#caretaker death

[deviant-doughnut]

Augusnippets: Day Twenty-Four

Chosen Prompt: Relapse

CW: drugs, mention of car accident, grief, death of Caretaker.

Whumpee knows where the pills are. He’s known for all eight months of his sobriety, since long before Caretaker was gone. They found the pair of them in the wreckage together, four car pile up in the rain, five other people in the fray of it. They were making the return journey from a meeting, one Whumpee only went to because Caretaker escorted him, the offer both a threat and a kindness. They’d argued in the car, though, the urges turning his temper to molten ashes that day, itching under his skin, pounding in his head. He doesn’t remember what they fought over but he remembers wanting to use. He rips the bathroom cabinet from the wall and thinks maybe the amnesia was a blessing. He doesn’t want to remember it like that; Caretaker’s exhausted pleas, his own voice strained with impatience.

They’d found them both bloody and barely alive, shot through with glass and pieces of metal. They’d rushed them to the same hospital wing.

Whumpee woke to find Caretaker hadn’t. Sweet brown eyes — as light as Demerara sugar — that would simply never open again. They’d never squint into wakefulness beside him in bed, and reflect the soft sunlight of his heart.

There was a specific kind of cruelty to that, that Whumpee hit his head and woke up to find that the world had gone lightless and miserable. The sun has become a mockery now, the daylight grey and stale. The ink black nights promise to swallow him whole, but always spit him back out in the morning.

The funeral only worsened the sickness of grief. Suits and ties and crisp black dresses. Eyes darting to him in sympathy where he sat in the very back booth. Caretaker wasn’t even religious, just hadn’t given enough thought to himself to have planned his own damn funeral. His mind was always on other people; their comfort, their safety, their needs. His conservative parents had done it instead, Caretaker’s body buried in a place he’d have hated, in the consecrated grounds of an organisation that once would have hated him too — hated them both.

And how is Whumpee supposed to accept that? How exactly is he meant to go on? He’s not digging up bodies or petitioning courts. He’s not threatening to sue Caretaker’s parents. He’d caught one glimpse of his mother and found that same soft gaze glancing back at him. Brown sugar, there and then gone. He’d slipped out after that, spent the majority of the funeral sobbing into his jacket in the bathroom, the collar pulled up over his nose.

He throws the cabinet into the hull of the bathtub, flimsy wood smashing easily against granite. He doesn’t care about it now, just a stupid decoration, and not something that Caretaker had installed.

And there, in the carved out hollow in the wall behind the cabinet, sits an orange bottle with someone else’s name on it — a prescription used for money rather than health. Whumpee’s hand shakes. Caretaker used to hold it to steady him. He reaches out for the bottle, pops the cap and ignores how his heart aches. Caretaker would be frowning at him for this, would be urging him back to a meeting or chastising him for keeping a stash. Caretaker would tell him he was better than this, that this monster wouldn’t get him again.

That’s where Caretaker was wrong, thinks Whumpee, tipping four familiar pills into his palm. Maybe these urges were never a monster, not a thing with ugly mouths in the shadows. Maybe they were simply a curse in his bloodstream, always hungry for his marrow and heart. And now his heart has turned to stone, and they might as well cut their teeth on it.

Six miles away, past the road where both of them actually died that day, there lies a stifling cathedral. Caretaker’s body lies prone in the grounds there, in a box they will never reopen.

Whumpee chokes back a sickening sob. He swallows the pills without water.

-

Thanks to @augusnippets for this event!

[raven-fucks-around-and-writes]

A shot, harboring death rang through the air.

Caretaker was dead, whumpee knew it due to the deafening silence and the heavy thud of their body hitting the ground. Caretaker had been murdered in cold blood, and it was all whumpee's fault. Even worse, they were all alone again.

"I specifically told you what would happen if they tried to save you whumpee," Whumper sighed, approaching them and nudging caretakers body out of the way with their foot. "Now that that arrogant little bitch is out of the way, we can be together again. Wouldn't that be fun?"

