#ah fuck you cannibalized your found family didn’t you?

[scarlett-ink]

“If you want all the power, you must carry all the BLAME!”

-Mutiny, Epic the Musical: The Thunder Saga

Artfight attack against @maudiemoods and their spectacular Beings Made of Stardust au (also go read the fics by @jackofallrabbits based on the au because they’re so good and I devour every new chapter)

[uvobreakmylegs]

Prey

got a request for a monster!Uvo as well as a request for an Uvo fic where he chases the reader. hope it’s cool that I combined the two of them

@ramwrites​ and I are in agreement that werewolf is the best type of monster for Uvogin

werewolf!Uvogin

Warnings: death, blood, gore, body horror, little bit of smut, graphic depictions of violence, mentions of cannibalism, attempted suicide, implied kidnapping, reader does not have a good time

Thin rays of sun that were able to slip past the branches of the trees hit Uvo's back as he went about his work, placing another upright log on the now considerably worn down tree stump and bringing his axe down upon it, slicing the wood in two and tossing the pieces into the pile to his right before he grabbed another unchopped piece from the pile to the left. Based off of the sun's position in the sky, it was only a bit after midday. Uvogin had been going at this for a while now, his sweat staining the white tank he wore.

Though the sweating wasn't because the work was in any way debilitating. Any other day of the month Uvogin would've been able to chop the same amount and not even break a sweat.

No, today was different because of what was happening tonight: a full moon.

Even though the night was still a long ways off, Uvo could already feel the very beginnings of his transformation shuddering through him. Faint, but still noticable. Unfortunately, with the ever present fact that nightfall wouldn't come for hours yet, there was little he could to other than to keep himself busy and distract himself lest the anticipation kill him. So he continued to chopping the logs, even though the amount he had cut already was bordering on excessive.

In the midst of his distraction, his ears perked up when he heard the faint rumblings of a car engine. His senses of smell and hearing were always pretty good even when it wasn't close to a full moon, but those senses were ten times as sharp now, and he could clearly hear as the car came in closer and closer.

Whoever they were, they wouldn't be the first people to have approached him today. Already he'd been asked two different times for directions to the nearby campgrounds, the first time by an elderly couple who were likely well into retirement, and the second by a group of individuals who had also gotten lost. The woman from that group who went up to him told him more information than he'd needed to know, informing him of how theirs was a company sanctioned team-building retreat. She had a piece of gum in her mouth and smacked it loudly as she talked, and because of his sensitive hearing, the sound of it became distressing to the point that Uvo had to keep himself from clawing his ears off.

Everyone in that group deserved to die because of that woman alone.

Uvogin didn't stop what he was doing even when he heard the car drive past and then suddenly brake, just continuing as he was while he heard the sounds of a car door opening and someone stepping out. Words were being spoken; what was being said exactly he couldn't say, but based off of previous experience it was easy enough to guess.

The car door slammed shut and the engine rumbled again as the car began to drive further down the dirt road. It'd be back in a little bit – over that way was a dead end. But Uvogin quickly switched his focus to the footsteps he heard walking through the unmarked pathway and headed towards him.

“Excuse me?”

He heard your voice call out to him, and Uvo finally turned to face you. Upon making eye contact with him, you smiled and held up a map as you called out again “sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help out with some directions? We're looking for the Visca lake campgrounds, but I think we've been going around in circles.”

You didn't come any closer when you said that, though it seemed to be more out of a desire to not intrude on his space as opposed to being nervous about the axe he was holding. There was a hopeful look in your eye, though you also seemed ready to apologize for bugging him if he instead told you to fuck off.

Already he knew he liked you much better than the bitch from earlier.

“Sure,” he replied.

Uvo set the axe down and walked towards you, his hand outstretched so you could hand him your map. You smiled and handed him the map without any hesitation, coming up beside him as he unfolded it and scanned the paper so he could give you an idea of what direction you needed to go. The height difference between the two of you meant that he needed to lean down a bit as he pointed out to you the appropriate road that would get you to your destination.

“The road to the campgrounds is here,” he told you.

Despite the way he had tried to accommodate the height difference, you still needed to stand on your toes to see where he was pointing. Your arm came up briefly before you swiftly pulled it back. Like you'd been tempted to place your hand on his forearm to better balance yourself but stopped yourself since the two of you were complete strangers. Though Uvo wouldn't have minded too much if you had done so. Taking advantage of the way you were right next to him, he inhaled, memorizing your scent for later.

Uvo then moved his finger towards the left as he continued “we're around this area, so you'll want to drive back the way you came and take the first right you see. Then you'll want to take another right to get onto the campground road. As long as you don't fuck up turning, you should get to the lake in about ten minutes. Maybe less.”

“Ah, okay!” you responded, taking back your map as you looked over the route he'd pointed out to you. As you were desperate to make sure you got his directions right so you wouldn't need to be in the embarrassing situation of messing up his instructions and needing to go back to him for further clarification, you didn't notice the way he was looking you over or how he inhaled more of your scent.

Your hair smelled of something flowery, some kind of hair product you must have used that morning before you drove out here. Your clothing also had a rather soapy smell, though it wasn't as noticeable as the product in your hair. Beneath all of that, he was able to take in your natural scent that was free of any products or chemicals, as well as... Perfume? An odd choice for a camping trip, he thought. Then another smell hit him, one that surrounded you but you were definitely not the source of.

Oh.

It was the unmistakable scent of another man.

The perfume made more sense now. You'd said 'we' earlier as well, so chances were you'd come here with a boyfriend for a romantic weekend getaway and his smell has just gotten all over you after spending several hours cooped up in a car with him.

Not terribly displeasing. A boyfriend being in the picture might make things a bit more interesting.

“Okay, I think I've got it,” you said, snapping him out of his thoughts, “sorry if I took up too much of your time.”

“No problem,” he answered, “I get a lotta people asking for directions, so I'm used to it.”

“Really? That sounds like it gets annoying. Why don't they put up signs or something?” you asked.

“They do,” Uvo said, “but they usually get taken down by vandals.”

More like self-righteous teenagers who'd found out the truth about him and couldn't stand the fact that the elders of the nearby town allowed Uvogin to do as he pleased and thought they could thwart his killing sprees by taking down the signs leading to the lake, like they could save any innocent vacationers if they weren't able to find the campgrounds. Those kids had yet to learn that if they managed to deprive Uvo of his prey, he'd be forced to go to their own town and hunt there, maybe snatch up one of them or their families. The older folk in charge of the town understood that, and they'd decided that it was better to let the occasional out of town stranger be his prey than risk him coming in and picking off whatever stragglers he could find in their community.

People vacationing in the wilderness died all the time, after all.

“Vandals?” you asked. There was the slightest bit of concern in your voice, and when your eyes went slightly wide as you looked at him, he couldn't help but muse at how cute you looked like that.

“Just dumb kids,” he explained, “there's a small town a little ways back and I reckon they don't have much to do around there.”

“Ah, I see. Do you think we'll need to worry about them bothering us?”

“Nah, they wouldn't do anything,” Uvo said, “besides, they know that I'm out here today, and they know better than to bug me.”

You laughed a bit at that, any deeper meaning to his words going over your head.

“I can't blame them. If I was one of them I'd be too scared to do anything to get on your bad side.”

Uvogin just smiled.

A voice then called at the top of the path, and you both looked to see a dark-haired man around your age standing there. He called out what Uvo assumed was your name, and you waved to him, calling out a short “coming!” before you turned back to Uvogin.

“Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it,” you told him.

“Once again, not a problem. Hope you two have a good time.”

You smiled and nodded at him, and then began to walk back over to your boyfriend. But before you had the chance to bid him goodbye, Uvogin spoke again.

“You wanna know something that's not in any visitor's guides?” he asked.

“Huh?”

He grinned at your slightly confused expression as he explained “if you go down to the southern side of the lake, there are these really beautiful cliffs in the forest. A lot of clearings that show a pretty good view of the sky, too. And it's a full moon tonight; if you want to make some memories, you should check it out when it gets dark.”

Clearly intrigued, you turned back to face him, asking “really? Why isn't that part advertised?”

“The locals want to keep parts of the lake to themselves,” he said, “but I think it's something that you might appreciate.”

“You sure you won't get in trouble for telling me?”

“Not if you don't say anything,” said Uvo, raising an eyebrow as he smirked.

“Ah, gotcha,” you said. Behind you, your boyfriend was starting to look a bit suspicious, and his lips soon formed a frown. You weren't paying him any mind at the moment.

“What's your name?” you asked.

“Uvogin.”

You held out your hand as you introduced yourself, and he humored you by giving you a handshake.

“Thank you so much for everything,” you said, “maybe we'll see you again while we're here.”

“Maybe.”

With that, you finally turned and made your way to your awaiting boyfriend, who gave Uvo one last narrowed glance before he turned his attention to you as you eagerly pulled your map back out and began to tell him the directions that had been given to you. Your boyfriend only gave one more glance towards Uvogin before focusing his full attention on you, looking over the map with you before the two of you made your way back to the car. He seemed rather boring, Uvo thought to himself. Yet before you made it back in, you stepped up and kissed your boyfriend on the cheek. Uvo saw the way your boyfriend stiffened and the blush that reached his ears as he sat down in the driver's seat to escape your random but sweet action. You laughed as you entered through the passenger's side, and Uvo kept an eye on the two of you until he saw your small, light blue car pull away and drive down the road.

When the two of you were gone, Uvo went back to chopping wood, picking the axe back up and slicing the log into two even pieces. He didn't expect that anyone else would come blundering into the forest before evening, but if they did, he wouldn't pay them much mind. If he killed every single person who came in to enjoy the lake he would quickly lose that particular food source and then need to find another area to hunt.

No, the only ones that were on the table tonight were the company group and you and your boyfriend – he wouldn't bother hunting down that elderly couple as it wouldn't be interesting in the slightest to go after them. The larger group had a good number of people in it, so there would be no need to seek out anyone else. Honestly he shouldn't even bother with the two of you, but Uvo thought of you again, thinking over every action you had taken, from the way you had approached him to how you held out your hand when you introduced yourself.

The little bit of affection you had offered to your boyfriend also came to mind but he brushed that thought away. It was unimportant, he told himself.

No, he shouldn't bother with the two of you, but he wanted to see how your naive little expression might change when you saw him next, after the moonlight had transformed him, and hear how you might scream and cry as he hunted you down.

He grinned at the thought, and when his axe came down again, it sliced the log and the stump beneath it clean through.

The true beginnings of his change had started hours ago when the sun sank past the horizon and the moon slowly rose in the night sky. Just little things, like the way his teeth began to shift in his mouth, or how the black tips of his claws were starting to show beneath his fingernails, slowly pushing up beneath the nails and trying to force themselves out so he could have an easier time tearing apart whatever unfortunate victim happened to be closest to him.

His skin was starting to shift a bit in places as well as it began to detach from the muscle beneath, and he was hit with an overwhelming urge to run outside and allow his transformation to complete so he could go wild as he always did on a full moon night.

But he waited, forcing himself to focus on the fire that was burning before him, to wait until it had gone out completely before he stepped foot out of his cabin.

It had turned into something of a ritual for him; when he had started it he could no longer remember. It was purely ceremonial, and at the heart of it he knew that it did nothing to add to his hunt, but after being alone in the woods for so long he supposed he was entitled to a bit of superstition. And at this point, it would have felt wrong to do it any other way. When the fire went out, the moon would be at the highest point in the sky, and when he left the dark cabin and bared himself to the moonlight, his werewolf form would tear through and he would track down the victims he had met earlier in the day, the ones whose scents he had remembered after he'd chosen them for his prey. Didn't matter much in what order he got them, just whatever scent he came across first.

Although maybe tonight it mattered a little bit. If he could manage it, Uvogin wanted you to be the last one to die tonight. After the group from the company retreat and your bland looking boyfriend, he'd hoped he could then have you for last. Something about that made him feel like that would be the only appropriate ending to the night.

But that all depended if he could manage to remember that after he'd transformed.

The light of the fire was growing more dim, and he was having a harder time sitting still, his entire body itching to burst through the cabin door and let the moonlight take him.

Not yet, he told himself.

But soon.

Those black claws were showing a bit more now, and at least two of his fingernails had popped off, blood coating his fingertips as his hands clenched onto the skin of his legs. That same skin shifted once more as he did so, and after a few moments he felt something trickling down his thigh, and when he glanced down he could see in the faint glimmer of firelight the hole in his skin that he'd torn open, and the dark fur beneath the human flesh that was still covered and the blood dripping down his leg.

Not yet not yet not yet

A few more agonizing minutes later that had seemed endless in his mind, and finally the fire he'd begun earlier was reduced to a smoulder, the flames dying out and the wood glowing red as the fire reached the end of its life.

Now

No sooner had he thought that Uvogin had thrown open the cabin door and ran out into the woods that surrounded him, bare as he gazed up at the full moon as he allowed himself the moment that he'd been holding off on.

There were multiple changes simultaneously and Uvogin was barely able to comprehend all of what was happening to him because of it. There was always a pain that accompanied his transformation, and while it was a pain that he was used to at this point, it was pain nonetheless.

At the sight of the moon his green eyes turned yellow and his pupils narrowed into slits, while the bones in his body began to shift and grow. It started with his spine, extending and pushing out through his skin and almost causing a ripple effect through his whole body. His bones were snapping and stretching beneath his skin, growing as his muscles were expanding and making him into even more of a giant than he already was. Claws on his hands and feet tore through the flesh that surrounded them as those parts of him extended, the skin ripping open and allowing more of the fur that was hidden underneath to show through.

When he felt the flesh around his shoulders stretch out in an attempt to accommodate the transformation he sped up the process by reaching up and tearing it away with his own fingers, the black claws easily ripping in and pulling the skin away like a latex glove. Soon the skin that had been on his arms sat around him in pieces on the grass and he began the same process with his chest and legs, tearing away his flesh in messy strips and allowing the fur that had formed on his body to be exposed, matted with blood and looking almost black in the light of the moon.

His skull went through the same process as the rest of his body, and he felt his face crack into several different pieces before the bones began to remold themselves and pushed outward, taking the shape of a wolf's muzzle while his teeth extended and shifted to fit properly in his newly formed mouth. When his ears began twisting and pushing upwards into sharp points was when he tore at the skin on his face, pulling it off as he had done with the rest and throwing it to the forest floor.

When the last of his human flesh had been removed, his transformation was complete. The man who had stepped out of that cabin was gone and replaced with a large, bipedal wolf whose yellow eyes dilated as he looked up once more to the moon. Lifting his head up, he arched his back as he let out a howl loud enough that echoed through the woods and across the surface of the lake. Those that heard it in the nearby town quietly whispered their prayers to whichever gods they worshiped while those who were visiting the lake's campsite merely marveled at the sound.

If Uvo was in a different mindset he might have thought of you in that moment, and what you might be thinking when you heard him. If you had any clue of the danger you were in.

But in this moment, there was no thought of you or even saving you for last as he had tried to so hard to ingrain into himself. There was no thought of doing this in any order or trying to end the night correctly as he had mused about earlier.

The only thing going through Uvogin's mind was the need to kill.

As luck would have it, he'd managed to kill the ones from that company first.

There had been more of them. More that were wandering around their campsite, more that were talking amongst themselves, and in general just making more noise that, combined with their scents from earlier, allowed him to find them first.

There were actually more of them in that group than he'd anticipated, and as he killed off the last woman in the group, gum falling from her mouth as he twisted her head completely around. Uvo then looked around at the carnage he'd left in his wake. It was hard to tell with the way they were all in pieces now, but the number of people group had easily been in the double digits. That would probably cause a bit of trouble, as it would be hard to try and cover this up. This would easily make the news. Annoying, as Uvo would need to make sure to lay low for a bit, and it could possibly lower the amount of potential victims in the area when the next full moon came.

But it had still been worth it.

Uvogin felt more like himself again now that the murderous urges had been sated. Able to think a bit more clearly, more rationally. And he was able to remember you and what he'd hoped for early on. He could imagine it: your scared expression as you watched him kill your boyfriend before he slaughtered you like the rest, your screams cutting short as he bit into the skin of your neck and tore out your throat.

Now that his hunger was taken care of, he left the campsite of the now-dead group. Right now all he wanted was to find you and your boyfriend.

Remembering what he had told you of the southern side of the lake, he took a gamble as he headed off in that direction, making his way through the woods at speeds much faster than a regular human would be capable of. He stopped when he felt the wind blowing again, and lifted his nose in the air, trying to see if he catch anything.

….. There

It was faint. Very faint, but he managed to catch a familiar human scent.

He turned and headed off in your direction. It was too far away to get your exact location, but it was enough that he could get at least an idea of where you were.

Continuing towards the south side of the lake, he stayed close to the shoreline until he found your little blue car from earlier parked close to the lake, a tent set up not too far off from it. Your scent became a bit more clear as he came closer, and yet when stopped to scan the area, his eyes looking for the slightest bit of movement and his ears straining to hear any bit of noise, he couldn't find you.

A bit annoying, but based off of the way the two of you had left things, you should still be in the area. It was just a matter of hunting you down.

Uvo stalked about the campsite, just in case he missed something while also puncturing two of the tires on your car and cutting off that potential escape route. Satisfied that neither of you were on the site or next to the water, he walked back into the woods, following after the little bits of that fragrance he'd latched onto.

As he walked, he thought to himself with some amusement that you'd actually taken up his suggestion. Uvogin had found that most people didn't bother, either because they were too dedicated to the plans they'd made before arriving or because they didn't trust that the landscape was as beautiful as he'd made it out to be. In fairness, it mostly all looked the same to him, but there had just been something about that particular bit of campground that made him enjoy hunting there more. So it was even more perfect that the two of you had ended up there. Most likely you were just doing what you felt like and didn't feel like adhering to any particular schedule.

His ears perked up as he heard a low voice in the distance. Not yours. Probably your boyfriend, then. Focusing himself so he could move silently, Uvogin weaved through the trees, his eyes searching for you while he listened for more noise from either of you.

When he heard your voice next, he had definitely gotten closer. Your voice had sounded odd, though. Almost breathless.

He found the two of you in a larger clearing that stood beneath one of the cliffs he had spoken of. You were laying with your back on the grass, dressed in a swimsuit with only a shirt over it. Your boyfriend was in a similar state with the moonlight falling onto his bare back, and it looked like both of you were a bit wet, some drops of water still on your skin and hair still damp. So the two of you had gone swimming before you wandered over to this area to mess around.

You said something to him before the two of you shared a kiss, and you moaned into it when he slipped his hand under your shirt to grab at your chest.

It certainly wasn't the first time Uvo had come across a pair of lovers in the woods. Such encounters usually ended with one or both betraying the other, as several times in the past one would push the other into Uvo's path in an attempt to save themselves after having a passionate make-out session only moments before.

Uvogin stepped out from the treeline and waited for one of you to notice him. You let out another moan, and to him it sounded like it was slightly exaggerated. Was your boyfriend not that good? Not too surprising, based off of Uvo's impression of him.

If Uvo had been the man on top of you, he was certain he could do much better.

….. Where did that come from?

Uvo didn't get much time to wonder about that as he heard you let out a sharp gasp, and when his eyes refocused on you, he saw that you were looking right at him. Your eyes were wide and your skin paled as you stiffened, your hands grasping at your boyfriend's arms.

“What's wrong?” your boyfriend asked when he noticed your reaction.

Keeping your eyes on Uvogin, you answered him in a small whisper “there's something over there.”

Your boyfriend turned his head to where you were looking, and he went stiff as well when he saw Uvogin's werewolf form.

It was quiet in that clearing, free of any noises from any woodland animals or even the insects, as anything that was in that immediate area sensed the danger and were desperate to keep silent. No, the only sound Uvo could hear was your breathing that became more panicked as you struggled to keep it under control and the way your boyfriend tried to shush you while he broke out into a cold sweat. You two were both under the impression to stay still and not make any sudden movements for fear of provoking him.

Then your boyfriend whispered your name.

“When I move,” he breathed out, “I want you to run back to the car and get out of here. Even if I'm not with you, you have to take the car and leave.”

As he spoke, your boyfriend slowly moved his hand over to a pack beside you that Uvo hadn't noticed at first. Still, Uvo grinned. He thought he could take him on?

You tried to protest but your boyfriend wasn't hearing it, only repeating his instructions to you and trying to make you promise that you would do as he said. You didn't want to; that was clear, but when you looked back over to Uvogin's form outside the treeline, you shuddered once more and agreed to leave with a short nod.

Uvogin waited for the boyfriend to make his move. He looked just as terrified as you were, but he was clearly trying to be brave for your sake, and his resolve seemed to steel when he got a hold of whatever he had been searching for in the pack.

“Now!”

Your boyfriend yelled as he shot up and charged at Uvo. For the first time since seeing him, Uvogin felt mildly impressed with your boyfriend; he'd been genuine about wanting to save you over himself. Not like he wouldn't still die for it as he was still incredibly weak, but there was something to be said about the willingness he had to face down a beast like Uvo for your sake.

You must be something special to make a man go that far for you.

The thing your boyfriend had pulled out turned out to be a can of bear spray as well as a medium-sized hunting knife. Uvo managed to doge the stream that had been aimed at him easily on account of how badly the hand that held it had been shaking. The boyfriend ran back a bit, unwilling to get too close to Uvogin even with the knife. He tried to aim it again, but Uvo used his claws to slice at him, slashing upwards as he aimed for his throat.

Somehow, he missed the boyfriend's throat and only managed to hit the side of his face, opening up his cheek and taking off his ear. The boyfriend cried out at that, one hand going up to his bleeding cheek while still trying to incapacitate Uvo with the bear spray. But with the way he stumbled about, it was almost too easy for Uvogin to grab him by his face and hurl him into the trunk of a nearby tree. He hit headfirst, and there was an audible cracking sound that came from the impact. Uvogin didn't even bother to watch the way his body hit the ground, experience telling him that he was definitely dead.

Uvogin was much more interested in you.

You were still in the clearing. At first you had done as your boyfriend had told you and bolted the second he yelled, running back to your campsite. But you stopped and turned back when you heard him cry out when Uvo had slashed at him. You wanted to help him but you also knew there was nothing you could do, and so you were left standing in the clearing, your whole body shaking as you struggled with the decision to stay or leave your boyfriend behind.

It was cute how loyal you were to him.

And loyalty certainly wasn't a bad quality.

When you saw your boyfriend die you froze, tears streaming down your face as you looked between the now dead man and the thing that had murdered him. You were clearly in a panic, your legs trembling as your brain struggled to figure out what to do, where to go from here. Certainly you had to be aware that you'd lost any chance of getting away like you'd been told to do, right?

Apparently not, as when Uvogin stepped forward you bolted, running back towards the camp. Yet Uvo found a sense of relief with that, that you wouldn't just sit there and let him kill you and end it so early.

For whatever reason, that last thought displeased him.

But he brushed that away as he chased after you only moments later, not bothering to be quiet with his movements and instead being as loud as possible, breaking apart any low-hanging branches in his wake as he howled into the night air once again.

You had only made it a little ways past the car when he emerged from the forest and lunged towards you. It seemed like you were trying to get away on foot given the damage to the car. Already there was a scent of blood in your wake, as the soles of your feet had already been cut up on the sharp debris of the forest floor.

You turned towards him just in time to see him raising his clawed hand over his head before he sliced it downwards. Through what must have been some bit of luck, you stumbled backwards at that moment and all he managed to do was give you a flesh wound.

You hit the surface of the gravel road hard, crying out in pain at the force of your fall as well as the cuts that were on your arm, your hand immediately grasping at your wound as you desperately tried to use your legs to get yourself off of the ground.

Then he was on top of you.

He opened his jaws wide; you saw as he did so, and attempted to crawl out from under him.

He snapped his jaws shut on your throat.

And you went stiff.

It was quiet for a few moments.

And then a small rush of air escaped from your mouth as you let out a breath you had been holding.

Almost.

He had almost killed you in that moment.

The pointed tips of his teeth were pressing lightly into your skin, not quite hard enough to make you bleed, but that would change if you shifted your neck just slightly.

Why had he stopped?

He stayed there, hunched over you, his arms caging you in while his maw was around your throat. He felt the pulse in your neck beating wildly, almost causing vibrations against his teeth. You had stopped struggling, your legs still while you continued to clutch at your wounded arm, the only noises coming from you now being your uneven breathing.

What was he doing?

His yellow eye glanced over to your face, and he found that you weren't even looking at him. You were gazing in the direction of the night sky, where the light of the moon shown down on you like a spotlight, but it didn't even seem like you were even looking at that. Your eyes were wide as you breathed hard, and Uvo had to wonder if you were currently seeing your life flash before your eyes. That perhaps your mind had accepted that this was the end of your life and was remembering as much as you could before Uvogin would sink in his teeth and sever those major arteries in your neck.

Were you satisfied with all that you had accomplished up to this point, or were you disappointed and felt that you should have done more?

Moments passed like that, his hulking form engulfing yours with no movement from either of you. He took in a deep breath, and he once again caught some of the flowery smell of your shampoo, though it had largely faded by now, and you smelled much more like the woods after the hours you had spent there. More like pine and tree leaves, and the fresh water of the lake, and....

Uvogin let out a short grunt that made you whimper and you clenched your eyes shut as you believed this to be the end. You had no clue that Uvo could smell your arousal coming from between your legs. It had come from the way you'd been fooling around with your boyfriend earlier – there was no way you could have been turned on by this.

Uvo thought again of what he had seen when he stumbled upon the two of you, and that odd thought that had interjected at one point. You had been on his mind almost all day, and he thought it was because he wanted to kill you. And now you were beneath him and the moment couldn't have been more right, and yet now that was the last thing he wanted to do.

It hit him then. The different urge he'd had about you since he had seen you earlier in the day, since he had seen the way you treated your boyfriend; the way you had kissed that man had stuck out in his mind. Hardly any different than any other couple he had seen who were too big on PDA, yet combined with the way you had first come up to him, had smiled and thanked him, and introduced yourself so willingly while also asking for his name had made all of the difference in the world.

His days in the woods were lonely. It was something Uvo was well aware of but had thought he could handle, and he had done so for several years now without issue. But now that he knew you, with your actions and your touch and even the sweet scent of your arousal that he wished more and more that he had been the cause of, another second of being alone sounded more like torture.

Still, the biggest reason he had stayed on his own for so long was that he had accepted that there would be few in this world who would be alright with spending the rest of their lives with a man-eating monster. And any that he may have wanted to keep alive despite that probably wouldn't have been worth the trouble. Keeping someone else with him would also mean he would need to put in the effort to keep them alive, and if he had them unwillingly he'd need to make sure they wouldn't be able to get away, either by restraining them or locking them up.

He watched you, watched the way your face stayed scrunched up as you waited for him to finish it. He wanted you, but were you worth the trouble?

When Uvogin pulled off of your neck and sat back up, you meekly opened your eyes in confusion and trying to anticipate what horrible thing he would do to you next. You yelped when he grabbed you by the back of your shirt as he stood, pulling you up to your feet and setting you in front of him. With one hand on your shoulder and one on your hip, he turned you so you were facing away from him, making sure you were steady on your feet.

He leaned down so his maw was right next to your ear, and in a voice that sounded more animal than human, he growled out a single word:

“Run.”

With that he pushed you forward. You stumbled a bit, your brain still processing what he had said as you barely took a few steps away from him. Then, like a lightning bolt had hit you, you finally seemed to understand as you snapped back and made a beeline for the woods. Your bare feet were loud on the cluttered forest floor, and he occasionally heard little gasps and soft whimpers of pain when you cut your foot open further on a rock or a sharp branch.

Uvo waited, wanting to give you a good head start before he began to chase after you. It would be easy to track you, especially with how much you were bleeding now, but he shuddered with barely contained excitement, eager to chase you down but knowing that he needed to give you a decent head start or else it would be over too quickly.

If you proved yourself worthy of keeping alive, then he'd take you back to his cabin.

And he really hoped you wouldn't let him down.

…. But then something felt wrong.

Uvogin's eyes narrowed as he sensed that you were still within the immediate area and not moving away from him as he had expected. The direction you had gone in was the same one the both of you had come from; the patch of woods and the clearing where he'd found you in the pathway. There wasn't anything there that you could have fallen over or gotten stuck on, so why....

A new thought occurred to him, and Uvo growled lowly to himself as he hoped he wouldn't see what he felt he might when he found you next.

You were back in that clearing, sitting next to your boyfriend's fallen body. Your body was facing the direction Uvo had arrived from, both of your hands in front of you as looked down at your now former lover. There were tears rolling down your cheeks as you sat there.

A wave of disgust hit Uvogin as he found he was correct and was thoroughly disappointed with your actions. He'd given you a chance to get away and you'd wasted it by sitting around crying. Clearly he had given you too much credit.

You heard him as he began to walk towards you, and he noted the way your hands slipped beneath your boyfriend's slightly upturned body, your head still downcast.

He stood across from you, letting out a huff that made you flinch. But still, you didn't move from that spot.

As he opened his jaws your head shot up and you lifted your hands from beneath the body.

Just as you did so, something sprayed into his nose, eyes and his open mouth. Something that stung and made him gag. Fuck it burned, and Uvogin let out a howl of pain as he clutched at his face.

The bear spray-!

Something sharp then dug into the flesh beneath his collarbone, and the pain from the bitter spray was accompanied by the sensation of a knife blade stabbing into him.

With another howl as he was now blinded, he swiped a hand in your general direction and heard you yelp as he simultaneously clawed your shoulder and forced you to the ground. With his hearing now being his greatest sense, he managed to pick up the clatter the bear spray can made as the force of his blow made you drop it, and he moved one of his feet to stomp at it, crushing it and making it useless.

Uvo roared again as he swung about wildly, trying to catch you once more, but you managed to avoid his attacks and made your way into the woods again as he heard your labored breathing and footsteps growing fainter and fainter.

He clutched at his face as he tried to make himself calm down, trying to will away the pain and regain his sense of sight and smell.

…. Not bad.

Even with the rage he had felt in the moment, he found himself relieved, almost happy that you had caught him off-guard. You had gone as far as to use your boyfriend's body as a prop, to make him think that you were too broken up about his death so he would lower his guard. Had you been a bit taller, you could have done a decent amount of damage if you'd managed to stab the knife into his throat.

The knife was still in him, he realized, and after regaining a little bit of his sight in his left eye, he easily pulled it out and threw it across the way.

