#everytime i have food dreams lately the foods so vivid and then i wake up disappointed lol

[faunandfloraas]

Dreamt I was eating Malaysian food with Bang Chan 😫

[mamaangiwine]

Hi, it's me again, i have another dream i thought you'd find cool! If you don't want to interpret it because you've done one for me before it's totally fine! Its just so wild i wanted to share.

I was God, or a God, and i came down to Earth. When i looked at Earth and it's people i didn't see a blue planet, i saw a giant room shaped like a cube filled with randomly placed, basically shaped, columns and platforms which people stood on. People looked like people, but they also looked like simplified shapes. It felt like i was looking at code when i looked at the world and people. I placed myself in an upper middle platform in the bottom left of the cube with some people, and when i did i became more human. I held onto a piller and looked over the edge and said something like "wow thats a scary drop" to which someone behind me responded "yup, I'd hate to be pushed of that ledge" i turned towards him and said "now that you said something im worried!" And we laughed, like a big laugh, and i physically felt my real body giggling and smiling in my sleep. Thats when i realized i was in some weird half asleep half awake stage. I could move and feel my real body but i was dreaming. At somepoint i ate some food that tasted SO good i swore it was real. Then i realized i had powers. Powers like whatever i wanted to happen, happened. Snaping away something in the blink of an eye, moving something with my mind, ect. So i decided to help everyone i could. With my powers i protected and saved people from evil forces. One guy had some evil thing in him and tried running right at me but i froze him in time and exercised the thing inside him. With every interaction i make, i made a joke and made myself laugh in the dream and irl. I was GENUINELY funny but don't remember what i said. Eventually these Spanish speaking people spoke to me and i actually understood them! They said something like "death is coming" i said "don't worry, buenos noches". Then a much bigger evil force started taking over Cube Earth, so i did my best to evacuate people. Thats all i remember of that phase. Next i was looking at tapestries, but they represented human souls, and changed everytime i looked at them even though it was the same soul. Looking at the tapestries gave me such understanding and clairty of that person, i knew them like i knew themselves. I think i was guiding them to the afterlife and said things like "i understand, i know you did your best, its okay" and i woke up all the way.

It may be fair to mention, right before falling asleep i was contemplating the afterlife, and my insomnia meds didn't work for a while so I've been up all night and waking up early so im pretty sleep deprived which might be the cause of the vivid dreams I've had lately. The night before was also a strange dream. One thing they both had in common was they were very vivid and actually very coherent and not just a bunch of random stuff.

Anyways, do whatever you want with this info, hope you have a great day!

Heya,

So, yes. This is very, very cool. The theme of "change" is very present here.

I get this too sometimes, especially if I'm having fitful sleep, lol. Anywho- oof. There are definitely some symbols that I think I would not be able to fit into the space of a single tumblr post.

Like, you know, the whole "God" thing. Too much, dude. Too much, lol.

Anywho, I think it's interesting that you said Earth didn't look like 'Earth' but rather a cube/room. Cubes have four corners. Four, in western occultism, is considered a perfect number because it is the number two repeated. It is a solid number of solid foundation. It also represents knowledge and so it makes sense to me that you would have this sensation of looking at things as though they were data. Four is also the number of the elements, and I find it interesting that you found yourself in the lower left corner because, at least in my rituals, that is the corner in which the element of 'earth' resides.

This makes me wonder if you currently feel as though you are growing more knowledgeable in terms of spirituality, or perhaps you're getting better at navigating your own life- the mechanations of your own "world". That right now you have a good foundation, or if you're on the cusp of that kind of experience.

With that in mind, I feel like the "I'd hate to be pushed off that ledge" then acts as a congratulations, and a gentle warning. This, paired with the element of "earth", makes me feel as though you are/have been approaching this knowledge, and stage of your life, in a very grounded manner. Aware of the "fall" if you are to get ahead of yourself, and careful not to stretch yourself too thin (as seen when we compare the exorcism of one man, in comparison to saving the world from destruction- in the first you are capable of the whole of the task at hand, while in the second you focus on doing what you can).

Regardless, however. There will be a change ("death is coming") and this moment will have to pass into the next, as seen in the ultimate destruction of the world itself. As symbolized by the evacuation, you must take what you can in this "world" and go forward into the next "world". To the next moment. Remain grounded. Remember that, no matter how careful you are, eventually you must fall, and that all things end.

Moving onto the soul aspect of all of this- a tapestry is cloth woven to tell a complex story, but yeah, even that can't capture the complexities of the human soul. It's too stagnant. It would have to change. I particularly like that you are so affirming to these souls that you are directing into the afterlife. For me, it feels like you are capable of taking on that change with an air of understanding and humor, as seen initially with you laughing about falling in the beginning. Knowing that things can't stay the same, that energies must be redirected without negating the beauty of what has already transpired. That the tapestry must shift.

Thanks for sharing this, friend. I know it's been a minute and I really appreciate that you thought of sharing this with me.

[damn-stark]

The Trouble ch.7

A/N- sorry it’s taken so long to post but I plan on finishing this now, so expect more frequent posts. :)

Warning- angst, talks of death, ptsd, blood, light fluff

Pairing- Jesse x fem!reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

——

You could still see it, as clear as day. You could still hear the sound of the gunshots, and the sound of his body thumping the ground.

That’s the only memory you could see now. The memory of Jesse's face contorted into that single painful memory of his death. Everytime you tried to recall a happy and blissful moment, he appeared with his bloody face and the wound that killed him.

As much as you tried to forget, his death haunted your dreams and your mind every waking hour. It wasn’t as bad as it was in the first couple of months after you returned home, but you still couldn’t be the same. You could never be the same. No one who went and came back with you was the same.

Sometimes...you could even see him appear to you…it was so strangely vivid, it seemed like he was actually with you. But you knew he wasn’t, he couldn’t be.

“Y/N, hey kiddo….” You look over your shoulder and notice Tommy welcomed himself inside the house.

You weren’t even aware when he walked inside, or if he even knocked. He most likely did, you just didn’t hear. Albeit sometimes out of instinct, he just walked inside the house; it happened once when Maria was home, she didn’t say anything though, he was the only one embarrassed.

“...I thought you’d be holed up in here,” he continued as he set down the tupperware filled with food.

You turn off the sink and completely turn around to face him, leaning back on the counter and shrugging nonchalantly. “I was just going to go out, you just caught me in here before I could.”

Tommy rests his hand on the counter across from you and releases an airy chuckle. “Right, with which friends may I ask? Maria says you’ve lost them all.”

Your eyes flicker away from him and you scoff as you nod slowly. “They lost me...man,” tears fill your eyes and you feign a grin, “..they...lost me.” You clear your throat and raise your head, letting out a quiet sigh and changing the mood before the tension rose. “Anyway, what’s with the surprise visit? I thought we were meeting for patrol later this week?”

“Well,” Tommy says as he shrugs and averts your gaze. “Just thought you might like the visit.”

You cross your arms over your chest and nod stiffly, smiling softly and then clicking your tongue. “Sure did. But,” you begin to say as you narrow your gaze on him, noticing he looked strange; his stiffened posture, his perplexed expression beginning to show itself on his face. It was hard to tell, he hid his true intentions well, but you saw the truth. “...you’re not here just to visit are you?”

Tommy stands up straight and drops his head to shake it without having to face you. “No,” he mutters before he moves his hand to search the pocket hidden inside his jacket, slowly scrummaging through it to pretend he was looking for something, when in reality he only had one thing, a folded up map. “I wanted to show you this.” He puts the map on the countertop and unfolds it on the surface to flatten it out and show a part of some state, he doesn’t reveal it right away, he instead just waves you over and waits for you.

