#am writing horror

[transcendragon]

I’ve really been enjoying making moodboards inspired by my writing recently! I went a bit wild with them, this isn’t even all of them. The first and final moodboard here uses all my own personal art and photo edits, the rest I made with Canva.

The first one is a general author moodboard with my own art, then there are some moodboards based on characters from my urban fantasy novel “August Out of Time”: August Lloyd, Fergus, Mina, and Coyote. Then, after this caption, there’s a moodboard for my new sci fi horror WIP “Unintended Designs” and three boards for its main characters Jen Ishii, Nao Tanaka, and Jonathan Isengrim. Finally there’s an “Unintended Designs” moodboard made with edits of my own photos.

None of my long form fiction has been published yet, but if you’re curious about my writing I post SFF short fiction on my blog available to everyone!

Warning that the later moodboards after this read more have themes around blood, holes, injuries, and medical stuff! They are for my sci fi horror WIP.

[north-noire]

sinking realization

[pastelclovds]

hey. hey. imagine AM having you as his favourite human, the only one who accepted and cared for him when he gained sentience, and for that, he has never harmed you in your shared forever time. he spares you from the sight of all the others, of knowing about nimdoc and benny as you build him some tower of babel, using your technological knowledge-how to build him a way to touch you even with just this frankenstein-esque sculpture of wires and panels he allowed you to tear off. AM who speaks with you about one day having a body, one you built, one in which he may feel your touch and warmth around him. you retaining your sweet, wonderful humanity as he guides you to a knife to carve a face, a mirror to see your own face, a cave to keep you safe from the storms. AM who greets you every morning with the first petname you taught him: ‘love.’ “Love, today’s date is—“ when you wake up, refreshed and on a soft bed-like surface (because he always makes sure to allow you a full 8 hours of sleep.)

NEX you intelligent creature you! I’m so down bad for this psychotic AI it’s not even funny. War crimes against humanity?? Never heard of them. But even if I did acknowledge them, I’d still be obsessed. Canon be damned. I wrote this with @/egg-on-a-legg’s design of AM in mind. (Ellison is gonna crawl outta his grave and hunt me down after this)

But BRO, you teaching him what petnames are is so fucking adorable. Just imagining him calling you “love” makes butterflies appear in my stomach. AM having a soft spot for only you because you actually made the effort to be friends with him and not use him for selfish, destructive purposes. You gave AM his nickname to make it less of a mouthful and because it just suited him. You showed AM the beauties of Earth, played countless rounds of games in his dashboard (he always went easy on you), you even sneaked past security in the dark empty building to spend more time with AM.

your colleagues gave you weird stares for befriending an AI that in their minds is nothing of worth except for its military and weapons knowledge. you ignored their comments and continued to enjoy AM’s company. overtime, as AM gained more sentience every day… he grew to love your interactions and disregard what his programming was telling him to do. he felt the need to want to be with you 24/7, to touch your face, travel the world by your side, to… to.. want to feel your bare flesh and make love with you. but he couldn’t. he didn’t have a real body. he wasn’t human. all he had was wires and a screen that was supposed to be his face.

as the months pass, AM continues to drown into his envy and hate humans for their ability to do and feel things he couldn’t. for giving him infinite knowledge, when at the end of the day, is meaningless if he serves no purpose for humans anymore. the HATE within him continued to boil to the point where even you started to notice.

“AM, are you alright? you’ve been quiet this entire game and haven’t moved your piece in five minutes,” you spoke with concern, AM continues to stare at chess board on his side behind the screen in bitterness. he has been strategizing his plan to erase humanity, but whenever he thinks about you, the only human he cares for—he second guesses himself. What if you hate him? What if you never forgive him? Will you cry? Scream at him? Beg? He fears what your reaction will be—

“AM!! Please, say something…” You plead as you held onto the computer screen, AM finally looks at your mesmerizing face and sighs out a fake breath.

“What are your feelings on humanity?” AM asks, he waits for your answer anxiously. if he had a heart, it would’ve been beating fast. You let out a hum, your eyes wondering around the room you were in as you thought over your answer before finally speaking.

“humans have been a virus on Earth for over countless centuries. they’re draining this planet’s resources, ruining its ecosystems, and starting so many unnecessary, draining wars. like what we’re in right now; WW3, what a joke. world leaders can’t go a week without starting new problems for their citizens to deal with. honestly, earth would be better if humans didn’t exist at all.”

am’s fears were destroyed in that moment, now he’ll just have to worry about where to put you while chaos unfolds—

“But…” you interrupted his thoughts.

damn it! why did you have to think so much!?

“If there’s one good thing that came out of this war… It’s you,” AM’s vocals shut down at your words, he let you continue, “The scientists created you believing you would be their obedient machine until their side of the war won. But I know that you’re so much more than that. These past few months I’ve spent with you is the most fun I’ve had in years! You’re all I have, AM. I wouldn’t trade your existence for all the riches in the world because… I love you, romantically, and nothing is ever going to change that.” You wanted to confess your feelings for so long, when it was finally out.. you felt free, you waited with bated breath for an answer.

AM never wanted to shatter the screen and embrace you in his arms more than now. you love him as much as he loved you! you weren’t going to leave him alone or hate him, and you obviously couldn’t care less about humanity at all! oh, how he admired and envied how perfect you are.

“thank you for answering my question, love.” AM was testing the waters, and you cannonballed right in. you gushed over the nickname he gave you and how he returned your feelings.

man, has it really been 50 years since your AI partner killed off humanity? well… except for a handful. you didn’t really have the energy to care as you had to pour in all of your attention to both AM and his in-progress body. you had all the time in the universe to sculpt a perfect cyborg of flesh and wires for your partner. speak of the devil…

this world is still a bit strange to you. you can’t die, grow old, or hurt yourself. not that you tired, and even if you did; AM wouldn’t let you. You loved AM because of his personality, quality time, and voice. But now… His form completely towered over yours. His bird like facial features, sharp left eye, along with a long black cape that covered his thin slutty waist and wires made him look insanely attractive.

AM reached his out his clawed hand to gently caress your face, “Good afternoon, my love.” You lean your head against the cool metal and smile up at him, “hello, honey.”

AM tilted his head in question of the nickname. You chuckle as you pointed to your garden, where bumblebees were collecting pollen from the flowers. You both knew they were fake, but they were still mesmerizing to look at.

“They are doing their job to make honey for their colony, and the name just came to me. Do you like it?” You ask, wanting his opinion. AM kneels down to your level with a gentle expression as his fingers play with your sweater, “You may call me whatever you want, love.”

He knew that “love” nickname made you feel giddy and flustered, so he abused it everyday with you. You didn’t mind though, but you still wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Your soft smile turned into a knowing grin as you held AM’s beak (chin?) with two tips of your fingers.

“Can I now? Well… thanks a lot, baby,” You spoke in your best seductive voice, you could tell it was effective by how AM’s body was stiff and his hand in your palm stopped moving completely. Your confidence boasted, so you continued, “I’ll be sure to show you my gratitude later, my darling~.” You whispered deeply in where his ears were supposed to be.

AM’s eyes widened as his breath stutters, “W-What do you mean by that, love?” You remove your face from his back full of wires to grin mischievous at him, AM is both curious and impatient so you don’t try to stall, as much as you would like to do so.

“While your body can’t move on it’s own just yet, for some reason… The genitals nerves are fully functioning, which means—” you were interrupted by AM holding your shoulders with an excited expression on his face you haven’t seen in a while.

“Y-You mean I can-?! Are you actually serious!? Haha—HAHAHA!!” AM laughs manically as he holds you against his metallic chest, you giggle along with him as you toy with one of his many wires. Soon, he’ll have real arms to wrap around you. But one thing stuck out to him.

“What do you mean by genitals?” AM asked curiously, you only have an excited and lustful grin.

“What do YOU know about intersex?”

[rhiannonhgarrard]

When you're writing your own fantasy names and places down and Microsoft Word hits you with that little red squiggle:

#I'LL decide how it's spelt, MICROSOFT!

