#cdta in mortality

[didasgomas]

Rabbits run

Day 12 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Lost/Trapped/Avalanche

Trigger Warning: Escape from a murderer, injury from a foothold trap

Small part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar (creator will be in the tags)

Note: Antagonist / killer -> Jack "Lantern" Bilcanna

July 11th, 2004 - 2 A.M

He needed to keep running. He needed to keep running!

Ragged breaths, heart hammering at his chest, the nausea from having seen what he saw.

He needed to pull himself together if he wanted the police to believe him.

His name was Ivan Thompson, he was 16, currently in 10th grade, he lived with his parents, two brothers and aunt close to the border with Hemera county, and he was currently being chased by his best friend's psychotic classmate.

Having escaped through one of the living room's windows, he ran towards the nearby woods at full speed, never once looking back as he did not want to look at the older boy's manic expression even one more time.

Then he tripped on something. A hole?

No, not just a hole. A trap.

As soon as he felt himself hit the floor, whatever the mechanism was must have activated, because right afterwards, small blades pierced through his foot and ankle, making him scream just as loud as when he got bit in the arm by a wild raccoon.

There was no way he hadn't set this all up beforehand.

Through the pain, Ivan heard the other's footsteps go from sprinting to relaxed walking.

He could almost smell his killer's smile in the air, even if he couldn't see his face.

[missr3n3]

Thinking of checking it out more in depth but I guess I wanted an opinion first since it seems to be so large

Would you recommend checking out the In Mortality AU?

absolutely!

you might want to ask @didasgomas abt a good starting point tho, bc theres a lot of plot threads out n about rn

[angelic-writer]

Oh for sure

But don't trust that the ones preparing it would let you inside the kitchen so soon

[didasgomas]

Like blood

Day 4 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Amputation/Degloving/Vivisection

Content and Trigger Warnings: Graphic gore scene, vivisection of an unanesthetized human (torture), cannibalism, heavily implied mass unknowing cannibalism

Side note: Chris -> Christopher Bilcanna

Small part of "In Mortality", an au of CDTA, a body and psychological horror story created by @missr3n3

Red - In its most destructive meanings, the color red represents hatred, heat, aggression, spilled blood and war. An evil person associated with red most often than not brings chaos and/or death.

May 26th, 1998

Blanche Solsgate was all but one more guest at Rose county's Wendigo Hotel branch. Having only recently found a new job after months of unemployment, she needed a place to stay that wasn't her friends' houses. She did try the cheaper motel options, but they were all at full capacity because of the summer tourists, so a small popular hotel it was.

The maximum length of stay was 30 days, and Blanche only intended to stay for four weeks, long enough to find an affordable apartment in the county's main district. However, on the penultimate day at that place, she had received a letter from one of the owners, Chris, that she could stay one additional day without having to pay for it, as long as she didn't leave her room.

In the evening of what was supposed to be her free extra day, he had knocked on her door and invited her to a secret room in the underground floor, said that they kept a real Wendigo skull in there. She agreed to it too fast.

She thought she had been shown kindness, been shown generosity. But the only thing she was seeing right now were her own organs.

It had all happened so quickly, she couldn't even scream. With his giant strength he had easily pinned her down on the metal table, and the next thing she felt was something stabbing her belly. She didn't even have time to notice he had lifted her shirt off.

It wasn't even a knife, it was a needle.

In rapid movements, he stabbed her again to make a tunnel, and then slid the needle upwards, tearing apart huge chunks of flesh to reveal her insides.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but we're in a hurry. Usually we'd get to talk a while."

She wasn't the first, and likely wouldn't be the last either.

He reached inside with his bare hands, and she could feel them in her intestines. Suddenly, her duodenum was ripped in half, and what little voice she still had to scream was drowned out by a sudden flood of blood in her mouth. Completely ignoring her face, he kept clawing at her other organs, brutally disconnecting her pancreas and stomach from the rest of her body with his hands alone, like the twisted experience of a surgeon.

With what little consciousness she still had, Blanche saw him hold her intestines in both arms and placing them somewhere out of her field of vision.

Ripped open and bleeding non-stop, Blanche Solsgate was dead in seconds, and her sudden disappearance would be just one more of the mysterious cases of that hotel's guests going missing the day after having supposedly left.