However you don’t move right away, first you let your eyes scan the wrinkled paper, noticing the marks and the city names. You didn’t recognize the cities so you didn't instantly catch what his intentions were—it could be just some city he needed some supply from, some part of the state where he wanted to visit for some reason, you truly didn’t know. If you were being completely honest you didn’t want to know. Something was telling you to not press further. But you did.

After a couple seconds of hesitation you walk up beside him and take a better look at the map he was showing you.

“First of all, before I get to explaining, I want you to know that I’m not asking anything of you, you don’t owe me anything, okay?” Tommy explains as he turns his head to look at you, waiting in silence for you to assure him. “You understand that?”

“Yeah,” you nod hesitantly. “I understand...why?” You lift your eyes from the paper and meet his gaze. “What’s up?”

“Well,” he swallows thickly. “Recently this guy who’s heard my story, shared to me that while he was moving through California…..” he pauses and looks back at the map, waving his hand around as he chooses to continue. “He traded with a woman that he described was built like an ox.”

“Okay,” you nod, feeling the explanation he gave instantly matched with the women that also plagued your mind, knowing that he was referring to no one else but her.

“He said she was traveling with a kid with scars across his face.” Tommy proceeded to then shift the map around, pointing to a part of land by the ocean. “He said they were living along the coast in a beached sailboat. Right here.” Tommy says as he points to the specific location. “That’s gotta be her.”

Your eyes flicker up to him as you let silence take over for a few minutes as you tried to collect your thoughts, as you tried to process the news and what he was really asking of you.

“Is this…” you ask slowly as your eyes remain away from him. “About Joel?”

“No,” Tommy instantly answers, “not for you anyway...this is about Jesse.”

“I see,” you nod as you step back, feeling your throat begin to burn and your eyes begin to cloud with tears. “I see.”

And it’s at the sound of his name that you see him appear close to Tommy.

Jesse looked so real, so insanely real that it really seemed like he was there listening to Tommy with you. But that was the point, right? The game your mind tortured you with.

The only thing that distinguished him from actually seeming real was that he appeared to you how he was when he died; with the bullet that punctured his face, and the blood that poured from it. Otherwise you’d have a hard time actually believing he wasn’t real, otherwise you’d always be looking at his illusion your mind created, unlike how you were now, you couldn’t even fathom looking at him for more than a second before you looked away in horror.

Tommy noticed that reaction but he didn’t hold back. He was too mad to do so.

“I went to Ellie about Joel, but she let me down.”

“What?” You gasp as you snap your head up to look at him. “You went to Ellie? Why would you do that?” You demand with anger beginning to lace through your voice.

“Because she promised she’d do something about her.” Tommy remarked, making you shake your head and blink in disbelief.

“But why would you break that peace she’s trying to find? That’s why she and Dina moved.” You snap. “Why would you go to her with this?”

“That peace she’s trying to find his bullshit,” Tommy scoffs as he grabs the map and begins to fold it. “You know that.”

“That doesn’t matter!” You interject furiously, “why would you go to her?”

“Because she needs to do something about Abby, just like you do too. Are you really going to let her get away with killing jesse?” Tommy counters, instantly making you stiffen and feel your breath hitch at the sound of his comment. You wanted to talk back, but you were struck with disbelief and grief to manage to muster anything out.

All that you could show was the pain on your face, in your tear filled eyes. Tommy noticed that and hesitated, he stepped back and wanted to try and apologize, but he waited too long. Maria walked in and didn’t want an explanation, she recognized the pain on your face that she saw everyday since you returned. She, unlike Tommy, knew more of what you were struggling with and she wasn’t going to allow someone to just worsen the pain. Not even Tommy.

“What do you think you’re doing Tommy?” She demanded after she also took note of the map in his hand.

“Just came here to talk to her,” Tommy said as he hid the truth. “That’s all.”

“Well,” Maria scoffed, “then that’s enough for today. Get out.”

Said man didn’t argue, he stopped under the kitchen doorway to add one last thing to you. “Think about it y/n, you know I’m right. And then go talk to her. Do what’s right.”

You slowly look up at him and catch a brief sight of the anger burning on his face before he turns and limps out of the house, leaving you a scrambled mess and only causing you to see him again. It was brief, but you saw Jesse's dead figure under the doorway right before Maria broke you from your stupor and didn’t hesitate to embrace you, trying to comfort your withered soul. But not succeeding. Not like the times before.

——

“I’m giving you ten minutes.” Jesse informs you as he leans by the tree trunk a few feet away. “You better have your eyes closed already.”

“I’m already asleep,” you add sarcastically, “you just keep talking to me so.”

Jesse scoffs and keeps talking to you even after he gives you a time limit to take a very short nap. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste here if we want to catch up to Ellie and Dina.”

You pull the small blanket over your head and sigh. “If only we did have time. I’d love to stay here. It’s very pretty.”

You hear Jesse's feet shift and you imagine he was now looking at you over his shoulder, but you couldn’t know with your back turned his way. All the indication you had to know that he was still listening was the fact that he responded without thinking of his answer. “After we find them on our way back home, we could get “lost” and just arrive a few weeks after them.”

You open your eyes, but you don’t turn to face him, you keep yourself facing the forest you stopped in to rest and smile as you continue to play along. “They’d be worried.”

“Yeah, but we’ll go back, we’ll just be a few days, or weeks late.”

“You’re right,” you say as you turn back and close your eyes again. “And we won’t tell them that we just wanted to spend time together.”

“No,” Jesse agrees, “it’ll stay between us.”

“Sounds good,” you finish with a content sigh and a giddy smile. Jesse doesn’t answer, but you didn’t need him to know he agreed with you. You were content with the quiet comment he made a few minutes after the comfortable silence.

“Goodnight, y/n.”

���—

“Goodnight...Jesse.”

You shift around in your bed and face the ceiling, wiping the tears off your cheeks and watching as the sun slowly begins to peek inside the room, slowly reflecting the soft light on the ceiling. You had gotten a few hours of sleep, but not so much, not as much as you would before. And well it seemed that Tommy’s words kept you up. You just couldn’t stop thinking of the fact that he had gone to Ellie, that he had tried to put salt over the wound.

You just couldn’t help but think of what she was doing. It had been months since you heard news of Abby, since anyone heard news of her, and it’s not like you or anyone else expected it, that part of everyone’s life was supposed to be over. That meant no chasing revenge schemes.

Yet here Tommy was, wanting people to chase after a woman he couldn’t. Knowing that he shouldn’t put such a heavy burden on anyone, knowing that you wouldn't do it, you weren’t that person….however that’s why he didn’t come to you first, that’s why he went to Ellie, because he had hoped she would.

Only you hoped she wouldn't….she went through so much, she has a happy life, a good family. Joel wouldn't want her to throw that away, not for some revenge plan that could end up with her dying this time—you hoped she knew that. You wished Tommy would realize that.

Yet...something told you she didn’t….shit—you let out a deep sigh while you sit up and swing your legs over the bed to quickly slide off. You hesitated continuing for a bit, but you needed to do this, you needed to talk to her.

No more holing up in your house, no more avoiding.

——

“This is it.” You mutter under your breath as you stop in front of the porch, looking away from the land that surrounds the house and looking at the house. “No more avoiding.” You draw out a small breath and walk up the stairs to make it to the front door, hesitating again but this time with your knuckles hovering over the door. Your eyes slide to your fist, and you’re tempted to pull it away and just walk back home since no one seemed to know you were here.

But, no. You needed to remind yourself that you were here for a reason. So you let your hand go and knock on the door and wait. And it actually didn’t take long before you spotted someone peeking out the creaked door, before they spread the door open and revealed their face.

“Y/N, hi,” Dina greets you with a very faint smile and swollen eyes. “What a surprise.” She steps forward and wraps you in a hug, seeming to use all the strength she could muster to keep you close.