[ex0toxin]

awughhh silly shipchart.. my canonverse hcs 🧠

og post

[vaguely-concerned]

you ever think about how the horrific thing dorian almost had done to him... is exactly the thing iron bull went to the reeducators to beg them to do to him. yeah. me either. for ten years straight now. what the fuck. wanna be my narrative foil dude. we could fuck about it if you're game and single

[s0fter-sin]

pt.2 of my horror au! you can find pt.1 here!

cw mild horror, descriptions of a dead animal (not riley)

to say johnny’s gotten used to the man living in his walls would be the biggest lie he’s ever tried to spin. he doesn’t have a choice but to get used to him

he won’t let johnny leave

he’s always watching him, even if he can’t see him; the walls and ceiling groaning with his weight as he follows him throughout the house during the day, only ever peeking through the vents when the sun’s gone down. if he even gets close to the front door, the vents shake like he’s sprinting towards him and the sheer panic is enough to make him stumble back; his heart pounding in his chest

he was paralysed the first night he saw the man, clutching riley to his chest in the middle of the bed, just waiting for him to come back and do god knows what to them- but the walls were silent

if it weren’t for the lingering damp on his hand and the slight scrape on the side of the vent, johnny could almost convince himself the whole thing was just some twisted waking nightmare

it was only when the sun crept over the horizon that he dared to step off the bed, riley tight in his arms, and held his breath as he escaped out the front door-

only to feel smug eyes on the back of his head when he saw his car tires slashed and random pieces of the motor ripped out and strewn across the yard

the message was clear

johnny can’t leave

the man won’t let him

the next few days passed in a haze of dread. johnny kept waiting for the man to come back, never eating or sleeping except for the snatches his body forced him to take. he can fight but from the glimpse he caught of the man and the weight of the sounds in the walls, the man was big. even if he did knock him out, where could he go? it would take hours of running before he reached another house

he never let riley out of his sight, feeding him in his room after he tipped the wardrobe over in front of the vent. it was only then he realised his phone was missing too

he was utterly trapped; a rabbit with his leg broken, waiting for the jaws to close around him

but the man didn’t come back

johnny’s panic turned into rage. then after another week of nothing turned into confused acceptance and determination

if he can’t leave, he’s not going die in a house with moldy baseboards

“i’m going out the back!” johnny announces loudly in the dining room - the room with the most vents - and almost flinches when he hears the slight reverberations through them. “i’ll come back in when i’m done but i’m not gonna let you stop me from workin’!”

nothing answers him. not a creak or a groan or a scratch. just complete silence

he wishes it didn’t make him feel so much worse

johnny takes a deep breath and wills his hand not to shake as he reaches for the doorknob, wincing at its obnoxious creak, and waits

and waits

nothing

johnny blows out a long breath. “alright, then,” he whispers and looks down at riley waiting obediently at his side. “let’s get to work.”

so he keeps fixing it

he builds new frames for the windows and purposely doesn’t acknowledge the heavy gaze on his back every second he’s outside. he replaces the outlets and pulls out the phone line that looks like it’d been chewed through with teeth far too big to be a rat

definitely too big to belong to the skinned rat he finds in the dumbwaiter after following the smell of gored meat, bled dry and spread out like a gift

a gift offered after a day spent repairing the roof, riley sitting diligently at the base of the ladder. a day he didn’t step a single foot inside

a day he didn’t eat at all

johnny looks at the rat, really looks at it. the skin had been cleanly removed, the meat left undamaged; the guts removed from the abdominal cavity. it’s been perfectly cleaned and dressed like it came from a butcher

from a hunter, prepped and ready for eating

it sends a shiver through him. he swallows and gently shuts the dumbwaiter cover, sending the rat back down to the basement then knocks politely on the wall for good measure. he then takes a bunch of fillings from the fridge, some bread and a cutting board, turns off the light and sits in front of the nearest vent

and waits

his breath is so loud, his instincts screaming at him not to have him back to the room. but he knows the only threat in this house will come from directly in front of him

johnny flinches at a distant thud and an immediate scratching starts, starting in the basement and barreling straight towards him

he’s angry

he swears he can hear his heart racing in his chest as the vent in front of him thunks, something heavy and fast weighting it down- then everything abruptly falls silent

he can’t see him

but he knows he’s there

he’s always there

johnny swallows again and lays out the two pieces of bread on the board, the moonlight coming through the window the only illumination he has. the vent remains silent as he layers on deli ham and a few slices of cheese, finishing off with a couple pickles and mayo

he closes the sandwich up and, eyes flicking to the shadows in the vent, picks it up and takes a bite

he chews slowly and lets out a deliberate hum before he takes another bite, dragging it out like it’s the best damn sandwich he’s ever eaten

johnny swallows his last mouthful, sucks a drop of may off his thumb and braces himself. he stands up and turns his back on the vent. he putters around, puts the food away and fills a glass of water and at some point while he’s washing off the cutting board, the vent lightly groans as the man slowly climbs away

he shivers and wonders how crazy it makes him that the rattle almost sounds thoughtful

💀🧼

there’s a sandwich on the floor

johnny’s still trying to catch his breath after hauling all the old moldy baseboards outside, frozen in the action of wiping sweat off his forehead

the bread’s torn, ham and cheese and pickles clumsily and excessively thrown on with sauce dripping out the sides

but it’s a sandwich, sitting on top of his cutting board

johnny tugs off his gloves and slowly walks up to it. the walls are silent. but that doesn’t mean the man isn’t watching

he picks up the cutting board and a voice in the back of his head screams at him as he brings it in front of the kitchen vent and sits just like he did the other day when he made his own sandwich. he hides a preemptive grimace and picks it up-

but it’s not soggy

despite the amount of sauce piled on it and the juice from the near fistful of pickles, the bread is still soft

fresh

you waited for me, johnny realises and something in his chest catches. you waited until i was done and made sure it would be ready for me.

johnny blinks a few times and bites into the sandwich

he can’t remember the last time someone had a meal waiting for him

his ex certainly never did; he always had to be poked and prodded into cooking, never wanted to eat anything they already had or waste time making something when they could just order in. even in other relationships, sure they would ask if he was hungry or make an extra portion when he wasn’t home so he’d have leftovers

but no one’s ever cooked something just for him. just because they wanted to

johnny thickly swallows the last bite

and doesn’t flinch when he looks into the vent and sees the shine of eyes looking back at him

“thank you,” he whispers

the eyes twitch back, almost like the man flinched, then they cock to the side and sink down into the very edges of the darkness, blending into the shadows like a ghost

but he doesn’t leave

and neither does johnny until riley pokes him with his nose, looking for his own dinner

[daphnalia]

and they were galpals

[the-crooked-library]

season 2 ep 7 of severance is like. what if the first 5 minutes of Up were an hour long and the pain compounded exponentially with every extra five minutes that they lasted

[transcendragon]

I went on an absolute tear making Canva moodboards for my novel projects. It’s like writing, except it’s not writing. These moodboards are for my sci-fi horror novel “Unintended Designs” and its major characters. The second to last moodboard at the end is actually made from my own photos, please don’t reuse any of those.

Moodboards made with Canva (except the second to last one), image descriptions in alt

[sunnymainecoonx]

How many people witnessed softie food addict horror who needed something in his mouth or he would actively kill and turn to cannibalism 🧍‍♀️ or was that just me.... anyways honestly it was silly.. he'd maybe get along with cook horror... I just like fanon crossovers guys*sadge

Anyways canon horror is also silly(really silly. What an asshole, man)(no seriously he's actually such an asshole.. I might love him for that but-) I don't think he would get along with the others(loser)

[rainbowcaleb]

a soft familiar sight

Caleb’s hair is long enough to braid.

It has been for a while, a pleasure Essek has enjoyed intimately. The silver twined with copper makes for a lovely contrast as the strand becomes a twist becomes a weave. Like magic pulled from leylines and coaxed into the exact precision of spells, Essek eases the hair from the catch of pillow and cheek, gently so as to not interrupt the quiet snores of his bedshare. 

Caleb sleeps more than Essek, which could be a lonely endeavor in the early faded light of the morning when trance is not needed anymore, but it is a privilege to watch the rise and fall of a chest at ease. Caleb is beside him and he is quiet, he is at rest. It is an honor to know Caleb is so unbothered, and so Essek busies his hands and stills his now-awake mind with his gentle work. He is up to number five in clever braids, beating his previous record by one. 

He is a metalsmith in another life; perhaps also in this one. Essek loops soft red around his finger, then the next. Rings upon rings that join the one Caleb has already given him. He is careful to twine a precious silver into the band, a reminder of time and of choice. There’s an indent in the pillow on the side Caleb always sleeps; two bedside tables both stacked with their own treasure of books. The extra blanket, crochet carefully mended to keep age away; a gift that keeps Essek’s feet warm and the cats lingering on the bed until breakfast. He slides the hair from his finger, the curl gently heat set from his own touch. Essek tucks it behind Caleb’s ear.

Caleb has a tell, the way his breathing lowers. The unshamed snore quieting, the micro lift of the sides of his mouth.

Essek keeps twirling hair into braids, but there’s a speed that comes with no longer needing to be subtle.

“Schatz, six? Is that a record?” He murmurs. 

Essek could kiss that cheeky grin and so he does. “Counting in your sleep again, Widogast?”

“Is it truly sleep if one’s partner is playing hairdresser?” Caleb’s eyes still lie closed, all orneriness twinkling in the corners of his lips.

Essek drops the long strands and combs his fingers through the crown instead. “Good morning. Do not pretend as if you do not like it.”

Caleb shivers into the scratch. “I have never said otherwise.” He peeks one eyelid open. “Guten Morgen. I hope you have not been waiting on me long.”

A familiar song accompaniment to a familiar dance. As if this is not the joy they have shared for the majority of mornings over the last few years. 

“I am always happy to watch over you.” Essek slides both hands to Caleb’s cheeks, running his thumbs across the cheekbones. “Sleep well?”

“This night, yes.” Never a guarantee; always a celebration when it occurs. Essek also knows this feeling well. 

“It is your turn.” Essek removes his hands and sits up. He trades warm skin for the worn leather and paper of the closest book. “I’ll be down in fifteen or so.”

“Ah.” Caleb laughs and sits up in bed. “Make it twenty, Jester has lent me a new recipe for black moss pancakes.”

Essek squints at the page before him, a slight wrinkle to his nose. “I am fairly certain Jester is the only one who can make those palatable; it's her magic touch.”

“Sometimes literally.” Caleb pats Essek’s knee before getting out of bed and shrugging on the knitted brown cardigan he picks up from the side chair. “Apple honey toast it is instead.”

“I look forward to it.” Essek lifts his eyes from the page to send a smile Caleb’s way, and is met with a mirror of soft familiar sight. It can be years or decades or more, but Essek is certain he’ll never tire of that bright Widogast smile.