Now you had no weapons, but he was also at a disadvantage as his eyes were still watering and he could no longer smell you as clearly, the harsh chemicals of the spray making him internally wince every time he breathed through his nose. If he wanted to catch you, he would need to rely almost entirely on his hearing to search for you.

The sounds you were making were quite distant now, but he grinned to himself and stayed there a while longer, letting you get further away.

The direction you were going had no civilization, there was only forest for miles, and he was happy to let you get yourself more and more lost if it meant that his hunt would continue.

By the time dawn was nearing, signaled by the sickly pale color the sky had turned to, Uvogin had managed to chase you further into the wilderness, up through the trees and near the edge of a cliff face. Throughout the night there had been times where you had slowed or stopped completely as you tried to regain your strength, taking advantage of your smaller size and slipping into places that he couldn't easily get to. You also had several brief spurts of energy where you had sped up suddenly, more determined than ever to get away from him while you threw various stones and branches back towards him, though you never tried anything else as bold as you had with your trick from earlier as you didn't allow him to get that close again.

But as you stumbled to the edge of the cliff and looked at the steep drop before you, it was clear to him that your fight was gone. He knew it even before you fell to your knees on the sharp rock. The chase had ended, and just in time, as daylight would be here soon, and when that came he would revert back to his human form.

It had been one of the most memorable hunts he'd had in years, and even though your will had been broken in the process, by now he was certain that he wanted to keep you. To have a little partner in his solitary life, someone to keep his bed warm and wait for him to return home in the evenings. The scenario was nice to think about, and he especially liked the idea of you cuddling up to him during the colder months of the year, trying to keep yourself warm with his body heat to fight the chilly air that would sneak inside. Maybe eventually he'd get you to give him sweet tokens of affection like you'd given to your boyfriend, perhaps a kiss on the cheek before he went out to hunt.

And maybe every once in a while, if you were still insistent on putting up a fight, Uvo might let you out during a full moon and make you think you had a chance to escape, just so he could hunt you down and drag you back to his little home in the woods.

The thought of it gave him chills, and he wondered how long he would need to wait before he could let you out.

You were lightly swaying in place as you looked to the ground below while Uvo was consumed in the thoughts he had about you. He assumed that you were just waiting for him to finish it – your willpower was dried up, and there was no way you would try to run around him or do anything as stupid as try to climb down the cliff face.

He had no clue where your thoughts had taken you in that moment.

Realization shot through him when he saw your shoulders sag and your body began to fall forward over the edge.

Uvo rushed forward and grabbed you by your shoulder before you fell off and he threw you back, a good distance further and far rougher than he had been intending, as you wailed weakly when you hit the ground.

If you were willing to kill yourself to escape him, he'd need to wait some time before letting you run about the woods again.

By now, you were covered in dirt and blood and whatever else had stuck to you from the forest while you had run from him. Your skin was covered in cuts that he and the forest had given you and it would likely be some time before you would be able to properly walk again based off of the state of your feet. When he approached you once more, you clenched your eyes shut again. By now you were past the point of tears and just waited for him to finish you off.

You jolted at the feeling of his fur brushing against your skin when straddled you once more, but just as before, the killing blow you were expecting never came. You opened one eye, and just as you did so, the first rays of the sun shone over the landscape beyond and hit Uvogin.

You watched in silent horror as the fur that covered him caught on fire and began to burn. He was briefly consumed by the flames before they vanished into puffs of smoke. His bones were snapping again, breaking into pieces and retracting back into their normal size while his muscles and skin rippled and shrunk back down, tightening around his fingers as the claws also retracted and vanished beneath the skin. As his wolf face broke apart and reformed, there was a look of shock in your eyes as you saw the beast on top of you become more and more human. And that shock soon turned into a realization when you found that you recognized the man who was on top of you.

His transformation back to his human form was over in a matter of seconds, and when it was over and his green eyes looked back down at you, you stuttered as you tried to find your voice.

“U-Uvogin?” you asked weakly.

He grinned, pleased that you had remembered his name.

Without another word, Uvo leaned down over you so he could begin the process of properly claiming you as his.

[noonaishere]

Work of Art [J.JH] - epilogue two | two and a half years after that

“UMMM, excuse you?”

“What?” You croaked, one eye opening as you peered at your phone: Anna. You rolled over and found Jaehyun sleeping soundly next to you. You got up quietly and grabbed a robe from the bathroom as you slipped out the door and shut it behind you.

“Hello?”

“Why are you calling so early?”

Anna paused. “Oh my god, I didn’t realize it was 5:30 am there! I’m so sorry!”

Her volume made you hold the phone away from your ear. When she seemed finished, you brought it back. “You’re so loud.”

“Well, it’s the middle of the day here.”

“But you’re not normally this loud.”

“I’m just excited.”

You pulled up a stool at the kitchen counter of the hotel room and sat down.

“For?”

“...I’m going to hit you.”

You yawned. “You can't, I'm too far away.”

She laughed.

“Thwarted.”

She laughed again. “I can’t believe you’re on vacation.”

You laughed softly.

“I can’t believe Jaehyun got you to go on vacation. And a European tour of all fucking things. Where are you guys now?”

“Spain. Figueres.”

“Ugh. I'm so jealous. The architecture in Spain is gorgeous."

“Then have your famous DJ husband take you.”

“With two young kids?”

You chuckled. “If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t stopped thinking of the paintings I could be working on. Especially since we're going to see the Dalí museum today.”

“It doesn’t! Don’t say that!”

You chuckled again.

“You better not have.”

“I haven’t, actually. He’s been taking me around to see so many things that I haven’t gotten the chance.”

“Good. Is Spain nice?”

“Yeah. I did sketch some people when we were at a café yesterday though. It was nice. He watched me while I was sketching.”

“Ahh, young love.”

“Ha, shut up.”

She laughed.

“How are the twins?”

“You saw them before you left.”

“I don’t know what else to ask about, Anna,” you checked the time on your phone, “it’s not even six yet.”

She laughed again. “Fair, fair. They’re good. Johnny took them to the park so I could have a break for a bit.”

“And your first thought was to call me?”

“Of course. The oldest and most beloved of all my friends.”

“Liar.”

“That and if I have to hear Baby Shark one more fucking time…”

“Will you be like a hamster and eat your own young?”

She sighed. “You said it, not me.”

“They can’t be that bad.”

“No… but I blame Johnny for playing the Baby Shark Remix for them a month ago and starting our descent into hell.”

“There’s a remix version?”

“He remixed it.”

“Oh my god. You should eat him instead.”

Anna laughed. “See? This is why I called you--”

“So you could be encouraged to turn cannibal on your lovely family? Strange moves, bruh.”

She laughed loudly.

“Is your last name ‘Donner’?”

She laughed again. “No, I think I just needed a little of your madness to make me feel less insane.”

“I thought you were going to say something about ‘adult conversation,’ but never mind.”

She chuckled.

You sat in silence for a few minutes.

“You know, I’m surprised you’re not trying to give me one of those ‘They’ll happen to you one day!’ lines.”

“What-- kids?”

You laid your head down on the counter with the phone under your ear so you could talk without having to hold it. “Mhm.”

“Do you want kids?”

“Mmm… I don’t know.”

“Then why would I tell you it’ll happen to you?”

“I don’t know… I met one of Jaehyun’s aunts a couple weeks ago and she did that to us. All, 'Ya! No kids yet?'"

Anna laughed.

“Jae's like, ‘No, auntie, not yet.’ ‘Ah! It'll happen soon!’”

She laughed again. “You guys just got married.”

“Yeah, I don't know.”

“Is she a ‘good Christian woman?’”

“She is, but why--”

“It’s been less than nine months. If you had them already then they would have been conceived out of wedlock.”

“Fuck. I didn't think of that at the time. I could have thrown it in her face.”

She laughed. “See? That’s why math is good.”

“I remain unconvinced.”

She chuckled. “I hate when people say ‘It'll happen soon,’ it sounds like a threat.”

“Right? I said that to Jaehyun when we were driving home.”

“What'd he say?”

“He laughed and apologized on her behalf.”

Anna chuckled. “Well… is having kids something you want?”

“I don’t know… I’ve… I feel like I never got to think about having kids of my own when I was younger, you know? Like… I was always worried about trying to leave my shitty house and having enough money for me to survive that I couldn’t even think about, like, adding a whole new person I had to grow from the ground up, you know?”

“You mean: from the womb out?”

“This is why we’re friends.”

Both of you laughed.

“But yeah, like… I’m not used to feeling like my future is secure.”

“Well... it seems like it is now. So you can think about it now. If you want.”

“Yeah. It's just weird though. Because it's… new. Like... I actually can.”

“Mmm… I won’t ask what you think right now, but just make sure you tell Jaehyun, yeah? I don’t want to hear that you lost him on a train again and that’s how you told him you want to have kids.”

You chuckled quietly. “I was thinking perhaps a plane this time? I'll dogfight to get him back. Or maybe we can go vintage and I can lose him on a steamship and have to commandeer another ship to chase it down. A whole steampunk-style nautical adventure.”

“I expect nothing less, honestly. Make sure you call me and Johnny for backup. We’ll put the twins in the crow’s nest or something as lookouts."

You laughed. "Oh-- what were you excited about?"

"I was excited about somethi-- oh yeah! You know the plans for that solar panel farm Jungwoo and I have been working on for our firm?"

"Yes. He tried explaining it to me a few weeks ago and I pretended to cry and Jaehyun told him, ‘Stop threatening her with math.’”

“The two of you are so weird."

“Eunji thought it was funny.”

She laughed.

“You don't know the half of it. It's so strange sometimes when it's just us.”

“I’ll take your word for it. But anyway, the plans got approved this morning so they’ve started going through the process for construction.”

“Ooooh. You're both going to look so cute onsite with your little hardhats.”

“Mhm. I almost called you when I found out. Aren't you glad I didn't? It would have been the middle of the night or something.”

“Aren't you glad I didn't say orange?”

“You're a twerp.”

You laughed a single loud laugh and shushed yourself when you remembered Jaehyun was still in bed. “Shit. But I wouldn't have picked up anyway. I was busy.”

“Doing what?”

“...”

“Hello?”

“We were busy.”

“Yeah, doing what?”

“...”

“Hello? Am I losing service? I'm on the wifi.”

“Anna. We were busy. He and I.”

“Doing wha--”

“Anna, you have twins.”

“...Ohhhhhh, okay. I understand.”

“Oh my god, Anna. You're so lucky I decided to give in to my inner bored housewife back then; if I didn't, you and Johnny never would have gotten together. I should call you ‘The Isosceles Twins.’”

“Don't you dare.”

“Because you're both obtuse.”

“You're horrible. Don't have kids, they'll end up just like you.”

You held back a laugh. “Maybe I should give it some thought. Inflicting another me on the world sounds like it could be fun.”

She laughed. “Hey, we might have gotten together.”

“Not if he had anything to do with it.”

“He did sort of epically chicken out with the Luna thing. But everyone's stupid when they're young.”

“What are you, a wizened old crone?”

“I'm a hot young mom.”

“Dang, and she knows it,” you laughed.

The excited yelling of two small children being admonished by their father could be heard in the background on Anna's end.

“Speak of the tiger," Anna said. "Back already?”

“They might have had too many juice boxes.” The sound of a kiss. “Who's that?”

“Y/n.”

“Hi, y/n.”

“Hi, Johnny.”

Johnny's voice became more faint. “Why are you bothering her while she's on vacation? Jaehyun told me it took him most of a day to convince her to tear herself away from her work.”

“It was most of a week, actually,” you corrected. “Though, by the end I was playing hard to get just to bother him.”

Anna laughed softly.

“Just count yourself lucky she didn't call you during your honeymoon.” Johnny said, louder so you could hear.

You chuckled.

From the silence afterward, you could tell that Johnny was probably looking at her disapprovingly and Anna was probably shrugging in response.

You heard a yawn behind you and turned. A somewhat sleepy Jaehyun rubbed his eyes as he walked through the doorway in his pajama bottoms.

Your brain fired off a series of strongly worded emails to the rest of your body, the strong words including but not limited to: Abs. Husband. Hubby. Hot. So hot. Cutie. Look at his hair. Oh my god. Dimples. So cute. Wanna touch.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Anna and Johnny. I love you both, bye,” you said into the phone and held it up in his direction. “Say goodbye, Jaehyun.”

“Goodbye, Jaehyun.”

You frowned at him, trying not to smile at his joke.

He smiled and came closer, letting you hold the phone to his ear. “Why are you bothering my wife while she's vacationing?”

You combed your fingers through his hair, trying to fix his bedhead, and then poked his belly and scratched at it like he was a puppy. Your brain was glad to see that at least your hand had read the email.

He exhaled a laugh and took the phone from you. He gave you a kiss before walking over to the window where he continued the conversation. “Uh huh. Wow, that's great. Congratulations.” He opened the exterior curtains and felt for the window latch and opened it. “Yeah, that's really great. Anyway, it's almost seven now so we're going to go. Love you guys, bye.”

He hung up the phone and put it on the table.

“Sleep well?” You asked as you walked over and sat in one of the two chairs by the window, facing him.

He smiled coyly. “Of course. You really got up to answer the phone this early?”

“I did that thing where I'm half asleep and I answer it, and then I wake up and realize I'm on the phone.”

He shook his head with a laugh. “You gotta stop that.”

You nodded and yawned. “So what are we doing today?”

“Dalí museum.”

“Obviously. That's the only way you were going to get me on such a long flight in the first place.”

“That was a lot of ginger ale.”

You snorted a laugh. “I meant besides that.”

He smiled and leaned against the window frame. “I have a cousin who lives nearby in Barcelona and he gave me a list of other places we could check out.”

“You never told me you have a cousin in Spain.”

“I have family in a lot of places.”

You ticked them off on your fingers: “You have an uncle in the UK, family in the US, a cousin in Spain, you have familial wealth... What are you, Gomez Addams?” You laughed.

He raised an eyebrow at you and smiled. “Then I'm guessing I shouldn't tell you about my cousin in Paris who's going to take us around the city to see all the Art Nouveau architecture?”

Your eyes widened. “No, please, tell me all about them. What's their favorite color? Do they like ice cream? What do they want as a gift for taking us around?”

He laughed softly.

“We probably should get all your relatives something for taking us on tours around their chosen homes.”

“We can decide that when we get back to Korea. They always want stuff they can't get in Europe.”

You nodded.

“Are you enjoying yourself so far?”

You smiled. “I am. I'm here in a place to see so much art and gain so much inspiration and I get to do it with the person I love most in the world. I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

He smiled, his ears going pink.

You smiled at the reaction.

The breeze from outside pushed the curtain towards Jaehyun and he played with it for a moment before fixing it.

“I uh-- I heard part of your conversation with Anna.”

“Eavesdropping?” You raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn't dropping any eaves, you were just being loud.”

“Alright, Samwise Gamgee.”

The two of you laughed.

“What did you hear?”

“That you were going to seriously consider having kids.”

You looked away, thinking for a moment before nodding at him.

“You're… going to think about it? Or does that mean--”

“I want to have kids with you, Jaehyun. I... I’m not sure how good of a mom I’ll be, but I can't think of a better father a kid could possibly have.”

He looked at you, stunned momentarily. His open-mouthed expression of shock broke out into the biggest smile you'd ever seen; it’s only rival being the one he wore for most of your wedding day.

“That's-- that's amazing.”

“That I’ve learned to just say things instead of assuming shit?”

“No, I-- well, I mean, I am glad I didn’t have to get lost on a train again--”

You narrowed your eyes at him in faux anger.

He laughed. “But, I didn't want to bring it up after what my aunt said since she made you so uncomfortable.”

“It was the way she did it. That nosy relative way that just… ‘Ugh,’ you know? Just, ‘Ugh.’ Your mom hasn't even done that to me and she'd be the kid's grandmother.”

He nodded. “When did you decide?”

“I guess… while I was talking to Anna just now. Hearing the kids excited in the background, taking them places, teaching them stuff… It seems like something I'd want to do. Now that I actually can.”

Jaehyun smiled.

“That, and I suppose I have an obligation as an Art Weirdo to give birth to another possible Art Weirdo and inflict them upon the rest of humanity.”

He chuckled. “I did hear you say that to Anna.”

You shrugged. “Or not, they can do whatever they like with their lives. My dad only taught me one thing: don’t be a parent like him.” You played with the seam of the chair’s upholstery as you thought for a moment. “My mom taught me everything else.”

“If she’s as great as you’ve told me, then I think you’ll be a great mom.”

You looked up and smiled.

Jaehyun moved to respond when someone outside sneezed. Jaehyun gasped quietly and looked at you with something between horror and disgust. Without turning back to look at it, he closed the window and latched it shut.

You guffawed.

He giggled. “Now, about that ‘being busy’ you were trying to clue Anna in on after you laughed way too loudly for this early in the morning.” He moved closer and caged you in, a hand on each arm of the chair.

“Uh, yeah?”

“I caught you looking at me when I walked out of the bedroom.”

You feigned nonchalance. “And?”

He smiled. Devilishly. “We have a few hours before we have to leave.”

“Do we now?”

“Mhm.”

And with that, he kissed you.

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[gravesightings]

The slashers reacting to someone who isn't fazed by gore and blood. Something like the slashers walking into the house covered in blood and the s/o is all like "Don't leave blood stains on my carpet, thank you very much."

changed it up a bit per slasher if that’s cool with you. loved writing this by the way. thanks for requesting!

slashers reactions to: a s/o unfazed by gore and blood

Asa Emory / The Collector

...you’re not screaming your head off? he was sure you’d leave him right then and there when he had slit an intruder’s throat right in front of you.

would you like to see his collection? beware my dear, it’s not for the faint-hearted! watches for your reaction with great intensity. do you still love him? are you positive?

tests out just how much violence you can witness before you crack. unfortunately for you, asa might have forgotten to give you a head’s up beforehand.

was he threatening you...? it’s hard to tell. he doesn’t seem to want to hurt you though. all the displays of violence were presented to you almost. was he showing off, then?

once he had even brought you along to a victim’s home (fully-rigged) to watch him work. when you dismissively asked him what he wants for dinner after the whole escapade he’s left stunned. oh, he’s definitely keeping you.

Billy Lenz

bad billy, stupid billy! he’s done it now. why did you have to walk in at the worst possible time? now he’ll be all.... alone...? y..you’re still here?

approaches you cautiously and makes sure you haven’t gone in a trance of some sort. when he realizes you’re of sound mind (sorta?) he still has trouble comprehending it.

oh well. billy’s not gonna try too hard to understand you. he just knows you’re okay with it and that’s more than he can possibly ask for. now, would you let him cuddle you? please?

the stains bother you more than witnessing the murder? this little piggy makes his head hurt. if it means that much to you he’ll change and then you two can cuddle, right? right?

basic hygiene aside, attic man is full-on lovestruck. you smell nice and you don’t scream at him? he’s hit the jackpot! would keep you with him for as long as possible.

Bo Sinclair

“huh. you’re all sorts of fucked up too, aren’t ya?” just.. take it as a compliment.

if you previously weren’t on body-retrieval duty, then congratulations! now that bo’s sure you won’t freak out over a corpse, he’s gonna put you to work.

things are turning out great for him! less work and less bullshit. thank god. now.. how good are you with a crossbow?

if you aren’t actually up for some murder, he’ll begrudgingly teach you how to dress wounds instead. “gotta pull your own weight somehow,” he’d say.

this gross ass man would wipe some of the victim’s blood on your face while you’re patching him up just to tease you. he’ll even laugh at you as he does it. (that’s just his way of being friendly.)

Brahms Heelshire

struggling to understand at first. run him through this again - you’re mad at him for ruining the rug and not for disemboweling a man in cold blood?

doesn’t believe you in the slightest. prepare for some bloody shenanigans! uh-oh, it seems he accidentally got all messy when he was getting rid of the body. would you please clean him?

you’re scolding him for ruining his clothes? are you not about to throw up? .....have you finally lost it? oh god no, what has he done?! immediately starts checking you whilst still in the bath.

no, don’t swat him away! please tell him you’re alright! did you hit your head perhaps? was it psychological damage? he’s not qualified for this!

once he’s past the manic state, he’d still look at you weird from time to time. this is a huge relief for him but ...really? he got this lucky with you? are you sure you didn’t hit your head?

Bubba Sawyer

so hear this: it’s been people... all this time. that’s the secret to good chili. cue bubba nervously shuffling behind you, mentally preparing himself to pick you up and lock you in his room in case the others start attacking you.

“huh. you don’t say,” ....everybody’s surprised at this point - even grandpa sawyer! after a moment of silence there’s a lot of hollering and yipping. bubby found himself a keeper! how lucky!

this has literally never happened before so bubba himself is pretty shocked. the rest of the family is just about ready for an impromptu celebration though! tonight’s special guest: you!

unless you’re against being a cannibal, you’re sure to have lots of fun! if you are - well then, be prepared for an unfortunate demise. (bubba would be upset, but he wouldn’t go against his own family.)

immediately accepted by the entire family. the gore doesn’t bother you and you love bubba as he is. what more is there to ask? actually, maybe do some chores too.

Jason Voorhees

how long have you been standing there? jason immediately drops the victim, frozen in place and silently pleading with you not to run away.

when you reach out to wipe some blood off of his mask he tenses, but he’s too afraid to make another move. were you... cleaning him? after you had just seen him crush a man’s head with his bare hands?

very emotional. if you ask him if he’s hurt - there goes his heart. it’s gone. it’s yours now. smile at him and he might actually fall to his knees. a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders.

incredibly relieved. all this time he’s seen himself as a monster but you? what has he done to deserve you? he’s so thankful.

still keeps you away from the gore as much as possible but it’s more of his overprotective side taking over. now that he’s sure you aren’t afraid of him, he’ll be so soft with you.

Jesse Cromeans / Chromeskull

not shy about his job but makes sure you have little to no involvement in it. impulsively comes home blood-soaked one night just to test you.

your reaction, or lack thereof, has him fascinated. merely tilts his head at you when you warned him about making a mess. cheeky.

sees it as an open invitation to be more himself around you. but he’s not about to drive you over to where his victims are just to show off. (as tempting as it may be.)

starts off as subtle as possible. bartender asking for your number? check it babe, his head’s on the floor now. you discover very quickly that being subtle is not one of his many talents.

his kills may be messy but jesse himself is a very well-groomed man so you don’t need to worry about him embracing you whilst covered in gore.

Michael Myers

did you just yell at him for tracking in blood? are you serious?

mikey here would be confused enough to actually listen to you for once, kicking his shoes off by the doorway, eyes fixated on you as you rush to clean up the mess. how odd.

beware this man’s morbid curiosity. the gears are turning in his head as he approaches you, babbling on about fresh clothes or something of the like. mikey suddenly decides he has selective hearing.

his hands shoot up and you freeze immediately. he cups your face in his hands as he stares you down, his touch disturbingly gentle.

it would have been endearing if not for the fact that he was actually wiping his bloody fucking hands all over your face. there’s not a hint of emotion present and yet, you feel as though he’s having fun.

Thomas Hewitt

ah, shit. why did he have such horrible timing? he stops dead in his tracks in front of you, freshly out of the basement where he had been working on the meat all day.

this is it. this is the part you leave him, realize how much of a monster he is. any moment now, you’ll start screaming bloody murder. he’s--

“you want some sweet tea?”

huh? did he hear you right? when he doesn’t respond, naturally you repeat yourself. sweet tea? you’re offering him sweet tea? he’s in shock. maybe he needs to sit down.

he stares at his hands, then down his apron - all blood-soaked and disgusting. then he looks back up at you, offering him a cold glass of sweet tea with a smile. nervously clears his throat before taking a swig.

the loud beating of his heart is distracting. why is it so hard to look you in the eyes all of a sudden? he’s glared at many people before, no problem. ah yes, the mortifying ordeal of falling in love.

Vincent Sinclair

anxiety powerhouse vincent would slowly back away, blood-soaked and apologetic. don’t look at him! he doesn’t deserve your love. he-- ....oh, the floor?

quickly runs off to clean himself, dodging all the furniture best he can in his flustered state. did he hear you right? you were worried about the floor?

checks back to see if he’s made a mess. if so, he’ll clean it up himself. just sort of stares at you in confusion for the rest of the day.

the next time he kills someone in front of you, he’s cautious. when you respond the same way he’s visibly relieved. thank goodness. vincent is a lot more relaxed around you now.

begins to make a conscious effort to be as clean and efficient with his kills as possible. it would take some time to adjust, but now he’s much more dangerous.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Best Executed Deaths

A few weeks ago, I did a list talking about the Top 5 Character Deaths That Made Me Side-Eye the Writers and I thought it was only fair that I talk about some of the character deaths that I thought were actually done well. So consider this like a companion to that list. 

Like I said in that T5F, this is TWDG, a game series all about people surviving in a world overrun by zombies. Naturally, characters are going to die. Some of these characters get pretty shitty deaths that only happened to fill a quota, some had effort and thought put into them and how they were going to effect the story and remaining characters. These are deaths that served their purpose, progressed the story, or are an understandable conclusion to a character’s arc. 

Do keep in mind that when I say that I enjoy the way these were done/handled/portrayed/whatever, this isn’t me taking joy outta watching these deaths play out. Hell, I kinda hate most of the deaths on this list, but just because I don’t want this character to die or I wish they stuck around longer doesn’t mean I can’t recognize when it’s executed well, y’know? 

5. Larry and the meat locker incident

So.... Larry’s an asshole, y’know? He made it on another T5F because he sucks. No one likes Larry. 

He treats Lee like garbage, treats his own daughter terribly, and is overall just a piece of shit. That being said, he played his role well. He did what he needed to do which was be a antagonistic character within the group who posed a threat to Lee by threatening to expose his past. He creates a lot of tension within the group, he puts all this pressure on Lilly, you can’t even attempt to show any kindness to him because he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and Lilly. 

That being said.... his death scene is pretty good. Y’know, you play through ep2 for the first time and you’ve just discovered that these people are cannibals and they have you locked in a fucking meat locker so they can butcher you later, and Larry is freakin’ the fuck out because he’s pissed. Lilly is sick in the corner, Kenny is desperately trying to find a way out because they have his family, and Clementine is terrified, and Lee is just waking up. 

You go over and try to calm Larry down because he’s pounding at the door and this dude.... this bastard has the gall to be like “Fuck you, you must really hate me! I’m plannin’ on bein’ around waaaaaay after you’re dead! I’ll be the one to put you down!”

Then he has a heart attack. 

And you’re stuck in this meat locker with him. You don’t know if he’s alive or not-- Kenny immediately deems him dead, Lilly is desperately trying to resuscitate him, and they’re both yelling at you. You gotta decide if you’re gonna help Lilly try to bring him back, or if you’re gonna help Kenny make sure he doesn’t turn. 

Not matter what you do, Kenny smashes Larry’s head in with a damn saltlick because I guess he missed the opening of the episode where they remind you that your actions have consequences. 

Larry’s death has lasting effects on your relationships with both Lilly and Kenny, though more so Kenny since no matter what, Lilly loses it a little and ends up murdering Carley/Doug and leaving the group. But boy, Kenny will never forget the time you didn’t wanna play hero with him and smash a guys head in right in front of his daughter. 

It’s a damn good scene, I gotta hand it to ‘em. I hate Larry and I can’t say I miss him, but I can definitely see both sides of the argument on what to do there. Plus it’s... I dunno, a creative death? and I kinda like that? No one else is out here getting their heads done in with a saltlick, y’know? 

Anyway, Larry sucks but his death? Well done. 

4.  Minerva and the tragic showdown on the bridge

Oh man, I really am digging my own grave with the Minnie crowd lately, huh? Ah well, I’m sure it’s fine. 

Listen...okay, look. I have a lot of feelings about the bridge scene. On one hand, I hate it. On the other hand, I kind of love it? 

Like, does it piss me off that Tenn dies here because I trust AJ? Yep. Do I still wish they had maybe put Lilly here so that she could actually do her job as a villain? Sure. Does it upset me that AJ ends up shooting his best friend in order to save Louis? Totally. Does it annoy me that Minerva just won’t fucking die even though I shot her and the walkers keep nom noming her? Absolutely. 

That being said, I can’t pretend that Minerva’s death isn’t pretty great.... which I know will upset the Minnie crowd who always talk about how it’s bullshit she died here and she deserved a redemption arc... but lemme explain. 

Looking at the game itself, the text and story progression, Minerva was never going to get that. She was never set up as someone we were gonna “fix” or as someone who would have a change of heart and switch to our side. From the moment we meet her, she’s too far gone. The delta have their claws sunk deep within her, they brainwashed her, forced her to murder her own sister, and she has completely given up. She never expresses any desire to go back to the school. Nope, the delta is her home now. Her family. And it’s tragic. She and Sophie proof of what would happen to the Ericson crew if the delta go ahold of them-- “which twin will you be?” y’know? 

She fucks us over instead of actually helping us, we escape, the boat explodes, but Minerva doesn’t go down with the boat. Nope, she makes it to land and well... she fucking loses it. She sees her delta family get taken out by walkers and she goes nuts with her gun and gets half of her face chewed off by a walker.

So yeah..... she’s dead. Almost. They try to act like we’re supposed to believe that she’s really dead after she gets surrounded by walkers and throws the grenade at Clementine and all that but c’mon.... unless I see a body or a walker version, I don’t believe shit. 

Which brings me to the bridge.... there’s a lot of dread building up to Minerva’s final appearance, and you just hear her singing the damn song and bringing a bunch of walkers with her. Not to mention that she already looks dead. She looks like a walker who can talk, and not gonna lie, I like it. It’s freaky and sad and fucked up and adds so much to her character at this point. I mean, she’s here to kill Tenn so that they can all be a family again. She’s smiling and relieved that she’s dying and boy she just can’t wait to take Tenn with her and it’s not great.

She’s here to die and to take someone down with her, and she’s not leaving until she does. Hell, if she can take Clementine out, that’s just a bonus at this point. 

ALSO can’t forget that if AJ does shoot and kill Tenn, Minerva is still alive as she’s being eaten by walkers and she looks so damn happy as she reaches out and says, “Yes, come with me...” 

Like..... it’s so fucked, and I hate that I love it. From a storytelling standpoint, it’s a fitting death to conclude Minerva’s character and it impacts everyone there in more ways than one. 

3. Duck and incredible emotional impact

Oh, Duck... poor, poor Duck. 