[hurtmyfavsthanks]

Febuwhump day 17: Silent tears

Whumpee felt tears trickling down their cheeks. They wanted to sob, to scream until their throat ran raw, but the sound got caught in their throat. They could only look on in numb shock.

Caretaker was dead.

Whumpee had managed to grab Whumper’s phone and call them, even if they’d only gotten a few words out before they'd been caught. But they’d done it and Caretaker heard them and came to save them and–

And now their body laid in Whumpee’s cell, eyes open and unseeing, staring. They were cold and still and dead dead dead—

And it was their fault.

Whumper glared down at them. “See what happens when you break the rules?”

[martyr-inthedark]

Make your Whumpee tired.

Whumpees that have been deprived of sleep by Whumper, so much so that they don't remember how to walk in a straight line and can't figure out whether the recent appearance of little black bugs in their cell are real or a hallucination.

Whumpees that can't get a full night's rest. They doze off, only to be jolted awake by their own anxiety of not knowing when Whumper would come back. Perhaps they are awakened by phlegm-coated coughs induced by their illness. They are awakened by nightmares, or by Caregiver who is worried they may succumb to hypothermia, or by a thunderstorm, or the rough blanket scratching their open wounds, or so on.

Whumpees who pull all nighters to protect their friends or lovers.

Whumpees whose eyes burn when they finally can close their eyes. Whumpees whose muscles twitch, who can't stop yawning no matter how hard they try to stifle it. Whumpees with dark, glassy eyes. Whumpees who are slow to react or have a hard time keeping up with the conversation. Whumpees with throbbing headaches. Whumpees with brain fog and memory loss.

Whumpees who have been on the run and have over exhausted their bodies. Their muscles and joints continue to scream long after its over. Whumpees with extensive blood loss. Whumpees who are malnourished.

Whumpees whose survivor's guilt keeps them awake, wondering what they might have done differently, whether it was all their fault, or why they were the ones to live.

Whumpees whose bodies are in chronic pain or illness and who have to hide it, causing muscle and mental fatigue. They keep going with a smile until they collapse or pass out.

Whumpees who break down in tears, begging to be left alone so they can rest. Whumpees who sob when they are told that the bed in front of them is theirs to use whenever they want.

[themastergifs]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHELLE GOMEZ (November 23, 1966)

[whump-galaxy]

The team is captured and lined up in front of their captors. The most defiant among them, of course, cannot keep their mouth shut. They mock, taunt, and jeer till one captor has had enough.

They grab the whumpee by the throat, asking if they really want to die like this. The whumpee bares their teeth with a defiant smile.

And spits directly in the captor’s face.

[echoingalaxies]

cw: death, trauma

Whumpee got seriously injured, and died while Caretaker was holding them.

They did manage to bring them back to life, though, and everyone is fussing over Whumpee, their recovery and well-being.

But what about Caretaker?

Who had to feel their loved one go limp and stop breathing in their arms? Who can't stop hearing Whumpee's "last words" echoing in their head?

Who will wake up in the middle of the night to make sure Whumpee's chest is still rising and falling?

Who has to hold on to Whumpee as much as they can, just to feel their pulse on their fingertips?

Who is obviously, completely fine, because Whumpee is the wounded one, and they are still alive, after all.

So what's the big deal?

[little-pondhead]

Classic "promised-at-birth-to-the-Ghost-King" story, except the contract never states how, exactly, the King is to use the offered soul. Usually, one would be offered as a bride or sacrifice. But with Pariah Dark sealed away, his retainers got a little lazy in the last few millennia. They just made some generic contracts and practically handed them out like candy.

When Danny took over as king via conquest, that included all the weird and messed up soul contracts the previous retainers had signed. And since ghost magic was a thing and seemed to have it out for Danny personally, many of these contracts updated their terms and conditions as soon as that crown hit Danny's head, reflecting the new King's subconscious desires and personality.

This caused many issues with those still around to profit from these contracts. Some people lost their power, some gained more, and some were unbound and kicked to the curb. A few special people found themselves dropping dead after their less-than-ethical abilities disappeared.