The hotel tried keeping the meat servings to a minimum on Summer, but tomorrow's lunch was going to be a meat dish, so even if small, they still needed an entire body to make sure they had seconds, which was often the case as the guests liked them a lot.

Chris took a small piece of meat that had fallen on the table, blew on it a bit, and took it to his mouth.

Not that he was too hungry or anything, but a small evening snack wouldn't hurt.

[didasgomas]

Warm eyes

Day 1 of October Practice

Prompt: By the Fireplace

Warnings: None

Cdta belongs to @missr3n3

What more is there to wait for when you are dead? For one, the return of the one he hates.

Darkened eyes for he was the blind one, unable to realize that staying truly only did him detriment, and for he only saw one way out in the end. Truly, only with death at his door did he realize the truth, and he wanted out, but halfway through he came to regret it.

So now he endlessly wanders, for waiting was unsufferable.

He wanders and wanders and weeps, but no amount of tears can drown out the past.

For years and years he followed through roads without even knowing where they might lead, straying so far from where he had started, he no longer knew the way back.

He would stop to cry and remember, but did he truly still remember everything?

How much had been lost during his search?

Did he still remember the other's face? His brothers' names? Could he even still remember his own name he himself had chosen, or had that too been lost to time?

How could he even know?

All he knew right now, was that he had been following someone who reminded him all too much of himself when it came to appearance.

It was a scary similarity, despite some of the differences, but it was limited to that, for the boy, Isaac, was far luckier than he had ever been.

Daring and beloved by his parents, despite their own flaws, and although loyal to a fault too, was able to put his foot down when necessary.

The ghost admired him and did not want any harm to come his way, but then again, he was already dead, thus he could do very little other than just observe, maybe moving objects so they might not hurt the living human when possible.

But still, for the most part, the ghost was confined to simply watching.

So he did, next to the fireplace.

Though he could no longer feel the warmth, it did bring back some good memories of when he was still alive, reading or falling asleep surrounded by the fire's light.

The boy too read something in that cold Autumn afternoon, and the ghost of Jonathan watched over him, standing next to the fireplace.

[didasgomas]

~𝓂𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎~ Moodboards I made for my Design class assignment, based off of my fictional company "Wendigo Hotels" inside my au "In Mortality" for @missr3n3 's CDTA story

First one is the 'main' board, and the second one is more for color references for the second half of the assignment

First time doing moodboards, that's why there's so many blank spaces I did both on Photoshop btw

If anyone wants more details about the company and its many placements in Iowa, I'd be happy to elaborate a little more! :)

[didasgomas]

Happiness of Love

Part 3 of Day 31 of @augusnippets

(Extra) Prompts: Flashbacks/Relapse/Medical complications

Content warnings: Nocturnal asthma attack, momentary panic

Small and happier part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar, story by @missr3n3

11:04 P.M - August 31st, 2009 - Ewing, Mercer county, New Jersey

Samantha woke up to the sound of labored breathing. She turned around in the bed immediately, knowing who it was coming from.

"Sam, help-" Juliet managed to talk through the dyspnea.

Sam bolted out of bed and towards Juliet's bedside table, where she grabbed her girlfriend's inhaler, before helping her sit up on the bed and giving it to her. She hadn't even put on her glasses or turned on the lights, but having memorized their bedroom's layout, those hadn't been needed.

Five long minutes passed of Juliet slowly recovering her normal breathing patterns.

Sam had learned over the years that the most recurrent reasons for Juliet's asthma attacks were stress and the weather. There was still three weeks until the colder weather of autumn started, so it must have been stress this time. Forensic pathology wasn't an easy job at all, even if Juliet had a deep fascination with it.

Sudden attacks at night were almost nonexistent in her girlfriend's case, but that didn't mean they couldn't happen, and Samantha had developed a habit of entering in a state of panic if they were ever to occur in the evening, much less in the middle of the night.

"I'm okay now, Sam. Thank you"

"Are you fully sure?"

"Yes, I'll be fine, don't worry"

"I don't think it's safe for you to go back to sleep yet."

"Well, you start the month with two days of vacation, and tomorrow is my day off, so… How about we go to the planetarium tomorrow?"

"Movie night and then planetarium morning."

"Heck yeah!"