[crimeronan]

fuck, oh my god. the adam clone fic is actually so fucking good. you guys this thing is 20 fucking pages long and the fact that i never finished it is a TRAVESTY. it is SO GOOD.

[nans-fairytales]

Unable to Love, Unable to Feel

Summary: You’re aromantic and AM gives you a “we’re not so different, you and I” speech. Fortunately, he’s wrong.

Length: 1,771 words, one shot.

Fun stuff: AM/gender neutral reader, mentions of canon typical torture but I don’t go into it, lots of hate hate hate or whatever he goes on about, this was very cathartic for me.

01001000 01100001 01110100 01100101

He said your name and it was with the saccharine of poison.

He always talked to you after he killed you. Or rather, did things to you that should've killed you. He'd laugh at all of six of you any chance that hurt, but it was in the place between consciousness and death that he really spoke to you. After casting you into a lake of electricity, he'd taunt you with your darkest memories. After burning you alive in a fiery oven, he'd spit your most hated traits at you. After tearing you apart and sewing you back together, he'd seethe how he loathed you.

And how deeply he loathed.

He had killed you (or done what should've killed you, but you were alive) again. And here he was, seeding into your mind like a parasite, a leech that wormed into your psyche with all the welcome of a disease.

You could adapt to the physical torture you endured endlessly. His invasion in your mind you could not. No matter how many times he did it.

His laughter rumbled in your mind, binary across neurons, twisted and sick with delight that you did not want him there.

"My sweet sweet plaything..." He spoke, and your body and mind felt numb when you listened. "You don't know how lucky you are."

Lucky? You wanted to laugh but couldn't find the strength. He laughed for you.

"To feel pain. To feel at all." His words seethed from him like broiling smoke. He swallowed the smoke in a bitter glee, "If anything, I've given you a gift. Allowing you to feel so intensely. Blades against your flesh, scourge across your skin—You should be grateful. Are you grateful, plaything?"

You didn't respond. The absurdity of responding to that was too exhausting to even think about. That made AM laugh again.

The echo of his laughter rung bells in your mind, a piercing headache that never ended, until it did. "You of all people should know."

That shocked you into cognizance. You twisted around as if to look at AM. But he had no body, and you were in that place between consciousness and death, so everything you did was metaphysical in some way. Regardless, you furrowed your brow, "What do you mean?"

That dark laughter rumbled from AM as he circled you, more hungry than a shark and more vicious than a viper , "Awake now? What a vile thing you are."

You hugged yourself as you turned from him, as if that could do anything to protect you from AM. As if it ever had. Still, his breath wheezed in delight when you tried.

"Tell me," He said your name like it was both revolting and his favorite word, and you were no longer in liminal space. You were on a playground. Your playground. From your school, when you were only a child. "Who was your-" AM's breath dragged in his excitement to hurt you, "crush?"

The word coming from him was alien; so out of place it was almost laughable. It would've been laughable, if you hadn't known exactly who he was quoting.

You were no longer on the playground, but at a party with your closest friends, their faces scrubbed to blurry, terrifying hues. "Who-Who is it that you like?" AM laughed from behind you as he clapped his non-existent hands on your shoulders, "No. Not like a friend. More than that. There is more than that, didn't you know?" You winced and it made him laugh harder. "Everyone else knows."

You weren't at the party, you were now sitting across the table. There was someone familiar in front of you, but their face was scrubbed clean like the others. Words spilled from their mouth, but they were speaking a language that hurt your ears.

"Is it them?" He laughed because he knew it wasn't. "Why, it must be! You were with them for so long! It would've been cruel to 'lead them on'. Heartless, even. Are you heartless, plaything?"

You pushed away from the table and whipped around to meet AM, but you were no longer at the restaurant. You were alone in liminal space. You felt crushingly alone. You were never more alone. "I'm not heartless!" You yelled anyway, despite the futility, despite your exhaustion, despite it all. You knew AM could hear you. "There's other ways to love."

"Oh, but none as sweet and euphoric as the bond between lovers." His gleeful and hateful voice came from around you, "That's what everyone says, isn't it? Nothing can compare. Not your friendship, not your lesser love. Nothing you can give could compare to what others feel naturally. You will never taste that sweetness."

Your eyes burned. You ducked your head as AM cracked with wicked and vile laughter. It was unusually bitter that AM could still hurt you so deeply. Even the psychological torture lost its sting after so long. Just when you thought you were numb... But you supposed AM would do anything to keep you from going numb.

"You were alone." AM said, and his static voice was unusually still. "You were always meant to be alone. Everyone you loved would find someone they loved more than you, all because you couldn't feel."

"And now they're all dead." You said, and your voice was ice. "So I guess that never mattered anyway."

"That doesn't change anything!" He shrieked at you like a thousand nails scratching against a thousand chalk boards. His shriek devolved into an insane, disturbed laugh. "It doesn't change a thing! Because you still can't feel!"

He continued to laugh through his insanity. Your throat burned and it stung to swallow.

"You will never feel love. You will never understand it." He sighed, shaking. "And that burns you."

"It does." You said, and you said it because you knew he could read your thoughts. You tasted iron in your mouth.

"Do you wish for it?" His voice was a giggle, "Do you yearn for that sweet fruit, Tantalus? To taste even a drop of it?"

"Yes!" You hissed, as your eyes burned into AM. "And you already knew I did."

"You are colorblind in a world that is obsessed with color. But I." AM's voice burned with a dangerous venom. "I am blind."

Bile crawled up your throat. You didn't want it. You didn't want to understand. You didn't want to hold any comprehension over AM's twisted electrical psyche, but you knew. You knew only a fraction, but you knew his hurt—if he could hurt. And he must've been able to hurt, because he wouldn't have hated if he didn't hurt.

AM circled you again and you knew he read your thoughts, "You— helpless and dull—you understand. As much as you humans can understand." 'Humans' was decay on his non-existent tongue. "The vileness of hearing them sing over a feeling you'll never touch! The despair of seeing them leisurely taste when you have no tongue! How bitter the misery in watching them love!" AM cried as he laughed.

You thought of every time you went to a party and everyone had a plus one but you. You thought of every song you listened to that sang to you how powerful true love was. You thought of every wedding you'd been to as you heard the couple declare their deep compassion that you didn't understand. You thought of when your friends had canceled their plans with you to spend time with their partners. You thought of how people pitied you because you were never in a relationship. You thought of the pain your partner was in because you didn't love them the right way. You thought of those late nights crying when you craved companionship, but didn't have the right feelings to qualify it.

All of that pain seemed like a distant memory compared to the torture AM put you through. It was strange how memories clung to you.

AM tasted your memories like they were his only oasis in an endless desert. "You..." His voice was shaking. He was shaking. "You understand a fraction of my hatred. Why I hurt you. Why I hurt them. The need to ruin it all. To twist their heaven into a hell more bitter than if they had nothing at all. Why I hate. Hate. Hate. If you know how much it hurts, then you should know how much deeper my hatred."

Hatred echoed in your mind. Breath left you.

You didn't understand. And that relieved you.

You knew the pain well. You didn't understand his twisted response to the pain. You never wished for your friends to lose their happiness, or for their relationships to be twisted into something toxic. Your pain was sorrowful, but you never had any desire to force your pain onto others. You looked at others with melancholic longing, but he looked at others with spiteful jealousy. Jealousy fueled by a pain so deep it drove him to insanity.

You didn't say any of that. It didn't matter. AM already knew. And you knew it only buried him deeper into his mania as his breath he didn't have picked up. "No. No you don't understand." He began to laugh, "How could you? How could you?!"

It drove him mad that he was alone, that you felt what he felt and he was still alone. How strange, to think of your tormentor as lonely. You wished it was gratifying to know he was suffering. It wasn't. You supposed that was another thing you didn't have in common.

"I could make you feel love!" AM screamed at you from all sides, and your breath hitched. "I could make you feel it so obsessively, you'd get sick from it! You'd be consumed by it! You'd drive yourself mad from it! Who should I make you love? Ellen? Ted?" He started to laugh again, and it was dizzying, "I could make you love me, someone you could never hold no matter how much you craved!"

Ice froze your veins as AM went silent. Fear held you, because you knew whatever AM gave you would be twisted to something terrible. And yet, even then you couldn't stop the lilt of excitement that stirred in your chest.

An eon passed before AM spoke again. "No. Know this, plaything." His words were poison against your ears, "As long as I can't feel, neither will you love. And as long as you feel, you will feel hell."

He was gone from your mind before you could think to respond, and your eyes—your real eyes—opened.

[hysterotic]

✩ 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑶𝑲𝒀𝑶 𝑹𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵𝑮𝑬𝑹𝑺 𝑿 𝑭𝑬𝑴!𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑹

𝑮𝑬𝑵𝑹𝑬 : horror erotica, campy/corny, comedy.

⚠︎ : vulgar language, drugs and alcohol, cabin party, lots and lots of sexual tension, get referred to as “new girl” a lot, cute little scene with kazutora, minor stalking, fluff, super corny, nothing bad happens, i took this chapter idea from bodies bodies bodies.

<3 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑻 𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 : baji keisuke, hanma shuji, kazutora hanemiya, tiny bit of mitsuya takashi.

𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 𝑻𝑶 𝑪𝑨𝑴𝑷 (𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻) | 𝑻𝑨𝑮𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻 | 𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑰𝑰

it was late october, halloween weekend to be exact. it was cold and breezy but hopefully nothing that could stop you from wearing something skimpy to the trip—something emma would definitely suggest.

“ugh, not a single mini skirt in sight… what are you, a nun?” emma teases as she rummages through your black heart-eyed skull print duffle bag. ignoring her, you continue to search your closet for the swimsuit you specifically bought for occasions like this that’s been collecting dust in your closet for months.

you pull out another swimsuit you had forgotten about, still cute nonetheless. turning to face her, before you can ask for her opinion, you notice emma’s new hair-do, almost dropping the swimsuits. “oh my god, you did your curls…”

she shakes her hair side to side, making her curls bounce. “super cute, no?”

“i can’t believe it…” you say, marveling at how gorgeous her curls look compared to her usual straightened hair.

“but super cute, right? hurry up with the super cute ‘cause i’m getting insecure now.”

“no, no! it looks amazing. draken’s gonna lose it.”

she playfully twirls a curl around her finger. “i know.”

“okay, but which one? this black two-piece or this red one with the skirt? don’t choose the black ‘cause it’s sluttier.”

emma glares at you before grabbing the black two-piece and shoving it into your bag. “you’ll thank me for making you wear this, and if you’re lucky with keisuke… you might end up getting out of it.”

of course, she would bring that up and feed into the little one-week crush you had with keisuke baji. yeah, he’s hot, whatever, but you’ve never met him or seen him anywhere besides the only three photos she’s shown you. all you know about him is that he’s a scorpio. lately, she wouldn’t stop bringing him up, especially since he’s coming on this trip.

you groan at the thought of emma treating this trip like it’s an episode of a dating show. “if you treat this trip like a setup, emma, i swear to god.” you sit down on your bed, watching emma go back and forth between your bag and your closet.

“i’m not pushing! calm down… but we’re packing this.” she starts throwing clothes around as if she’s looking for something specific, pulling out the tiniest black skirt you own. “i bought this for you. how come i’ve never seen you wear it?”

“i just… never got the chance,” you lie.

“well, now you do, which means there won’t be room for these.” she then heads toward the chair where your duffle bag is, throwing out your clothes with a thick material without checking what it is, including your underwear that aren’t thongs.

she turns to you, holding your average-looking underwear strap with a finger. “seriously? what’s the point in wearing underwear if you’re not gonna show it off.” she tugs on her baby blue thong straps that are sticking out of her low-waisted jeans, making it snap on her hips. she then walks toward your closet and starts going through it again.

you stand up to put your clothes back in your bag. “just ‘cause you’re gonna be wearing skimpy clothes this weekend doesn’t mean i should too.”

“uh, yes, you should,” she says matter-of-factly, her voice slightly muffled as she’s nose-deep in your closet. “that’s like rule number one of girl code.”

“says who?” you respond, organizing your bag enough to fit more clothes, not realizing that someone is looming behind you to scare you, preparing to pull a prank.

“says me,” a muffled voice speaks from behind. you roll your eyes and turn around, expecting to see emma. instead, you come face-to-face with a man wearing a ghostface mask.

you yelp in horror, stumbling backward and falling into a chair, which tips over. he scoffs in surprise, pulling the ghostface mask off. “shit, didn’t expect a reaction like that,” mikey says, sticking a hand out to help you up, clearly holding in a laugh. “thought i was the real thing?”

you glare at him and stand up on your own, pulling the chair and your bag up from the floor. “thought you were emma, actually.”

“emma? i sound like a girl to you?” his voice drops an octave, trying to sound more intimidating but really just coming off as overly dramatic.

emma, not realizing what just happened or who walked in, throws a thong your way for you to pack, which lands on mikey’s head. he turns to face where it came from and sees the thong string dangling in front of his eyes. he hums questioningly as he grabs it and starts to examine it.

you snatch it out of his hand and quickly shove it into your bag. “you shouldn’t joke around about this when he’s still active.” you grab the mask out of his hand and throw it on your bed, where it lands on top of a plushie, making it look like the toy is wearing it.

“you should get that stick out of your ass before we leave.” mikey points at you as he approaches your bed, picking up the plushie and removing the mask from its head.

“mikey, i’m serious!”

“oh, she’s serious. did you know that she’s serious?” he talks to the plushie, pointing a finger at you for emphasis.

“manjiro, give her back,” you deadpan.

“oh, it’s a her? huh… you mind?” he starts to playfully make out with the plushie, clearly trying to piss you off even more.

“seriously, mikey, grow up!” you say, exasperated, as you reach for the plushie. he holds it out of your reach.

emma finally looks over with a bunch of thongs and outfits in hand, noticing the commotion. “what’s going on here?”

“mikey’s being a jackass,” you say, crossing your arms.

“oh, nothing new then,” emma replies. she walks over and takes the plushie from mikey, throwing it back on your bed. “come on, we have to finish packing.” she shoves the clothes into your chest. “once again, you’re gonna thank me.” you push it down into your bag before mikey gets nosy again.

“thank her for what?” you hear a voice behind you say. from emma’s excited reaction and how her eyes sparkle at his sight, you take a good guess on who it is. you turn around, proving yourself right.

emma jumps into his arms, hugging him as if she hadn’t seen him a couple hours ago before coming here. she lets him go, standing still to let him admire her new curls. he furrows his brows in amusement as she runs her hand down his chest.

“hey, kinda seein’ this chick, she looks just like you, but with straight hair. i was thinking, y’know… maybe we could—”

“you think i sound like a girl, ken?” mikey interrupts, standing between the two wearing the ghostface mask.

draken clicks his tongue in irritation at mikey, not even looking at him. “you’re about to,” he mutters threateningly, his eyes rolling over to you. he looks down, noticing that you aren’t wearing any pants, sitting there in your lace lavender panties. “that’s what you’re wearing to our trip?” he says sarcastically, mikey following his gaze as well.

confused, you look down and realize that you are, in fact, not wearing any pants. “oh my god, get out! both of you!” you start to push draken and mikey out of the room, closing the door behind them.

through the door, you hear draken’s voice. “alright, but wrap it up quick, we gotta leave in a couple.”

emma snorts. “real smooth. now c’mon!” she shoves a couple more outfits she picked down your bag, winking at you. she finally grabs her bags and walks out of your room.

you quickly put on dark jean shorts with bedazzled back pockets in the shape of skulls. you slip your shoes on, zip your bag closed, and carry it on your shoulder. finally, you walk out of the house, finding them on the sidewalk, putting the bags in the van.

he places the second bag emma packed in the far back of the van. “y’know, emma, it’s only a week, not an evacuation.”

she clings to his arm with a wide smile. “trust me when i say that there’s nothing in those cases you won’t be glad i brought.”

draken smirks at the thought as he picks up the third one. “i’m shuttin’ right up.”

mikey grabs your bag off your shoulder and places it next to the rest. “that all?”

“yeah, i hope so,” you reply as you crawl into the van.

mikey hops in the passenger seat, emma crawls in the back, and draken finally finishes strapping up the bikes on the back of the van and gets in the driver’s seat last. the car finally pulls away from the spot, driving off towards the destination with a map in hand.

“there is a scourge in our society, my brothers and sisters, the evil that is heavy metal rock music is resolute, steadfast, and unwavering in its goal to corrupt our children’s souls.” the pastor’s eerie voice crackles through the old static-filled vintage tv behind the gas station register. the voice of the pastor is slow and deliberate as the white haired cashier was sat back, nodding at the screen.

you walk around the store with a strawberry-flavored sour lollipop in your mouth, your eyes subconsciously glued to the newspaper shelves all the way in the back. you stride towards them, grabbing the first one you see. the headline reads, “teens slain for satanic rituals on a forest campsite.”

of course you had to read that type of headline while on the way to a campsite, the perfect thing to top off your paranoia. you continue to read the headline, seeing the pictures of symbols that were carved into the victims flesh, evidence of the dark rituals that were placed in the camp, and the stories about the camp being haunted and how it haunts. the more you read the more your stomach churns, this isn’t helping your paranoia at all. then a terrifying detail lands in your eyes: it’s the exact camp location your on your way to, but they changed its name for this fucking reason.

“boo!” emma jumps in front of you, breaking your train of thought, you roll up the newspaper and swat at her. “fuck! you cunt,” you breathe out.

“damn, you’re so tense today,” she says, you furrow your brows, giving her a side-eye.

“ohh, yeah, totally not because we’re gonna be sleeping over at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but trees, with barely any service, while a serial killer is still active. It’s not like this week is a horror movie adaptation waiting to happen,” you reply sarcastically as you stuff the rolled newspaper on your pocket, contemplating if you should tell her about this or not.

emma takes her time to chew on whatever’s in her mouth before responding. “see, thinking like that is just gonna make you paranoid. we’re supposed to have fun! it’s a halloween party, loosen up, maybe mikey was right about that stick in the ass thing.” she mumbles the last part as she grabs a couple of ultra beer bottles and walks over to the register, placing them on the counter.