Danny was unaware of the chaos he had unintentionally caused for quite a while. It was only brought to his attention when a letter arrived on his desk one day with a copy of someone's valid contract enclosed. The new changes have been highlighted, and a separate note is attached.

It seems that in exchange for blessings of near-immortality for her infant son, a mother had offered Pariah Dark both their souls in order to ensure her child's survival during harsh times. (The souls were to be collected upon death and were to be used as soldiers in the King's Army.) The mother's soul had returned to the Keep decades ago and was recently assigned to tend to the gardens, while her son seemed to have grown into a fine gentleman and was still alive. He used his mother's gifts to serve his country and loved ones well, it seemed.

At first, Danny didn't see what any of this had to do with him. If the mother was already a part of his kingdom, and the son would be eventually, why was a letter about the whole thing showing up before him?

Then he read the revised contract, which bore his magical signature. A signature that overruled the power of Pariah and binding it to him.

'...and as such, in return for the abilities stated above, [Mary Pennyworth] and [Alfred Pennyworth] will fulfill the conditions detailed below, upon pain of Ending.

[Mary Pennyworth], when returned to the Kingdom of Dark Kingdom of Stars, will work as a lieutenant in the Skeleton Army caretaker in the Gardens of Pluto.

STATUS: COMPLETED

[Alfred Pennyworth], when returned to the Kingdom of Dark Kingdom of Stars, will work as a general in the Skeleton Army caretaker of the King and his Court.

STATUS: PENDING'

Danny had to re-read the contract several times to understand what it was saying. He now had a caretaker? What did a caretaker do? Was it like a ghost parent? Could this guy ghost-ground him??

He sighed and pressed the speed dial on his phone for Tucker. Time to find out who the hell this Alfred Pennyworth guy was, and how to break a magic contract when it wasn't even fulfilled yet.

Meanwhile, Alfred had just found the original copy of the contract amongst his mother's belongings after it glowed and drew him in. The paperwork cleared up a lot of mysteries he'd always wondered about himself, even if he disapproved of his mother's methods. Nonetheless, he smoothed out the aged paper with dark green ink, noted the fresh (sloppy, a teenager?) signature, and began preparing to meet this supposed new King and his Court.

It wouldn't hurt to make introductions before he died, after all.

[maladaptiveobsession]

“Jealousy and Isolation”

Synopsis: How might the yandere DOL NPCs isolate the player?

Contains: gn!reader, gn!NPCs, abduction, body mutilation, blackmailing, coercion, death, degradation, drowning, gas lighting, isolation, manipulation, murder, restraints, surveillance, threats of suicide, threats of violence, yandere

Words: 1,050

A/N: Ivory Wraith presents a unique case, so they get an entire section dedicated just to them. I’m not completely satisfied with this, but I can’t bear to stare at it for a second more.

Manipulation

They use your fears against you. Town isn’t safe; you’ve said so yourself. Don’t go anywhere. No harm can come to you so long as you stay by their side. Just let them shoulder your burdens. They’ll support you and take care of you. You only need them.

➥ Alex, high love!Avery Bailey, Black Wolf, Charlie, Darryl, Doren, Eden, Great Hawk, Gwylan, Harper,Jordan, Kylar, Landry, Mickey, Morgan, Relaxed Guard, Remy, high confidence!Robin, Scarred Inmate, Sydney, Quinn, Sam, Sirris, Veteran Guard, Whitney, Winter, Zephyr

Every insecurity is weaponized, reminding you constantly just how weak and alone you truly are. You’re less likely to rebel if you think so little of yourself. Only they won’t abandon you by the wayside. Who else gives a damn about you? Can’t you see how much you need them?