[didasgomas]

Friendly care

Part 2 of Day 31 of @augusnippets

(Extra) Prompts: Tending to nonhuman whumpee's nonhuman parts/Protective caretaker/Whumpee wearing caretaker's clothes

Content warnings: Small mentions of grave injuries

Small part of "In Mortality", an au of cdta (creator will be in the tags)

09:12 A.M - August 31st, 1976 - Edenseye, Hemera county

The scent of saline water and bergamot soap softly filled the bathroom, overpowering the smell of alien blood. J once again reached for the first-aid kit, taking yet another layer of bandages.

"How did you even manage to get these?" J asked, their attention now on the last of Cai's wounded arms. Five out of his eight had clearly been stabbed, and he had been lucky the bleeding wasn't severe, even if he could regenarate.

"I was just playing around with some humans, nothing much" Cai answered somewhat dismissively.

"Well, at least you knew where I was-" J finished patching up Cai's last injured arm, "-But that scared me a bit"

"Yes, last we saw each other you were getting ready to leave that convent.. Last year?"

"Yes, I already created a new name and everything"

"And since you're done patching me up, can I leave now, friend?"

"Go on ahead, but please be more careful"

Cairyx let out a small laugh, a surprisingly light one instead of malicious.

"Will do"

[didasgomas]

Don't call me that

Day 29 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Singing/First words/Inside jokes

Trigger warnings : Heavily implied child neglect, religious abuse

Semi-important part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar (creator will be in the tags)

June 14th, 1896 - Messiah's Grove, Gold County, Iowa

The child was trying to speak, evident by the repeated noises it was making, attempting to form one clear word.

Brigid ignored the girl, like she tried to do every day, wanting to make sure God once more listened to her devoted prayers and oaths as a Bride of His Son, Jesus Christ. She wouldn't abandon the child, for that would make her unworthy of being a follower of the Virgin Mary, but in the virtue of honesty she admitted, that unlike the Queen of Heaven, in all of her divine grace, she simply could not bring herself to love the girl as a guardian.

Maybe if their father hadn't died so soon, Clarice wouldn't have done the mistake she had. Brigid might have been the second born, but she had taken after her father rather than her mother, and thus he placed in her with all his trust and confidence that she'd be the one to keep the family's honor afloat.

Brigid might have only been the younger daughter, but she felt that if she had insisted more, then her sister wouldn't have married a criminal. Their mother had been far too lenient about everything, so before joining St. Abigail's and vowing to follow always Jesus' word, she had desperately tried to convince Clarice that a man like Lawrence Delevan was a bad choice, and that she should wait for a better man to come into her life.

But evil was always tempting, alluring with a charm away from God, and in the end, Brigid could only take the Evangelical Counsels with a heavy weight in her consciousness that she hadn't tried hard enough to pull her older sister away from the path of sin.

And what had that brought? The girl behind her.

Born six years after Clarice's death, fathered by Lawrence and, from what she could understand her nephew Arthur had said, his hidden mistress that died giving birth to her changeling child.

Lawrence had died shortly after too, and not even having been married for an entire year, and with a business and a reputation to upkeep, Arthur had asked that she, his aunt, take the girl in and care for her in his and his wife's place.

She had wanted to refuse, but she knew from her sister's letters and from the few times she had spoken to him, that Arthur was a good man that tried his best, and in her everlasting commitment to family, Brigid accepted to raise the secret child.

"Ma- Mama!"

Both of these girl's parents were some of the worst kind of sinners, and Brigid merely kept her alive for God had commanded that one must always honor their family, but even if they weren't connected by blood, this child could never honor her legacy.

She was not this changeling's mother and she would not stand to be called that!

"Don't call me that, Serenity."

"Mama!"

"I said don't call me that!"

She would apologize to The Lord for her sudden burst of anger, but at least it had kept the girl from speaking that word again.

[didasgomas]

All it takes is one bad day

Day 26 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Nightmare/Warm blanket/Snuggling

Trigger warnings : Heavily implied PTSD nightmare on a teenager, referenced terrorist hijack, death of a child, referenced loss of family members

Important part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar, story created by @missr3n3

Author's note: The title references one of Joker's most famous lines during his multiple monologues

February 19th, 1972

Everything was okay. They were going to spend a week in Rose county as part of their vacations.

Mom and dad were there with her, as were all her siblings: Jan, Grace and Georgianna, Jade and Timothy.