“I know,” you smile as you return the embrace. “I’m sorry, it’s just been….hard,” you sigh, letting her be the first one to pull away after some minutes. “How’s JJ?”

“Good,” she assures you as she steps to the side. “Come in.”

You do so slowly to take in the nicely decorated space you’ve seen so far.

“He’s just sleeping,” Dina continues as she walks further into her house, while you come to stop in the living room and keep searching, this time for Ellie; “water? Tea?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine.” You assure her while you watch her peek her head out the kitchen. “Thanks. Uh, Dina, where’s Ellie?”

Suddenly at the sound of her name you see Dina stiffen once she’s out of the kitchen, she drops her gaze and shakes her head before she continues to walk and join you in the living room. “She’s...not here.”

Your eyebrows furrow and you take a step towards her to press for a clearer answer. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she left.”

“What?” You queried ere as you blink in disbelief, for the first few seconds not getting why. Not until it hit you. That’s when you let out a deep sigh and dropped your own gaze. “I’m guessing this had something to do with Tommy.”

“Something like that.” Dina scoffs.

You nod slowly in comprehension and clench your fists, choosing to share what happened to you too. “Yeah,” you scoff, “he came to me too. I came here to tell her not to go, to remind her that...Joel wouldn't want that for her.” You look up and see Dina was now closer to you, her eyes were watery and her frown was deeply formed. “But I’m late.”

“You know nothing would’ve changed her mind,” Dina shares as her voice quivers. “She’s stubborn.”

“Yeah,” you nod, “I know. But at least then I could’ve tried something else.”

Dina stays quiet for a moment while her eyes search your face, her own seeming to come to a realization. “Don’t do it, y/n. Don’t go after her.”

“I,” you pause and think to yourself; you didn’t even think of doing so at this ínstant, the intention didn’t cross your mind. But it was beginning to slowly break through your mind, you suppose she got that impression before you did. Now it’s the only thing you could think of.

You exhale deeply and your impulse answers for you. “My friends' problems are my problems."

.

.

.

.

Tagged- @protect-lev , @expecto-nox, @vintage-and-hypnotic , @kokomaesadie , @0j-b0, @itsyellow , @minheoly @traceylader

[lightblue-flower]

Love Lies - Chapter 1

Prev | Next

A/N: I posted this a while ago on AO3 but wanted to keep it on here as well (since I...already posted the prologue here lol). Anyway, I’m glad that this story has gotten a positive reaction, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Pairing: FrUk, Minor Pairings (NedPort, SweFin, DenNor, lightly salted RoChu)

Also Read Here: AO3

“Always remember Arthur- it’s better to not say anything if you don’t have anything nice to say towards other artists. It’s best not to give the paparazzi what they crave for- they sell off of drama, and one day it’ll come back and bite you in the ass when all they’ll ask about is your fight with the other person. You don’t want to get into one so early in your career.”

Those were the wise words of Yao during their first session of Yao coaching Arthur on how to present himself to the public.

There really is no difference in the reaction around you when you explicitly say you don’t like someone or you diss someone, whether your famous or not.

When you’re not famous, and you say something about someone in public, there’s the chance of someone you know that is outside of the people you’re telling this to hearing it and it becoming gossip amongst your circle of acquaintances and friends.

Same for when you’re famous, except the outsider you know is the paparazzi and entertainment reporters. And the gossip is not only within the industry- it belongs to the entire world who gives a shit about these things.

And, from the multiple line up of tabloids and magazines one would find at the local supermarket, it’s clear that there’s a lot of people who do give a shit.

After Arthur’s interview with Eduard that one fateful night, the gossip and talks already spread to most news outlets the next afternoon- when Arthur woke up back in his hotel bedroom.

Yao and Mei were sitting in the small living room area, waiting for Arthur to wake up, with Mei’s laptop propped on the coffee table with the interview on full screen. Yao, who’s face was almost as red as the shirt he was wearing, gave Arthur a long, well deserved lecture one what he has done and the implications of what he said to his career.

It’s different when you’re a DJ- you should be in solidarity with others due to the simple fact that your beginnings were harder for wanting an unconventional dream within the music industry. Not just anyone makes it big, and there is a reason there are fewer mainstream DJs compared to singers.

Mei  had her nose scrunched up slightly- something she does when she was also angry, but she wanted to hide it. After Yao’s scolding, Mei tried to be calm, and take a more gentler route.

“You’ll still get work, it’s just that now people will be pitting and comparing you and Jean against each other,” Mei said, tapping her slender fingers on her folded knee. Arthur, messed up from yesterday’s party, was laying back on the sofa, still trying to keep up with what Yao had just said. “And you’ll be getting more questions about him- something you always complained about.”

“And I don’t think you want to be known as that guy who starts fights,” Mei continued in the same tone, before Arthur cut her off with a groan.

“I didn't start a fight,” Arthur grumbled, covering his eyes with an arm, the light giving him a greater headache. “I just stated my opinion- it’s just an honest critique!”

“Yeah, well, your little ‘critique’ will get you into a fight,” Yao snapped, his brows furrowing deeper. He took a deep breath, as he gathered his loose long, chestnut hair and began to put it in a neat ponytail, saying in a cooler voice, “We all know this industry loves when people have a beef, and it would come to the point that people will only remember you because of the fights.”

“We’re not rappers- we’re not going to release diss tracks.”

“No, but people will eventually start being choosy with who they collaborate with. You’ll have artists that will only collaborate with you, and those who would choose Jean, giving you limited opportunities,” Mei replied in Yao’s place. “You might get the short end of the stick and end up with unpopular artists-”

“Look, I don’t care that much about who I collaborate with- as long as my work is original and sounds good, and isn’t some generic shit that the rich kids from Notting Hill are partying to.”

“That’s not the point,” Yao huffed, before shaking his head in defeat. “Aiyaa….Mei what can we do?”

“Do nothing- so I say shit about his music. So what? It’s not gonna end his or my career,” Arthur rolled his eyes, fixing the sofa cushion that was underneath his neck. “Now can you two please leave me alone? I don’t feel good and I have a headache and your voices are making it even worse…”

“This is why we tell you not to drink!” Yao exclaimed, immediately going into the kitchen, going to the cupboard to grab a pot. Arthur couldn’t help but feel happy when he saw the pot- he knew Yao was going to make him soup. Despite him not being overseen and sort of babied by Mei and Yao, he appreciates it greatly when they would make food for him. And at this moment, Yao’s infamous soup is all Arthur wants. “It’s like we’re taking care Siu Chun everytime we go on these trips with you…”

“Thanks Yao, you’re my favourite publicist,” Arthur said loud enough in a slurring and cracking voice, sounding like he was in the midst of dying. Which he partly was.

“I’m your only publicist,” he could hear Yao mumble back.

After that discussion (or moreso, a lecture), Arthur decided to turn to his phone to see what might have happened after that disastrous interview. Immediately, he saw Tino’s name on the screen, with a message accompanied with a bunch of worried face emojis.

Tino: Arthur! I knew I shouldn’t have left you alone with Matthias! Are you okay? Did you see Weekly Entertainment??

Arthur immediately replied back to let his friend know that he was okay, he safely made it to his hotel room (somehow), and that he was going to check the interview right away.

Arthur didn’t look too bad in the video, but he could tell that he was far away from sober and sane during the interview with the swaying and the dazed look on his face. And honestly, he didn't say anything really bad- he just called Jean’s music generic, he didn’t even say that his music was shitty.

But, after he read the comments on the video, he started to feel bad, and Mei’s opinion started to sink in properly- he really doesn’t want his life to revolve around Jean.

And so the young Brit took to Twitter at the advice of Yao, ready to formerly write an explanation saying how he still respected Jean as a producer (even though it’s a lie, but nobody needs to know that), when he saw the issue trending on the homepage. Clicking it, one tweet popped up immediately, and caught Arthur’s attention- the one with little blue check and the accent egu in the username.