➥ high dom!Alex, Anxious Gaurd, Avery, Bailey, Black Wolf, Briar, Charlie, Eden, Harper, Jordan, Leighton, Mason, Methodical Gaurd, Niki,, Remy, Quinn, Sam, Scarred Inmate, pure!Sydney, Veteran Gaurd, Whitney

They take advantage of your emotions: guilt tripping, love bombing, and holding you hostage using their life. Haven’t they proven themself capable? Haven’t they shown how much they care? Does what you have mean nothing to you? It’s so lonely without you. They need you. Please don’t go. Can’t you see how much they love you? They can’t live without you. Don’t make them do something you’ll both regret.

➥ low dom!Alex, high love!Eden, Charlie, Darryl, Doren, Great Hawk, Gwylan, Kylar, Mickey, River, Robin, Sam, Sirris, corrupt!Sydney, high love!Whitney, Wren

Coercion/Intimidation

It would be a shame if your friends suddenly disappeared, wouldn’t it? One by one, everyone you care about is disposed of in some puzzling manner or another. Who could have predicted this series of unfortunate events? It’s just such a dangerous place, you know?

➥ Avery, Bailey, Briar, Eden, Jordan, Kylar, Mickey, Niki, Quinn, Remy, Scarred Inmate, Veteran Guard, Wren, Zephyr

You can certainly try to get away, but your life will be torn to shambles. Failing school, struggling to find work, and/or suddenly a social pariah? Maybe you were better off with them, after all. Grovel for forgiveness, and perhaps they’ll take you back.

➥ Anxious Guard, Avery, Bailey, Briar, Charlie, Jordan, Leighton, Mason, Mickey, Niki, Quinn, Relaxed Gaurd, Remy, high confidence!Robin, Sam, Sirris, Whitney, Winter

Blackmailing you is laughably easy. There’s so much dirt to choose from! Disobey their commands, and suddenly the whole town will know of your affairs. Perhaps the police will knock on your door, finally having enough evidence for an arrest? If you enjoy your privacy and freedom, you’d best listen well.

➥ Avery, Bailey, Briar, Harper, Jordan, Landry, Leighton, Mason, Mickey, Niki, Quinn, Relaxed Guard, Remy, pure!Sydney, Whitney, Wren

Abduction/confinement

You made them do this; you left them with no other choice. You can’t leave; not now, nor ever. The thought of losing you is unbearable. Don’t worry; they’ll take care of you now that you’re home.

➥ Alex, Anxious Guard, high love!Avery, Bailey, Black Wolf, Eden, Great Hawk, Gwylan, high confidence!Robin, Jordan, Kylar, Landry, Mickey, Morgan, Relaxed Guard, River, Sam, Sirris, Sydney, Veteran Guard, Wren

Much too impatient and suspicious of a person, you’re kidnapped with little to no hesitation. There was too much risk in letting you roam free. You’d have made a mess of things, but that was in the past. Now, nobody could steal what belonged to them. You’d be going nowhere so long as they were near.

➥ Avery, Bailey, Briar, Eden, Harper, Kylar, Landry, Mickey, Methodical Guard, Niki, Relaxed Gaurd, Remy, Scared Inmate, Veteran Guard, Zephyr

It hadn’t been intentional, but there was no turning back. Whether recovering from an injury while under their care or simply utilizing their home as a safe haven, your presence became a familiar constant—intoxicating, addictive, and natural. The reality of you leaving sunk in slowly, despair gnashing at their nerves each time the topic was broached. No, it hadn’t been intentional, but their dependency on you pressed against their throat like a knife. Life without you was inconceivable. You can’t leave yet; they’re not sure they ever want you to leave. They supported you in your time of need. Return the favor by staying, will you? Don’t force their hand; there’s no telling what they might do if you resist—anything to keep you right where you belong.

➥ Alex, Avery, Bailey, Charlie, Darryl, Doren, Gwylan, Jordan, Landry, Leighton, Mason, Methodical Guard, Niki, Relaxed Guard, Remy, River, Robin, Sam, Sirris, Sydney, Veteran Guard, Whitney, Winter, Wren

Restrained with whatever they have on hand: rope, shackles, straightjacket, cages, handcuffs, leashes, and the like. Don’t complain; they’d have no need to do this if you weren’t a flight risk. There’s certainly no hope of freedom when you can’t even sit up or use the bathroom without help. You’re more likely to injure yourself, but if you do somehow manage to undo your restraints, heavily locked doors and windows keep you from going anywhere.