The train ride was fun at first. Everyone was happy and there were so many pretty sights to admire through the window.

But then something changed.

People in red masks, shouting orders. Some left for the other carriage while one stayed, holding a gun. A man jumped behind him, Timothy made a run for one of the carriage's exits.

The sound of two gunshots, loud screaming, her little brother's dead body facing all of them.

Then the whole train derailed and the carriage collapsed on top of everyone.

They were stuck under the metal until her dad managed to lift up part of ceiling with another man's help. Those that could climbed out as soon as possible, but not everyone was conscious or able to move.

She was the last one to climb out. She had lost track of her family, there was too much going on for her to be able to follow any of their voices, and Winter made it so the first rays of sunshine were only just becoming visible.

The air was so cold. She tried to call out to her dad, she wanted to help him out too, but he told her to run.

She did, running straight inside the nearby forest, not seeing anywhere safer to hide in. Cateline heard more gunshots behind her, and what sounded like her father screaming, but she did as he told her and kept running.

She was able to find Jade at some point, still alive, but the darkness made it impossible for her to notice her little sister's almost crushed leg and the infection on it. Then when she thought she had heard their mother's voice, she left Jade alone for just a few minutes.

Cateline was so desperate. Her mother's voice started to fade, and she went back to her sister, scared and confused.

Jade was no longer talking or breathing.

Cateline yelled out for help in tears, cradling her sister's lifeless body. She didn't know what else she could do. She wasn't a child anymore but she was still so young and had never been in such a situation before.

She heard several men talking loudly, and there were lights nearby.

They tried to calm her dowm the best they could, said they'd take her to her mother, that they'd found her too.

She had to let go of Jade's body.

…

February 23rd, 1973

Cateline Viderlan woke up covered in sweat.

She bolted out of bed towards Jan's bedroom.

On that terrible attack last year, she had lost her father and three of her five siblings. Only Jan, Georgianna and herself remained.

Her mother had been left with neurogenic atrophy in nearly all of her leg muscles, not to mention a widow plus having lost half of all her beloved children. Mom left her job at Eclipse Academy, and turned dad's study into her new bedroom, incapable of sleeping in the room she had shared with her husband for 40 years.

Cateline passed next to it on her way to her brother's room. Mom had just locked it up for the foreseeable future, but it was like their dad's presence still hadn't left.

She simply walked faster. She could have gone to Gina's room, but Jan was the eldest and his room was the closest to hers.

There was a small light inside his bedroom. His insomnia had already been present before, but following the incident, it had worsened tenfold. He had needed to freeze college for a year, and would only return to his course that September.

Softly knocking on the door, she didn't wait for his answer before opening the door. She could apologize in the morning.

Jan got up from his desk. Cateline didn't manage to identify what he had been reading.

"Cat? What happened?"

"Nightmare. Bad one."

Her voice was somewhat shaky, but she wasn't going to cry. She rarely cried before, she couldn't afford to cry now that her family was still only beginning to recover.

Jan went up to her and took his sister in his arms. Neither of them cried, but God, did they need this hug.

"I know, Cat, I know. We're going to be alright."

[didasgomas]

901 A.C

Cut Down The Altar belongs to @missr3n3

W⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷリᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 l⚍リᔑᓵ╎?

I ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ꖌリ𝙹∴. S𝙹ᒲᒷ ᔑᓵᓵ╎↸ᒷリℸ ̣ ᔑꖎ ╎リℸ ̣ ᒷ∷ᔑᓵℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ꖎ╎ᑑ⚍╎↸ ⎓∷𝙹ᒲ ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ i ᓵ𝙹⚍ꖎ↸ ᓭᒷᒷ

W⍑|| ∴ᒷ∷ᒷ ||𝙹⚍ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ∴╎ℸ ̣ ⍑ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ?

I ⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ↸╎ᓭℸ ̣ ∷ᔑᓵℸ ̣ ᒷ↸-

D╎ᓭℸ ̣ ∷ᔑᓵℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リᓭ. O⎓ ᓵ𝙹⚍∷ᓭᒷ. Aリ↸ リ𝙹∴ 𝙹リᒷ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ʖᒷᓭℸ ̣ 𝙹⎓ 𝙹⚍∷ ꖌ╎リ↸ ⍑ᔑᓭ ʖᒷᒷリ ꖎ𝙹ᓭℸ ̣ ╎リℸ ̣ ᒷꖎꖎᒷᓵℸ ̣ ⚍ᔑꖎꖎ||. Y𝙹⚍ ᓵ⍑𝙹ᓭᒷ ᓵᔑ∷ᒷꖎᒷᓭᓭリᒷᓭᓭ 𝙹⍊ᒷ∷ ⍊╎⊣╎ꖎᔑリᓵᒷ.