And it read simply:

The king is whining like a little prince. Sore loser much?

@JÉpine

Out went the civility and out went any way of saving a professional relationship. Arthur in turn lightly insulted him, but the light insults soon turned into them calling each other intentional insults through subtweeting. Notable insults include being a “weak motherfucker who wouldn’t dare fight Arthur because he might break a fingernail” and a “a whiny pussy who’s jealous that their music isn’t as good as they thought it was”.

Jean Epine’s true colours did show to the world during that Twitter dispute. So did Arthur’s.

What really took Mei by surprise, however, was that neither of their reputation was tarnished. Rather, people were still lining up to book Arthur for their festivals and his album sale actually increased suddenly. There were still plenty of fans backing both of them, and the biggest thing was, their dislike for one another just added on to their popularity.

This was the turning point in both of these young men music careers-their rivalry has been sealed for the public to enjoy.

And all of these events lead up to the present, years later.

***

“Just want to feel

A bit alive for a moment...”

Arthur glanced down to the array of slides and buttons, pushing and twisting them when appropriate, as João’s familiar voice sung the lyrics to the song from a playback recording. He could hear the crowd of people that surrounded the huge stage singing along, most bouncing up and down in a dance.

Lights flashed around from the stage where he was standing, and lit up the darkness that had started to consume the open arena.

He was happy to do a set again at Tomorrowland, one of the most popular music festivals in the world, even though at this point in his life. Boom, Belgium had always been one of his favourite places to go, and there was always had a vivid and excited crowd.

"Thank you, Belgium!” Arthur yelled into the microphone he had, and the crowd continued to scream and cheer, as he walked off to the side, feeling the adrenaline pulsing through his body starting to slow down.

He passed by the buzzing stage crew, who were scrambling to usher Arthur away from the stage and trying to find their next act.

“Good job, King! That was great,” one of the performers called to him and he smiled and thanked them, before joining most of the performers that stood idly behind a curtain, hanging out.

He was in a good mood as he talked to the others, and wanted to stay, but he got a message from Mei saying that she was at the back of the arena to pick him up. Arthur intentionally wanted to hang back to watch Matthias, Tino, and Berwald’s performance, but decided against it- it was already late, and he was starting to feel slightly tired.

Arthur got up from the chairs and started to walk out when he suddenly, he spotted a man walking towards his direction, to the waiting area. His smile faltered, and his eyebrows drew in slightly, as he kept his walk at a consistent pace. The man noticed Arthur as well, and a smile grew on his face.

“Jean.”

“Petit Prince,” Francis replied with his thick French accent, taking off the dark sunglasses that covered his eyes.

What kind of douche wears sunglasses at night? Arthur thought, though it did suit his face.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Arthur replied evenly, not wanting to show that that nickname that Jean gave to him bother him. “How was rehab? Are you still getting over your heroin addiction?”

Jean scoffed. “I have standards when it comes to drugs- heroin would ruin my perfectly beautiful arms.”

“There are different ways to take heroin,” Arthur rolled his eyes at Jean’s self compliment, while Jean smiled smugly.

“Yes, you seem to know a lot about it. Nice shirt by the way. Where did you get it from- Tesco?”

“You’re lacking in the creative insult department- you better step up your game,” Arthur replied. “Then again, what can I expect from a man who lacks creativity?”

Jean clicked his tongue, and looked ready to talk back when suddenly, Matthias came out of nowhere between them.

“Jean! ‘Sup!!” Matthias suddenly interrupted their bickering, grinning wildly as he hung off of Arthur’s shoulders. The rest of Arthur’s friends have actually maintained a good relationship with Jean, despite Arthur’s personal feud with him. It was often that they would even invite him to the parties they would host, though, in those situations, Arthur learns to tolerate the Frenchman. “You’re on next right? Good luck with your set! Me and the guys can’t stick around too long to watch- but we can catch up next time at the DJ Awards, alright?”

“Thank you. I can’t wait to see you guys in Amsterdam!” Jean smiled, as Matthias was called over further away by Tinos.

Arthur was about to leave as well, not wanting to give the Frenchman the respect to say farewell, but Jean spoke up.

“Goodluck, petit prince,” Jean said in a more soothing tone. He then said in a much slyer voice, “You’ll need it.”

"Suck my dick, frog,” Arthur grumbled, his hands clenched into fists, marching away as Jean entered the stage. Arthur frowned when he heard the eruption of screams from the crowd, and quickly went further backstage to meet up with Mei, who was waiting in a limousine to take him to his hotel.

It’s been about 8 years since that one fateful night. 8 years of Jean and Arthur going back and forth like this. And was Arthur tired of it?

Hell no. If anything, his burning passion to be the best - or, at least, better than Jean- burned just as brightly as it has since their first conversation.

Each year was an opportunity for him to one up Jean and maintain his rightful place as the top DJ. And each year, well- it alternated.

See, after that year where Jean Épine took first place at the DJ Top 100 Awards, Arthur continued to create music, as did Jean. The next year, Arthur managed to beat Jean by getting first place, whereas the Frenchman got 2nd. It was one, if not, the single best thing that happened to Arthur at that point. The EDM scene went crazy over it- KING, who some tabloids made it seem like he was all talk and no bite, managed to beat Jean Épine.

But that sense of achievement only lasted for a year. Because the year after Arthur’s incredible win, Jean Épine once again reclaimed his spot, with Arthur coming close behind.

And thus, their rivalry, specifically in music,become more and more intense, with subtle jabs here and there when reporters would ask them about each other. Arthur maintains that Jean Épine has no actual substance to his music, whereas Jean flaunts that Arthur may just be jealous, because his music also lacks a particular motif- love. Sometimes they do manage to make civil conversation if the situation calls for it, though it would still be sprinkled in insults, and if they were unlucky (as they are) it dissolves into an argument.

They didn’t necessarily win first place each year, sometimes a different DJ that was not involved in the same areas as either of them would take that spot. However, they did manage to get a higher spot than the other.

So far, Arthur has won first place 3 times, with Jean placing first twice. Arthur, obviously, is winning in this little game they found themselves in.

This year, if Jean managed to get first place, they would be tied. Something Arthur would like to avoid, in order to further crush Jean’s ego.

“Hey Artie, did you have fun?” Mei said in a motherly tone, a way of teasing his as Arthur slipped to the seat across of her. Arthur, however, was not in the mood for banter.

“I’m tired,” Arthur replied, as he leaned over to look out the window. “I can’t wait to go home.”

“I thought you liked coming here?”

“It was nice until…” He didn’t finish his sentence, knowing that it was the pettiest reason to want to leave a place.

“Jean?” Arthur’s eyes narrowed.

“You two are too old to keep this fight,” Mei continued, as she fidgeted with her phone.

“I’m not that old,” Arthur grumbled, now feeling a bit grumpy thanks to Mei.

“30? In the DJ world, I’d say it is,” Mei asked, though it was more so rhetorical. “Some tend to retire before that age and go into something else.”

“Those ones can’t handle the scene. And there are DJs that still play after they reach 40.”

“Yeah, but most go back to being more underground or they go to a genre that isn’t house,” Mei replied, finally taking her eyes off the screen, and looked directly at Arthur with a frown. “Which is what both you and Jean have been doing.”

“The day I retire is the day he dies,” Arthur muttered, returning his gaze back outside. “Can you play the radio?”

Mei did as she was told, flipping the channels around before landing on one playing popular music. There was this one song that started playing, a newer release that Arthur has heard once or twice before. What was it again...

“Did you hear about this guy?” Mei asked suddenly.

“What?” Arthur replied, not understanding what she meant.

“Lars Jansen,” Mei replied. “The guy who produced this song. He’s a DJ too.”

“Okay, and?” Arthur still didn’t understand why she thought he was relevant.