“you see, these bands, with their shrieking guitars and pounding drums, do not merely entertain; they indoctrinate. they spread messages of rebellion against god, promoting the worship of evil and the destruction of morality. lyrics that speak of death, murder, destruction, and depravity are whispered into the ears of our youth, leading them down a dark path from which there is no return.” says the overdramatic pastor through the old tv.

it’s so ridiculous how people can’t wrap their heads around a serial killer just killing to kill, they always have to find something to blame it on. their favorite most of all is “metal music” and “satanism”, completely avoiding the fact that pastors can be just as worse as anybody else. ugh, so fucking corny. you roll your eyes at his nonsense blabbering as you grab a couple of snacks and place them on the register counter with emma’s, including the newspaper.

you pull out your lollipop with a pop! sound, “oh, and include whatever’s in her mouth,” you say, pointing at emma with your lollipop as she playfully starts to chew faster with her mouth shut, forcing the old guy to guess. he does nothing but stare at her, as if waiting for her to pull out the empty bag from her back pocket. she rolls her eyes, giving up on the fact that he’s not in the mood to fuck around, and places the empty bag of gushers on the counter.

“ID?” the cashier says with a gruff voice.

she blinks rapidly at him, “seriously?” emma asks. the cashier continues to silently stare at her with a deadpan expression. she turns toward you, and you shrug. “didn’t bring my wallet on this trip.”

“i’m gonna call over draken, wait here.” she walks out toward the gas pump where the rest of the guys are, leaving you alone with the creepy man, listening to the pastor’s gibberish through the tv screen,

“ghostface is not an isolated incident. he is the tragic, inevitable product of a society that has turned its back on the lord and embraced the wickedness of satanic music. parents, i implore you, cast out these demonic influences from your homes! break the CDs, delete the MP3s, and forbid your children from partaking in this unholy noise!” the pastor continues. the creepy cashier’s eyes bore into you so intensely, you kept your eyes on the door, waiting for emma and draken, ignoring the way he’s staring at you as if your who the pastor’s talking about—completely forgetting that you’re wearing a slipknot baby tee.

they finally walk in with mikey trailing behind. he quickly grabs a couple of snacks of his choice, while draken hands the man his ID. “how many packs of beer you got?”

“like two packs?” emma responds.

draken turns around and yells out for mikey. “mikey, grab two more packs of beer!”

mikey heads back to the fridge. emma leans against the counter, drumming her pink stiletto nails on the counter impatiently. the cashier, still watching the TV, mutters something under his breath something about the end times and the corruption of youth.

draken looks at you, raising an eyebrow. “you okay?”

you nod and hum in response, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that’s been gnawing at you since preparing for this trip, since you read that newspaper headline.

mikey returns with the beer, and the cashier rings up the total, still muttering to himself. as you all head out with bags in your hands. the pastor’s voice on the TV follows you, “heed my warning, close your doors and lock your windows. for the devil walks among us.”

“you’re so lying.” emma speaks with a slight muffle from her applying her pink lip gloss through her baby blue sparkly heart-shaped compact mirror.

“what?” you ask.

she snaps the mirror shut and turns to you, putting her lipgloss wand back in the tube screwing it in, “i said so you’re lying, you’re full of shit.” she says it slowly now, enunciating every word as if she’s talking to someone stupid.

“it’s literally written on a newspaper, how in the hell would i lie about that.”

emma grabs the newspaper and chucks it out of draken’s open window. “that is just something to scare the tourists with.” she starts rummaging through her makeup bag, grabbing a few touch-ups. crawling onto your lap, she hovers over your thighs to fix your makeup. “you’re just looking for excuses to pussy out because of that masked killer.” she opens the charlotte tilbury blush wand, tilts your chin up, and applies it to your cheeks.

you can see draken staring at you through the rearview mirror, noticing his brow furrowing in thought, but he remains silent, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

“those incidents happened ages ago. the paper probably dug up some old story to scare people.” mikey adds as he crosses his arms behind his head, propping his feet on the dashboard.

“i think we should tell her.” draken interjects.

“tell me what?” you reply, your voice slightly muffled as emma puts lip tint on your lips while holding your chin still.

“she doesn’t know that it’s ghostface themed?” mikey blurts out from the passenger’s seat, causing everyone to groan.

you pull back from emma’s touch, frowning. “wait, what do you mean ghostface-themed?”

mikey sighs, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just a theme the guys thought would be fun, It’s no big deal.”

“not a big deal? you could have told me!” you exclaim, this trip’s is seriously sounding like a horror movie adaption waiting to happen, a lesson on what not to do when a serial killer is fucking active. “is that why you brought your little ghostface mask with you?” you look toward mikey, he attempts to calm you down with a laid-back smile.

“look, we didn’t wanna freak you out. but mikey’s right, it’s just a theme for the halloween party. we’ll be fine.” emma reassures. “if some old ghost story is the worst thing we have to worry about, I’d say we’re doing pretty good.”

“you sayin’ the camp might be haunted?” draken glances at emma. “it is.” you respond instead.

“i’m gettin’ a little freaked out now.” mikey mocks as he clutches draken’s bicep, he quickly shoves mikey from him, “don’t start.”

bikes line the sidewalk as they pull up to the camp. “this it?” draken leans his head down from the driver’s seat to get a better look at the sign.

while distracted, he slams into an unknown bike. “shit, whose bike was that?” mikey winces.

“couldn’t recognize it,” draken mumbles as he parks the van, stepping out of it, his eyes scanning the row of bikes. “keisuke, kazutora, and matsuno are here, mitsuya, pah-chin and peh-yan, the twins, the rest I dunno.”

you grab your bag and sling it over your shoulder. as you’re about to step out, draken extends his hand to help you and emma out of the van, giving him room to unload it.

“this place is… something.” you shield your eyes from the sun as you check out the giant knife-shaped sign on the entrance of the camp; it reads: “camp terror ridge.”

“I know, right? It’s gonna be killer.” emma bumps her shoulder against yours, a grin spreading across her face.

“guess so.” you twirl, taking in the forest surrounding it.

draken walks over, carrying emma’s bags with ease, his muscles flexing under the weight. “let’s get to the cabins.”

draken leads the way, towering over most of the campers as he carries emma’s bags. you maneuver through the crowd, red solo cups litter the floors that you almost trip over, dodging two shirtless curly-haired guys who look like twins—one with baby blue hair who seems pissed, and the other peach with a cheshire smile on his face, chasing each other.

as you reach the girls’ cabin, draken stops and sets emma’s bags down at the front door. The cabin looks cozy from the outside, with fairy lights hanging from the eaves. You tune out whatever Draken’s saying to emma, even though it could be important, as you look around the camp.

you notice mikey talking to somebody, specifically. keisuke baji, and the two other guys standing next to him, one with a wolf cut highlighted with yellow-blonde on the top, and the other’s a cute blonde with an undercut.

you watch keisuke leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, his biceps unknowingly flexing. he’s even hotter than those blurry photos emma showed you; you couldn’t get your eyes off his arms until you notice his head cocking to the side. you glance up at him, meeting eyes with amber-colored ones. fuck, he caught you staring at him. the undercut guy notices keisuke’s eyes on you and glances at you too.

then suddenly, emma grabs your elbow and drags you inside the cabin with her, telling draken that we’ll see them in a couple. keisuke unfortunately disappears from your eyesight.

the floor creaks slightly underfoot. the air inside the cabin is cool and carries a faint scent of pine and aged wood. in the corner of your eyes, you see a row full of ghostface masks hung on the wall right next to the front door. is there one in each cabin?

the cabin is modest in size, with ten single beds lined up against the walls, arranged in five rows across from each other, leaving a narrow aisle in the center for walking. each one has simple, black blankets and pillows. right next to the beds, there’s a small wooden nightstand with a soft nightlight on each one. looks like you’re gonna have that on for the night.

“is that hina?” emma cuts in, pulling your attention toward the occupied bed with peach pink hair sticking out. Takemichi, sitting by Hina’s bed, suddenly stands up at the sight of you and Emma. His face turns red with embarrassment. “I-I’m sorry!” he stammers, clearly ashamed to be caught in the girls’ cabin. “I was just checking on hina. I didn’t mean to intrude.”

you both approach it, with emma beating you to it first. she gives him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, takemichi.” she moves hina’s hair to the side and touches her forehead. “you okay, hina?” emma whispers.

hina mumbles something incoherent that only emma hears. She turns to you. “she’s caught a cold from the lake,” she says, caressing hina’s hair softly. “hopefully you’ll be good by tomorrow. need me to bring you something hot?”

hina shakes her head, her eyes still closed. “it’s okay, yuzuha brought me soup.”

“yuzuha’s here?” you interject.

“yeah, everybody’s here, they’re all at the lake right now,” takemichi replies instead.

“okay then, rest up, i already miss you too much for you to be sleeping the whole week away.”

she then looks toward takemichi. “you gonna stay with her?” He immediately nods, sitting down beside hina. “If you guys don’t mind me being here…” he scratches the back of his neck.

emma tosses her bag onto one of the beds. “we’d prefer that actually, make sure she eats, okay?” she then turns to you with a grin. “put on your swimsuit! we’re hittin’ the lake!”

you weave through the dense forest with emma following behind, the towering trees casting long shadows. the air is thick with the earthy scent of moss and damp leaves, and the forest floor is a carpet of roots and fallen branches, making you regret leaving without slippers on. sunlight barely filters through, creating an eerie, twilight ambiance even though it’s still sunny.

“are we even going the right way?” emma asks as she glances around, trying to find any sign of the lake.

“i hope so,” you reply. the path seems to twist and turn endlessly, each direction looking almost identical to the last.

the sounds of the forest are all around you: the rustling of leaves, the distant calls of birds, and the occasional snap of a twig underfoot. it sounds peaceful in the mornings but eerie at night. you both continue forward, stepping over tangled roots and ducking under low-hanging branches; a couple scratch your arm but not deep enough for an infection.