N𝙹ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᒲᒷリℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ 𝙹リꖎ|| ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷᒲ!¡ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ∷ᒷ!¡ꖎ╎ᓵᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲᓭᒷꖎ⍊ᒷᓭ ↸╎ᒷ↸.

Wᒷ ᓭℸ ̣ ╎ꖎꖎ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ꖌリ𝙹∴ ╎⎓ ╎ℸ ̣ 'ᓭ !¡ᒷ∷ᒲᔑリᒷリℸ ̣. Iℸ ̣ ᓵ𝙹⚍ꖎ↸ ʖᒷ ⋮⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷᒲ!¡𝙹∷ᔑ∷|| ↸ᔑᒲᔑ⊣ᒷ

Tᒷᒲ!¡𝙹∷ᔑ∷||. Pᒷ∷ᒲᔑリᒷリℸ ̣. W⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ↸𝙹ᒷᓭ ╎ℸ ̣ ᒲᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷ∷? Dᔑᒲᔑ⊣ᒷ ╎ᓭ ↸ᔑᒲᔑ⊣ᒷ, ᔑリ↸ ||𝙹⚍ ᔑꖎꖎ𝙹∴ᒷ↸ ╎ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⍑ᔑ!¡!¡ᒷリ. Y𝙹⚍ ∴ᒷ���ᒷ ℸ ̣ ∷⚍ᓭℸ ̣ ᒷ↸. Yᒷℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍ ⎓ᔑ╎ꖎᒷ↸.

T⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ʖᒷ ᓵ𝙹リᓭᒷᑑ⚍ᒷリᓵᒷᓭ ⎓𝙹∷ ||𝙹⚍∷ ⎓ᔑ╎ꖎ⚍∷ᒷ. T⍑╎ᓭ ꖎᔑ∷⊣ᒷ ᒲ╎ᓭℸ ̣ ᔑꖌᒷ 𝙹⎓ ||𝙹⚍∷ᓭ ∴╎ꖎꖎ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⊣𝙹 ⚍リ!¡⚍リ╎ᓭ⍑ᒷ↸.

Oリᓵᒷ l𝙹!¡╎∷ ⎓╎リ↸ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ ᔑリ↸ ʖ∷╎リ⊣ᓭ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷᒲ ʖᔑᓵꖌ, ∴ᒷ ᓭ⍑ᔑꖎꖎ ᓵ∷ᒷᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ リᒷ∴ ʖᒷ╎リ⊣ᓭ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᓵ𝙹ᒲ!¡ᒷリᓭᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ. B⚍ℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍, lᔑ↸⍊ᔑ∷, ∴╎ꖎꖎ ℸ ̣ 𝙹𝙹 ʖᒷ ⎓𝙹∷ᓵᒷ↸ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ↸⚍!¡ꖎ╎ᓵᔑℸ ̣ ᒷ, 𝙹⍊ᒷ∷ ᔑリ↸ 𝙹⍊ᒷ∷, ⚍リℸ ̣ ╎ꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ╎ᓭ リ𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リ⊣ ꖎᒷ⎓ℸ ̣ 𝙹⎓ ⚍ᓭᒷ ╎リ ||𝙹⚍ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ᓵ𝙹!¡||.

T𝙹 ᒲᔑꖌᒷ ⚍!¡ ⎓𝙹∷ ᔑꖎꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ꖎ𝙹ᓭℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ╎ᒲᒷ ᔑリ↸ !¡𝙹ℸ ̣ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎ᔑꖎ.

Oリꖎ|| ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷリ ∴╎ꖎꖎ ||𝙹⚍ ℸ ̣ ∷⚍ꖎ|| ᓵ𝙹ᒲ!¡∷ᒷ⍑ᒷリ↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒲᔑ⊣リ╎ℸ ̣ ⚍↸ᒷ 𝙹⎓ ∴⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍ ᓭᑑ⚍ᔑリ↸ᒷ∷ᒷ↸.