“He’s 19,” Mei shrugged. “What do you think of this song?”

Arthur listened to it for a moment, frowning slightly. “Reminds me a bit of Jean Épine’s songs...He’s 19?”

“I heard this from Eduard,” Mei continued. “He’s a rising producer this year. Kid’s from Amsterdam.”

“Why does it matter? He’s just a new kid- he might get written off in a few years.”

Mei raised an eyebrow, and Arthur read her thoughts. “You think this kid is going to knock me off the map?”

“Lukas even started to rebrand himself and his sound slightly, and Matthias and them continue to make music, but they no longer rank in the top 10. You might get a lower ranking this year,” Mei replied, in a more softer tone. “I’m just saying- there’s going to be newer DJs rising up. You two should stop wasting energy fighting like this. It’s like your rivalry is the only thing that’s keeping you in the public eye. If you want to keep it mainstream, you’re going to have to change up your music to be like Jean-”

“I’m not doing that,” Arthur cut her off in a louder voice. “And I don’t care about the popularity! I just want to beat his arrogant ass.”

“You say that,” Mei sighed. “But trust me, when you stop being as famous as you are now, you’re going to have a hard time adjusting.”

“Like that'll ever happen,” Arthur mumbled, allowing himself to sink into the leather seats, watching the building pass by.

Maybe Arthur should consider this option of rebranding himself. He wasn’t going to be any younger, and the older he got, although he maintains a famous, close to veteran status, the time where his music might fall out of popular demands is likely. Sounds are changing with the times, and now Arthur should try to stray away from his roots and go towards the sound that is well received nowadays.

Giving up his branding is rough, moreso for personal reasons. He is known for that punk mixed with electro sound and image- it symbolised his own emergence from a punk band to electronic music, by taking the best of both sounds and blending it beautifully. His lyrics had a tinge of angst and anger found in punk, meant to make the audience be in tune with their harshest emotions- he wasn’t into this chilling and relaxing, ‘oh please be with me in my bed, I miss you boo hoo’ shit.

Maybe it was time to rebrand.

Maybe.

***

They need to really stop paparazzi from getting in here , Arthur thought as he walked behind the rails leading into the backstage of the arena, smiling as the flashes of the cameras nearly blinded him.

It was now October and Arthur was currently in Amsterdam, which can only mean one thing: tonight was the awaited DJ Top 100 Awards.

The year had gone extremely well for him- with his newest album peaking the charts for a good few weeks, with the songs still playing on the radio till that month.

Arthur was expected to score quite high on the list- even hitting number one- however, ironically once again, so did Jean Épine. It was a close call really- a lot of people wasn’t sure who would win, but it was guaranteed either of them will get the number one spot.

I’m going to beat him, Arthur thought as he walked down the carpet, entering through the set of doors backstage to where the performers were hiding away.

As Matthew and Tino chattered with interviewers that stopped them inside, the Brit noticed long blond hair flowing from the corner of his eyes as they entered through the door. He could hear some people screaming outside the person’s name, and Arthur tried not to let his smile turn into a frown.

“Jean Épine!” One of the interviewers called as he politely smiled and talked to them. Arthur knew he was staring for far too long, and started to shuffle away, when he saw a familiar face almost intervening his step.

“King! How about a pre-show interview?”

“What happened to saying ‘hello’?” Arthur asked Eduard with a smile.

“Nah, we’re tight, we don’t need to say that,” Eduard replied with a sly smile, a microphone in hand, and his usual cameramen standing nearby. “Shall we start?”

“Alright, as long as you don’t interview me at the after party,” Arthur said, as Eduard laughed, and they started the interview. The usual questions as usual, until Eduard asked this question, which Arthur didn’t know how to answer.

“So, this year we have a newcomer that a lot of people say might actually beat you two,” Eduard started, and there was a subtle intent in his voice. “Lars Jansen. Now, he has said previously that he was a fan of your work while he was trying to figure out his own sound, but he also says that Jean Épine was also a source of inspiration. Do you think that, considering how different your sounds are, Lars Jansen would be a worthy adversary ?”

This kid again? Arthur casually thought after he gave some motivational answer along the lines of “Of course, I’ve heard his music and he does stand a chance!” as he caught up with Matthias, as they start to go into the auditorium again.

For some godforsaken reason, Arthur was seated right next to Jean Épine in the audience. He had specifically requested to sit in between Lukas and Tino, though they must have ignored it in favour for this seating, letting his other side open for Matthias.

There must be cameras on us, Arthur figured, scanning and noticed a camera perched so that it could nicely capture their section.

“Looks like we’re sitting together, prince,” Francis said from his seat as Arthur started to sit down beside him. He leaned closer, and Arthur could smell his cologne, which was mixed with the smell of tobacco. It wasn’t a bad smell- Arthur just didn’t like that he liked how Jean smelled. “I didn’t know you wanted to sit next to me all this time.”

“I don’t want to,” Arthur snapped. “Why would I want to sit with a pervert like you?”

“You always call me a pervert, but I don’t understand why,” Jean sighed. “I just love love. Why can’t we just be friends and get along, cher?”

“I’m not one of your little fuckbuddies, Jean,” Arthur replied, finally making eye contact with him. He could see the amusement in Jean’s attractive blue eyes, which made him slightly more agitated. “And I’d rather get hit by a car than be your friend.”

“That’s extreme,” Jean smirked, still leaning too close than necessary to Arthur. The lights on the stage started to flash slightly- a sign for the attendants to take their seats. “Looks like they’re going to start. I can’t wait to beat you.”

“They say that I have a good chance of getting top of the list,” Arthur sighed, pretending to be calm and not caring that much. Slight boredom crept as Matthias left Arthur’s side to bug Lukas when he thought. If he was going to sit beside Jean motherfucking Épine, he might as well talk to him. It can help him recharge without losing his egde.

“Hey, did they ask you about Lars Jansen?” Arthur suddenly asked, thinking back to the interview question he got from Eduard.

“Yeah, they asked about whether I was worried he’d beat me,” Jean replied, a perfect eyebrow raised. “Though, I said I only care about our little competition.”

“It won’t be a competition if I win tonight,” Arthur scoffed, as the hosts for the event appeared to on the stage, and the event started.

The night progressed and finally, it was time to announce the top 10 DJs of the year. The familiar screens lit up and the lights started to dim slightly.

“Number 3...KING.”

“Number 2...Jean Épine.”

“Wait...that means,” Arthur mumbled wide eyed, completely taken by surprise at his ranking for two reasons. The first, which wasn’t too devastating, is that Jean Épine beat him this year. Which isn’t too bad- they were technically tied in this case. The second, which was much more of a big deal, was the fact that neither him or Jean snagged first place.

He glanced over to Jean, who had a mixture of content, but mild confusion, on his face. Mei guaranteed that spot would be either of theirs...so why did they place second and third?

“Ladies and gentlemen, the world’s number one DJ is…” the host opened the envelope once again. A pause, and the leaned into the mic.

“ Lars Jansen! ”

Arthur didn’t know what to do. And neither did Jean Épine, actually. Neither of them really cheered, instead opting to simply clap to be polite.

Now this took them by surprise.

They watched as a tall man walk down the catwalk, wearing stylish clothings as you would expect Jean to wear, with his gelled up blond hair kept up like Matthias to reveal an incredibly handsome, yet stoic, face. It was hard to believe the this person was still considered a teenager- he wasn’t awkward looking and well built, and he didn’t have a single mark or pimple on his white skin.

He spoke into the mic to say thank you to everyone, and Arthur was taken aback by how deep his voice was, which carried a Dutch accent that added a control to his voice.

Arthur didn’t know what to say to this spectacle that he was witnessing. Neither could Jean, evidently, because throughout the post op and the drive down to a fellow DJ’s mansion that was located in the city, they both didn’t talk or argue (to everyone in the limo’s relief) as much as they would.