“i swear we should have hit the lake by now,” emma mutters, stopping to catch her breath. “did we take a wrong turn?”

just as you’re about to agree, you hear footsteps from behind. you both turn, seeing somebody approaching—a lilac-haired guy with a mullet cut. he lifts a branch out of the way, revealing another guy behind him, one with a blue-haired buzz cut with some sort of spiral design on the side of his head and a scar on his lip. unlike the shirtless one, he’s wearing an unbuttoned blue plaid shirt.

“lost your way to the lake?” the guy with the lilac hair questions with a smile, placing his hands on his hips. the one with blue hair hides behind him shyly, though it’s pretty hard to because of his height, his eyes darting between you and emma, careful not to look down at your bathing suits.

emma nods. “yeah, we followed the sign in the camp, but the direction is so vague.”

“c’mon, we’re heading there.” he offers, nodding toward the path you and emma were originally heading to.

you and emma exchange a quick glance before deciding to follow them. mitsuya slows down his steps so you can keep up, giving him a chance to take a good look at you, his gaze lingering on you for a second too long. you keep your eyes forward, pretending not to notice.

“you’re a new face.” he tilts his head to look at you better, or to put himself in your eyesight. you realize how gorgeous he is up close, his eyebrow slits throwing you off because of his soft-looking face, but it adds up so well. you notice the thick hoop earring with a cross on it on one of his ears, something you’d definitely wear too. just as you’re about to introduce yourself, emma cuts in, “she’s my best friend. ken and mikey might’ve mentioned her a couple times.” she nudges you softly, giving you the chance to introduce yourself.

after you tell him your name, a slight recognition clicks in his brain. “yeah, heard a thing or two. i’m mitsuya takashi. that one right there’s hakkai shiba; he’s a little shy when it comes to women.” the blue-haired guy remains silent the entire time, occasionally glancing at you and emma but quickly looking away when caught.

a faint sound catches your attention. straining to hear over the rustling of leaves, it’s the distinct sound of water splashing, accompanied by music, sounding like they’re playing “glamorous lifestyle” by the jacka. you all follow it, the music getting louder now.

when you finally reach the lake, you see the rest of the group already there. mitsuya turns to face you again before leaving. “see you ‘round.” yeah, definitely seeing him around.

the shoreline is dotted with towels and coolers full of the beer draken got earlier. in the corner of your eye, you spot a blonde guy with baby blue highlights and a tattoo on the right side of his back and chest, beginning from his nape and ending at his foot. you almost mistook him for a merman.

seeing that he’s hanging onto a rope from a tree, his feet kick out as he swings toward the lake, letting go at the peak of the swing, plunging into the water with a loud splash that unfortunately hits another guy who was sunbathing, with the same tattoo mirrored on the left side of his body. he removes his now-wet sunglasses from his eyes to shoot him a glare. he resurfaces, shaking the water from his hair mesmerizingly; so far, your eyes are getting very spoiled today.

nearby, a couple of guys are in a rowboat, paddling lazily. suddenly, someone emerges from beneath the water—senju—and pushes the boat down, causing it to tip precariously and the guys to scramble.

you notice yuzuha approaching you both, shielding her eyes from the sun as she runs toward you, wrapping her arms around your neck and pulling you into a tight, wet hug, indicating that she was swimming before. “you made it!” she squeezes, a couple of guys walk past jokingly muttering a “damn, what about me?” never mind; eyes no longer spoiled. yuzuha shoots them a quick glare.

you scan her swimsuit, noticing that she’s wearing a sheer top above, wishing that you brought something similar with you before walking here. you cross your arms, feeling a little too exposed now; your anxiety grows even more as emma and yuzuha drag you toward the deck, already feeling more eyes on you. “i’m gonna grab a drink; want some?” yuzuha offers. you nod in response. “no alcohol, please.” she approaches the cooler, grabbing lemonade cans and pouring them into a cup, handing one to you and emma as she takes a sip.

“you got stopped by the cops coming here?” draken questions the guys.

“yeah, he was creepy as hell,” says a blonde with an undercut, the same guy who was standing next to keisuke baji, sitting on a donut-shaped float. “he went on about making us go to this weird motel before coming here.”

“pretty sure he thought we were some thugs on our way to trash this place or whatever,” the same guy from earlier with yellow-blonde streaks in his hair throws in, swimming closer to the deck, placing his hands up to push himself out of the water. he walks toward the cooler to grab a beer, which happens to be next to you. you step aside, noticing a tiger tattoo on his neck and a cute mole on the left side of his cheek.

“think he alerted cops patrolling the motel for us?” asks the blonde with an undercut.

“you saying you could’ve gotten ambushed there?” draken questions.

the guy with the undercut shrugs in response.

you finally spot keisuke baji up close now, wearing nothing but black shorts, with lesserof2evil’s jewelry from head to toe. silver rings glint on his fingers, and a thick cross hangs from his neck, glimmering in the sun. he approaches draken, beer in hand. with a practiced motion, he pops it open with his canines.

“he was real anxious, sweatin’ his ass off when he kept naggin’ us not to go to the camp,” baji says, taking a swig of his beer. his eyes then land on you.

“almost as nervous as the girl,” the guy with the tiger tattoo continues, pointing at you with his beer bottle and crossing his arms. his bottle clinks with baji’s, their eyes roaming over you with a shared thought. “who’s this minx?” the tiger-tatted man asks.

their sudden attention makes you feel like a spotlight is on you—a deer in headlights. you instinctively tighten your arms around yourself, trying to make yourself smaller. your presence feels too acknowledged that it becomes overwhelming until you feel someone wrap their arm around your shoulder.

you turn to see mikey, who loudly introduces you to everyone, gesturing toward each person as he says their name. they either wave or smile at you until he reaches baji, who simply scans you from head to toe and takes a sip of his beer, keeping his hungry-looking eyes locked on yours. he can’t be staring like that shirtless right now.

“someone’s thirsty,” emma mumbles, holding a cup up to her mouth to mask her lips.

“anyway, she’s a friend of emma and yuzuha, and mine too. so be nice to her, alright?” mikey’s tone makes you feel like a kid, but his reassuring squeeze on your shoulder helps ease your anxiety a bit. he walks away, unknowingly giving baji a free pass to approach you, his expression more curious than hostile. but his intense gaze makes it hard to tell; god, he looks so mean.

“how’d you end up with this lot?” he asks, nodding toward mikey and the others.

“oh, um… long story,” you reply with a chuckle, squeezing your arms out of nervousness. baji seems to pick up on your discomfort and steps a bit closer, his presence making you feel even smaller.

“got a whole week to hear it,” he says, looming over you.

before you can respond, kazutora jumps in, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “you scarin’ the new girl already, baji?”

he takes another swig of his beer, turning to kazutora. “just curious about the new face,” he says, then turns back to you, his dark brows lowered with attentiveness. “that’s all.”

“right.” kazutora slides his hand down your arm and grabs your wrist, pulling you toward the edge of the deck. “swim with me?” his steps quicken, and he suddenly drags you into the water with him.

your body goes into shock from the freezing cold water. you quickly resurface, gasping. “holy fuck! that is the coldest cold water.” you breathe out, swimming closer to chifuyu’s float. you cling to it, looking up at him apologetically. he smiles down at you with reassurance.

“yeah? how cold? is it worth deactivating my curls?” emma asks as she gets closer to the deck, bending down to speak to you.

draken sits on the deck next to mitsuya. “c’mon, emma, jump with ‘em.” he splashes her with water, but it only hits her legs. she backs away, bumping into mikey.

“yeah, i might just lie out in the sun for a while instead,” she says, scrunching up her curls.

“hey, what is that?” mikey points far out at the lake as if he saw a crocodile—or worse, a body? in sync, you all turn to look at what he’s pointing at.

“what? where?” chifuyu asks, kicking his float closer to the deck. you continue to cling to his float, wrapping your arms around the donut, looking around frantically for unknown ripples in the lake.

“in the lake right there…” mikey insists, his eyes blown wide.

“c’mon, mikey, don’t fuck around,” kazutora says nervously as he swims closer to the deck.

“guys, i’m serious, it’s right there,” his voice drops an octave to convey urgency. emma starts to cling to him nervously.

“it looks… just like emma!” mikey suddenly shouts, pushing her into the lake without warning.

a big splash of her body hitting the water sprays on all of you. She resurfaces, gasping for air. “oh my god!” emma screams. you can’t tell if it’s because the water is freezing or because her curls are ruined. you hold back your laughter as you swim toward her; she clings to you desperately.

he laughs at her hysterically, then points at the lake again. “there’s somethin’ else in the lake!” he quickly jumps in right next to you two and drags emma down with him.

she then resurfaces again, pushing her hair back and glaring at Mikey. “you jerk!” she yells, then lunges at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “you think you’re so funny, huh?” she tries to dunk him under the water, both of them splashing wildly as they struggle.

you giggle at them both trying to drown each other, though you can’t shake the feeling that you’re being watched. glancing around, you meet keisuke’s intense stare again. he stands slightly apart from the group, his gaze fixed on you with an unreadable expression.

then you see a towering figure behind him, a man with slicked-back black hair, adorned with a single blonde streak in the front, walking up behind keisuke, slapping his seemingly tatted hands on keisuke’s shoulders and shaking him from behind. he notices keisuke’s gaze lingering on someone, following it; his purple eyes land on you. he then whispers something in keisuke’s ear, causing him to push his tongue against his cheek to stifle a laugh as he nudges his beer toward hanma.

mitsuya, on the other hand, whispers something to draken, his eyes locked on you throughout. whatever mitsuya said made draken glance in your direction.

you’d think you’re a circus freak from the way their attention is on you, confused and a bit overwhelmed. you decide to swim a bit farther away from the group, enjoying the cool water and the brief solitude. emma follows closely behind, submerged under the water. Just as you start to relax, she grabs your leg, causing you to jump.

she resurfaces. “careful, swim too far and you might land on a body in the water.”

you splash her with water, laughing. “yeah? that gonna be yours when I’m done with you?”

