#but at least for me it wasn't like WOW since my dad is taller than him hahaha

[a-little-more-humane]

THE GARDEN KING

I woke up to a purple and orange sky that was shining in my eyes, my dark brown hair covering my face. I got off the rough ground and I questioned to myself “Where in the world am I?” I said. Suddenly I noticed a 6ft tall figure appear behind me and it asked 

“And who might you be?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. As I screamed I heard the figure say to themself:

“Mr Pumpskin maybe you should've thought about that a little more.” When I finally stopped screaming I noticed they looked kind of like a scarecrow, a demented scarecrow, but still a scarecrow nonetheless. Like a scarecrow, hay filled every opening within its clothing, hay even formed what looked to be hands. The only thing that wasn't made from straw was his head which was a giant pumpkin with the classic jack-o-lantern eyes and nose but his mouth, his mouth was a giant grin made of giant realistic teeth

“Hello my name Mr Pumpskin” he said finally introducing himself “what may be yours?”  I was trying not to tell him but I felt as if something was tugging it out of my throat.

“My name is Bonnie Nowell Gray. I'm a college student at Indiana State University.” I said quickly, against my will. 

“Wow, I just wanted to know your name, not everything about you. How did you get here, Miss Gray?” 

I tried to resist but there it was again the same tugging feeling “I have been stuck in my dorm for weeks only getting out for school, and my sister Charlie knew this and she decided to make us go on a camping trip, like our dad used to do…” I said with the once struggle in my voice disappearing as my face slowly tilted  towards the ground, no longer looking into the scarecrows' hollowed eyes. 

“Is everything okay?” he said with a sympathetic voice.

“Y-yeah, my dad, he… died a couple weeks ago.” I said forgetting I was talking to a complete stranger, not to mention a creepy living scarecrow. “When me and my sister had a test or something that we were stressing over, that weekend, our dad would take us camping to get our minds off of it. Definitely not the smartest thing to do, but it worked. Me and my sister still loved going on them though. Until yesterday, I hadn't been on one since high school.” Cycling through my memories, I suddenly remembered that I was talking to what looked like a monstrous interpretation of a scarecrow. I snapped up from my trance immediately, “S-so yeah, my sister Charlie brought me on this camping trip in the middle of nowhere and last night I disappeared from my tent to end up here… wherever “here” is.” 

“Well Miss Gray I can answer that, you are in Nowhere's forest, well at least that's what I call it. I've been here for a long time. I used to be human once, not this scarecrow thing.”

“Wait, you used to be human?” my head quickly turned toward the once human, my face filled with millions of questions.

“Yes Miss Gray one day I wandered into the woods, and the next thing I knew I woke up here in the same spot as you did. Unlike you though I had no one to help me and there are no animals in these woods so I starved…” He looked off into the distance, weirdly enough looking the most human in that instance than ever before. “I'm supposed to be dead, Miss Gray, but nothing dies in Nowhere’s forest.” he said, staring into my soul with eyes that look a little less soulless.

“I- is there a way out of here” I said my face filled with anxiety and concern.

“No, but you can live with me, for as long as you want. If you'd like, believe it or not I was able to build a house” he said, attempting to  relieve my anxiety.

“Thank you, you can call me Bonnie”, my face was a little bit more relaxed than before. I continued to walk with him showing that I accepted the strange man's offer.  

I looked around and saw what looked to be an infinite amount of trees. as we kept walking the trees got darker and taller, as if it were a stage and the lights were getting dimmer. The air was like a jar of honey but almost as if it were poisoned to lure me in like I was a cartoon bear. I walked along and I decided to ask “did you have any family before you disappeared.”

“No, I lived alone on a farm, I didn't have friends before I disappeared, from my knowledge, no one knew I existed, and no one knew I disappeared.” 

“Well good thing you have me now, I didn't have many friends  either.”

“Well Bonnie how about you, and your family.”

“Well you know about my dad, and me and my sister Charlie, like most siblings, we used to have a lot of fights, but now we're pretty much best friends. Me and my mom had a good relationship, but  she hasn't been doing well recently. She's doing her best and she has a lot on  her plate taking care of a child, grieving, and making enough money all at the same time.”

“BONNIE!”

 “Yes” I said in response, my eyes wide. I looked in front of me seeing the darkened path ahead with trees surrounding it. 