They weren’t the only ones surprised- most of the people who greeted them at the party (all around his age and were considered to be nearing veteran stardom as well) made a comment about how a young boy like Lars Jansen beat both of them.

Arthur and Jean were currently sitting on the bar stools at the island in the kitchen, across of Tino and Lukas who sat opposite to them. Pre downloaded songs shuffled through the background, and everyone around them were either guzzling down beers, snorting lines on any surface, skinny dipping in the swimming pool outside, or doing a combination of all three. Arthur decided to not deep dive into the scene right away- everytime he does, he gets wasted too early and gets into some shit- and waited as Berwald tries to find some decent beer.

Lukas was mindful not to bring up Lars at all during their conversation, and it was starting to be a complaining circle of how little sleep they receive, when Matthias stumbled towards them, cackling at his phone.

“Bros, you two are definitely not gonna like this,” Matthias laughed as he nudged his phone towards Arthur, as Jean leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen. It was originally a live post show interview that occurred inside of the arena, and lo and behold, it was by everyone’s favourite reporter.

“What do you think about placing above both KING and Jean Épine whom you've always looked up to? The world is amazed that someone as young as you was able to dethrone two of very popular veterans, and a lot were surprised at that feat. Do you, yourself, find it surprising that you beat them?”

Lars, with his piercing dark blue eyes, held eye contact with Eduard, and Arthur could tell there was a cocky smirk playing on his lips. “I really respect both of them and I’m happy that I won, but I’m no surprised that I beat them. At this point, their music and sound doesn’t resonate with the EDM crowd as it once did, and, you know, times are changing and people are liking different things. As they say, out with the old and in with the new, and right now their old sound isn’t as popular as it once was. It’s mostly popular with people who are their age- old people, maybe- but not for the new generation of EDM listeners.”

Arthur heard Jean audibly gasp (but only when he implied to be old), and he himself was at a lost at words at how direct Lars’ answer was. What happened to respecting your elders?

“Kid’s got guts to say that,” Lukas noted as he took a sip from his beer. Berwald slid two bottles towards Arthur and Jean as he sat on the stool beside Tino, nodding along.

“A lot of the newer DJs are starting to get feisty with each other,” Tino replied, taking a nacho from the platter. “You know, it’s not like how it used to be- everyone used to keep it behind the scenes.”

“These two really helped start the whole public beef thing in the EDM scene,” Matthias shrugged towards Arthur and Jean, and Arthur threw a look of annoyance. “You two would cuss each other out publicly, and would’ve threw hands if Jean wasn’t so civil.”

Arthur just made a slight grunt and starting to down the drink. Jean made a hum in agreement, while taking a quick sip.

“Now you guys can join the underground squad,” Matthias continued, reaching out for another bottle. He took his bottle opener keychain and popped it open, the white foam spilling over the tip down the neck. “Just like the rest of us here.”

“What do you mean?” Jean spoke up.

“C’mon Jean, you know what I mean,” Matthew laughed, his smile a bit wicked. “You guys won’t be invited to so many popular events, and if you do, you won’t be headlining compared to the popular ones. Less paparazzi hounding you down, which is nice, but less attention means less fans and smaller concerts. Partying will be the same, but don’t expect the famous bitches to be there- they’d rather be with someone relevant. It’ll be just like the good old times before you made it mainstream-”

“You’ll be one of those people that are known,” Lukas said, lifting Matthias bottle so that it was in his mouth, to shut him up. “And now you’re rich, but you’re just not relevant. You’ll be considered old school.”

“If the drugs and alcohol won’t force you to retire, this will,” Tino said cynically, though he had his usual upbeat voice. “Most people do it and go back to playing sets at the club sometimes.”

“You’ll definitely miss the rush of being famous,” Matthias mumbled, and if the gloominess of the conversation hasn’t fallen on them yet, it has now. The Aftermath had fell off from the public eye, and while Lukas has a grip on the fame, it was only a matter of time before he would have to start to go underground.

They were all older though, nearing their late 30s. Jean and Arthur were still in their early 30s, with Arthur turning 30 that April. He was quite young to be written off from the media as out of touch with the younger crowd, yet, he did break out into the mainstream early on in his life. It’s been more than a decade since he has- was he really ready to let go of being relevant.

The idea of ending up like Matthias was unpleasant. Arthur wasn’t sure how to word it exactly, but he knows he hasn’t seen them at all during the big events yearly events DJs would be invited to, and their not as hyped up in popular media as they once were, much less in the EDM scene. There were just a distant memory, a name dropped here and there on radios during their ‘Throwback Thursday’ days.

Nowadays, due to not being as busy as they once were, Arthur noticed that Matthias had started to find other ways to feel high and satisfied with his life - mostly through drugs and alcohol- much more than he did before, but he couldn’t really judge him. After all, Arthur isn’t exactly clean himself.

“Pass me another one,” Jean demanded in a louder tone, his eyebrows pulled in, as if he was having the same internal talk with himself as Arthur.

“Same,” Arthur said immediately and Berwald didn’t hesitate to silently stand up and grab them their drinks.

“Don’t look so gloomy guys!” Tino said, his voice chipper. “This is a party! Let’s have some fun and do some shots!”

“Fuck yeah! Who wants some fucking tequila?!” Matthias suddenly exclaimed, standing up, and started to chant drunkenly ‘Tequila! Tequila! Tequila!”

“Let’s not dwell on this any long, mon prince,” Jean sighed whimsically, putting an arm on  Arthur’s backrest, brushing against his back amicably. Maybe it was the warm buzzing feeling Arthur had started to feel after his first drink, but for once, Arthur didn’t feel the need to tell Jean off. If anything, he leaned back deeper into the arm, and a flicker of appreciation lit in him. “Let us drink the night away.”

“What else can we do,” Arthur replied as whimsically as Jean had, and downed the rest of his beer, as Matthias lined the glass shots in front of them.

[athedemonsqueen]

I Found You #26 (Finn Balor Story)

Ok, who is enjoying the Gauntle Match?? I’m so excited to see Finn win, but damn this might last another hour! Enjoy the chapter! 

Luke and Karl were kind enough to drive us to the airport. It was close to the late night hour. I sat in the back with Luke, and Finn in the front with Karl. I was exhausted. How I was looking forward to that little nap in the car, however the temperatures outside were dropping dramatically and the chill from the windows were keeping me awake and causing me to get the chills. I hid it as much as I could from the men.

Eventually I went to sleep, but I still could hear their conversation.

“So, are you guys thinking about buying a house together?” Karl asked.

“Um, we are happy where we ‘re for now, but it might be a conversation.” Finn said.

“I think she’ll like the idea of decorating her own house…” Karl said.

“Yeah, that’ll make her happy, I’ve seen her work on those apps that she uses.” Finn said, looking back at me.

I trembled from the frigid cold, not even in Seattle would it get this cold. “She’s shaking a little bit.” Luke said.

“She’s probably freezing.” He added. Finn turned around, nudging me awake.

“Baby, are you ok?” Finn whispered.

“I’m cold.” I whispered back.

“Wanna come in the front with me?” Finn asked, I nodded, slowly climbing over the car seat and into his lap. I curled up around him as he placed his scarf around me.

“There we go.” Finn whispered to me. Finn was unusally warm tonight which did not bother me. Karl looked over at me and smiled.

“It is cold back here.” Luke commented.

“I’m not surprised she’s not coming down with something.” Finn said, examing me.

“Is she warm?” Karl asked.

Finn shaked his head, no. Finn nuzzled me close to him.

“How would you feel about getting our own home?” Finn whispered to me. “You can deck it all out the way you want it.”

I was too tired to move my mouth to let words out, all I could do is nod my head and give a faint smile. It would be a great change up.