This one has stuck with me and I hate it. I was never one of those players who hated Duck from the beginning. It’s interesting to go back and see how people reacted to him in the first couple episodes because a lot of them didn’t like him. They found Duck to be annoying, loud, stupid, and would even wonder “yeesh, when can I kill this kid?” 

Which is yikes but not gonna get into that right now. 

But from my understanding, Telltale got wind of this and knowing they were gonna kill him off, were like “Okay, y’all dumb, so here--” and they added in that little segment with Detective Duck where he helps Lee figure out what’s been going on with the stole meds. It’s a cute scene where we get to hang out with Duck and he proves that he’s not stupid, he’s just... y’know, a child. 

Then the motor inn gets attacked, shit goes down after they escape, and it’s revealed that Duck was bitten. 

Oh man, let me tell you about emotional impact both on the characters and the player because wow. 

Duck’s death is slow, drawn out...and since it’s early in the series, there’s a lot of denial, mostly from Kenny. They find the train and Kenny fixates on it because to him, if he gets it working and they can just get away, Duck can recover. Duck isn’t like the others, he’s just a little sick and everyone is making a big fuss about it. 

Then you have Katjaa, who starts out in that denial stage but she moves into acceptance a lot quicker than Kenny does and well.... that might be because she made up her mind about what she was going to do, which that is a whole other layer of fucking despair to this situation. 

They also do something that I like with Kenny by adding that depth of him believing he had something like this coming after what happened at Hershel’s farm. Y’know, when he grabbed Duck and took off, leaving Shawn to die? Yeah that. 

He’s been so adamant about protecting his family to the point where he doesn’t have anything for the rest of the group, aside from Lee if he helps kill Larry. He did what he could to keep his wife and child safe and in the end, it didn’t matter. Duck still got bit, and now everything is shit. 

Then when you thought it couldn’t hurt even more, you find Katjaa dead in the woods and you still have to take care of Duck, whether you have Lee shoot him or have Kenny do it, or even just leave him to turn. Either way.... Duck’s death is just one big ol’ despairing oof.

It’s really good, guys. The music, dialogue, scenery, the pain....They really nailed Duck’s death in such an emotional way and it doesn’t just end there. This sticks with Kenny all the way through S2 and changes him as a character. It impacted Clementine and Lee greatly because this kickstarted Chuck telling them that Clem would end up just like Duck if things didn’t change. 

S1 just... knew how to kill off its characters... well, for the most part. 

2. Marlon and the death that had to happen whether we like it or not

Sigh.... okay. 

So... Marlon. Lemme tell you some things about Marlon’s death. 

First, I hate it. Nothing new there. If you know anything about me, you know that I am vocal in my desire for the Marlon redemption arc, for the “Marlon lives” AU’s and the “Marlon lives longer but dies differently” AU’s. I like Marlon as a character, I find him to be a fascinating character study. Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon brings so much personality and I love it.  So naturally, I wanted more of him in TFS. 

Here’s the thing. I may want all of those things, I may take a lot of joy from discussing these ideas with you guys and coming up with different scenarios,  theories, AU’s about him, and I’ll always be the first one to be like “I hate that Marlon dies in ep1, I wish AJ hadn’t shot him! Woulda liked for him to stick around longer!” 

But with the story TFS is trying to tell, Marlon has to die. AJ has to shoot him. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, no one likes it.... but that’s just how it is. 

Marlon is presented to us as this chill and genuine guy trying to keep his group safe and together. He feels the pressure of being responsible for all the lives in this school and that’s a lot to put on a teen growing up in the apocalypse. 

Then we learn that hey, the twins didn’t die. No, last year they ran into Abel and Marlon made a deal with him where he traded the twins in order to save himself, Brody, and the rest of the school. He wanted to plan a rescue mission, but he was too scared, so he and Brody kept it to themselves. They made up a story about the twins dying and moved on, but that continued to weigh down on them. 

Then Abel comes back, Brody freaks out, tells Clementine the truth, and Marlon hits her so hard that it kills her. 

And it gets worse. 

You go through the whole confrontation with Marlon trying to cover his ass and blame Clementine for Brody’s murder, he’s waving AJ’s gun around and threatening to shoot Clem while everyone is gathered around watching. It’s raining, it’s super dramatic and tense and I love it. 

In the end, Marlon gives up and he just wants to leave. Let him become a bad memory, he’ll never come back, just let him go. 

Then AJ shoots him in the head unprompted. He just.... he just does it and then wonders why everyone is looking at him like he’s a murder baby. 

Marlon’s death is crucial, not just to kickstart the plot but also for AJ’s character arc. His death affects everyone in that school. It makes Clementine question herself and if she’s raising AJ right, it breaks Louis’ heart, it pisses off Mitch, it sets Violet off on her bullshit. Everyone is hurting and confused because they don’t know what to do. Marlon is dead and AJ, this tiny toddler, was the one who pulled the trigger. 

From the beginning, we’re told that AJ is always listening, watching, and what we do will affect him for better or worse.... and maybe you don’t think much when you tell him to always aim for them head, but when he says exactly what you taught him after murdering Marlon...? Yeah, you’re sitting there like “Well, fuck.” 

But if this didn’t happen, if AJ didn’t kill Marlon, then.... there’s not a lot left. Sure the raiders are still coming, but AJ no longer has to go through what he has to or realize how much he hurt everyone. He’s no longer on that path that made him such an interesting and layered character. 

Sure, you coulda made him shoot someone else, but the fact that it was Marlon is what made it impactful.

Ugh, it’s good and I hate it. I hate it so much. 

1. Lee and the death that broke all our hearts

.......Just-

-y’know?

What else is there to say?

Well, alright, I’ll explain. 

We play as Lee in S1, we go on this whole journey with him and develop him as a character, establish relationships, and care for Clementine. He’s a great character. I did a list on why he’s great, too, if you wanna check that out but all you really need to know is that we all loved Lee.

Lee’s got a lot of baggage, given that he was on his way to prison for murdering the dude who was sleeping with his wife. But then the apocalypse happened and he got a second chance to do some good... or I guess bad? if you do a scumbag Lee run? 

Anyway-- no matter what, he cares for Clementine and it’s nice to see them bond over the course of the season... so when shit hits the fan and Clementine gets kidnapped by the Stranger, we’re just as upset as Lee is.

Then Lee gets bit.... and we realize that even though he’s our playable protagonist, he was never safe either. He gets bit and I can still remember the feeling of like... a bowling ball dropping in my stomach and my heart hurting because no... no, no, not Lee. I basically became Kenny like “No, he’s different! Lee isn’t gonna die! Being bit doesn’t mean death!” and while that is technically true.... had to face it: Lee’s going to die by the end of the season. 

Ep5 of S1 is a whole journey... We’re dealing with trying to save Clementine while seeing Lee get worse and worse-- he’s passing out, he’s growing paler and slower and it’s hard to watch. You maybe get a little bit of hope if you decide to cut his arm off, but that’s just... it’s too late for that. 

Not only is he fighting this, but then you got Ben who gets impaled and Kenny “dies” putting him outta his misery and Lee’s powerless to do anything. So great, that sucks. 

But at least he’s got Christa and Omid.... until they get separated at the Marsh House and Lee’s gotta get through a herd of them by himself. 

This slow burn is so good. His condition gets progressively worse but he’s so determined to get to Clem that it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have time to think about what is inevitably going to happen to him, even if the player does. 

And just.... the final scene... y’know, the actual death scene? 

It’s so good. It’s a beautiful, emotional punch in the face. Like, way to end your game like this... Lee is trapped her with Clementine and he can’t walk, he can’t get up no matter how much Clementine begs him to try, he just- he can’t. He knows it’s all over for him and so he has her handcuff him to this heater so that no matter what, he can’t hurt her and just.... their final moments together where Lee is minutes away from death but is struggling to tell her as much as he can and I’m crying.

Then of course, the final choice-- Do you shoot Lee, or do you leave him to turn?

Both ending hurt my soul, but they’re both great in different ways. Shooting him is so heartbreaking... seeing little Clem sobbing as she points the gun at him and closes her eyes, then it cuts to black as the shot rings out and you hear Lee’s final breath....

BUT THEN YOU HAVE THE LEAVE HIM ENDING WHICH-

Lee manages to tell her more when you choose not to shoot him, but just watching Clementine get to the door and her little “don’t go” before Lee closes his eyes and falls over limp... falls over dead, I just--

Ouch... I am applauding this through my ugly sobs. 

It’s the best death in the series. It has everything and then some- emotional impact, works to progress the story and characters, amazing dialogue and performances.... It still gets me to this day. 

---

Honorable Mentions

-Mark’s death technically happens off screen, but I mean, c’mon... Mark wasn’t the most compelling character, but everyone remembers what happened to him. Everyone remembers walker Mark. What happened to him showed us just how fucked the St Johns were and it’s excellent.  -Brody’s death is pretty good, too.  -Abel’s death is an interesting one. He’s a garbage can, but they managed to humanize him just a bit by the way he hands his soon-to-be demise.  -Badger when Conrad kills him. It’s super good.  -I’m looking over this list now and it’s kinda funny that not a single S2 death made it here... it’s almost like all the character death that happened there was because a quota needed to be filled and who cares about complex character development when you got Kenny and nothing really matters I guess... ugh. The best deaths would probably be Carver, and Kenny when you shoot him but they’re not good enough to be in a top 5 so.... good job.

---

So... that was fun. What do you guys think? Do you agree with my choices or nah? Do you have a favorite death I didn’t list that you thought was well executed? Let me know, I’m curious. 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

---

Next week’s T5F

[asterkiss]

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Mabill, please. 😊

Zombie AU, anyone? 

- VULNERABILITY

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Mable Pines evaded another flesh-hungry zombie as she ran through the abandoned streets of Gravity Falls. A lot can change in a couple of days, and having a zombie apocalypse explode out of nowhere certainly changed a lot.

For one thing, she was currently all alone.

Wendy was currently incapacitated back at the Shack with two broken legs (long story); Dipper had been unfortunately kidnapped by a cult (an even longer story); and to top it all off their newfound ally Bill Cipher was fucking dead. 

She’d probably need several hours to explain that last part.

But to give the short version:-

It had only been a couple of months since the demon had taken on a human vessel and shenanigans had ensued between him and their family. A lot had transpired but to cut to the eventuality of it all, Mabel had actually grown close to the demon and considered him sort of, well, a friend.

(But that was it. Just a friend. Nothing more―no matter what he might suggest otherwise).

Despite that, even until the end Mable found herself continuing to question whether he really had changed. 

Apparently his way of proving that was to throw himself into a hoard of zombies so that she could escape unharmed.

Talk about making a point, huh?

(But seriously she was very upset about it).

Using her grappling hook, Mable equipped the ever useful device to scale the  building of an abandoned warehouse. Breaking an already cracked window, she climbed inside. Mable had the feeling people wouldn’t be bothered too much by her trespassing when there were bigger fish to fry in town right now.

Her reason for coming here to begin with was because she had bumped into Tambry who had apparently caught size of a group fitting the description of Dipper’s kidnappers visiting this place yesterday morning. 

So it was, Mable cautiously searched the abandoned warehouse, eventually making her way up a flight of stairs and into a room that oversaw the entire building. There didn’t seem to be any sign of Dipper, only remnants of abandoned supplies and machinery. 

Her foot tapped against something and she lowered her flashlight only to gasp at the sight of a body. Unfortunately, this was only one of many she had seen in the past couple of days. He didn’t even look that old either as he stared ahead vacantly.

Mable paid him a small blessing in her mind as she turned to continue searching.

Except something then grabbed her foot.

Ah.

Dropping her head down she found the dead body suddenly wasn’t so “dead” anymore as the light haired corpse groaned into movement whilst its cold fingers grasped at her ankle. Oh hell no. Mable quickly yanked her foot free and backed away, rushing for another door that lead out onto the walkway.

Luck was not on her side however as Mable flung the door open only to find another zombie stood loitering outside, its head hanging to one side. This one was older, probably a middle-aged gentleman as it turned its head to regard her arrival, eyes alighting with hunger.

Oh crap.

She retreated away from the door, peering behind her to find the first zombie was now standing. That way was blocked. Her head snapped back around as the older one lurched forward too close for comfort. She quickly held out her grappling hook and released it, the metal portion firing and hitting it square in the chest which caused it it to stumble. Score.

Mable turned on her heel only to freeze at the sight of shot gun directed her way. Her eyes wandered past the barrel of the gun and towards the individual holding it only for her gaze to land on none other than the zombie itself. Wait, what? 

The gun fired and she flinched as the shot rang out loudly throughout the room and building. When she turned her head, she found the other zombie directly behind her, apparently having recovered from her attack. What it couldn’t recover from however was the the fresh bullet hole in its skull as it slowly toppled over onto the floor. Dead for good this time. 

When she peered back cautiously towards the other undead in the room and met its gaze, its lips slowly stretched into a lazy grin.

‘Sup.’

‘Wha― Wait, Billl!?’

‘In the flesh,’ he shot back with a laugh, tapping his chest as he lowered the weapon. ‘This flesh to be more precise.’

‘Oh my god are you possessing a dead body right now?’ she cried, regarding him ludicrously. 

‘Well yeah, my old vessel got torn to pieces by those rabid cannibals―you’re welcome for that by the way―so I decided to shop around for something fresher. Lucky me, I found this one right by ya.’

‘You have part of your throat missing.’

‘I’ll hide it with a scarf.’

‘And I can see part of your intestines hanging out.’

'That can be patched up,’ he replied breezily, clearly having no qualms about his actions. 

Mable sighed as she regarded his new "form”. The body he inhabited couldn’t have been dead for that long as it still had some colour left in it and didn’t stink yet. Also, whilst it pained her to admit it, had this body been alive and intact its definitely a guy she would have considered hot. So in a way she was thankful he had part of his organs hanging out, it sobered her up and made her less inclined to think Bill was attractive.

‘See something you like?’ he asked, wiggling his eyebrows as she continued to stare.

Mable rolled her eyes. ‘That’s creepy coming from a dead body.’

‘Would you rather I possess a living one?’

‘Why do you have to possess anybody at all?’ she protested. ‘Are you really that desperate to cause drama, even during a zombie apocalypse?’

He frowned. ‘That’s not why I’m back.’

‘Oh yeah?’ she gave him a flat look, clearly in disbelief.

‘It’s true!’ he retorted. ‘Hand on my― well, this guy’s heart!’

When she continued to side-eye him, Bill released an aggravated sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. ‘Urgh, you never make things easy. You’re seriously gonna make me be honest and crap? I hate that stuff.’

‘Yeah, how awful,’ she deadpanned.

He released a grumble, looking very much uncomfortable as he muttered something.

‘What?’

‘...d... ou....’

‘You seriously need to speak up dude, I can’t hear a thing.’

‘I’m fond of you!’ he snapped, eyes flashing as he pinned with a glare. ‘There, I said it. Are you happy!?’

Mable blinked in surprise at his admission. Well that she certainly hadn’t expected. She could tell he was uncomfortable at his own words and though she wanted to make a witty comment or joke, the girl knew that wouldn’t be fair to the demon who had clearly displayed some vulnerability to confess such a thing.

‘Really?’ she asked.

‘I just said so, didn’t I?’ he huffed, folding his arms. ‘Why else do you think I scarified my old vessel to rescue you? I’ve no idea what I’d do if I lost you.’

Oh wow. Mable felt her heart actually skip a beat and quickly reminded herself that this was still Bill even if he was saying the first sweet thing in probably centuries.

‘You like me,’ she stated, feeling the words on her own tongue. It felt nice to say them. Slightly funny, even. 

Bill grumbled some words, refusing to look her way. Was he embarrassed? Seriously? 

'Well, I like you too,’ she admitted, feeling she could show a little vulnerability in front of him if he was. His gaze wandered in her direction, a look of suspicion lacing his expression. 

‘You do?’

‘Yeah. I don’t really know why,’ she added, offering a wry smile. ‘But I was upset when you died so I’m kinda happy to see you again.’ Even if it was by possessing a dead body during these drastic times.

Mable could have sworn she saw the hints of a genuine smile beginning to form on his face at her admission, only for it to be quickly dampened as he unfolded his arms and straightened up. ‘Hmph, well luckily for you the main hero has returned to this mess of a show.’

‘Oh yeah?’ She watched as he tucked away his true feelings behind a facade once more. Looks like feelings time was over. And she was okay with that. It made her feel weird too. They could go back to being snark and comfortable.

‘Yep. So let’s go and save your dumb brother, for if my name ain’t Bill Cipher! All powerful and omnipotent demon, destroyer of dreams! Mwahahaha!!!’

‘Hey, Mr Destroyer of Dreams, you dropped one of your kidneys.’

‘Wait, what?’

‘Blehh, that’s so gross. I think I might seriously throw up.’

‘It’s fine, I’ll shove it back in! No harm done. See?’

‘No, keep it away from me! Bill!!’

[authenticdesperation]

A Review of Every Single Episode of Inside No. 9 [1/2]

Disclaimer: my opinions are not definitive but they are bloody good. There may be spoilers so read at your own risk. This will probably have to be a two-parter for the sake of my sanity and your scrolling.  

Series 1

1. Sardines 

A killer way to kick off a series with an absolutely top notch cast. This episode probably wins the award for the episode I’ve spent the most time thinking about after watching, putting all the little things that went over my head at first into place. I love the set design in this episode as well with everything seeming delightfully old fashioned. 

2. A Quiet Night In

This episode is something of a masterclass in farce and it is a Bold Move to have the second episode of a new series almost completely free of dialogue. It’s dirty, it’s fully of silly slapstick and it’s a nice change of pace after the rather harrowing ending to the first episode. 

3. Tom and Gerri 

This is an episode I enjoyed more when I thought about it more. It beautifully shows the decline of Tom’s mental health (acted impeccably, lovely work from Reece) due to grief. Also it was quite nice to see Reece and Steve acting opposite each other more, they have great chemistry together and Steve as Migg is perfectly unsettling. 

4. Last Gasp

Now, I have to be honest with you: I do not exclusively have glowing praise for this episode. I enjoyed it far more after watching it more than once as I liked the humour of it. One of my favourite things was the video camera perspective at the start, as well as some lovely moments with the music. However, I’m not overly keen on the ending, I just found it slightly underwhelming. 

5. The Understudy

Back on the praise train kids! I am a big old Shakespeare nerd (as are Reece and Steve, apparently) and I studied Macbeth for my GCSEs so I was particularly excited when I watched it. I will also have to give a little nod to the directing of this episode, it was an absolute feast for the eyes. 

6. The Harrowing

Oh hell yes (no pun intended). I think this episode is a great one to cap off the first series, really demonstrating the versatility of Steve and Reece. Also, I’m a big horror fan and the entire atmosphere of it really appealed to me. Though I would say that the second I saw that house I would have run about fifteen miles in the opposite direction.

Series 2

1. La Couchette

This episode is very similar to Sardines in the sense that it feels rather claustrophobic, but this time it leans far more towards the comedy side of things rather than drama. Bonus points for Steve demonstrating his German skills. 

2. The 12 Days of Christine

Ah yes, the episode I’ve cried at every time I’ve watched it. This one is a strong demonstration of how to wrong foot an audience: you never quite know what’s going on until towards the end and all of the horror-esque moments just add to the confusion making the ending one hell of an emotional gut-punch. I wouldn’t watch it if you need something to cheer you up, though.

3. The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge

My second favourite episode of series two, The Trial of Elizabeth Gadge is packed to the brim with silly puns and smutty jokes. I personally predicted the twist but in this case I don’t think it really mattered as I was too busy enjoying the Horrible Histories for adults thing that was going on. Bonus points for another killer cast.

4. Cold Comfort

The first of two episodes directed by Steve and Reece and really quite a bold one at that. The whole thing is filmed in the style of a CCTV feed, which I’m pretty sure an experienced director would warn you off trying, but it really pays off in the narrative. Since the camera doesn’t switch focus at any point, it really relies on the acting performances to keep your focus which, in my opinion, the cast fucking nailed.

5. Nana’s Party

If I had to describe the episode in two words they would be ‘domestic drama’. It’s a fairly classic setup of a family with their fair share of secrets, namely adultery and alcoholism, but happily doesn’t give the game away too early and a layer of humour is added by the slightly irritating prankster character of Pat. It’s the second episode of the series directed by Steve and Reece and has a sort of understated quality to it, showing Claire Skinner’s character’s exacting nature above a layer of familial drama. 

6. Séance Time

My favourite episode of series two, at first you think you’re walking into another haunted house scenario until you find out it’s a prank show that went off the air due to a scandal. There’s a great sense of humour throughout, and I don’t know whether I’m easily freaked out or the final jumpscare was genuinely terrifying but I flew about fifteen feet into the air when I saw it. Once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I really appreciated that it felt like a slow burn horror despite still only being half an hour. 

Series 3

1. The Devil of Christmas

I live for schlocky horror films that are so cheesy they give you nightmares if you watch them before bed. So the 1970s film within the episode, accompanied by a director’s commentary-cum-police interview performed by Derek Jacobi, was an absolute treat. The story of Krampus is one that has been done a lot, but never as a snuff film (as far as I know) so it was a nice little twist.

2. The Bill

Every time I rewatch Inside No. 9 this is the episode I always have to watch no matter what. It is such a simple premise and it feels slightly reminiscent of the Geoff, Mike and Brian sketches from The League of Gentlemen. Now is probably the moment where I should sing the praises of director Guillem Morales who has, quite frankly, become my personal hero having seen the many, many episodes of this series he’s directed. The framing in this episode is absolutely genius, but it’s only really obvious after you’ve watched it a few times and I have to give kudos for making a dialogue-heavy episode visually interesting. There are jokes that I think about at least twice a week and I am obsessed with Jason Watkins’ acting...I think this will be my longest review of this whole post. 

3. The Riddle of the Sphinx

This is the best episode I will never watch again. I love horror, and I’ve watched some bone-chilling films but something about this episode made me feel so uncomfortable. It is also a real testament to Steve Pemberton, who I’m led to believe is the cryptic crossword fan who took the lead writing this episode, that he wrote something involving cryptic crosswords that didn’t give me a migraine. 

4. Empty Orchestra

Ah, what a nice change of pace after the last episode with something far lighter. The karaoke booth concept is so fun and I’ve never understood the criticism of the episode. That being said, of every single antagonist in every single episode of Inside No. 9, Connie is the character I love to hate the most. All of the characters feel more like people you’ve met before and the vibe of a group of work colleagues in a karaoke booth going through the usual petty drama feels familiar. I think series three is one that has some of the darkest concepts and this is a great exception to that. 

5. Diddle Diddle Dumpling

When I looked in the background more while rewatching this episode, I noticed a lot of things were in twos. I can only assume that was a deliberate choice made somewhere along the line, and one that pays off when you notice it. Both Mat Baynton and Keeley Hawes played their parts to perfection, with Mat really doing quite a lot with a fairly small part. The whole episode reads as an interesting analysis of grief, in a similar sense to Tom and Gerri. Also, Reece’s character did not murder the remaining twin and apparently I’m the weirdo for thinking that was what was being implied. In my defence, there was cannibalism earlier in the series; filicide did not seem like that big of a leap.

6. Private View 

Agatha Christie eat your heart out (that wasn’t meant to be a reference to the ending, it’s just a happy accident). Murder mysteries are my absolute jam so I am obsessed with this episode. The modern art show is such a great setting for a whodunnit as demonstrated by the reaction to the discovery of Peter Kay’s character’s body. All the characters have their brilliant little quirks, and the killer is revealed at the perfect time and it was a good idea to not make that reveal the twist. 

[cannibalcreepers]

Can I request a Hilliker Brothers x Reader lemon.

Ah some fun Hilliker Brother lovin~ 😏

4275 Word count, 18+ only please 

PSA. I will be using ‘female’ anatomy for parts for Reader, but that doesn’t make Reader cisfemale

-----

When being integrated into the Hilliker brothers family, you learned pretty fast that there was no way you could be with only one of the boys, this was a sharing family and oh did they share everything. 

They shared food, kills, clothing, weapons and now they shared you. 

Saw-Tooth x Reader: 

Large, aggressive and demanding, three words that perfectly describe what Saw-Tooth is in both everyday life, killing and fucking, because that’s all he does. 

There is no love-making with Saw-Tooth only fucking, sure you get to cling onto him for dear life and maybe press a kiss here and there on his chest and neck, but with how he holds you down and thrusts so roughly into your core you’re better of just using your mouth for screaming out in a string of pleasures. 

Sex was anywhere and anytime with Saw-Tooth may it be on the bed, on the floor, in the forest against a tree, if he got his grubby hands on you then that was it for whatever activity you were doing prior, cause this cannibals dick was much more important than cleaning clothes or gutting victims. 

It wasn’t hard to tell when Saw-Tooth was in the ‘mood’, unless he just grabbed you by surprise, but most the time the oldest Hilliker would lumber in behind you and place his hands on your hips to give them a squeeze to tell you he was in that ‘mood’ and that was exactly what was happening when you were cleaning one of the axes on the island tabletop.

His presence was so large you felt it before the man’s whole frame was leaning against your back, his hot heavy breathing tickling the hairs on the nape of your neck. If you didn’t respond quick enough, you could say goodbye to your feet on the ground, the first time he ever did this you had been thrown over his shoulder because you took longer than two seconds to accept his advances. 

But now you knew better, with a curved smile you placed the weapon down with the cloth and leaned into his stomach and chest, looking up at his scarred-up face and reaching to brush your fingers through his tangled messy goatee. “Hey handsome, looking for a good time?” Was all you needed to say before you got spun around and  his large arms were wrapped around your waist, lifting you off the ground to place you on the tabletop. 

Your legs were already being spread as whatever clothing you wore was being yanked off you fast, Saw-Tooth was impatient as it was and no pants or underwear was going to stop him from getting to that pussy. His fingers were the first to enter you, his thick digit would curl and push in deep through the heat and wetness, the big man had learned that sticking it in before he got you worked up was not as fun as watching you squirm and wiggle beneath him. 

As Saw-Tooth fingered you, he would use his free hand to pull his cock out from his pants and began stroking himself, tilting his head slightly as he watched his finger vanish deeper inside your body, causing you to let out small whimpers and sighs. He’d continue the fingering until you were wet and sleek enough for his liking, slipping his finger out so he could slide his cock in.

Despite the many times he has fucked you, you were always such a tight squeeze for Saw-Tooth, having the thickest cock in his family made sex with him a very rough experience and today was no exception. You dug your nails into his forearms until your fingers started to ache, the man pushing deeper inside you, not stopping until you took him all and his hairy sack pressed against your squishy ass cheeks. Once Saw-Tooth was pleased with being snug inside your wet heat he grabbed onto you leg and hip to begin pulling out and thrusting back in, his breathing loud and wheezy as he watched you arch your body up and open you pretty mouth to let out the most tasteful cry, it made his mouth drool at seeing you so open and vulnerable under his hands, how he could mold you into whatever he pleased and you simply allowed it all because you loved him. 

Your body was on fire, the mix of heat and pleasure made the seconds of every thrust and gasp feel like hours. You were never quiet about expressing how Saw-Tooth made you feel, allowing every gasp, moan and cry escape from your lips so the large cannibal could know he was doing an amazing job, though keeping your eyes open was difficult as you tried to concentrate on not falling apart from each jolt of the mans cock slipping back into your body. 

“F-Fuck! Saw-Tooth Baby! Yes, Fucking God!” Was what you usually could sputter out from your chokes and groans, the man’s responses were usually grunts and moans of his own to show he was enjoying what he was doing to you, but if you spoke to much, a few fingers in your mouth covered in your wetness was enough to silence your tongue. 

The tabletop counter was starting to crack and creak under the weight and movement of the two of you fucking, creating squeaky noises that mixed in with the sounds of your cries and his heavy breathing, as the pace picked up more with Saw-Tooth chasing his high that the table let out a sickening snap as wood splintered and left a large crack in the base of counter, luckily missing your ass and back, the axe you were cleaning with the cloth before now both completely forgotten as they had fallen on the ground ages ago. 

This didn’t stop the both of you from going at it, your body was starting to tighten and tremble as you were reaching your orgasm, reaching up to wrap your arms around Saw-Tooth’s neck to hold him close as your body spasmed and came around the mans length, juices dripping down onto the now broken tabletop. When your walls squeezed around him so deliciously, it was the final nudge he needed to cum inside, letting out a heated deep growl as he let himself spill inside every crevice of you, his seed mixing with your own slick. He would hold himself up above you as to not crush you under his weight, taking the time to take in deep breathes and calm his body, it was always an exercise when fucking you and it showed how exhausted you were flopping onto the table and letting out wheezes and groans as the high was slowing seeping away. 

You were spent, lazily reaching up to pat his chest as a way to say ‘good job’ which only received a grunt for a reply. The big man stood up and slipped out of you, which let all the juices to slowly ooze out and create a small gooey puddle between your legs, you had no energy to move other than resting your arm over your face and muttering sweet nothings.

Saw-Tooth on the other hand simply ran his palm from you cheek, over your neck, down you chest and stomach before giving your thigh one loud smack, giving you a jolt of surprise and shooting an annoyed stare at the man who only smirked back, zipping himself up and left you to deal with the mess. 

One-Eye x Reader:

If you needed a good cuddle or just a welcoming warm hug, One-Eye was your man and oh did he give the warmest of cuddles, also the wettest if he was drooling onto your cheek and neck from the amount of kisses he left on you. 

Whenever One-Eye wanted some sweet romantic loving, his usual tactic that you started picking up on was something you found to be extremely cute. Unlike the more forward advances like his two other brothers, this big sweet man would just watch you shyly from afar, slowly making his way over when he felt brave enough until he was standing beside you to reach out and caress your arm, hip or thigh ever so softly. 

So when you felt his fingers brush against your hip and heard how heavily he was breathing, you glanced up to his soft face with a sweet smile, reaching up to run your fingers across his scarred cheek. One-Eye leaned into your hand, closing his eye as he felt your palm against his skin, it was enough to make him step closer and tug at your clothes, an indication he wanted you and him to find a more private place. 

One-Eye enjoyed the privacy of your alone time, it was easier to not get bullied off of you by either Saw-Tooth or Three-Fingers, especially when he was balls deep inside you, if the both of you were somewhere that neither brothers could find you and him then it was going to be one perfect love making. 

