

“Well, it’s a lovely dress,” he told you, you smiled.

“You don’t think it’s too much?” You asked. “I felt really overdressed. I’ve never been to a frat party,” you told him.

“No way. It’s proper fancy and all but you look like a model or summat.�� 

You just laughed and shook your head. He was sweet, innocent. You sat down on the side of the bath and began to sponge the fabric. Lucky it was black otherwise you’d have awful brown stains on it. You wondered how on earth that kid had so much beer in his mouth. It was enough to cover you.

“This is just my luck,” you sighed. 

“Shit happens,” the boy shrugged and you agreed.

“I’m Van, what’s your name?” He said.

“Y/n,” you told him.

“Y/n...” he said under his breath, nodding his head to himself. He took a few more drags, breathing the smoke out into the air. When he was finished, he put it out on the window sill and threw the butt outside. He crouched down and sat on the closed toilet lid.

“You’re not from here are you?” He questioned. For the first time, you noticed the bright blue colour of his eyes. They were piercing even in the fluorescence of the bathroom light.

“No, I’m on exchange. You’re not from here either, clearly,” you smiled. 

“Nah, I’m on exchange too! But because I don’t get real high marks you know, they made me join this frat thing? It’s weird,” Van said, turning up his nose slightly. 

“Weird how?” You asked.

“Well for starters, these fuckin’ drinking games? What’s that all about?” He questioned in disbelief.

“Yeah, the guy who spat on me had taped like four cans together and was chugging it through a hole in the bottom. Stupid.”

“Yeah like, what are you fuckin’ doin’ man? Just drink out of a glass, stop being a weirdo. You know what I mean?” He said, using his hands to gesture his confusion at the weird behaviour. He was clearly very passionate about this and his thick accent only amused you more. You laughed and nodded. You liked Van, he was honest and funny. And the most ‘normal’ person you’d come across. 

“Agreed,” you laughed. 

“The lads here are trying to get me to join in and do some ‘zulu warrior down it!’ crap? Like woah mate, I’m just gonna drink it,” his voice was so animated and full of a jokey tone of judgement, you couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Don’t even get me started on pledges,” he said with frustration.

You both fell silent, comfortable in each others’ company. Then there was a rapid knocking on the door followed by shouting. 

“Hurry the fuck up!” Some guy called. You looked at Van and pulled a face. He grabbed your hand and quickly led you out of the toilet behind him. 

“Oh, great. I’ve got to use a sex stained toilet now do I?” The guy slurred angrily at the two of you. You just rolled your eyes.

Van pulled you along with him, you held his hand tightly and gripped the sleeve of his leather jacket with your free hand. The wet parts of your dress stuck to your legs and felt gross. He led you back through the living room, dodging the drunken students, and outside to the back garden. Once outside, you breathed in the fresh air as if it were gold. You hadn’t realised how awful and sweaty it was in there. 

You sat on some lawn chairs on the grass, Van pulled out his lighter and lit another smoke. 

“I thought you couldn’t do that here?” You asked, confused at all his effort earlier to smoke through the window if he could have just come outside. 

“I can’t. But no one’s around and this seems like a class smoking spot,” he smiled, lighting the cigarette between his teeth and crossing one leg over the other. You both looked out into the night and you didn’t feel like anything needed to be said. Van was quiet, letting the smoke billow around him; he seemed lost in his thoughts.

The music pulsed behind you in the house and coloured light poured out of the windows. You felt like you were in some teen movie; you and Van were the two outcasts who ended up alone together, isolated from the crowd. You’d seen this scene a dozen times before. The comfortable silence, the reflection of thoughts, the deep and meaningful conversations that led to some irreplaceable memory that’d be significant to the rest of your life. You could see it flash through your head like the silver screen. Or maybe you were just overthinking.

“You’re different, Van,” you said, staring at him with a small smile. You weren’t sure what it was, but you were intrigued as to how he could go from being the comedic and open guy from earlier, to having this mysterious and calm alter ego.

“I know. I’m a test tube baby, nobody gets me,” he grinned.

You were a little unsure of what he meant, but you didn’t ask. You pulled out your phone and began scrolling through your social media to pass the time. You saw a blurry photo posted by Rosie, who had clearly forgotten her promise to come and find you. You didn’t mind. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Van put out his cigarette. He then reached over and plucked the phone out of your fingers. 

“Hey!” You whined.

“Wait.”

Van handed it back to you shortly after. He’d added himself into your contacts list. Your chest felt fuzzy and warm, especially when you saw the hearts he’d put next to his name. He was cheeky.

“Us exchange kids gotta stick together yeah?” He said and you nodded, looking down at your phone again. 

You were typing a text to send to Van straight away, saying something about how you liked his eyes and his smile and that you thought he was really cool. You felt kinda lame, but maybe lame was good. Maybe lame was honest. 

“You’re the first normal person I’ve met. You gotta come to all these stupid parties with me y/n,” Van told you, looking right into your eyes.

“I was thinking the same thing about you actually, Van,” you smiled. You tucked your legs up under you and sat cross-legged in the chair. You sent the text. 

You heard Van’s phone buzz and he pulled it out to check, a smile instantly blooming across his face. He didn’t look at you, he just typed fast. When your phone chimed, your heart started to race. The text from Van read “your lame, I like you. And I like your face too xxx”. You blushed and tried to ignore the fact he’d used ‘your’ not ‘you’re’. You looked up at Van, who was already looking at you as if examining your physical response. 

“Wanna go get a drink?” Van asked you happily. 

“I sure do,” you stood up and held out your hand to him. He took it in his and kissed it, then the two of you walked inside, once again weaving through drunken, sweaty bodies. 

You laughed and poked fun at the people still playing stupid drinking games. The two of you felt a strange sense of superiority as you poured your drinks into glasses and clinked them together saying cheers. You made warm and happy eye contact with Van as you sipped on your drink as if the two of you knew something no one else did.