“I have to tell you something before we go any further. There are monsters beyond this point” he said. Well that wouldn't be the weirdest thing I’ve heard tonight. I asked in response “Ok, what kind of monsters'' 

Mr. Pumpskin in a serious tone looking deep into my eyes said“I can't explain it but, if I say run you run as fast as you can.” 

“ok.” 

We kept walking the tainted but still sweet smell of honey slowly dimmed and the ground getting bumpier, rocks and tree roots attempted to trip me. I noticed that it was getting darker to the point the trees made it feel like a cave. I eventually asked “ Hey, do you have some sort of lighter or something.” 

“What's a lighter” 

“You don't know what a lighter is''  “No, what is it? ”  He said with the most confused expression an unmoving jack-o-lantern head can produce.

 “Well it's a little object that makes flames appear by releasing a liquid and then there's a spark that lights'' I explained as best I could.  

“Wow, when did they invent that” he asked with a childish glee plastered on his face.

“In like 1823 or something, how old are you?” 

“well”… crunch.

“RUN!!!” he said in a frantic tone. 

I didn't even have time to think, I uncontrollably ran. It felt like I couldn't control my legs. I looked behind me and saw a tall living skeletal deer gaining behind me, its bones the color of cole, its eyes whith no eyelids stared directly at me. Its internal organs dragging along the forest floor. Weirdly the deer had what looked to be human arms for frontal legs. Most of its parts were deer but some seemed human. Mr. Pumpskin seemed to have disappeared behind me, but I was running so fast I might just be that far away. Then I felt a long thin piece of something that was too thin to be a pencil and too thick to be a blade of grass, straw maybe? I had been hanging around a scarecrow so I wouldn't be surprised. I faced back forward, and I kept on running and running terrified of the creature that was right behind me. I ran so much that I couldn't tell now if I was uncontrollably running, or not but I didn't care, all I cared about was staying alive and hoping Mr. Pumpskin was alive too. I continued to run and I saw a dim light coming from the trees \`\`Finally, *huff,*  a way out!” I said so loud the clouds could hear me. 

As I appeared out of the cave-like forest, I looked behind me, the skinless deer monster thing was gone. Mr Pumpskin was nowhere to be seen though. Was he dead? I thought, no he couldn't be, nothing dies in Nowhere’s forest, right? I continued slowly through the forest. I noticed it was starting to turn into a swampy area, the ground moist then full on into a deep swamp that was a foot deep. I swore I saw the trees watching me with big glowing eyes, but I assumed it was my imagination. I couldn't shake the feeling of the trees watching me with their eyes, it seemed like tens and hundreds of them staring at me. I felt as if  I looked around and I'd see a crowd of people  staring at me silently,but it was only me and… the trees. As I walked forward I felt more and more like I was all alone but not alone at the same time. All of the sudden, I started seeing things moving from the trees, and every so often I'd hear a stomp coming from what seemed like the trees. I just thought it was my brain tricking me like it did at nights as a child and even as an adult. I could see a large castle in the distance over the low distorted trees. I thought about going off trail and heading there but I reminded myself “no I have to stay on the trail leading to his cabin.” I eventually started talking to myself and wondered if this was all part of a bad dream Mr Pumpskin, the deer thing. Then I heard the stomps, they increased in speed, they were undeniable. Then I yelled “ RUN!!!” 

Without giving a second thought I ran as fast as I could, similar to when Mr Pumpskin yelled but I felt more in control this time. The trees opened their huge glowing eyes. Each tree had many many eyes. I looked behind me and saw a distorted huge, thin, eyeless, 7ft tree monster with the green swamp muck oozing out of its mouth. It looked like it was in a trance-like state as if the eyes were telling it what to do. I turned back and continued to run and saw the edge of the swamp. I was so close I could feel the change in atmosphere changing scent once more, the ground turning more smooth I was almost there…

“I'm finally out of here,” I said with a wide grin upon my face. I looked back, and like the deer thing the tree monster had disappeared. “That's weird, it seems like they don't chase you outside their territory, but why?”

 “Well what is it going to be this time a jellyfish with eyes and a brain, oooh or maybe an eldritch horror that would be fun.” As I heard myself speak I realized something, for the first time in a long time I was confident. 