The plane ride I slept the entire way, I slowly felt like I was coming down with something. Everytime I opened my eyes my head would start to spin. I would have vivid dreams of my own home with Finn. I can see two little kids probably twins from the looks of them as they run to Finn in the backyard. They are everything of him- blue eyes, blonde hair (at least when he was a child) and child-like smiles. I knew right way they were our kids.

When I woke up, I realize I was home in our bed. It is dusk and I felt like someone had run me over with a tracker trailer truck. I moaned rubbing my head as I got out of bed. Since I did not have the strength to go far in the house looking for Finn, I stood in front of the doorway weakly calling for him.

“Finn?” I called softly.

I gathered my strength and called for him again, “Finn!”

“I’m in here!” He called from the shower. I walked into the hot airy bathroom, to my relief it did uncloud my head.

“What happened I don’t remember anything pass the car ride?” I asked. I could tell from the other side FInn was washing his hair.

“Well, you passed out in the car, half way in the air, you started to come down with a fever you were ok enough to get through the airport, you slept all the ways home and I put you into bed.” Finn explained.

“You’ve got the flu, baby.” He said, I looked up at him, it’s not a surprise, but for the first time I don’t know how to cure it.

“What should I do?” I asked.

“Get back into bed, I’m going to pick you up medicine at the uh...um…” Finn started to stumble on the American words.

“Walgreens?”

“No.” He said.

“CVS?”

“No, the other one.” He said.

“Oh, Rite Aid.”

“Yeah, that one.”

I smiled to myself, rubbing my nose. “Honey, who is Abby and Will?” He asked.

“Who?”

“Abby and Will, you were muttering their names the entire plane ride, at one point you called them for dinner.” He said, turning around in the shower to face me through the glass. I thought back on my dream and realized those were our babies. I pressed my hand to my stomach and figured I couldn’t be pregnant from the last time we had sex. I just couldn’t be now, but they were my kids. I knew they were, but it was so vivid, so clear. I could even hear their laughter and their voices. I could see the beautiful dress my girl wore as she picked flowers in bushes. I could see my son, climbing a large oak tree leading to a tree house. The best aspect I felt was the warmth. It wasn’t burning heat or frigid cold, it was warmth a happiness warmth.

I looked up at Finn who was waiting for an answer, “I think it was just a dream and nothing more that you need to worry about.” I said. Finn smiled as he got out of the shower. He pressed his lips to my forehead,

“Thank God, your fever went down.” Finn said.

“How do you feel?” He asked caressing my hair back.

“Like someone has ran me over with a truck.” I said.

Finn giggled, “Go back to bed, I’ll run to the store real quick.” He said. I nodded, as his hand ran through my hair.

I went to lay down and I soon fell back to sleep. My mind wander to outside the house. I didn’t understand why I was standing outside, it was cold too cold for Florida. I walked inside to find the house had changed the staircase that met me is no longer there, the kitchen that is across from me was placed with a long hallway. I walked down it slowly and went through it to find no one was there. It was a nice house though.

“Mama! Mama!” Came a small child’s voice.

“Mommy!” A girl’s voice came. I rushed down the hallway and and up the flight of stairs. There were two rooms- I went to the one on the left and it was locked, I banged on it, then scrambled to the room next to it, and banged on it- it opened. I looked around to find the kids sleeping in their beds peacefully. My heart pounded in fear my breathing became heavy. From the corner of my eyes i could see a set of red eyes that belonged to a figure sitting in the rocking chair.

I began to tremble as it looked at me menacingly. It slowly got up and came into the light. It was Finn- dressed in a black suit, but I knew it wasn’t Finn. It was Balor. The kids started to wake and rise from their beds to reveal a corpse- like deposition with glowing red eyes like Balor’s. It was as if it to say these are our children. The children looked horrifying.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Balor’s gruff voice came. I gasped slightly as I watched the children decay even more. I could not say anything even when I opened my mouth I was forbidden to say anything. Balor sat in the boy’s bed, and draped his arm around him.

“Say hello to your mummy.” He said.

“Ello, mom.” His mouth opened to have blood spew from it, I gasped taking a step back.

I closed my eyes and opened them only to pop out of bed gasping. “Honey, honey, what’s wrong?” Finn said, coming into the room. I looked up at him, getting out of bed,

“Where is Balor?” I asked.

“What”

“Balor where is he!” I cried.

“Honey, he can be anywhere, but he’s not here.” He said.

“That dream the dream I had it twice, but it wasn’t them, it wasn’t our kids…” I said, hysterically.

“Our kids?”

“The dream from before it was our kids, Balor just showed me a dream again now, and…” I gasp, losing my breathe.

“And they were nightmares, Balor wanted my babies!” I cried, hysterically. Finn pulled me to him.

“It was only a dream…” Finn said.

“But they were real Ferg, they were real. Don’t let Balor take our babies away.” I cried.

Finn pulled me closer, “No, I won’t I won’t let him take them, their safe.”

Within the next week, I was back to studying, graduation was an arm stretch away and I was more concentrated than ever. I sat in the kitchen as Spring slowly approached us from the looks of the small crowds and the smell of the air. Finn came in and sat next to me.

“What are you studying?” He asked, placing a cup of tea down for us.

“Not studying, looking over.” I said softly.

“Do you want me to re-read it for you?” He said as he took the paper from me.

I sighed, letting my hand support my head. “This is a graded paper.” Finn said.

“Yeah, I know.” I said displeased. “Not the best grade.” I added.

“It’s a C (Y/N)” Finn explained.

“Still I don’t like Cs.”

“Ok, you just settle down and study more...you won’t go on the road with me.” Finn said.

“No, Elimination Chamber is underway and your counting on me and so are they.” I said referring to the fans.

Finn sighed placing the paper down and coming over to me. “I forgot to give you a Valentine's Day gift.” Finn said.

“I don’t need one.” I chuckled. He smiled devilishly, “Well, you’re in luck, cause I got something for you.” He said. He went into the living room and came back with a large bear and papers.

“Oh, my God he is so cute!” I cooed.

“Check out what he has…” Finn said, as i took the papers from the teddy bear. I scanned through them to see they were houses.

“I don’t understand…” I said, looking up at him.

“These are just a few houses I found within the area, for us to buy.” Finn said, I looked up at him with disbelief.

He pointed to one house, “See this one is close to your school, a mile from a food store, and convenience to get to the airport.” Finn said.

“That’s A LOT of money!” I exclaimed.

“I didn’t know a price could go beyond eight zeros.” I said. Finn laughed, not understanding what I was saying.

“Well, I have a friend that could help us with this.” Finn said, the door bell rung.

“And he is here…” Finn added.

“Honey, these are all very expensive, I don’t think making over a million dollars you could afford this, and by yourself, oh Lord I would not make you do this by yourself.” I said.

“That’s what the realtor is for…” Finn said, going to answer the door.

I swiftly followed him to the door and around the kitchen bend, “Who is the realtor?”

@mylittlepartofthegalaxy @igobypoet @finnabonthesinnabon @devitts-girl @finnbealor @calwitch @tina679 @echelonfam-30 @squirrel666

[the-tales-of-horror]

We found my cousins "time" journal

Original Link By fknmadhed

Some days I get around slower than others... I don't even realise until I'm where I've gotta be and notice it took way longer than it should have.. I always wonder about that, often leaving the house without checking the time no matter how many times it happens to me, but it's an off and on thing and when I get in from work and it's maybe 2 hours later than I'm usually home I take it as it is. We rely on time so heavily that when it flys by it's so easy to just accept that maybe you weren't paying attention. So with that out of the way, I'm documenting times I leave and arrive by how long it takes to walk or drive.