➥ Little to no hesitation: high dom! Alex Anxious Guard, Avery, Bailey, Briar, Eden, Harper, Kylar, Methodical Guard, Niki, Relaxed Guard, Remy, Scared Inmate, Sirris, corrupt!Sydney, Veteran Guard, Whitney, Winter, Wren, Zephyr

➥ Reluctant last resort: Charlie, Darryl, Jordan, Mason, Mickey, River, confident!Robin, pure!Sydney

Your every moment is monitored. The constant surveillance dehumanizes you and fills you with paranoia. They always know where you are and what you’re doing. Your absence will be noted immediately, so don’t even think about leaving them. Temporary freedom is not worth the punishment.

➥ Anxious Guard, Avery, Bailey, Briar, Darryl, Harper, Jordan, Kylar, Landry, Methodical Guard, Mickey, Niki, Sydney, Quinn, Sirris, Vereran Guard, Wren

Perhaps some solitary confinement will do you good. You can only handle the seclusion for so long before the craving for any form of human contact sets in. Well-behaved darlings get cuddles and comfort; disobedience, however, won’t be tolerated. You’ll realize just how much you need them when they’re all you have.

➥ Little to no hesitation: high dom!Alex, Anxious Guard, Avery, low love!Eden, Harper, Methodical Guard, Niki, Relaxed Guard, Remy, Sirris, Zephyr

➥ Reluctant last resort: Bailey, high love!eden, Charlie, Jordan, Mason, River, Sam

They’ll dull your temper by keeping you intoxicated, too junked up to even dream of escape. You’re so much more pleasant and cooperative this way; so eyes void of thought. You don’t even resist when their hands wander, giggly and playful and responsive. While they do miss your authentic self, the power they wield over you is much too appealing to surrender. Why, you can hardly feed yourself! Subduing any fits of clarity is laughably easy when you’re body is unresponsive to your efforts. There’s just no way you could leave with mush for brain.

➥ Little to no hesitation: Anxious Guard, Avery, Briar, Harper, Kylar, Leighton, Niki, Quinn, Sirris

➥ Reluctant last resort: Mickey, Relaxed Guard, Whitney, Wren

Don’t make them hurt you. They’re not above breaking a few bones to immobilize you and send a message. You could even lose your vision or leg entirely. It’s not like they wanted to disable you, but you left them no other choice. Now, you really won’t be able to leave, having to depend on them for just about everything. You should have listened; at least then you’d still be able to walk yourself to the toilet. 

➥ Little to no hesitation: Briar, low love!Eden, Harper, jealous!Kylar, Leighton, Methodical Guard, Morgan, Quinn, low love/high dom Whitney, Zephyr

➥ Reluctant last resort: high dom!Alex, high love!Avery Bailey, Jordan, Kylar, Relaxed Guard, Remy, Veteran Guard, high love!Whitney, Wren

Death

If they can’t have you, no one can. You can’t abandon them if you’re dead; you can’t do much of anything, in fact. Fueled by obsessive hysteria, your life is cut short. Viscera paints your skin, body tight from rigor mortis. Though you can no longer kiss them, hold them, or whisper tender affections in their ear, nobody can steal you away from them. Even as your body molds, bowels becoming home to maggots, you’ll at least never leave. Even as your flesh melts to reveal bones, you’re still only theirs.

➥ Harper, Kylar, Morgan

Their capabilities wax and wane with the moon, only ever to call you home when the blood moon dyes the night skies red. Some cycles, you evade them entirely. They so desperately crave your touch, the longing intensifying with each passing lunation. The desire to possess you had since long replaced the resentment. No longer did they seek restitution, but rather your continued company. Though a grave robber you may be, you belonged to them all the same. The wraith owned so very few things—one of which you so cruelly stole—so forgive them if they’re not keen to share. Your departure each moon was torturous and heart-wrenching. It occurred to them that you would only remain if the option to leave was stricken. Mindless tentacles confined you deep under the lake surface, large hands possessively clasping your neck. Grave robber and grave dancer united by death—drowned in the cold depths and buried by water—as two, as one. Bound as malefic phantoms, days mean nothing in the maw of forever.