A humming sound came from the distance “Wait that sounds like, could it be… Mr Pumpskin? I roamed forward, once again questioning my sanity. Suddenly I started to see pumpkins?” Then I saw the scarecrow himself, I ran up to it. “Is it really you?” The orange and purple sky was there once more but now turning to night. “You know that's not me right” as he said that,  my face glowed red with embarrassment and I said “Yeah, I knew that wasn't you” Mr Pumpskin sighed and said “Now, come in before the sun goes down.” 

“Wait, how did you survive?”

 “I'll tell you when you come in.” As he said that, out of nowhere an uncontrollable wave of fear washed over my body , locking it in place as I tried to move my limbs  “Just come in Bonnie'' Mr Pumpskin persisted.

“hold on” I tried to move my body, but just couldn't.

 “Just come in.'' his voice getting louder.

“Hold on” I repeated, still stuck in place.

 “DAMN IT BONNIE, JUST WALK FORWARD! Mr Pumpskins getting hungry” he said aggressively. 

“Wait didn't you say you couldn't eat… anything” I said, ignoring his odd use of third person.

“Well, I meant you might be getting hungry, now Bonnie, get in the DAMN DOOR!”...

At that moment I realized and connected the dots every little thing he said was a lie. I immediately went off the path, running faster and faster. I immediately started having flashbacks to all the times I was running, just like this. I looked back too, seeing an annoyed Mr Pumpskin right behind almost catching me. I eventually lost him in the swamp woods but then I froze and I couldn't move seeing ginormous roots wrapping around my legs. They eventually rose to my neck and I blacked out… 

“Bon, wake up” a familiar voice said 

“Charl- lie, are you there” I struggled to say. 

“Are you okay, you look like you had a bad dream” The voice said, distorting into a creepy tone 

“I thought we were friends” I said after almost my whole body was wrapped by the roots. 

“Oh, when did I ever say that, poor little Bonnibelle.” As two familiar figures rose behind him like a king’s knights. 

I think I blacked out again or something because after that I opened my eyes to see something that wasn't me. Then I remembered the only thing he said that wasn't a lie “Nothing dies in Nowhere’s forest.”

[jayswritings13]

Helluva: Not-so-scary Demons

Dialogue Prompt: #3 (“You are the least scary person ever.”)

Character: Octavia (Helluva Boss)

Requested by: Anon

Word Count: 374

💗Masterlist | WIP Page

"You'll never guess what I found out the other day!"

"Knowing you, it could be anything Via."

"I overheard my dad say that he was afraid to me!"

"Okay..... You seem happy about that?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be!?" Octavia said, "I know that he said that he was never leave me, but he still hurt me by sleeping and bringing that Imp around." She crossed her arms, "Anyway, I scare him!"

You guess that if you were Stolas, Octavia could be scary, especially since those two are rather opposites. You still remember when Octavia told you about when she and Stolas went to the taxidermy store.

"You're the least scary person ever."

"What?"

"Sure, he might think that you're intimidating, but scary....." You said, "I just don't see it."

"Well maybe you don't see it because I'm dating you."

"No....I'm not so sure that's it."

"Need I remind you that I am a Goetia demon." Octavia said, "I mean you haven't even seen my demonic form."

"But, I wanna see it. I think it'd be cool." You said.

Octavia and Stolas have been throwing around the fact that they have really cool demonic forms and you've been dying to see them. You may or may not have begged Octavia to show you, but she always declined or brushed it off.

"I don't know if you can handle it."

"Please..... I've been dying for months to see it!" You scoffed, "You should know by now that all I've wanted is to see your demonic form." You said, pulling Octavia closer to you.

"Hmmmm..... I don't know. I thought that I wasn't all that scary."

"Then change me mind......" You said, "....please.....?"

"...Fine." Octavia said, "If you think that you can handle it."

"Oh, I can handle it." You grinned, letting your arms around Octavia fall to your sides and taking several steps backwards. You weren't sure how big her demonic form was gonna be.

Although it wasn't like Octavia gave you much time to prepare before she slipped into her demonic form, growing immensely taller, with glowing eyes and talons shaper than anything you've seen.

".....Wow....."

"Still not the scariest thing you've seen?"

"Nope." you smirked, "But you crack the top ten."