Pꖎᒷᔑᓭᒷ, i- ᓭ⚍∷ᒷꖎ|| i ᓵᔑリ ᒲᔑꖌᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ , ╎⎓ ||𝙹⚍ ᔑꖎꖎ𝙹∴ ᒲᒷ-

Eリ𝙹⚍⊣⍑.

[didasgomas]

Assumption of the Virgin

Day 15 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Food poisoning/Starvation/Throwing up

Trigger Warning: Referenced murder, referenced cannibalism, unstable mental health, religious mania, vomiting

Somewhat important part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar (creator will be in the tags)

August 15th, 1820 - 4 A.M

"Most Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven, I beg of you with all my heart, that you and God, Our Lord, take pity on my sinning soul and give me one more chance to repent, for my control of my own flesh is slowly being taken from me"

His first time celebrating the Feast of the Assumption outside of Saint David's Monastery. One month before his 14th birthday.

Only thirteen and yet already one of the worst kinds of sinner imaginable.

He remembered all of those he had hurt, he really did. One of them was laying on the floor not too far away from him.

Back on that horrible day, he had hurt all the seven other boys at the monastery.

Laith. Andrew. Luke. Ethan. Issac. Austyn. Henley.

Greyston hadn't been the youngest, and he hadn't been the eldest either, but he certainly had been the most cowardly.

After consuming his dead friends' bodies in a devastating, crazed hunger, he had run away, for he would not be able to ever again look in his father's eyes and force upon him the painful truth that a monster like him was his only child.

All those that chose to shelter him after he ended up on the streets were unjustly plagued with the curse he now carried. He could never fully trace the reason for why his murderous hunger seemed to come and go in uneven intervals, but one thing he did remember was that he was always afraid before his hunger took over.

He was unable to understand his condition, and God was unwilling to provide answers. Greyston likely deserved the divine silence anyway.

The sound of flies infesting the dead man's body increased, and the boy finally gathered enough courage to look in that direction.

Reverend Nathan Smith had been the most recent victim of his animalistic hunger.

Greyston remembered all of his charitable and kind hosts by name as well.

Maria Graham had been a farmer and young widow. She took him in like the son she never had, and cared for him for three months before his hunger took her from this world far too soon.

Gabriel and Elizabeth Davies had been a happily married and very devout parents of three children, who looked after him for only two weeks before he attacked them on their way to church, leaving their poor children orphaned.

He had wandered around for days on the cities streets afterwards, trying to survive the harsh winter as proof of his penitence, until a generous lamplighter of name Tobias Green found him and took him somewhere safe.

Tobias reminded Greyston a lot of his own father Noah, and he had even started making plans about taking the boy in permanently. He stayed with Toby the longest, five months in total, before a sudden panic he could not remember the cause of exploded into an enormous void in his stomach, making him devour the man he had come to see as a second father, along with one of his similarly innocent friends.

After days of senseless walking, he had taken shelter from a sudden summer storm inside a church dedicated to Saint John, where Reverend Nathan had found him and given him far more appropriate shelter inside his own vicarage.

He had already killed and eaten so many innocent people, and now he had killed a holy man of the faith, surely The Virgin and The Lord were looking down at him in disgust and disappointment, just like his father probably would have too.

Bile rose up in his throat, and before he knew it he was vomiting parts of flesh he had eaten from the vicar's dying body. Once the townspeople went inside the vicarage to uncover why their reverend had not showed up to the Assumption service, not only would they find his mutilated body, but also the disgusting mess coming out of Greyston's mouth.

Our merciful Lord, please forgive me, for I did not wish for this.

[didasgomas]

Don't take candy from nice strangers

Day 10 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Execution/Fake execution/Begging for mercy

Trigger Warning: Psychological torture, gun threat, sadism

Very small and mostly for practice part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar (creator will be in the tags)

April 17th, 2004

Harvey was just a 21-year-old college student, trying his luck at hitchhiking across the state during the few days of the month where he had no classes.

Having started from Ida county just the day before, he had made a lot of progress, met a lot of nice people and stayed at a really welcoming inn in Polk. Right now he just hoped he'd be spotted on the side of the road fast, as he had less than an hour left of sunlight.

Finally, someone stopped. A young man possibly his same age, with black hair and brown eyes, who introduced himself as Jake and asked where Harvey needed to go, to which he answered vaguely with "just the nearest city".