➥ Ivory Wraith

[jordanstrophe]

Caretaker thinks they're dead.

They see whumpee laying on the ground, they're not moving a muscle, they can't even see breathing. Caretaker checks their pules first, their heart doesn't beat until they feel whumpee's first.

[whump-in-the-closet]

hey you. yes you the starry-eyed character. the narrative gave you a chance. One shot at the thing you want most in the world, beyond everything else, bright and glittering and always out of reach. There’s only one catch, but it’s hardwired into you. If you were a creature, you’d be a deer with branching antlers and soft steps. And you’re on the highway in the brutal dead of night. Oh right, the catch. You’re not selfish. You’ll give everything up, all of it, for someone else if they asked. You’d fuck yourself over without a second thought. You never win, do you? When the car hits, they check on the passengers while you lie split open on the asphalt. Listen, you either lose your kindness or it dies with you. But what are you without it?

[justbreakonme]

The hotel was a little chilly and had that odd old-carpet smell, but it was safe, for now. Caretaker helped get Whumpee washed up and into bed, and they were just about to climb into bed as well when the phone rang.

Both of them froze.

Caretaker picked it up, knuckles white.

“Hello?”

Whumpers voice crackled through the phone.

“You can’t prove I did anything to him.”

Caretaker’s grip on the phone tightened and they glanced at the triple latched hotel door.

“What?”

“You can’t prove anything, there’s no fingerprints or photos, just my word against his, and alibis are cheap.”

“Oh… you think that I care about putting you in jail?” the laughter in Caretaker’s voice was almost genuine, “No no, I’m going to hunt you down. I’m going to beat you to death with my bare hands. Then, I’m going to smile in my mugshot, knowing that no amount of money or powerful connections can buy your way out of hell where you belong.”

Silence.

Caretaker hung up the phone with a snap, and looked back at Whumpee.

“I’m sorry-“

“Thank you.”

[loserwithsyle]

Whumpee after being rescued, crying in Caretaker's arms, sobbing out how they want their mom or other parental figure

But with a twist. That parental figure is gone. Whumpee may or may not know that, and caretaker may or may not too.

A Caretaker knowing the parent died while their child was in captivity

Or a whumpee crying for someone they know can't be there for them

[abhainnwhump]

Caretaker refuses to clean out Whumpee's room. They haven't even gone in there to clean out dust since they were kidnapped. The blankets were as messy as ever, the photos were all in place, and not a single collectible was out of place. Caretaker knew one day, Whumpee would come through the front door, maybe a little beat up, and they could all move on from this. It was going to happen soon.

Even though Whumpee's funeral was two days ago.

[whumpberry-cookie]

Caretaker and Whumpee pretending / lying to eachother.

(Cw: terminal illness, death of a character)

"Whumper will never find you. You are safe. Everything is under control"

Whumpee never mentions that they have killed a person, thinking they tricked Caretaker into believing they are a good person worth saving. But Caretaker knows.

"My medicine? Of course I drank it!" The pot plant drank it.

Whumpee keeps quiet about their illness or wound (The stomach wound kept in secret. Ah, classic)

Whumpee tries to manipulate Caretaker into staying with them. Caretaker realises, but lets it slide for now, because Whumpee's recovering from being extremally conditioned.

Caretaker pretending they believe Whumpee will recover. They deserve some hope in their last days.

"I didn't tell them anything. I swear."

"It's fine, it doesn't even hurt anymore".

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

[whump-galaxy]

“I don’t like you, but I’m not gonna let you die here.”

“Why? You think you’re some hero for saving me?”

“No, if you’re gonna die, it’ll be because I killed you myself. Not some leg infection.”