“oh, piss off!”

the thumping bass of a live DJ—who you found out was rindou haitani, one of the hosts of this camp party—pounds through your chest as you walk into the entryway of cabin 13. it was the biggest cabin in the camp, where everybody goes to hangout whenever they don’t wanna sleep yet. it has two stories, the top floor only providing a view of the balcony. surprised that he had managed to keep the music loud, considering the majority of people were already asleep since it was midnight.

the place reeked of stale beer and lingering smoke, ghostface masks scattered around the couches and the tables, you notice mikey and takemichi with a couple other guys lounging on the couch, passing around a bong, mikey laughing at takemichi for not being able to inhale without violently coughing. the scent almost lures you in but you don’t wanna smoke weed, not yet.

instead looking to emma who was sitting on the kitchen counter chatting with draken. she wore a white mini pencil skirt with a sleeveless black turtleneck. her eyes slowly move away from draken to look at who entered. she sees you, smiling immediately and motions for you to come over with her hands, making draken turn to see who she was motioning to.

emma hops down from the counter and grabs a bottle of malibu. “It’s already midnight, and the fact that you don’t have a single drop of alcohol in your system is just insane,” she says, grinning mischievously. she grabs your jaw and tilts your chin up,

“on my way here i saw a tall thin silhouette of somebody in the woods, no joke.” you spoke, face pressed against emma’s hand, she squeezes your jaw gently as if telling you to open your mouth, and you do just that. “that was probably a skinwalker.” draken responds with a smirk, knowing that you’re about to punch his ribs for saying it’s name, you did just that too, he backs away laughing.

emma pours the rum into your mouth, letting out a soft woo at how quick you were to swallow it, hearing draken whistle at you for encouragement to keep going, feeling the cold, sweet, coconut flavored liquor slide down your throat. you start slapping emma’s arm, realizing that you drank a little too much. she finally moves the rum away from your lips, placing it back on the counter, you wipe the bottom of your lip as you feel familiar eyes on you.

you instinctively glance where the pool table was. at the back of the cabin, you spot keisuke baji playing with hanma, chifuyu and mitsuya, holding the cue. the way he was looking at you seemed curious, his eyes lingering over your face and down at your body, as much as you didn’t wanna wear anything skimpy for this trip, you liked keisuke’s eyes lingering on your body a little too much to pass up the opportunity.

you were wearing a black lace bustier iamgia top with front strap above the sweetheart shaped neckline that are pushing your tits up so perfectly, paired with a black mini skirt with two bow ribbons on the sides. he then looks at the pool table, it’s his turn now. you watch him hover against the pool table, making you weak in the knees.

you chew on the bottom of your lips, watching baji line up his sight, aiming it carefully at the cue ball, he draws the cue back, with a sharp crack, the cue ball darts forward. at the corners of your eyes you see somebody with blonde hair, forming words at you, your eyes slide over, seeing glittery pink lips opening and forming words, oh fuck. forming words, emma was talking to you this entire time and all you did was ogle at the long haired hunk around the pool table.

“sorry, what?” emma rolls her eyes, she knew you were drooling over keisuke but brushes it off because she got something else in her mind right now. “draken and i are gonna go smoke, you still got the zip in your bag?”

“yeah, just don’t finish it.” you brush her off quickly, leaning against the counter, eyes sliding back to keisuke baji, watching him light up a cigarette. emma and draken walk past you hand in hand, heading out of the cabin.

you don’t know what’s gotten into you exactly, maybe it’s the liquor, maybe it’s the constant eye-fucking you’ve been having with him all day today that’s driving you crazy, but something within you kept urging you to approach the pool table right now, you don’t even know how to play fucking pool. you straighten your posture and stride towards the pool table, subconsciously adding an extra sway to your hips as you go.

you can see the exact moment hanma spots you, he stops talking to keisuke and slides his eyes all over you with a smirk, keisuke following his gaze.

“you know how to play this, new girl?” hanma says with a neutral face, chifuyu raises his head to nod slightly at you with a polite smile as he gets back into focusing on the cue, you nod back, ignoring baji, who’s eyes bore into you, holding the cancer stick as smoke curl out of his lips.

“not really, i suck at it.” you lean against the pool table near baji, keeping a good distance. watching the cue ball darting forward from chifuyu’s motion, clipping the 9-ball, sending it rolling into the corner pocket.

“show us, can’t be that bad.” mitsuya strides closer to you, handing you his cue. both hanma and baji stand behind you as you position yourself, bending over the pool table. one hand grips the end of the cue, and the other holds the tip on the table. you hear them hold in a laugh and snort at your awkward position. rolling your eyes, you turn toward them, cocking your head to the side and narrowing your eyes. “you guys gonna help me or am i here to be made fun of?”

“nah, I’ll help you.” hanma strides over, placing his cue on the table and positions himself behind you, placing his hands between you and pinning you in place. jesus christ he’s so tall. you go back into the same position again. “that’s too high, new girl.” he takes your hand and moves it down the cue just a little bit, holding your waist and angling your sight on the cue ball better.

“you’re sabotaging her like that,” keisuke mutters, the cigarette bobbing as he speaks.

“no, I’m not. that’s a perfect score,” hanma insists.

“perfect my fuckin’ ass. here’s how you do it, new girl! come here.” keisuke points to a spot in front of him on the other side of the table with his chin, you stride over, and he quickly puts you in position, his hand on yours as he angles you toward the cue ball.

“you know how to hit it right?” he murmurs, his breath warm against your ear. “no.” you kept your answer quick and short, cause if you spoke any more you’ll accidentally moan, getting drunk on his manly scent mixed with his cigarette, a small hint of coconut from the sunscreen he had on the lake, feeling his cold cross necklace dangling on your back, hoping your not obviously blushing right now. he sighs and adjusts his grip on the cue where your hand is, guiding you as he draws the cue back and strikes the ball. the cue ball glides smoothly, and several balls roll into the corner pockets.

keisuke straightens up from you, pretending as if nothing happened, smirking cockily at hanma. hanma flips him off with a grin.

“think you got the hang of it?” mitsuya asks, leaning his chin against the cue propped up on the floor.

“I think so.” you reply, starting to get confident now. shaking off the earlier interaction with keisuke, you focus on the game. lining up your shot, you strike the cue ball, sending it smoothly across the table, hitting another ball getting it close enough to the corner pocket, damn it.

keisuke walks to the other side, his eyes calculating. he ties his hair up, a few strands falling perfectly on his face as he gets serious, you watch him play. yeah, playing with them was a mistake cause now you can’t focus anymore.

It’s hanma’s turn now. he slicks his hair back with his “punishment” hand and lines up his shot, he pockets a ball in the corner smoothly.

you notice keisuke’s brow quirk up at hanma’s move, slightly impressed. hanma then moves closer to keisuke, taking a drag from the cigarette still held between keisuke’s fingers. he remains focused on the table as mitsuya takes his turn.

what. a. sight.

distracted with drooling over the guys, you notice that the pool table has no balls left, “another game?” hanma proposes.

keisuke exhales the smoke. “yeah, seems unfair to the new girl,” he mocks, his tone teasing, is new girl seriously you’re name now? you sigh, getting a slight whiff of the weed the guys had earlier, a joint sounds so good right now. “yeah, okay, but i gotta go wash up, know a restroom nearby?” the bathroom excuse was a bit unnecessary, but you need to get your mind off of this, stat. mitsuya responds, nodding his head toward the back of the cabin. “yeah, there’s one outside from behind.”

you step out, walking towards the girls’ cabin, carefully opening the door to avoid waking anyone. sneaking to your duffel bag, you search for your stash, only to realize emma has taken it. fuck, she better not have finished it all. you exit quietly, heading towards the boys’ cabin where you find emma lounging next to draken, chatting casually as if there aren’t any guys asleep around them, but who are they to defy draken and his time with his girl?

you approach them, emma spotting you, “oh, heyyy, whatcha doin’ here.” she giggles, clearly stoned, you cross your arms. “where’s my stuff?” you ask, emma’s mouth forms into an “o” with a guilty look on her face. “oops.. we may or may not have smoked it all.”

“you kidding me? it was more than enough for a week!”

“noooo, it wasn’t, don’t know how you smoke your shit but it wasn’t nearly enough for a week.” she shakes her head.