Without explanation, Jake got out of the car, and suddenly there was a gun pointed at his head. Jake was very clear when stating he'd take Harvey to wherever he himself pleased, and threatened to blow off Harvey's head clean if he didn't comply. Next thing he knew, Harvey was shoved inside the trunk of the car.

The entire ride he was experiencing an internal panic attack, having lost any track of time and of direction.

What got him out of his own head wasn't the car stopping or the trunk opening, but rather Jake grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him inside an empty cemetery.

Jake stopped at an empty spot and finally released his grip on Harvey. Physically at least.

"Alright, barbs, take the shovel and start digging right here," he pointed to the ground, "and make sure it's pretty because that's gonna be your new bed after I shove a bullet in you."

He let out a long chuckle, like he'd just heard a joke. Like the anguish of someone else was entertaining.

However, given his strenght despite his slim appearance, there was no way Harvey could ever take on this dude all alone, and trying to insult him to his face would probably end up in him pulling the trigger much earlier. Swallowing down the need to vomit, Harvey picked up the shovel right next to him and began digging up what would be, to his understanding, his own grave.

He couldn't tell just how much time had passed by, too focused on what he was doing just to have an internal excuse as to not look his kidnapper in the eyes.

Once he had reached five feet deep, he was startled by a hand making contact with his shoulder without warning.

"Kneel down, barbs. It's time I finish the job."

Jake's voice sounded distant as Harvey's stress and fear bubbled up to a boiling point, so much so he barely felt his knees touching the ground.

Surely enough he felt the muzzle meet his temple. He shut his eyes so hard he saw stars, for at any second this would be it, his life would be cut short.

The sound of the trigger being pulled echoed slightly.

…

But… He was still-

Heavy, manic laughter drowned his ears.

The gun had been empty this whole time.

Through the laughter, he could hear the other man walking away from him.

"Welcome to Rose, barbs!" the other man yelled out from a distance, before breaking down in even more cackles.

After the air became quiet again, the only thing Harvey managed to do was cry.

[didasgomas]

Cold evening

Day 9 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Hypothermia/Overheating/Dehydration

Content Warning: Teenager with hypothermia, extremely dehydrated teenager

Important part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar (creator will be in the tags)

February 12th, 1820

His hours were almost over, just a few more lights and he would be ready to go. Life as a lamplighter wasn't exactly easy for Tobias, but he made the best of it.

Winters in the northwest of Iowa weren't heavy on rain but they were especially cold, so the faster he finished his job, the faster he could return home and warm himself up.

It was after climbing down from the last street lamp that he noticed someone in the nearby alley.

They were sitting down near the alley entrance, shivering, with no shoes and only a worn down blanket to protect them from the weather. Tobias couldn't see their hands but he imagined that they must be pale from the cold.

"Good evening. Can I help?"

Despite how deep his voice was, he tried to sound as friendly as possible.

They looked up. The boy looked up.

Fatigued eyes, dry lips, ice forming in his face. He didn't look to be even 15 yet.

Oh Lord. If he did not help this boy he would surely die.

He crouched down to the boy's level, and realized the child was not breathing properly either.

"Please stay awake." he softly insisted, "Can you understand me?"

The boy just stared at him, before closing his eyes and lowering his head slightly. From the expression on his face, he looked to be in some pain. A headache perhaps?

"I…I- I got..lost."

He sounded exhausted and disorientated. Tobias had no idea for just how long this poor boy had been wandering all alone in the streets, but he guessed at least a month given his condition.

Tobias reached out and squeezed the boy's hidden hand, a silent request for him to drop the blanket, which the child did very quickly, and just as fast as he did that, Toby took off his own winter coat and covered the boy with it.

"Do you think you can stand up?" he asked, placing his left arm on the boy's back.

The child seemed to not know where to look, but he reached his shaking arm out, seemingly looking for Toby's hand.

Acknowledging that, Tobias wrapped his larger hand around the boy's pale one, and with some slight difficulty due to the cold, he helped him get on his feet. From the way he continued to shiver, it seemed like Toby was the only thing keeping the child from falling to the floor again.

Guiding the smaller one across the street back to his own house, Tobias almost forgot to ask.

"What's your name?"

The boy made a small sound before appearing to finally understand the question.