3rd June, 8:47am - To work Arrived at 9:04am Normal day - This seems silly today

3rd June, 8:30pm - Heading home Arrived home at 9:56pm I went to the store, got some food for the night but I didn't buy much, nobody was really about so I was pretty much in and out. I don't really understand what took me so long, what would usually take me maybe 30 minutes has taken me an hour and a half... honestly it could've been anything I just need to get some food in me and to sleep.

10:31pm I'm still up, the tv's been acting pretty weird. I find that tv has a calming presence that helps put me to sleep.. though not tonight for god knows what reason, everytime I've started to drop off I'm being awoken by static harshly emanating from the TV.

Really I'm in two minds about what's happening with the time and all that, on one hand it's all just silly stuff that can be put down to my own mistakes or Whatever, but on the other hand there's just this voice going on in the back of my head telling me that it's not just that.

4th June - 8:45am Work Arrived at 9:06 Long day today, weird dreams last night. Probably will forget about all this by the end of the week

Left work at 9pm, arrived home at 11:32pm I didn't do anything. I didn't go to the store or clean up my desk, I checked the time at work, wrote it down and drove home. I'm sitting in my car still writing this, how did it take me over 2 hours to get home. How the fuck... I was driving the whole time, it felt like any normal journey driving at the same normal speeds. I don't want to sleep.. I even checked the time on my TV and just About everything I could check the time on incase my watch had messed up but nope. No such luck. The static is visible on the TV tonight, but the sound is different to how I remember it but my memories clearly fucked so I ain't even bothering I just turned it off.

5th June 11am I got to sleep in for a while, I had a crazy vivid dream last night after rolling around for a long while and finally slipping into a half slumber. What I remember from the dream is pure darkness, no color to the sky, no stars or moon or sun... just nothing. Like the sky was the back of a creature that had decided to walk away.

This thing has turned into more of a diary at this point but the dream felt related to what's been going on. 8th June, 12:16pm Nothing had happened for a while but then I was late to work today, I left the same time as i do every morning around 8:45am. I arrived at work for after 10. I lost an hour and I was aware of the entire journey. How does that even happen?

10:27pm So I've been thinking about this all day. like what it could be. My mind jumps between alzheimers and blackouts... neither sounding particularly exciting. But then right now I just looked it up online and there's this big thing around missing/losing time and how it might be related to aliens. Yeah. Right. Would take that possibility over the prospect of an untreated medical condition. 9th June, 1:15am Theres police lights outside I think. Kinda strange that there's not a single sound coming from the street but fuck it. Pretty annoyed by the fact that it woke me up and writing in this seems to get everything from the day out of my head, makes it easier to fall asleep.

9th June, left 8:45am and got in for 9:10am I'm dreading checking the time, when I close my eyes it's just numbers, it's all that I'm thinking about. I can't put it off and it's messing with how much work I'm doing. I'm putting this away for a while, my minds just fucking with me.

20th June I've been to see a doctor, there's no sign of anything that could be causing the memory loss or whatever it is. I went to be told that maybe my clocks wrong and Out of fear of sounding strange I agreed. I've checked just about every clock I've seen to double check on the days it has fucked with me. And also, I had another one of those dreams last night, darkness then lights and static like in the real world harshly vibrating my mind until it becomes unbearable, I woke up to static on the television and put it down to that. First time in my damn life I've had a recurring dream that I'm able to remember... still can't get the numbers out of my head.

22nd June, 1:16am Half in that same dream, I woke up to what felt like cold elongated fingers pulling me over to the other side of my bed and in the midst of rolling I opened my eyes to nothing but the damn blue lights outside my window again. I just had a look around my room cuz that shit gave me chills and after looking Until my heart was back to a normal pace I put it down to sleep paralysis or some shit like that, but then I just looked outside and it's definitely not a police car. There's three lights floating above the houses just across from me, I can just about make a dark shape out but it blends so well with the night sky that I don't know where it starts and where it ends. So needless to say my hearts racing faster than it was and I'm thinking about aliens like it's a possibility. I'm not gonna sleep again tonight, I'm gonna sit downstairs and wait it out.

So, I just got down and it's 3:40am What the fuck is happening to me

25th June I'm seeing little shapes when I move my eyes today, like something running directly across my vision, so much so That on my way to the store I tripped and cut my ankle. It's kinda pulsating right now especially when I see this weird fucking thing in my eyes...

26th June, 2am-ish I got woken up again, no dreams just darkness and the sensation of cold fingers almost as if they're allowing me to wake up. I scratched at my cut a little, turned the light on and there's these weird little fibres in my nails.. so I looked at where I'd scratched the cut and it's just covered in these strange fibres, it hasn't been uncovered since I was able to put a band aid on and it definitely wasn't like this then.

27th June It's worse, time has skipped I don't know how many times today. My cut is worse, it looks infected but it feels fine. The fibres haven't cleared up I've cleaned it repeatedly. I'm considering seeing a doctor but it always feels like a waste of time.

So I looked it up online, apparently I'm not the only one. It's something that seems to be related to Lyme disease, but I've never been latched on to by a tick, just never. I've not had any of the symptoms, just these weird fibres and the only explanation of what it could be are by dudes on YouTube with crazy eyes and the occasional little twitch or some shit.

Honestly is it just me, I wonder all the time if I'm the only one that constantly feels so close to death, like I'm not gonna live until I'm 20 until I made it, then it became 30 and I'm just over thinking this shit. I don't have records of what was in the sky the night of the blue lights, nothing physical has been Touching me, maybe the fibres are just coming from my clothes or whatever.. the weird thing in my eye is only there when I move it fast enough but it seems to be doing it far more spaced out than that first day. I think maybe I'm okay, I haven't been paying attention to the time so much, I've felt like it's just making me go insane.

2nd July Dreams again, lights again, the fibres are spreading inside of my skin I can feel it... I don't think they're fibres anymore though they're wriggling I think I can see movement

3rd July I definitely saw my skin move, my eyes jolted as I sat still too, like that effect in Fight Club where everything moves as the camera stays still. It made me super dizzy and grew until I passed out Waking up at around 11pm, which means I was out for a good 12 hours... waking up exhausted and shivery, my skin crawling worse than it has, a lot of the vision in my left eye is being blocked but only in movement. When I keep it still I see through whatever it is.

I feel like I'm dying. As I write this I'm giving into that thought. My hearts beating faster than it ever has, my bones ache, my fingers slowly forgetting how to type and my mind slowly forgetting where it is that I am.

4th July I woke up Fine The lights again, but they give me comfort now

5th July I do not see the point of this anymore I'm fine. The time does not skip anymore. I will work today.

And that's where it ends. Incase you're wondering this was my cousins 'time' journal let's call it. A few weeks ago he started acting strangely, the whole family had noticed and he opened up to me about the fibres and the weird dreams and time disappearing, I brushed it off and didn't tell anybody because it was completely out of character and I wasn't in it to worry anybody so I tried to get him help but he refused, frustrated by the doctors of the past I presumed. But I also suspected some part of him was enjoying all of this... now when he comes to our house he stares at things, he answers everything bluntly and cold with very few inflections to his usually colorful accent... he never sits down, he doesn't clear his throat or cough or sneeze I haven't seen him yawn, he hasn't cuddled me. He's a completely different person and I need answers about what has happened to my cousin... he's been making it clear that he wants to babysit my children and last month I wouldn't have even second guessed it. But he's lifeless.. he stares through me and talks at me, he doesn't respond emotionally and his skin is so cold. I watched him stare into my child's bed and replicate the nonsensical sounds he makes when trying to form sentences(being only just a year). I need answers, because if I hadn't heard what I thought was my son speaking that night through the baby monitor I may have not checked.. none of it is right. None of it makes sense. So I come to you for the answers I need and to share my story without everybody thinking I'm going fucking crazy. Because I'm scared that I am, especially after I felt the cold fingers he described Pull me over and wake me up last night.