And love making it was, when you both had found a nice little alcove in the forest, you had grabbed One-Eye by his button up and gently pulled him down a bit to be closer against you, placing a small kiss against the side of his lips. Your show of affection was rewarded by the cannibal wrapping his large arms around your waist and pressing you against his chest, letting out a string of snorty giggles which made it a bit difficult to keep your little make-out session drool free.

You could feel One-Eyes hands move up to the buttons of your shirt and began to fumble with each button, having difficulty with the lower ones until he began to just tug and pull at your clothing instead to try and get them off. As much as you found it cute to see his big sausage fingers try to handle your clothe so delicately, you had to stop him in case the big boy got upset and accidentally rip your nice shirt, so instead you would unbutton each one yourself and gave a little show by squishing your boobs together as you let the top fall down, giving the man some eye candy wiggle that got him even more excited than before, reaching out to smooth his hands over your exposed skin and cup each breast, giving them a naughty squeeze that caused the both of you to giggle. 

You would continue the stripping with the removal of your jeans, kicking them to the side with your top and now shoes, sock and underwear, leaving you bare and exposed for his eye to stare at all of you. 

“Alright, mister funny man, it’s your turn” You’d purr, reaching to unbutton his clothing, this being more faster than him doing it himself. Soon enough clothes would start to pile up and you were pressing your naked form up against his, reaching up to wrap your arms around his neck as his arms slipped around your waist, pressing your lips against his with a hum as the both of you swayed together. “You’re such a sweet man” You whispered against his mouth, pressing for more kisses. 

One-Eye could only respond back in whines and hums of his own, along with running his fingers delicately down your back. It was always such a tender moment with you, allowing himself to just feel your skin and take in your presence, but all sweet times were cut short as he was starting to get on the ground and pull you down with him. 

It was go time now and you had to laugh at how silly the man was being hugging you close and turning the both of you around until you were laying atop of some of your clothing, not the most comfy on all the grass and rocks but with how much kisses and nips One-Eye was placing on your neck and collar you could easily forget the scrapes you will definitely be getting from laying on the forest floor. Usually it was you who would take lead on sexy time with the large cannibal, but for some reason he was not having it, pushing away your advances to touch his cock or have his hand on your boobs, instead he just wanted to suck and lick your skin, pressing kisses down between your breasts, moving down towards your stomach. 

Your face started to heat up when his head kept going down south even more feeling yourself become heated and wet at now knowing what this big boy had planned for you. Both his hands gripped onto your two thighs and began spreading your legs apart, licking the bottom of his lip as you let him expose your vagina out to the whole forest. 

It felt a little surprising, it was a rare occasion when any of the boys went down on you, you sometimes had blown them off but it was just as rare as them eating you out, they only knew the basic fucking positions and you were not sure when you should start teaching them newer stuff but for now that thought process was being thrown out the window when you felt the flat of his tongue drag across your folds and up to you clit, making a squeak leave from your lips and toes curl. You instinctively wanted to slam your legs together, but One-Eye’s grip kept you from moving an inch as he was going to town munching on your muffin. 

His methods were slobbering and wet, clearly not knowing what he was doing at all but when did he ever know what to do, either way it felt like heaven and he was licking all the right corners. You reached down to grip onto his bird nest of a hair and mewled at how his teeth grazed over the sensitive skin. You almost slammed your head back into the ground when he placed his mouth over the top of your clit and ran his tongue back and forth, his saliva oozing down your folds and dripping down onto the forest floor. 

Your body couldn’t hold out much longer from the brutal attack from his mouth and tongue, screaming out from the wave of pleasure that webbed through your core towards every part of your senses, legs snapping from One-Eyes grip and squishing his head, making him jolt a little in surprise as you orgasmed against his lips. Like the good boy he was, he continued lapping up the juices until he was satisfied with his work. 

Sitting up, he would snug himself neatly between your spread legs, you were a moaning mess at this point, arm over your eyes, breathing heavily as you tried to catch your breath. As you were letting your mind calm down you could feel him moving quite rapidly between your legs, grunting and groaning loudly which made you glance down to see what he was up to and surprised to see the silly man was jerking himself off against your pussy, his mouth gaped and drool dripping down and landing on your skin. You were about to sit up and help him out but One-Eye already let out his hoarse moan and came over your stomach, the cum dripping and rolling down your sides as you stared at his audacity to just masturbate on you. 

He slumped and groaned at feeling spent, running his hand up and down your stomach, smearing the cum over your body as though painting a picture “One-Eye! hunny, stoooop!” You protested with a laugh, wrapping your legs around his hips and giving him a shake, both your laughs echoing through the forest. 

Three-Fingers x Reader:

The youngest Hilliker, a wild little nutter of a man, who still towered over you despite his smaller frame, was a mix of intense roughness and gentle sweetness when it came to being with him. One minute you could be crawling into his arms for a hug, feeling his deformed large three fingers run through your hair, hearing his heartbeat against his thin chest while receiving sweet kisses on your forehead only to have the next second go past and your suddenly lifted of your feet and being thrown onto a pile of clothes and wrestling the man to prevent him from poking or tickling you, his giggles sharp and loud in your ears, drowning out your screams of protest against his need to torture you with fun and laughter.

When it came to loving though, it was just as random, whilst Saw-Tooth was rough and brutal and One-Eye was sweet and soft, Three-Fingers was both of best worlds and you never really knew what you were going to get at times but eventually you started picking up tell-tale signs. 

If he wanted to go buckwild rough on your pussy, the man would creep up on you like a predator stalking prey, he was quiet and you would rarely ever catch him before he wrapped his arms around your waist and carried you away to a spare room or the bed to get fucked stupid on. 

But for when he wanted gentle, soft loving, you didn’t have to search to find him.Most the time it happened after a long day of work, you two could be finishing up cleaning up the meat and he would reach over and run his knuckles along you hip and over to your ass cheek before giving it a good ole’ squeeze, a good indication he wanted to have some loving fun after getting the chore done.

The both of you were tired, you were desiring more a nap than an activity but seeing how he was eyeing you and kept moving closer to press his crotch against your ass and hips was a good indicator he wanted to get frisky soon. A small smile curled on your lips as you wiped up your hands and reached out to tug on one of the suspenders of his overalls “You finish up and I’ll wait in bed?” You whispered to him, the two other boys were out in the forest, perimeter checking so the two of you had lots of time to spend alone time together. He would grin at your suggestion and nod, now being a bit more quicker at packing up as you made your way to his specific bed in the corner of the room. 

Three-Fingers would sneak looks at you stripping down, peeling off your clothing and throwing them onto the dirty pile, he almost bumped into the corner of the kitchen counter when you slipped your underwear off and exposed your bare ass to him, giving it a bit of a shake was enough encouragement for him to move faster on getting the chore finished.

As you waited for Three-Fingers to finish up you slipped under the covers of his bed and wiggled into the old mattress, stretching out your body and getting comfortable rubbing your face into the pillow with a soft yawn thinking about how that skinny bean better get his ass into bed quick before you just fell asleep from getting comfy. You shut your eyes just to rest them for a bit while  listening to the soft clanging and shuffling of whatever the cannibal was doing, you had almost drifted off to sleep when you felt the mattress dip from a foriegn weight and soft lips pressing against your temple, the tell-tale giggle from Three-Fingers making you smile as you lifted up the sheets and let him crawl under to wrap you up in his arms. 

The man was butt ass naked just as you were when he pressed up against you, his fingers diligently smoothing themselves along your hips and sides as he was making himself comfortable above you and situated himself between your legs. You wrapped your arms around his neck, watching him look over you body, Three-Fingers was soaking the sight of you in, every part of you was perfection to him, even if you didn’t think so, every divot or scar he could just trace over with a finger, or tongue, forever. His gaze would eventually connected with yours, you stared back into those blue globes and saw more than just a crazed killer of a man, you saw someone who was loving and protective of his family, a hard worker and wonderful fun guy who took no shit from anyone. You tangled your fingers into his messy white hair and pressed your lips against his, your tongue brushing up against his crooked sharp teeth and wrapping with his own. 

One of Three-Fingers hands cupped one of your breasts, giving it a tender loving squeeze and running a thumb over the perked nipple, whilst his other, more deformed, hand ran down your stomach and between your legs, the thickest of the three fingers dipping between your folds and over your wet slit, causing a shiver to run through your body.  When the finger slipped itself inside you, your arched into Three-Fingers and gasped against his mouth, which amused the mutated cannibal who let out a string of giggles, running his tongue along his teeth as he watched you start to squirm and moan from how his finger slipped back and forth inside you. 

When his finger curled against your walls you leaned you head back and groaned, Three-Fingers taking the chance to run his tongue along your exposed throat and began sucking on the skin, leaving large hickeys, which you knew he was going to point out later in the day just to fluster you. “Oh god, don’t stop please!” you moaned out, tugging hard on the man’s wiry white hair, enough to make his eyes roll back and a groan escape from his lips. The pleasure was starting to build up in your stomach, your heavy panting being an indicator to Three-Fingers that you were close, your groans getting louder as you felt the orgasm build up. 

Only to be ripped away when the scrawny cannibal slipped his finger out from your pussy, which made you snap your head to look at his smug ratty face and whine “W-What are you doing!?” That only made Three-Fingers cackled as he placed his wet, deformed finger into his mouth and licked up your taste, letting out groans and sighs to let you know he enjoyed your taste, your face going red from the fact he was denying you your orgasm. You gave him a large pout, you almost wanted to just push him off and go find one of the other boys to finish you off. But as though he was reading your mind, the man leaned back to sit up, the sheets that were covering you both being lifted and falling behind him, the cold air tickling against your bare skin, making you shiver. You stared at him confused for a bit, but when he lifted up your legs forcefully you let out a small yelp and gripped the mattress as you legs being tucked above his arms and spread as he moved in closer between them until you felt the head of his cock press against your folds. Tilting his head slightly, his eyes watching how his length slowly began to slip into you, smirking when he heard the groan you let out. When pleased with how deep he was, Three-Fingers began the gentle rocking of his hips and moved inside you, his breathing getting louder and heavier from each movement, drooling at the heat and warmth you provided around his dick. 

You groaned at each time his cock slipped in deep, reaching up to run your hands from his chest and down to his stomach, leaning back when his thrust started to pick up a stronger pace. Sucking on your bottom lip, you reached down and began rolling your fingers over your clit, your body tightening from the new pleasure starting to build up inside you. The both of you began to get louder in your moans and cries, enough that it could be heard from outside and scared away the birds in nearby trees though they were not the only ones to hear you both. The bed started to creak as Three-Fingers thrust became rougher and wild, your legs wrapped around his waist and trying to pull him in closer as he fucked you hard. 

You leaned you head back and opened your mouth as you let out a cry of pleasure, feeling the wash of euphoria fell from your head and down to your toes, Three-Fingers on reaction was to dig his fingers into your hips, leaving red welts as his nails pierced skin, a guttered cracked cackle left his mouth as he came deep inside you. With you both spent and breathing heavily, Three-Fingers moved to lay beside you, lifting one of your legs to rest on his hip as he kept his cock deep inside your cunt, warm, slick and comfy. You peppered kisses along his neck and pointy chin before letting your head fall onto the pillow as exhaustion finally hit you. Three-Fingers was the first to pass out, having his arms wrapped around you to keep you close and soon enough you followed after. 

The door opened only a minute later, both One-Eye and Saw-Tooth having heard both your cries over the forest had got them slightly worried at what was going on, but seeing how you both were passed out asleep with their youngest brother balls deep inside your cum filled body only made them scoff at how loud you two were.

[theverybestpencilsoftuscaloosa]

May I Have You For Dinner?

My second story for OP Bingo 2020, hosted by @op-pirate-fleet. Is it low-quality Hannibal pastiche? No, it’s high-grade Hannibal pastiche. I wrote it in two hours after seeing the first two episodes of Hannibal before I knew Hannibal actually had a castle. Is it funny? At this point, I don’t know. I did work all nine Straw Hats in there, though, which is actually much harder to do than you’d think, especially in a comedic cannibal fic. God, WHY DID I DECIDE TO WRITE CANNIBAL FANFICTION? In three years when I get into fandom drama this is gonna be the one that gets my ass. AO3 link here.

“Excuse me,” said Usopp. “Do you think I could have a sandwich?”

“Pardon me?”

Usopp swallowed. “No, I mean, I’m sure you’re a great cook, but, well, um -- I just have this disease I actually got from a swarm of vicious mosquitoes, and if I have any dish with a red sauce I’ll--”

“You cannot have a sandwich,” snapped the host, Count De Lisces. Usopp quailed, and nodded quickly.

“Right! Right! Of course! I’ll just, uh, enjoy this meal! Yum yum! Yummy!” And he began picking at the vegetables without intent.

Sanji’s frown deepened, and he glared at the count. That was no way to treat a dinner guest. He could sympathize with not wanting to waste food, of course, but he could make an exception if the diner was clearly not going to eat it anyway. And from the way he was tucking in, their host would have no trouble polishing off another serving of -- Sanji looked down -- ...pork. With red sauce.

Sanji shot Usopp a look and mouthed I’ll fix something up when we get back to the ship. Then he cleared his throat, catching their host’s attention. “Count,” he said evenly, “this is a very interesting preparation. What did you say your secret was again?”

The count grinned. “The thing, you see, is to marinate the meat well. After seventy-two hours, you create a flavor so deep, so sublime --”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Count De Lisces blinked. For a second his mouth worked silently before he managed to spit out an “Excuse me?”

“You don’t marinate anything for three days. It’d start falling apart.” Sanji poked the uncarved slice of meat on his plate. “Honestly, do you even know how to cook?

The count’s eyes flicked from his plate to Sanji’s face. “Look,” he began, and stopped. “It’s an old family…” he trailed off. He closed his eyes for a second, collecting himself, and began again. “Why don’t we just -- what on earth are you doing?!”

Nami and Zoro turned, halfway to the ornate liquor cabinet. Zoro held up the empty bottle. “Refill.”

The count reddened. “That-- that was a seventy-nine year old vintage! That wine was an heirloom! And you finished it?”

“Yeah,” Zoro said at the same time as Nami clasped her hands together.

“Your Excellency,” she said in a syrupy-sweet voice, “we were only trying to be good guests. If we don’t sample your wines, how can we compliment you on the range and profile of your good tastes?”

“This is a place of decency,” said the count in a low, dangerous, tolling tone. “For years and years my castle, my island, has been a place of culture. A place of class! Sit down and eat your food and stop ruining the ambience!”

Franky cracked open a bottle of cola on his nose.

“Hey,” he said between gulps of carbonated sugar water, “where’s Robin?” Beside him, Chopper was examining his own untouched meal with forensic care.

“Sanji,” Chopper said, urgency in his voice. “Do you recognize this cut of pork?”

“No,” Sanji growled, “I don’t.” His hand closed around the knife reflexively, and he had to force it to open. He settled for pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting up. Unforgivably bad manners in most fine dining situations? Sure. In these conditions, though, he didn’t particularly care. And he was enjoying the look on Count De Lisces’ face.

“Luffy,” he said after a long pull. “What do you think?” Luffy looked up from his plate. It, too, was untouched. That about did it, Sanji thought. There was no reason Luffy wouldn’t clean his plate unless something was seriously wrong.

“It smells weird,” he said. “And this guy’s weird.”

“Hey!” squawked the count. Luffy turned to him, brow furrowed.

“What did you say your name was again?”

A smile spread across their host’s face like a bloodstain on a fine white tablecloth. He stood slowly, drawing himself up to his full height, savoring the moment like the finest of wines -- one his irritating guests couldn’t sample. “Count De Lisces,” he said slowly. “Count Yannibal De Lisces.” He bit each syllable off, and let them fall into the spreading silence.

“Oh!” Said Brook. “How funny! Your name rhymes with cannibal! Yohohoho-- that’s not really a skull joke, is it?”

“So this guy--” Sanji began.

“Cannibal,” said Usopp, shivering so hard the word came out with three Cs and five Bs.

“This is people?” Said Luffy, pointing at his plate. Chopper nodded. Sanji stood so fast his chair went flying, raising one leg to lash out, but Yannibal’s hand was raised.

“Ah-ah-ah,” he said slowly. “Not so fast, Mister Know-It-All-About-Marinades. You’re forgetting someone, aren’t you?”

Sanji’s breath caught in his chest, and he froze. “Robin.”

“Indeed!” Yannibal cackled. “That lovely dark-haired angel… where is she now, I wonder?”

Franky sat upright, knocking his plate to the ground. His left hand was already unhinged, revealing the wide dark mouth of the gun barrel beneath. He leveled it at Yannibal’s chest. “Where is she?”

“I have no way of knowing,” the count said. “She went wandering off, did she not? My castle is large and dark and full of… secrets. If she has delved too deeply, searched too ardently, she may not like what she has found. And I cannot guarantee no harm has come to her…” Sanji’s weight shifted, and Yannibal turned, clicking his tongue. “Mister Cook! No no no… indeed, her safety is not guaranteed. Indeed, a woman as… refined as her…” Yannibal’s eyes glazed over.

“What class. What taste. She is a cut above the rest of you, certainly. Perhaps I will be having her for dinner soon…” He focused on Sanji again. “Regardless, sir. I cannot guarantee her safety… but if you raise a hand to me, I can guarantee you will never see her again--”

“Excuse me,” said Robin from the doorway. “I’m back.” Sanji turned, hearts in his eyes.

“Dearest, lovely Robin! You’re safe! Oh, darling, thank goodness, I was so worried! You aren’t hurt, are you? Where have you been?”

“Ah,” Robin said. “I was gone some time, wasn’t I? I apologize. I was on my way back from the restroom when a small, strange man with facial deformities tried to knock me unconscious.”

“A-hem.”

Robin looked down. Standing by her hip, a small, strange man with facial deformities was scowling up at her, arms crossed. She smiled.

“My apologies. I meant to say a small, strange man with an interesting and unique face tried to knock me unconscious.” The small, strange man with the interesting and unique face smiled. It was a very interesting and unique smile.

“Is he… cool?” Franky said after a long moment of awkward silence.

“Oh, certainly,” said Robin.

“Cool,” said Franky. “We were figuring out if this guy’s a cannibal or not.”

“Oh, he’s definitely a cannibal,” said Robin. “He told me all about it.” She gestured to the small, strange man, who nodded vigorously. She smiled, and looked up at the Count De Lisces. “Your castle has a fascinating history, count. I was hoping to learn a little more about it from you. Such a shame it turned out to be written in blood.”

Sanji was a little more economical with his words: “I’m gonna beat the shit out of you, you no-good excuse for a cook!”

The count laughed, and stepped back. In the glow of the fire, his silhouette seemed to stretch, to warp, to grow. “Oh, you poor souls…” There was an edge to his voice, a hard, rough undertone that hadn’t been there before. “You think this story ends with you defeating the monster, emerging victorious?” The small, strange man shrank behind Robin.

“No… no, I’m afraid not. Tell me, did you know that of all the animals of the world, only one hunts man for sport… besides man, that is?” The count was definitely growing now, his shadow blocking out the roaring fire. “On a certain island in the South Blue, villagers began disappearing without a trace. They suspected slavers, pirates, but do you know what the true culprit was?”A growl ripped through the air.

“It was the hunter of the forest! The only true equal to man in his viciousness! The shadow of the night! And I have made its power my own!” Count Yannibal De Lisces stood in the firelight. Orange and black flickered over his skin, but the stripes ran deeper than the light of the fire. They were laid into his skin, and beneath them bulged rippling muscle packed onto a frame that dwarfed even Brook. “Witness the strength of the true apex predator, the top of the food chain! Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Tiger! I will feast on your--”

“Yeah, okay,” said Sanji, and kicked him in the face. Count De Lisces went over backwards yowling.

“Now listen to me, Count,” said Sanji, stepping forward. “In my opinion, you’re a shitty host leaving the human meat aside. But cannibalism? Serving human flesh to your unsuspecting guests?” On either side of him, Luffy and Chopper stepped up, fists clenched. “Do you have any idea how --”

“--unethical--”

“--gross--”

“--unprofessional that is?”

The count leapt, but Sanji’s leg moved faster, sending the tiger-count crashing into the finely decorated wall. In the light of the fire, the ember of his cigarette burning, he looked positively demonic. He leaned down, the sound of Luffy’s knuckles cracking echoing behind him.

“Consider this a lesson in cookery.”

As the chaos started at the far end of the dining table, Robin walked over to Nami and Zoro, who were surrounded by empty bottles -- apparently, far fewer than Zoro was hoping for.

“This one?” He said, exasperated. Nami shook her head. “No! Don’t open anything more than seventy-five years old!”

“Yeah, it’s eighty-three years old, from a vineyard that hasn’t been shit for two centuries! No one’ll give you more than fifty, fifty-five thousand berries for it! You have pants that cost more than that!”

“My pants are none of your -- wait, how do you know what a good vintage is?”

“Which one of us spends more time in liquor stores?”

Robin snuck a bottle away from the squabbling pair and sat down next to Franky. She  popped the cork, offered him a swig, and when he declined took a few deep gulps for herself. Brook helped her finish off the bottle, and along with a queasy-looking Usopp, the four sat in companionable silence and watched. Dinner had been ruined, but at least the show was nice.

Some time later, Sanji stepped back, panting. He took a long draw of his cigarette, and ashed it over the feebly moaning count. Luffy and Chopper, who had worn themselves out a bit earlier, watched from the table. Sanji straightened his tie.

“When preparing tiger--” He stopped. “Wait, no, fuck this, no one cooks tiger! And no one cooks people! No food-related metaphors for you, shithead!” And with a final kick, he turned away.

“So, uh, what are we going to do about this?” Usopp said. Everyone else looked at him. He looked back defensively. “I mean, I don’t think the marines are going to take him! What, are we going to kill him?”

“Well…” Sanj said slowly.

Robin cleared her throat. The Straw Hats turned to look. Behind her stood the small, strange man. Behind him stood another few dozen small, strange people.

“The count’s servants,” she said. “Apparently, they have some, ah, grievances. I’m sure they’d appreciate being left alone to… renegotiate the terms of their employment.” Sanji rubbed his chin. He walked over to the small, strange man and bent down.

“Look me in the eye,” he said. “No, both eyes. Oh, you-- your-- oh. Oh gosh. Okay, that’s fine. One eye is fine. Look,” he said, pushing past the pitfall, “this is important. Are you going to eat him?”

The small, strange man screwed up his face in disgust. Sanji looked him in the eye a second longer, then stood.

“Well, if you guys are okay with it…”

The Straw Hats left the castle of the Count of De Lisces behind, stumbling in the darkness (and, for some of them, drunkenness). They left with empty stomachs and arms full of old and expensive wines. When at last they arrived at the Sunny, Sanji went to the kitchen. Usopp was already swearing up and down that he’d never eat again, and he was pretty sure Zoro had drunk two or three dinners, but everyone else would need the calories. And Usopp would probably be hungry in an hour. He had an excellent cut in the fridge; he could fry it up and --

Sanji opened the walk-in and saw the meat he was thinking of. It was a prize-winning slab of pork shoulder. Sanji thought about it for a long time. Come on, he said to himself. You watched the butcher cut it off the pig yourself. It’s fine. Are you really going to let that stupid count go to your head?

Sanji threw it over the side anyway, although he felt a pang of guilt as ten pounds of pork vanished below the waves. Tonight, at least, he thought to himself, he would stick with fish.

[jungkookienoona]

Would You Like A Taste? (M)

|Part 1|Part 2|

|Masterlist| Support Me on Ko-fi

Summary:

Jungkook has to face the consequences of his actions.

Genre: Smut, Vampire AU, Supernatural, elements of erotic horror

Pairing: Vampire!Jungkook X Reader (Y/N)

Warnings: Swearing, Sexual Situations, Blood, slight cannibalism (it’s like a 3 sentence paragraph), Jungkook’s personality flip-flops between precious bunny and sadist.

Would You Like A Taste has taken 2 years and has been in development since before Can I Have A Taste was rewritten please show it and me some love. I love getting asks or reading tags in reblogs. And remember, my writing can’t improve without feedback.

Word Count: 6769

Jungkook snapped out of his haze when his lips met yours. What had he done? He had only given into his lust for a moment, he didn’t think it would lead into a bloodlust. He fell to his knees with you in his arms. He never wanted to hurt you. His main priority was keeping you safe. But you just had to change your regular Friday routine.

He remembered following your scent to the club; you had looked so beautiful and he couldn’t help the old feelings that crept up. How he had crushed hard on you, how he had been planning on asking you on a date. How he never got that opportunity because he got talked into going to some stupid party, where he found himself getting cornered by some chick and waking up in a ditch about a week later.

“No… No no no no! Shit!”

One of his hands stroked the hair out of your face while the other held you firm to him, your breathing growing shallower by the second. How could he fix this? Could he save you at all? His heart sank at the only option that presented itself. No. He couldn’t do that to you. But time was running out.

“Please don’t hate me Noona.” He whispered before biting down on his own wrist.

A member of staff at the club discovered your lifeless body in the alley. She shrieked drawing the attention of others in the vicinity. It wasn’t long before the police turned up.

After a few days of investigation, it was deduced that your death was due to the over-consumption of alcohol. Your family to arrange your funeral, quickly wanting you to be at peace as soon as possible. They made sure you were buried in your hometown near the graves of your ancestors. The funeral was a family event so strange looks were given to the young man dressed in a black suit who stood near the back. He watched as the members of your family went up to your open casket saying their last tearful goodbyes; waiting patiently for them all to have their turn so that he would be the last to approach. When his time finally came, he was slow to move. Guilt washed over him. He was the reason you were in there, why your family would never see you again. Upon seeing your pallored face he couldn’t hold back the need to touch you, a hand coming to rest on your cheek. You were cold.

“This was never meant to happen... It’s all my fault... I’m so sorry Noona. I’m sorry” His voice was barely louder than the deafening silence as tears ran unbidden down his cheeks, falling to his knees.

Your family watched him break down into sobs; the young man dressed in black that no one knew yet vaguely recognised.

A month passed and there was still no sign of life from you. Jungkook had been sat by your grave every night with a shovel, waiting to dig you up. But as more time passed the more he grew to doubt himself. He hadn’t been quick enough. He had drained you of too much blood. Those thoughts circled his mind for hours on end as he sat there waiting. He even wore the same black suit that he had worn to your funeral. He watched as the colours of the sky changed from navy to black and then eventually to the peach of dawn. His head hung low, accepting the fact that he had killed you, that you would not be waking up and he would not be able to beg for your forgiveness. The sun began to crest on the horizon and Jungkook picked himself off the ground. He was reaching for his shovel when he heard it. When he heard you.

You woke with a gasp, surrounded by darkness. The fuck was going on? Where were you? Last thing you remembered was getting fucked in an alley outside the club and blood red eyes. Your breathing grew rapid as you realised you couldn’t see a thing and as you wriggled in your panicked state you found you were shut in a confined space. You were so focused on yourself you didn’t hear the sound of metal scraping against dirt at an inhuman speed. But what you did notice was the sudden light that shone into, what you now realised to be, your coffin as Jungkook wrenched the lid open. His smile was almost as radiant and bright as the dawn light that haloed him.

“Noona!” He shouted in glee.

“Asshole!” You shouted back with venom.

Jungkook’s smile dropped which brought you some satisfaction. His face became serious as he placed a hand over your eyes.

“Go back to sleep Noona. Don’t worry I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

Almost as if he had cast a spell over you, you fell back into darkness.

As soon as you had called him ‘asshole’ Jungkook knew you would struggle against him. It would be much easier to carry an unconscious you than a kicking and scratching you. So, he did the first thing that came to mind. He used his creator bond to knock you out.

The second time you woke up, you were on a plush sofa in a large living room. You sat up, taking in your surroundings. The sofa you were on was pink and Victorian-esque while the walls were teal and were decorated with what appeared to be family photos. Your curiosity got the better of you. You got off the sofa, walking up to the pictures. The first one that caught your eye was a group picture. Jungkook was in the centre, awkwardly smiling with six older looking boys surrounding him. Two of them had a hand on his shoulders, a guy with purple hair and a brunette. That wasn’t the only group picture of them either, nearly every picture on the wall was one. Except for six of them. In the six remaining pictures, each boy other than Jungkook was paired up with what appeared to be their significant other. You almost felt bad for him. Until you remembered what he had done to you. Anger flowed fresh through your veins once more.

“Yah! Jungkook-ah! Where are you?” You took another look around, “What the fuck is this place?!”

You heard footsteps approaching after. From the sounds of it they were coming from above you then down a staircase and when they stopped a sheepish Jungkook poked his head through the door. He had finally changed his clothes for the first time in a month. Not that you would’ve known. He was now wearing a form fitting white top that had a few holes here and there with three-quarter-length sleeves, and a pair of leather trousers that clung to his muscular legs like they were painted on. It appeared he had decided to forgo wearing shoes.

“You’re awake again.”

“No shit Sherlock; now tell me where I am.”

“We’re in my  family’s home.”

“Family?” Confusion was evident in your tone.

“Pop culture would call us a ‘coven’ but thanks to Twilight, we hate that word.”

Well... that explained nothing to you. You saw him take a step towards and instinctively took a step back. His features looked pained at your action.

“Please... Noona... don’t be afraid of me.”

Don’t be afraid of him? After what he had done to you? Did he really think he could get away with it?

“YOU KILLED ME!”

You noticed a newspaper, the front page had a picture of you smiling and the title read ‘Girl found dead in alley by female bartender’. A bit of a long-winded title that gave away the entire story of the article and it seemed a bit strange that there happened to be a newspaper with what happened to you on its front cover in the room; but it helped you to know what had happened.

“You left me in an alley to be found by a bartender?! The poor girl is probably traumatised!” Your voice portrayed how scandalised you felt at having been left there like that.

“I left you there for you own good! At least you got found.”

“I DIED! You should’ve taken me to a hospital!”

“It was too late, Noona. I didn’t have time. I had no choice but to turn yo-”

“Don’t try and reason your way out of this-”

“Y/N, please listen to me-”

“If you say that you did this for my own good, I swear I will-”

“I KILLED YOU. I was selfish. I drained you of your blood and this was the only way…” His fists were clenched as his voice strained with emotion at first before quieting down to a barely heard whisper, tears in his eyes threatening to spill over. “I lost control. I wanted you so bad and you felt so good… It brought up a hunger for you I didn’t know I had.”

You diverted your gaze, taking another step back when he reached for you.

“Kookie…”

His eyes widened, the nickname striking a cord, “Kookie?”