"G-Grey…"

"Grey?"

"Grey" seemed to ponder for a few seconds before speaking again.

"…Greyston. My name…is Greyston."

[didasgomas]

Old friends from older traditions

Day 8 of @augusnippets

Prompts: Reunion/Found family/Friends

Content Warning: Murder, murder accomplices, mentions of cannibalism

Somewhat important part of "In Mortality", an au of Cut Down The Altar, story created by @missr3n3

1892-2009-2010-2011 When Stella and Steven Bilcanna hired Daniel and Armond Gardener, they weren't fully expecting to gain their biggest crime supporters and friends.

The Gardener brothers and their families were extremely poor, illegitimate sons that lost their struggling mother far too soon and with so much inherited debt from their father and step-mother, that they could barely feed their children, no matter how many small jobs their wives took.

Daniel and his wife Rachel already had two daughters, Halley and Astrid, and were expecting a third child already, while Armond's wife Lily had only one stillborn baby, Thelma, and the closest they could do to giving her a proper funeral was to bury her along with various flower seeds, so that at least she'd be surrounded by beauty through the years.

Eventually, however, the Gardeners had no better choice than to sell the small amount of land they owned, or else risk starving to death. It was the Bilcannas who bought the land, but taking pity on those desperate people, they hired them and helped them with their debts.

All that Stella and Steven asked the Gardeners to do was take care of the hotel's garden, as Stella's little sister Clara could no longer do it, and in exchange they'd receive not only pay, but also the right to keep their humble house on the hotel's premise. A light joke on their last name, but a more or less light task as well considering their harsh background.

Not all of the hotel guests were polite to them, but that was almost completely expected as it wasn't everyone was able to afford a room inside the ever growing place, so the family endured it for the sake of surviving.

Daniel and Rachel's third child was another daughter, Pearl, and they eventually had a son, Finley, as well, and they considered themselves happy and satisfied with four children. Only after the birth of her nephew did Lily agree to try becoming pregnant again, and she later gave birth to a living son of her own, whom she named Peter after her own beloved father.

For five years, the family was content, but everything changed in July of 1897, when the intended victim of Stella's aunt Juniper threw himself out of a first floor window in an attempt to escape her, landing right in front of the Gardener brothers, who watched as Juniper proceeded to jump right behind her prey and snap his neck right there on the floor.

Trying to not get killed on the spot themselves, they pledged silence and asked that she tell them where her eldest niece was. Stella, heavily pregnant with her second child at the time, at first did not indulge in their request to continue alive and working for her as long as their mouths remained shut, deeming it too much of a risk, but their friendship ad her trust in them, added with some light insistence from her husband Steven and the adorable request by her 4-year-old son Dalian, in minutes changed her mind, and she agreed to keep them alive as accomplices to her and her family's atrocities, with the condition that they would need to help the Bilcannas whenever that was requested of them.

It wasn't easy swallowing the new terms, much less break them to their wives and children, but eventually they all reluctantly agreed to not run away from their circumstances.

None of those still morally conscious ones ever grew to 'enjoy' aiding in the suffering of others, they merely learned to desensitize their own brains to it, and that wasn't an easy process for any of them. Daniel and Rachel's daughters did as much as give up their hopes of having children of their own, not wanting them to suffer what they were suffering, amplified by the fact that Finley died from illness before his 4th birthday.

But Peter Gardener grew up with such terms already in place, and when his parents had an unplanned second child, Gabriella, she was literally born into the accomplice system.

It were the new Gardener siblings who grew to truly enjoy what they did, for they too saw the victims as little more than animals, though not for consumption like the Bilcannas did, and it was Peter's offspring who inherited such cruel ways and went on to perpetuate them even further.

His great-grandchildren still live in the same house that their ancestors originated from, and they still live by that same old cycle, still friends with a family of cruel and deranged cannibals.

[missr3n3]

Me: I'll just put that those two Tenebrae magically reached this place several counties away from Nox because they're just so silly and spooky. No need to make up yet another explanation for why

Also me: No. You're going to create a whole ass new building to explain why they are there and not in Nox so early in the timeline AND IT'S GOTTA BE NOW

Boom, White Cross Manor

you could've taken my approach n just gone "fuck it. demonic hellfire magic did it."

thats basically how i wrote chapter 14 lol