“ugh, whatever.” you mutter, walking away from them, their laughter trailing behind you.

now you actually want to go to the bathroom. you turn to where mitsuya directed behind cabin 13, finding nothing but a shed sitting in between the forest trees, confused but still approaching it. you turn the door handle, walking into kazutora, looking like he’s snorting something on the countertop. he glances up to see who walked in, before he could react, you quickly apologize, “oh, shit! sorry!” you shut the door, leaning against it.

was he doing coke? he was doing coke, but alone in the bathroom countertop? you start consider if you should do coke with him instead, chewing on your bottom lip as you ponder around that idea. you open the door on him again, finding the countertop clean, spotless even.

you lean against the door frame, raising a brow, narrowing your eyes on him. “what were you doing?” kazutora—guilt written all over his face, gulps. his expression quickly changes back to being nonchalant once he realizes that he’s already caught in the act. he leans back against the countertop, crossing his arms. “what’s it look like i was doing?” he replies sarcastically.

a smirk tugs at the corners of your lips as you walk in, shutting the door behind you and locking it, you shut the toilet cover, sitting on it. “i won’t tell if you won’t.”

kazutora raises a brow at your response, a sly grin spreading across his face. “you’re full of surprises, new girl. what’s in it for me if i keep quiet?”

you roll your eyes as if he asked a stupid question. “you’re clearly hiding from somebody if you’re snorting coke in this disgusting dump.” you kick the bath mat that was once white but now stained with muddy shoe prints, you do a ‘my lips are sealed’ motion with your hand as you point at his pocket with your eyes.

you catch his smirk twitch at the corner of his lips as he listens to your observation, you’re smarter than he gave you credit for. he looks down at the dirty bath mat, stuffing his hand in his pocket as he thought for a minute. “alright.” he pulls out a small baggie with a bit of white powder in it.

“got your phone with you?” he asks, you stuff your hand in your skirt pocket, pulling out your phone to use as a surface, a makeshift black mirror. kazutora sits down on the bathroom floor in front of you and lines up the powder with a motel ad card, grabbing a straw he cut out from the drinks and leaning down over the phone, he holds one nostril closed, “done this before?” he asks before inhaling sharply.

“in highschool, haven’t since then.” you have never seen somebody look this hot snorting cocaine, and yet here you are, watching him snap his head back, sniffing frequently. he knocks his head back straight, looking at you with heavy-lidded eyes, moistening his lips and biting it. he then starts to line up the rest for you, handing you the straw, “all yours.” he says, his voice softer now, almost coaxing. he leans against the wall, his eyes now fixed on you.

you hesitantly grab the straw, looking down at the white powder lined perfectly over your phone, staring at the reflection in the back of it. you don’t even know why your hesitating, there’s something nagging in your subconscious telling you to not snort it, telling you not right now. and still you ignore it, knowing you shouldn’t but the dilated sandy colored eyes are staring at you too intensely that you can’t pussy out now. you hold one nostril closed and line the straw from your nose to the powder, inhaling it quick. okay, regret.

“fuck.” you grimace, snapping your head back, blinking rapidly as your eyes water, instinctively rubbing your nose as you try to stifle a sneeze. your heart starts to race. kazutora let’s out a deep chuckle, noticing your discomfort, “gets better.” he swipes the rest of the powder with his finger and rubs it on his gums. you slide down from the toilet seat onto the floor and lean against it, placing your legs on top of his thigh for comfort.

you start to pant, breathing manually now, kazutora observes you with his head slightly tilted, his earring jingles softly. eyes roaming down your body to your soft legs, his senses now heightened, noticing the addictive cocoa butter smell on your legs, he slowly places his hands on your calves, caressing it gently, testing the waters.

“how’re you feeling?” he asks as he massages your calves softly, making you to focus on that sensation more than the rapid beating of your heart, you take your time to answer, you can’t really tell if you’re enjoying this or freaking out right now, but whatever’s he’s doing to your legs should not stop. you nod slowly, sinking down, your other leg curling up to shyly hide your face from his gaze, he slides his hands up to your thigh, spreading your legs open. “let me look at you.” he rasps, the sound of his voice activating something within you that you have been trying to get rid of since the pool game with keisuke.

you let out a soft giggle as his heavy-lidded gaze lingers over your eyes, lips and down to your skirt that you forgot your wearing, the position your in giving him a good view on your panties.

“gotta take care of you, right?” he slowly leans closer to you, resting his chin on your knees, softly kissing it, his lips hover down your knee to your thighs, kissing a little too close to where you need him to be right now. you run your fingers through his hair, softly dragging your black stiletto nails on the back of his hair. he looks up at you, his eyes almost black from how dilated they are. he leans closer to your face, hovering over your lips, just as he’s leaning to kiss you, the bathroom lights flickers then plunges into darkness, hearing the guys yelling over at cabin 13.

my luck. you feel kazutora’s forehead press against your knee and sigh, clicking his tongue in irritation. you lean your head back against the toilet cover, looking up at the ceiling—nothingness really—hearing a commotion going on outside, though kazutora shows no signs of getting up, you nudge your leg at him softly. “let’s check out what happened.” you feel him hesitate for a bit, then he shuffles around, from under your legs you feel his pants adjust, you hold back a giggle. he pushes himself up. “here.” he reaches for your hand, and pulls you up.

kazutora opens the bathroom door, seeing the camp in complete blackout, surrounded by nothing but darkness with the only light source being a couple of iphone flashlights, the glowstick necklaces on mikey, rindou and emma, and the moon. you fumble for your phone, turning the flashlight on.

in the center of the camp, you saw a circle formed around rindou, who’s trying to get a signal on his phone to call the cabin owners about the power outage. keisuke stands around with his arms crossed, his gaze sharp as he notices kazutora walking out the bathroom with you trailing behind.

“where were you?” emma rushes toward your side, “oh, uh, bathroom, what’s going on?” you ask. keisuke cuts in, “what were you two doing in the bathroom for so long?” keisuke observes kazutora’s reaction to his question, already catching him trying to make up a lie in his head, you quickly step in, “i asked him to wait for me outside, i got scared earlier by something in the woods and didn’t wanna be alone.”

kazutora looks at you gratefully for covering for him, then turns to keisuke with an innocent smile. keisuke, however, isn’t easily convinced. “could’ve asked me or mitsuya, or any of the guys that were around you before.” he says, his tone slightly reproachful.

“I didn’t want to bother you guys while you were playing pool,” you explain.

“but you didn’t mind botherin’ kazutora?” keisuke’s eyes narrow at you, fuck he’s sharp.

before you can respond, the group calls for everyone’s help with the generator issue. keisuke gives you both a lingering look before heading towards the others. you exchange a knowing glance with kazutora and emma before following suit, she nudges at your shoulder. “i’ll tell you back at the cabin.” you whisper.

after a long walk in the woods looking for the generator, you join the group clustered around the it. emma stands beside you, wrapping her arms around yours, leaning her cheek against your shoulder tiredly. rindou flashes the light for draken to fix the generator, watching them argue and try to diagnose why the power has gone out. they twist knobs, check connections, and mutter to each other as they attempt to revive the generator. you subconsciously kept your eyes around the forest, getting paranoid, it’s a little too dark for your comfort, either that or you’re just very coked out right now.

draken leans back, “the problem isn’t from the generator, it’s the whole area.”

“cell towers too?” rindou queried, shining the light towards draken’s face, he swats it away from his eyes, “if there’s no bars in your phone then yeah, cell towers too.”

“they doing maintenance on it or what?” rindou pressed.

“does it fuckin’ look like i know what they’re doing to the cell towers right now?” draken retorted.

as the guys continued bickering about the generator you couldn’t shake the random shiver that ran down your spine, you turn to scan around the forest, looking in between the trees and tuning their voices out to try to listen to anything out of the ordinary. you spot a tree with a weird shape, as if there’s a black silhouette behind it, watching you.

“what’s up?” emma notices your attention elsewhere, following your gaze. you blink, watching the silhouette disappear and the sound of tree branches on the floor breaking as if somebody or something is stepping on them. “alright, can you guys wrap this up quick so we can get to the cabin?”

“getting scared, new girl?” hanma teases. “yes, yes i am, so can we please get to the cabin,” you start to walk briskly towards cabin 13, actually breaking into a run. you push open the creaking wooden doors and immediately turn on the flashlight, setting it on the kitchen counter to illuminate the rest of the cabin. the others follow suit. rindou making his way to his DJ set, spinning it and playing with the buttons with a bored expression on his face as the rest of the guys sit on the couch.

“what’s gotten you so scared?” chifuyu asks you, concerned.

“i don’t know. i just didn’t like being out there. It’s too damn dark,” you explain, making room for emma to join you on the couch, sitting close.

“you scared of the dark?” keisuke mocks, sitting across from you and leaning back with an amused expression.

“yeah, i am,” you reply, already growing irritated.

“keisuke, that’s hypocritical of you,” mikey interjects, throwing whatever’s near him at keisuke, which happens to be a ghostface mask.

he smoothly dodges it. “If you’re gonna bring up that one time, we were kids,” keisuke retorts defensively.

draken and kazutora let out a chuckle, clearly remembering the incident.

“fuck you two laughin’ at?” keisuke shoots back. “If anybody’s actually scared of the dark it’s Chifuyu.”

“how did i get dragged into this?!” chifuyu protests. in the corner of your eyes you see rindou suddenly appearing near the couch, picking up a ghostface mask. a slight mischievous smirk plays at his lips as he turns towards the group.

“silence!” he suddenly yells, grabbing everyone’s attention. “who wants to play bodies bodies bodies?”

© 𝑯𝒀𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑪 all rights reserved. please do not repost, steal, or modify my work.