You shuffled from foot to foot.

“Jungkook…”

He stepped closer and you stepped back; your back coming into contact with a wooden side table causing a vase of flowers to wobble and fall. He caught it, placing it back on the surface but not retracting his hand from beside you. You were pinned in.

“Noona, please. You have to understand.”

“How could I possibly understand?! You disappeared! Do you know how many nights I stayed up crying when you vanished? Then you suddenly reappeared years later looking almost unrecognisable! You killed me on something less than a whim!”

You pushed his chest, Jungkook stumbled backwards at the force.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“Noona…”

He reached for you again and you stumbled to the side, knees giving out. He was there, catching you before you fell with his arms around your waist as you both sunk to the floor. Your head was tucked against his chest and at first, he thought you had passed out until he heard a sniffle. He brushed a hand over your forehead, pushing back your fringe.

“You cried when I was gone? I thought you wouldn’t have cared.”

“Of course I cared. You were the sweet dongsaeng that kept sneaking snacks and vitamins into my bag when you thought I wasn’t looking while I was studying in the library.”

He was silent for a moment, hand carding through your hair,

“I was planning to ask you out before I was turned. But I went to a party, I was turned under similar circumstances to you… just without the sex.” He let out a soft chuckle at the last part.

You snorted, “Definitely wasn’t expecting to be shoved up against a wall and fucked by a vampire who just so happened to be my middle school crush.”

You felt his hand still, “I-I was your crush?”

Your cheeks grew warmer.

“Uh… surprise?”

He laughed to himself, nuzzling his nose into your hair, “I should’ve asked you out sooner. I’m so stupid.”

There was a pause in the conversation as you took a moment to think about how you would word what you wanted to say next.

“How long was I dead for?”

“A month. I almost lost hope. But at least you had a funeral; which I attended by the way, accidentally made quite the scene too. When I was turned I woke up in a ditch on a country road. I was lucky to have been found wandering lost and confused by Namjoon before I could attack someone.”

You finally looked up at him, your gaze meeting his as you realised that even though he was the one that killed you, he had at least shown some remorse and tried to give you a better start in your unlife than he had had. Even if that did mean leaving your body in an alley.

“The person that turned you… did you ever see them again?”

A grimace appeared on his lips as his eyes hazed over in memory, “I killed her about 2 months after I woke up, with the rest of my new family’s help. We had to wait for the creator bond to wear off before I could confront her but the other members kept tabs on where she was. Turns out she was considered a criminal in the vampire world.” He saw your puzzled look. “There’s a limit on how many we are allowed to turn, to keep our numbers in check. But she went way over the limit, basically turning anyone she bit. So my revenge was not looked down upon, I was getting rid of a pest.”

You felt your stomach drop at the thought of Jungkook being able to murder in cold blood. At least your death was more or less an accident on his part. But his creator’s death was premeditated. That wasn’t the Kookie you knew. Almost as if he could sense the fear that was making itself known to you again he pulled you closer to him in an attempted to comfort you.

“I was angry, Noona, much like you were- are. I had my life snatched away from me. My future was gone. I couldn’t see my family, friends or you again. I think that’s the thing that angered me most actually. That she had stolen my opportunity to ask you on a date. Even if it turns out you would’ve rejected me, I had wanted that opportunity to see if my feelings were returned.”

He had shifted you a bit while he was talking so that he could nuzzled into your neck and take in your scent, almost like he was trying to use it to soothe himself as shadows of his hatred towards his creator returned.

“You mentioned a ‘creator bond’. What is it that exactly?”

He hesitated for a second then leaned back to look at you again.

“It’s a type of… control that allows creators to control their creations for a month after they wake. It’s how I got you to fall back to sleep.”

Your eyes widened in alarm knowing that he could take away your free will at any moment, that he had already done so once. He felt you tense.

“I promise to use it as a last resort. Like if you present yourself as a danger.”

“How can I trust you not to abuse that power?”

“Because I never wanted this for you… I love you, always have. It’s never faded. But after what I’ve done to you I don’t blame you for distrusting me… If it will make you feel more comfortable I could ask one of the members’ mates to look after you for the first month? They live next door.”

You found yourself confused again. So much so it over rid your fear. Mates? These ‘mates’ living next door?

“What are mates?”

He smiled fondly at you, you felt his grip on you tighten slightly.

“‘Mates’ is short for soulmate. You know, people we’re destined to be with. Most mates are turned by the other. Though that wasn’t the case for Jin-hyung. He said that he met his mate a couple centuries ago because she was following him. He confronted her and, apparently, she had told him she couldn’t help herself, he was just too handsome.”

You laughed. You didn’t know who this Jin was but you laughed. Because from Jungkook’s tone of voice, he didn’t believe Jin’s story. You were somewhat surprised at how short lived your anger towards him was, being replaced by curiosity instead as he explained aspects of the life you would now be living.

“If you’re destined to be with them, why do you live separately?”

“Yoongi-hyung told me it was ‘to stop an eternity together from getting boring’. And though we’re one big family, we all like to have our alone time at points. You can’t exactly have that when sharing a room.”

“You said I could live with them if I wanted to. Implying that it would be fine if I decide I want to stay here with you. Why is it fine that I stay?”

He chuckled, finding your inquisitiveness cute.

“Because you’re unmated. And you’re the newbie. It just coincidence that all the females decided to live together. We would be totally okay with co-ed housing.”

“Oh… how does someone get a mate?”

One of his arms let go of you, his free hand coming up to awkwardly scratch that back of his neck, red dusting his cheeks. You realised that he was giving you what could be considered Vampire Sex Ed.

“Well first, you have to be a vampire. Then, uh, then… then you need to um… do the do…” You giggled at his awkwardness, this was the Kookie you knew. “When doing the do… uh I mean… when you’re nearing your finish… you and your partner need to b-b-bite each other and take in some of their blood. It creates a mating bond that leaves a permanent mark on the area you were bitten.”

As Jungkook described how vampires become mates you couldn’t help but think back to how you died. He had bitten you as he came. Something in your head clicked as the two pieces of information came together.

“K-K-Kookie… I think you tried to mate with me-”

“What?!”

You saw emotions flicker across his face. First confusion, then understanding, then embarrassment.

“Oh god.” His forehead came to rest on your shoulder as he came to realise that you were probably correct. The actions of that night matching up to the actions he had just described. “Lord kill me now.”

“Where would the fun be in that? I think you should continue living so you can look at me and forever be reminded that you tried to mate a non-vampire. Live with the shame.”

“Noona~!” He howled in humiliation, his face moving from your shoulder to your neck as if doing so could help him vanish into thin air. You had to stop yourself from shivering at the feel of his breath on your skin.

“Did your hyungs not educate you well enough?”

At that he lifted his head to look at you again, looking almost scandalised that you would try and place some of the blame on his hyungs. Then a playful glare made its way onto his features.

“They did. But I think I just love you so much I temporarily lost all rationality. You looked fucking hot that night Noona. Like damn.”

A thought came to mind.

“Jungkook, you ripped off my panties that night. Please tell me I was found wearing underwear.”

“Does it look like I carry a spare pair of panties in my pocket?”

“You could have given me your own.”

“I was commando, Noona, you know that! You saw!”

“I’m sorry if my memory is a bit foggy I was DEAD for a MONTH!”

At that reminder, his face fell a little, he gaze turning away from you as he scratched the back of his neck again.

“I went back to yours and grabbed a pair before rushing back to you. So, yes, you were found wearing underwear.” A small smile graced his lips at the thought of having done something right.

You couldn’t help but stare at him as he smiled, you brain noticing how much he had changed, physically. When you had last saw him, human him, he was a sweet 14-year-old with puppy fat, wide eyes and an emo style hair do. He had very much reminded you of a cute bunny. It was part of the reason you had had a crush on him. But now the Kookie that held you in his arms was chiselled, with a jawline as sharp as a knife. His eyes were still wide and doe-like but they held a maturity to them that hadn’t been there when he was younger. He had even had a growth spurt because you could remember him being shorter than you; now he towered over you. He was no longer a small fluffy bunny but a grown predator. It made him attractive in a different way. This observation caused a new question to bubble to your lips.

“I thought vampires didn’t age. Why don’t you look the same as you did back then?”

“A lot of my physical changes happened as a direct result of being turned. It kind of put my puberty into overdrive. When I looked at myself for the first time after being turned, I had completely missed out on maturing naturally and the person staring back at me was a full-grown adult. The clothes I had worn when I was turned were very… snug.”

Your eyes widened in shock. If he had changed after being turned, had you? Your hands flew to your face mapping out the surface of it to see if you could feel any changes. All you noticed was that your lingering acne problem had disappeared.

“Don’t worry, you still look like my beautiful Noona.”

You blushed.

“You still haven’t told me if you want to spend your first month here or in the mates’ house.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

“I want what makes you feel most comfortable.”

You took a second to think about it before looking at him and smiling.

“I think what would make me most comfortable would be staying with familiar face.”

The smile he gave you could’ve rivalled the sun in its brightness. You felt his hand twist in the material at the base of your spine and instinctively arched into the touch. Your chest grazed his and were suddenly aware of how close you were. His eyes, slightly narrowed as he too was wrapped up in the tension, glistened in the light streaming through the parted curtains behind you. You held your breath. If you were to lean in… His head dipped, lips meeting yours tenderly, so different to the rushed hungry kisses of the night you died. You almost felt like that Jungkook and the Jungkook that held you in his arms were two different people. One was dangerous and all-consuming the other gentle and loving. He broke the kiss, pulling away to look at you with half-lidded eyes.

“I’ve missed the feel of your lips,” He breathed, eyes falling shut as he rested his forehead against yours, “I don’t expect you to forgive me easily, I know that you must resent me for what I’ve done. Nor do I expect you to love me like I do you. Knowing that you once reciprocated my feelings when I was human is enough for now.”

You felt the need to reach out to him, to comfort him. But one last thing lingered in your thoughts.

“You… On that night, you said you had been wanting me for a while, yet today you say that you never wanted to hurt me. Which one is the truth?”

“Both.”

You frowned, anger bubbling in you again but he continued speaking, not giving you the opportunity to voice it.

“After I killed my creator you were all I could think about. Were you safe? Were you healthy? Had you been accepted into that specialist highschool I had overheard you talking about every now and then in middle school? I had spent nearly every night years patrolling the area you lived in to make sure it was vampire free. There were a few incidents but they were dealt with quickly.”

He shifted the both of you so he was led on the floor with your head resting on his chest as you led beside him. One of his arms rested behind his own head while his free hand stroked your hair, the sensation soothing you causing you to relax into him.

“At the same time, I craved you. I wanted nothing more than to hold you in my arms, to hear you moan my name, to taste the salt of your skin on my tongue. I wanted to watch you wither in pleasure that only I could give. And until that night I had been successful in holding back those desires.”

You felt a faint trickle of desire spread through you at his words but couldn’t stop yourself from trying to embarrass him.

“And you ended up trying to mate me but killed me instead.”

“Obviously I didn’t realise what I was trying to do at the time.”

“Does that mean you would try to mate me again?”

“Would you be adverse to it?”

“Depends, will I die?”

“For fuck sake Noona, I just explained it all to you.” He playfully slapped your arm as a show of mock agitation, you looked up at him confused.

“Yeah, I didn’t feel that.”

“Really? I put at least some effort into that,” You nodded causing him to grin like a cheshire cat, “I made a sturdy one. I don’t have to worry about breaking you now.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Answer my question and I’ll let you know what I meant.”

You looked away from him, a light blush on your cheeks as you thought about what he had asked moments earlier. Would you be against it? He had killed you and you were still pissed about it to an extent. But at the same time you died because he was just following instinct, he didn’t mean to kill you. And if mates were people destined to be together, was it fate that Jungkook didn’t know what the fuck he was doing? That he had unknowingly tried to mate a human.

“I’m not exactly against it. Doesn’t mean I forgive you… just… the sex was good.”

“Would you like another taste?” He said, quirking an eyebrow.

You sat up, “Another taste of what?”

“Me.”

“I don’t think I have tasted you, Kook.”

“Well, I’m not wearing underwe-”

“Are you asking me to-”

“Yes.”

“You really are a master of seduction.”

Jungkook waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Don’t worry I shall teach you my ways”

“You ain’t teaching me shit”

“But Noona~!”

You straddled his lap causing him to look shook. You wiggled a bit to get comfortable accidentally creating friction over his crotch. Jungkook went from being shook to closing his eyes and moaning at your actions, hands coming up to your hips to stop you from moving so much.

“Noona, I need your answer, will you accept me as your mate? Because if you don’t want to or not ready then you need to get off me right now.”

You smirked, a plan forming in your mind, “And what would happen if I don’t move?”

“If you don’t then I’ll have you under me begging for me to mark you as mine. I’ll fuck you until your voice turns hoarse from screaming my name and my name alone. I won’t stop until you know how much I want you for myself. How much I need to have you. I’ve already gone so many years without you, I’m not willing to go a day more if I can.”

Your breathing stopped at the slight growl to his voice combined with his words. That little trickle of desire had suddenly become raging, you never knew such possessiveness could make you wet. He hadn’t even touched you. You placed your hands on his chest as your hips involuntarily ground against his growing hardness, a whimper escaping from you. You hadn’t realised your eyes had closed until a feral sound from Jungkook caused them to snap open. He grabbed the front of your dress, using it as leverage to pull you down into a heated kiss. You let out a little yelp as he flipped your positions then lightly bit your bottom lip. He trailed kisses from your lips to your neck, which he nipped and sucked at, creating small purplish marks that bloomed.

A small part of you realised that this was the Jungkook from that night. Yet you weren’t afraid. You were as welcoming of him now as you were back then. Your fingers clutched at his hair, breathing uneven. You felt his hands slip behind your back, locating the zipper of your dress and pulling it down. He sat back up and you noticed his eyes. They had gone from dark chocolate to coal black in his lust. Were your eyes the same?

“Dress. Off.” Came his gravelly voice and you were quick to comply, pulling the material up and over your head in seconds, tossing away.

He smirked at the sight of you, clearly enjoying seeing you in your underwear. A part of you wondered who had dressed you for your funeral because, honestly, when did a dead person need undies?

“Deep red suits you Noona but sadly that’s gonna need to come off too.”

You pouted, “It won’t be fair if I’m the only one naked.”

“Noona if I got undressed now this would end all too quickly. I want to savour this.” He took his top off anyway. “There. Does that make you happier?”

You hesitated, raising a hand to rest on his shoulder. It was the first time you had seen him shirtless and you marvelled at his muscular physique. Your hand moved to his bicep, giving it a light squeeze and feeling the hard flesh. Your other hand went to his pecs and travelled downwards to his abdominal muscles, feeling his breathing stutter as your fingers traced over a sensitive area just above the waistband of his leather pants.

“Enjoying yourself?”

You hummed and nodded, “I didn’t get to see you last time.”

“I didn’t really see you either. You were still wearing a dress back then.”

He grasped your waist and pulled you closer to him. His hands once again snaking up your back to undo your bra. When it came loose he tugged the material down your arms, carelessly tossing it behind him. His hand went to your shoulder, apply enough pressure for you to understand that he wanted you to lie back down. As you led back down a part of you wondered if vampires could get carpet burn.

You watched as he crawled up your body, his muscles tightened and relaxed as he moved, reminding you of a cheetah stalking its prey. He stopped once he was hovering over your form, his lips ghosting against yours as he rested his weight on his elbows either side of your head. You propped yourself up in order to capture his lips with your own, fed up with the distance that kept appearing between the two of you. One of your hands came up to grip the back of his hair so that the kiss wouldn’t break as you led back down, taking him with you. The kiss quickly growing in intensity; the naked flesh of your torsos coming into contact sending sparks of electricity through the both of you. Your other hand joined its partner in Jungkook’s hair, moaning into the kiss. Jungkook hips bucked against you at the sound, drawing another from you.

He was the one to break the kiss, eagerly kissing his way down to the tops of your heaving chest. You felt him gently run his teeth, no, his fangs over the tender flesh a moment before biting into it. There was a sharp pain at first that had your breath catching in your throat then coming out as a husky moan of pleasure. He moved away slightly, licking his lips, a cheeky grin appearing on his face.

“You’ll find that most vampires are sadomasochists. We naturally enjoy giving and receiving pain. Though if I remember correctly, you enjoyed being bitten as a human… until you realised you were dying.”

He went back to the bitemark, softly lapping at it to soothe the red area and a small moan slipped through your lips again. He chuckled, trailing his lips to your nipple and giving it a few quick teasing licks before taking the small bud into his mouth and sucking. This definitely felt way better than the quick fuck in the alleyway you had with him and he wasn’t even inside you yet. You knew he said he wanted to savour it but it was beginning to be too much, you wanted his teasing to stop. He pulled away from your nipple with a barely audible pop.

“I said I would make you beg for me Noona. I intended to do just that.”

He moved to your other breast to give it a similar treatment to the first making you keen and arch into his attentions, your hands’ grip tightening in his locks. But then he was moving again. His lips mapping your dips and curves while he travelled further down your body, every now and then biting you just hard enough to break the skin so he could lap up any of the delicious crimson that surfaced. Every piercing nip caused a burning pleasure to originate from the bleeding area.

“Does... my blood... really taste that good?” You managed to pant out. He wasn’t going to make you beg easily.

He hummed as he kissed the area he had just bitten, pulling back slightly to watch the bite mark heal and vanish, “Better than anything I’ve had before.”

A shiver ran down your spine as those red eyes from that night stared up at you. But it wasn’t fear.

“Do your eye always turn red when you taste blood?”

He smirked, “Yeah. Yours will do the same when you drink blood. In fact… I think you should know how it feels…”

He raised himself off you and shuffled forward, bringing a wrist to your lips.

“I’ll ask you what I did before. Would you like a taste?”

You hesitated. This was all new to you and quite honestly you felt as if you were thrown into the deep end. But you couldn’t deny, you felt a strong pull to bite down on the limb at your lips. So why fight against something so willingly offered? For the sake of maintaining humanity? You weren’t human anymore and it's not like humans are free from committing ‘monstrous’ acts.  Something in your gut told you to follow Jungkook’s orders.

Casting aside what reluctance you had, you allowed yourself to follow your new baser instincts. Lips parting to dig your fangs into the offered flesh. You marvelled at how easily it gave way. How the splash of life’s nectar that hit your tongue made you need more of it. Each gulp had you chasing a building high. Moans slipped out between every mouthful swallowed. In the back of your mind you registered Jungkook hitching your legs around his waist and his owns sounds of pleasure as he rutted against you. The whole act was carnal and vulgar and new. Your hips thrust upwards to meet him, making your high build quicker until, with a muffled scream, you came.

Jungkook ripped his arm from your mouth, not caring about the chunk of flesh it left behind, it would heal. He watched as you prepared to spit it out but he covered your lips with his hand.

“Swallow it, don’t want it going to waste now do we?”

Wasn’t that cannibalism? Surely Jungkook must’ve been joking. But his gaze was hard, no sign of amusement held in them. He was serious. With a shaky exhale through your nose, you chewed the meat, thrill seeping into your bones as the blood hidden inside was released, allowing you to swallow without a second though.

“Such a good Noona. Following my orders so nicely.” Jungkook cooed, caressing your cheek, “And as much as I would love to hear you beg, I’ve lost at my own game. I can’t wait any longer.”

He leant back, unravelling your legs from around him to slide your panties down your legs.

“It would be such a waste to ruin these. So I’ll just have to ruin you instead.”

“Yes Master.”

There was a beat of silence and then it dawned on you, what you had just said. Your face darkened in embarrassment, hands flying up to hide it. To hide you from your shame. Jungkook chuckled, shaking his head before focusing on your womanhood.

“My Noona has such a pretty cunt, I still remember how you tasted that night.”

You squealed when you felt his tongue lap at you slick.

“Your cum is so sweet, I would choose this over blood any day.”

You peeked from between your fingers, “D-d-don’t say things like that K-Kookie-” You cut yourself of with a cry when he sucked on you clit, two fingers working their way inside you.

“What happened to ‘Master’? I quite liked that word coming from those lovely lips of yours.”

You whined, turning your face away from the erotic view in front of you. Too embarrassed to look at him. “It-It was an a-HA-ccident.”

Jungkook paused, “Oh really? So you won’t say it again.”

You shook your head.

“Okay then, I guess I’ll stop.”

You snapped back to look at him, “Please don’t.”

He smirked up at you, “Then say it again. Call me ‘Master’.”

“P-please d-don’t stop M…. Master.”

Without wasting another second Jungkook had his tongue back on you, playing with your clit, his fingers curling you rub against your sweet spot. Hands tangled into his hair, pulling him impossibly closer as your hips bucked up, grinding against the wet muscle that dragged out whines and pleas for more. But all too soon he was drawing away from you despite the tugs on his hair.

“As much as I’d love for you to cum on my tongue, I’d much rather you came on my cock.”

He made quick work of the fastenings of his pants and even quicker in removing them. You wiggled in anticipation of what was to come, unable to keep still in your excitement. Aligned with your centre, he pushed into you with one smooth thrust, the two of you groaning in unison.

“Fuck, so tight. So hot. Just for me.”

His head fell to nestle into you neck, his body weight supported by his forearms, the sounds of his pleasure floating directly into your ear, sending shivers of desire down your spine. You legs came to wrap around his waist yet again, anchoring him to you as you encouraged him to go deeper with breathy pleas. Your hands tried to find purchase in his back, leaving red rivulets in their wake as they dug into muscle. Nips at the delicate skin of your neck sent jolts down to your core leading you to the euphoria to come.

“Keep clenching around me like that and I’ll come too soon Noona.”

You whimpered, your high not building quick enough for you, something was missing. You wanted to cum so badly. Jungkook lifted one your legs to his shoulder, the change in angle causing his pelvis to rub against your neglected clit. You withered beneath him, his name broken on your lips, a sight he had always wanted to see and Jungkook would be damned if he didn’t commit it to memory.  Catching a nipple in his mouth, he lightly bit at the nub, little droplets welling to the surface as you gave an erotic keen making his cock twitch inside you.

“I wanna cum, please make me cum.” You sobbed, fingers digging into his back, warm wet blood slicking their tips as you accidentally broke the skin.

Jungkook growled, sweat slicked hair strands sticking to his forehead as intense crimson eyes stared into your dazed ones, “Please what?”

“Please make me cum Master, I can’t take anymore.”

“Good Noona.”

A slap to your sensitive clit was all it took to send you hurtling over the edge into rapture, your back arching as your fangs embedded into Jungkook’s throat which he willingly bore to you. So caught up in you pleasure, you didn’t hear Jungkook’s cry of release, the sound of the door opening or the feeling of your own neck being bitten.

When your senses came back to you, the first thing you noticed was that Jungkook was growling, his arms wrapped possessively around you. And as you went to pull away, he refused to do the same, effectively blocking you from being able to turn your head. It seemed rather odd to you. Well odd until-

“Dammit brat this is why we have the basement!”

[bereft-of-frogs]

If you are ever so inclined - I'd be very interested in your horror recommendations.

This got…probably more involved than you intended. :D It was a good procrastination tool/distraction from A Thing I didn’t want to do though, and I had fun revisiting some of these old trailers.

This ended up really long. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m like this.

“The New Golden Age”

[These are what I’m talking about when I talk about us entering in a new golden age - really genre bending, specifically out to subvert tropes, make social statements, and empower people who have been shut out by horror in the past.]

Jordan Peele - Get Out (2017) and Us (2019)

Ah, Jordan Peele. The master of the comedy to horror turn. Get Out was the most fun I’ve had watching a horror movie in a long time. I love how it really fits itself to classic tropes but subverts them by flipping the genre and race dynamics. (Daniel Kaluuya’s character embodies the ‘Final Girl’ trope.)

Us fucked me up. Like, woke up at 3am thinking about it, couldn’t really look at Lupita Nyong’o for a while. The remix of the song that plays over the trailer literally gives me goosebumps. It freaked me out, so much. That one is a genre bender - you think you’re watching one thing (a classic home-invasion type trope with some weird mystery to it) and then the final scene basically upends everything you thought you were watching. Fucked. Me. Up.

Ari Aster - Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019)

I’ve been talking a bunch about how much I loved Midsommar. It’s gorgeous visually, Ari Aster is so great at just letting things hang and letting tension build and build - and it was the first horror movie I think I’ve ever felt weirdly empowered by. Like, similar to when I saw Captain Marvel, I walked out of the theater like “is this how men feel all the time?” Hereditary is probably a better movie overall, not counting the fact that it was practically made for me. At its core it’s a grief drama, a phenomenal portrait of mourning…and it’s also really fucking scary. Those slow-tension building scenes are really used effectively in Hereditary.

I also think it’s interesting because Ari Aster is keeping pace with Jordan Peele, but did it in the opposite order. Hereditary is the genre-bender - you kind of think it’s a family drama/psychological horror for most of it, and then it takes a hard turn and makes you question everything you were watching. Midsommar is more on-genre norms - it’s essentially the classic ‘bunch of terrible people getting picked off one by one’ trope (I don’t know if there’s a better name for that), but by applying folk horror and really centering female characters as both pro- and an- tagonist, it does a lot of unexpected things.

Robin Aubert - Les Affamés (”The Ravenous”) (2017)

It’s a zombie movie, but it’s more than that. This movie is so layered. I saw it at a festival when it first came out and then we watched it again this year on St. Jean-Baptiste (Québec national holiday) because we wanted to be #OnTheme. (And to celebrate St. Jean-Baptiste without having to interact with crowds) and it kind of clicked what it was doing. It’s really about the absorbing of difference into the dominant, hegemonic culture and the struggle for marginalized individuals to survive. Robin Aubert has a couple others I haven’t seen yet, but have heard good things about and are on my list. I saw a critic call his main brand ‘pastoral terror’ (terreur pastorale) which I absolutely love as a concept.

Alex Garland - Annihilation (2018)

Some people might argue with me if this is horror or not, if it’s sci-fi, but I think it’s body horror. And it’s beautiful body horror! See this is what I’m here for. Body horror is not just gore - there’s not a lot of blood in this movie. Body horror is about distortion and the grotesque. There’s this one scene that still gives me chills when I think about it and Tessa Thompson’s final scene is beautiful body horror at its finest. (There was also a really similar scene in Midsommar, so I clearly know what I like.) The soundtrack is also phenomenal.

[I had a whole rant about the book series, which I hated, here, but it was getting long and derailing so I cut it out. the tldr is I hated the book.]

“Classics I actually Enjoy”

[I don’t always love what appears at the top of the like ‘essential horror’ lists, but these are the ones I think are worth it.]

Dario Argento - Deep Red (1975)

I really, really wanted to like Suspiria more, because the concept and Goblin’s score for Suspiria both appeal to me a lot more. But I had a lot more fun watching Deep Red. So far it’s my favorite of the giallos.

Richard Donner - The Omen (1976)

Classic. It’s so good. “It’s all for you, Damian!” Plus, I love any movie that comes with rumors of a curse.

Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho (1960)

I would classify most of Hitchcock as ‘thriller’ rather than horror, but Psycho is firmly psychological horror, and The Classic.

Stuart Gordon - Re-animator (1985)

I couldn’t really decide if I wanted to put this one. Especially because on a long drive my friend and we basically covered how this was really ripe for a remake because it’s flaws…did not age particularly well, especially re: gender and race. (But it could be so, so good. It could be an amazing commentary about consent and the use of marginalized bodies…but the original …is…not.) But I’m putting this on here because of body horror. They clearly hired dancers or choreographers to do the reanimated movements because they really lean into it and it’s great. It gets…heavily derailed at the end by an absolutely ridiculous gore climax and missing the opportunity to actually have a coherent storyline or a message of any kind…but they got the grotesque movements down.

Honorable Mentions: The Amityville Horror, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, *sigh* Cannibal Holocaust (like…I don’t actually recommend anyone watch it. I’m glad I did, because it’s really important for how the ‘found footage’ genre developed, so it’s a piece of film history but like. Don’t actually watch it.), The House on Haunted Hill

“Random Others In Between”

Adrian Lyne - Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

You might recognize Jacob’s Ladder as the movie that more heavily inspired the first chapter of ‘dark underground//violent sky’ more than I had originally thought. I had originally been basing a lot of the tone and style on current trends in horror TV, but then I happened to watch Jacob’s Ladder while I was in the middle of writing the second half and was like…oh. Like, I knew I had been heavily influenced by Jacob’s Ladder and the ending, but I had forgotten about how the film differentiates between ‘reality’ and ‘dream’ - in that it doesn’t! And that was an effect I was specifically striving for when I was writing ‘dark underground’. It’s also just a really weird, trippy late-80s/early-90s movie set in New York when New York was still really dirty and that’s fun.

Hideo Nakata - Dark Water (2002)

This is my favorite Japanese horror film. I think it gets a little bit looked over in favor of some others (Ringu, Ju-on, Audition), but it’s my favorite. (Has a terrible American remake, so be sure to avoid that one. It comes up first when you google. -_-)

James Wan - The Conjuring (2013)

I did really like this first entry - the sequels are kind of aggressively meh.

Scott Derrickson - Sinister (2012)

THE DANGER IS IN THE VIEWING!

Honorable Mentions: Session 9, Se7en, The Ritual, It Follows, The Descent, The Hills Have Eyes (I just really like bright horror movies), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (for fun bonus pretension, you can also watch Requiem, and then when people ask you if you’ve seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose, you get to be like “Yeah, have you seen the German original?” though, technically, it’s that they’re both based off of the same true-story. it’s still fun to say), Hard Candy, Ils (Them), THE VVITCH (should only ever be pronounced ‘The Va-Vitch’ lol)

“The Parody Films”

[What is there to say? They’re great, so much fun.]

Joss Whedon - Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Remember back in 2012 when Avengers 1 came out, and then Cabin in the Woods came out, like, immediately afterwards, and we all loved Joss Whedon? We were so innocent back then.

Eli Craig - Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)

This movie is so pure. I love how they both play into and subvert the rural hillbilly tropes with the two main characters. They just want a vacation home! These kids keep killing themselves on their property!

Honorable Mentions: Shaun of the Dead, I was googling to confirm the year of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and I saw What We Do In The Shadows listed as horror paraody, but I would count that more as a Gothic mockumentary, but I listed it here because I love it so much.

“Documentaries”

Xavier Burgin - Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019)

This movie was so interesting! Highly recommend. I think Shudder is planning on producing more of these documentaries, about marginalized groups in horror, and I am Here For It.

Honorable Mentions: Cropsey/Killer Legends, Best Worst Movie

I think I’ll stop here and maybe someday do a separate one for books. And maybe TV series, but I’m having a hard time teasing out the line between mystery and horror because of how popular and kind of unique Nordic Noir is right now. It’s just hard to draw the line for TV.

But I’ll end by summarizing reading thoughts (in a more disorganized manner):

-I have two separate ‘complete tales and poems’ editions of Edgar Allen Poe - one to look pretty and one to annotate.

-If you come for my girl Mary Shelley I will come @ you. Once a kind of asshole-y friend once was like ‘Frankenstein is terrible because it was written by a teenage girl’ and, I swear to God, I almost fought him right there in the bar. The Last Man is also great.

-I also almost forgot how much I loved Dracula. The Harkers especially. (I once tried to read League of Extraordinary Gentleman and gave up with a rage-headache 15 pages in because of what they did to Mina.) (Ah yes, let’s make her a “Strong Female Character ™” by having her divorce Jonathan and almost be raped in the first 15 pages.) (Couldn’t deal with it.) (I’m sure I would in general like that series but I just had too much attachment to Mina Harker to get over it.)

-I physically cannot get through Lovecraft. I can’t do it. I’ve tried so many times, I know how important it is but I just. Can’t. Don’t want to. Won’t. Sorry.

-A lot of adapted books I tend to prefer the books they were based on. Some are kind of obvious, like I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which is a way, way better book than the movie. (They changed the ending which undercut the actual message.) But others are still decent movies, I just tend to prefer the book. Like, everyone always puts Let the Right One In on ‘essential horror’ lists, but I actually liked the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist a lot better.

-Similarly, you may have noticed I put no Stephen King movies on this list - there are a few I really like, but I think they work better as complements to the novels. Misery and the original Pet Sematary (haven’t seen the new one yet) are my two favorite movies-based-on-king. The Shining is visually stunning by character-wise, wildly disappointing, so point to the novel for this one. (King also hated the adaptation for what Kubrick did to Wendy.) My general King recommendations are: Carrie, Misery, The Shining, The Mist, Insomnia

I’m having a bit of an issue with how male-dominated this list is. It’s partially my problem that I’m working on correcting (I’m at the point where I’m actively trying not to read horror books by white men anymore) and partially a general problem in the industry. It’s hard to get into an industry that for a long time unquestioningly based itself on violence against women and other marginalized peoples’ bodies. -_-  But yeah, I have a list of contemporary horror novels by women that I’m working my way through, and I’m trying to catch up on some older staples like Shirley Jackson, Angela Carter, and Octavia Butler.

UPDATE: After I finished compiling this list, I googled ‘Horror movies directed by women’ and there are a couple that I would recommend, I think they’re just not as visible. (Did not realize they’d been directed by women until this Google.):

Mary Lambert - Pet Sematary (1989)

Karen Kusama - Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Mary Harron - American Psycho (2000)

Lynne Ramsay - We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) (though I liked the book better)

This list was probably incomplete and I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of things I really like! It’s also only made up of things I’ve already seen/read (though it’s not comprehensive). If something’s not on here and you think it should be, lmk! It may be that I haven’t seen it yet and I’ll add it to my to-watch list. Always taking suggestions, especially for more horror (films or books) from underrepresented groups.

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

*rolls up three days late for the bookish ask meme* 2, 3, 16! hope your headache improves

ask me book things

it’s never too late to ask me book things

2. Are you an Austen person or a Bronte person?

askldfjsgl Brontes all the way. I don’t actually like Austen all that much??? I could never get into any of her stuff. Jane Eyre, on the other hand? A bookish, plain girl who gets bullied? That’s a girl I can relate to.

3. Are there any genres you will not read?

not really? I’m not a big fan of high fantasy, but that’s mostly because it’s usually really dense, though one of my favorite books ever is maybe high fantasy? (The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton) I don’t really do inspirational fiction, though if I found some that was Not Christian (like Muslim of Jewish inspirational fiction) i would totally do that. I will never, ever read Amish fiction. Never. And only part of it is that no book will ever even be close to the series that has an Amish girl falling in love with a pop star who was, hand to God, based on Pitbull. I didn’t read it. I didn’t need to. I just know it exists, and that’s enough.

16. What’s your favourite of Shakespeare’s plays?

Im…a NERD…I don’t just have one. Also, my favorite Shakespeare play makes me seem like a psycho killer, so if I get asked this at parties, I’ll usually answer either Midsummer or Much Ado About Nothing (that David Tennant/Catherine Tat version is !!! dreamy) and it’s true, I do love those plays very, very much. But. I love. Titus Andronicus. And you can’t tell Shakespeare people you love Titus because Titus is the GORIEST and the most VIOLENT and the AWFULEST of Shakespeare’s plays. There’s cannibalism, and maiming, and rape, and murder, and more murder, and people getting baked into pies to be eaten by their mother and OH GOD SO MUCH MURDER but like…i don’t know. sometimes there’s just something viscerally satisfying about terrible people winding up dead. to be sure, good people die too, and honestly, i don’t know why exactly it’s my favorite. Nobody loves Titus. It’s the worst. It’s what Quentin Tarantino wishes he could be. It’s where GRRM got the idea for Frey pie. It’s the worst. But it’s my favorite. And maybe it’s because, yeah, the bad stuff happens and people get murdered and pull some SHIT but at no point is Shakespeare like, “ah, yes, this was a GOOD choice,” instead he’s like “being a rigid asshole is bad but does that condone murder? no!!! what the fuck is WRONG with you people”, because it’s literally just. people being increasingly awful to each other and each other’s families until they all wind up dead and have to spend the last scene of the play explaining all the fuckery that just went on. i don’t have an explanation. don’t read it. don’t watch it. but I do. for some reason, it really is my favorite. 

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Seven-X

Baavira Week Day 1: Online

Summary: Baatar is a police officer tasked with tracking down a trafficking ring on the dark web. He ends up clicking the wrong link.

Warning for minor gore and mentions of sex crime--no descriptions. 

Only a few clicks in and he is already unsettled. He feels that he is justified in being so. He has combed through pages of the most unsavory things. He supposes that the place has earned its name and reputation.

Evidently, in joining the Republic City police force he hadn’t known that they would keep his duties behind a monitor.

He finds himself on a new page; a simple surveillance camera overlooking what seems like an industrial park parking lot. He rubs his chin in frustration. Just how many camera feeds will he happen upon tonight? From personal webcams to phone cameras to security cameras, his gaze has found many things that they weren’t supposed to. The worst of it is that they aren’t even entertaining. He certainly hadn’t been into it when he clicked onto a page that had given him a view of a man and a woman stripping. Deep down he knows that some sick sap is getting excitement from it.    

Somehow, less amusing had been the drug sales. The dark web is teeming with them. Everything in him tells him to trace and track the vendors but his higher ups have already told him not to bother. “There are just so damn many of them fuckin’ things, just let ‘em be.” Baatar takes off his glasses and rubs his forehead. He doesn’t know how much more human filth he can stomach for tonight. God forbid he stumble across one of the infamous cannibal cafes.

Not that he isn’t seeking out something just is vile.

He supposes that it is worth it.

It will all be worth it if he can track down the ring and bring young men and women out of the ring.

He doesn’t fancy the idea of pretending to be a predator. But he will play the role if he can put a stop to the trafficking.  He closes out of the surveillance site and finds himself in a new room, this one features tips on all sorts of manners of disturbing inclinations from how to kill one’s boss to how to do away with oneself. This also isn’t the sort of evil he is looking to eradicate.

Baatar rakes his hand through his hair, growing frustrated at how vast the darkweb truly is. He has combed through more than his fill of wickedness and is getting nowhere. For all of his years of tech-savviness and coding, this place is disorienting and tricky to navigate. Frowning deeply, he clicks upon another random link.

The screen goes momentarily staticy and he cusses. Just what he needs is a computer crash, God forbid he has to go through all of those links again. The screen glitches and distorts further and indistinguishable images flicker in the fuzz.

Baatar squints at the screen.

It flickers again twice.

Still fuzzy.

He leans in closer.

He jolts back when a masked face appears. A humored and heavily warped laugh sounds through his speakers. He doesn’t share in their humor. His stomach lurches. Without a hesitation to make he reaches for the power off switch. His hand doesn’t reach it when the voice speaks.

“Don’t leave so soon officer BeiFong.” The voice that comes through is slick, both masculine and feminine but more robotic than anything else, especially on the words accented by shrill beeps. It sounds like a virus to his ears.  

Everything in his body and soul goes cold. He has masked his VPN, he is using tor. It strikes him unpleasantly, these people...these monsters are probably jarringly more tech savvy than he.

A chat window pops up. “If you’re too shy to speak.” The person pauses. “Or if you didn’t have the sense to disguise your voice.”

A few screen names pop up on the chat window,most are random strings of numbers. A few a simple words--‘TheSlash’, ‘ripper’, ‘wiNd0w’, and ‘T’. Baatar’s own username scrawls itself in the chat, 7xYl9090Gg.

“I do believe it is seven-x’s first time here. Let’s give him a warm welcome.” Responses ranged from sarcastic and mocking to amused to genuinely inviting. “Hmm...mixed reactions. I’m sure that they will take a shine to you eventually.”

He hopes that the masked person will let his name go unspoken. To his relief, they do.

Instead the voice drawls, “welcome, seven-x, to red room three-six-one.” The figure steps back and sweeps its arm out. It wears a hooded cloak of deep green with absurdly long sleeves. He can’t discern the gender beneath the shapeless attire. “Have you been to a red room before?”

He thinks of lying, but some primitive part of him senses that the person behind the monitor will know. His hesitancy to answer, answers for him. ‘He’s a red room virgin!’ Types wiNd0w. ‘cute’ types 1671JNp8R.

“So what brings you here, seven-x?”

This time he doesn’t allow them another opening. ‘Curiosity.’ He types quickly.

A second chat window pops up. A private one on one window.  ‘Clever.’ Is the only word there. He looks for a screen name and finds none. He doesn’t know how to reply. He doesn’t know if he should.

“Alright, seven-x, since this is your first time, I’ll let you do the honors.” There is a loud pop and suddenly the white noise has been cleared.

Responses vary again from outrage and envy to typed out cheers and a ‘choose wisely seven-x’. He cringes, whoever is running this show, they are trying to out him. He doesn’t know what he is supposed to be choosing as he racks his brain to recall what he’d researched about red rooms. The figure takes a few steps back and he sees the man now. His eyes are wet and he is sniffling. He trembles.

“I don’t deserve this.” It is a constant mantra.

The figure motions to a table stocked with grisley looking instruments. It doesn’t have to speak up for Baatar to know what it will say, ‘have your pick.’

His mouth dries.

‘Come on seven-x.’ Types TheSlash.

He shakes all over. With shaky fingers he types, ‘use the knife.’

“Ah, a classic.” The figure speaks with a dramatic flair. It is somehow even more haunting without the white noise. “It would seem that we have a man of simple pleasures here with us tonight.” The person pauses. “And what will I be doing with the knife tonight?”

He swallows, every bit of him wants to tell the figure to slash a smile into its own throat. For his own safety, he curbs his tongue.

“Don’t be shy. You’ll find that I can do exotic things.”

Baatar doesn’t want to know what that means. It prickles his spine without context.

‘I think that this is too hard for him.’ 5TxY00L types.

‘Outsider.’ ripper adds.

Baatar’s stomach turns again. He can’t reply too quickly or that would arouse suspicion. He lets a minute slip before replying, ‘creativity takes time.’

This garners a slew of praise, save for ripper who types, ‘better make it good, leaving us waiting so long.’

He hovers his fingers over the keyboard, trying to decide what to do. ‘Draw me a picture.’ He is sicked by his own request.

He can sense the smile behind the mask. “Creative indeed.” The host allows pause for reaction. After the chat box fills further they speak again, “what should I draw.”

He can’t stop the sarcasm this time, ‘a cat in a sunny meadow.’

“A comedian too.” The host comments, undeterred by his passive-aggressiveness. “I do hope that you come back next week.” A link appears in his private chat window. He has no intention of following it. He writes it down regardless.

“Well then, let’s begin. This over here,” the host motions to its captive, “is Koh Quinn. Big businessman, family lives in Fire Fountain City. 1129, Lava Lake Road, if anyone wants to stop in and say hello to the wife.”

Baatar swallows again. A film of sweat begins to form as the figure nears Koh. He itches to turn his monitor off, but then they’d know that he is out of place. Then they may come for him. He has the sneaking suspicion that his host won’t allow for the screen to turn off even if he did hit the button.

He watches the masked person stalks up to its prey. He sees the knife glint as the first cut is made. He had expected it to be a violent and senseless slash. But it is elegant and meticulous. He wants to say that his host is female, but in his time on the police force, he has seen men leave clean-cut victims and women that may as well have been feral animals with their methods.

Baatar is desperate to pick out anything about this villain. An assailant so bold that they commit murder right before an officer. As the carving continues Koh’s screams grow shriller. More haunting.

He can hear the man’s sniffles grow in volume. Baatar isn’t sure if the wet noises come from his nose or from his opening flesh. He feels sick.

Hollow.

He stares blankly at the screen, trying to conjure up the indifference that has helped him through the most grotesque of his investigations. Koh’s screams swell and just when Baatar believes that his life is going to end, the host steps back to reveal their artwork.

A bloody cat in a bloody field, just as he’d requested.

“Charming, yes?”

‘Cut his hand off and use it to hold the knife and stab him.’ T types.

“We really do have a creative lot tonight.” The host remarks.

It will torment him for nights to come, what he views next. He tries to distract himself by eyeing his keyboard to type faux pleasure at the spectacle before him. But it is not enough. Minutes after the show has come to an end, he can still see Koh’s severed hand stabbing at his own chest. He can still hear the gurgles, they fog his host’s parting speech.

The screen had gone black and then to the tor homepage five minutes ago and he sits rigidly with his hands clasped in front of his mouth. It doesn’t even pester him that he will have to go through all of the links again. He is numb. He doesn’t know where to go from here. His eyes fall upon the link he had written down. He can report that to the squad. But will they be able to trace it on time to save the next victim. God, what if it is Koh’s wife. He gives a drawn exhale.

He hears a soft ping and the hairs on his back rise. Oh fuck, they’ve traced me. The nervous perspiration is beading on his forehead. He doesn’t want to turn around, he doesn’t want to know.

“Hello, officer BeiFong.” The voice is female.

He towards his computer, confirming what he already knows, his webcam is on and by its own accord. Rather the woman’s. He expects to see that chilling metallic bull mask. Instead he faces a woman with vivid green eyes rimmed by square-framed glasses. Beneath her shirt he can tell that she has a fit build.

Any hope that it is a mere coincidence or perhaps a friend of a friend fades when she remarks, “you struck me as the squeamish type, seven-x.”

“Are you ripper or T?” He asks.

She laughs.

“Don’t tell me that you’re window.” He grumbles.

Her lips curve up, “a comedian too.”

Another chill darts along his spine. He shoves that aside realizing that he has the power. “You’d show me your face?”

“Sure.” The woman replies. “You can’t touch me seven-x.”

“I have a name.” He snaps.

And he regrets as she responds, “Baatar Jr. BeiFong. Son of Baatar Sr. and Suyin BeiFong.”

“You can find that on google.” He grumbles.

She looks down for a moment, pushing at her glasses. “You like to sit under an old beech tree to the left of your bedroom window, third floor up, fifth window from the right.”

He swallows and tries to redirect the conversation. “I can have the police force…”

“You can’t touch me.” She repeats. He isn’t sure if she is referring to her unidentified location or a team of killers waiting to pounce at her command. “And you don’t want to, seven-x.”

“You’re a killer he snarls.”

“Yes.” She agrees. “But with good reason.”

“Good reason?” Baatar isn’t sure why he is engaging her.

“Do you know what Koh and his wife do?” She inquires. But she doesn’t leave him time to guess. “They run an orphanage. The kids don’t come out quite the same. Do you follow?”

He believes that he does. “Let me guess, you used to stay at that orphanage?”

“Oh no. No, not that one. The owners of the one I was in, they were the stars of my debut.” She replied nonchalantly. She turns around and lifts her shirt. Her back is an assortment of scars and poorly-healed welts. She turns back to him. “You don’t want to take me off of the streets because I clean the filth on them. The sludge that slips through the cracks.”

He opens his mouth.

“I want to make a deal, seven-x.”

“Go on.”

“Keep me off of the police radar and I’ll help you navigate the darkest corners of the dark web.”

He thinks of his task. Of the women who need liberation. “What is your stance on sex traffickers?”

“They have very special seats in my show.”

He should know better, he should know much better. But those pretty green eyes blink at him and she flashes a charmingly wicked grin. “Why don’t you just join the police force?” He inquires instead.

She cocks her head, “I have a...compulsion to indulge. I find that it’s better to quench it this way than to slaughter an innocent thing like your little sister.” He goes tense. She is bizarrely quick to apologize, “I’m not going to touch your sister. She hasn’t done anything wrong.” She pauses. “Do you accept my offer, seven-x?”

“Depends, are you going to tell me who I’m working with.”

“They call me the uniter.” She doesn’t elaborate. He knows that she won’t. “Do you accept my offer, seven-x.”

He thinks of Opal, of how vacant he would feel if she fell prey to the ring he was tracking. “Yes. I accept your offer, uniter.”

Her smirk goes wider before his webcam clicks off.

He hears a ping.

A new chat box appears on his screen.

[fallen029]

Engagement Party

"Oh, Elfman, you big oaf!"

"I didn't mean to, Ever. I-"

"You're useless, you know that."

"No man is useless!"

"Well, considering I don't see a man here-"

"You take that back!"

"Make me."

"Would you two knock it off," came the complaint of Freed as, with a glare, he sent them a look over his shoulder. "Honestly."

"He dropped the-"

"A man can drop whatever he likes!"

Bickslow, from the living room, where he was lounging on the couch, only tsked. "They're pitiful, the way they can't get anything done. Don't you think so, Lissy?"

"They really are," she agreed from where she was beside him, doing an equal amount of fuck all. "If we were getting this all together-"

"You are supposed to be helping," Freed complained from in the kitchen where he was trying to whip Evergreen and Elfman into shape. It was...well, actually, it was going about as well as he'd thought it would. "The whole reason you came here was to help. Why else are you here if not to help?"

"For the free dinner."

"Duh."

It didn't matter in which order the pair of them said that. Because, ultimately, it was only together that they could annoy people so well. They practically were one.

Maybe they should have been the ones to get engaged…

Which, yes, was why they were in the current predicament they were in. Following Laxus' proposal to Mirajane, Freed told the others that they should do something nice for the two of them.

Of course, the other four had a myriad of responses.

"What do you mean do something nice for them?" Elfman had complained. "I'm letting him marry my sister. What more could he ask for?"

"I don't do nice things for people," Evergreen had retorted. "Especially that Strauss."

"Something nice for the boss and the future Mrs. Boss, huh?" Bickslow had snickered before giving a salute. "Why not something big? Elaborate? Oh, I know! I won't ask for any help with my rent this month."

"I," Lisanna agreed, "fully support that. I won't ask Mirajane for anymore days off. So she'll have to cover for me less."

Freed did not find any of them cute nor their lackluster responses. So, after composing himself, he decided for all of them what they would do. First, he suggested chipping in for a present.

Of course, poor Freed only got another one of their endless supplies of ridiculous statements.

"I gave him the present of marrying my sister!"

"I would rather choke."

"I'd chip in to buy boss a new motorcycle so that he gives me his old one, but I'll have to do a rain check on the whole, you know, chipping in part."

"I not only agree with Bickslow, but I will also suggest buying them a new house, so Bickslow and I get the old one."

"And that defeats the rent problem! Score one for Lissy!"

It took some more composure from Freed to find something else to suggest. That time, it was that they, at the very least, plan them a party.

"I...a man can't complain about a party."

"Well, if there's wine-"

"Lissy and I have some requests-"

"-but no complaints."

And so it was settled.

To commemorate their engagement, Laxus had taken Mirajane out on a short vacation and, well, what could be more perfect than to surprise them with a party upon their return?

A new motorcycle, complained Bickslow.

A new house, agreed Lisanna.

Literally being any place, but his own damn apartment, sighed Freed when he had to invite them all in and begin the preparations.

They were not going smoothly.

To say the least.

"It's been long enough now," he'd addressed the two couples with his arms folded behind his back, "that we should be able to at least attempt a dinner party and have it go marginally well. Have we not matured then, since the last?"

They all glanced around at one another. Bickslow beamed, Lisanna blushed, Evergreen huffed, and Elfman only shrugged.

"So you know what that means, yes?" Freed kept up. "Don't you? Should I go over a few things?"

There were pleas for him to not, but, well, that just meant even more to Freed it was necessary.

"There will be," he began, "no mentions of murder, necrophilia, loogies in others drinks, arguing over who's a man, arguing over who's not a man, no calling things gross, no stupid inside jokes that only serve to derail conversations, no bring up previous sexual partners, no bringing up sexual endeavors or hopes of any kind, preferably, no attempts on one another's lives, no talking of cannibalism, cannabis, or...the tape incidence."

This got silence finally.

For a moment.

"I don't remember any of that crap," Bickslow complained loudly. "Sounds like Freed here is over here making up fantasies."

"Necrophilia? Cannibalism?" Lisanna whistled and shook her head. "You're a sick man, Freed."

"What? You are the ones that have-"

"Pretty gross," Bickslow offered up. "I think, Lissy."

"I dunno. I think the loogie thing is grosser."

"Than necro-"

"Definitely."

"Well, the tapes are definitely-"

"The grossest!"

As the pair of them laughed and laughed Freed only seethed while Evergreen sighed and Elfman racked his brain to figure out just when all of this could have possibly all taken place.

Far too long ago, he decided.

Because Freed was right about one thing, it was time they had another one of their family dinners. Their last get-together felt like it was well over a year ago. Much less the last time they had an epic party.

It was long overdue.

The assertion that any of them, any ounce of them, had matured in the slightest was, well, it was completely wrong.

As he tried to get them all to work together to get the party underway, Freed was made known this fact.

A year away changed nothing. Ten years away would change nothing. They were who they were simply because that's who they were. Time was simplistic and irreverent.

Mostly, Freed found that he could be as poetic about it as he wanted; his friends were assholes.

Plain and simple.

Still, things had to get done and, though he found the others to be a bit...tedious at times, Freed truly did wish to treat both Mirajane and Laxus to a surprise of sorts, to honor their newfound happiness. Or perhaps confirmation on the happiness was a better word for it. Laxus was, after all, his closest ally and mentor while Mirajane, though they were quite different in the approach, had forged an even tighter bond in recent years than those of their youth even. While Mira constantly insisted that all of them were a family, they were a family of tiers in may ways. With the Bickslow and Lisanna circling the bottom, Elfman and Evergreen barely treading the water of the middle, and Freed placed squarely with Mirajane and Laxus as the elite on top. While there was a system in place in the tiers, even, Freed still felt a rather close connection to the slayer and his soon to be wife.

It didn't mean that the bond between the Thunder Legion and Strauss siblings wasn't separate all the same.

But it did mean that each was different and special.

Freed knew that if he were the one with such a big occasion on the horizon, Mirajane would definitely force the others to push passed their inadequacies in order to put together a celebration in his honor. And Laxus, though he might deny it, would assist with pride as well.

So it was the least Freed could do, as the last of the top tier, to force the others into cooperation.

"You could at least," the rune mage decided then with a bit of a grumble, "set the table, Bickslow. Lisanna. One of you."

"Oi, but don't ask me to fill any drinks. I'm feeling a loogie coming on."

"Just don't put it in mine, alright, Bicks?"

"Of course not, Lissy. Need you to get all the beer in ya as possible, no spit contamination. How else am I gonna score, huh?"

"Pretty easily," Evergreen complained at them from the kitchen, "considering how easy she- Elfman!"

"That's my sister! A man doesn't insult another man's sister in front of him! What's the big idea, Evergreen?"

"Other than the fact that I'm not a man-"

"No, I wanna go over that fact," Lisanna carped, voice full of offense, from the living room. "In detail."

"What did you say you little-"

"Don't go after Lissy when you drew first blood, Ever."

"Don't you talk to me in any capacity, Bickslow, you little worm. Don't make me turn you to-"

"I'll control you before you ever have a chance to-"

"No!" And Freed, from where he was trying to chop all the veggies for the roast, had had enough it seemed. "None of that either. Honestly, all of you, listen to yourselves. Mirajane and Laxus do much for us."

"Sis, fine, she does a bunch," Elfman complained. "But Laxus-"

"Laxus is the one that does the most," Evergreen replied. "Your wretched older sister though-"

"They both do plenty, you ingrates." Freed, it seemed, had had enough. "Laxus has covered the expense for all of us more than enough times that we are all monetarily indebted to him a thousand times over. And who is it that plans all the time for us all to be together? Mirajane. Much less who it is that forces Laxus to do monetary things for the lot of you. They take us on vacations, they look out for us; they're the whole reason any of us are together right now! It does not matter who you think has done more; either way, you should be driven by your desire to please those who care so dearly for you in their greatest time of joy. How then could you be so callus and selfish as to ignore this and choose rather to wallow in your own pleasures? When they would gladly give up their owns for all of you?"

Again, he got silence.

Then,

"That was a manly speech and all, Freed, but a bit on the long side."

"Honestly, Freed, are you tearing up? Mirajane is unworthy of Laxus, as you well know, and he deserves no consolation for picking her."

"Ah, Freed, you turning soft on me, huh?"

"I think it was cute...but also gross."

"Grosser."

"Grossest!"

"I quit." At the end of Bickslow and Lisanna's little bit there, Freed sat his knife down and, with a long sigh, took to untying the chef's apron he wore when cooking.

"Quit what?" Evergreen asked with a frown over at him while Elfman only made a face.

"You can't walk out on us," the man complained. "Freed. We don't know how to do all this on our own."

"Hey, that's right!" As he passed through the living room, Freed drew the ire of the other couple as well. "Thought we were brothers, Freed? You can't leave me to deal with these degenerates. Lissy and I can't sit back and do nothing if you're not here doing something."

Lisanna, of course, was the most regretful and called out to him, "You know we were just kidding. No one wanted to hurt your feelings. Freed, come on. We'll help. You don't have to go."

But oh, he did. Because if he stayed much longer, he'd find himself completely miserable.

And he didn't want to be that.

Not when he was so happy, before, with the thoughts of surprising his idol and his future bride.

It was just so frustrating to him at times. When Mirajane and Laxus were around, Freed typically had some like minded individuals to commiserate with. Though Mira could be a bit daft, she and him both shared a similar desire for the more civil sides of life. And Laxus, though quite cantankerous at times, felt ultimately the same way. Both were on the same maturity level as him and, though they could be brought down to the level of the others around them as well, when there were three of them banded together, they could contain outbursts by the others.

This was his ultimate failure though, in things. He shared a tier with two people who were, ultimately, paired over him and therefore, when it all came down to it, things would always be him against the others. And though, when they were younger, he held quite the reigns on Bickslow and Evergreen, when they were around their specific Strauss sibling, things could get more than a bit sticky.

Evergreen felt an undeniable rage when Elfman was near. Especially if others were also around. And Elfman, quite the showman in normal situations, had his desire to prove himself cranked up to eleven at the mere mention of the woman. They were drawn to one another and, for a reason that no one could quite figure out, this drew bloodlust from the pair for one another than it typically did much else.

And then Bickslow and Lisanna.

Bickslow and Lisanna.

Bicks and Lissy.

Ugh.

Freed had suffered through some terrible things before. He'd almost been murdered by Satan Soul for gosh sake's. But oh, he'd go through with that, if it meant avoiding the terrible relationship that was Bickslow and Lisanna.

Alone, both were fine. Rather enjoyable, even. Bickslow and Freed had been best friends since childhood and he would put his life in the hands of no other above him. Lisanna, though they might not have always been close, Freed found to be a pleasure to know and would be reminisce to think there was a chance otherwise. On the outside, they had no similarities that might draw one another to the other. On the inside, they had no similarities that might draw one another to the other. In any realm of possibility, they had no similarities that might draw one another to the other.

And yet…

It was complicated, to say the least. And when he attempted to dissect the relationship, as he'd long done with the one Ever had with Elfman and the one that Laxus found himself in with Mirajane, it somehow felt far more complex than anything Freed had ever considered.

They didn't make sense. At all. That Lisanna would wish to be with a man that typically was so far removed from her normal circle stumped Freed and he came to the conclusion that, perhaps, it was some sort of desire for the strange. Because Bickslow was plenty strange for a normal woman, but one that rarely stepped outside of her bright beautiful picturesque circle of friends had to see him as a nightmare.

But then...maybe after all she'd gone through...that was what Lisanna wanted?

That didn't, of course, explain Bickslow's desire for the woman. The seith certainly returned any feelings she had for him and, seemingly, felt them more intensely. The best Freed could figure what that it went with his tortured soul gag that he liked to play up. Lisanna was the perfect angel and he was the damage goods that got to lust after her.

Maybe.

Maybe their feelings were beyond Freed's understand and the pair were simply meant to be.

Regardless, the fact that they chose to be together didn't bother Freed. It hardly bothered anyone. Made them scratch their heads, perhaps, but certainly didn't cause anyone bouts of anger.

Or...at least it shouldn't have.

The pair had the uncanny ability to pull the most unlikable qualities from one another and, while finding their own joy in it, beating the fact over the heads of anyone in hearing distance. Sweet, cute Lisanna was turned into a dirty, rambunctious deviant while the dark, sarcastic Bickslow turned into, at best, a clown, and at worst, a sadistic, slick tongued jerk.

It was infuriating. It was nonsensical.

It was Bickslow and Lisanna.

Heh.

Sometimes, Freed considered what life would be like without their constant interactions. Not with the Thunder Legion or Laxus, and not necessarily with the Strauss siblings, but rather them as a whole. Together. The Thunder Strauss Tribe, as Mirajane deemed it.

They...aggravated him to no end.

It wasn't jealousy. Freed saw no need for such relations like they all had. It would distract him from his most important goal; guarding over Laxus. And, if he were lucky, the offspring that Mirajane and Laxus' union would produce. He didn't want what the others had. They only further complicated their lives with over extended relationships. His life was pure though and, though he cared deeply for Fairy Tail and, more importantly, the little group they'd formed, he knew that he wasn't overburdened by any of them.

His mind wasn't clouded by romantic love.

He didn't wish for it to be.

His aggravations with the others surpassed such frivolous things as jealousy. It was deeper. It was….

It was inconceivable to him, that they could become they way they were, just from being exposed to one another. He longed for the days of old, when Evergreen and Bickslow were closer to his own sensibilities. For when Laxus was his own man, not a man that also had a woman who he had to call and check with before going on long sabbaticals and jobs. For when the Strauss siblings were just that to him; the Strauss siblings. Not people that he had to consider close friends and take into consideration, even, their feelings with certain actions that he took in his day to day life.

Mostly, he longed for the past, when things were some complicated. Where, if Laxus was...marrying someone, fine, Freed might be cordial about it, but he certainly wouldn't get misty in the eyes and hope the best for them. He would just hope the best for Laxus, whatever that might mean, and that the actions the man took didn't do much to damage his own reputation.

Now he felt all sorts of emotions. He, of course, wished them both the best, but also found concerns in what taking things to such a step would mean. There was no going back from marriage. Well, there was, but in terms of the guildhall, there weren't. Before, when they were only dating, back before things go serious, perhaps if things went south, they could eventually find themselves in the guildhall together with no hard feelings, but as time went on, it became clear this wasn't the case. And though the guildhall could withstand the separation of the two, perhaps even thrive from it with Laxus off on his own, away from the place completely, but...Freed and the others…

They truly had become a family. It was scary to admit and Freed had trouble doing so as freely as Mirajane did, but it was true. He might not be as close to Elfman as the others and he was sure Bickslow and Mirajane weren't going out to dinner alone together, but they were all part of a very specific group that cared very deeply for one another.

There was no doubting that.

But…

Things weren't necessarily better before, but they were certainly easier. Stuff like what had just happened at his apartment didn't occur. There was more regimen to the lives of the Thunder Legion and, fine, maybe not the Strausses so much, but what did he care? He didn't. Before.

There's a longing in apathy, but a definitely weirder thought process that went into longing for apathy.

Still, after walking around for a bit, Freed knew that he had to return home. For one thing, it was his home, not theirs, and he had no idea what the group was doing back there. Sometimes their spats could get a bit heated between the two warring groups of Bickslow and Lisanna and Evergreen and Elfman.

Mostly though, he knew that he'd left that note on Mirajane and Laxus' front door instructing them to come over to his place after settling in and, well, he had to live by that. He wouldn't let the two of them down.

He truly did hope to show them a nice time.

So he made a stop first, at a liquor store, to pick up some different spirits than his home might offer. Even splurged and bought an expensive wine for the occasion that he was sure Evergreen would be highly critical of and then drink the most from it, but nothing ws too good for his idol, after all.

Laxus, at least, would appreciate the gesture.

And Mirajane would be overjoyed by the whole thing, but definitely have a few kind words to share with the rune mage over such a thing.

When he arrived back at his quaint apartment, Freed was surprised to find it not only untouched, but also in a better state than he left it.

"Freed!" Lisanna was the first to greet him. "Good, you're here. Mirajane was on the lacrima, to make sure your note was correct, and her and Laxus will be over here in about an hour."

"What?"

"Oi, Freed, more wine," Bickslow remarked as he poked his head out of the kitchen. He was not only wearing the apron that the other man had discarded, but also found a puffy chef's hat from somewhere to stick on his head. "Good. Evergreen's drinking it like a fish and water."

"You are such a jerk," came the voice of Evergreen from Freed's dining room that, when he peeked into, he saw she and Elfman diligently settling out the silverware. "And Elfman, forks do not go next to-"

"I know what I'm doing, Ever."

"You clearly don't, you big oaf, so-"

"You all got this together?" Freed asked then as Lisanna, still before him, only grinned brightly.

"Of course we did," she told him with a bit of a confused head tilt. "Aren't you happy?"

Yes. Certainly. But also a bit surprised. Not that he should be though because, though he'd forgotten, he was quickly reminded that though his family were the ultimate fuck ups, they were still Fairy Tail wizards.

And when their heads were close to the gravel, they were always able to pick themselves up with minor scratches.

Because+ they were assholes. They were inadequate. They were second and third tier.

But they were still part of the Thunder Strauss Tribe.

And that meant that when their backs were against the wall, they could pull off the impossible.

Like getting along long enough to get the dinner all ready…

Not to say that it lasted long. Because though they could band together to do amazing things, old habits died hard. When Mirajane and Laxus arrived, it was to a nice, professional seeming dinner party.

"You know," Mira told them with a grin over the glasses of wine they shared before it all went to shit, "this is kind of like an engagement party."

"Yes," Freed said with a nod of his head. "Exactly that."

"Well, not exactly," the woman went on. "Those are usually so that, you know, both sides of the family can get to know one another. But me and dragon, well, our families already know one another. Don't we guys?"

"Well, some of us are fucking," Bickslow offered to the snickers of his babies and the giggles of Lisanna. "I think that helps."

"It helps," Evergreen mumbled around her drink, "nothing."

"It's great all the same, Freed," Laxus was sure to tell him to which Mirajane beamed brightly at him. "Thank you. All of you, I mean."

Well, it was great. Before…

Before.

Before the things that happened every time that they got together.

Before the undeniable desires Bickslow and Lisanna had to watch the world burn around them crashed into the ones Elfman had to prove his dominance over Laxus and Evergreen's attempts to drink herself into the next great flood.

Before Mirajane cried over how nice it all was.

Before she cried over how shit it all became.

Before Elfman threw his glass of water in Laxus' face, before the slayer responded by shooting lightning at him.

Before Bickslow made horribly inappropriate jokes about anything and everything and before Lisanna laughed at every single one except for that one. The one that always caused the chain reaction that triggered everything else and oh, wow, Evergreen had taken Bickslow's stone body hostage and why did they all like one another again?

"Because we're a family," Mirajane sighed as, though tired as she was, she stayed around to help Freed pick up as all the drunks and rageaholics were sent home before they caused too much damage to those around them. As she and Freed picked glass out of the carpet in the living room, she giggled over at his look of displeasure. "And now we'll be even more of one. And you do for family, you know, Freed."

"Believe me," he sighed with a shake of his head. "I know."

"It was nice of you to do this," she added. "This party. Laxus and I weren't expecting it."

"That's what makes it a surprise, after all."

"I'm sorry they ruined your apartment again though."

"Yes, well, what's a party without some damage? Hmmm? When it comes to them?"

"You really are a great brother, Freed. And a friend."

Bowing his head deeply, he consider this. It had been him to talk Evergreen into reviving Bickslow and assist Mirajane in stopping Laxus from murdering her brother. He'd walked the sobbing Lisanna home after the drunk Bickslow took off on his own with his babies because h needed his space because he was a dark soul who'd just been showed up and ugh.

Just ugh.

"Sometimes," he confided in the woman, "it feels a bit...much though, doesn't it?"

"Try all the time," Mira giggled as she went back to looking at the carpet. "But…I'd take this, every single day, than how it was before."

"Before?" he asked, thinking of the times he reminisced on his walk alone. When the Thunder Legion was its own entity and completely separated from the Strauss siblings. "You mean-"

"I mean when I was young and angry and then when Lisanna was.. I always wanted this. I mean, with my two siblings, I guess to some my family is big, but I always wanted bigger," Mira confided in him. "Something to get lost in, really. Where what you thought and felt changed constantly because the situation changed constantly and you were always on your toes, but you were always in love, too, with at least some facet of things. I thought I'd have to wait until I…until I found the right person and started having children. But to find the right person and get it before that, even is just..."

Freed, for the first time that night, returned her grin easily and nodded his head. He was still angry, of course, at the others for ruining the night (and his home), but had to agree with most of the sentiment that Mirajane had just shared with him.

It was, after all, a lot of what he too felt though was rarely able to put into words.

As Laxus groaned from where he was unthinking sleeping until the following morning and Mirajane rose to go check on him, Freed found himself chuckling softly and shaking his head.

"Yes, Mirajane," he whispered though she was gone. "It is just...all a man could ask for."

Y'all had to know it wouldn't be too long before we got the whole gang back together, references to all their former misdeeds and all. So, I feel like I've covered a good portion of things they, as a group, can go through and though I still got plans for them, if there's anything I haven't covered yet that you guys want me to, just mention it. I'm always looking for more Thunder Strauss shit to write for the people who enjoy it.

[jenna347-blog]

Lira woods chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Lira and Jim got back home from the market later that afternoon, Lira went to the kitchen to put all the spices and other magical items up. These would was used to add flavor to the human body parts she was cooking. While she did this, Jim was upstairs, washing up for dinner. “Mm … baby, what smells so damn good besides you, my deadly wifey?” Jim asked while spinning her around to face him. “Well, I’m cooking our favorite slave stew, and to drink, we’ll have human blood.” “Mm … baby, I love the way that you cook my food. Baby, you’re the only one that knows what I want to eat and what my needs are. Damn, Lira! I must be the luckiest man to have an evil woman like you in my life.” “Oh, my dear, my devilish husband, it was nothing. I only did it because I know how much you love human blood, too. Plus, I know how to make my husband happy and make you look devilish sexy as possible, my dear lover.” Meanwhile, Sorcery and Tony were watching them by using an invisible spell. Luckily, Lira couldn’t sense this kind of spell, even though Lira was a higher-ranking witch than Sorcery was, but you must realize that everything changed right then and when Lira graduated from high school there. So, she never got to advance in her school studies, but as I said, even though she knew more than her friend, Sorcery was more of a bookworm than Lira was. Lira was cleverer and more charming than Sorcery. “Hi, Sorcery! What do you see, and what are they saying?” Tony asked while struggling to keep her on his shoulders. “I don’t know, you idiot. If you’d keep still, I may be able to read their lips, you idiot.” “Hey, I just asked a freaking question. If you want to crazy about it, then fine. I’ll drop your ass and go home.” “Oh, whatever! Anyways, they’re eating something weird. I don’t believe what it is, but I truly believe they’re eating human remains and blood.” “Let me see. Oh, my god! It would be the weirdest thing that I’ve ever seen in my life, and you’re sure they can’t see or sense us, right?” he asked with a shocked look on his face. “I don’t know what to say about this, Sorcery. Like I said before, I didn’t know that my brother liked to eat humans. It’s like he’s gotten worse as he’s gotten older. I can’t believe he is a cannibal. I mean, I like to make people my slaves, too, but I’d never eat them. Damn! That’s fucked up.” Sorcery just looked at him and said, “I don’t know what to tell you. She wasn’t like this either. I guess when two evil people meet, it’s like a bomb went off completely. I wish I could get her to leave him before he ruins her life. I am afraid that I might lose her completely. I truly don’t know what to do with her anymore. No spell will change how she truly is. Plus, she can always block my powers because she knows every one of them except for this one.” “Man, I never knew we had so much in common with each other.” And before he could say anything more, Sorcery said, “Ah, Tony, we don’t have anything in common. You’re a mortal. I’m an immortal witch, and I’m a lot smarter than you will ever be in your lifetime, and I don’t care if you went to the best school ever; no one can make you any way smarter than me. It would be best if you were born that way. You may not think that way, Tony, but you’ll see that I’m right about what I say, and I mean it as well.” “What’s any of that got to do with what we just witnessed? I don’t think you know. That’s what I thought. Now I see why she got with Jim. Anyways you guys don’t have anything in common, and you guys just blew away like dandelions on a windy day. She probably forgot about you in the process and didn’t want to tell you the truth about how she feels about you. I can see that she likes Jim more than she does her own best friend.” “What are you mean by that? Jim is the one who forgot about you, and you’re his brother. I think that’s worse than losing a best friend. I can make a new friend, but I could never make a new brother or sister. So, you have it worse than I do. I truly don’t want to hear it from you about me being jealous of her and him. It seems like you’re the jealous one. You don’t want to lose your brother to anyone, and you just don’t want to admit it. That’s all.” “Yes, I do miss my brother, but I’m not jealous, not like you. I think you want my brother, but because you can’t get with him, you should come to me all because I’m his twin. I may be old, but I can tell you what you want and don’t want to. I know you wish you had the same things as Lira. That’s why you’re trying your hardest to be better than her in any feasible way, and I truly think you do care for her, but other than that, you really can’t stand her. I guess that’s how some people are. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mortal or not, you’re just a person just like anybody else, and you just don’t know it till someone else tells you, and you don’t know how you really are. It’s even like I said before, you don’t know who or what you are till you either look in the mirror or someone else tells you,” he said while looking at her and at Lira and Jim. “But you know what’s weird about this, too?” “What’s that, Tony?” Sorcery asked with a blank stare. “Well, I forgot to mention that I always wanted to know how it felt to be like you guys or like my brother, what it means to actually have a superpower like you guys. I’m just a nobody compared to him. Even though I taught my brother how to be a player, I never learned my own pick-up lines when it came to pick up women. You’re the only woman I’ve met that stuck by me for this long, and I’m kind of glad that you did because I didn’t know what I was going to do without a person like you. And I know it’s seems I could be like my brother, but I’m not that evil. I could be a good person when you get to know me. My brother may tell you one thing, but I’m going to tell you the truth, but I used to be like him though. For some reason, before our parents died, he changed. This was when we were in our twenties way before you and Lira became immortal. After that, we kind of stopped talking afterward because I truly didn’t like what he had become. He was worse than I was when we were growing up, but like I said, I don’t know what to do with him anymore, Sorcery.” “Oh, man! I never knew that we had so much in common because we don’t like what either Lira or Jim have become. This is so crazy. Just like you, I didn’t believe this could ever happen either. It’s like something from a thriller or horror movie. I don’t have a spell that can help us out because I haven’t upgraded my book to her level yet. I’m supposed to be more advance than she is or could ever be, but I guess she is much better than me, even though all I’ve ever wanted from her is for her just to be there with me. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this evil witch bullshit after all. I just did this to make my parents proud of me. I should be ashamed of myself. I truly messed my whole life up with this bullshit; also, I shouldn’t have become an evil witch.” Tony gave Sorcery a hug. He tried to ease her pain and tried to calm her down from all the crying. Luckily Lira and Jim couldn’t hear what they were saying. “Just like you, Tony. I’m a good person, and unlike Lira, I could never be like her, even if I tried. Yes, I did some evil acts to please everyone but not to please myself. I never knew it was going to end up this way.” “Oh, Sorcery, please don’t cry. You’re way too good to cry over her. You need someone who’s going to treat you with respect and who understands your pain. Plus, you need someone who makes you happy. You don’t need to please anyone but yourself. You need to love yourself way before you start to love someone else, and I truly mean that from the bottom of my cold soul and heart. No matter what they say, you’re the greatest woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. When I saw you, I thought to myself, I want her to be with me for the rest of our natural lives together, but I know we couldn’t because I’m a mortal and you’re an immortal. But if I truly want to be with you and if I treat you much better than Lira ever did on any given day and night, then you know should know that she truly doesn’t care anything about you at all. You need to wake up and smell the roses. She walked all over you, and she used you for your knowledge to get away with anything that she could get her little hands on. Like I said before, Sorcery, you may not want to believe me when I say things like this, but you truly need to open your eyes and understand that life isn’t what it’s cracked up to be, and you should’ve known better than to ever think she was ever good for you as a friend. But I thought Jim was a great brother. It took me years to figure out that I created a monster. I never knew that he was going to turn out like this, but this is kind of the reason why our parents died when we were much younger, but like I said before about them … well, the real reason they died was because it was mostly his fault. I was at an old girlfriend’s house when he murdered them in our childhood home. When I took her to our home to meet my family for the first time, my parents were dead. I asked him what had happened to them, and he replied with an evil laugh, “Well, Tony, I had to kill them because it was fucking fun. I wanted to see how they would taste, and I found out that they tasted so damn good also sweet at the same time. I loved when Mom and Dad screamed from the torture of being hurt. I love bring pain to people. It makes me feel good, and they were so tasty. It was like when eating BBQ ribs on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Tony, you don’t know how it feels to have these cravings for human meat and blood. It’s like when you’re another animal or when a woman has her craving during her period or she’s having her baby. It’s the same thing. Sometimes, I can’t help myself. It’s like there’s something in me that I can’t control, and when I did what my body was telling me to do, which was to feed on human flesh, I fulfilled those wishes to make my body happy and myself happy. It made me feel great to do so, but if you think I’m losing my mind, you’re so very wrong. I learned this from you, brother, remember? Oh, yeah. You forgot that you changed on me, twin brother. I always thought about the same thing just because you’re my twin, but I guess I was wrong.” “You’re so stupid Jim, you know what’s so dang on weird now I see why our parents took my side on everything maybe because you’re beyond crazy. And I still can’t believe you’re even my brother. When we were in our mother, I learned how to be a bad boy from you. Like I said, you don’t remember telling me in my head.” Jim burst into an evil laugh, while grinning at the same time. “Oh, my god! Jim, I never was like you and never will be like you at all. I totally don’t approve of this at all. I’m saying this to you because this is just not right. I’ll make sure they lock your ass up in a mental hospital for good. And I never want to see you ever again. I truly don’t care if you do change. If you did, you’d have to work for me, if you expected me to ever forgive you for killing our loving parents!” Tony yelled at him while going toward the door with Jessie. Then Tony and his girlfriend Jessie got back in the car and drove off to the police department, and I told him everything that I just told you and they followed us back to the house. He opened the door and what we saw it was much worse. He had killed more people in that house in less than an hour. It looked like he had killed the whole neighborhood. I couldn’t believe he’d done such a thing. I truly think the police couldn’t believe it either. Not one of them had ever seen such a thing in all of their years in law enforcement.” “Oh, my god! Chief, this is so crazy. It’s like someone killed a lot of cows and pigs in a slaughter house, and the smell is horrible. We may need some back up, and it looks like a wolf or something bigger had done this.” He looked at me and asked me, “So, from what you guys were telling us that your twin brother was the only one that could do any of this all just by his self. Oh! Please me that he had somebody else with him, I didn’t think he’ll do something like this and go this far with it.” “Yes! He was the one who did this. Even my girlfriend saw it, and he must’ve done it when I was with her. Plus, he personally told me what he had done the same thing to our parents. I can’t believe it myself still, I don’t even know where to begin. But I didn’t know he had killed the neighbors as well. I guess he did this when we were going to see you guys. Man, I didn’t know my brother was this crazy and would’ve done something like this. I don’t know what to do, officer. I just don’t know what to do with him at all.” “Look, sir, we will do all that we can to get to the bottom of this. Even though we have a serious case on our hands, we won’t let your brother get away with it. He must still be in the house.” “He might try to get away with all of this by trying to blame all of this stuff on me because we were twins after all, so don’t let him fool you one bit because, like I said, my girlfriend saw it, too, and I was with her at the time, so he’ll do anything to make you believe him and distrust me.” The police tried to find him, but they had no luck whatsoever until they found him in the kitchen cooking someone and making another person watch. He was also torturing that person to death. “Please let me go! Please! I beg of you!” she screamed and cried for her life. “Now why would I ever do that, my love? I can’t just let you go, not just like that. Not while I’m trying my fucking best to eat your sister? And mmm … your mom tasted so damn good. I can’t believe your family actually loved me enough to believe I wasn’t going to fucking eat them, and keep you here against your will!” When he smelled some new flesh meat, he said, “Oh, brother, I see you came back for me. I knew you’d crawl back to me and change your mind and join me. This is the greatest time of our lives. Ah! And seems like you brought others to feed on. Let me guess. There are going to be more than seven of you, right?” Suddenly, Jim’s whole demeanor changed. And he shouted, “You better tell me, Tony! If you don’t, I’ll fucking kill you, and I hope you didn’t bring the fucking cops with you!” “You know I’d never bring any cops, man. Just some friends and my girlfriend, you know me. I’m your brother, and I’d never try to harm you. No matter what, you’re my family. I’m just worried about you, man. This is insane. No human acts this way at all. I don’t care who you are. Why are you doing this, man? You need to snap out of this, man. You can get in serious trouble because of all of this, and look at our neighbor, man. She’s scared as fuck. Let her go, man, or I will call the cops. You need to cut this bullshit out, man. This isn’t right.” “Tony, you’re so damn weak. You’re not the brother I thought you were, you used to be strong evil broken soul that wouldn’t let anyone get in his way. I thought no one could stand in your way. You were like me at one point. You always wanted to eat humans. You even craved them because you thought that their blood and flesh would be tasty. Why this change, my dear brother? We could’ve rule this damn great land with our greatness.” “You want to know why I changed? Maybe because I’ve grown up. This dumb-ass shit is not reality. We were kids at that time, Jim. You should’ve done the same thing, too, just like me, and maybe, just maybe, that’s why Mom and Dad loved me more. I was the only son that made sense around here. You are now at the point of insanity. The only reason why you were such a ladies’ man was because of your smooth-talking ways, but like I said, this has to stop, Jim.” Then Jim started sniffing the kitchen. He pushes me aside with great force and gave me this evil look and a growled also. “How could you lie to me, you bastard! You said there would be no damn cops around here. But you played me for one of your dumb-ass nerd friends. Oh, man! You don’t have a fucking life, do you, brother? You’re just like the rest of them. You’re weak and useless. That’s why our parents loved you more than me, but that’s not the reason I killed them or the neighborhood, expect for her. It was always a passion of mine to hear them scream for mercy and to taste their blood at the same time. You’re not the same person I knew years ago. And I know that you’re there, cops! You don’t need to hide. I can smell you from a far away. Come out, come out, wherever you are, cops! I know there’s more than just one cop here to catch me. I’m wanting to have you guys for dinner. You will love it so much. If I’m lying, I must be dying, officers. I know you guys are out there somewhere. You can’t hide from me forever, and you will join me for dinner or become my dinner — one of the two. But who fucking cares? I just want to talk to you, officers. I won’t do a damn thing to you. I promise. You can trust me.” One of cops was hiding in the bathroom, in the tub, trying not to say anything. He’d snuck into the bathroom, pretending to be Tony. He said, “Hey! It’s me! Tony! Don’t worry. We got him. You can come out now. Yes, I know your kind of worried, Jim, but I’m not. We arrested him. He’s outside. You can come out now.” “Are you sure you’re the real person that you claim to be? Okay. Answer this question, so-called Tony. And I hope you have a tattoo because I’ve known him and Jim for years. Do you have a tattoo on your left or right leg? Jim wouldn’t know this for a fact. Just me, his parents, and his girlfriend know this answer?” “Hmm. My right leg.” “Wrong! It’s on his left leg, Jim.” “Well, well, well. You must know me and my brother very well, John, and how have you been? I haven’t seen you in more than twelve years. Tony and I are about twenty. You’re twenty-two now. Can’t believe you’re one of them. I thought we were going to stick together like rice and salt.” “I don’t like doing this, Jim, because we are friends and all, but I have to do my job. You think this is fucking easy for me? Do you really think I’d take joy in shooting or arresting one of my greatest friends ever? It fucking upsets me to see you like this. But I guess you can’t see what we all see you have become, Jim, but it seems like Tony has changed, and it seems like you never did.” “Oh, Johnny, do you think you can harm me with that silly little thing that you called a gun? I think you got me mixed up with my stupid twin brother Tony,” Jim said with an evil laugh. “Jim, don’t let me do this to you, man. I just want you to come with me, and everything will be fine, but you just have trust me, ok?” He gave him his hand. He still had the gun in his hand. “You know what, John? I would’ve believed you for one minute, but I don’t think I can trust you at all. I guess, to me, it’s like you’re full of bullshit, Johnny Ol’ Boy.” John pushed Jim into the wall. He sprayed him with mace and handcuffed him. Then, he dragged him outside and threw him in the car. He took him to the police station for questioning. “Well, Mr. Jim Woods. I’ve got to tell you that it is quite a surprise to see you back here once again. You have more records than a Japanese hustler on a school night. What I want to know is, why in the hell we can’t lock your punk ass up?”  “Maybe, because I’m a lot smarter than you and have the best lawyers in town. Plus, I’m better looking than you could ever be in your whole, entire life. I know this for a fact, Officer Ramsey. I know how you and your wife went through a nasty break up. It’s very sad really.” “How do you know about our break up, Jim? Tell me now. Damn it!” “Well, she told me for a fact that I was much better than you were in bed, and she said that I was easy on the eye. She needed someone who could rock her boat. Man, you were so damn lucky to have a hot woman like her. Too bad she wanted my swag and the way I have sex with her, and I guess she thought my dick was so much better and bigger than yours,” he replied while giving out a big donkey size laugh. Chief Ramsey grabbed him by the collar. “You know what, Jim? I’ll make sure your ass is put in a prison cell for the rest of your fucking life. You had no right to put those people in danger for your own selfish needs, and how fucking dare you take my own wife away from me? You also ruined my life forever after we split, and I should’ve known it was you who did all of this. But I never thought you would’ve sunk this low.” Jim grabbed his hand, gave him an evil look, and said, “I didn’t ruin your life. She left you for me because she got tired of your bullshit and thought I was much better than you could ever be. I can get any woman. Plus, I’m the kind of person who can get away with anything that I wish. No one, and I do mean no one, can stop me, not even you. This is my town. I’m like the mayor of this fine city we call NYC, so no matter what you do to me Ramsey, all the judge will do is tell you guys to let me go and take it off the record, and it’ll go away like nothing happened. I’ll live my normal life, even though you guys have enough evidence to prove that I did this, but I still can get away with murder and being a cannibal. There is no way in hell that you’ll ever put me in a prison cell. Even though you may want to, you just don’t have the ability to do so. Oh, Ramsey, are you getting mad that you lost, and I won at this game. To me it’s so fucking fun to see you angry at the fact that I can get away with anything that I can get my little hands on, and it’s like I said, I’ll get away with this, and I know I will. Hopefully I’ll find a woman that acts just like me, so we can work as a team. Maybe one day that wish will come true, and, oh, you’ll be in so much trouble, Mr. Ramsey. Oh, you will. I’ll make it a point to make sure that you do. I want you to wish you weren’t never born, or I want you to wish you could die. That’s how much I want to torture you.” The chief looked at John with fear and anger in his face. “John, let me talk to you in private.” They walked out. As they did, Chief looked at John and said, “So, John, what should we do. He has all the connections. You know him more than I do. For damn’s sake, you guys grew up together. Was he ever like this as a child, John?” “Well, yeah. He was like this but not this bad, though. I truly think that, after I left, he started to change. That’s what his brother told me one time on the phone. Maybe, just maybe, if I told him, I was going to move, he would have been a lot better tell you that much. But I was only a kid when this happened, and I didn’t know any better. I was forced to move because my parents couldn’t stand him or their parents anymore. They thought they all were weird, but I never thought they were like this. I always had fun with them. I guess they were like my closest bros that I wish I’d had in my life, and I truly think my parents thought I was going to be like Jim, but they liked Tony. They thought he was the only one in the family that had any sense in his head, so they truly didn’t mind me hanging out with him if I didn’t hang with Jim at the same time. They truly hated him to the core. One day, I asked them, when I got old enough, why they hated Jim so much and not his twin brother Tony. I don’t think it was right to judge a kid and hate them at the same timing. They said that Jim seemed like he was pure evil, and Tony didn’t. My mom said, “We don’t hate Jim. We’re scared of him. Like I said, my dear son, he always seems like he wants to do something bad. We even told his parents that that boy needed to get some mental help, but they didn’t do anything.’ I just never know that my parents were scared to the point that they moved to Savannah, Georgia. They didn’t want the Woods family to be able to find them, so they moved as far away as they could.  But it all makes sense now, and it’s all coming together now, I guess.” “We’re dealing with more than just pure evil here, John. Jim is the only person I’ve had to deal with that can be this bad. Just looking at what he did to those poor victims gives me goosebumps. I truly think we’ve met our match. Really, I don’t know how we’ll get him locked up. This guy deserves, at least, the death plenty,” Ramsey said while he put his hand on his forehead. A look of total fear was on his face. Jim sat up straight in his chair. Then, he slowly turned his head toward them with an evil, mental smile. “I can see and smell you, and I know you’re talking about me because I can actually hear you, even though this is supposed to be a sound proof and a one-way mirror.” “How in the fuck can he see and hear us through this mirror?” “Because I have that power to do so, Ramsey. Ha! Ha! And I know what you’re thinking, also, John and Ramsey. You can try to hide from me, but I advise you not to because I’m going to ruin you guys’ lives. No matter what you do, like they say, ‘you never met a guy like me before.’ I know all the tricks of the trade. No one, and I do mean no one, can stop me. I don’t care who you are. I can always smooth my way through the courts. I can get away with anything. It is so damn easy. You may just cry, crap, and piss on yourselves in the court room like little babies.” “So, Tony, what you’re trying to say is that he always was like this, but you’re still trying to figure out how he got away with murder because our code states we are forbidden to kill any mortal. It doesn’t matter how bad your kind tries to fight it off. I’m going to tell you how my brother got away with it. Don’t worry. Ok back to the story.” They both looked each other with a scared look upon their faces, like they’d just seen a ghost or something. They’d never known that two grown-ass men could fear someone in their twenties. It’s was like they’d never had to face a guy like him before. It seemed like he wasn’t even human anymore at the time being. They went back to the room together. “What’s wrong, man? You don’t believe I can read minds and smell your feelings about me. You don’t know who you’re really dealing with at this moment in time, do you? I truly think that, like I said before hand, you really had met your match at last and just wanted to put me to jail to make yourself happy and not to the civilians that you suppose to help and serve, but you know what? Most of you cops could be worse than me at any time of the day. You just don’t want to admit it to yourselves because you’re trying to protect your fellow man and woman in uniform, but you two know I’m right. You just don’t want to say because you’re thinking about it.” Then, he let out this loud evil donkey size laugh. “You know what, Jim? We will put your ass in prison. After the judge hears from all the witnesses and sees all the evidence, I will win this time. Jim, mark my words. You’ll never see the day light ever again. And I know we were childhood friends, Jim, but he is right, man, this time. The judge won’t be so nice to you this time and won’t let you get away with any of this. Like I said before, even though I am your friend and all, I should go with him. What you did to those people, including your parents, was so damn disturbing and just plain wrong. I never thought you would end up like this, man,” John said while shaking his head. “Oh, John, I thought you was on my side. I guess like they always say, you can’t trust your own best friends or brother. You guys make me sick. I can’t stand either of you. I hope you and Tony just burn in fucking hell!” So, they took Jim back to jail to make him wait till the day of his sentencing and court hearing.

[bamby0304]

Victoria Grimes VII: Power

Summary: Negan. He was the monster everyone had warned them about. He was like nothing Victoria had ever seen before. Worse than Shane, the Governor, the Terminus cannibals, the people at Grady, and the Wolves. Now Negan’s Saviours are here, and they’re about to turn everyone’s lives upside down. Of course, the last thing Vickie expected was to be dragged further into it all than anyone else.

Chapter Thirteen: Where the Heart is

Masterlist

Warnings: Explicit language, violence & angst.

Bamby

VPOV

The moment the door closed, the room fell silent. But it wasn't just silence. It was heavy, and painful. Hell, it was deafening. It pressed on my chest with a force that had a sob escape my lips, despite the fact I didn't want to cry in front of Negan.

He'd seen me weak. He'd seen me broken. I didn't want to become that same girl he'd seen the first night we met. I was better than her. I was stronger than her. But it was too late, he'd already heard me.

Sighing, he moved to stand in front of me. "Victoria..." He waited a moment before his hand gently grabbed my chin and lifted my face so I'd look at him. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." I glared, trying my hardest not to cry. "You enjoy seeing other's break. You enjoy inflicting pain."

"Yes, I do." His honesty surprised me, leaving me speechless, giving him an opportunity to go on. "I enjoy hurting those who deserve it."

"So, I deserve this?"

"No." He shook his head. "That's why I'm sorry. I truly am."

He was. I could see it in his eyes, feel it in his grip and hear it in his words. There was doubt in my mind, gut and heart. Anyone with half a brain could tell, in this instance, he was being genuine. He meant every word. He was sorry.

But it wasn't good enough.

"You made my brother sing you a song because he killed two of your men." I continued to glare at him. "You play some pretty fucked up games, Negan."

"Well, I can't kill him," he countered, still being very serious.

Glaring, I pulled my chin from his grasp. "I don't believe, for one second, that you'll keep your word. I don't trust you, Negan. I know a day will come, and you'll kill him. You'll kill us all."

He took a step closer, his eyes hardening. "Not if I don't have to. I don't want to kill any of you, Victoria. I'd honestly rather there be no more death." He was telling the truth there as well. I could tell.

"Then let us go."

"No."

"It's not fair!" I exclaimed out of frustration and irritation.

He stepped closer again, a glare of his own furrowing on his brow now. "What's not fair is having thirty of my people killed. What's not fair is waiting days before finding out they're all dead. What's not fair is losing all those people who actually meant something to myself and others. What's not fair is the fact that you lost two of your people, and we lost thirty. Not five, not ten, not twenty. Thirty."

I suddenly felt a little guilty. I mean, sure he'd killed Glenn and Abraham right in front of us... but we'd killed a lot more of his people. Which made me wonder... what's worse, watching a loved one die or not knowing they were gone?

"Look, I'm sorry I upset you and your brother. I didn't mean things to get so out of hand. I just... it's easy to forget-"

"He's a kid," I cut him off. "Yeah, you already said that."

He shook his head. "No, it's easy to forget how fragile you can be," he corrected.

"You don't know me, Negan."

"I've seen you at your weakest, and I've seen you when you're strong... though I'm sure you've still held back on us there." He finally grinned.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped away from him, turning away slightly. Silence fell over us one last time, as I refused to look up at him. I hated how easy it was for us to fall into a scene like this. Both of us standing close, nothing being said. There was supposed to be violence, and action. I was supposed to want to kill him...

Did I want to kill him? I wanted him dead, yes. But did I want to kill him?

Letting out a sigh, Negan turned and headed for the door. "Come on, Sweetheart. It should be ready."

I looked up at him then. "What should be ready?"

"The iron," he answered as he opened the door.

Carl and I walked behind Negan as he moved across the walkway overlooking an open space in the factory where a large number of people were gathered. Lifting Lucille, Negan hit her against the railing, getting the attention of everyone. Some looked up at him, some held their gaze in from of them out of fear, but now matter where they looked, each and every person moved.

The majority of them, the workers, they dropped to their knees. The Saviours and wives though, they stayed standing, simply bowing their head out of respect.

Once everyone stopped moving, Negan turned to Carl and me, offering Lucille. "Hold that for me." He hadn't said it to anyone in particular.

I went to reach for her, not wanting Carl to have to hold the bat that had bashed in the heads of two friends- two family members. But at the same time, he reached forward, taking her from Negan's grasp.

Giving my brother a look, I tried to let him know he didn't have to do this. Yet, he simply gave me a look back, letting me know he didn't want me to have to hold her either... I guess we were protecting each other now.

Negan didn't seem to care though or notice the silent messages being passed beside him. He simply turned to his people to address them. "You know the deal. What's about to happen is gonna be hard to watch," he sighed. "I don't want to do it. I wish I could just ignore the rules and let it slide, but I can't. Why?

"The rules keep us alive," everyone answered at the same time.

"That. Is. Right." Negan gave a short nod as he continued to walk, moving for the stairs. "We survive. We provide security to others. We bring civilisation back to this world. We are the Saviours," he told them, half way down the stairs now. "But we can't do that without rules. Rules are what make it all work. I know it's not easy. But there's always work. There is always a cost." A look of anger fell on his face. "Here, if you try to skirt it, if you try to cut that corner!" He took a breath before chuckling lightly. "Then it is the iron for you. On your feet."

Everyone did as he said, getting up.

Walking the rest of the way down the stairs, Negan didn't even look back at Carl and I once. He knew we would follow. He knew there was no need to make sure we were doing what he wanted.

Moving through a path in the crowd, I found my eyes land on one of Negan's wives. It was the brunette he'd been talking to at the bar...

Our eyes locked for a moment, a mixture of feelings passed through me as we continued to look at each other. I wondered who she was and what her deal was. I wondered if she actually wanted to be Negan's wife. Did she have a choice? Was there a reason? She'd talked back to him a little... but she'd kissed him back as well...

I looked away once I passed her, still following Negan.

In the middle of the crowd was a guy, not much older than myself. He was bound to a chair and visibly shaking with fear. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Wait here," Negan told Carl and I before moving over to Dwight- who stood near a large furnace.

As I stopped, I looked away from the bound guy, only to have my eyes lock on to Daryl's.

The light touch we'd shared earlier hadn't been enough. If anything, it only increased my need for him. I missed him so much, and all I wanted was to take him home and never let him go. I never wanted to leave his side ever again.

Time had proven to us once more that we had to stay together. When we were apart, shit got bad... fast. Just look at where we were now.

"D," Negan chucked lightly catching my attention.

I turned to him just as he pulled on some gloves and Dwight moved to the open fire. My eyes watched Dwight as he grabbed a metal rod and reached into the flames, pulling out a red-hot iron. The metal glowed. I couldn't tear my eyes from the glowing surface. It was beautiful if you really looked at it. The danger added to its beauty, too. At least that's what I thought.

Negan- with his now properly protected and gloved hands- took the iron from Dwight before he turned and moved to the guy in the chair. "Mark I'm sorry. But it is what it is," was all he said before he stepped forward and pressed the iron to Mark's face.

The screams that erupted from Mark were like nothing I'd ever heard. The sound of skin sizzling against the hot metal was sickening. The smell... oh, God the smell was awful. I thought the smell of walkers was bad, but this was something else...

Yet I couldn't tear my eyes away. I couldn't turn from the scene unfolding before me as Negan continued to hold the iron against Mark's face until the bound man passed out. When Negan pulled the iron away, Mark's skin followed like melted cheese.

I'm never eating cheese again.

Negan chuckled lightly, "Ah, that wasn't so bad, now, was it?" He shrugged as he turned to hand the iron back to Dwight before he turned back to Mark. "Jesus. He pissed himself." Shaking his head, he moved towards Daryl.

I watched Negan's every step, his every move. Tensing, I stayed where I stood despite the fact I wanted to move to Daryl. After Negan threatened Daryl earlier, I trusted him even less when it came to my husband.

Keeping his eyes locked on mine, Negan spoke to Daryl, "Clean that up." He grinned, knowing exactly what he was doing to Daryl and me. Stepping back, he looked to a group of his people. "Doc, I'm all done. Do your thing."

A man emerged from the crowd, dressed in a white lab coat, carrying a black bag. As he walked, I couldn't help but see something in his face as if he were familiar or something...

"Well, the pussy passed out." Negan's voice rang through the room as he addressed the crowd again. "But it's settled we're square. Everything is cool. Let Mark's face be a daily reminder to him and to everyone else that the rules matter. I hope that we all learned something today, because I don't ever want to have to do that again."

I watched him with an unreadable expression on my face, because honestly, I didn't know how I was supposed to feel. I didn't know what this Mark guy did, but whatever it was I really hoped it was bad. I swear if Negan did this because the guy stole some food, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to look at him again.

Negan's eyes locked on to mine as he moved towards me. "Some crazy shit, huh?" he asked, standing so close we were almost pressed together.

My eyes locked on to Daryl's as he watched the two of us and moped at the same time. "You're sick, Negan," I said with no fear in my voice.

He simply chuckled before stepping back. "Come on. Let's go figure out what to do with the two of you." He nodded before turning to leave, knowing Carl and I would follow once again.

CPOV

We were back in Negan's room, back in our seats. Vickie and I were silent as we waited. Negan sat across from us, doing some paper work. I was bored, and I felt weird with my eye exposed. Which is why I was the one to break the silence.

"Can I wrap up my face now?"

"No, you absolutely cannot," Negan answered in an instant.

"Why the hell not?!" I snapped.

"Carl," Vickie warned.

Negan just chuckled. "Look at this badass." He grinned. "You can't because I'm not done with you. And I like looking at your disgusting, rad-ass, badass eye, so it's staying out." When I just glared at him, he put the paper work down. "What? You got something to say?"

"Why haven't you killed me? Or Vickie? Or my dad? Or Daryl?"

"Victoria amuses me. And I actually like her company." He shrugged. "Daryl is gonna make a good soldier for me," he noted as if he thought that was really going to happen. "You see, he thinks he's holding it together but you saw it." Grinning again, he went on, "Your dad? He's already getting me great stuff. You, on the other hand..." His eyes flicked towards Vickie for a second before he continued, "Well, we shall see. It's more productive to break you. More fun, too. You thinking that's stupid?"

"I'm thinking we're different."

"Mm." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You're a smart kid. What do you think I should do? You know I can't let you go. So, do I kill you? Iron your face? Chop off your arm? Tell me. What do you think?"

I got on my feet and stepped up to him, tired of this game. "I think you should jump out the window to save me the trouble of killing you."

Vickie was up in an instant. "Carl!"

"No, no. It's fine, Sweetheart. It's fine," Negan chuckled. "Now, there is the kid that impressed the hell out of me."

Shaking my head, I looked down at him as my patience came to an end. "I think you're not saying what you're gonna do to me because you're not going to do anything. If you knew us, if you knew anything, you would kill us. But you can't." I nodded towards Vickie. "You think she's amusing. She's killed more people than anyone else in our group."

Okay so I wasn't a hundred percent sure about that, but if I was wrong, I wouldn't be too far off. Vickie had killed a lot of people. I knew if anyone could kill him, it would be her. If anyone had a reason to, it would be her. If anyone wanted to, it would be her. He thought she was the weak girl from that first night we saw him, but she was so much more than that. He shouldn't underestimate her. That never goes down well.

"That's it," she sighed, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Negan. "Go wait outside."

"No." I glared at her over my shoulder. "I'm not leaving you with this asshole again."

Negan continued to grin. "Let him stay, Sweetheart."

Vickie hesitated before dropping her hand. Both of us shared a look, neither of us happy at the moment. Then we turned to Negan, seeing him watching us.

He shook his head, looking to me. "Maybe you're right, Carl. Maybe I can't kill any of you." He shrugged before getting to his feet. "Come on. Let's go for a ride."

Vickie and I just stood there, watching him for a moment, unsure what we should do. But we knew we didn't really have a choice. So, once again, we followed him.

NPOV

I helped Vickie into the truck before pulling myself up as well. I didn't usually drive, but seeing as the truck was a three-seater and I had two guests, that meant there wasn't any room for anyone else.

Starting the vehicle, I drove outside the gates and came to a stop as I looked out at the chained walkers. "Daryl!" I called and waited until he came to stand by my door. "You seem worried, so I'm taking them home."

"If you do anything to 'em-"

I cut him off with a yell, "Dwight! Daryl needs a time-out. Put him back in his box for a while," I ordered before Dwight dragged Daryl away. I flipped him off as he left before drawing my attention back to the wheel.

"You don't have to be such an ass," Vickie mumbled.

I grinned at her. "Oh, but I like it."

She simply rolled her eyes as she fell silent, and with nothing left to say I turned back to the road and drove ahead.

DPOV

I was sitting in my cell and all I could think about was Vic. Seeing her jump out of that truck earlier... it was one of the sexiest and scariest things I'd ever seen. Sure, seeing her here at the Sanctuary was scary, but she scared me as well- though I'd never tell her that.

I loved Vic. She was the only person I'd ever loved. I hardly liked myself, but I loved her. I knew I'd never love anyone else. I'd never give up on us either. The moment I got out of this hell hole, I was going to spend the rest of my life just being with Vic. I was done looking for people. I was done volunteering to do stuff for our group. If Vic wasn't there, I didn't care.

Being here, it was hard. Being away from everyone was hard. Negan and his people just poked at that wound. But I hadn't given up. I hadn't let go off everything I had and wanted.

Like a baby. I still wanted a baby. I still wanted to grow old with the people I cared about. I wanted to teach Aly everything I knew. I wanted to see Carl get his first girlfriend. I wanted to see Rick and Michonne get married. I wanted to see Carol, Morgan, Heath and Tara again. I wanted to go back to the life I'd had.

Man, I missed it. I didn't really know how much until I saw Vic and Carl.

The sound of footsteps had me pause my thoughts as I leaned closer to the door and listened out.

After a second or two, a sheet of paper was pushed under the gap of the door. I reached for it and turned it over, seen two words written down. Go now. On the back was a key and a match.

I had no idea if this was another trick. I didn't even know who the message was from. But I didn't care. I was getting the hell out of here and back to my life.

VPOV

Negan, Carl and myself were walking down the road, heading home. We were back in Alexandria.

Honestly, the last time I left this place I thought I'd never be coming back- at least not for a while. But now, as we stood in front of the house my family and I had called home since we got to the community, I was glad I had the chance to give everyone a proper good bye.

But that didn't make the next steps any easier.

As Negan and Carl stepped off the road and on to the footpath, moving for the porch steps, I came to a complete stop. It was Carl who noticed first.

He turned to me, a confused and concerned look in his eyes. "Vickie?" He moved towards me again. "Vickie, you okay?"

I shook my head, looking at the house. "I can't."

"You can't what?" Negan asked, now standing next to Carl, the two of them watching me.

Carl glared at him. "She hasn't stepped foot in the house since we met you."

Understanding dawned on Negan's face in an instant. "Kid, go wait on the porch." He didn't give Carl a single glance. He just seemed to know my brother would go.

Carl did as he was told, but he'd hesitated at first. I knew the idea of leaving me with Negan again was not something he wanted to do, but he had no choice.

Once he was gone, Negan stepped closer to me. He was in my space- he always seemed to be in my space- but this time, he wasn't intimidating. "It's because of the friends you lost, right?" Sighing, Negan shook his head, "I really am sorry, Victoria."

I looked up and met his eyes then. I didn't glare and he didn't grin. We just looked at each other. There was no hate between us. No anger. He felt bad for me, and I simply felt bad. That's all there was.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked out of nowhere, needing to know. I knew he was sorry, I just didn't know why.

He was taken aback, his eyes going wide at the question. It took a moment for him to answer, and what I got was pretty underwhelming. It was obvious that he hadn't thought of why he felt the way he did. He just knew that's how he felt.

"I'm just sorry."

That's all I was getting. I knew that. So I didn't bother pressing.

"I can't go in there when I know they'll never be in there again. Every time I've lost someone, we've eventually had to move on. Right now I'm surviving on the fact that I haven't had to move forward. I'm trying to keep part of myself locked in that night, so I never have to say goodbye."

It was the truth- one I hadn't even admitted to myself yet. It's why I'd been camping in the RV. I didn't want to let go yet.

"Fuck." Negan brought his hand up to cup my face. "What made you like this? What have you been through?" His thumb stroked my cheek softly, his eyes searching mine.

"A lot," I answered flatly. "A lot more than you'll ever understand."

"Maybe one day you'll tell me." He shrugged, offering a soft smile as he lowered his hand.

See, this is one of the things that pissed me off about Negan.

He was such an asshole. He bashed people's heads in and ironed their faces. He had a harem of wives and a cult-like following of people he controlled so closely and strongly it was insane. He was everything I hated. Yet, when it was just the two of us, like this... he was a completely different man.

The first night I met him he took me in the RV and cleaned my cut. He wiped away my tears. He talked to me like I was a person, not just something he could use like a tool or toy. When he'd come to Alexandria that first day, when I'd sat with him outside of Spencer's place, we'd talked easily. Today, he'd cared that he'd hurt my feelings and that I was upset. It was like he'd flipped a switch.

It was a mental screw over. He couldn't stop messing with my mind, and I wasn't even sure if he noticed he was doing it.

"Look, I know you don't want to go in there, but you have to." Before I could protest, he went on, "Not because I'm telling you to. No one can make you go in there. The reason you have to, is because you have to move on. Everyone has to move on."

I looked over his shoulder, setting my eyes on my home. I remembered the first time I walked through the yellow door. I'd been with Aly, Glenn and Maggie. That evening I'd sat on the porch with Daryl as he gutted an opossum. Later I'd sat with Rosita and Abraham as the three of us kept watch and the rest of our family slept.

They say, 'home is where the heart is'. My heart lies with my family. Right now, we were scattered all over the place. Maggie and Sasha were at Hilltop. Tara and Heath were out scavenging. Carol and Morgan were still missing. Daryl was being kept at the Sanctuary. So, if I really thought about it, the house standing in front of me, was just that. Just a house.

Going in there wouldn't be me giving in or giving up. I wouldn't be saying goodbye to the people we'd lost, or to the people elsewhere. I'd simply be entering a building. Putting my self between four walls and a roof. It wasn't goodbye. Not when they were still in my heart.

Taking a deep breath, I gave a short nod. "Okay."

A wide grin spread on Negan's face as he turned to face the house and move to stand next to me. "Shall we then?" He offered me his arm.

I took it, still hating the guy but appreciating the fact he was kinda there for me when I needed someone- beggars can't be choosers, right?

Meeting Carl at the steps, I gave a short nod to let him know I was okay before Negan and I continued up the stairs and towards the door, only now with Carl following. When we reached the yellow painted wooden door, Negan used Lucille to knock on it.

The door flung open, revealing a smiling Aly, who's smile fell the instant she saw Negan.

"Aly, who is-" Olivia cut herself short when she walked around from the living room and saw Negan standing on the porch with Carl and me.

Negan let go of my arm as he moved to walk into the house, smiling down at Aly. "Well, hello there darlin'." He ruffled her hair with his free hand as he continued past her.

Aly glared up at him, wanting to bite at him, to snap and yell and scream... but she was- surprisingly- holding back. Aly was a sweet girl, but over time she'd learnt how to act and behave from watching those closest to her... including, my dad, Daryl and myself. Let's face it, none of us had good impulse control or anger management when times were dire.

Carl stepped in next, stopping by Olivia.

She looked to him with worry clearly written in her eyes. "Carl, where's-"

"Enid's fine," he assured her before moving further into the house as Negan stood in the dining room waiting.

I grabbed Aly and lifted her into my arms and onto my hip as I looked to Olivia. "Where is she?" I asked, my voice low.

She knew exactly who I was talking about as she pointed to the roof. "Bedroom," she mouthed.

I nodded before turning to follow Carl.

"Great, great, great, great, great!" Negan grinned, looking to Olivia. "Where's Rick?"

"Uh, I- I'm just-" she stuttered.

Negan shook his head. "Don't care," he sang. "Where's Rick?"

Collecting herself, Olivia answered properly this time, "Um, out scavenging for you."

Negan's grin widened. "Cool. I'll wait." He shrugged.

Olivia hesitated before speaking, "Um... he went out pretty far. They might not be back today," she explained, voice shaking. "We're running really low on everything. We're practically starving here."

Negan took a moment as he let her words sink in, before he spoke, "Starving? You? By 'practically', you mean not really."

Olivia started crying in an instant.

Aly's jaw dropped as she glared at Negan. "Don't be mean to Olivia."

"Okay, yeah this isn't going to work." I set Aly on the ground. "Go to your room. Dini's in there, right?" She gave me a short nod as an answer. "Okay, well you go up there until I come get you, okay?" She gave Negan one last glare before she nodded to me again and walked off. Once she was gone, it was my turn to glare at Negan. "Seriously?"

I didn't understand how he could go from being psychotic, to nice, to an asshole. This guy had some serious boarder line personality issues.

Chuckling, he shook his head. "You people seriously don't have a sense of humour," he sighed as he turned his attention back to Olivia. "Excuse me. What's your name again?"

"Olivia," she answered. Even through her crying I could tell it annoyed her that he'd forgotten who she was already.

Negan didn't notice or care though as he just went on, "Right. Olivia." He stepped up to her, resting a hand on her arm. She tensed and turned to him listening as he continued, "I am sorry for having been so rude to you just now. And it looks like I'm gonna be here for a while, awaiting your fearless leader's return. And if you'd like, I think it would be enjoyable to screw your brains out. I mean, if, you know, you're agreeable to it."

Suddenly, Olivia raised her hand and slapped him right across the cheek.

His words had made my jaw drop, but her actions made me grin.

"Thank you, Olivia." I smiled, turning to her. "Why don't you go get some lemonade? I know we shouldn't be wasting any resources, but I'm sure Negan doesn't care about that." I continued to smile as I watched Negan shake off the slap.

"What about-"

I shook my head, cutting her off, "I've got it." I knew she was worried about Judith- and Aly, too- but I could handle it.

"Okay." Not wanting to stick around any longer, Olivia dashed for the door and left.

Negan had been watching me the whole time. He could see I was pleased she'd slapped him, and that it had both amused and impressed me. It was probably the best thing I'd seen all day. Someone like Olivia slapping someone like Negan. God, that was good.

Stepping forward, Negan shook his head. "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

It was my turn to grin. "More than you'll ever know."

A grin spread on Negan's face as well, as if he was amused that I was amused, which pissed me off. Giving me a quick wink, he turned to Carl. "All right! Take me on the grand tour."

Carl and I followed Negan around the house as he looked around. First, he played with the tap in the kitchen, turning the water on and off. Then he'd played with the lights in the living room. He sat at the dining room table, and then checked out the laundry and garage.

When we went upstairs we walked into dad and Michonne's room, looking around, but walking out after a minute or two. In Carl's room, he played with the dart board, grinning every time he got a bullseye- which was every throw. He took his boots and socks off, letting his feet melt into the carpet, and went to the bathroom to check out the water in there too.

He moved to mine and Daryl's room next, coming to a stop in the doorway. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

I followed him once he walked into the room, my eyes falling on the bed where there was a mattress...

Most of the mattresses had been taken, but not all of them. I had assumed mine had either been burnt with the rest- Michonne told me she'd found the mattresses in a burning pile- or someone else had taken it for themselves.

"So who's the lucky one that didn't get their mattress taken?" he asked, taking a seat on my side of the bed.

"This is... this is my room," I answered a little nervously.

Negan's eyes snapped to mine. "Really?"

"Ah, yeah." I nodded.

Negan was off the bed in an instant, moving over to the dresser. "So this is where Victoria lies her pretty head."

"Daryl, too," Carl commented.

I turned to my brother shocked. The was he said it, so snarky and sassy, like he wanted to get a reaction, it worried me. But he simply grinned, giving me a shrug as if he knew and didn't care that his words would piss Negan off.

"I'm not stupid, kid. If they're married, they're screwing. At least that's how it's supposed to go," Negan noted as he started opening the drawers and looking through them.

I was beyond caring about him seeing my underwear, and he didn't seem to care either. Or well, he did pause and grin for a second, but left everything where it was and didn't say anything. I was hoping it was for Carl's sake. When he opened the last drawer, though, I was a little anxious, hoping he'd just skip right pass it.

But he didn't. Of course he didn't. Instead, he came to a stop before pulling out a shoe box.

I stepped forward then. "That's personal."

He shook his head. "Nothing is personal anymore, Sweetheart," he argued before opening the box.

It was filled with things I held close to my heart. Photos of loved ones. The necklace mum used to wear with her wedding ring- I'd stopped wearing it after things started getting more and more violent, but I'd always carried it with me. Deanna's letter was in there. The oldest hair brush I had. A lock of Aly's hair from when Jessie had given her a haircut. An empty packet of chocolate chips. One of Houdini's old tennis balls. Just a few nick knacks to remind me of happier times.

Negan didn't say anything as he placed the lid back on the box and put it away. He didn't even look at me as he turned and moved to the door, walking out. He was silent, face unreadable as he continued down the hall, coming to the last room.

"How about this one?" he asked.

Both Carl and I froze. Judith and Aly shared that room...

Carl was the first to speak. "Oh, i-it's just a water heater-"

"Are you serious, kid?" Negan shook his head, not buying it. "Come on." He gestured for us to follow before he opened the door and came to a stop. "Oh-ho, my." He offered Lucille to Carl as he walked into the room. Once Carl held her, Negan moved closer to Judith. "Look at this little angel."

Houdini jumped off Aly's bed in an instant, putting himself between Negan and my baby sister. The dog growled lowly, snarling, giving Negan his first and final warning. Houdini didn't know Negan, and he could probably feel the tension wafting from Carl and myself. He could read the room. He knew not to trust Negan, which was enough to switch on his guard dog senses and instincts.

Negan froze. "Victoria, Sweetheart, can you-"

I cut him off suddenly, "I need to know you won't hurt her."

He turned to frown at me, as if he thought I was insane. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." I gave a curt nod. I knew he wouldn't hurt her, but I needed to hear it. I needed the words to be spoken, so it would feel like they were set in stone.

Shaking his head, clearly not amused with the fact I was making him say it, Negan spoke, "She's a fucking baby, for crying out loud. I'm not gonna hurt a goddamn baby. What, do you think I'm a monster or something?"

"Yes," Aly answered from her spot on her bed where she'd been playing.

I gave her a warning look before I clicked my fingers at the dog. "Houdini, here." I pointed to my my. Doing as I said, he moved to sit next to me, still growling. "Enough." With that single word, the dog fell silent.

"Impressive." Negan nodded, impressed, before turning back to Judith.

I held my breath as he lifted my sister out of her bed and into his arms. Carl tensed next to me, as did Houdini. Even Aly was watching carefully. We were all on edge, seeing this man who had already brought hell to our home, hold my baby sister in the same hands he'd used to kill countless people.

Yeah, dad is so not gonna like this...

I'd told Carl to stay in the house with Houdini. He hadn't been too happy about it, but hadn't argued either. I sat in a rocking chair with Aly in my lap as we both looked over at Negan as he sat on a rocking chair to my right, with Judith on his lap, who he was rocking slowly.

Watching Negan be so gentle, it messed with my head yet again. I just couldn't figure the guy out. Seeing him sitting there, with Judith's head resting on his chest as he hummed to her. God, I hated how it scared me and warmed my heart at the same time.

What the hell is going on with my goddamn hormones?

"Oh, this little girl is precious." Negan smiled. He didn't grin. Nope, he smiled.

Movement caught my attention as one of the Alexandrian's walked past the house.

Negan gave them a nod, his smile turning to a grin. There it is. "Hey, neighbour." He waved. "Why don't you come by later? We might grill out," he chuckled. The guy just kept walking. Negan didn't seem to care though. "Oh, I like it here. Mm-hmm. I might just have to stay here."

"No," Aly snapped.

"Don't be rude," I warned her.

She pulled back to frown at me. "He killed Glenn and Abraham! He took daddy! He's a Bad Man. Why aren't you kicking him out? You should be kicking him out. Make him leave!"

"Aly, darlin'," Negan sighed, "don't talk to your mum like that."

She turned to glare at him. "Don't tell me what to do. I don't like you."

"That's it." I placed her on the ground. "Inside. Now."

"But, mum..." she whined.

I just shook my head, pointing to the door. "No. Get inside. Now." When she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted I darkened my voice a little more. "Do not make me repeat myself, Alyssa."

She let out a huff before she walked off and headed inside.

Negan watched her until she disappeared before he turned his attention back to me. "I don't understand you. One moment you're a badass. Then you're a smart mouthed pain in my ass. And then you're this perfectly balanced mother who's tough and loving." He shook his head. "I just can't keep up." He cracked a grin.

I almost laughed. Almost. I mean, I was easy to understand compared to him.

Shifting Judith on his lap, he looked down at her as he rocked her on his knee. "You know, I was thinking about what Carl said earlier. Maybe it is stupid keeping your dad alive. I mean, why am I trying so hard? Maybe I should just bury him down in one of those flower beds. Huh?" He chuckled, still looking at my sister. "And then I could just settle into the suburbs. What do you think about that?" He smiled at her, leaning forward to place a kiss on her nose.

"I think you're stupid if you think that would ever work. I think you wouldn't last a week living here. I think the moment you even try to kill my dad, all my people will turn on you. But what I really think, is that you enjoy pissing me off."

"Got me there." He grinned, looking to me again. "It turns me on when you get angry." He winked.

"If you weren't holding my sister, I'd slap you right now."

"I can go put her down if you want," he offered, grin still in place. "I mean, the idea of you getting rough with me is just one other things I like to fantasise about."

I rolled my eyes. "You have six wives. You don't need to fantasise. You're getting enough action."

"Are you?"

"You took my husband, remember?"

"Still. Girls got needs. Surely she can figure out how to deal with them herself." He lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers suggestively.

Looking away I turned my attention to the view ahead of me. "I'd rather not talk about this with you. And certainly not in front of my sister."

"Oh, come on, Victoria." He shifted, turning so he faced me a little more. "We're friends. We can talk about anything."

"We're not friends, Negan," I told him, getting to my feet and reaching for Judith. "You killed my actual friends. Or did you forget that, too?" I glared at him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think Judith needs a change," I noted before walking off, heading back inside, needing to get away from him, even if only for a moment.

Dad better get back soon...

Bamby

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